"absolutely. here, let me get that." he reached for the bowl, and was stopped by a yowl at the door and a muffled "oh fuck off, puff."
juniper looked towards the door, huffing slightly. "dad must be home. our cat always harasses him at the front door."
Damian flinched when he heard the yowl, pressing closer to Juniper instinctively. He calmed down once he got an explanation, even managing to muster up a small smirk. "He sees all that mafia shit and it's the cat that gets him?"
"pssht, the mafia is nothing compared to wild animals. all my respect goes to the people that work with 'em. but yeah. puff manages to scare the shit out of all of us at times."
they heard keys fumbling in the door, and soon magik stumbled through, completely black ball of fluff weaving in between his legs and making a dash for the couch to fall into juniper's lap.
Damian snickered, burying his smile in Juniper's shoulder. He froze against his side as Magik stepped into view, taking forcibly steady breaths until he could pretend the man didn't make him anxious. "Um… hello Mr. Saint-Mora."
magik raised his eyebrows, looking silently at damian for a moment, before cracking into a smile.
"hey, kid. it's just saint. juniper's saint-mora, cause of his mom. how's your back?"
juniper began petting the cat purring loudly in his lap, watching them interact.
Damian pressed closer to Juniper under the look Magik was giving him, looking like he wanted nothing more than to disappear into his shadow. He visibly relaxed when Magik smiled, sagging against Juniper's shoulder. "It's.. fine, Mr. Saint. I feel better than I have in a while."
"great. well, here. got what you asked for, juni. see you kids later, i'm gonna retire for the night."
he dropped an unlabeled shopping bag on the coffee table and crossed to muss up juni's hair. juniper hissed and leaned away from him, but smiled nonetheless. magik smacked him gently on the head before silently going to his bedroom.
Damian finally untensed completely when Magik left the room, not sure if he was nervous about living so close to an adult he didn't know or jealous that Juniper had such a loving home environment. He settled for a healthy mix of both, peering over at Juniper for permission to rifle through the bag before he started poking around.
"feel free to look through it. it's… hospital grade painkillers, if i remember correctly. opioids. as well as naproxen, we were running low on over-the-counter shit anyway."
puff lifted her head to gingerly sniff damian, learning about the new person next to her.
Damian pointedly avoided the opioids- the last thing he needed was an addiction to match his father's- but the fancy painkillers intrigued him. He was quickly distracted by the cat, however, looking into her eyes curiously. "Her name is puff, right?" he asked quietly, reaching forward to let her sniff his hand with slow movements. The last thing he wanted to do was scare her off. "Is she a good girl?"
"only the best. we like to call her 'soot sprite', because she honestly looks like one." juni ran a hand down her back, and she trilled happily before leaning out to smell damian's hand.
'
"she's kind of wild, though. only likes certain people. looks like she'll like you, though.
Damian smiled, cautiously reaching forward to pet her. His movements were clumsy- he'd never managed to have a pet before- but he made up for it in enthusiasm. He lit up when Puff deigned to give him her attention, a wide wonderstruck smile on his face. "You really think so? I… um… she likes me?"
puff closed her eyes, letting him pet her.
"looks like it, love. here, take one finger and rub the bridge of her nose. she loves that." he demonstrated, getting a loud purr, and rested his hand on her back so damian could try.
Damian did as he was told, watching in awe as she purred. It felt so good to be able to make something else happy instead of pained. Like maybe he could be more than just a weapon for whatever cause though he was worth wielding. "How long have you had her?"
"she found us about two years ago. have you seen those posts where someone comes home to a cat sitting in their house that doesn't live there? that's what happened. she was sitting in the sink."
juniper sat back to let damian pet puff, crossing his arms.
"No, I haven't, but I've heard stories." Damian scratched behind her ears, leaning forward to kiss her soft forehead with a gentle smile. "She really just wound up in your sink? How'd she even get into the house?"
"to this day i'm not sure. she showed up about the time of a pretty awful injury on my part, though, so i like to think of her as a blessing."
juniper watched damian pet puff, contemplating.
maybe puff will help him. she seems to like him, maybe they'll get close.
Damian was enchanted with Puff and he didn't think he'd ever get tired of petting her if there weren't someone more important sitting next to him. He pulled away from the cat, making himself comfortable against Juniper's arm again. "Hey, Juniper, what are we now?" he asked after a few seconds of silence, the tips of his ears going red as he realized how out of the blue the question seemed. "Not that we have to be anything at all, if you don't want."
"i'm not sure, love. we aren't exactly familiar with each other. we can be roommates for now, and… see where it goes. hm?" he lifted the arm damian was leaning against, allowing him to tuck himself up against his side.
Damian happily buried himself in Juniper's side, pausing every few seconds to hiss quietly as he jostled his back. He was quite happy when he managed to curl up in a way that didn't hurt, a soft smile on his face. It faded into a frown when he heard Juniper's offer. "Do we still get to cuddle like this if we're roommates?"
"yeah, sure. if it makes you happy." juniper shrugged. "i've known people who cuddle with their friends like this. it's not uncommon."
"I wouldn't know," Damian muttered, wrapping an arm hesitantly around Juniper's waist. "My friends aren't exactly the touchy-feely type."
"makes sense. you act as if nobody's ever touched you." juniper adjusted slightly, so damian could be closer and juniper would still be comfortable.
Damian frowned, pressing his face into Juniper's shoulder. There was new tension running through his shoulders. "Fucking sorry, I guess. You're the first person who's ever wanted to hold me like this, excuse me for wanting to take advantage before you decide I'm too fucked up to care about."
"it was an observation, love. i didn't mean to upset you. i'm sorry." juni said quietly, trying to soothe damian. he really didn't mean to be blunt like he was, it's just something you pick up when you're not allowed to show weakness.
"too fucked up to care about is strong. fucked up, yes. but aren't we all?" he turned slightly to hold damian's face again, and brush his thumb lightly over his bruised cheek.
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