Happy Valentine's Day!

There was some confusion last chapter, but last chapter was a little extra/bonus I wrote because I was a bit stumped for a bit. It will be finished at the end of the next chapter, thank you for waiting!

I do not own Batman.

Nascent

Chapter Twenty Six:

Self Control

"Noses on a rail, little virgin wears the white

You cut your hair but you used to live a blonded life

Wish I was there, wish we'd grown up on the same advice

And our time was right."

"Oh, wow, he really went all out with this one, didn't he?"

The thought made her feel a little funny on the inside, a nice, warm kind of funny that also made her feel a bit guilty, but since it was the piano, she could indulge. I'm so spoiled.

The sleek black instrument looked positively grand sitting against the paneled windows of the tower's wall. It was elevated onto a second platform from the ground, giving it a wide view of the entire lounge room it sat in. Shiny, polished. She could tell it'd barely been played but touched quite a few times by sticky hands or soft smudges. It was one of the finer models, one Damian had eyed once when he wanted to replace her old one back in the bakery and she'd beaten into him that it wasn't necessary and he had to relinquish his wish just that once.

You ended up getting it anyway. Pandora dragged one finger against its side, playing with the lid and touching the shiny latch before she gently lifted it, pushing it back and sitting down on the leather cushion.

The lounge room was empty save for the two of them. Raven drifted to a counter a few steps away, watching her in silence.

Pandora had followed Raven down the stairs and to the elevator, waiting in awkward silence as Raven simply stared ahead of them. They finally made it here, the lounge, to where Raven had wanted to take her.

To the piano.

The piano Dam bought for you because you were coming here.

Pandora almost threw herself into the large trash bin located close to the counter. She doubted Raven would have much patience with her if she did that though. She didn't really want to push it.

"I'm down to try your kind of meditating," Pandora said, running her fingers over and over again on the piano keys, barely touching. "We didn't have to do this—"

"I doubt you would be able to settle for my methods of mental unclogging," Raven said. "This is the optimal route for best results."

I think I understand why Dam gets along with her the best. Pandora lightly pressed the farthest key, listening to the soft whisper of sound. "Won't this wake up—"

"It won't," Raven said. "The room is soundproof."

Oh. "Oh," Pandora said. "That's… handy."

Raven calmly poured more tea into her cup, taking a seat and drinking in silence. Pandora was grateful for it and also uneasy at the same time. Raven was… really cool. It made Pandora want to try harder to be liked by her, to be hopeful they could get along, but usually people who moved forward with those kinds of thoughts never had things end well for them. It had to be natural and gradual and Pandora had a fairly good gut feeling that Raven thought she was more trouble than she was worth.

Her lips moved, tempted to go on rambling to fill the silence. She might leave if I do that. She knew why Raven brought her here. It was her way of saying this might help. Something to clear her mind and thus clear her muddled emotions which Raven claimed were clogging the good energy of the tower. I feel a bit offended but then guilty at the same time because of that.

"... how should I start?" Pandora said, a bit more to herself than anyone else. She turned to Raven. "Is there a song you like? I can play it for you."

"We're not here for me," Raven said. "We're here for you."

Right.

Pandora stared at the piano and it stared back at her.

"You said it clears your mind," Raven said. "That it will help you think. You need to put your thoughts in order, arrange your words. It is the first step into clearing up anything that muddles your focus."

Pandora obediently lifted her hands, letting them hover over the black and white keys. She was hyper aware of Raven's presence a few feet away, wondering what the other girl was thinking.

"Nothing," Raven said into the silence, making Pandora jump. "Just do what you need to do." So we can call it a night.

But what came after this? Pandora could stay up the entire night playing if she wanted to, needed to. She'd done it before. Several times. What if even after she pushed her fingers into the keys, nothing happened? No answer came to her? What if she was just left feeling awkward and out of place and so, so strange. She and Damian weren't even fighting, not really. It was just… was this just a misunderstanding?

"Just play," Raven said, a little softer, something in her tone forcing Pandora's eyes to focus on the keys, ears twitching. "Take your time."

"Okay," Pandora said quietly. "Thank you."

"Don't thank me yet—"

Pandora's fingers pressed the first three keys. She waited only a heartbeat before one hand started moving soundlessly over the rest, a soft, inquisitive melody seeping out from her fingertips.

Raven watched in silence behind her.

What do you want to do first? Dam always says make a plan.

She wanted to figure out how she was feeling. What exactly was the situation she was feeling things about? How should she put these feelings into words?

Her fingers pressed. The keys met back, slow, thoughtful tunes. Each one was different, promising disjointed melodies and different pieces of music to reflect her separate thought tracks. The melody started to become muddled, the notes started to blur as her single hand moved across the keys, slightly touching others out of sloppiness. Pandora considered the sound with care.

I hate being awkward with Dam. I know it's normal for these things to happen but it doesn't mean I enjoy it. I want to fix it as soon as possible, but problems can't always be fixed by slapping a bandage over it. You know that.

Her hand shifted to one half of the keys. She kept to these lower notes, listening to the somber sound.

I feel like what I need to do is apologize, but that doesn't feel like the right answer either. I know it's not my fault that his mom came, but somehow it still feels like my responsibility either way. Is that wrong? Not entirely. What's the real issue here?

"I'm coming back to Gotham."

"Dam, you don't need to come."

Pandora's tune slowed. Her fingers moved softly over a set of keys, repeating the same notes over and over, letting them echoe sadly throughout the room. I didn't mean to say you're not capable. I'm not trying to say I don't need you either. I just want you to make your own decisions, not like this, I mean, I want you to be able to continue doing what you like without putting me first…

Her fingers added a new note into her repeat. What if you want to put me first? That's super flattering, it makes me warm, I want to say please, please continue to do so, but I know that's stupidly selfish. It's not what a good friend says.

Pandora snuck in a third. I want us to talk properly about these things. I want to catch up with you. I really did miss you. I'd love for you to come back. I don't want to be the reason you can't keep doing what you want to do.

She remembered something then.

Something Tim said to her once, a small, fleeting comment in the rare, thin little moments they happened to be together. She'd been on her way down to the Cave under Alfred's permission and he'd just been seeing himself out. It's probably so weird for them to see me there. I feel like it's a bit rude of me to always be there. I must be intruding. It's their office. It's where they get work done. Tim had greeted her first and she'd stopped, just making small talk with him. He'd just been about to keep going when he spoke up, as though he'd finally decided on saying something else.

She knew Tim didn't hate her, and she certainly didn't harbor any bad feelings to him either—but Pandora also knew Tim could probably… do without her. Not in a bad way, just in a sense that maybe Pandora was… trouble? The two of them were just on neutral terms, and Pandora wasn't one to push where the door was closed in such a polite way on her.

"Just consider sometimes, that even if you don't mean too, how someone feels about you is out of your control."

Damian Wayne was Damian Wayne. He was his own person. He was Dam.

But Damian Wayne was also Robin.

Back then, she was sure Tim wanted her to remember that.

He was much smarter than her. He was always one step ahead of her. He was great at everything and funny even if he didn't mean to be. He excelled and strove for nothing but greatness—but he was great—and was much, much kinder than he ever cared to admit. He was frighteningly passionate sometimes. He was very, very strong. He was all these great things, so it made her feel silly for thinking—but Dam, you might be making mistakes too, huh?

Her world started to hone in on these keys. Black and white started to blur neatly in front of her, blending together. Pandora lifted her other hand off her lap. She started to play with more vigor, focusing on these thoughts, on everything that happened this past evening and what she wanted to do.

Her hands hit the keys harder. Pandora moved with the motion, swaying and bobbing as her fingers pressed and pressed and pressed. She searched ferociously for the answer in her sound, listening to the loud crescendo and the soft, lower melody she was building up into the notes. A warm thought. She focused on that. Remembered it.

Pandora tried to imagine each key was a letter of the alphabet. She tried to put together the words into her head, giving her something to work with. She was going to finish the piece off, thank Raven on her hands and knees and march right up to Damian and say exactly what was on her mind and hope for the best. Damian was such a smooth-talker, always working her into certain corners, but she'd stand firm this time. She'd make sure he knew exactly what she was trying to say so there would be no misunderstandings, and whatever happened from then on was what honestly needed to be faced—

This is really working. Pandora's hands flew across the keys. It really is. I hope this isn't bothering Raven. Thank you so much for all your help.

Raven shifted slightly toward the back of the counter but Pandora didn't notice. Her melody became softer, filled with gratitude. She let it play out for several more minutes before her fingers worked back into something colored in quiet hope, soft, curious contemplation. A touch of something somber and worried.

Pandora hit a series of keys once. She replayed the notes. And then again.

Damian.

Dam, can we talk?

I think I know how to say things better now.

Sorry for making this seem like such a big deal.

Or maybe sorry for trying to downplay the whole thing. I know what this means to you. How important it is. How it bothers you. I didn't mean to say your feelings didn't matter, that your worries aren't worth being worried about.

I just wanted you to know—

"Pandora."

Her fingers smashed into the keys, an ugly, echoing sound blaring loudly and unseemly throughout the entire room.

She'd almost missed the soft utterance, filled with meaning and an attempt to call to her attention without being too forceful. Pandora stared at her keys for a second, blinking rapidly before her head creaked, moving robotically over her shoulder.

Like a phantom he was there, staring back in silence at her.

Pandora barely caught the bit of water that trickled down the side of his neck. He'd just gotten out of the shower. His combat-fit turtleneck left his arms bare, a black pair of joggers that tightened at his ankles. You just finished training and now you were going to train some more?

Damian's expression was carefully neutral. The ever present crease between his brows didn't increase or decrease an centimeter. His arms were crossed over his chest and Pandora strangely noticed how big Damian seemed to be getting again. Not stupidly muscular—Dam was always more of the lean and powerful type over muscular and bulging—but bigger. He seemed like he was still growing and Pandora felt like her own growth spurt was slowing. A neutral distance away from her, hair slicked back, jaw set a bit in that way of his.

But he was there in the flesh, standing as though her playing alone had summoned him like some kind of demonic spell.

Pandora stared at the piano, eyes bulging.

Maybe I really am developing super powers or—

"...Pandora."

She jumped again at her name. Pandora awkwardly stared at Damian's chest, fixing her gaze on his hands instead of his face or anywhere else. She had a good sense that this was starting to bother him, his shoulders tightening, expression shifting to something a little more taut as well. His jaw worked, as though he were chewing on his words.

He's right in front of you, you idiot. You should say something. He came. Say something. What are you supposed to say?

Out of instinct, Pandora's eyes swung to the door behind him. Damian took one solid, silent step, blocking her view of the doorway and effectively, wordlessly telling her I'm not letting you leave.

Then you say something first! Pandora awkwardly rubbed the back of her neck. Throw me a bone here, Dam. Are you… upset? Mad? Hurt? How should I start this…

She didn't know what brought him here but she was glad it did.

Pandora paused at that thought, touching her cheek. Huh.

The silence seemed to be vexing Damian a bit more than he liked to let on either. His eyes narrowed, gaze ripping from her to the piano. Something flickered across his face like a ripple of water and he worked his jaw again, lips pressing into a flat line.

Raven wordlessly sipped her tea from the counter, expression flat.

Pandora wasn't psychic.

If she was, goodness, there would definitely be quite the number of things she'd do with a cool power like that. If she was psychic she could turn the music sheets without having to actually touch them. Very handy. She wouldn't be fond of reading minds, but it would be nice sometimes, to have a little warning to what people thought. Most people might say they'd hate it, but Pandora could count more than her fingers could fit how many times she wished she knew what someone was thinking.

Powers in general, really. Sometimes Pandora indulged her fantasies and daydreamed during class or idly wondered in the shower what it would have been like to have super powers. Being around Damian, sitting on the floor of the Bat Cave while he worked on sorting his mission files—Damian claimed not to care much but he was such a meticulous guy, he sorted them alphabetically and through his favorite ones, most of which were with Dick—it made her think about these kinds of things.

She was fairly certain she wouldn't make too great of a hero. Pandora wasn't very… heroic. She'd like to think her heart was in the right place most of the time, but she didn't really have that grit, did she? I'm too soft. Physically and mentally.

But maybe if she had powers from the beginning she'd be a little different. A little less helpless. A little stronger, a little more just. Maybe she'd understand Damian a bit more too. She'd match his wavelength better.

Maybe I can relate to him more, understand him better.

She wasn't too picky, but she was a bit greedy. Maybe she could have some kind of musical related power. Now that would be amazing. She couldn't really lug a piano around with her everywhere though and keyboards just didn't feel the same. Maybe she could play an invisible piano? Keys would show up out of thin air and blast villains away? Help stop falling buildings?

If I could stand as your equal in a different way, if I could fight or seem strong or super courageous in your eyes, would we fight over things like this? My safety or yours? Would we understand each other better?

But at the end of the day, Pandora didn't have powers. She was not a superhero, she was a classic civilian. At the end of the day, the fantasies were just fantasies. Unless she planned on bathing in any sort of radioactive material—which she doubted Damian had plans to allow her to do so either—Pandora was stuck with her simple, good ol' self.

And well, in this current situation, even if she wasn't psychic, she knew her newly found ally? Companion? Guide? Someone who was just putting up with her?—was fairly psychic, or could at least probably get Pandora's wordless cues a lot better than anyone else.

Pandora gave Raven a look. She moved her eyebrows up and down, wriggled her nose, tried with every mobile face muscle possible to convey her message without actually saying anything while Damian looked at her as though she were—ouch, Dam, it's been awhile since you looked at me like I was an idiot.

Raven wordlessly stared back at Pandora. She pointedly nodded, making sure Pandora understood she heard her loud and clear. Pandora's eyes lit up, shining hopefully. Damian arched a brow.

Raven then promptly lifted her teacup up, poured herself another, and lifted it up to Pandora like a toast.

"I'll be going now," Raven said flatly. "Good luck. Don't break anything."

Pandora gaped.

Damian wordlessly nodded. He said nothing, quietly staring at Pandora across the room as she gaped, jaw dropping in disbelief. Raven moved soundlessly across the floor, barely glancing Damian's way as he stepped aside. Raven walked, opening up the sliding doors and disappearing without even a second glance back.

I...I feel betrayed. Pandora realized numbly. Betrayed, but one-sided. I think that just means I feel like an idiot.

"Pandora."

Pandora's fingers slipped onto a key. A heavy, ugly note rang out like an awkward croak. She was pretty sure her face was one hell of a strange one. Constipated maybe?

"...Do not look like that," Damian said, a bit rough, a bit stern, but quiet. Pandora looked up at him and found he'd stopped looking at her again. He was looking at her feet. "I'm not here to lecture you."

Damian shifted into a battle ready stance—a neutral stance of his that seemed to help him gather his thought. You feel like you need to be ready to fight even in your head, huh? He ran one hand through his carefully slicked hair, fingers tumbling through the inky strands and Pandora realized it was starting to grow out again. It looked nicer when he left it a bit longer. It started to suit him more the older he got.

I get to see you grow up. Pandora marveled in the thought for a second, considering it. That's a really nice feeling.

"You needn't look so frightened either," Damian said with a touch of a scoff. His brows furrowed, lips tugging into a scowl. "This entire ordeal has been senseless enough. I merely came because—"

Damian stopped. He frowned harder, glaring daggers into the floor. He seemed to be willing to manifest this tension between them into some kind of physical entity he could slaughter and be done with. Pandora watched him, her brows relaxing a bit and her heart softening. Oh, when you're like this, I start to feel like…

I know what to do now.

"I will leave if—"

"Dam, would you sit with me for a bit?"

Damian fell silent for a moment, watching her. Pandora shuffled to the other side of the bench, wriggling just to the end to give him plenty of room on the leather. She waited, a bit hopeful as she patted the spot beside her.

She prepared her heart for Damian to say something about having a civil discussion over a table or some other reasonable, adult-like manner. She tried to convince herself she wouldn't lose her nerve either way, that the piano was just an extra crutch, a training wheel.

I always feel stronger beside a piano.

Her heart almost fell out of her chest when warmth appeared beside her, quick and vivid and silent in its approach. She pressed her lips together, stopping her smile as Damian took a seat on the bench, having crossed the room in seconds. His shoulder came inches over her own. Heat radiated off his skin. An inch or two of room remained between them.

He quietly folded his hands into his lap. His back was rigid, straight as an arrow and expression silent.

The two of them sat there together in silence. Lights twinkled out over the bay, beyond the massive glass panes that surrounded the tower. Pandora could barely make out a ferris wheel on the edge of the pier Bart and Gar wanted to take her to tomorrow.

She'd never told Damian this before, but sitting together beside the piano—it was where she liked him best.

I feel at home here, in front of the piano. Pandora quietly pressed one key, a soft C major. She asked a question. I like considering you a part of that.

Pandora was more of a roundabout talker. She liked bringing up things, getting people a bit annoyed with her and then working sheepishly to the root of the conversation. Damian was always the complete opposite. He liked stabbing right through to the center of the point.

Today, I'll do what you do.

Pandora opened her mouth to speak.

"What were you playing just now?"

Pandora blinked. Her mouth remained open, lids fluttering as she turned to Damian with round eyes. He didn't meet her stupid expression, lifting one hand and trying to imitate the notes she'd been playing earlier. He got close, but not quite.

Damian pulled his hand to the edge of the keys and silently turned his eyes to her.

Is Dam pulling a… a Pandora?

Pandora stared.

"What?" Damian said defiantly.

"N-Nothing," Pandora blubbered. Damian narrowed his eyes into thin slits. "Nothing! I mean, I was playing nothing. I, uh, I tried to imagine half the keys represented the alphabet and tried to make words out of it. It was supposed to sound all garbled."

"That explains the atrocity of the sound."

"Well," Pandora huffed. "I'd like to think even I could make something like that sound a bit reasonable."

"It wasn't your habitual style," Damian said. "It didn't sound pleasant in any sense."

"Hey," Pandora muttered sulkily, "that's a bit mean don't you think. You go off and hack limbs with your sword, but I only have the piano to..."

She trailed off, staring at the keys in wonder for a moment. Pandora's brain worked with surprising accuracy, some kind of god-given bit of luck for just this particular instance. Damian quietly pressed two keys, as though attempting to test how they would sound played together. He looked mildly bothered that they didn't sound good.

You don't like it when I play like that. Pandora did the math in her head. You're telling me it sounds bad. I only played like that to show how muddled my head is. So that means—

Or maybe she was just over-thinking the whole thing?

Damian tried another two. His eyes narrowed when the sound still didn't sound right, willing the piano into submission.

"I'm sorry about what I said earlier," Pandora said. "I didn't mean to hurt your feelings."

Damian's finger pressed a key with frightening strength. Pandora almost worried he'd break the inner string. Emerald irises cut like glass into her, brows knitted in disbelief as he stared at her.

"Pandora," Damian said, carefully articulating his words. "My feelings were not… hurt."

"Well, yeah, maybe you wouldn't word it like that," Pandora said. "But you didn't like hearing what I said, about there being other heroes in Gotham right?"

"My feelings were not hurt."

Pandora tried not to laugh. Damian might destroy her for good this time if she did. "I didn't mean it like you couldn't protect me, I promise. I just wanted you to remember that you could look away from me and I won't just… I dunno, I won't just disappear."

Damian sat back onto the bench. He folded his hands together again, carefully setting them down in his lap. He kept his eyes on the keys.

"You can't promise that."

"...maybe not," Pandora admitted, a bit surprised. "But I could promise to definitely try not to disappear anytime soon, right?"

Damian inclined his head slightly.

"I am aware," Damian started and stopped. He brought a hand to his chin, touching his lower lip before he continued, "I am aware that there are other crusaders present in Gotham. I am also aware of majority of their capabilities. Many of which aside from perhaps two pale in comparison to my own."

Pandora rolled her eyes. Damian continued, "It was not… It was not in the manner of your phrasing which… happened to strike me in a way not particularly well."

"You can just say it bothered you."

"Perhaps," Damian said, as though mulling over his own thoughts. "It was more so your… lacking the severity of the situation to me. Your decisive opinion on my remaining here without even doubting otherwise."

"The first one I get," Pandora said, a bit soft. She shuffled on the seat. Her arm touched Damian's and they sat there together, quiet and warm. "I didn't mean to seem like I wasn't taking it seriously. I was. Your mom is pretty scary, no offense."

Damian inclined his head once in understanding.

"I know it's a serious matter," Pandora said. "But I didn't want it to be the kind of thing that needed to haunt us."

She touched the top of the piano, pressing her palm to it. "I know what it's like to be haunted by things that haven't happened yet. By the stuff that has happened too, and I know what it's like when those kinda nightmares come from your own flesh and blood, you know?"

Damian's eyes turned to her, uncharacteristically tender. Pandora nudged her shoulder into his. He looked at the scar peeking out from the collar of her shirt.

"Maybe not as severe as you," Pandora murmured. "But in my own little normal way. To me though, this whole thing was just a… surprising encounter. One to be remembered, but no more than that, you know? I have to think twice about your mom actually wanting to bother wasting time on me when she could be… I dunno, conquering the world?"

Damian nodded once in agreement. Pandora tried to take that as a sort of backhanded compliment if nothing else. "You said it yourself, she just wanted to get into your head a little. She likes stuff like that, right?"

Damian nodded again, a bit reluctant. It made her smile. "I think I've just realized lately I want to be the kind of person who can move forward. From a lot of things. I've been trying to grow, you know? And the only way to do that is to apply the things I want to do to the new situations happening to me."

"Move forward," Damian said, looking at her. "In what manner?"

Pandora let her fingers linger on the top of the piano. She traced invisible notes and smiled at him, eyes warm, "From a lot of silly little things silly Pan needs to let go."

Damian's fingers touched her wrist. Her smile widened, "So I felt like we should do the same with your mom. Oof, big scary moment, but we're okay now, you know? We're going to keep being okay and see where things go from there."

"...I can understand those sentiments," Damian said softly. He brought a knee up, crooking it and resting the side of his head against it. He watched her, "I can share them."

"Progress, right?" Pandora said cheerfully. I guess the piano really did help. "I don't really like fighting with you, Dam. It makes me feel awful."

"We were not having an argument," Damian corrected. "We merely needed a moment to gather our thoughts."

"Sure, sure, but it still sucked, right?"

"Tt."

Pandora grinned, lightly tapping a few more keys. Damian imitated her. "And about the last thing, you know it's not because I don't want you back."

Damian watched her, eyes half lidded. They seemed a bit dangerous, sharp and keen in how they tried to pick her apart and put her back together in his head. Pandora pretended she didn't notice. "It just bothered me how quickly you were willing to drop all of this for something like that."

"It wasn't that," Damian said. "It was you."

"Yeah, exactly," Pandora said, tapping his wrist. Damian opened up his palm to her, watching her fingers move across, tracing lines. "I know that's what best friends are for. I know I'd want to do the same for you, so don't turn it around on me, okay? But what I'm trying to say is just that…"

Pandora pressed their fingertips together, wiggling them around. Damian's didn't even budge underneath hers. "I think going away and spending time with this team, doing all these great things, working and doing your job as a hero… it seems like it's been really good for you. Even if you don't think it, or want to think it, or it's irrelevant, I feel like they all really like having you here."

Pandora looked curious, staring out the windows, "I think even I forget how much other people deserve to like you. If that makes any sense. I think I hog you too much sometimes."

Damian scoffed, staring at her in disbelief.

"I do, I really do," Pandora said. "And what I meant by it was more like… okay, imagine for a second I… I got invited to go to this really prestigious, amazing program abroad to study the piano. To play, to be drafted and basically work with world renowned orchestras from around the world—say I was away on that, but then I heard you got hurt on a mission or you had a fight with your dad, and then I said I was going to quit the program and come back."

"That's idiotic," Damian said. "Senseless and unnecessary. And they are not the same things. Your matters and your aspirations should never be hindered by my presence. You can't compare these two things and expect—"

"I think I can," Pandora said, meeting his gaze evenly. Glassy pale blue refused to crack under emerald cuts. "I think I should. It's the idea of it, the concept that applies to both of these things. You'd tell me not to do it, right? Not come back."

"Of course," Damian said curtly. "But they are different. It's your work—"

Damian wished he'd cut off his tongue.

Pandora smiled at him, soft.

"I think the kind of friendship where you'd even consider doing that for someone else is really great," Pandora said happily. "And I'm really, really glad I have that with you."

She set her fist down into Damian's palm, giving it a little thump like a hammer. "But it's also the kind of friendship that should be considered with care, so we don't make these choices that might… that might hurt the way we grow or do things as people."

Pandora gave his palm another thump. "I think you have a great sense of self, and I know you're independent. But I'm still a bit of a mess too, you know? I have to grow some more as a person too. I'm not at your level yet."

I'd like to get there soon though. Pandora stared at the piano. And I'd like to think I might be taking the right steps to understand how.

"You need to get your house in order," Mary said. "Then you can move."

"I'm not a hero like you," Pandora said thoughtfully, considering her words with care, little taps against Damian's palm. "To me, your hero stuff is like work. I don't want you to hinder your work for my sake."

"You're not a hindrance," Damian said.

"Dam is the person I get to see the most of," Pandora said, looking at Damian with care, eyes warm. "But that part of Dam that's Robin, the part of Robin that makes up Dam… I don't want anything to change that either.

"At the end of the day, I guess what I wanted to say was sorry for making a mess of all this," Pandora laughed, shaking her head. "And want you to know I'm going to get back home to Gotham with all of my limbs and when you come back when you're supposed to at the end of summer, then I'll still be fine too."

She paused, looking at their hands. Damian's hand finally closed around her fist, holding her hand in his own. His thumb came out, tracing over her knuckles, over the careful lines of her fingers and her neatly trimmed nails, just for the piano.

"...I will consider the words you've spoken to me today with care," Damian said. His voice was a low, nice little rumble, and Pandora shut her eyes for a second, feeling the heavy weight sitting on her chest lift higher and higher, until she felt like she was walking on clouds. "You didn't need to apologize for anything."

Damian looked away for a second before looking back at her, "Forgive me for my own… inadequacy."

"I let you go for a few weeks," Pandora muttered. "And I feel like your vocabulary has gotten crazy again. One day you're gonna slip up and say something like 'I dunno' and the world will end."

Damian tightened his grip on her hand. Pandora glanced at it and his eyes glinted a bit, like a hidden smile, "Then it would be the world at your undoing."

"Supreme Leader Pan," Pandora said, testing out the title. "I kind of like it. Think I'd make a good ruler?"

"No."

"Well, jeez, thanks for the vote. I know who I should exile first."

"My kingdom would conquer yours."

"What the heck?" Pandora said, shoving her shoulder into his. Damian didn't move, simply a rock as always. "Why did Pan Country do to you?"

"Absorbing your country into my own is within your best efforts."

"Sure, sure, that's what they all say—does this mean we're okay now?"

Damian rolled his eyes, the low, condescending exhale betraying the hint of amusement in her words. Pandora waggled her brows at him hopefully. "We have always been okay."

"So you'll take me around Star City tomorrow?"

"That was always within my intentions, but you insist on letting the extra characters follow like sheep."

"Hey, I know you're just saying that. Look at how nice everyone has been! They did a better job of showing me around tonight than you did," Pandora teased. Damian scowled, ready to pull up the holograph calendar of his plans and itinerary for her to witness its greatness. Pandora glanced at the door. What I really need to do is thank Raven… I don't think we would have solved things this fast without her. I want her number to ask for advice in the future.

"By the way," Pandora said, trying to remove her fist from Damian's grip and failing. He was trying combo notes again and they weren't working very well. "Does Raven like anything? I want to give her—"

"She isn't possessed by worldly desires," Damian said, as easy as breathing. "You will fail."

Pandora stared at him.

Damian shrugged, "Did you want me to be dishonest?"

"Well, of course not, but you could've been sweeter about it or—"

"Pandora," she felt a little funny at the way he said her name again. Pandora looked at him, waiting as Damian watched her, clearly, utterly pleased by her attention.

"You've said my name too many times tonight," Pandora said, kicking his foot. Damian let his knee rest against her own. "You'll get sick of it."

Damian continued to watch her. She had a feeling he was thinking about something, but it was rare for him to think so long while looking at her without saying anything. What's up?

"...pick a key again," Pandora said. Damian arched a brow. She gestured to the piano. "Any key, but don't press it yet."

Damian humored her, considering the black and white for a second before finally hovering one long finger over a white key. Pandora smiled, easily picking a black key. "Okay go."

They pressed their keys in unison. One clear, sweet note mixing together.

Damian's head fell onto her shoulder. Pandora blinked in surprise, half turning to look down at him. His eyes were shut, face utterly relaxed. The ever present crease between his brows had loosened.

"Play for me," Damian said. She would've teased him about how petulant he sounded. It made her think of when he was ten or twelve.

Pandora lifted her hands to the keys. Moving quick and smooth so she wouldn't bother the head resting against her, she let her fingers press into black and white, mixing them together.

Without another word, in the warm silence of it all, nothing but lights twinkling out across the bay and just the two of them, everything else forgotten—

Pandora played for the young man beside her. Played and prayed she could play for him for many more days to come.

Dam, I want to understand you better too.

In another room, a single candle flickered in the darkness. Raven considered the wavering flame for a moment, quietly observing and prodding the energy of the air around her.

Satisfied with what she found, Raven calmly lifted the candle to her lips and blew the light out.

Thanks for reading and thanks for waiting! I hope you enjoyed.

To new readers, hahaha, no this story isn't abandoned and I won't abandon it. Updates with months in between are sadly normal for me HAHAHAHA.

Thanks for reading!

Marshmellow-

-OUT!