He was nervous. He knew he had no reason to be. Father wasn’t grandfather. Now if only he could convince himself of that.
“ father” he spoke just loud enough to be heard but with enough false confidence to try and drown out his irrational fear
“ damian” his father turned his body from where it had been angled toward duke and the batcomputer “ are you alright?”
“Yes” gods that was dry he needed to make his point faster “ you named yourself batman due to your fear of bats correct.” More of a statement than a question
“Yes” fathers eyebrow rose telling him to go on
“ and you wear the name to overcome that fear correct.”
“ yes” his fathers face was filling with amusement now so was dukes who was now grinning knowing exactly where damian was going with this conversation. His little feet kicked eagerly from where he sat on the batcomputers desk
“ I’ve thought about it and have decided that I’ll be calling myself shadow from now on ” his back was still a bit stiff “ I’m not afraid of shadows though , its so I can make other kids who are afraid of shadows not fear them ” he rushes out with an explanation hoping his father won’t think of him as too childish
Duke jumps off the computer and tackles him with a hug. He’s a little startled but less tense now that he has dukes support, not that he ever doubted it.
He looks expectantly at his father.
Bruce smiles fondly at them “ i think that’s a good idea damian ”
His body immediately relaxes and he smiles back at his father. Maybe he could enjoy it here after all he thinks to himself
