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Tick. Tick. Tick.
The second arm of the clock had never moved so slow until now, in Jason's honest opinion.
Tick. Tick. Tick.
Everyone was answering the seatwork for Math, so the whole class was silent. It was silent enough that Jason could probably hear a pin drop. Jason had checked, and rechecked his answers three times now, finishing faster than all of his classmates.
Three. Two. One.
"Okay, class. Pass your papers forward!" said Ms. Eaton loudly.
A couple of Jason's classmates groan in disappointment, some complaining that the allotted time was too short. Ms. Eaton was strict and paid no attention to the complaints. Jason just passed his paper forward silently.
Once Ms. Eaton had collected the papers, she said a few reminders to the class before dismissing them 5 minutes earlier than the bell so that they wouldn't rush. Jason eagerly packed up his belongings neatly inside his bag, excited to go home.
Some of Jason's classmates talked with each other, waiting for the bell to ring. Jason, however, just pulled out a book that he got from the manor library and read silently.
Jason was at the part where the resurrected protagonist was about to face-off with his father and murderer when the bell rang loudly, startling Jason and making him flinch. He placed a handmade bookmark on the page he was on before putting it inside his bag. He all but shot up from his seat to get out of the classroom and ran in record time to the parking area.
He was slightly heaving when he saw Damian waiting at the same place he always does when he picks Jason up from school, his eyes looking around the area. Damian was probably looking for Jason in the crowd, so Jason waved at his older brother and called out his name loudly to attract his attention.
Jason, in an effort to calm his excited heart, took a deep breath before walking towards his brother, though nothing could probably remove the smile on his face.
"Shall we go?" Damian asked once Jason had arrived near the car. Jason nodded excitedly and immediately ran again to enter the car.
Damian entered afterwards, then made sure Jason was wearing his seatbelt before driving off the school yard.
"How was school?" Damian asked Jason.
Jason placed a hand on his chin, thinking about everything that happened earlier. "Nothing special, to be honest. Though, my English teacher greeted me. I'm honestly surprised she remembered it! Also, we answered something for Math, and I think I was the first one to finish."
Damian hummed both in acknowledgement and encouragement for Jason to continue.
"PE was horrible as always. I mean, I'm decent at it, but the other guys are too competitive. Not to mention sexist," Jason added, frowning at the memory of Hunter insulting Mary during the Boys vs. Girls match.
Damian raised an eyebrow, sensing that there was something else. "Oh? And what did you do?"
Jason gave him a mischievous grin. "Don't worry, no one was hurt. Physically. Emotionally, though? Well, I can't say much about that."
That made Damian let out a deep chuckle. Jason just grinned even wider, proud of himself for how he handled Hunter's assholery.
Though the conversation was continuing, Jason was still eagerly glancing outside, left and right.
"Have you thought about what you're going to get?" Damian queried.
"Not really? I just know I want a dog, but I'm sure when I see him or her, I'll know it," Jason replied.
A few minutes passed before they finally arrived at their destination. Jason took off his seatbelt and got out of the car, barely able to contain his excitement.
A chime rang out from the pet shop as Jason and Damian entered it, catching the attention of the woman inside the shop.
"Hi, Selina!" Jason greeted.
"Jason! Happy birthday, darling," Selina, the pet shop's owner, replied.
Jason ran up to give her a tight hug, and Selina kissed Jason's forehead. Selina looked behind Jason and smiled at Damian.
"Hello, Damian. It's nice to see you."
Damian gave a respectful nod to his father's new paramour, and was thankfully saved from an awkward encounter by an eager Jason pulling on his hand.
"Dami! Come on, let's go see them!" Jason said, eyes practically gleaming with excitement.
Jason practically pulled Damian to the area where the rescue animals were located. Cats and dogs of various sizes were inside, all looking at Jason as he walked around the room.
Jason stopped in front of a small chihuahua, yipping loudly as it pawed on the door of the huge cage. He cooed slightly when the dog licked at his hand when he reached out to pet it.
"His name is Peanut, and he's a 2-year-old stray we found a week ago by the diner across the street," Selina informed Jason.
Jason continued to pet Peanut, but he knew in his core that while this little dog was cute, he wasn't the right dog for him. He informed both Damian and Selina of this, and so they walked a little farther into the area.
Jason met many dogs (and cats!) but all of them didn't feel like the right dog. And just as he was about to give up, he saw something familiar in the corner of its pen.
Slowly, Jason walked up to the dog and knelt in front of it. Up close, Jason could see the familiar scar on its ear. The dog also slowly walked towards the front of the pen, and sniffed Jason's outstretched hand.
"I know you," Jason whispered quietly, mostly to himself.
Selina, noticing the interest of Jason in the dog, went on to tell them what she knew about it. "She's fairly new, we only got her today. We don't exactly know what breed she is, but she's probably a mastiff or a bullmastiff."
Jason turned to look at Damian and Selina. "I know her! She's the one who protected me from a crook before!"
He turned back around to pet the dog again. This time her tail was wagging left and right strongly. Jason scratched a specific part of the dog, and she laid down on the floor, belly up.
"I think we've found the right dog, haven't we?" Damian asked Jason, amused by how familiar the two now acted with each other.
Without turning his back, Jason replied with a cheerful affirmative. At the end of the day, Jason and Damian returned back to the manor (and to a surprise birthday party arranged by Tim, Bruce, and Alfred) with a new companion in life in tow.
Best. Birthday. Ever.