wlrdwide_ suggested this one and honestly I'm jealous I didn't think of this one

angsty but fluffy?? it's more likely than you think

Damian often struggled with his powers. Being stubborn you'd think that he'd be better at earth bending but he'd put much more focus on his sword-wielding abilities rather than his powers growing up. He often found himself jealous when Dick would float around on orbs of air, when Jason and Bruce could create fireballs out of nothing or when Tim was able to slice through metal by just using water. He couldn't stand to see them succeed when he was trailing behind. He'd become accustomed to not using his powers just out of the principle of the matter. However, there was a certain somebody in the Batfamily who would not stand for suppressing such an essential part of themselves. After all, he'd done did the same thing.

It wasn't often when Damian actually got alone time with the eldest of the siblings. Well, sort of siblings, he was still shaky on what he would regard the wards Bruce had as. He strayed away from accepting calling them his brother because they just weren't but he did find himself regarding them as some sort of family. There just wasn't a name for it yet. Nevertheless, out of all of his supposed siblings, he liked Dick the most. Despite his sickly optimism and go lucky attitude, he wasn't that bad. He didn't make fun of Damian's reluctance to use his powers like the others and was always there; whether you wanted him there or not. They were sitting together in the living room for some quiet time when Dick decided to strike up a touchy subject. "Why don't you use your powers? It would go nicely with your swordwork," Dick asked. The younger looked away with a glare and shrugged. "Silence isn't an answer," he added. 

"It's none of your business!" Damian shouted. He sent a stone wall between him and Dick but both knew it wasn't an intentional action. Dick hummed and floated over the top of it. He crouched down beside the earth bender with an empathetic look. "It kinda is my business," he replied.

"How so?"

"If I think you'd be better using your powers then I should know why you don't use them aside from your emotional outbursts," he explained clearly. That was him all over. Always caring even when told not to. For an air bender, he was rather stubborn like that.

Dick patiently waited for an answer, making a small orb of spinning air underneath him when his legs ached from crouching. He was insistent on getting an answer which was all too annoying for the younger. "Why do you care Grayson?" His tone was pointed, intentionally menacing, but it didn't put the other off as he'd intended. It actually made him look more empathetic. "Because you remind me of me when I was a kid," he answered. Damian raised an eyebrow at him. In what way could that be the case? Dick was described as a spritely kid with a smile on his face twenty-four-seven come wind or shine. He was never described as a demon spawn who was pessimistic just for the sake of it. They were opposites, personality-wise and element-wise, so how could they ever be similar. "We're natural opposites," he stated.

"Yet we can find common ground such as repressing our powers," Dick offered.

"You have never repressed your powers," Damian scoffed, folding his arms in disbelieve. He was using his powers right now without a second thought. "In the time you've known me." He stopped hovering and took a seat on the couch, tapping the spot next to him. Deciding he didn't have much else to do, Damian sat beside him.

The air bender took a deep breath before beginning the story. In all honesty, Damian was little off-put by the beginning. As he learned from all YouTuber videos, something starting off with a deep breath never meant anything good. "My dad had been from a non-bender family and my mum was the generation skipped for bending. As non-bender acrobats, the market was tough. They were lucky to get into Haley's. When I found I was a bender, I hid it," he began. Damian could hardly think of the acrobat not using his powers. He wasn't reliant on it but he hardly kept it a secret. "My parents never found out and I just thought that I was wrong for having my abilities. Then that night happened. I'd hid them for so long that when I tried to save them, I couldn't do it." His voice broke upon remembering the night they fell. He'd never been so desperate to do something in his life and yet he failed. He failed so much that he'd lost two people he cared about most in the world. The feeling of hopelessness and weakness had always haunted him. Had Damian not been struggling with his bending, he wouldn't have said anything about it. He didn't like talking about it. But if it helped the younger then he was willing to swallow the temptation to cry and stomach the awful mess that befitted his parents. "I hid them even more after that. I thought if I couldn't save them then I shouldn't have them. Of course, you can't just go down the lane and get rid of them. You have to commit a major crime for that so I just didn't use them." He made a small orb in his hands to keep them fidgeting. He'd always fidget uncomfortably when he reminisced on the period which was rather annoying when you were putting on a brave front. "The only time I used them was when I had an emotional outburst."

"What changed?" Damian asked, intrigued by this side of Dick.

"I hurt Bruce and Alfred." He paused and took another deep breath. He could feel a pressure building in his chest. "There was something on TV. I think it was the news. One of them made a passing comment on my parents. They really emphasized that they were non-benders. Like that made their deaths less important than benders." The orb he was playing with grew twice its size as he thought about it. "I just got so mad. They were good people. People who'd never ever say something like that about a bender. It was almost as though their deaths were somehow justified. Their lives were worthless anyway but they were worth much more than that bi-" Dick felt a hand on his arm, drawing him away from getting lost in the memory. Damian pointed to the ever-growing orb of wind in his hands which he quickly diminished. He chuckled at himself for being so silly as to let the memory take hold. "If that's anything to go off then you know how mad I got. Add that to my unruly powers and I created a tornado. One that knocked Alfred into the bookcase, making his backache for months afterward, and threw Bruce into a table, smashing a priceless vase which caused a gash in his arm."

"I hurt you when I made that earthquake. You could've broken your arm," Damian remembered. The earthquake wasn't supposed to be of that magnitude, he just needed to let off some steam and couldn't keep a lid on it anymore. Dick came over to calm him down but the stalactites (is that what ceiling rocks are called??) in the cave were unstable. One narrowly missed him but still sent him tumbling to the ground and a much smaller one hit his arm. There was a large painful bruise on his forearm for weeks after. Every time Damian saw it, he'd feel guilty. He could imagine that Dick felt the same way after what he did. "I apologized over and over but it didn't make my guilt go away even though they said it was fine. Bruce suggested I should train and practice so it wouldn't happen again."

"You're suggesting I should do the same?" Dick nodded.

"You can't suppress something so essential to what you are. In the end, you'll hurt someone important. I was scarred from making that mistake and I won't have you feeling the same." Damian hummed. He guessed he did have a point. Using his earth bending would make him a better fighter. Much better than Tim could ever be even with his abilities. The story he heard was inspiring but it did leave him with one question. "Do you still feel guilty?"

"If I didn't, I don't think I'd be working as hard as I do now to help people."

"Well, you shouldn't feel guilty. Had you not made your mistake, you wouldn't be here now. Though you may be insufferable at times, a Grayson free life wouldn't be as enjoyable as one with you in it." Dick snatched the younger up in a hug and Damian allowed him to have a few brief seconds before pulling away with a put on disgusted look. 

"Love you too, Dami."

"Yeah yeah, whatever."

Hope you liked it!!