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Tim snuck a curious glance at his brother. Dick was sitting on the head of the dinosaur, humming some random tune, only moving to check his watch and swing his legs. He had been there for thirty minutes, not saying a word and out of costume. Questions swirled in Tim’s mind. Sure, it wasn’t the most unusual sight. Ever since Bruce had gotten back from being lost in time, the entire family had been spending more and more time in the cave. Granted, they were often there in costume, but it wasn’t entirely out of the ordinary that they would hang out after they finished patrol. What bugged Tim was the lack of conversation or any sort of communication from Dick. His brother never liked silence. Tim could hardly remember a time when he didn’t try and strike up a conversation. He didn’t even greet Tim when he entered.
Using a black computer screen as a reflection, Tim squinted at Dick, racking his brain for a reason Dick would be there. Damian wasn’t the reason; the brat was out with his own little kid hero squad. He probably wasn’t there for Bruce and Alfred was in the manor. Jason hardly contacted the cave directly, much less visited. Duke was asleep in the manor, exhausted from the day patrol. Barbara was in the Clock Tower, which was closer to Bludhaven so there’s no need for Dick to come all the way to the Batcave. Bludhaven was fine(he checked this morning). Stephanie was out on patrol, but Tim couldn’t think of a time that the two hung out. And, Tim was in the cave. If Dick needed him, he would have spoken up when he entered, not waited half an hour.
Cass could be the reason. She was spending the weekend visiting from Hong Kong and was out on patrol with Stephanie at the moment. But what did Dick need from her that wasn’t urgent enough to demand immediate attention and yet still important enough for him to come all the way to the cave? Not to mention waiting a long time?
Tim supposed he could just ask his brother why he was here. But Dick had barely acknowledged him since he entered and Tim felt like it was wrong to disturb the peace. Plus, he still felt a little awkward around his older brother after the whole “Damian is now Robin” shebang.
A loud whirring sound shook Tim from his thoughts. He looked over the cause of the noise. The Zeta Beam glowed and whirled to life, transporting someone. His body slumped when he saw who it was. Rolling his eyes and turning back to his computer, Tim called out, “What do you want, Demon Brat? Don’t you have someone else to boss around?”
Damian, predictably, ignored him. Instead he greeted Dick. “Hello Richard. I see you are thirty minutes early, as usual.”
“Better than being late. Are you ready for the best day of the year?” Dick responded, sounding a little too cheerful for the time.
Tim peered his eyes at the screen in front of him, pretending not to eavesdrop.
“Tt. I would hardly consider this the best day of the year.”
“But you have to be at least excited.”
“I would be if not for the hours I could spend training being wasted on this.” Dick laughed brightly at this comment.
Tim was thoroughly confused. Last time he checked there were no birthdays for at least a month. No big holidays either. Could it be a death anniversary? But the two had sounded excited, not upset. Not to mention the most puzzling part of this situation: since when did Damian make jokes? Tim turned slightly in his chair, prepared to ask about this so-called “best day of the year.”
Before Tim could say anything, the garage to the cave opened and in came two motorcycles. Spoiler and Batgirl had returned from patrol. Cass rode hers to a slow steady stop while Stephanie practically leapt off of hers before it even fully stopped. Running up to Dick, she yelled “WAFFLE DAY!” and leapt into his arms.
He shouted back “WAFFLE DAY!” and spun her around. Once she was back on her feet, Damian gave her a pointed look and coughed slightly.
Smiling sickly sweet, Stephanie patted his head and spoke to him, “Happy Waffle Day, Mistake of the Family.”
Tim barely heard Damian’s response through his own disbelief. Sure they all teased him and called him a brat, but they would never call him a mistake. But to his surprise, Damian didn’t attack her or even flinch. Instead he smirked back at her, looking vaguely evil, and told her “Happy Waffle Day to you too Not Even Adopted.”
Tim could see his own shock reflected in his sister. Cass was staring at the two, fluctuating between shock and anger. They both knew that it had taken time for Stephanie to feel secure in the family, despite not being adopted. However, Stephanie didn’t even tense up, just kept smiling at Damian for a few long moments. Both of their eyes narrowed at each other as the staring contest grew longer.
Dick sighed loudly, interrupting the tense silence that fell over the cave. “Why do you guys insist on doing this every time?”
Stephanie finally looked up from her staring contest to grin at Dick. “It’s basically tradition. Who else will keep this little twerp in check?”
Damian straightened up as well, eyeing the bruise forming on her cheek. “She needs to keep in check as well. Clearly she needs to spend more time training.”
Stephanie just laughed at his rude remark. Tim stole a glance at Cass to figure out if she knew what was going on. Cass just stared back at him, her eyebrows just slightly furrowed in confusion. They both were thinking the same thing: Was that concern in Damian’s voice? And directed at Stephanie?
“Just go get dressed Steph. It’s almost two.” Dick was right. The girls’ patrol was unnaturally short. Patrol usually lasted longer by an hour or two.
“Right on BatBoss!” Stephanie called out as she started to jog to the dressing rooms.
“Don’t call me that!” Dick yelled back, shaking his head as he turned to his youngest brother. “Wanna help me pack the supplies?”
Damian nodded and soon the two disappeared to the manor above. Tim stared in bewilderment before turning to Cass. Whispering to her, he asked “Did you know they were that close?”
She just shrugged in response, a questioning look on her face.
“Why did you guys stop the patrol so early?!”
“Steph said come back now. Mentioned waffles.”
“Any idea about what Waffle Day is?”
Cass shook her head before straightening up at the entrance of the two brothers. Dick was carrying a worn purple backpack. Damian strolled by his side, arms crossed but with a pleasant look on his face. Another piece to the puzzle was that they both had changed clothes. Dick was wearing sweatpants and some shirt Tim couldn’t quite place. Damian was wearing jeans and a t-shirt similar to Dick’s beneath a jacket. It might have been the first time Tim has ever seen Damian wear something so casual, outside of training and pajamas that is.
Dick hollered over his shoulder to the dressing rooms. “You almost done Steph?”
“Just a minute! I can’t decide what to wear!” came the reply.
It was Damian who shouted back at her. “Wear the black leggings with the yellow stripes! It looks the best with the shirt!”
Not a minute later, Stephanie burst out of the dressing room, wearing the exact leggings Damian told her to wear and a large t-shirt to match. Now that Tim looked closer, the shirt was the same that the other two were wearing. It was purple with a dancing smiling waffle on it. The words “WAFFLE DAY” surrounded the print.
Tim was starting to get a headache. He was too tired for this. The only explanation he could think for what was happening was that it was all a hallucination caused by lack of sleep. He’d wake up in the morning, Dick wouldn’t be weirdly quiet, Damian would be snobby and not funny, and things would make sense.
“Great. She’s here. Let’s go.” Damian drawled, frowning just a bit. Dick nodded and smiled, starting to type in coordinates into the zeta tube. Stephanie bounced over to them. But as the zeta tube activated, Tim tried once more to question them.
“Wait! What is going on?”
Dick glanced over to them and was about to answer when Damian pushed him into the light and followed, flashing the middle finger to the remaining bats. Stephanie just gave them a crazed smile and said with jazz hands “It’s Waffle Day, bitches!”
And with that she disappeared into the zeta beam and the tube deactivated.
Tim and Cass shared a look before immediately racing to the tube to see where they went.
*******************************************************************************
“You do know they are probably tracking us right now?”
The three were sitting in a corner booth of a small town’s diner. Empty hot chocolate mugs decorated the table they were at. Each of them had their own stack of piping hot waffles. There was a quiet hum of 50s music in the background. Waitresses moved around, picking up dishes and taking orders. Other than that and the soft chatter scattered throughout the building, the diner was almost silent.
“ I know,” Dick said, cheerfully taking a bite out of his waffle.
Damian glanced questioningly up at his older brother. “And you’re not worried?”
“Nope. Tim may be a great hacker but I was the original and by the time they figure it out, we’ll be long gone.” Dick grinned at his two siblings. “Now, ratings?”
“4 out of 10” Stephanie replied, looking down at her waffles with disappointment.
“7 out of 10,” Damian said. Stephanie gasped in mock horror.
“They were not that good!”
“I appreciated the fruit and this is one of the few places where they do not come immediately with a side of bacon or sausage.”
“But there is no whip cream! That is immediately minus three points according to the official rules of the Waffle Day Handbook!”
“Tt. That handbook is a joke.” Damian challenged, an eyebrow raised as he glared at her. Stephanie gasped in horror, real horror this time, and picked up her fork, ready to fight. Damian saw this and picked up his syrup covered knife.
Dick held out his hands to stop the both of them from fighting each other. Even with all the progress they’ve made, the two still seem to get into arguments about the smallest of things. “Hey! Stop it, both of you! Besides, it was clearly a 5 out of 10.”
Immediately the two started yelling at Dick, both disagreeing with his rating.
Next thing they knew all three were standing in the parking lot of the diner, an angry owner warning them what they would do if the three ever returned to the diner. Dick sighed as he gazed at the diner.
“Damn. That’s like the fifth one this year.”
Stephanie nodded, just as mournful. “A true loss.” Not even ten seconds later she piped up, “Next one?”
Dick nodded. “Next one.”
The three turned and headed to their car. Dick grabbed a map from the inside and unfurled it on top of the car. Damian and Stephanie appeared next to him and together they looked at the mess of restaurants, roads, and towns.
“So,” Dick announced. “Where to next?”
Immediately, Stephanie pointed to a nearby Waffle House “Waffle House!”
“Oh please no.” Damian groaned.
“Got a problem with good food Batbrat?” Stephanie shot at him, still upset from their argument earlier.
“No. But I have a problem with your face.” Damian sneered back.
Dick glanced up at the sky, taking a moment for himself, remembering when he was an only child. He missed that.
When he realized his siblings were in fact still fighting, he sighed wearily and pointed at another waffle joint on the map. “How about this one?”
“NO!” the two yelled at him in unison. Even when fighting, they still manage to disagree with anything he says. Dick held up his hands in surrender. Happy Waffle Day indeed.