Narrative: It's all about your surroundings. Who: Damian Wayne, narrative Where: Wayne Manor When: Friday, September 30th What: Back home means it's time for a little peace and quiet. Rating: PG
It hadn't been difficult to adapt to a new routine: Gotham Academy during the week, home during the weekends. There wasn't any planning or prep that needed to be seen to, just a satchel of books toted to and from. If anyone else had any concerns, they hadn't raised any. Damian had gotten used to seeing the car waiting at the school and the Great Dane waiting just inside the doorstep.
Boarding school had been an adjustment, not that Damian would have admitted it. The school was structured with a schedule that was planned within an inch of it's life. Although free time was few and far between, there still seemed to be many opportunities for students to wander about. The teachers were also everywhere, frequently chaperoning during study halls or playing dorm monitor. At least Professor MacPherson's German Shepherd proved to be a welcome distraction.
The students, on the other hand, took some getting used to. First there was his roommate, who seemed to stay out of the room more often than not, not that Damian minded. But there were also plenty of other personalities as if someone had tried to see how many different attitudes they could fit in one school. (Someone in Admissions had eclectic taste.) In particular, the first year in his history class had the enthusiasm of Sin and the relentless of Grayson. Damian doubted he'd consider the manor as crowded again, except perhaps during the many functions father held.
The school cafeteria alone had been an interesting affair. It had taken about a week for Damian to find a regular group of students to sit with and most of those seemed to have their own preoccupations. There had been a few ambitious social climbers who had mostly left him alone after he'd failed to join their little cliques. There were the students who wanted to be anything but, easily identified by their attempts at staying just inside the dress code and their complete lack of study habits. Most of the students were diligent and hard working. They put effort into their studies but also bemoaned their academics loudly when they weren't focused on the latest fad.
(Which was still better than the faculty. Damian was almost positive he'd seen the librarian before in a completely different capacity.)
So it was of little surprise that when he returned home, Damian quickly retreated to his room. After four and a half days of disarray, he found that he had a new appreciation for the stillness of the manor. All it had taken was a little perspective.