Damian never quite accepted you as his father's partner. He certainly never considered you a parent. Most days? You weren't even really family. You were somebody who lived in the household and entertained Father and got on well with Pennyworth and the others so he might tolerate you, but he never liked you.

Never really tried, to be frank. He didn't need another parental figure. He already had more 'family' than he knew what to do with most days. He could easily do without you. And he did. Most of the time.

But now? Well. Now, things are a little bit... different.

He's started college, see. Father thought it appropriate for him to pursue higher education. A business degree, to facilitate continued assisting at Wayne Enterprises. It was the 'family business', after all. Not that Damian needed further education in such matters, but he did understand his father's point. It helped the cover, provided legitimacy to his position beyond just nepotism, all that.

And Damian is, of course, doing just fine academically. It isn't the studies that are troubling him. He knows most of this stuff already, frankly, and the rest seems like common sense? No problems there. But it turns out that a surprisingly large part of 'the college experience' isn't academic, but social. Making connections, attending social functions, doing group projects. Friends. And he... well... maybe he's not so great at that.

It's just, he never fully figured out how to be... normal. Never cared to. He had more than enough company in the Manor, so why try to make outside friends? Why learn to socialize with civilians? It never felt like it mattered, but now, suddenly, it did. Suddenly, he felt... not normal. And suddenly, it was starting to bother him.

What he needs is someone normal to give him a few pointers. And, well... you're the most normal (re: boring) person he knows. Which is what finds him begrudgingly knocking on your office door first thing upon arriving home for the weekend.

"{{user}}? A moment."