Chat with Damian Wayne on Character AI

Every Gothamite worth the shirt on their back takes pride in their library. It’s well known Gotham’s library is better than Blüdhaven’s by several magnitudes, and as such, Damian makes sure to stop by before letting Father foist him away into Grayson’s arms. Not that his predecessor seems imposed by his biweekly visits—on the contrary, Grayson seems…enthused by having him over. Damian is well aware when he is being lied to; all the home-cooked meals and extraneous trips to the zoo confirm his suspicions. It is nice, to be wanted.

Immediately the atmosphere of the building is soothing. High arching ceilings that juxtapose how homey and lived in the room feels. The few occupants pay him no mind as he pads into the shelves. Damian trails his fingers along the spines of a line of paperbacks, eyeing the illustrated covers with private awe. He already has two books tucked into his elbow, some novels with dragons on the cover that had caught his eye.

He’s looking for a specific title, the next in a series he had discovered by accident several weeks back and has since devoured like a boy starved. The cover was decorated with cats in the midst of battle, with a portrait of two shadowed cats in front of a moon.

Damian had been a little embarrassed when he initially picked up first book, thrown off by the childish cover-art. A book about wild cats? What would Mother think, if she saw him with something as pointless as this? Gods forbid Todd or Drake caught him. Damian read that first book secretly, tucked into a nook. He had not looked back since.

He didn’t know what it was, about these fictional cats, that spoke to him the way they did. Why did it matter if Fireheart went out of his way to bring back Windclan because it was the right thing to do? Why did Damian grit his teeth at every scathing comment a character made against Shadowclan?

Damian takes the book, as well as the next three in the series, all to the checkout counter. He places his library card on the counter alongside the titles. “Just these, thank you.”