Castle Of Glass | B. Wayne

[44]

Calmia knew something was terribly wrong when Bruce told her nothing about how his conversation with Tim went. He had returned exhausted and without Tim, which cleared up enough that the boy wasn't ready to come home yet.

After that, he had left straight for patrol and instead of coming to his room by dawn, he stayed in the cave. It all indicated that he was disturbed but avoided talking about it.

Bruce had always been like that. He preferred isolating himself until the problem went away rather than discussing it with people around him. But his method of coping with his troubles was self-destructive and it had already taken quite a toll on him.

The next morning when Calmia came down for breakfast, Damian was there but Bruce still hadn't shown up.

"Good morning Miss Calmia," the young boy greeted her, focusing on his breakfast as if there was nothing out of the ordinary to not have Bruce around.

Sometimes she wondered just how detached they all were to the concept of other family members being in emotional turmoil. It was almost the same as their detachment to injuries received on patrol; they had accepted it as a routine and seldom made any fuss about it.

But she thought it was worrisome how they reacted the same way towards emotional conflict. Just like Bruce, they never addressed it.

Or even if they did like Jason had once told her, they went to Richard or Alfred, but that too was a last resort when ignoring the situation didn't work anymore.

In her opinion, all of them needed therapy considering the trauma their vigilante life had left them with. And Bruce needed it most because he had some deep-rooted issues that needed to be acknowledged if he wanted to improve. Instead, he was running away from those issues like criminals ran from the bars.

What had she gotten married into? That question weighed her mind each time she saw her family going through the worst but refusing to acknowledge it.

"Miss Calmia, is everything alright?" Damian's voice shook her out of those thoughts and she looked at him as if just realizing he was there.

"Well... Shouldn't I be the one asking that?" She sighed softly, her eyes taking in the confusion on his face, "Is everything alright?"

He immediately understood what she was referring to, evident from his later question. "With father or with Drake?"

"Both."

Damian considered whether or not to tell her what he had overheard from Jason's last call to Richard. But then he decided to tell her because keeping her in the dark was unfair.

She was a significant member of the family too. She deserved to know.

"Drake erupted on Father yesterday," he spoke, cautiously selecting his words, "It was quite unexpected for the rest of us but I think I understand where he was coming from. He does too much for too little in return that it was bound to make him burst."

Calmia knew Tim was self-sacrificial and did a lot more than was necessary for all of them. She also knew that it could push him to the edge considering how much he burdened himself. But as she heard the rest from Damian, she felt a very urgent need to go and see Tim, ensuring that he was okay herself.

The rest of their breakfast passed in silence until it was time for her to leave for her office.

"May I come along with you to your workplace?" Damian asked which honestly surprised her. "If you allow, that is. Todd told me that you were looking for a sketch artist for your new project. Maybe I could help."

She knew Damian was excellent at sketching and true enough, she needed someone with his skills to generate concept sketches for her recent interior design project. But she hadn't expected him to offer himself.

Perhaps it was an attempt from Damian to reduce the tension or perhaps he wanted to come along to make sure she didn't get too anxious that it could harm her potentially.

Whatever the reason, she appreciated the gesture.

"Of course, Damian, I'd love that," a soft smile creased her features at last but the worry for Tim still lingered.

He accompanied her out to the porch, slowing down his pace to match hers. Once they were out of the manor, he made another suggestion, "Or if you want to go to Bludhaven to see Drake, we could do that too."

She could see that he was just as concerned for Tim but did not admit it. He too needed an excuse to check up on his caffeinated wreck of a brother.

Tim and Dami might fight all the time but that didn't mean they didn't care for one another.

"That's all very well and I do want to see Tim, but I haven't talked to Bruce about this," she replied after a little consideration.

"I see," Damian didn't say much after that.

She needed to know from Bruce what had happened so she would have a clearer idea of both sides of the picture.

However, Calmia added to assure him, "But I will definitely go to Bludhaven this weekend and you can accompany me then."

Damian looked slightly surprised at the offer but then nodded, "Certainly. Thank you.

"You're always welcome."

He was always formal but his icy exterior had started to thaw around her ever since he had accepted her as a family member too.

He didn't change his decision to accompany her to the office as he wasn't one to take back his words. Plus, he did look forward to seeing what kind of sketches she needed because working on them would be a worthwhile distraction from the horrible emptiness back at home due to Timothy Drake's absence.

Their car came to a halt in the parking area of the building where Interiospective's office was located. She led him to the elevators, telling him a bit about the upsides of her firm being located in a co-working space.

Damian was listening attentively and his emerald green eyes were observing everything around him thoroughly. When they reached Calmia's office, the rest of her team was quite surprised to see the youngest Wayne.

But they quickly welcomed him on board and showed him samples of the sketches they needed under Calmia's guidance. Soon enough, Damian had started to work, his drawing pen flowing effortlessly on the paper he was given. Nicole would digitalize and render his sketch so once he completed it, the first outcome would be scanned and uploaded for digitization.

Calmia liked to see Damian so involved with the process and felt grateful that he had come with her to work that day.

It was a temporary distraction but quite welcomed by both. However, she knew that once she got home, she had to talk to Bruce in detail.

She couldn't let him run away from that problem as it directly concerned his bond with Tim.

***