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[theknightshift]

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[brat]

It's your home, is it not?

( it's not denial nor confirming bruce's suspicion - because damian statement is not untrue. he knows the manor as his father's home, the home grayson had felt the need to vacate when he became batman because it didn't suit him. damian knows of the manor, knows where his own space within it is, but, )

I have no strong preference for where you choose to stay. There is no place here I have stayed in long enough to call home regardless.

[theknightshift]

No.

[ It is a convincing facsimile situated in a place he'd never really consider home. Even with his children here. He cannot allow himself even a moment of relaxation or comfort. There's too much to do, to keep them all safe and alive until the AI saw fit to send them home or Bruce figures out how to do it himself.

But Damian's ask is a small one, even if he frames it as anything but. ]

But I'll come back tomorrow night.

[brat]

( there's a small jerk of his head, the idea of a nod signaling he heard bruce and acknowledges his plan to return to the manor even if it isn't home to him. there's no need to acknowledge it further.

though after a few moments of quiet, damian does speak up again, albeit much more quietly, )

You don't hate me?

[theknightshift]

[ He asks a question he already knows the answer to because he needs to hear it. In a way he cannot interpret into something else. It has to be clear and unequivocal.

Bruce gets up from his chair and kneels so he's eye level with his son. He's tired and it shows in the lines of his face. In the corners of his eyes. He wants to sleep, but he's decided he won't until he says this. ]

No, Damian. I don't hate you. You are my son and I love you.

[brat]

( he had asked talia why it was that she couldn't love him for who he is and not what she wanted him to be. it hadn't been all too long ago he'd been told by a parent that they could not love him because they were too much of a perfectionist to love a child who didn't align with their vision perfectly. it isn't an answer he would have anticipated from his father, not after what they have been through together. not after getting to know the kind of man he is. but if bruce had told him his failures were too great to love - it wouldn't have necessarily been a surprise.

instead, bruce kneels down close. looks him in the eyes when he says that damian is his son and he loves him. there is no i will always love you in my own way. no addendum. he is exhausted but not irritated by the questioning.

damian understands - or at least he thinks he does, in a way. it hurts, too, an ache deep in his chest that he hadn't anticipated. a flood threatening to boil over from the inside, and it takes the way damian's lower lip wobbles a little for him to recognize just what that flooding sensation is. the domino mask manages to hide the wetness to his eyes, but it does nothing to cover the rest of his face: the scrunched nose, lips pressed together to try and hide the tremble.

so he opts to hide it another way, rolling off of the balls of his feet and onto his knees so he's that much closer to bruce, bridging the distance between them and raising his arms up to wrap them around his father's shoulders, face pressing into his collar.

it still feels a little foreign, but he'll get it in time. for now, he just holds on tight and mumbles a quiet little - )

Okay.