#I refuse to believe Shiva would do anything like that

[binglepringle]

Read possibly the worst fic ever last night and now I genuinely don’t understand why people thought Shiva had a specific ill intention in this page

Like she didn’t do anything?? She knew what he was thinking and immediately deflected? I don’t understand why some people think she was being predatory here when she immediately shut him down; she just wanted to teach him martial arts.

[numinousmysteries]

Dancing the Tandava (8/10)

[on Ao3] @today-in-fic

Geneva, Switzerland 2023

Mulder has a lifetime of experience with one too-smart-for-her-own-good petite woman staring him down like he’s lost his mind, but he isn’t used to two of them. And yet that’s the situation he finds himself in back at William’s apartment with both Scully and Hannah raising their eyebrows in unison as he explains his theory.

“He does know that wormholes are purely hypothetical, right?” Hannah says to Scully, with a mixture of disbelief and fear. “That they don’t actually exist?”

“Hypothetical is a relative term for Mulder,” Scully answers. “But yes, he should be fully aware that there’s no such thing as a traversable wormhole through which one could travel in time.”

Mulder steps toward her impatiently and says, “I’ve heard dozens of reports of time travel experiments at Camp Hero. If that’s where Bellona’s wife, Samita, disappeared, she could be caught in temporal purgatory. Bellona has figured out how to harness the large hadron collider to open up a portal between now and 1993 when she disappeared. I haven’t worked out why he’s sent William back there, but it could be in exchange for her, or even as a test to see if it works.”

Hannah’s face remains frozen in shock while Scully reaches out her hand to grip Mulder’s wrist.

“Mulder,” she starts. “All I want is to find our son, and I know that’s what you want, too. But don’t you think it’s more likely that Bellona killed his wife and tried to do the same to William?”

He shakes his head. Their son is alive. If he knows anything, he knows that. “Hannah, you said they never found Samita’s body. She was just presumed dead.”

“That’s right,” Hannah says quietly. “But, still—”

“And you mentioned Bellona ran an unusual experiment the night William went missing,” he interrupts. “I think that was him activating the wormhole, opening the portal into time.”

“Mulder, stop,” Scully nearly shouts at him. “Even if what you’re implying is possible, which it most certainly is not, Bellona would somehow need to generate enough energy to essentially create a black hole. He only managed to operate the collider at 15 TeV, right, Hannah? If I remember my physics correctly, that's still orders of magnitude smaller than what would be required for what Mulder’s suggesting.”

“You’re right,” Hannah says “It would need to be on the level of Planck energy.”

“Which I assume is…a lot?” Mulder asks.

“Uh, yeah,” says Hannah. “You’d need electrovolts in the area of 10 to the 19-billionth power. We’re only dealing with a few trillion here.”

Mulder nods as he processes her words. “Maybe that has something to do with his ritual at the Shiva statue. Maybe he’s attempting to harness an ancient, cosmic energy that surpasses anything you can create in a lab. We need to talk to Bellona again.”

“I don’t know what else you expect to get out of him,” Scully says, sounding defeated.

“He’s motivated by love, Scully, just like us. He wants his wife back and we want our son. I think we can appeal to him that way.”

Eager to confront Bellona again, he turns and opens the door, trusting Scully and Hannah will follow him.

Outside the apartment building, Scully tugs on his hand and pulls him toward her. “Can we have a moment?” He sees her eyes are welling with tears and her chin is wrinkled with worry.

“Sure,” he responds. “Hannah, go on ahead. We’ll catch up.”

Once the younger woman is out of earshot, he turns to Scully. “What’s up?”

She bites down on her lower lip and blinks slowly. “I think we need to be prepared to not find William alive.”

“No.” The word comes out louder than he intends it to and she gasps. He takes both of her hands in his and leans closer. “Scully, I refuse to believe that, and I know you better than to think you’d give up so soon. Whatever has happened to him, we’re going figure it out and we’re going to find him.”

“I just don’t—” she starts but a flood of tears interrupts her and her chest heaves.

He pulls her in close to him, feeling her muscles spasm through her thin jacket as her tears dampen his sweater. “It’s going to be okay,” he whispers into her hair. He kisses the top of her head and slowly strokes her back to soothe her.

“How are you so calm?”

“One of us has to be.” He sighs and feels her laughing softly against his chest. “And because I know William. He’s smarter than both of us combined. He’s probably going to find us before we find him.”

Scully takes a deep breath. She stands up straight, still holding his hands. “You really think he was sent back to 1993? Do you think he’d look for us?”

“Could you imagine how we’d react if he found us?” Mulder smiles. “We barely knew each other back then. Do you think you’d believe we have a son in the future?”

“No,” she chuckles, squeezing her eyes shut as she lowers her gaze to the ground. “Not a chance. But you would. You’d believe him.”

“If it meant I’d have a shot at getting with you one day, I wouldn’t need much proof.”

She laughs in earnest now. “Really? In 1993, you would have wanted that? With those horrible suits I used to wear?”

“Oh come on, I’ve told you before,” he smiles at her. “You were adorable back then. Still are.”

She looks up at him with a smile and he kisses her tenderly.

“We’re going to find him,” he affirms.

She nods and dries her eyes on the sleeve of her jacket. Up ahead, Hannah has stopped to wait for them. He gives Scully’s hands a reassuring squeeze and then they start walking to meet their son’s best friend.

***

Mulder doesn’t bother to knock at Bellona’s door, just angrily twists the knob. It’s locked, though, and doesn’t budge, so he pounds on it harshly. There’s no answer.

“Damn it,” he hisses under his breath. He rests his fist on the door and bows his head in frustration and helplessness.

“Mulder,” he hears Scully whisper as she brings a hand to his back. “Someone’s coming.”

He pivots around and sees Bellona approaching from the other end of the hallway. As soon as Bellona spots the three of them at his office door, he turns in the other direction. Mulder sprints to catch him, hearing Hannah and Scully in pursuit behind him.

When he’s in arm’s distance, he reaches out and grabs the scientist by the shoulder.

“Stop,” Mulder shouts. Bellona turns to face him and the two nearly collide.

“I know what you’re doing,” Mulder says, stepping closer to Bellona to overshadow the shorter man. “You’re trying to get your wife back. You opened up a wormhole with the LHC that links back to 1993 when your wife disappeared.”

Bellona scoffs. “What you’re saying is ludicrous. My wife is dead.”

“You don’t know that,” Mulder counters. “They never found a body, and she disappeared at Camp Hero where the CIA was experimenting with time travel.”

“You know the capacities of the LHC, Hannah,” Bellona says, turning to Hannah, who, along with Scully, is now right behind Mulder. “Tell him none of this is possible.”

Hannah frowns, looking between the two men and back at Scully. “I did,” she says. “But this doesn’t add up. You did something to William.”

“I’m sorry about your son,” Bellona says to Mulder. “But I know the limits of science. That’s how my wife, Samita, died. She was recruited by the defense department to take part in an experiment that would push the known barriers of everything we know about particle physics—”

“A time travel experiment,” Mulder insists.

“No,” Bellona cries in frustration. “That’s preposterous.”

“What was the project then?” Scully asks anxiously.

“I never found out,” Bellona says, suddenly wistful. “I assume it was some sort of weapon, based on the resources the government was throwing around and the level of secrecy surrounding it. Probably something so powerful it would make the hydrogen bomb look like a hand grenade. They wouldn’t even tell Samita the full details until she arrived at Camp Hero. And then she died soon after. I assume it was during a test, but I hit a wall with the defense department whenever I tried to get any answers.”

“But then what are you doing?” Hannah begs, her voice hoarse with anger and fear. “What did William see you doing at the Shiva statue? And how did you get the LHC to run at 15 TeV?”

Bellona stares at her quizzically then shakes his head and pats his hands at his sides. “Oh, what does it matter,” he says quietly, almost to himself, glazing not at Mulder, Scully, and Hannah but at the ceiling above him. “It’ll all be over soon anyway. There’s no use hiding it anymore.”

He pauses, then stares at the three of them.

“We’re in a cosmic cycle of creation and destruction,” Bellona continues. “Look at the havoc humanity has brought to this planet: nuclear weapons, ecological devastation, genocide. Even this very establishment we hail as a pinnacle of science holds the keys to our destruction. Like Lord Shiva, we’ve danced our way into existence and can dance ourselves into extinction. The LHC doesn’t just give us the power to understand the Big Bang—it gives us the power to recreate it. My group has that opportunity now, to enter a new cycle, one free of evil and hate.”

“But in restarting the universe, you will destroy everything that already exists,” Mulder says.

“And even if you did, the laws of nature suggest that humanity, or a species very much like it, would evolve in exactly the same manner,” adds Scully. “Not to mention none of this is even possible,

“It may be,” Hannah says and the others turn to look at her.

She points accusingly at Bellona. “That’s the experiment you’ve been working on, isn’t it? It’s how you were able to get the LHC to run at 15 TeV. You want to generate enough energy to create a new Big Bang. You were testing it when Wiliam went missing and—wait,” she pauses, furrowing her brow in thought. “Mulder might be right, too. You didn’t generate enough energy to re-condense all matter in the universe but you did open up a wormhole. That’s where William is. That’s why there’s no evidence of him leaving the tunnel.”

“I couldn’t tell you where he is if I wanted to,” Bellona says. “But he was going to question my group’s project and I couldn’t have that.”

“What’s this group you’re talking about?” Hannah asks. “No one at CERN would ever condone such an insane idea.”

“No,” Bellona smiles. “But true believers would.”

As he finishes speaking, a door opens behind them and Mulder turns to see a small crowd of people teeming out of Bellona’s office. They must’ve been in there when he knocked on the door but he hadn’t heard a sound from the other side. Mulder recognizes one of them as the taxi driver with the Shiva medallion. “You!” He calls out after him.

The driver smiles menacingly as he approaches along with the rest of the group. There are roughly a dozen of them in total and once they reach Mulder, Scully, and Hannah, they easily outnumber them. Two of the men grip Mulder’s arms from either side as others in the group take hold of Hannah and Scully. They shout and writhe in protest but they’re unable to fight off Bellona’s lackeys who drag them down the hall and back into his office. After the three of them are forced inside, Bellona slams the door.

Mulder lunges at the doorknob, trying to force it open, but it doesn’t give.

“I guess these are the people William saw gathered with Bellona at the Shiva statue,” Hannah says as they hear the door locking from the outside.

“It doesn’t make sense,” Scully says. “Even though Shiva is associated with destruction in Hinduism, he’s a peaceful god. Destruction in this sense doesn’t even have a malevolent connotation. It's part of a natural cycle of death and rebirth.”

“Scully, you’re a Christian,” Mulder replies. “You should know that anyone can twist the idea of a benevolent god into an evil idol to serve their own purposes. I doubt Bellona or his followers are well-versed in Hinduism at all. They’ve just latched onto this idea of cosmic circles of creation and destruction and are using it to justify their apocalyptic plan. It’s a death cult. Just like Heaven’s Gate or Jonestown, only this time they plan on taking the rest of the planet with them.”

“Well then we better figure out how to stop him,” Hannah says despondently.

Mulder jams his shoulder up against the door but it’s heavy and isn’t opening. Even though it’s selfish, he feels more concerned about never seeing William again than Bellona bringing about the end of the universe. He looks to Scully who’s currently shuffling through the papers on Bellona’s desk with Hannah, trying to find anything that can help them. She glances back at him and he can see the fear in her oceanic eyes.

“Find anything?” he asks.

“No,” Hannah says without lifting her eyes off the desk. “These calculations do seem to indicate Bellona’s attempting to launch particles through the accelerator at faster rates than we’ve ever achieved before, but there’s no evidence to suggest it’ll work.”

“He might be tapping into a deeper, more powerful spiritual force,” Mulder says. “That could explain his ritual at the Shiva statue.”

Slumped back against the door, Mulder contemplates their predicament. He thought he’d had his fill of homicidal maniacs for one lifetime and had no intention of ever dragging his son into a mess like this. That was the bargain he and Scully had made after William’s birth. They’d leave the monster chasing to Doggett and Reyes in exchange for giving their son a normal life. He should have known that oftentimes, though, it’s the monsters that chase them.

He feels a subtle vibration on the ground underneath him. Scully and Hannah feel it, too, and they stop their frantic searching and lock eyes with each other.

“Not a lot of earthquake action in Geneva, huh?” he asks.

“No,” Hannah shakes her head.

“And no chance we’re right above a subway line?”

“The only thing below us is the collider tunnel,” Hannah says, her voice starting to shake along with the rest of the room. “Whatever Bellona is planning, it must be starting.”

The electricity cuts out with a sputter. The fluorescent lights overhead flicker off, leaving them in darkness except for the dim afternoon light filtering in through the small window. As the shaking becomes more violent, books and equipment start tumbling off the office shelves. Mulder rushes to Scully and Hannah, wrapping them both in his arms as they duck for cover underneath Bellona’s desk.

“William’s our only hope, now,” Mulder shouts to be heard over the clamor of crashing objects and vigorous rumbling.

“What do you mean?” Scully yells back.

“If he really did get sent back to 1993, he might figure out how to stop Bellona back then. He has the power to change the future.”

Scully looks up at him, scared but hopeful. As he moves to hold her closer, the light from the window flickers out, as if the sun itself has lost power.

[currentfandomkick]

100% agree with op

Also we can add that from Danny’s POV Damian got everything he wanted and was the one they went easy on. (Yes not good to compare truamas but Danny is fully aware they were Not a person to the al Ghuls)

Also given clones tend to be female in legit science and the league is infamous for having a lot of women assassins? No reason Danny can’t be afab and wasn’t just raised to be Damian’s bodyguard the way David Cane had Cass with Lady Shiva to get a ‘perfect weapon’ that (i could be misremembering) was raised also to become a bodygaurd for Ra’s. So.

I tend to see Danny as transman or transmac, so i’ll probably use he/they below this point

Danny shutting down any and all attempts at contact from Damian and Bruce, especially if they try to force it? 100% Danny’s course of action. But if Cass tries to make contact as a ‘are you safe? Are you happy? Do you want to talk about what the League did to us?’ Danny would be more inclined to talk about it as Cass Knew and got it.

And Cass? Is not passing anything to the others unless Danny says so, or he is in danger.

If you want this can be while ghostfighting is new to him, and have him see Phantom as the person he had to be to survive and Fenton as who he chooses to live as. Or they can see Phantom as the form that holds his truamas from the past and why he fights better and more competently sans powers as Phantom and a reason why he forgets about having them—they were not there when he trained at first, and he cannot connect the two separate trainings yet, and is unsure about doing so as if he’s dependent on his powers, won’t he be more vulnerable fighting-wise when he cannot access them?

Meanwhile Fenton is where he lets lose and tries to reclaim his childhood and control of his life. Yes they have a few hundred insecurities rooted in what happened before he escaped. (Hell, his may predate Damian being sent to Bruce by a few months or even weeks depending on how fast Talia moved there). But as a whole, Fenton is living their best life at last even if they struggle to have the same ability to get others to listen to them and attract people the way Talia and Ra’s do. He can handle it his way, right?

And Danny is fine without them. But sometimes he misses small things. The food. The heat of the cradle. Even the water itself tastes different here. But he doesn’t have to miss the Lazarus Pitts. He knew they’d never bother using them on him—he’s not a person. Never a child of Talia, just a tool she made for her precious heir.

And when Damian somehow found him and tried to reconnect Danny was not risking shit for him. He doesn’t even like this spoiled brat who got the easy training with Ra’s after he let out his aggression on the guards and then Danny. Or Danny and then the gaurds.

And when Bruce tries? Danny laughs at him. He hates Talia on a good day now, but he knows Bruce left her after she lost their first try when they were fucking married. When Ra’s was ready to make the League stop altogether if the rumors were true. And he doubted they weren’t.

Bruce abandoned his mother at her worst when he promised to be there. He blames Bruce for a large part of why Ra’s had so much control of her. They can’t love her—refused to after being her tool until they faked their death. But he can’t say he doesn’t believe she was entirely different before, given she stood against Ra’s multiple times before that and saved people regularly when she wasn’t studying law, apparently.

Danny won’t trust the spoiled heir getting his long awaited training from a man who can’t keep his goddamn vows.

He didnt even want to look up Batman’s history at first, but hooking up publicly with Catwoman not even two weeks after abandoning his wife after a miscarriage?

He wanted nothing to do with that integrity-of-tissue-paper-bastard.

They could both fuck off this plane of existence for all he cared. They just needed to stay out of his ancients damned life already!

Then he got a message from a new number he was ready to delete. But that wasn’t bruce or damian’s linguistic style.

The string of emojis took a few minutes to parse but made him smile. Just a touch.

‘Yeah i escaped too. Family safe. I chose them, and my big sister,’ he sent back.

The string of rainbows, party poppers and unicorn emojis had him laughing.

‘You?’

He got a picture of a red headed woman and a blond girl eating takeout. And a string if thumbs up.

‘Glad you got out and survived too. Wondered if you did or not everytime i heard about you.’

The string if question marks had him snorting.

‘Fyi the asshole donors of yours talk a lot about you as a benchmark for any new tools they make. Ta’s was pissed i didn’t give him a good spar until i was six since i was always behind on move reading and countering in real time.’

The string of frowny faces relaxed him.

‘Good to know you’re alive.’

He laughed at the finger pointing at him and the number two emoji.

He saved it under ‘best warrior’ and made a mental note to have tucker secure the line for them. Or bribe technus to do it in exchange for a ‘no phantom repercussions’ for taking over Damian and Bruce’s phones next time they tried something.

Danny got out.

Danyal al Ghul was created by the League of Assassins alongside his brother Damian.

Created, not born. Though they were both grown in the same lab, Danyal always felt the status quo. Damian was the heir, the real son, the one they cared about. Damian got to be a person, the one for whom human terms like “born” would fit.

Danyal was just the extra. The bodyguard to die in his brother’s place and a spare should he be lost.

And Danyal died.

Shed his old life like a snake’s skin and vanished into the bustle of a crowded city.

They would tell Damian say it was a mission went wrong. A failure, like Danyal always was.

But Danyal would call it his first real success.

Danny Fenton loves their new life.

Jack and Maddie, for all their unsafe work practices, care for them. That’s far more than their blood “family” in the League ever did.

Far more than they felt they deserved for the longest time.

So when their brother reached out, tried to reconnect as if they were normal siblings instead of born tools, is it any wonder they lashed out, told him to never come back?

Danny got out. Danyal is dead, one ghost Danny is happy to put down forever.

[justlarkin]

lark.-san, can you explain two things to me 1- what are the different problems that world representatives or their worlds have to solve as such because when I look I feel that some may be similar I don't know I don't remember very well (I ask the question because I It's hard to believe that they created an entire world for nirai kanai and bora bora instead of merging it, not counting the few units as such, it's a tribe, they're not going to show more characters either, I think) 2_seriously simurgh threatens the mc all the time? You can translate it to see, I mean, you already translated Fuxi's and knowing him, it's obvious that you're telling the truth in the last publication, but I don't think simurgh is yes all the time, right? (looks awkwardly)

1.) So like the issues that the exiles would've left because of?

-Takamagahara has an issue with exposing everyone and we don't know enough about Amaterasu to know what her issue is.

-Wa no Kuni has an issue with racism against non-humans and Yoritomo has issues with his paranoia and jealousy towards Yoshitsune.

-Kamuy Kotan has an issue with never changing and sacrificing young children and Korpokkur has an issue with hyper-focusing on innocence.

-Eden has an issue with blind faith and striving for perfection and if I had to guess Michael's issue is his blind loyalty and his refusal to question anything in Eden.

-I'm not too sure about Gehenna, but ranking seems to be an issue there and I don't know about Mephistopheles yet besides his inability to understand humans.

-Garo Demana's issue is that there's only good and evil there, no middle-ground or in-between, so once you step out of line, you'll be villainized and chased out.

-I guess Penglai's issue would be the constant revolutions and floods, but idk if that could actually be fixed and Fuxi has an issue with not treating Nüwa as an equal because she's younger and his tendency to just watch things happen.

-Olympus' issue is hierarchy and that they only see value in those in Cronus' bloodline. Oh, also, the pettiness and incest ig.

-Great Spirit's issue might have something to do with the "united" mentality there which causes anyone who thinks or acts differently to be chased away or ostracized.

-El Dorado's issue is the sacrifices and Tezcatlipoca just doesn't know when to let go.

-I don't remember enough to comment on the Old Ones, but they were always destined for failure.

-Not sure about Tir na NÒg, but ig Balor has an issue with TAKING COWS THAT DON'T FUCKING BELONG TO HIM forcing fate upon his grandchild and taking their right to choose away from them.

-Not sure about Shangri-La, but Smoky God's issue was his obsession with saving Asura when he should've let go and realized that Asura was the only one capable of doing that.

-I don't remember Deva Loka, but I think Shiva was too focused on his training there and didn't actually enjoy anything.

-Utopia's issue is that people are destroying themselves (and others) to progress faster.

-Kitezh's and Perun's issue is that they refuse to accept death and seperation, so they pretty much hold people hostage there.

-I'm not sure about Nirai Kinai, but it seems like Teda's responsibility as the sun king is the issue because he feels obligated to never express love for a single person, which Kinmamon didn't like.

And I don't remember/know enough about the rest to comment.

2.) Simurgh legitimately threatens MC once, maybe twice, and any other times he does it's just half-kidding remarks.

[angelrider13]

Are you still working on your SI!Leviathan verse? Asking, cause recently I have wondered - you wrote a seaborne!Regis au but what about a seaborne!Noctis?

Like, my initial idea was that maybe it was during the Marilith Incident when he was 8. I don't recall any canon info about the precise location (besides between Insomnia and Galdin Quay), but there could be a river or maybe it was near a seashore.

Either way, bb Noctis is thrown into the water during the attack, too injured to swim, maybe even doesn't know how to yet. And Thalassa, well, she's not heartless, she's not gonna leave a little kid dead. (And maybe there's a small voice at the back of her head that points out that it could help her derail the prophecy, if the newest Chosen King was her sea-child.) She turns him into one of her seaborne.

Noctis stays with his Tidemother only long enough to get hang on his transformation (so 1-2 weeks, tops) because Thalassa doesn't want to draw attention to this. Not yet. And then she puts on a vaguely human shape, kinda like Shiva's Messanger form, and takes Noctis back to Insomnia, to his father.

(Regis was Panicking and Raging the entire time Noctis was missing, and thinking that Nilfheim grabbed his baby boy. He Refuses to contemplate the other option.)

No idea what would happen next, exactly, but it would involve a major bsod on Regis and Co's part when they realise Leviathan helped a Lucis Caelum and Much Research into both prophecy and the Astrals, and merfolk legends.

Also, Ignis and Gladio Despairing because Noctis no longer hides from his lessons under the bed, oh no. Now he hides at the bottom of a pond in Citadel's gardens.

While this is a fabulous idea, it doesn't work with the lore I've built for the verse.

Don't get me wrong, Thalassa would 100% be ready and willing to adopt Noctis (especially after she decides that Regis is Her Person), Bahamut already laid claim to Noctis the moment he was born and once and Astral has done so, they've pretty much declared them off limits to their siblings. And while Bahamut has already bent and broken quite a few Laws, Leviathan will not cross that line.

BUT! FOR FUNSIES!

It is absolutely in character for Thalassa to fuck with the prophecy at every available opportunity so, of course, when smol, baby, heavily injured Chosen King crashes into her waters, she's going to snatch him up. (Bahamut: YOU DARE - Thalassa: Well I didn't see you stepping in. What was I supposed to do let him die???)

It'd be longer than 2 weeks, more like 6-12 months. Thalassa isn't gonna rush her new baby's induction just because he's a prince. That title doesn't mean anything to her anyway - he's not her prince. He's her newest son.

So please imagine, Regis absolutely losing his mind over his missing boy. Refusing to believe the worst even though there is no evidence Noctis survived. Nilfheim could have taken him, could have spirited him away into some laboratory - no. No. He will not stop looking until he finds his son or he finds a body. And if he finds a body, Nilfheim will be reminded what happens when a Lucis Caelum takes the field.

As it is, Regis takes a far more active role in the actual warfare - in a way he hasn't ever. In way his father hadn't either. He runs missions himself, draws up plans, and starts pushing Nilfheim back in a way Lucis hasn't managed in years.

AND THEN.

Even with the positive turn of the war, months have passed. Regis is a widowed king with a missing heir. His counsel is making noises about him remarrying, about securing the line of succession. Regis won't hear of it. Despite being no closer to finding his son, he refuses to consider the alternative, refuses to even contemplate replacing him.

And it is in the middle of such an argument with the counsel when there is the sudden crystal fracture sound of a warp mixed with the crashing of a wave as a small whirlwind of water condenses in the room.

The woman that emerges from it is ethereal and inhuman and dangerous. Long sea green hair done up in braids with sea glass and shells and driftwood. She's dressed in sheer layers of cloth that shimmer in the light like rippling water. Her golden eyes flicker over his counsel dismissively before landing on Regis, a grin tugging on her lips revealing pointed teeth.

"King of Lucis," she greets with a nod of her head, "I believe you are missing something."

"Dad!"

His eyes jerk down and that's his son. His Noctis, whole and hale and alive, holding this strange woman's hand and he's here -

Regis doesn't even realized he's warped across the room until he and Noctis are crashing into each other, clinging desperately to any part of each other they can reach.

"How-?" he gasps out around his tears.

Noctis pulls back and Regis can't help the way his grips tightens. His son doesn't let go though, just looks up at him with eyes that are the wrong color and says, "Mother rescued me!"

Regis blinks. "...Mother?"

The woman hums, startling him. "And now he has been returned home, safe and sound," she says, smoothing a hand over his son's hair. "Different than before, but no less loved for it, hmm?"

It sounds almost like a threat but Regis isn't given any time to reply to that before Noctis is blinking up at her.

"You're leaving?" he asks.

The woman nods, leaning down to place a tender kiss on his son's forehead. "This place is not for me. But I will visit from time to time should you wish."

"Yes!" Noctis demands instantly.

She chuckles. "Very well, Sweet Prince. Until next time."

And between one blink and the next, she is gone. She is gone and Regis has no answers and no explanation, but his son is in his arms, safe and alive, and that is all he ever wanted.

[batcassed]

i love your reverse batgirl au!! do you mind writing more about them?

Okay so after going through the post I realized I wrote it at 2 am, so I'm going to simply rewrite it and then add more if that's okay <3

AU where Bruce adopts Barbara, Steph, Cass and Harper instead of the batboys - Batdaughters: Origins

Would like to start by saying: Damian never exists; Bruce doesn’t sleep with Talia because he's aroace in this universe no I don't make the rules he just is

Barbara Gordon is adopted by Jim Gordon after his brother and his sister in law, Barbara’s parents, die (as per canon.) When she’s six, he's killed by the Joker, who forces Barbara to watch. Bruce is too late to save Gordon and puts the blame for his death on himself, so he tries to atone by giving Barbara a home. Raising a daughter keeps him busy so he doesn’t visit Haley’s circus when it visits Gotham. Dick’s parents fall to the floor, and instead of Bruce, the Court of Owls take him in.

When Babs is 16, Bruce adopts Stephanie Brown. Steph’s father is Cluemaster but he’s put in Arkham early in her childhood. Stephanie’s mother is unable to overcome her addiction to pharmaceuticals (unlike in canon where she does overcome this) and this ends in her death. 11 year old Stephanie runs away from her social worker and ends up finding the batmobile in an alley. She hides under the car and her social worker passes by, but when Batman arrives she jumps out to avoid getting run over. He tries to take her back to foster care but she throws a brick at him and runs. Bruce decides to adopt her once he finds out her father is cluemaster, and when he takes her for waffles she agrees to ‘let him’ adopt her.

Harper Row is taken away from her alcoholic father when she’s 9 and is the only kid to actually end up with Bruce in a normal way. He’s officially a foster parent and she’s placed with him through the system. She tells Bruce that she has a brother, Cullen, who she hasn’t seen since being taken away from her father but Bruce is unable to figure out where he’d gone. Cullen was never registered in the foster care database and none of the workers that picked up Harper recalled there being another child.

When the Justice League encounters Lady Shiva a year later, she fights them and defeats Batman, but the combined forces of Wonder Woman and Superman force her capture and she’s questioned under the lasso. She tells them about her origin and that a man named David Cain had her biological daughter and was training her to be an assassin. Batman realizes that the daughter in question is still only 8, and adds her and David to his search for Cullen. He finds her being trained by David to be a ruthless killer and rescues her. He realizes that she’s mute and deadly and can’t grow up in a regular foster system so he takes her home with him.

Babs becomes Batgirl at 14, but is paralyzed at 17, a year after Steph joins the family. Then she takes the moniker oracle.

When Steph is older she doesn’t feel right taking on the batgirl name, so she becomes Robin. Steph and Bruce have a falling out when Bruce calls her reckless in the field and benches her so she distances herself from him and becomes Spoiler. She meets a kid named Tim in university who was emancipated from his parents when he was 16 and discovers that since he was a kid, he’s tried to follow batman and robin’s footsteps by fighting crime at night in a red domino and black clothes. Steph reveals that she was the Robin that Tim used to watch at night and takes him on as her partner, eventually training him to be a third Robin, one who was never trained by Batman: Red Robin.

At the same time, Harper spends years trying to find her brother, Cullen. She fights crime to find her brother without telling Bruce at first, taking on the codename Bluebird. When he finds out, Bruce takes her on as his partner, not his sidekick, which drives a wedge between her and Steph.

Cass had decided to live a normal life after having the choice taken away from her when she was young, but an attack on her school causes her to fight off a bunch of the rogue gallery to the point of near-death. She holds them off long enough for her school to evacuate and run. After she survives this, Barbara reaches out to her and tells her that if she ever wants it, the mantle of batgirl is there for her. Cass refuses it at first but takes it when she turns 15, deciding to train again, but this time to defend Gotham, and not kill. She becomes batgirl at 16.

Steph and Tim both join young justice and Babs was a part of the Teen Titans before being paralyzed.

When Bruce ‘dies’ for half a year, Cass gives the mantle of Batgirl to Steph and moves to Hong Kong to become Black Bat.

Harper moves in with Steph and befriends Tim, who believes that Bruce is alive. Nobody takes the mantle of Batman after Bruce’s ‘death.’

After he is rescued by Tim and Steph, Bruce returns to Gotham. Cass returns to be Black Bat and Steph goes back to being Spoiler, and Bruce and Steph finally reconcile.

They find out that Cullen was taken by the Court of Owls and turned into a Talon, and when they try to rescue him, they discover that a second Talon had taken a liking to him and was protecting him from the batfamily, seeing them as enemies.

So of course they take both Talons home. Bruce discovers that the second Talon is Dick Grayson and with Martian Manhunter’s help, they help them learn how to be human again.

Dick takes Cullen to live by themselves in a quiet area of Gotham, and Bruce leaves them be, knowing that they deserve to lead normal lives without continuing to be entangled in the batfamily. Only Harper visits.

At the same time, a new crime lord pops up, claiming to go by the red hood. Bruce fears another Joker situation and finds Red Hood to interrogate him and finds out that his name is Jason Todd. Jason, forced to work as a goon for two-face to earn money to support his mother, was a hostage of the Joker and beaten almost to death before Batman saved him, but he was too late to save Jason's mother. (we're ignoring the biological mother plot point here.) He wants to drive Batman to finally break his code and kill so that he’ll kill the Joker. After a fight between them that almost ends in Jason dying, Batman backs off and doesn’t turn him into the police. The Red Hood kills the Joker, but realizes that it didn't change anything. He almost turns the gun on himself but Bruce stops him. Bruce promises to leave him alone, acknowledging that Crime Alley is his territory, as long as he gives them information on a major trafficking ring in Gotham. Jason agrees and together they take the ring down.

After the Red Hood saves Cass from the collapse of a building, he and Cass strike up a tentative friendship. He becomes an anti-hero after sending the criminal underground into a civil war, ensuring the destruction of some of the larger crime families in Gotham. Then he becomes an ally of the batfamily, but still kills.

Duke's story is similar to canon except his parents are cured from the Joker Virus. He still joins the batfamily as the signal, and eventually joins the Outsiders team with Cass.

Send me asks if you want me to go into more detail with a part of this au!

[maxwell-grant]

Cass wouldn’t even begrudingly tolerate [the Black Bat], because she’s even less lenient than Bruce on killing and far more willing to throw down.' - THANK YOU for remembering that.

Cass is my favorite Batfam member, the only one really that I have an active interest in reading about. I'd be incredibly ignorant to not bring bring up such a crucial aspect of her characterization. And even if I didn't personally care for her, well, last thing I'd want is to be another source of frustration for Cass fans. Lord knows there's enough of those to go around.

mousebrass also asked: On that note, how do you imagine a meeting between Cass and the Shadow going?

Fair warning: This one took me 6 hours to write, and it became a hell of a lot longer than I imagined. I liked Cass a lot, but I never quite realized I had this many feelings regarding her until I was tasked with writing this, and a lot of things clicked for me regarding my plans for The Shadow thanks to this ask. @mousebrass, thank you. I mean it. I think I may have found something here I've spent years looking for. Hope you enjoy the post.

I'm thankful that this scenario is only really taking place in a hypothetical fanon where both characters can get a fair shot, because I wouldn't trust DC with this premise. I don't trust DC with either of them as is.

There's a lot of ways that this crossover could go on about taking place naturally, initially because Cass is already connected to some of Batman's pulpier elements, due to her connections to Lady Shiva and the League of Assassins, and one could connect Cass to Myra Reldon (who really should just be race swapped if ever brought back so she can stand out as the cool character she is, without the yellowface gimmick holding her back). There's two things I think are crucial to making the most of this idea, and the first of which has to do with the subject of killing. I usually don't like to come up with hypothetical team-ups for The Shadow that focus too much on the fact that he kills, because it's far from the most significant aspect of his character to focus on, much of it is written from a wrong understanding of the character, and it never amounts to anything other than perfunctory. But here, not only is it completely unavoidable to discuss, here there is actually a very, very substantial grounding as to why this has to be such a big part of the story.

The first and foremost thing that's gotta be established to everyone reading that doesn't know already is this: Cassandra Cain, more so than Batman, more so than any other DCU hero, has a tolerance towards murder lower than zero, and this is completely non-negotiable. She will throw herself on the path of an assault rifle to stop men trying to kill her from accidentally killing each other. The defining moment of her incredibly grim backstory is that she was trained from birth to be the world's greatest murderer, and her first kill traumatized her so badly that she has pivoted as far away from that as possible. I stress a lot that the Shadow should not be written as the trigger-happy maniac comics made him into and that the pulp version killed mostly to defend himself and others, generally left criminals to the police if possible, offered plenty of second-chances, had stories dedicated to the rehabilitation of criminals and so on, but none of this would matter to Cass.

Cass has literally chosen suicide over the prospect of living with murder on her hands time and time again, and The Shadow kills. When he kills, he does so without remorse, with unshakeable certainty. He hates death, he doesn't want lives to be at risk in the first place. But people will die if he doesn't do anything, and what he can do, what he exists to do, is turn the tools of evil against evil, and murder is the oldest tool of evil there is. He doesn't kill because a war scarred him, he doesn't kill because he's got a demon in his soul, he doesn't kill because he's mentally off balance, he doesn't kill because he's evil or sadistic or arrogant or anything of the sort. He kills because the men he fights chose death when they sought to harm innocents and fire guns at him. He kills because he is Death itself.

Regardless of how compassionate he is or can be, regardless of the fact that he's motivated by a desire to protect people, regardless of how justified he is, he is still dropping corpses and laughing maniacally doing so. Cass's real arch-enemy isn't Shiva or David Cain, it's Death, it's the thing that she's fundamentally most opposed to. And guess what The Shadow gets compared to often enough? Literally the very first line of the very first book where we get to see him, this is how we are introduced to him:

So the premise here is that we are taking a character who is defined by her fundamental opposition to death with every fiber of her being, who understands death on a level no other human being does, who is traumatized and hard-wired to detest death at all costs and to choose suicide over it, and asking her to team up with The Grim Reaper.

Even if he received the most abject lesson conceivable on the sheer wrongness of murder, even if he does put down the guns around Cass out of respect for her, he cannot protect his agents and others if he cannot shoot or kill those who try to harm them, and the protection of the agents is absolutely non-negotiable and not at all something he's willing to fuck around with by trying out gadget kung fu superhero alternatives. The Shadow has chosen to throw his life away for their sake time and time again, and no matter how appaling or disgusting Cass finds his deeds, even if he concedes that she's right and should be right on all accounts and that he is fundamentally a monster who has no right to judge others, he would not concede on his mission and he would make it very clear she would have to put him down violently to stop him from protecting others this way, and death has not stopped him before.

And to be upfront in case there's anyone who doubts it, Cass would kick The Shadow's ass, if they had to fight. She is the strongest fighter in the DCU, she lives and breathes fighting and combat in a way no one else does. And The Shadow's not one of those characters who is supposed to be invincible and the best at everything all the time always, he can and does lose fights and scrapes to people far less adept at it than Cass. He's a great fighter, obviously, he hauls bigger men than him through doors and was disabling people with Vulcan neck pinches decades before Spock, and he would definitely have an edge in other areas, but he's out of his league here. Frankly, I don't see The Shadow raising a finger against Cass unless she's been brainwashed into killing people by bad writing. Not because she's a woman, that doesn't really stop him from dealing with evil. But because, for one, she's practically a child compared to him age-wise. Two, he'd obviously know beforehand of her capabilities and how futile it would be to fight or even provoke her. And three, the Shadow's whole thing is knowing. The Shadow Knows and all that. Knowing comes with understanding.

He'd understand very quickly that there is no way someone this young could grow so quickly into the world's greatest fighter without horrific treatment that no one should ever be subjected to. He'd see the movements too practiced and quick, the self-control, the strength and speed far beyond even the trained warriors he's seen, the places where she's been scarred and is good at covering it up. Assuming he doesn't already know about her life story, any meeting between the two would lead to him very quickly figuring out that there's something much deeper about her opposition to killing than just moral reservations, something deeper than Bruce's own gun trauma.

Denny O'Neil's 2nd Batman and Shadow story was about The Shadow secretly helping Bruce overcome gun trauma, and Bruce rejecting The Shadow's intentions to hand him a gun. And to make it clear, people tend to assume that The Shadow only helps people for utilitarian reasons, which is not true as I've tried to demonstrate many times now. I don't want to convey that he would want to help Cass overcome her trauma just so she could be more efficient or something, absolutely no, he'd help her because he helps people in any way he can. I think a story with The Shadow and Cass might involve a similar premise, The Shadow understanding that she has been traumatized very deeply by death and refuses to accept it on any terms, trying to help her overcome it, only to learn that she does not want to "learn" anything she doesn't already know, that she has weaponized her trauma into a source of strength, and wishes nothing more than to help others with it.

And here's where we get to the part that allows the two to be on less antagonistic terms, because one thing that also very strongly defines Cass, at least the Cass I like reading most, is her stubborn, almost desperate need to believe in the best of people, that people can and will change for the better. Like The Shadow, her strength too is knowing, it's perception, the things that she knows about people that words cannot convey. Just as there are many things The Shadow would grow to understand about her that others would not, there would be many things that The Shadow would not be able to conceal from her. Things that no one but her would figure out. Things that, despite her age and lack of experience compared to him, he would have to defer to her knowledge on, which reverses the usual dynamic The Shadow has with people. And perhaps one aspect of that reversal, it's that maybe it's she who winds up secretly manipulating The Shadow into overcoming a deeper issue.

Cass's perspective on killing is shaped not just through trauma, but from a painfully intimate understanding of not just what happens to someone at the time of death, but the cost of murder upon the human soul, the ways it warps people into things they never should have been. Killing is a deeply, deeply serious matter, much more so than fiction seems ever willing to go into. Of course we suspend disbelief for fiction, there's nothing wrong with that, but if a story starts asking questions, starts poking holes into fantasies, they should not be disregarded.

And so it begs a question: How has it affected The Shadow? Is he really as remorseless as he appears to be? Is the fact that he's only killing evil people really of that much use? What's the cost of living as someone who has to know so much about so much evil in so many hearts? Knowledge never comes without price, and knowing evil is his tagline. When he enlists Harry Vincent, he makes it very clear that he has lost lives as he has saved them. From when is that regret coming from? What lives did he lose then? Is he saving people by damning his soul or merely prolonging the inevitable by piling corpses on another end of the scale?

If there's a character that could meaningfully start bringing these questions forth, who could ever truly get The Shadow to stop and reveal things to the audience he never would otherwise, maybe Cass could be that character. A girl who was raised to be a monster, who is treated as a monster and an aberration in-universe (and even outside of it), and turned that into a strength she uses to help others, who cares about everyone and refuses to let others be dehumanized as she was. Who better to know what lurks in the Shadow's heart?

Sometimes when I get an ask, I bullshit my way through infodump walls of text until I can structure it into something vaguely resembling a point. And sometimes, and I know it sounds crazy, but sometimes I get a very, very clear word on my mind related to it before I start writing, that almost seems to be a beacon pointing where I need to get to, and I work my way into getting there. Once you sent me an ask about crossing over The Shadow with Cassandra Cain, the word that came to mind the very second was Language.

It's an interesting relation the two have with language. Language is of course a very substantial part of Cass's character, who does not process language and linguistic development the way most people do, and instead reads body language to the point of superpower. Many stories revolve around Cass's relation to the concept of language, the help she may require from others in getting around things beyond her upbringing, and ways in which she has mastered beyond anyone's scope. Though she is mute, language is her power, what makes her what she is, and she is someone that Batman freely admits could kick his ass if she ever felt like it.

For The Shadow, language is also his power. He speaks all languages and connects allies all over the world, he is an expert ventriloquist, he is able to project his voice beyond what's physically possible, he can imitate voices perfectly to the point of being able to conduct group conversations single-handedly well enough to fool even the people whose voices he's imitating, much of his presence and terror and manipulation are done through his voice, arguably the very reason he exists in the first place is entirely because a radio actor's voice performance was so good and captivating that it tricked people into thinking the character was a real star and not just a glorified narrator. The man you cannot see, but only hear, the perfect hero for radio. And then of course the laugh, which I have a whole separate post on and which, in many ways, acts as a substitute for language in the novels. He uses the laugh so often as a substitute for statements or words, even to himself, that it's pretty much his own personal language. And language is at the core of how he deals with people, as he knows the right language to use to manipulate and move and help them. He knows what to promise, what to reveal, what to omit. He knows what to say, how to say it, when to say it. Language is the strings by which he puppeteers the world around him (and he can talk to animals, at least of one kind).

The Shadow and Cassandra Cain have mastered two different types of Language as throughly as anyone can possibly master them. The Shadow can talk a group of hardened criminals into killing themselves, Cassandra can punch a heart into stopping without killing it. The Shadow echoes his voice "through everywhere and nowhere at once" to whip crowds of thugs into frenzies, Cassandra outraces missiles and was tanking bullets as a child. The Shadow can lie and usurp lives so masterfully to fool even the families of those he's passing off as, Cassandra is a living lie detector who gleams inner conversations from miniscule reactions. The Shadow can speak every language known, Cassandra is the greatest master of the world's most universal language other than music. The two are supposedly human, but every now and then, something comes along to call that into question because of the things they can achieve. They cannot hide secrets from each other the way they do to everyone else. They are driven by a deep desire to help others, to make something out of the circumstances of their lives. To weaponize that which dictates they should be evil and monstrous into a relentless force of good.

Language is the root of understanding. And if nothing else, as impossible as a conciliation of their approaches to crimefighting may be, I think there could be an unique understanding between the two. Perhaps, and this is a bit crazier a concept but one that seems to be where I might have been heading towards all along, even Cassandra Cain finding a calling away from the frayed dynamics of the Batfamily, away from the Bat's looming presence, to become The Shadow's successor, swearing to uphold a mission of justice through non-lethal tactics while he stays on the backseat guiding her. If The Shadow could trust the safety of his agents and the protection of the innocent at the hands of someone as capable and selfless and good-natured as Cassandra, I think he'd be all too happy to be able to trust someone in such a manner, to no longer be the Master of Darkness, but instead to serve the next generation that's weaponized darkness without submerging in it. To achieve, and perhaps return, to his strongest, highest self: A disembodied voice heard, but not seen. Once again the narrator, not the star.

It's a concept I've thought about very extensively for the years I've been a Shadow fan, but now it occurs to me that, if I had to appoint a successor of The Shadow, someone who could take up the mission but shine on their own right, even improve it with the right guidance and circumstances, it would be Cassandra Cain. The Orphan, The Shadow of the Batgirl. Daughter of the greatest assassins, meant to be the world's most lethal murderer, instead pivoted to being one of it's greatest heroes, but never allowed to shine as she should. But in the darker, less restrictive and wilder world of pulp heroes, in The Shadow's world, a beacon would shine all the harder. Perfect strengths attached to perfect opposites, joined together for a greater good, unstoppable after together having weaponized that which most take for granted: the power of language to move worlds.

[hellyeahheroes]

Robin(2021) #1 Review

Opening this comic with an assessment of a character that I have no choice but to agree with is a cheap way to score points with me.

Anyways, we caught heat for being unfair to this story since it was announced because all of us wanted it to be a Cass story since forever. And it became yet another thing Damian absorbs. I mostly ignored it because I’ve always been open about my disdain for the character and his fandom for nearly a decade. I never liked Damian because put these characteristics on a non-white passing character, they’d be dead inside of year. Then again I hate almost all of Grant Morrison monstrosities.

Regardless, new story who dis is in full effect here. We open this bad boy up with Damian gone missing and the Batfamily searching for him. Nightwing tried asking Damian’s old Teen Titans team and they obviously don’t know and probably hope Damian is dead. Tim checked Arkham Ruins(???) and Damian wasn’t there. I honestly don’t think Tim was trying to find Damian. Steph and Cass checked Damian’s farm and Steph concluded Damian has been there at least because while Damian may be a little shit, he loves his dog and pet bat dragon. Barbara checked facial recognition pings and his transactions and dude is an IRS nightmare.

Damian is missing. Bruce is worried that maybe making a violent murderous preteen Robin raised in a cabal of killers to be chief murderer was a bad idea and is worried. Barbara ensures him that they will find his son and we cut to Damian fighting Snake guy in some musty ass fight put somewhere. Because of course it’s a musty ass fight pit because while the story is well drawn, it never claimed to be not cliche.

Damian hands the scrub his ass and it turns out Damian is trying to earn a marker to participate in some tournament. I liked this panel.

Not because of the artist flex of changing the art style, but it establishes Damian with a relatable hobby, reading manga. And not just a Shounen as you expect him to read but a slice of life manga which kind of puts his life in perspective. Also the lesson in the manga is reflective of what happens in the comic. Damian’s mastery is reflective of how he sees Hana. Hana decides to go beyond what her masters taught her. She decides to innovate and make her art her own. And that’s indicative of another flaw of Damian: Damian leans of the prestige of his teachers. He is the student that replicates the style 1:1. He wants to inherit Batman’s mantle, but doesn’t want to shed his teachings that he is proud of. And it comes down to this idea that Damian refuses to innovate and adapt because he is hiding behind his masters.

This panel saved the story so good job.

And after a talk with dead Alfred, it’s revealed that Damian is on this journey as a way to mirror Bruce’s journey into becoming Batman. It’s his way to iron his resolve without a catalyst to find a need to. It highlights his naïveté. He thinks that he can just simply copy the steps and get the same results.

Regardless what happens next simultaneously undermines the story or the impact of it.

Okay, when you think of Martial artists in DC, you immediately think Batman, Shiva, Deathstroke, Black Canary, Bronze Tiger, Richard Dragon, and Shiva. Why I said Shiva twice? Because Shiva is the pinnacle.

So to reveal that three premier martial artists in the universe are not only not participating but they were paid off to not participate, cheated out, or were subbed in as an entry replacement, it undermines the promotion. It’s like going to a Beyonce Concert only to find out that between the words in small print Beyonce and Concert was ‘s Sister’s and now you are watching Grammy award winning Solange. Sure, it’s an unique experience but it ain’t Beyonce.

And also, there is no amount in the world that would keep Shiva away from this tournament if it’s as prestigious as it’s led to be. Let’s be real. If anything, it’s far more likely that she saw the roster of scrubs and decided to make some scratch.

There are two characters that I recognize: Connor Hawke and Rose Wilson. I am not familiar with Connor so I am not sure if he is out of place. Rose is fine but y’know, scrub. I’m sorry Rose Wilson got her ass handed to her by Cass in the previous universe. There is no universe where I take her seriously in a fighting tournament to crown greatest fighter because the ass stomp was so thorough that Cass was beating Slade’s ego by proxy.

Back to the comic, Damian interrupts the host and basically is the fighting tournament trope of overly confident disrespectful guy with too many accolades which he will proudly tell you about them. What I like about this is the nice nod to the previous manga panel. Damian is not a great fighter. There I said it. Damian’s ability hinges on the idea that he was trained by the greatest killers and Batman but the issue is that name prestige doesn’t make great fighters. Too many times, comic books overly rely on this idea of fighting being a what you know and not being a game of not getting hit and getting hits in. It does not matter if Damian is trained by the League and Batman and it’s questionable as to how much Batman taught him in the first place. Hence why we see Damian with a sword or staff to compliment his lack of range. Damian can’t read muscle twitches like a Cass or Shiva so he has a normal reactive response and comics never highlighted his ability. The most impressive thing I’ve seen Damian do is catch a Batarang which is something I’ve seen Tim do. Damian overly relies on the idea that his teachers taught him to be the best when they simply taught him to survive in a fight.

“But why does Cass get away with it?,” you ask. Cass has this broken hax that is reading muscle twitch and immediately knowing the instant of what you are going to do before you do it or decide to do. Cass doesn’t need range because to her, you are screaming your intentions. She doesn’t need to block an attack when she can just parry. She doesn’t need to step back when she can just step forward while slipping all attacks. She is an autistic savant at fighting with an absolute defense. Damian is just another badass teen in a world of badass adults.

And the humbling of Damian begins...again.

Pros:

-Damian’s new costume. I like that he is branching out and starting to own his own colors. It’s nice.

-Using a character flaw to make it a theme. I like Chekhov’s gun via teachable moment. In tournament arcs, what separates the good ones and the bad ones is the idea that the hero simply must overcome their opponents and not their own self. This is why Yuyu Hakusho is awesome.

- Great art and nice continuity. It’s nice that Damian’s past wasn’t ignored for once and they didn’t just throw his Teen Titans characterization down the tubes. Say what you want, but it was arguably Damian’s longest run in spite of his fans hating it. And contrary to what they believe, it was very much in character for him. My fear going into this that Damian would not face any fallout and lo and behold he ran away.

- it’s a good start for a Damian story. Say what you want, but it’s unique in that the little shit gets his comeuppance immediately. And not that just by losing, but by dying. Damian has killed before and readily justifies it because he never realizes the weight of taking someone’s life. He’s been killed before but those were painted in a way that he is valiant. Here, this is death caused by his own arrogance. He mocks a fighter for talking shit and gets murked while talking shit. He spouts names of his own teachers and expects people to care or be weary as if Rose Wilson and Connor aren’t there. It’s a tournament sponsored by the League of Assassins, Damian. They have been taught by the league too.

Cons:

-Look I get promotion. No promoter is going to undermine their product but the fact that this tournament reeks like ABA is killing my interest to give a shit. It’s a convenient caveat to say that, “Well, a character won this so they can have the title but the title doesn’t mean anything.” I know of regardless of whom wins this, they aren’t the best. Go ham or don’t at all.

-not enough emphasis of the importance of this arc. Why even have this tournament? What’s the prize? What’s even the point?

-While the art is nice, the action is framed poorly. I like physical action like this to be nearly choreographed in a way I can see and piece movement in my head. The two fight scenes we get are somewhat disjointed in that it’s just poses. For example, Flatline’s first kick makes no sense at all and I don’t get her follow up. Trying to picture the movement hurts my head and in an action concept like this, it’s best to frame action scenes as more than doing poses. Here is a good example:

This only emphasizes the action and gets the reader to acknowledge that this a tournament of great fighters or at least a great fighting story.

All in all, do I think this story is off to a good start? Yes. Is it going to change my opinion on Damian? Hell no. My reaction to Damian getting his ass handed to him was this.

The issue is that it never sticks. Damian can learn and be a better person but the development never sticks. It becomes a cyclical series of events because whoever writes him next will just keep writing him as this shitty entitled murder rich kid who never learns anything and gets validated somehow. It’s been over a decade and I’m tired of the same excuses of his shitty behavior. I am tired of writers validating it or excusing it.

Damian losing isn’t an outcome I care for because it’s wasted on him. Honestly I am more interested in Connor and Rose being there. I have no faith that it will stick nor does it undo the shitty idea of the character. I have never wanted to see Damian fight. It’s never been fun to read about nor has the impetus of his character emphasized the ability or style. Placing Damian in an Enter the Dragon style tournament lacks the pizzazz of Cass doing the same thing. For example, let’s try Marvel.

Let’s say someone pitches an idea of a tournament arc styled after Game of Death. Immediately you think Martial Artists non-powered. Danny Rand, Daredevil, Elektra, Shang-Chi, Pei and Colleen Wing. Okay, instead of giving those characters the honor, you give the story to Black Cat. Honestly, I’d read it because Felicia could sell me a documentary on grass and I’d buy it but the point stands, why does Damian have this Bruce Lee inspired Martial Arts story versus the actual Chinese or East Asian Martial Arts focused member of the Batfamily, Cassandra Cain?

But this has nothing to do with what could have been. It’s a fun beginning of a possibly fun arc. In that regard, it delivers but what’s the point?

Like I said, fun story.

@ubernegro

[dansantcaparet]

Aerith, the Non-Optional Girl...

By FF_Goddess/Shiva of www.cloudandaerith.com

If you are interested in why I believe that Cloud's love for Aerith during the events of FFVII is not optional, then keep reading... Otherwise, thanks for stopping by! I hope this article gave you a clear view of why Cloud and Aerith fans believe they are the intended pairing of FFVII. :-)

Regardless of what choices you make during FFVII, it does not change these facts:

1. Cloud was attracted to Aerith from the beginning, admiring her radiant eyes and saying that her smile "was a good purchase".

* Cloud never admits any such thing about Tifa. In fact, he never makes any remarks on her appearance... ever.

2. Cloud and Aerith's meeting in the church was reproduced with Zack and Aerith in Crisis Core, giving Cloud and Aerith a direct parallel to Aerith's first romance as well as giving them a straightforward link to another canon couple in the same universe.

3. Cloud and Aerith meeting one another was described as "destiny" in multiple official sources.

4. Cloud agreed to become Aerith's bodyguard without asking for money. Instead, he accepts a date with her as payment.

* Cloud had just recently refused to fulfill his promise to Tifa, told her that her cause with Avalanche didn't mean anything to him, and also refused to help Avalanche further without being paid (and even more money than what he had received for his last mission with them).

5. Cloud smiles and laughs with Aerith. It is the **only** time during FFVII that he does either of these things.

* Tifa was not able to get Cloud to smile or laugh **at all** during the course of FFVII.

6. When Cloud is at Aerith's house, he remembers his mother telling him that the perfect girlfriend for him was someone older. As we all know, Aerith is one year older than Cloud.

* Tifa is one year younger than Cloud, which suggests that Cloud's mother would not have considered her an ideal match for her son.

7. Cloud and Aerith have a date in the park where they discuss Aerith's romantic past.

* Cloud never asks Tifa about her ex-boyfriends. In fact, he doesn't seem to care who she's been with.

8. Tifa is immediately jealous of Aerith and the bond she has formed so quickly with Cloud. The only reason for Tifa to be jealous is if she sees romantic interest between the two of them.

9. Cloud continually expresses concern for Aerith's safety whilst ignoring the fact that Tifa is in the same amount of danger. Cloud is also supportive when Aerith is frightened.

*By comparison, we have Cloud rudely demanding "Why'd you come along anyway?" when Tifa becomes scared before they jump from the train. The way he treats these two women is like night and day.

10. When Aerith is kidnapped, Cloud states he needs to rescue her "by all means!"

* Cloud ignores Tifa, who is drowning in her own guilt after the plate falls, and heads out to rescue Aerith with or without her.

11. Cloud braves Shinra HQ, a massive skyscraper crawling with his enemies, the most difficult quest he has faced so far, in order to rescue Aerith.

* Cloud is reluctant to rescue Tifa from Corneo because it means he will have to dress in drag.

12. Barret notices the change in Cloud when they are entering Shinra HQ, remarking that "there are times when even you fight for other people". This was said in response to Cloud's stony resolve to rescue Aerith, regardless of the risks involved.

* Barret knows that Cloud previously refused to fight for either he or Tifa without compensation.

13. Cloud mentions being Aerith's bodyguard right in front of Tifa. This is the deal he had made with Aerith, the deal where he is her protector in exchange for a date. If Cloud is bringing up his deal with Aerith, then that means he fully intends on collecting on that date with Aerith.

* Cloud never plans on any dates with just he and Tifa... ever.

14. When Tifa hears of Cloud's plans for a date with Aerith, she remarks rather harshly, "EXCUSE me." This was confirmed as a jealous outburst from Tifa when she saw them "developing their world together" and noticed the obvious "special bond" Aerith had with Cloud that was different than Tifa's bond with Cloud. Aerith's "special bond" with Cloud is clearly a romantic one or Tifa wouldn't be getting jealous.

* Aerith is **never** jealous of Tifa's bond with Cloud, which implies that she doesn't see anything romantic going on between the two of them. And, considering Aerith's ability to see inside the hearts and minds of others, this is a pretty profound statement.

15. Aerith's CG render is tied to her dream of riding the airship with Cloud. Cloud's CG render is of him just before he busts into Shinra HQ to rescue Aerith.

* Tifa's CG render is tied to her promise with Cloud.

16. When Aerith is feeling alone at Cosmo Canyon, Cloud tells her he is there for her and he wants to help.

17. Cloud and Aerith have a **second** date at the Gold Saucer. This is the default date for FFVII and is the only one being taken into consideration regarding the storyline. It is also the one date that makes sense as it is the **only** promised date within the game.

* Cloud doesn't date Tifa unless the player chooses to have him do so. In order to get the date with Tifa, the player has to play the game in a way that isn't considered "normal".

18. Cloud shows concern for Aerith when she cries over Tseng at the Temple of the Ancients.

* The night before the battle, when they are sitting under the Highwind, Tifa starts crying. And what does Cloud do? He looks away.

19. Cait Sith makes a prediction about "the affinity between Cloud and Aerith" which states that they are perfect for one another. He also predicts that they are destined to be married. Cloud makes no objections to this prediction, even if Tifa is present. Cait Sith remarks "Poor Tifa" regardless of whether Tifa is present or not.

20. It was confirmed that, despite the fact that Aerith dies, she and Cloud still have hope for a future together. Therefore, Cait Sith's prediction of Cloud and Aerith's "great future" stands firm.

21. Aerith is able to communicate with Cloud in his dreams due to her ability to speak directly to his heart. This implies a profound bond like that of soul mates.

22. Cloud tries to run after Aerith in his dream even before Sephiroth appeared and began to threaten her. This suggests that Cloud desperately did not want Aerith to leave.

23. Cloud and Aerith's lines together just before Aerith leaves are strikingly similar to those spoken in the play, Loveless, between a woman and her lover.

Cloud also first met Aerith under a sign for Loveless.

24. Cloud feels Aerith's presence in his **soul** and can hear her voice from distances so great that he could not possibly hear it with his physical senses.

This reinforces the idea that they are indeed soul mates.

* This kind of thing never occurs between Cloud and Tifa.

25. Sephiroth forces Cloud to beat Aerith and then attempts to make Cloud kill Aerith. This implies that Sephiroth knows Aerith is Cloud's weakness and being forced to harm her will cause Cloud the greatest amount of suffering.

26. When Sephiroth attempts to make Cloud kill Aerith, Cloud is able to resist Sephiroth's will. This is the **only** time in the game Cloud is able to overcome Sephiroth's mind control once he is under the evil maniac's influence.

27. When Aerith dies, Cloud holds her close and pours his heart and soul out in front of Sephiroth and everyone. He abandons his pursuit of Sephiroth and his quest to save the Planet, saying that none of it means anything to him anymore. And why? Because Aerith is gone.

* When Tifa lay dying in the Nibelheim Reactor, Cloud set her aside and went after Sephiroth. It was Tifa's teacher, Zangan, who considered her life more important than pursuing Sephiroth and it was Zangan who saved her life.

28. It was confirmed in Maiden of the Planet that Aerith's death broke Cloud's heart and he was consumed with grief over her death, blame toward himself, and hatred toward Sephiroth.

* When Cloud thought Tifa was dying, he said he was "really sad". o_0 Seriously?

29. Maiden of the Planet confirms that Aerith can hear the cries of Cloud's breaking heart. This ties her to his heart and soul once more.

30. In Maiden of the Planet, Aerith is surprised over Cloud's reaction to her death. She didn't realize how much she meant to him, which suggests that his feelings for her were not platonic in nature. After all, she knew they were friends before her death.

31. The game developers confirmed that, rather than the cliché of having a man die for the woman he loves, they decided to flip things and have a woman die for the man she loves. They also stated that they wanted to achieve an emotional impact on the player caused by seeing Cloud's pain ("feeling dazed at the gravity of the loss" caused by losing "someone you loved very much").

32. Cloud's companions come to offer him their condolences after Aerith's death. This suggests that they understand the depth of Cloud's feelings for Aerith.

33. Cloud alone is the one to put Aerith to rest at the spring. This indicates just how special Aerith was to Cloud.

34. After her death, Aerith can see that Cloud's heart is falling apart "from the sadness of losing her". Cloud is also being consumed by the "anger and hate he had for her being taken from him". And so we know Cloud considers Aerith's loss very personal: he "lost her" and she was "taken from him".

This suggest that Cloud considers Aerith an irreplaceable part of his life.

35. Even though Aerith was gone, Cloud continued to speak about her and remember her with fondness.

36. In the Lifestream, it is Aerith who guides Tifa into "Cloud's closed heart". What we can take away from this is that Aerith has access to Cloud's heart, even when it is closed to all others. Yet again Aerith is associated with Cloud's heart, just more proof that she is his soul mate.

37. Cloud promises Aerith that he will complete her mission and save the Planet she loved so well.

38. Cloud states that he is fighting to save the Planet and that one of the things he is fighting for is "a very personal memory". Since we know Cloud had promised Aerith that he would complete her mission to save the Planet, then naturally the personal element associated to his desire to save the Planet is Aerith.

39. Cloud also states that one of the reasons he is fighting is to free Aerith from Sephiroth's control: "Although she should've returned to the planet by now, something stopped her and now she's stuck...... We've got to set her free."

40. After Cloud defeats Sephiroth and is surrounded by Lifestream, he reaches toward the light with longing. Aerith reaches for him in return, both of them yearning to be reunited. In this scene, Cloud's actions clearly show that he wants to be with Aerith.

41. Earlier, Cloud told the Planet that he had come to show it everyone's wishes, including his and Aerith's. He then demanded an answer from the Planet.

While dangling from a ledge, he tells Tifa that the Planet had given him an answer to his wish: "The planet's answer... The Promised Land... I think I can find her there." If the Planet's answer to Cloud's question is that he can find Aerith in his Promised Land, then logically the question Cloud had asked of it previously was "How can I be with Aerith again? Where can I find her?" This shows two things: 1.) Cloud desperately wants to be with Aerith again, regardless of whether she is alive or dead. 2.) Cloud's Promised Land, the place where Cloud will find what makes him most happy, is associated with Aerith. And this is hardly a surprise since we already know she was the **only** person in the game who ever made him smile or laugh.

42. Cloud mentions his desire to be reunited with Aerith in his Promised Land right in front of Tifa, which makes it very clear that these two are not an item, regardless of what optional choices the player has made.

43. The lowest affection rating for Aerith in the game is 24. However, it is possible to completely eradicate all romantic interest in Tifa during the game, driving her affection rating all the way to zero.

So, there you go. These 43 facts remain regardless of what optional choices you make during the game, regardless of what optional scenes you get

(*COUGH*Highwind Scene*COUGH*), and regardless of which girl the **player** personally prefers. No matter what, Cloud is attracted to Aerith, protects her as his bodyguard, and goes on at least one date with her. No matter what, Tifa is jealous of the budding relationship between Cloud and Aerith. No matter what, Cloud and Aerith are confirmed to have a "special bond" and are predicted to be married. No matter what, Cloud is devastated over Aerith's death and one of the reasons he fights is for her. No matter what, Cloud is longing to be with Aerith at the end, reaching for her hand and asking the Planet how he can be with her again. No matter what, it is Aerith that Cloud wants to meet in his Promised Land. And, no matter what, it is impossible to use the affection rating system to eradicate all of the romantic affection between Cloud and Aerith.

Also, regardless of what optional choices you make, Cloud still makes his affection for Aerith clear right in front of Tifa. He calls himself her bodyguard in front of Tifa, bringing up a deal in which the result is Cloud dating Aerith. Cloud also doesn't object when Cait Sith offers to be the preacher at he and Aerith's wedding (even when Tifa is standing right there).

Cloud and Tifa fans like to assert that the High Affection version of the Highwind Scene is canon, even though they don't have any proof of this. They even go so far as to suggest Cloud and Tifa had sex under the Highwind, which is equally as absurd. And, yet, right after Cloud rescues Tifa from falling and they are clinging to the side of the Northern Crater, he says, right in front of her, that it is Aerith that he wants to see again in his Promised Land. And this is **after** he and Tifa supposedly confessed romantic feelings for one another (High Affection version of the Highwind Scene) and, according to rabid CloTis, had sex. If that is the case, then Cloud just used Tifa for sex, played her feelings, and dropped her like a rock.

Because it isn't Tifa that Cloud wants to be with in the place of supreme bliss (his Promised Land), it's a completely different woman (Aerith).

Also, Cloud demanded an answer from the Planet, remember? This is after he showed the Planet his wishes. His answer was that he could be with Aerith again if he could find the/his Promised Land. And so the wish he expressed to the Planet was quite obviously how he could be reunited with Aerith. This scene **also** took place after the supposed confession of love and alleged sex on pointy rocks under the Highwind. **IF** Cloud confessed romantic feelings for Tifa under the Highwind, then why would he be seeking a reunion with her confirmed "love rival"? **IF** Cloud confessed romantic feelings for Tifa under the Highwind, then why wasn't Tifa the one he states he wants to be with? Why wasn't his wish about her? And why doesn't he care about how she is feeling when he ignores her and says he wants to be with Aerith?

These scenes only make sense if you take the Low Affection version of the Highwind Scene into account. If Cloud and Tifa only shared feelings of a platonic nature, then they are only friends. And Cloud doesn't come off like a cold-hearted jerk who could care less about Tifa's breaking heart. If they are only friends, then it makes perfect sense why Cloud would be seeking a reunion with Aerith again instead of wanting to be with Tifa.

In my opinion, the Low Affection version of the Highwind Scene is the one being followed throughout the rest of the game as well as the Compilation (during which Cloud and Tifa are not portrayed as being in any romantic relationship and there has been **zero** progression toward a romantic relationship between them). Not only that, but the two Highwind Scenes are merely there for replay value and nothing more. While the **player** can choose for Cloud to show romantic interest in Tifa, it doesn't change the fact that he loves Aerith. In other words, Cloud's love for Tifa is **optional**.

Cloud's love for Aerith is **not optional**.

A good example is FFX, where Tidus can show romantic interest in Rikku or Lulu. Between Rikku and Lulu, it is Lulu that seems more inclined to show interest in Tidus, but it doesn't mean that either of them were intended to be Tidus's love interest. Regardless of any optional scenes or dialogues, regardless of affections levels, Tidus still loves Yuna and they are the intended pairing. The scenes with Rikku and Lulu were simply thrown in for replay value. They don't actually mean anything in the end. It is much the same between Cloud and Tifa.

Though Cloud can date Tifa, Yuffie, or Barret instead of Aerith, it doesn't change the fact that Cloud and Aerith love one another and are the intended pairing of FFVII. And, although Cloud has an optional scene with Tifa that may or may not show affection between them under the Highwind, it doesn't change the fact that Cloud and Aerith are the intended pairing of FFVII and Cloud loves Aerith regardless of any affection and/or optional scenes he might feel/share with Tifa (or anyone else).

An interesting note: Yuna is the default character for cut scenes when there is a tie, much like Aerith is the default character for the date scene at Gold Saucer, even if there is a tie between she and Tifa (or anyone else). Coincidence? I think not...

The bottom line? Cloud loves Aerith. The **player** can choose for Cloud to **also** love Tifa, but you cannot eradicate the love between Cloud and Aerith. He can love **both** Aerith and Tifa (optionally). Or he can love just Aerith. He cannot love just Tifa. This was the original intent when the game was created, regardless of the current fan-pandering stance that Square-ENIX has now taken.

One final thought in regard to Square-ENIX's fan-pandering... Throughout the Compilation and all spin-off games in which Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa appear, Cloud x Aerith gets actual solid proof while Cloud x Tifa gets fluff that seems to satisfy the fans, but doesn't actually have any true meaning to it. Want proof of that? Just read through my site... ;-)

[hopelikethemoon]

Bright Star || Moonbeam II || (Ezra x Reader) {Werewolf AU} [smut]

Title: Bright Star Rating: Explicit Length: 5,300 Warnings: Smut (slight cockwarming, Ezra being a menace, sex) and gratuitous poetry reading.  Reader Details: To the best of my knowledge, there are no references to Reader’s physical details, beyond being a bisexual woman. I tried my best to keep it as vague as possible. Notes: Oops, I wrote another chapter (one of hopefully many more). It’s spookytime and I’m a monster fucker that can’t be tamed. Part two of Moonbeams (read it before you read this chapter!)

Taglist: @thedaysarenotfull​ @princessbatears​ @djarin-junk​ @absurdthirst​ @hdlynn​ @legally-a-bastard​ @opheliaelysia​ @heather-lynn​ @sabinemorans​ @crazinessgraveyardsandcartoons​​ @pedrospunk​​ @maybege​​ @chews-erotically​​ @katlikeme​​ @lose-eels​​ @youmeanmybrain​​ @theindiealto​​ @irishleesh93​​ @seawhisperer​ @hdlynn​ @demigod-dragonrider-schoolidol​ @theindiealto​

When you first returned to Lykaois, Ezra refused to let you into his transport-turned-home. He peered out at you through the barely cracked durasteel door and told you that he needed another day alone. 

He promptly sealed the door closed and left you standing in the brisk morning air. You left War & Peace sitting outside the door, but took the cheese back with you. He could have one — but not both. 

You went straight back to your own transport, despite the strong temptation to venture out beyond the now-familiar path. You weren’t sure if it was Ezra’s warnings — or the stories you’d heard back on the Block. 

Shiva had been horrified that you wanted to return to Lykaois. You hadn’t told them about Ezra and maybe you should have. But who would’ve believed you? 

“I’ve met a very unusual man who happens to have a very talented mouth. Don’t worry, he’s just a reclusive werewolf who can’t leave the moon he lives on. I’ve decided to forgo the next steady harvest cycle to stay with him between full moons.” 

There was no way Shiva wouldn’t drive a stun gun into your thigh and have you checked over on the next medical freighter to dock at the Block. 

Especially not after Shiva had rattled off a long list of failed voyages to Lykaois. The rumors were not without truth. Miners gone missing, survivors raving about great beasts, and a few failed voyages from the infected who went mad somewhere in hyperspace. 

You were desperate to get your hands on the list — the names of those that had allegedly perished on Lykaois. You wanted to know if Ezra was on them. But you didn’t want to pry. 

In the short window of time that you had spent with Ezra, you had gathered that he was a private sort of person. He kept himself distant from the others who were like him, he spoke often of solo missions, and he provided only a scintilla of information about his life before Lykaois. 

You had done a lot of foolish things over the course of your life, but Ezra was the wildest endeavor yet. 

He wasn’t like anyone else you had encountered — and not just because of what he was. It was his books. You were good at very little, but you prided yourself on your collection of books and his own collection could rival yours. 

Ezra knew quotes by heart that you thought only you had memorized, stowed away in your soul in case you ever lost your books or your sight. There was very little to care about beyond the greed that had torn the galaxy apart. But books always mattered. 

The passing of written knowledge separated man from beast, didn’t it? Perhaps that was what had kept Ezra grounded, when the others had lost themselves. 

The next morning brought with it the same cool weather from the morning before. 

So you ventured just outside the door of your transport, with Northanger Abbey clutched in one hand and a small stool in the other. 

Ezra had said he needed one more day. If he was ready to see you, he could come to you. You weren’t going to risk the journey through the forest, just to be shut out again. 

You understood why. He had just transformed into a monster — he needed time. But it still stung to have the door slammed in your face with very little explanation. 

Hopefully he was enjoying War & Peace and the litany of annotations you had made in it, up until the point you had left it at his door. You hadn’t had quite enough time to finish reading it through. 

A branch snapped somewhere just beyond the clearing where you had landed the transport. You narrowed your eyes, scanning the forest line hesitantly. 

“Ezra?” You questioned hesitantly, your voice raised just enough to pierce the nearest parts of the forest. 

Another branch snapped and your fingers tightened around the spine of your book. Maybe you should go back inside —

A stag emerged from the treeline, at least one that looked not so dissimilar from the etchings you’d seen once. Larger perhaps than what people used to see, but with wide-reaching antlers and tar-colored patches of fur. 

The stag seemed disinterested in you, more concerned with finding a grazing spot for himself and the flock of does that trailed from the forest behind him. 

Cervos. You had seen them mentioned in one of the fauna pamphlets Shiva had found whilst planning how they would rescue you from Lykaois. 

You sank back against the hull of your transport, crossing your leg over your knee and propping your book open there. You could coexist with a herd of cervos enjoying a crisp morning feast. 

The moon hadn’t been fully explored — for obvious reasons — but from what you had seen, beyond Ezra and his kind, most of the creatures were docile. 

You let yourself get lost in the first handful of chapters of Northanger Abbey, sucking happily on one of the honeysticks you had found for Ezra. 

If he didn’t show up today — the cheese and honey would be off the table for this trip. You’d given him War & Peace because he needed something to do to pass the time, especially if he was still recovering from his transformation. Food would be reinforcement only if you got to ensure he was alright.

You cared and maybe that was the problem. Ezra hadn’t fully warmed up to the idea of you coming back to Lykaois, right up until the last few minutes before you left. 

A harsh growl interrupted your thoughts and your eyes snapped up to see the whites of the cervos’ eyes as he and his herd tore off across the clearing. A beast — a true beast — emerged from the forest, eyes lingering on you only briefly before chasing after the cervos. 

You scrambled. Blood rushing in your ears as your heart pounded in your throat. Your favourite shawl caught in the hermetic seal of your door as you made it inside and you didn’t even care — not so long as you were in one piece. 

That didn’t look like anything you had seen in the pamphlets Shiva had shoved in your face. That seemed… large and terrifying. 

A bi-ped beast that stood well beyond the height of any mortal man. Was that what Ezra looked like? Was that Ezra?

Maybe you should leave. Head back to the Block and jump on whatever shitty enlistment was left on the rosters. Probably the Green — they loved sending the low-draws out on those missions. 

But even fear hadn’t soured the honey-sweet taste on your tongue. Ezra had said he needed one more day. You would give him one more day. 

Hope waned as the sun dipped down below the horizon. You sat in the cockpit of your transport, watching the last light slip out of view through the nav-window. 

Ezra hadn’t shown and as badly as you wanted to go to his transport and tell him you were leaving — you were haunted by the face of the beast you had seen. Intelligent eyes on a fearsome form. 

It had to have been Ezra. Even like that there was something about his eyes. Kind eyes. Warm eyes. 

A knock echoed through the quiet corridor of your transport. Once and then twice. 

You kept one hand on your weapon, keeping it holstered at your hip as you moved to open the door — just a crack. You peered out through the space into the inky black night. 

“I know I’m late, moonbeam,” Ezra said as he stepped into your line of view, the faint glimmer of stars above lighting his face. 

“I was going to leave,” You told him, keeping the door partially closed. 

He chuckled wryly. “I wouldn’t have blamed you.”

“Are you… are you okay?” You questioned, opening the door a fraction further. 

“As well as one can be after the full moon.” He sighed heavily. “I can come back in the morning.” 

“No.” You knew you were taking a risk, but you pulled open the door anyways. “Come in.” 

Ezra seemed to be carrying a weight on his shoulders as he stepped over the threshold. He needed new clothes. You hadn't thought to bring any this time — but he had on the same threadbare khaki green reg shirt he’d worn last month. 

“I thought about coming this morning,” He admitted to you, awkwardly shifting on his feet. “But after breakfast I was exhausted. I’m still exhausted.” 

“So you slept?” You questioned, taking a shuffling step backwards, before turning away and making yourself busy with ensuring the transport was secured for the night — though you’d already let the danger inside. 

Ezra hummed quietly, “I fell into the most illustrious of slumbers, little lamb.” 

“I have so many questions,” You admitted, glancing back at him. “But I don’t want to pry.” 

“You have been quite magnanimous with me,” He pointed out, folding his arms across his chest. “I think you’re justified in your questioning.”

You turned back to face him and held his gaze, “What do you look like when you change?”

His brows furrowed, but there was no light in his eyes that told you that he knew that you had seen him — or a creature like him. “I’ve never seen my own reflection, but… the beast that attacked me was larger than a bear.” He scratched at his jaw thoughtfully. “Broad.”

“I see.” You looked down at your feet for a moment before reaching out to touch him, fingers brushing over a fraying spot on the shirt, just below his collarbone. “I resisted the urge to do my own research.”

“Really?” Ezra cracked a faint smile, meeting your gaze. “I thought you would’ve returned with volumes of forgotten lore about my kind.” He waved his hand grandly. 

“Easy there Edgar Allen Poe.” You tapped your thumb against his collarbone. 

“There’s someone I haven’t read in awhile,” He hesitantly reached out and trailed his fingers down your side to rest at your hip. “Thank you for War & Peace and for the notes…”

“I made it through half of the novel before I started back here.” You brushed your fingers up the column on his throat, cupping his cheek. “Maybe I’ll add more notes before I leave again.”

“I think I would like that,” Ezra murmured, leaning in to kiss you. His hand snaked around from your side to the small of your back, pulling you towards him as you brushed your lips over his. 

You grabbed at his side, fingers sliding over the soft fabric of his shirt as you leaned against him. You let him guide the kiss — savoring the quiet hesitation of his movements as he explored your mouth all over again. 

Ezra guided you backwards, pinning you against the cool durasteel wall. He felt so much larger than you — all that wiry muscle felt like a solid mass beneath your fingers as you ran your hand up his chest. 

A quiet growl rose up in the back of his throat as your fingers slid through his hair, tugging at it just right. The sound reminded you of the beast — the massive hulk of a monster that could have torn you in two with his hands. 

You tensed and Ezra must’ve noticed the way your body went rigid beneath him. He rested his forehead against yours, “You found the honeysticks.”

“What?” You blinked up at him, playing with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Oh! Yes. I have the cheese for you too.” 

Ezra exhaled heavily, before taking a step back. “I apologize if I ever overstepped—“

“No.” You shook your head, grabbing at his forearm before he could slip out of your hold. Maybe you should tell him what you saw. “It’s I, um.” You chewed on your bottom lip. “It’s new for me.” 

His eyes narrowed briefly as he studied your face. “Right.” Ezra breathed out, “Am I right in my recollection, that you have a lovely copy of Keats?”

“I do,” You slid your fingers down his arm, taking ahold of his hand and guiding him down the corridor to your quarters. It wasn’t much. 

A thin mattress topping the alcove bed that was just large enough for two. In a tight transport vessel, space had to be used wisely. A panel slid down from above the bed, transforming it into an additional desk space — not that you needed it. You had more than enough space for just you. 

“Make sure yourself comfortable,” You told Ezra, releasing your hold on his hand to move towards your stack of books. You knelt down, skimming your fingers over the spines until you spotted the book you were looking for. 

Carefully, you pulled it from the stack, balancing the other dozen books just right so they didn’t tumble over. “Keats’s Poetical Works.” You said as you brandished the worn green book and ran your thumb over the gilded gold design along its spine. “Which is your favorite?”

Ezra had crowded himself into the alcove of your bed, scratching at his scruffy jaw. “Ode on Melancholy.” 

“I don’t know what I expected,” You shook your head offering him a wry grin before flipping open the book to the index page, finding the number and turning to it. “No, no, go not to Lethe, neither twist. Wolf’s-bane, tight-rooted, for its poisonous wine; nor suffer thy pale forehead to be kiss’d.”

“Wolf’s bane. I had forgotten that line.” Ezra mused, his eyes raking over you briefly, before settling back on your face. “Go on.” 

You cleared your throat, shifting somewhat nervously on your feet before continuing. “By nightshade, ruby grape of Proserpine. Make not your rosary of yew-berries. Nor let the beetle, nor the death-moth be. Your mournful Psyche, nor the downy owl. A partner in your sorrow’s mysteries; for shade to shade will come too drowsily. And drown the wakeful anguish of the soul.” 

Ezra watched you with a quiet reverence that you weren’t certain any other lover had looked at you with. It was hard to rectify the beast you had seen in the morning, with the man laying in your bed. 

You closed the book abruptly, faltering on the last few lines of the poem. “Sorry.”

“Little lamb, what is it?” Ezra questioned, his jaw clenched tight as he scooted to the edge of your bed. “I can go. There is no reason for me to overstay your—“

“I saw you this morning,” You blurted out, biting down on your bottom lip until you swore you tasted blood. 

“What?” He stared back at you blankly. “How is that possible?”

You blinked slowly, “Maybe it wasn’t you, but I saw someone this morning.” 

Ezra swallowed thickly. “Did it try to hurt you?”

“No.” You shook your head, closing the distance between the two of you, sinking down onto the edge of your bed beside him. “I was sitting outside reading and this herd of — I think they’re called Cervos — were grazing. This… this thing came out of the woods and.” You drew your knees to your chest, resting your chin there as you stared straight ahead. “I saw it’s eyes… your eyes.”

“I thought I had control.” Ezra’s voice wavered. “When you showed up yesterday, everything was still on fire.” 

“It’s been days since the full moon.” You tilted your head to look at him, “Are you using the lunaxium?”

“Yes.” He dragged his fingers through his hair as he hung his head. “I knew you were coming back, I wasn’t looking to ruin this. Not like this.” 

“Ezra,” You whispered, reaching out to curl your fingers around his shoulder. “You haven’t ruined anything. I’m here, aren’t I?” 

“Foolishly.” He reached up and took your hand off his shoulder, rubbing his thumb over the back of it as he brought it to his lips. “You should’ve washed your hands of Lykaois. There’s nothing here for you.”

“You’re here.” 

“And what am I?” He questioned, a sharp edge to his voice. “I don’t do pity. That may flatter others, but I’m not one of them. This can go nowhere. I will either hurt you or you will get bored and frankly, I prefer the latter.” 

Your mouth felt dry as you turned to stare at him, “I don’t do pity, either.” You managed, “And for someone who seems so hellbent on convincing me to leave, you’re holding my hand awfully tight.”

Ezra looked down at your entangled fingers.

“I could’ve left after what I saw this morning—“

“You should’ve.” 

“But I stayed.” You squeezed his hand tight. “And I let you in.” 

“I could hurt you.” 

“We’ve been through this, Ezra.” You held his gaze. “I nearly went back to jump on a voyage to the Green — I’m aware of imminent danger.”

“A dangerous journey to be certain.” His tongue darted out to wet his bottom lip. “I wonder if I ate the cervos.”

“What?”

“I woke up starving, not at all like I’d just eaten my fill of a fresh kill.” His brows furrowed together. 

“I didn’t stick around to find out.” You made a face, leaving him with Keats as you got up from the bed to retrieve a honeystick from a pouch hanging off the corner of your shelf. “Here.” 

Ezra caught ahold of the stick as you tossed it to him. “You are an angel among the stars, moonbeam.”

“And you’re stuck with me.” You told him firmly, hands on your hips. “Not just because I bring you food.”

He flashed you a crooked grin that didn’t last nearly long enough as he sank back into the alcove of your bed. “You have blessed me with both companionship and the comforts that my belly has not known in many moons. Even if it’s a fool’s errand.” 

You watched as he tore open the end of the stick and sucked the honey from the tube. “I believe it tasted sweeter on your lips.”

“You’ve been among poets for too long.” 

Ezra winked at you, “Again and again, their spellbinding words keep me comfort on my loneliest nights.” He gave you a curious look, “And who keeps you warm at night, lamb?”

“Jealous?”

He pursed his lips, “I don’t think a man bound to a moon has any place to be jealous. I am simply curious to know what life is like for someone beyond my little world.”

“I’m not terribly exciting,” You admitted with a shrug as you sat down beside him again, removing your holster from your belt and settling it on the floor by your foot. “My last dalliance was two years ago?” You questioned, trying to recall just how long it had been. “We met at the cantina on the Block.”

“Gambling?” He questioned, before licking at the honeystick to get the last sticky drops. 

“I won the lion’s share that night.” You smirked at him. “Beat her less than fair and square and still woke up to her in my bed.” 

He nudged your leg with his knee, “Impressive.” 

“She was.” You arched a brow at him. “Played the long game too, because she stole a unit of cabalton from my room before she left. Worth more than anything she gambled away the night before.” 

Ezra laughed, shaking his head. “It would seem you have a type.”

“Oh?”

He nodded slowly, “That little trick sounds like the cunning games I once got up to. Perhaps this is karma.” 

“Well, karma was kind enough to allow me to cross paths with you.”

Ezra frowned, picking at a bit of fuzz on his shirt. “I suppose you’re right.” 

“I’m going to bring you new clothes when I come back,” You told him, reaching out to bat his fingers away from the fraying spot where the fuzz was. “Would you like that?”

“You have only been here one day, little lamb. Don’t make promises you can’t keep.” 

You ignored him, “What size shoes do you wear?” 

Ezra sighed heavily, “You’ll have to get me out of them to find out. I haven’t a clue, honestly.” 

“Men.” You huffed. “I’m sure you’ll be out of everything sooner or later.”

“So sure of yourself.” 

“Says the man who tried to pin me against the wall within minutes of me letting them inside.”

“I—“

“I would be lying if I said I hadn’t envisioned something exactly like that since the last time.” You waved off his worries. “Will you read Keats to me?”

“Of course,” Ezra plucked up the book as you shuffled your pillows around so you could prop yourself up at his side. 

You were lulled into an unfamiliar contentment as he breathed steadily beside you, your eyes fixed on a little patch of belly that was visible where his shirt had ridden up from his pants. 

He licked the tip of his thumb as he turned the pages to his poem of choice. 

“Bright star, would I were stedfast as thou art— Not in lone splendour hung aloft the night. And watching, with eternal lids apart, Like nature's patient, sleepless Eremite. The moving waters at their priestlike task of pure ablution round earth's human shores or gazing on the new soft-fallen mask. Of snow upon the mountains and the moors—“

You were transfixed by the way his tongue never faltered over a word, his eyes scanning the page like he was revisiting old friends that he once knew as fondly as you knew them. 

“No—yet still stedfast, still unchangeable, pillow'd upon my fair love's ripening breast. To feel for ever its soft fall and swell awake for ever in a sweet unrest. Still, still to hear her tender-taken breath, and so live ever—or else swoon to death.”

You should have known he’d choose Bright Star. Of all the poems, of all the pieces, it’s quiet longing, the comparison of nature and man’s unwavering steadiness — it seemed right.

Ezra tilted his head to look down at you, warm eyes meeting yours. It was hard to rectify what you had seen at the forest’s edge with the man beside you. They both had the same soft chestnut hair, the same kind eyes, but one looked made to tear you apart and the other looked—

“Does Keats always have such an arousing affect on you, little lamb?” He questioned, setting the book aside so he could curl his arm beneath you. 

You felt a warm flush burning at your cheeks as you tilted your face towards his, “I think it had everything to do with the man reading Keats.” You traced your thumb over the scar on his cheek. 

Ezra ran his tongue over his bottom lip, working his jaw slowly as he searched for his words, “After what you saw this morning, I understand if you would prefer that we just rest.” He told you, dragging his fingers over your side. 

“I should be afraid,” You brushed your fingers through the hair that fell against his forehead, combing them back to toy with the blonde patch of hair. “But I’m not, Ezra.”

He caught your hand, rubbing his thumb over your palm. “Did you think of me while you were gone?” Ezra questioned, looking hungrily between your eyes and lips. 

“Yes.” You felt a shiver race down your spine as he slotted his fingers in between yours, sliding his fingers against yours before curling them around your hand tightly. “But my fingers are poor substitutes for your cock.”

Ezra growled as he crawled over you, roughly dragging your arm above your head and pinning your hand back against the mattress. “I could still smell you in my bed.” He told you, pressing his thigh between your legs.

Your free hand slid under his shirt, greedy fingers sliding over his warm skin, nails scraping down his back. “Can you smell me right now?” You asked, rolling your hips towards the knee he had pressed between your thighs. 

He pressed his face into the crook of your neck, breathing heavily. “I could smell you yesterday morning,” He told you, releasing your hand and sliding his fingers down your forearm. “My sweet little lamb, coming to my door with thoughts of our last encounter burning at her core.”

“Ezra.” You moaned softly, curling your fingers into his hair. His mouth was a menace — his tongue flicked out over your pulse point, lips hot on your skin as he breathed out raggedly against your throat. 

His teeth scraped over your skin before he pulled back to meet your eyes. His warm brown eyes, were dark— pupils blown as he focused on you. “Tell me, little lamb… did you wish you had found more of the beast, than the man yesterday? Was it tempting fate that made you wet?” 

You inhaled sharply, sitting up to help as Ezra peeled your shirt off your body. His questions swirled in your mind and you wondered if he knew that those words alone had made that knot of arousal coil tighter within you. Because maybe they were true — before you had seen the beast for yourself. 

“Maybe,” You retorted, less certain of your voice than you realised. “We can talk about our twisted fantasies after you fuck me.” You tightened your grip on his hair and dragged him down for a kiss. 

Ezra growled against your lips. You both fumbled with each other’s pants, struggling to divest yourselves of everything that kept you from each other. 

You did have a twisted fantasy. You had lost count of how many times you’d revisited it in the time away from him. Running through the forest — hunted down by a fearsome beast that made your blood run hot in your veins. 

Ezra swore under his breath as he slid off your underwear, tossing them into the pile of discarded clothes alongside your bed. “I wish you knew how sweet you smell, little lamb.” His hand wandered down your stomach, slipping between your thighs to part your slick folds. 

Your head fell back against the mattress and you moaned out his name as he teased you. 

The beast always caught you. Claimed you. They were such vivid dreams — ones that you woke up from drenched in sweat and clenching around nothing but the memory of Ezra slamming into you. 

You scraped your nails down his back as you looked up at him, eyes half-lidded as settled between your thighs. 

“Can you take me, moonbeam?” He murmured, gliding the head of his cock over your sensitive cunt. 

You nodded and that was encouragement enough.

Ezra gripped at your hip hard enough to bruise as he buried the entire length of his cock into you with one swift thrust. 

“Don’t be gentle,” You urged him, tugging at the hair at the nape of his neck as you wrapped a leg around his hips, trying to drive him on. “Come on, Ezra.”

“Shh.” He murmured, brushing his fingers over your cheek as he looked down at you. “Do you trust me?”

“Yes.” You didn’t hesitate — even if you should’ve. 

“I want you to come for me. Just like this.” Ezra dropped his voice low. “I want to feel you come on my cock. Can you do that?” He questioned, brushing his thumb over your clit. 

“Fuc— yes!” You nodded your head, curling your fingers around the back of his neck as you looked up at him.

“Is this what you thought about?” He questioned, his eyes staying locked with yours as he stroked his thumb over your clit, keeping his cock buried within you. 

You bit down on your bottom lip, rocking your hips towards him as you arched your back up off the bed. “Never felt this good before.”

Ezra flashed a wicked smirk, “Always gonna think of me.” He dipped down to kiss you, his tongue playing over your bottom lip, seeking entrance into your mouth. 

He swallowed up your moan as you felt your body start to shatter around him. Your inner walls pulsed around the thick length of his cock as he kept a steady rhythm with his thumb against your clit. 

“Oh stars.” You hissed out, grabbing at his shoulders for support as he started to move above you, his fingers bit into your hip roughly, holding you steady. 

Ezra’s eyes fell closed, your name on his lips like a silent prayer as he rolled his hips. He barely gave you any time to come down from your high, before fucking you into your mattress. 

It was like white-hot pleasure coursing through you and you let yourself get swept up in the power of it all. Last time hadn’t been a fluke. 

You traced your fingers over the scars that curved over the back of his neck, guiding him back down for another kiss. 

Ezra’s teeth dragged over your bottom lip as he broke away from the kiss. “You covered?”

“Stim.” You promised him, shifting your arm enough for him to catch sight of the slightly raised patch on your arm. “Don’t stop.”

And he didn’t. 

Ezra caught your hand in his, intertwining your fingers and pinning your hand back against the bed as he filled you — again and again. His pace was brutal and you had a distinct feeling that you’d be feeling this tomorrow and the day after. 

He pressed his face against the hollow of your throat, breath hot against your skin as he stiffened above you, his release spilling within you. 

How were you supposed to just leave Lykaois and forget this? Where else could you find a man who loved to read as much as you did, whose honey-sweet voice spun golden webs of magic for your ears, and fucked you like a—

Beast. 

You lazily dragged your fingers through his hair. In a world where nothing was certain, nothing was guaranteed sometimes it was worth it just to pursue the things that made you feel. No matter how dangerous they were. 

Ezra rolled off of you, wedging himself into the space between you and the wall at the back of the alcove. “Damn.” He chuckled, raking his hands over his face, before nearly folding them against his chest. 

You rolled onto your side to face him, reaching out to trail one finger down the back of his hand. “That good?” You teased lightly. 

He nodded his head, before tilting his face towards you. “This has been good for me.” Ezra told you. “I can just forget for a few minutes.” 

“It’s been good for me too.” You pressed a kiss to the curve of his shoulder, running your hand down his chest, over the soft skin of his stomach, before curling your hand around his waist as you settled into his side. “You’re not going to run me away, Ezra.”

“I don’t want to,” Ezra admitted, kissing the top of your head, exhaling heavily. “But if I’m not as in control of it.”

“When I go back to the Block, I’m going to do more research on Lykaois.” You explained to him, sliding your fingers over his side. “There has to be more that we don’t know.”

“I can…” Ezra dragged his fingers through his hair. “I can try to make contact with the others. Maybe they know more.”

“Have you ever interacted with them?”

“In the beginning.” He shrugged a shoulder, scratching at his jaw. “They’re feral even when they’re like this. A glimpse into my cruel future.” 

“Ezra—“

He shook his head, “I have had five years to accept that one day, I will no longer be me.” Ezra tilted his head to look at you, a sad smile on his lips. “If only you had turned up earlier.” 

You closed the distance between the two of you, pressing your lips to his. “I’m here now.”

[razorblade180]

Twin snowflakes part 24: Date Night.

Part 23 here! <-

Still exhausted, Veronica flopped back onto her bed with the help of Nick. The girl let the mattress steal all tension from her body, letting out a sigh of satisfaction. “Aaahhhh! That’s the stuff. Appreciate the help.”

“Don’t mention it. Especially after what you just did. Frankly I had no plan to get Summer to cooperate.”

Veronica chuckled the best she could. “Hehe, not often Nicholas Schnee doesn’t have a plan. I guess you owe me then? Lucky for you I take words of affirmation as payment all the time.”

Nick smiled. It was nice to see Veronica joking. Encountering Shiva always put a dread over him, but she seemed to not care much. That’s Veronica alright, refusing to take crap from anybody. “I could praise you, or how about I praise you over a nice dinner?” Nick quickly responded.

All the neurons in Veronica’s brain suddenly came to a screeching halt. Her body immediately came flinging forward to sit upright to stare at the smiling boy. “What…?” She asked, still processing the question.

“Let me take you dinner.” He said again, “I have a reservation at this place in Atlas tonight. I was gonna cancel but we could just have a night out together. You still haven’t tried much food from here right? Plus I know you still have to be hungry. This works out.”

Veronica couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Did Nick just ask her out on a dinner date? That didn’t sound right, even if it was a thank you gift. As quickly as her eyes lit up, they began to squint at him with skepticism. “What happened with Valerie?”

Now his eyes got big. He wasn’t expecting that response. “Uhhhh what?” His voice gave away his nervousness and Veronica could clearly tell.

“Don’t play dumb with me Nick. I’m not gonna call you a liar or anything, but I know you, and you know me; as well as my feelings.” She said that last part sheepishly. “You aren’t the kind of person to play with my emotions or offer a dinner date when you’re crushing on Val, so what’s up? Be straight with me”

It was becoming clear to Nick that he apparently could be read like a book. This is the third person within twenty four hours to look at him and automatically knew to ask about Valerie. This was ridiculous! His life had many things that made him bummed out. How are people guessing right on the first try!?”

“Uhhhhh” he scratched the back of his head and sighed. No point tip toeing around it. Not like it was a secret or anything, yet his stomach felt queasy all the same. “I ran into her yesterday. She was pretty upset that I didn’t tell her I got sick. I apologized and tried to smooth our recent bickering over with dinner. It was going okay, but then…Val immediately started to brush me off. I got upset, she started deflecting, people started staring, then she really started saying some things that really got me upset; kinda made a little scene out of it before walking off. Nor really princely, huh?” He tried smiling at the self jab, but failed. “Anyways, next time we meet per her request more a less will be at the tournament. We currently aren’t on speaking terms. Something she should be fine with since distance was what she wanted in the first place.”

Veronica could hear a little venom in those words. Val really did have Nick upset. He’s never this openly bitter. Though maybe it was being behind closed doors that allowed him to drop the facade of being consistently pleasant. Frankly, that made Veronica a little happy for him, in an odd way. However… “I see. So I assume that this dinner reservation was for you and her?” An answer wasn’t needed. Nick’s moment of sulking was replaced with a guilt ridden look on his face the moment she asked. “You know, kinda shitty you’re asking me to a dinner meant for another girl that turned you down. Not a fan of being someone’s second choice.”

Nick closed his eyes and let in a sharp breath like he had just been hit. “Oooo yeah, yeah that was pretty messed up for me.”

“Mhmm, big time. No girl wants to hear that you know?”

“I didn’t mean- I wasn’t trying to...sorry. That was tasteless and selfish of me.” He looked down, shamefully and with genuine guilt. It was only when Veronica’s hand lifted his head by his chin did he see the girl stare at him with an observing gaze and lips pouting to the side. She then crossed her arms and looked away from him, ears tucked and a tinge of red visible on her.

“You’re lucky you’re a good person and I am hungry. I…guess you could apologize with a good dinner?” Veronica knew he wasn’t trying to be insensitive. Still, she was more than a little ticked off at herself for letting him off easy. Darn his good qualities! Being mad towards him for long was never gonna happen. Not to mention having a calm outing together is a golden opportunity. No way she wasn’t gonna capitalize off of Valerie’s mistakes. Her eyes shifted towards Nick to see a relieved smile that only made staying upset harder.

“This place better be good! Also I’m gonna order every expensive thing possible!” Veronica declared, attempting to save face.

“Hehe, thank you, and go right ahead and order anything you want. It’s not until around nine so please, get some rest.”

“I should be saying that to you. Isn’t going out at night in the cold while moody only gonna give you more sniffles?”

“Pfft, I’m sick anymore. Just focus on healing and rest. Not that I have to tell you this, but you gotta dress nice for where we’re eating.”

Veronica smirked, pointing at a closet of designed outfits. “Careful. I may not be worth billions but I’ll make you look like a pocket change if you don’t wear you best.”

The boy let out a cocky chuckle before walking to the door. “For your information, I’m two billion.” He said puffing out his chest playfully, leaving on that note. He could hear her gentle laughter behind the door. At least he could lift one girl’s spirit. As for the other, Nick looked at his sister’s locked door. He couldn’t help himself. He wasn’t going to knock, but he had to at least walk to it. Come to think of it, Nick had a hard time remembering when this door remained open. Most days it kept either the warmth in, while shutting others out. Slowly he rested his hand against it. The wood, cool to the touch.

“Tell me what you need.” He thought, “I’m not a mind reader…” Nick could only sigh. He removed his hand and stepped back. As he began to walk, the door moved. As if something was pressed against it from the other side.

“I know you’re there.” Summer said from the other side. Nick quickly walked back to it. Somehow he could imagine how she was on the other side. One leg extended while the other was bent as she pressed her back to the door. Nick took a seat himself, mimicking the pose he envisioned.

“You okay?”

“Far from it, but that’s par for course…” Summer looked over her shoulder as if she was actually resting against her brother’s back. “Honestly I feel so fucked up some days that therapy feels like a joke. I think I need a break.”

“What kind of break?”

“The usual…” Summer let her words draw out lazily. The back of her head rhythmically tapped the door. “Care to join me?”

Nick tugged at the carpet fibers, mulling it over. “Mmmm sorry, I’m not in the mood for that kind of relief. Besides, I already have plans. I’ll cover for you though. I think venting could do some real good for ya. Just don’t stay out too long. Leave around… half past nine.”

“Will do, thanks Nick.” Even though a door separated them, Summer could feel the care from the other side. Veronica’s words back in the forest about Nick and how Summer treats their relationship struck an all too sensitive cord. “I promise not to worry you. Have fun with whatever you’re doing tonight. I’ll keep you updated and everything.”

“Don’t stress about it. I believe in you. Anyways, I gotta get going. I think I’ll do a bit of distressing in my own way.” Nick stands up. “Better go while there’s daylight.”

“Gonna pay respects?”

“Yep. Enjoy your outing. I’ll see ya tomorrow if I don’t see ya tonight before I leave. Love ya.” He walked away after that, not expecting a response. Didn’t need one. After all, Summer coming to the door said enough.

All in all, things felt okay. Life felt okay. By no means was it perfect, but Nick was thankful he had blessings to count. He’d feel better after the tournament. What should’ve been an exciting time was getting more troublesome. Training, performing, fighting Darren in the duos, and now a not so friendly rematch with Valerie. At least Eliza still had a sportsmanship attitude. He still needed to ask her favor as well. By the end of this she would certainly be sick of him. Nick was surprised she didn't block his number yet. That would royally suck.

His slow walk took down the stairs and back to the front of the manor. He heard dishes clanking from the door to the far left while he grabbed his dark blue winter coat off the rack. “That you dad?” The kitchen door swung open to show Jaune drying a cup and Yang waving in the background as she held a slice in her mouth while talking to Blake. How they managed to swipe pizza out of Veronica’s room was beyond Nick.

“What’s up?” Jaune said, noticing his son put his jacket on. “Heading out? Your mom and aunts should be back soon. Pretty sure they’d want-”

“Veronica and I are going on a dinner date later.” Nick interjected. As planned, his father was derailed. Stammering footsteps came plopping out of the kitchen in the form of a very wide eyed blonde, and a shocked ninja. Blake’s ears even did the little twitch Nick as seen Veronica do whenever she’s caught off guard. “Yeah I thought you all should now. I’d say don’t bug her about it and let her rest, but considering Yang’s feet are already pointed towards the stairs…”

Yang looked down. “Huh...how about that?” She said, walking up the stairs with Blake trying to stop her.”

“Let her rest Yang!”

“But I wanna say stuff~” she whined, “I guarantee you she’s listening to us right now.”

Yang was right on the money. Veronica was currently judging how much strength it would take to lock the door. Her odds were bad. “Okay I don’t care how cute he is. This was cruel!” Veronica thought loudly to herself.

Jaune watched Blake slowly get dragged up the stairs by trying to stop Yang. Without looking, he leaned forward and reached out to grab Nick’s shoulder, who was trying to slowly back up to the door. He faced forward and smiled. “Good attempt, but you’d need a better distraction than that.”

“Eh it was worth a shot…” Nick sighed. He was pulled forward and fell into a surprise hug. He stood silently for a minute before wrapping his arms around his dad. “You needed a hug?”

“Not really, but you looked like you did.” Jaune said, squeezing tired. “You know you’re growing up into a fine young man. Better than me by a long shot at your age. I hope you know your entire family is proud of you.”

“I know dad…” Nick said, his voice getting stuck in his throat a little.

“I know I can’t relate to some of the pressures you feel. Honestly being a part of a household with this much attention and expectation still gets me anxious from time to time. So don’t hesitate to vent to me. You’re a young adult yeah, but I’m still my son and sixteen. Weiss and I would much rather see you yell at an annoying cameraman or get scrappy with a bully than see you try to hold it in for the sake of family image. Remember that.”

How did he do it? It was unfair, downright cheating almost in Nick’s eyes. How could so many people easily call him out? “What’s the point of enduring if everyone I wanna reassure sees right through the act? So much for a brave face.” He muttered. Jaune finally let go of him. The compassionate father poked Nick right where his heart was.

“Enduring an ordeal for the sake of others is pretty brave in my book, but who said you couldn’t endure hardships and still be open to those who matter? Have you meant your friends and family? Besides your sister I don’t think there’s a soul close to you who isn’t an expert of seeing past masks. Val and Vee live with bleeding hearts and the rest have had to put up with me!” He chuckled, “Just like I’m sure you know when someone is upset.”

Nick had his doubts. “Mmmmm, starting to think I might not know them as well as I think. Val is...ugh, I don’t know she is. Learned about Vee’s traits recently for the first time, and Summer-”

“Okay, I see your point. But! Learning new things about them and knowing there’s things you don’t know, doesn’t erase what you did. Y’all are teens. There’s a bunch of things to sort through. At the end of the day though, you know them where it counts. Does that make sense?”

“....Yeah, I think I do.” Nick nodded, thanks dad. Seriously. It’s kinda scary how good at talking you are.”

“Comes with practice, specifically learning to listen and just watch closely. You may not realize it but you do this plenty. It’s a big reason people gravitate towards you. Well… people who are just money hungry anyways, but that’s more of a rich person policy than a Nick-ism. I digress! You better get going before your mother comes back and give you her own talk.” Jaune said. He opened up the door for Nick to leave. “From the way you’ve been acting I assume you’re heading to pay your respects?”

Nick nodded, “I’ll try not to be terribly long. Don’t tell mom unless she asks. You know how she gets?” Nick walked through the door, fist bumping his dad on the way out.

Jaune closed the door and went back to the kitchen. Somewhere above him he could hear giggles and a few squealing. “Hopefully nothing catches on fire up there.”

“You are starting a fire!” Blake yelled, trying to contain Yang’s excitement so the blonde’s hair would stop flaring up. “Use your words.” Blake laughed.

“Please…” Veronica groaned. This level of energy was higher than usual. “You’re more excited than me. It’s just a dinner date. Barely even that. More like a thank you gift I suppose.” That being said the blush coming to her face clearly sung a different tune. “Can we please talk about anything else? I mean mom, you’re here!”

Blake crossed her arms. “So I heard you got into a fight? Let’s talk about that.”

“Ummm, so this date, any suggestions on what to wear?” Veronica poorly deflected. Blake didn’t even respond and Yang was smart enough not to. There was no choice but to talk about it unfortunately. “Sigh….I know okay? Ma told me I should’ve eaten and I didn’t listen. I should’ve, or learn to walk away from-”

“I’ll stop you right there. Don’t think for a second I wasn’t okay with a person getting hit when they were clearing harassing you.” Blake took a seat on the bed. “Expecting you to balance instinct, emotions, and logic here in Atlas was never in the cards, because frankly we don’t know what that balance is. Not to say I assumed you’d fight here. All I wanted was for you to try and...take a break from the norm.”

“If that’s the case then school should’ve been removed right off the back. It doesn’t matter the location, people act the same. Different faces, same insufferability. Only difference is these bozos are rich and human.”

“You make it sound like you aren’t crushing on a rich human whose parents are allowing you to stay in their manor.” Yang deadpanned. “Not making you go to school would only leave you bored and gods know what you’ll do with too much time on your hands. Then again you managed to stir things up already by stealing a spot on the cheer team.”

Blake did a double take. That wasn’t mentioned earlier. “Cheer team? How did that happen?”

“A girl got cocky with me so I out performed her. Honestly I was more than a little surprised by it all. Holding pom-poms, doing flips on mats, and even the couch blowing the whistle, kinda forgot what those things were like until I was in the moment.”

“See? That’s a change from norm.”

“Pretty sure that counts as a return to form.” Veronica countered. “It’s whatever though. Just a temporary thing. Although I’ll admit that Eliza chick, Marigold’s kid, she’s pretty decent.”

Blake wasn’t expecting that easier. “Oh? Well that’s nice. Sounds like that could be not so temporary?”

“Eh, whatever happens, happens.” It was a nice thought. Veronica couldn’t deny that. “Any other thing you wanted to discuss with me? I’d like to lay down for a bit longer.”

“How’s it feel to discuss all this genetic stuff with Nick and Summer? Call it what you want, but telling them was no different from a therapy session if it made you feel better.” Blake stated.

Veronica frowned. “Not how I see it. I’m pretty indifferent for the most part I’d say. Haven’t thought deeply about it. Veronica plopped her head on the pillows and turned away.

Blake and Yang took their scrappy daughter’s hint to leave. Blake got off the bed and was more than fine revisiting the discussion later. Yang briefly bent over Veronica’s covered face and kissed her head.

“Muah! By the way, I’m pretty sure Nick would love to see you in his colors. No heels though. He’s a little touchy about his height.” Yang left after that, closing the door gently. Veronica could only lay there pondering the advice.

“Hmmmm that could work.”

xxxx

While the youth finally got some rest, Adults were hard at work trying to piece together all that’s happened. Ruby and Weiss scoped out the undisturbed frozen lake along with Winter, Nora, and Penny most importantly. Though there wasn’t much to go on. Just crushed rocks, claw marks from ferocious grimm, and a mix of blue and red blood that made Weiss particularly uncomfortable. Ruby sensed that uneasiness and quickly began rubbing her partner’s back.

“Your daughter’s fine.” Ruby reassured. “If what she said is accurate then she never actually lost control.”

“Yeah but the blue dyed snow before us means she just barely held on. That’s too close for comfort.” Weiss held her hands together gently. “It feels like things are getting worse.”

“Because you’re in the thick of it.” Nora spoke, projecting her voice to get their attention. The strong and prideful woman made her way over to them. “Every day you’re worried for her and wake up knowing your daughter is a few rooms away upset. A parent is only as happy as their saddest child, and seeing Summer so distant makes it difficult to see the good stuff. This situation is trying, yes, but Summer still fought back. Your daughter fought Shiva off and killed grimm to protect someone. Determination like that is a sign Summer isn’t done fighting by a long shot, so that means you shouldn’t mope. I mean she gets all that strength to defy assholes from you.”

Ruby gave a big smile. She couldn’t have said it better herself. “Yeah! Nora’s right. We’ll turn this around.”

“....Geez, you two ever stop being helpful?” Weiss said, smiling gently. She was happy to have them here. “Thank you, especially you Nora.”

“Considerate my way of apologizing if Valerie really upset Nick. I told her she needed to call him, especially after him having the decency to call me so I could keep her in the loop about this. Apparently she wasn’t very pleased that he was ill and didn’t mention it. She’s….a lot sometimes.”

“Hey, so were we. I’m sure she means well and I’m not oblivious to the fact Nick can be...a lot as well. I’m partly to blame. I enable some of his actions towards her from time to time. I think I’m projecting a bit. Maybe I should tell him to move on?” Weiss sighed. Perhaps she played matchmaker too much and misread things.

Nora could only chuckle. “Hehe, I wouldn’t. Believe me when I tell you Valerie doesn’t hate having Nick look her way. A little forwardness is the only way she’ll acknowledge problems she doesn’t want to deal with. I can’t say for certainty what those problems are but I don’t pin any of it Nick. Val has a way of wanting her cake and eating it too. She’s gotta learn hard ways that’s not how life goes. I just hope Nick finds it in himself to not hate her because of this.”

“Pfft, I don’t think hate truly exists in his vocabulary.” Weiss laughed. She could count on her hand how many times Nick truly despised a person. “He’ll be petty about it I’m sure, but that’ll go away. Space between them might be good. At the end of the day I at least want them to still be close. Val has a way of motivating him that I like. He actually has fun.”

“Yeah, my Little Thunderhead excels at moving people, that’s for sure. Her semblance would be pretty mediocre otherwise if she wasn’t.”

The three continued talking lightly until Penny eventually walked up with Winter. “Okay, so I’ve finished running some tests of the area and the deposit of Diamond Dust. I have….unique results.” Penny said, a bit baffled.

Ruby wasn’t a fan of that statement. “Ummm that doesn’t sound great coming from a person who reads books written in binary. What did you find?”

“This dust is less volatile than the samples in my lab, even though it’s been untouched for longer. By all means it should be more refined.”

“Well isn’t it a good thing that it isn’t?” Weiss asked. “We barely handle what we have.”

“True, but it’s strange. There’s a couple possibilities that may explain this. Summer may have used up some unintentionally, or maybe Shiva herself was syphoning it.”

Winter folded her arms, “Not a fan of that second option. Based on the story though, what if it wasn’t touched at all?”

“Panic attack.” Penny said immediately. “She hasn’t been here since the accident, right? It’s entirely plausible that Summer’s mind and body remembered the trauma. Repressed memories or outright fear and anxiety could be the basis for this entire event. I tried contacting Oscar if he’s noticed anything different in Summer’s behavior, but I can’t get in contact with him. The seas have been rather violent lately due to weather changes.”

“So what you're basically saying is we're as lost as usual?” Weiss said, falling backwards into the snow. “Juuuuuust great. I’m going to assume the pain attack option then. That’s something I can work on with her. If Shiva is by any chance stronger now then the only thing we can do is what we always do. Brace ourselves.”

Ruby looked down at Weiss. “And option one actually means we have less dust to deal with. That’s a plus!” She knew it was a small amount of positivity but every bit helped. Weiss smiled at her and sat up.

“Here’s hoping for option one as well I suppose. We should probably head back. This place creeps me out a bit.”

Ruby helped Weiss up and everyone began leaving. Penny kept staring at the data she collected and trying to call Oscar. Unfortunately the man wasn’t answering. Her displeased sigh was heard by Winter, who rubbed the girl’s back.

“Not to be insensitive, but your son and Qrow wouldn’t do anything too crazy out a sea would they?”

Winter laughed nervously. “Hehehe….I’m sorry.”

“That doesn’t inspire confidence!” Penny yelped. Now she was only going to think about them being stranded by the gods or in a storm. Hopefully she would hear from him soon. “I guess a deeper study will have to wait. Ruby, can I stay at your place with Whitley for a bit? I don’t wanna go home yet. Too lonely.

“Sure thing! Door is always open. Though I bet you’ll have a livelier time at the manor these days.”

Penny tried her best to act like that would be a good idea. “Tempting, but a certain blonde teenage girl wouldn’t like that much, considering her parents so desperately want my husband to be her therapist. Summer also sees me enough as is. Nick would be happy I was there.” She said in a happier tune.

“He’s not home if I know him well enough.” Weiss frowned. “Times like these, I’m sure he’ll visit the graveyards.”

Truly, her son was easy to read.

xxxx

Right now the boy in question walked through an alley of tombstones and snow, his and covered in pollen. Atlas’s central graveyard had become a place for Nick over the years. The wide space and solitude became a welcoming barrier that blocked out most strangers from approaching him. Even the paparazzi had enough tact to not disturb a person here. His feet carried him down multiple lanes towards an old tree barren of any leaves looming over a grave with no actual tombstone. Standing before it was Eliza, wearing a dark blue winter coat and deep in thought. He wasn’t expecting to see her today.

Nick kept approaching until he stood beside her silently. A cool breeze went by them as the air itself felt still. Eliza eventually shifted her gaze to him, completely aware he was there. She looked down at his dusty yellow hands before speaking. “Talking to your grandma again?”

“Yeah. She says I should eat more sandwiches. Afraid I’m a little too then.”

“Heh, always witty. Visited your gramps yet?”

Nick shook his head, “No that’s halfway across Atlas from here and further from my home. It’s the next stop. What about you? Didn’t expect you to be here today.”

“Haven’t been in awhile.” Eliza waved her hand to cause a brief gust that blew away the snow from the grave and several others. “It needed cleaning and I was in the area. So what brings you here specifically? You only visit here on anniversaries, holidays, and when you’re moody. Last time I checked this is a random day, soooo”

“Eh don’t worry about it. Everything is alright now. Just decompressing.”

“Fair enough.” Eliza put her hands in her pocket and went back to thinking, until she realized Nick was looking at her again. “Uhh can I help you?” She said a little confrontational.

Nick got a little defensive and spoke quickly. “No, just surprised you’re not pressing me to open up.”

“Why? Your business is your business unless you make it my business. Something you’ll do if your attitude negatively affects the preparation for the tournament.”

“Ouch...well if that’s the case then the favor I’m about to ask you shouldn’t refuse.”

That peaked her interest. Eliza actually turned around fully. “You’ve been asking a lot of favors of me lately.”

“I’ve asked like two favors, and you’re the one telling me to directly involve you if-”

Eliza covered his mouth, irritated by him being right. “I know what I said! Sigh… what’s up?”

Nick looked down at the hand on his mouth, getting Eliza to remove it. “You’re lucky I didn’t lick it.”

“You’re lucky I don’t beat you up on hollow ground.”

Nick smirked. “Oh, so you think you can finally take me?”

Eliza squinted at him as her face got a little red. Why the hell did he have to be like this sometimes!? “The next words you speak better be your favor, or I’m walking away.”

“Well I wouldn’t exactly call it a favor but if you’re training by the harbor tonight, I’d appreciate it if you swooped by the seventh dock. The one with the huge building they rarely put cargo in. Summer is going to be there blowing off some steam. I don’t think anything will go wrong but you know, if you got the time…?”

“Hmmm I guess that’s not unreasonable. Wait, how do you know I train by the harbor!?”

“Did you forget my cousin literally owns a ship? If I’m correct, one time he said his sail caught on fire when a random bolt of lightning came down one day.”

“......” Eliza put her hand back in her pocket and began walking. “You’re really annoying Nick.”

“I’ve done nothing! Also I’m not done talking! I actually do have a real favor I’ve been mulling over for about a day!” Eliza kept walking away from him. “Hey! Don’t just- Can you train me!?” He shouted, hoping to gain her interest again.

It worked wonderfully. Eliza stopped mid-step and pivoted around. “Excuse me?”

“Training, yeah uh there’s this thing Schnee’s do called the candle test. Helps with our glyphs. Long story short, I’m ass at it hehe. Summer has stuff going on and it’s not really clicking with my mom or aunt. Since your magic is sorta like what I have to do, I thought maybe-”

“We are in a contest against each other, Nicholas.” She said firmly. “You are my opponent! One of two people currently in my way from reaching the top. Why on Remnant would I help you?”

Nick’s eyes avoided contact with hers. He began to scratch the back of his head as if he’d been caught red handed in a lie. “Because… you value sportsmanship?” He looked at her to receive an unamused blank stare that was colder than the snow. “Uh, and also you helping me in any capacity will let you in on a proposition that you’d find very intriguing. But I’ll only tell you when we’re training.”

“Tsk, I would think a Schnee would know better how to do business negotiations. Why would I make a deal when I don’t know if I even care about it? You tell me now or not at all.”

“I can’t say it now! I gotta smooth out details.”

“Then I guess we’re done here.”

“Fine, then I guess you don’t want a shot at gold with a sure fire way of at least getting silver!” He boasted, catching Eliza off guard. Nick slicked his hair back and crossed his arms to intimate his uncle’s calm yet assertive demeanor. “Yeah that’s right. I’m saying I have an idea crazy enough to benefit you and I. Everyone wants gold of course. However, you got a little more riding on this, don’t you?”

Eliza remained silent. Nick began walking a little closer to refrain from speaking too loud. “Last year was your real debut to the public eye and it was pretty good one at that. Third place is nothing to snuff at in the singles bracket. However...trust me when I say I know third is the worst seat in the house. That’s where the pressure and stress is. One mistake and you're off the podium and that feels terrible when people finally start looking your way.”

Eliza began tapping her foot. He wasn’t wrong. Not by a long shot. Confident as she was, Eliza was aware of her only two options. Do better, or hit the same bar. Winning was the goal but no one was gonna give her shit for losing to the top two contests. Nick and Valerie have been dominating for about three years now, and here he was saying he can get her to second. “Get to the point.”

Nick unfolded his arms. Time to be gentle again. “I cannot get into specifics at this time, but if you wanna show up at the manor anytime this week to help me, we can talk. I can get you second at minimum in King of the Hill.

His eyes burned with eagerness. Eliza had so many questions but obviously he wouldn’t answer them. This plan clearly had to be in his favor to get first, which neither of them had earned before. However, Valerie was first. How did she fit into this? What was going through his head!? Eliza had to know what regardless if she’d actually be okay with it. Her eyes narrowed at him. “Tsk, I take back what I said. Guess you are a Schnee. I will see when I can come over and help. Now, any other obnoxious request before I get driven away from this conversation?”

“Well……” Nick could feel just how dangerous this situation was. “It’s quite a walk to the other cemetery from here….hehe.” Laughing was hard when someone’s nostrils were flaring at you in frustration. Getting closer might’ve been a terrible decision.

Eliza closed her eyes briefly, then turned around to walk away. She went a few steps before briefly stopping. “Knock the snow off your shoes before you step in.”

Nick lit up like a Christmas tree. “You’re the best!!!”

“Why did he get more votes than me!?” Eliza internally screamed.

xxxxx

The day seemed to drag on. It had taken some time for Weiss to return home with the company of her sister and Ruby. Nora had departed earlier to check in on her family. Penny had opted to head towards Ruby’s home before her. They would’ve gone together but Ruby did want to see her niece and Blake. Penny had yet to properly see her friends. Though she wanted to, she thought it best to hold off for now.

The trio walked into the house and were assaulted by the strong scent of what had to be Jaune’s amazing cooking. They could practically see the aroma of spices dance in the air. One spice in particular hit Ruby. It was subtle but sharp at the same time. The kind of spice that sent a zing through your nose and hit your tastebuds. A mouth watering smile spread on her face and her stomach growled.

“Mmmmmm” Ruby hummed, “Somebody brought spices with them from Menagerie.” She sang. Ruby and Weiss wasted no time heading to the kitchen. Inside was an apron-wearing knight stirring a pot of stew, and their favorite faunus in the whole wide world in an apron cutting vegetables.

Blake didn’t even need to turn around to know what giggling pair just entered the kitchen. She put the knife down all the same and turned around with her arms wide open. “Well-” she couldn’t even say her boastful introduction before her two cheecky smile teammates dove in for a hug. All three of them just became a choir of happy laughter as they embraced one another.

Weiss finally let her friend go to get a good look at her. “Look at you! Traveled all this way and you’re helping make dinner!? I don’t deserve you!”

“Well I saw Jaune breakout a pot and I figured he’d enjoy some help without fear of something burning.” Blake jabbed. Ruby immediately tucked her lips to stop herself from snickering at the diss.

Weiss’s jaw dropped. She still smiled however, crossing her arms. “Oh ha ha, I’ll have you know my cooking is leagues better than what you remember since last time you had it. I can cook amazing meals all by myself!”

“As long as it doesn’t involve a fryer.” Jaune added, walking over to kiss his wife’s cheek really quick.

Weiss’s face got a little flushed. “Grease is bothersome.” She mumbled. Blake could only chuckle at the remark while walking to the pot and dumping the vegetables inside. The smell of the stew intensified and reminded Weiss she is still very much the weakest in her friend group when cooking was involved. “How are you going to outdo me in my own home? Why’d you bring spices in the first place!?”

“Don’t question it!” Ruby shouted. Her body went on autopilot to grab the plates and cups for the dinner.

“Ruby, aren’t gonna make dinner at home?” The room said, thinking about Whitley.

Ruby then proceeded to grab one of Jaune’s tupperware containers. Apparently they were now feeding Whitley as well. Ruby knew they wouldn’t mind, so she felt no remorse when filling it. Her boldness knew no bonds.

“Ruby, how do you know they aren’t making enough food for the people in this house?”

“Because this household would crumble anytime Jaune did a mission and didn’t make enough food for weeks.”

“I can cook!!!!” Weiss yelled.

Jaune playfully rolled his eyes and patted Weiss’s back. “Ruby isn’t completely wrong. Anyways she can take as much as she wants. Nick and Veronica have a dinner date tonight so they won’t be joining us for dinner. Then I don’t if Summer-”

“Nick and Veronica have a date!?” Weiss and Ruby shouted.

“Oh yeah… that happened while you left.” Jaune tried to reach for the ladle for the stew but Weiss swatted his hand before turning his head back to her. Fortunately Blake swooped in to continue stirring. “Yeah so they’re going on a date tonight. I don’t know details.”

Weiss turned to Blake who shrugged. “I didn’t press Veronica too much about it. Yang should be upstairs with her trying on dresses.

“Behold! A beautiful sunflower in the snow!” Yang cried out from outside the kitchen unexpectedly.

“Or I guess she’s downstairs now.” Blake turned off the burner on the stove and moved the pot before following her friends out to the main hall. Outside was Yang standing proudly with her hands on her hips and staring up the stairs proudly. Jaune and Weiss’s eyes went wide while Winter seemed….impressed? As much as she could be. Her feelings towards Veronica in general were mixed. The girl was definitely beautiful though. That was just a fact.

Blake looked up to see her daughter all dressed up at the top of the steps. She wore a white, thin strapped dress that had a light blue sash around her waist. The skirt portion went down to about knee level and the flats she wore were also white. The bottom of the skirt brought more color in by being an intense light blue that faded to white half way up; lace snowflakes were intricately etched on to that portion to break the color up. Gloves that went just passed her elbows followed a similar scheme but started white at the hands before transitioning to blue. To top it all off, a pretty little light blue ribbon formed a bow on top of her head. It was that accessory that made Blake notice that not only wet her ears gone from sight, but so was her tail.

Veronica’s face was stricken with a decent shade of red. Her feet shuffling in place a little as she rubbed her left arm. “So….ummm thoughts?” She said anxiously. “This is just one of several ideas so no need to hold back.”

“Several? What, did you make these in a couple hours?” Winter asked.

“No. I’ve been working on a Fire and Ice collection recently. This dress in particular was already put together for the most part. Although the snowflakes at the bottom was a last minute decision I made half an hour ago.” Veronica swayed to make the skirt flow side to side. “Normally I’d say adding flames or snowflakes is a bit heavy handed since the colors of the outfit already speak fire and ice, but I don’t know. Felt appropriate. Especially since the white lace is on the blue. I even have them on the upper rim of the gloves. Made sleeve versions too.” Veronica inspected the stitching to make sure it was okay. “Hmm not my best work, but I kinda like it.”

“I kinda love it!” Yang proudly said. “Oh it takes me back to the Beacon dance a little. Back then another Schnee was outdone by a Xiao Long wearing white.”

“Ha, no! Your dress didn’t even look done!” Weiss shot back, refusing to take such slander. “This dress is ten times better than what you wore.”

Ruby nodded. “Yeah sis, your dress was pretty plain. Didn’t even have a bow.”

“I couldn’t find one!” Yang defended.

Judging by the banter, Veronica was getting positive vibes from the dress. She looked at Winter since the woman was there. Surprisingly, a thumbs up was given. “Well that was more positive than I expected from her.” Veronica thought. The only person who remained silent was Blake. Veronica turned to see her mother assessing what her daughter had on. The silence she gave made Veronica a little concerned. “What’s up mom? Not a fan of how thin the straps are? It’s not a low cut anywhere.”

“No, all that is fine. I just have to ask, why-” before Blake finished, the front door opened once again with Nick coming through it this time. Everyone froze in place by his sudden entrance. Including him!

“Uhhh why is everyone just standing in the front of the house?” Nick questioned. It was only when he looked up the left staircase did he get his answer. “Oh, that’s why. You look...wow.” He said, rather clumsily. “I didn’t think you’d get ready three hours ahead of schedule. I still gotta wash up from the grav- I mean my walk. Yeah, walk, around town. With no real location stopped at.” He had no idea why he kept saying things. The deadpanned look on Winter and Weiss’s face clearly showed they knew where he was.

Weiss gave a reassuring smile and poked his forehead. “No need to lie, especially so poorly. If talking to them brought you some form of clarity then by all means have at it.”

“Yeah it’s not my business either.” Winter added, ruffling his hair.

Veronica wasn’t exactly sure what they were discussing, but it looked like things were going well. Nick even looked like he was in a better mood then when he left. His eyes went back to Veronica and made her fidget a little. The gaze he gave her was focused, deliberate even.She didn’t know how to feel about it until Nick began to look a tad displeased. “I-Is something wrong?” Veronica asked hesitantly.

“Not wrong, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen you cover your ears. Tail yeah, since it can get in the way a bit, but why the bow?” He asked, pointing at it from afar. Everyone looked towards her for an answer, especially Blake. Nick had beaten her to the question.

Veronica looked down at her feet for a moment before looking at her family, crush, others. She never really knew what to call Weiss or her siblings. “Well normally I wouldn’t cover them, but while you were gone I kept thinking about this date…and how I wanted it to be a simple night out.” Heat began to rush to her cheeks. “So you know, people will stare and judge less if I’m like this. Not that their opinions matter, but I’d like to keep things peaceful as much as possible tonight. That’s all.” She looked at Blake who was looking right back at her. The answer didn’t seem to upset or surprise the mother. Veronica played with her a bit. “Is...that okay?”

“Hmm? You’re asking permission? It caught me off guard seeing it. Whether it be for aesthetic or personal reasons, I won’t dictate how you wanna design your clothes as long as it’s appropriate. After all, ribbons and I have a history. Couldn’t judge you if I wanted.”

That was a relief to hear. Veronica had completely forgotten her mother wasn’t a stranger to trying to blend in. “Well if that’s settled-”

“Hold on.” Nick softly said, his calm footsteps walking up the stairs to meet her. Everyone fell speechless as they watched him. Veronica for some reason felt as if the mood had changed. The room was quieter, air completely still. The face of the boy in front of her began to look more earnest than it has ever been as it got closer, stifling her breath. Nick extended his hand out slowly till his fingers clasped a corner of the bow, then unraveled it.

The ribbon flowed slowly into his palm and then was brought down towards Veronica’s. “If a calm night means you have to hide, then is it really a calm worth having? Like you said, those people don’t matter. Besides, I like your ears.”

Burst, Veronica felt like her heart could’ve burst. The blush on her cheeks deepened greatly and her eyes went wide from the shocking words. She had barely remembered to breathe. If she paid attention to the audience below then she would’ve been embarrassed by the grins that went ear to ear but no. Veronica only noticed Nick and his gentle smile that matched his words. Her mind finally caught up with itself and Veronica grasped the ribbon ever so slowly.

“O-Okay…” she said without thinking. Anybody else may have gotten more of a debate on it. Not him though. Not after words like those. “I’ll...make a few adjustments then.” She said, flattered and flustered as she walked back to her room without any more words.

“Take your time. You still have about three hours like I said, plus I gotta wash up.” He reminded her, not realizing just how sweet his words were. He turned back around to see smug faces and contained laughter. “What?”

“Nick…” Winter said, smiling with her hands on her hips. “And you wonder why girls flock to you obsessively. You’re too much.”

“I’ll say.” Blake said, admiring the boy. “But you know what? There’s something perfect about that. Nicholas, thank you.”

He wasn’t entirely sure what he did but he got embarrassed all the same, rubbing the back of his head sheepishly. At least things finally felt relaxed in this house. “Umm you’re welcome?”

With teasing done and the mood lightened, everyone went back to doing their respective things. Jaune and Blake went back to prepping food. Weiss went with Ruby to set tables and properly catch up, while Yang decided to keep Winter company since both her son and Qrow were off adventuring. The chatter filled the hallways and even reached upstairs to not only Veronica, but Summer, who finally managed to fall asleep peacefully. Even Nick found a bit of proper rest in the bath. The soothing warm water filled with epsom salt was more than enough to make him doze off. Time steadily went forward and the adults began winding down. However, the kids were just getting ready for the night.

xxxxx

Dusk finally came. Winter leaned up against the main door waiting until she saw Nick coming walking down the stairs looking dashing. His crisp white suit, ice blue tie and handkerchief were perfectly in place along with his slick back hair.

“Hey Whitley jr.”

He groaned, “Please don’t. This is why I do nothing with my hair. One minute I look like dad, then the next I’m uncle.”

“Grow it out more then.” Winter suggested.

He shook his head. “That’s a slippery slope. Too long and I’ll be compared to you, mom, and sis. I guess my face is just too great.”

“Pfft, you just know you can’t compete with all this.” Winter sassed, turning her head to sway her hair. Nick would have objected if she wasn’t right.

“Whatever hehe. Anyways, everybody still here?”

“No, Ruby eventually headed home, but everyone else is strung about. I’m heading out myself but I figured I could drop you and Veronica off for your date.”

Nick gave her aunt a huge smile. “Awww, auntie!”

“Oh hush, don’t make it a big deal. It’s convenient, that’s all.”

“Well I appreciate it nonetheless. Veronica will too.”

Winter mumbled,“She better show it by not getting you or sister into trouble.”

“I heard that.” Veronica called from up the staircase. Winter and Nick looked in that direction to see her walking down. Nick wasn’t prepared.

Veronica had switched the gloves out for detachable sleeves that still exposed her shoulders. They also followed the same white to blue pattern. What really changed was she used the ribbon to make a high ponytail and now dawning jewelry. A pearl white necklace rested around her neck and complemented the pearl earrings she wore. Slowly she approached Nick with her hands holding each other in front of her. Veronica’s face was still a healthy shade of red. This close, Nick couldn’t help but smell of peach nectar. An interesting and oddly refreshing choice for perfume.

“Well...ummm...you weren’t kidding when you said you would out dress me.” Nick said, captivated. “I’d say you’re one billion, easily.”

Veronica chuckled nervously. “Hehe,th...thanks. I wouldn’t go that far, but I appreciate it.” Looking at him was harder than usual. Men’s dress shoes had a bit of heel, so Nick actually was a bit taller then her now since she chose flats. It could only be by an inch or two but it made a hell of a difference to her. “I had a little help near the end. These are actually your sister’s pearls.”

“Really? Oh, that’s right! I think the only reason she got them was so this other rude girl couldn’t. I don’t remember the specifics.”

“Wow. You two are….extremely petty at times.” Veronica said. Yeah pettiness was nothing new to her, but she’d never bought something to spite someone else. That’s the lifestyle in Atlas she supposed. “Anyways, if you’re ready to go then I am too. I’d really like to avoid-”

Click! The sound of a camera cut her off. The two teens looked back to see their parents all taking photos. Trying to stop them would be impossible. The only thing they could do is quietly wait for the clicking to stop, which was thankfully over in seconds.

“Gee I didn’t realize I lived with paparazzi.” Nick quipped. Another flash came from up above the second floor. Summer and her bed head leaned against the railing. “Summer!? You too!?”

“I came down to eat and saw we were embarrassing you. How could I not?” She took one more photo and then made her way down to the kitchen. “Have fun. I’m gonna eat and go right back to bed.”

Nick knew she was lying of course. That was the real reason she came down now, to announce she’d be sleeping in her room so nobody would disturb her. Summer, never missing an opening, also collected everything she needed from upstairs without anyone noticing. It was scary how far she’d plan ahead sometimes.

Winter finally decided to open the front door and head out. “Let’s move people. Rich or not, it’s rude to be late for reservations.”

“So strict. Almost think that you’re about to go drill instructor on me.” Veronica jokes, walking out the door.

“Don’t think I won’t make you drop and give me twenty just because you’re in a dress.” Winter shot back, closing the door as Nick walked out.

“The sad thing is she isn’t kidding…” Weiss nervously said. “That’s gonna be a long car ride.”

Summer came out of the kitchen with a bowl of stew and an evil look in her eye. “Why are there less left overs than usual? Who had seconds?”

“Ruby took some for Whitley. As well as had seconds…”

Summer squinted as if Ruby was there to actually receive the grumpy look before putts spoonful in her mouth and walking back upstairs.

“Ma’am, the table. Not your room.” Weiss said, using her mom voice.

Summer did a heel turn to the dining room. “Who made this stew!?” She said annoyed. Jaune and Blake both raised their hands. “It’s fantastic!” Was all she said as she continued walking.

Blake and Yang looked at each other confused before looking at their friends.

“Hangry.” Was all Jaune said.

“Ah…” the couple said together.

The moment Summer was out of sight from everyone she put the bowl down and searched around the living room quickly until she found her guitar case. Quickly, she grabbed it and opened a window towards the side of the estate and tossed it on a set of glyphs that hopefully propelled it right into her open room window. She then ran back to the dining room to sit down and eat comfortably.

“Phew! That was the last thing. And now I wait.” She took another bite of the stew happily. Nothing tastes better than an escape plan coming together.

[delusionland]

STEPHCASS FOR THE MEME <3

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

How did they first meet?

here is my personal hc. tim told cass about a girl. he didn’t tell her anything about the girl, just that she was woefully unprepared to be a crimefighter... but also she was kinda cute, in a totally naive way (90s tim was kind of an asshole, never forget). cass couldn’t quite understand what he was saying while he showed her the batfile on her---the picture of the spoiler, etc. but she got his general tone and body language. cass then sought steph out. for nights. nights looking for the spoiler. when she found her---she tackled her, immediately engaged her in a fight. she went so, so easy on her. she just wanted to see what a cute girl was. and steph... was definitely a cute girl. at the time, cass couldn’t talk, couldn’t communicate with her. but she left her a gift. a nice knife that she had throw at her head---deliberately missing it, that was... especially ornate, and seemed shiny and valuable, and most of all purple to match her costume. pretty purple girls like pretty purple things, right?

What was their first impression of each other?

steph probably did not think well of cass, at first. after that first outing---the batfamily got involved. cass was to help steph with her fighting. steph was to help cass with her speech. without the mask on---steph could see how much cass enjoyed her company. it was hard not to realize she had a sense of humor about everything. the laughter she had exhibited on a still-baby-at-the-time spoiler screaming her head off about what she thought was some kind of demon-ninja batgirl was... genuine, and not malicious in the slightest. she seemed to want to be friends, and every time steph frowned at her, or was a sore loser, cass simply smiled and laughed harder, finding everything steph did perfectly amusing. as they got to know each other---cass got better at talking, and steph got better at fighting, and they kind of, met somewhere on the outer edges of the middle for a while. there was always something standing between them--though. a resentment, not between them, but a misunderstanding. that cass belonged to bruce and the bat. and steph belonged to tim.

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

i feel like conner kent at the very least shipped it. alfred really thought there was a spark between them, and during their brief frenemy stage---alfred made sure steph knew cass genuinely cared for her. bruce did NOT want them to get together at all, though. neither did tim, for obvious reasons.

Who felt romantic feelings first?

cass. it was love the first time steph managed to punch herin the face. did she win? no. but she GOT her. and through that tenacity, cass realized that her friend was so much more than a silly, pretty girl. she was a fighter. she was a champion. and more than anything, she was brave, and determined, and they had practiced a thousand times for just this moment. and afterwards, steph was just so proud of her overall failure instead of being herr typical loser.... cass couldnt help but know steph was always going to be the love of her life.

Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

they both did! didn’t want to ruin the friendship!

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

cass would get a curious look, steph wouldn’t believe you!

What would their lives be like if they had never met?

they would be a lot worse, a lot lonelier. steph never would’ve become batgirl, that’s for sure, and cass would’ve learned to speak---but in a way entirely removed from her own personality and love of herself & life.

GENERAL

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

it was a mutual thing in ocean city, maryland. they were in a photo booth, sitting in eachother’s laps, leg over leg, they did a silly face, and then another silly face, and then their faces were so close---and then SMOOCH CITY, and they WOULD NOT LEAVE THE BOOTH lol.

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

they considered ocean city their first date. but they’re not really the ‘dating’ types. they both LOVE to fight. they both LOVE to crime fight. they both LOVE spending time together doing NOTHING. if anything, the first time cass had to go to a gala with her was the first time they realized---ugh, do we REALLY have to be WAYNES? do we really have to have REAL LIVES? why can’t we stay in our cuddle - asskicking bubble forever?

What was their first kiss like?

it was the most natural possible thing, and it was something they had both almost had so many times before that it was like drowning in sensation after you had subsisted off of gerbil-cage drips of water for years. they couldn’t stop! they were consumed with want, and they only stopped when they started to get a little TOO frisky and somebody moved the curtain of the booth because they wanted to get their own picture taken and they were like ‘fuck! okay lets get french fries!’ lol

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

steph is cass’s first gf, and vice versa.

What’s their height difference? Age difference?

cass is 5′7″ JUST tall enough to be taller than her gf >: )

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

cass will kill the puzzler or whatever the fuck his name is. he sucks. steph’s mom loves her tho :’ ) and well. the less said about bruce and steph the better, but like. your whole blog is proof of how much the rest of the batfam loves steph!

Who takes the lead in social situations?

they both are the ‘HAHA! THE ECONOMY!’ gif tbh.

Who gets jealous easier?

cass. steph is special cargo, the first girl / person she ever loved romantically, the first friend she ever had. however, cass has made it very publically known she wants threesomes with other hotties of multiple genders.

Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?

CASS CASS CASS.

LOVE

Who said “I love you” first?

steph, and she agonized over it, only for cass to say it so easily in a way cass didn’t think it would ever be easy for her to say. like steph is some magical fairy tale princess that lifts the curse on cass to never be able to express love the way love is supposed to be expressed. steph just makes things easy. she makes everything easy.

What are their primary love languages?

TOUCH. GAMES. QUALITY TIME. GIFTS.

Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

they both do they’re TERRIBLE.

How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

batgirl and the black bat are forced on seperate patrols bc they do this so much and they HATE it and SNEAK OUT and kiss ANYWAY!

Who initiates kisses?

cass!

Who’s the big and little spoon?

cass is big spoon!

What are their favorite things to do together?

they really like watching wrestling and kung fu movies together i think. steph also likes girly movies, but cass gets bored after a while and just starts wrestling with her over the popcorn and then wrestling leads to hankypanky. most of all they love fighting and dancing AND PLAYING PRANKS on the bat boys.

Who’s better at comforting the other?

cass is.

Who’s more protective?

CASS IS.

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

physical affection.

What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

jenny - studio killers

What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

they both call each other batgirl affectionately, cass also learns new words to say girlfriend and sweetie all the time and uses those.

Who remembers the little things?

STEPH.

DOMESTIC LIFE

If they get married, who proposes?

they COMPETE to see who will do it first. they use the batcave to make sure the other isnt going to look for rings. and when they find the other one shopping for rings. its fucking GO-TIME BITCH. you’re not going to propose to me, i’m going to propose to you! when they pop out the boxes at the exact same time, cass steals the ring from steph’s hands and holds it up over her head and throws hers at steph’s head like ‘YOU HAVE TO MARRY ME FIRST. NO TAKEBACKSIES.’

What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

it’s a big wedding. cass loves, loves people. it’s a whos-who, especially since cass is gonna be batman and she has all the justice league contacts now. cass turns a bit into a bridezila, but like, as a joke, mostly, and she calms down when steph is like ‘i thought we could be more intimate...’ lol

How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

they adopt some bratty street kids that are tangentially related to joker / black mask / puzzler / lady shiva as a fuck you. they love their kids so much.

Do they have any pets?

so many cats. a million cats.

Who’s the stricter parent?

cass.

Who worries the most?

steph.

Who kills the bugs in the house?

cass.

How do they celebrate holidays?

they go to concerts!!!! big loud concerts where they can mosh!!!

Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

cass! no school! just cuddles!

Who’s the better cook?

steph. cass doesn’t know how to, and also refuses to, fry an egg.

Who likes to dance?

cass most of all!

[bb-basbusa]

Marinette biodaughter of Bruce Wayne

This au was inspired by @ozmav maribat au.

· Bruce met Sabine when he was training in with the league of assassins

 Sabine was the top assassin of the league. Highly respected by Ra's Al Ghoul and the rival of lady Shiva.

· At first Bruce and Sabine disliked each other due to their different codes of ethics, but they slowly came to respect each other and even considering each other friends.

 Sabine started questioning the league and started to despise their needless killing, even came to regret killing in some missions in the name of the league.

· With Bruce's influence and help she decides to leave the league of assassins and turn on a new leaf.

·  Of course, Ra's refuses to let go of his top assassin, so he makes a deal with her. He gives Sabine an extremely difficult, almost impossible to complete alone with no help. (this is basically John Wick).

·         She agrees, Bruce tries to talk her out of it. The mission is just impossible and there is an extremely high probability that she will die.

·         This leads both to fight both verbally and physically.

·         It ends with a one-night stand.

·         Both agree not to talk about it, and both leave on bad terms

·         Sabine leaves to complete the mission, during this time Bruce completes his training and leaves the league.

·         Sabine of course completes the mission, much to ra's complete surprise.

·         He is a man of his word and lets Sabine go with a promise to not seek her out again or interfere with her life and those around her.

·         Few weeks later, Sabine discovers that she is pregnant with Bruce's child. And since she an Bruce's friendship ends on bad terms (with Bruce being an emotionally constipated man, who at this point of his life only think about his mission and wouldn't make a good father) Sabine decides not to tell him.

·         Sabine travels for a little bit until she arrives in Paris where she meets Tom.

·         With time they both fall in love with Tom promising to love her and her unborn child as his own.

·         When Marinette is born, Tom officially adopts her as his daughter.

·         Marinette grew up loved from her parents and had a normal happy childhood.

·         Though Sabine did teach her self-defense because you can't bee to careful.

·         When Marinette was ten years old, she meets Damian Wayne. He was separated from his guardian and got lost.  

·         Marinette offered to help him, but Damian at this point of his life was a little shit and refused. Too proud to even admit he was lost.

·         But Marinette was not deterred, and with great determination, kindness, and whining, she was able to make him cave.

·         She shows him the way back to his hotel, and saw Dick waiting outside worried out of his mind.

·         He saw Damian approaching and immediately ran towards the kids and scooped the baby assassin into a hug.

·         " Dami, I was so worried"

·         "cease your embarrassing antics Grayson, I am clearly in perfect shape. As if anything in this miserable city can harm me"

·         "hey, Paris is amazing. You take that back" shrieked Marinette

·         Only then does Dick notice a petite Asian girl glaring at Damian.

·         "well hello, who might you be?"

·         "I'm Marinette, I helped him find the hotel. He was lost" came the smugly reply

·         "I wasn’t lost you imbecile, I didn't require any assistance from you. I just "accepted your help" because you were annoying and couldn't shut up"

·         This basically started a shouting match between Marinette and Damian, while Dick observed with amusement.

·         He never seen Damian act like a child since he came to his care (Bruce is lost in time at this point, and Dick is Damián's legal guardian) and started to thick that hanging around Marinette may benefit Damian.

·         He invites Marinette to the local park, where Titus can stretch his legs, an takes her there with her parents' permeation of course.

·         Over the next few days Dick invites Marinette to come with him and Damian (much to the latter's chagrin) whenever they have free time.

·         The kids' relationship only started to improve after Marinette helped Damian take down Chloe, who was acting as her glorious bratty self.

·         It involved headbands, tooth pics, and a lipstick

·         Damián started to respect Marinette and enjoy her company after that (though he won't admit it)

·         Marinette starts talking about her friend at home, while her parents listens with amusement until she mentions his full name Damian Wayne.

·         Sabine immediately starts asking about his father.

·         At first Sabine wanted Marinette to stay away from the Waynes, but seeing how happy her Daughter is, she decided against it.

·         Fearing that both kids with time would develop feeling for their unknown half sibling, she calls Dick and tells him about Marinette's parentage.

·         Dick doesn't believe this, so Sabine gives him permission to perform a DNA test.

·         The test was done, Dick was not amused because damn it Bruce another one

·         They both decided to tell the Kids about their blood relationship

·         Damian was furious and didn't accept this, at this point of his life he thought he was the blood so of Batman and no one else

·         He ended saying some hurtful thing words towards Marinette

·         Marinette ends up crying, and runs out of the room

·         Damian is immediately consumed by guilt, especially after Dick gives him the "I am very disappointed in you" look.

·         He goes to Marinette's room to apologies and hears her crying through the door and feels even worse.

·         It takes a lot of him since he never apologized to anyone before, he does it but awkwardly.

·         Marinette forgives him because she is a forgiving person and asks Damian not to say stuff like that to her again.

·         They become close after that. They exchange numbers and e-mails to talk to each other when Damian and Dick return to Gotham.

·         Tom and Sabine are great influence over Damian. With the Dupain-chengs he starts to act more like a boy and less like the heir to the league of assassins. Dick is very happy and grateful about it.

·         The couple also parent Dick and coddles him. Both boys are adopted to the family now.

·         In Summer Marinette visits Gotham and meets Alfred. The butler grew quite fond of her.

·         She may strongly resemble Sabine, but Alfred can see Martha Wayne in her smile. A little of Thomas Wayne in the twinkle of her eyes. And a lot of Bruce when she is concentrating on something.

·         Marinette also inherited Bruce's intelligence, so she quickly discovers the family's secret.

·         She joins the boys in their training, because extra self-defense lessons can't hurt, but not on petrol. Sabine was very against it.

·         Dick introduces her to trapeze, which she fell in love with, together they are the acrobat duo.

·         So she spars with the boys, flies with Dick, bakes and cooks with Alfred (" I am pleased to know that at least one Wayne will grow to be a functioning adult". "Alfred please.STAHP")

·         And once she is introduced to the girls ("she is so cute" "stop squealing fat girl") she'll hack with Barbra, dance with Cass, and will have a girl's night out with all her older sisters especially Steph.

·         Jason meets her after he comes to the cave to use the bat-computer, then out of nowhere a petite Asian girl pops out and offers him cookies.

·         "I only known Marinette for five minutes, but if anything happens to her I'll kill everybody in this cave then myself"

·         Jason and Damian start fighting for the position of favorite brother.

·         Months passes and Marinette grows closer to all the bat-family except Tim, because he is still looking for Bruce and didn't keep tabs on what's happening in Gotham lately.

·         The Dupain-Chengs adopts the rest of the Bat-family except Alfred. Alfred adopts you, you do not adopt him.

·         The family becomes closer and the communication problem is slowly fixed.

·         Jason becomes more open. He and Dick talk about their issues, there was shouting, yelling, accusations and tears. But in the end, it was better. Not perfect but better.

·         Also, Jason finally has healthy positive parental figures in his life. "have you been eating?" "I'm proud of you son" "we love you" and other words were spoken towards Jason and the kids.

·         "o-okay" he chocks on tears.

·         Alfred later introduces the Dupain-chengs to Ma and Pa Kent and joins the " the gathering of family member of heroes, who have more common sense than the heroes"

·         Basically, the family members of heroes meet up monthly for brunch to bitch about their hero family member, while trading recipes and baby photos.

·         Alfred is the founder. Ma Kent is the president.

·         Bruce comes back and everyone is happy. No one tells him about Marinette. They all decide to troll him.

·         Marinette and Bruce accidently meet in the cave.

·         "Papa' it's good to have you back" Marinette happily hugs Bruce

·         Bruce is holding his arms awkwardly in the air, while looking down at Marinette with confusion. "who are you?!"  

·         "it's me Marinette, don't you remember me" insert fake tears

·         "A-ahh?!"

·         "Alfred Papa doesn't remember me" she wails dramatically into the butler's chest "he forgotten all about me"

·         " Honestly master Bruce, I raised you better than this. Yet here you are disowning your own daughter.

·         "yeah, shame on you B" came the eager response from Steph and Jason.

·         " I am disappointed in you father" Damian joins in. Cass nods in agreement.

·         Dick is struggling to keep his poker face intact, Barbra is pinching his arm hard to keep him away from laughing and exposing the prank.

·         Tim is sleep deprived and confused as hell.

·         The family takes bets to see when would Bruce figure out they're trolling him.

·         Spoilers alert he never does

·         They end up telling him and Alfred wins the pot.

·         "World's greatest detective indeed"

·         "alright I get it Alfred"

·         Bruce ends up adoring Marinette. He and Sabine talk again after a decade of not talking and becomes somewhat friends

·         He doesn't publicly announce Marinette as his daughter and doesn't claim her, because Tom is her father as well. And it won't be fair to him.

·         She may have Bruce's blood, but the heart is all Tom. He is grateful that his daughter grew up loved. He doesn’t want to take Tom away from her.

·         When she became Ladybug, she immediately tells her family. They're all freak out about 13 years old being a hero on her own.

·         " you need a partner"

·         "Papa chat noir is my partner"

·         "Dick go to Paris"

·         Due to the bat-family involvement, hawkmoth is defeated fast. And he is spending the rest of his life in jail.

·         Adrien goes to live with his aunt in England for a while.

·         Zatanna and Constantine are called to see if they can wake Emilie from her magic induced coma.

·         They do. And Adrien goes back to his mom

·         Hawkmoth civilian identity was never outed to the public. The justice league wanted to give the Agrestes some privacy. But there are some conspiracy theories.

·         Due to the influence of her older sisters, Marinette isn't as boy crazy as in the show. But she develops an innocent crush on both Adrien and Luka. Much to Bruce's chagrin

·         "you won't start dating until your thirty"

·         "of course papa, of course"

·         Keeping Marinette away from dating was the toughest battle Bruce ever fought. The rest of the family are just sitting behind and enjoying the show

·         Her wasn't the most normal or perfect, but Marinette loves it any way.  

[cosmosrival]

there it is! kama interlude analysis by a kama fan!

WELL. LIKE IT SAYS IN THE TITLE: this is just my own thoughts!! youre free to think whatever u want !! i am just putting my own knowledge into words because i genuinely love kama, and i would like for kama’s depth to be understood by the NA fandom a little more!! i try to stay as close as possible to their character in everything i do because i believe that the more in character they are, the funnier/more interesting content ppl will produce. 

and hopefully i understood them well ???!!!! HOPEFULLY ?!

i will be screenshotting the translated reddit post under this read more and stop whenever something i find interesting to develop pops up ! or else it’ll get way too long lol if you wanna read the interlude for yourself heres the link!

with that said, let’s go!!

kama’s interlude begins with guda passing the hell out because of exhaustion and then waking up in a dream sequence where kama treats them to some relaxing adventures, stuff to take their mind off heavy things!! first dream sequence is kama roleplaying a highschool setting where they’re dating.

i like this because they openly admit that its an illusion, breaking the immersion but as long as youre okay with roleplaying, they’ll continue it LOL  at some point, caesar mentions the student council president and arjuna appears behind him 

since this is an illusion that kama made, i’ve been wondering about the fact that the way servants conduct eachother in this interlude is mostly because that’s how kama envisions they would act in a highschool setting, in an amusement park and finally with eachother (mostly for confirmed couples such as siegbryn, consort yu and her hubby etc...). suzuka and sei being gyarus is obvious, but arjuna as the student council president... is so cute???!!! i MEAN IT FITS ?! THATS A GREAT IDEA KAMA!!!! ANYWAY

this is kama’s first monologue and since they’re primarily the god of lust, all of the more vanilla stuff they mentions such as sharing a pair of headphones embarrasses them since its so tame. ITS CUTE !!! kama expects you to be horny in class !! what are you doing thinking about hand holding !!! medusa saves u from that tho with a direct reference to her relationship with kama’s vessel 

this is interesting !! and reassuring !!! i think that kama as a character has a lot of depth and just reducing them to “sakura” would be a waste and this interlude shows how different they are from her. but they’re also similar! sakura went through a lot just like medusa says and kama does have trauma related to shiva. its not the same circumstances but the same kind of suffering which explains the nuance here. and what i like about chaldea is that there’s been multiple instances where its been proven that servants can grow thanks to their relationships with guda (most common example: leveling up your bonds) BUT ALSO, saint graph evolution (alts). and as a kama fan i’d like to see them happy someday and this interlude as a whole is proof of their healing/coping because of the time they spent in chaldea and how they interact with others. more on that later ! here, they don’t recognize medusa which is normal since they’re not sakura (someone else entierly), but...

they care about her ! because of sakura’s influence being a part of the servant called Kama(assassin). the difference here is important !! but i’ll come back on this in a bit. quick mention to the greek cupid <3 kamadusa nation we were fed (i clap by myself because im the only one who has 57575757557 kama rarepairs-----)

kama is a delinquent whos horny in class but still takes a few notes, enough to do well on their tests! and thats tea<3 smart horny lazyass !! theyre a gift

SO ARJUNA WAS OUT FOR BLOOD ????? ANYWAY, this is right after the actual fight against weirdo terrorists, and im happy to know that kama DOES enjoy a good fight (as proven in their voicelines as well) but theyre not a farming unit because it’d be too much work (single target NP..)...!!!!!!! lavish god of love.... 

FINALLYYYYYYYYYYY THE REAL DEAL !!!!!!!!!!!! “it feels wonderful to be your girlfriend” christ, kamadeva was so used to being a husband and a good lover, it reflected in their servant version.... but ree what do u mean by servant version???

I MEAN THE OBVIOUS !! kama explains it very well in the screenie just above ! 

“You know very well how servants work.”

KAMA ASSASSIN (the servant in your chaldea) is neither KAMADEVA or SAKURA MATOU or MARA. they’re a MIX OF PARTS OF THE THREE. creating an entierly new person(in this case, servant) !!!! it might sound like i’m repeating myself, but this is important!!!!!!!!! i will say this multiple times so people remember it !!! and if u already had this figured out: GOOD JOB I LOVE U !!!

Kamadeva (the god) has many stories, ones where he was born from concepts (dharma and shraddha), one where his parents are brahma and sarasvati, one where his parents are vishnu and lakshmi, stories about his reincarnation after his death where his parents are krishna and rukmini, his love with Rati and so on. We all know Sakura’s backstory since this is nasuverse. And Mara is a demon, an entity that tried to corrupt Buddha and prevent him from reaching enlightenment/stray from the path. Kama assassin has parts from all of these entities which explains why they have a vague longing for Rati, why they have a soft spot for Medusa and why they have an affinity with Kiara(and also like talking about corrupting u !). 

they then mention how a japanese highschool setting is fun and all i have to say is: i’m gonna make an indo fam delinquent vs student council au out of this one folks !!!!!!!! i gotta !!! 

OK next

TIME FOR THE SECOND DREAM SEQUENCE WHICH I WAS VERY VERY VERRRRRRRRRRYYYYYYYYYYYYY AFRAID OF BEFORE THE TRANSLATION CAME OUT.

THE PART WHERE KAMA ACTS LIKE YOUR CHILD.

well with their stage 1 it was expected but without the translation i have to say that i was scared shitless! because people hate thinking! and even if kama clearly tells you that it’s a charade, u know a JOKE. A DREAM SEQUENCE. DONT BE A CREEP. KAMA INTENDED FOR IT TO BE WHOLESOME. i know some ppl wont use their brains. but u know its fgo and degenerates are everywhere. 

anyways. family bonding time ensues until another monologue appears!!

exactly like before, kama mentions myths that belonged to kamadeva. Meaning that the Kama in our chaldea isn’t the Kamadeva we know and is not Pradyumna either but the fact that the writers chose to have kama acknowledge it is very reassuring !!! Because it means that they’ve chosen to make it a part of their (complicated) history. Kama says that Pradyumna is the myth about themself they know the least, once again proving us that the Kama in our Chaldea (Assassin) is a different entity and that they were summoned to the throne upon their death, the moment they were burned by Shiva’s flames and became Ananga, in any case they’re still familiar with all of their own myths. it allows us to keep heroic spirits separate from their original myths. Obviously! And in the case of pseudo-servants, it allows us to keep them separate from their vessels. Cuz this is a fanservice japanese game. Andddd the fandom likes forgetting this fact quite a lot i’ve noticed. As a person who loves thinking about tons and tons of headcanons for fun, this allows us a lot of space ! Because this is fate/grand order at its base. Nasuverse. 

I’m glad that the interlude explains it so clearly, it’s very good !! Because the majority of myths from every culture are confusing, family trees are confusing, names are confusing, powers and attributes are confusing... its a mess !!!! the fgo characters we know are just cut from their own respective timelines/historial figures so the writers can organize themselves more easily. Like cutting halves from a big cake. Kama (Assassin) is the Kama that died from Shiva’s flames and became the universe ONLY. In Nasuverse, Arthur Pendragon is a woman. Anastasia Romanov NEVER had a demon familiar named Viy in real life despite the creature being part of russian folklore. u know ! im russian i can testify dude !! 

hopefully everyone got this bc i wont be explaining this any further dude, its exhausting !!!!!! bangs my hands on the table !!!!! 

ANYWAYS kama mentions “eternal pain that turns [them] into ash” being their key element. Their trauma is at the center of their heroic spirit self, what they are as a servant. This suffering is tied to everything they do, why they’re so lazy, why they’re so lax, why they’re so detached from their job.  But they’re not detached from their role. And “job” and “role” have different connotations here. They refuse to work as a cupid because of obvious reasons. BUT. They’re not detached from their role as the God of Love, as the God of Passion. The embodiment of those feelings. This whole interlude is proof ! They’re giving u free therapy because they Love you. Passion. They feel your love. Passion. They acknowledge how much fun you’re having. How passionate you are about certain things. They might seem extremely detached and hateful, but they aren’t. They’re one of the most empathetic servants there is. And their ability to love everything, even the things they hate is what makes them so miserable. Because it’s a part of them. Because the concept of Kama in hinduism is linked to them. Be it lust or simply the passion born from anything you do where you’re enjoying yourself. (quote:  “ the term also refers to any sensory enjoyment, emotional attraction and aesthetic pleasure such as from arts, dance, music, painting, sculpture and nature “. R. Prasad (2008), History of Science, Philosophy and Culture in Indian Civilization )

... I’d like to say that this contrast with Mara is interesting. And that i’m glad the writers chose to add in Mara to the kama assassin Beast mix. 

Because the anger Mara feels can become a drivepoint for Kama. I’ve always believed that anger and sadness are two sides of the same coin, it’d explain how layered Kama is and how valid their emotions are. Constantly torn between love and hate. An eternal grudge (i don’t deserve to be hurt like this) and an eternal misery(maybe i do deserve to be hurt like this). 

i wish they were my roommate <3 oh fuck ree got emotional wait where were we.

OH YEAH

i think kama saying that they dislike being involved with other indian servants because theyre linked to shiva is a feeble attempt at trying to keep up a strong front because they still love them in the end. cuz that’s how kama is ! after a while they’ll get bored of bullying ganesha and ashwatthama. they’ll get interested in rama because their respective mythos are linked even if their servant selves have no connection. hell, at the end of the interlude they talk about parvati and how they themself changed and realized things. BUT OH WELL, THATS STUFF FOR ANOTHER POST HEHE thats just ree wanting kama to b happy yall move along !!

.....THIS ISNT A COLLEGE STUDENTS ROLEPLAY BUT ITS A CUTE JAPANESE COMPANY BOSS/UNDERLING SETTING AND ITS CUTE SO I THINK KAMA WEARING A PENCIL SKIRT AND POURING U ALCOHOL IS CUTE. CUTE.

further proof of kama’s overflowing affection and what i detailed above!! hopefully u all knew this one simply from reading this interlude/their profile page and dont need me to write it down for u. HOPEFULLY !!!!!

(I START BEATBOXING VERY RAPIDLY AND RUNNING TOWARDS YOU) KAMA IS A SADIST AT THEIR CORE AND I WILL NEVER STOP !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! they’re easy to fluster because theyre not used to being so vanilla, but whats underneath is how they truly are !! a beast turned servant, the sweetest sadist !! theyre very mature and this interlude is so well written (wipes my teears

this is directly linked to what i explained above, by burning you away, you’ll melt into nothingness just like they did. When they were the universe, they felt both everything and nothing. 

But was it really relief ... ?

... IT WASNT.

AND PARVATI SAVES THE DAY !!!!!!! phew!! thank u paru, it’d still like to be able to touch kama’s huge titties and i cant do that if i turn into ashes (falls down the stairs

ok she summoned lovey dovey canon couples to annoy kama since they’re exhausted of seein them!!

...............(I TAKE OUT A KNIFE) TAKE THAT BACK. DONT TALK TO THEM LIKE THAT. TAKE THAT BACK !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 

ohhhhhh im obsessed i love when theyre angry<3 i love when theyre fighty <3 i think they should beat the living shit out of a boxing bag DAILY to let out some of this steam. they’d be a monster on the ring... aaa kama in training boot y shorts aa a .. .uughg hg ouu... (you all shove me into a locker)

ok this is interesting !! i think that the interlude showing us that parvati feels a semblance of guilt is character dev. proof for what i mentioned before!! in ookuu parvati felt quite ..unsympathetic to me, even if kama is a beast who wants to annihilate humanity, when u think about it, at their core their grudge is because of her and shiva’s betrayal. and here, she properly apologizes for making kama so upset. this is heartwarming to me since i dislike thinking that members of the indo fam hate eachother :( same goes for arjuna and karna, at some point i’d like for them to act like bros normally and finally be comfy. but anyways !!

u wake up from the dreams and da vinci, mashu and paru are here to tell u whats going on. But its fine bc u remember everything and u have to go thank someone for helping u out!!!

CUTE !!!!!!! THEY CARE ABOUT U !!!!!! but whether it be because of their role or because theres a deeper meaning is entierly up to your own interpretation because...

of what they say here. 

and here !! 

ohhhhhhhhh this is so important !!!!!!

this is actual proof of kama’s growth as a servant and how servants evolve in chaldea !! chaldea is not the same as a grail war, its a special, cut-off place and thats what makes it even more relaxing to think about. Everytime u summon a servant in ur chaldea u give them a chance to have fun with you, to have fun with other servants, to make amends, to start from scratch, to discover things they would’ve never known in their time (movies, video games, tons of different foods etc...), u give them a chance to relax. to grow !! this is the headcanon that im most attached to and im glad to see it be confirmed in the interlude of a character i love tbqh i had to stop and talk about that.

everyone say thank u kama !! can we roleplay a college roommate coffee shop slowburn au next time <3 

ANYWAYS if you’ve read it this far: thank you !!! im sorry if you expected something very serious, im not that type of person hehe im jus here to have fun and look at things i like, and the interlude itself was quite lighthearted and refreshing. By talking about the myths and all of kamadeva’s stories, the writers basically gave lore nerds a huge thumbs up like... “its ok now !! u can go ape now !! go be insane<3 love u<3″ and all of this kama characterization GENUINELY makes me so happy because i think they really needed that. kama assassin... (i blow a kiss to the sky) is a little mess of a servant... a god, human crumbs and a demon... a total mess... im in love with them...

..............tho now the wait for a summer alt where they interact with the entire indo fam begins (im sitting in a chair unmoving)(i have a gun in case minase begins acting gross

[greytoiletpaper]

Out on Allen Street, it’s 7 in the Morning

Set in the Street Siblings au by @a-sketchy-character | @streetsiblings without which I may not have had the motivation to write this much.

Drizzle | Deluge | Squall | AO3

Chapter 4: susurration

The world is dark.

Somehow, she knows how many marks and cuts criss-cross her body; how many bruises decorate her like a canvas. But she can’t feel them, not even one.

Instead, all she can do is listen, tuning in to the rain as it pours, as red droplets fall in time off of Mad Dog’s blade. If she really listens to the sound, it almost sounds like a different boy’s laughter.

She focuses on the noise and it alone, her body so perfectly still.

Mad Dog thrusts his blade to her chest, and Cassandra’s eyes open.

-- 

They’ve only been in Gotham for a week, yet, it feels like he never left. At least for Park Row, the “Crime Alley”, the city has never changed. Slowly, the Red Hood and Ravager make the area their own. He does everything to make sure that the Bat never catches a whiff of what he’s doing. He knows it is pointless; even if Bruce knew, he would be too much of a coward to venture into the evil heart of the city.

It infuriates him, the remnants of the old argument. If Batman was ever truly needed. It would be - no, should be - here. In the black, beating heart of Gotham, where crime and cruelty channel through its citizens as if it were in their own blood. Yet for all he prattles about his crusade of justice, Bruce will never set foot into Crime Alley; too hung up on the ghosts of his past to banish the ones that haunt others.

It’s why he’s wearing the original persona of the man who murdered him. Jason had lived these streets, born and raised and died because of them. Deep down, Jason understands what Bruce simply refuses to believe. Some people simply want to watch the world burn, and they can never be stopped, only carefully controlled, managed or otherwise taken out. He never wants what happened to him to be inflicted on someone else. Not if he can help it.

Now, Red Hood is here, slinking through the darkened hallways of Arkham. Past every guard and camera until he arrives at one particular cell. He knocks on the door, and a mop of neon green flips upwards.

The madman beams; his eyes are whirlpools of chaotic energy.

“What’s this? Birdy clipped his wings!” The Joker begins, guffawing like a howling hyena. “I was wondering when you’d come back to see me, little Jay.”

To his credit, Jason doesn’t react. The pneumatic seals of the helmet hiss as it comes off. The Joker never takes his eyes off his face.

“There you are, my boy. Just like your uncle Jay” The lunatic says without tone, feral grin seeming plastered. “Say, you seen Cass anywhere?”

That makes him shift uneasily on his feet. The Joker leans in close, almost conspiratorially.

“You think the Bat ran her out? That he…” Something morbid flashes in the eyes of his monster. “Killed her just like I did you?”

Jason wants to drive his fists into the man’s back. Stamp on his legs until the bones shatter. Bludgeon him over and over with whatever is on hand until the madman’s flesh is nothing but paste. Instead, he stands frozen as the cackling echoes around the room and in his ears.

“I’m not doing this for you,” Is what he says. “And I’m not doing this for me either.”

His hand lifts the pistol from its holster.

“I’m doing this because someone has to do what Batman can’t.”

The Joker takes the words in stride, nodding to himself. To Jason, it’s the calmest he has ever seen him.

“Not a fan of the whole motorcycle fetish style, but to each his own,” The madman’s eyes, still rotting in their own insanity, meet his. Something about the gaze seems so clear despite the instability. “You’re going to be wonderful for the Red Hood name.”

He sighs.

“When you do it, boy, make sure you get as much of the colour out of me.”

Jason nods and presses the barrel into Joker’s forehead, closes his eyes, and everything is silent.

 --

He presses his hand to the glass, the rain sliding down the pane on the other side, its streams the same lengths as the rivers that flow from his red crown.

--

Fact One, a statement: Roman Sionis is the Black Mask, one of Gotham's most powerful crime lords with connections running deeply in the underground drugs and weapons trade.

Fact Two, an amendment: Roman Sionis is the Black Mask, arguably one of Gotham's most powerful crime lords with sizeable connections in the weapons trade.

Fact Three, a truth: He is absolutely livid with the Red Hood and the Ravager.

Roman stares at the text on the notepad; he picks it up and throws it across the room.

In the space of two nights, the new duo had taken over his entire drug operation and cut off every tie Roman had to Crime Alley. Internally, he thinks ‘cut off’ is still too lacking a description. Half of his thugs breathing through tubes for days. Pimps found castrated and dangling from lampposts. Drug dealers with their mouths frothing as they dissociated. If the rumour mill among villains is anything to go by, Red Hood had killed the Joker in his own damn cell. Roman shudders. He’d seen the images from the crime.

The pair are definitely a threat, and Roman needs him gone as soon as possible. Hiring the Joker would have been one of the best choices: effective, relatively cheap and definitely motivated to take on whoever dares don his previous mantle. Alas, reality disagrees.

Black Mask picks up the phone, ready to dial the more expensive alternative. He sighs and hopes they don’t call Deathstroke the ‘Terminator’ for nothing.

 --

Cassandra dives away at the last second, adrenaline flushing through her body and lifting the fog from her mind. Her opponent’s blade impacts with the ground, firmly planting itself the whole way. Mad Dog, clearly thrown off, becomes an easy target with her renewed energy.

She does not hold back, unleashing a flurry of blows to the assassin’s chest, even as he tries to hold his defence together. With renewed focus, she redirects every strike he makes and strikes him back thrice as hard.

It is not long until Mad Dog is at Cassandra’s mercy, nearly a bloody pulp under her hand.

“Finish it,” Shiva calls suddenly, and she almost complies. But, with her hazy vision, the images of Faizul and the assassin blend together. The vertigo Cassandra is feeling becomes sharper, and she’s drowning in it.

In her hesitation, Shiva tuts and stabs her own blade into Mad Dog’s heart, crimson fluid spraying in all directions.

Cass doubles over, desperately heaving, and liquid green purges from her body.

 --

Bruce stares up at the readout on the Batcomputer. There are new players in Gotham, but there’s something that makes them stand out from the others. They make headway faster than he’s ever seen it, clearing out and claiming Park Row as their own territory in a week.

Twenty-seven confirmed kills and thirty-four hospitalisations. He would have stopped with his investigation then and there. Yet, the detective in him tugs the back of his mind. He checks through the names again and finds that each one is attached to a laundry list of crimes that become more appalling the further he reads.

Then Red Hood killed the Joker; and for the first time since the madman’s debut, Gotham is quiet.

Bruce rubs his face in his hands and turns to the screens entirely dedicated to monitoring his daughter Cassandra. (The memorial makes itself known in his peripheral vision.) Her work in Hong Kong as Black Bat had been phenomenal so far. Every story he can find of her weaves the same story: Black Bat, hero of the Forgotten. Of the waylaid and the oppressed.

What would they think? Bruce finally turns to the statue, mouthing the words on the plaque to himself. 

“Can you promise something for me, Bruce? Just one thing?”

  “Anything for you, Jaylad.” 

He tears his eyes away.

Damian becomes cagey whenever either of the three vigilantes come up in conversation. It is suspicious, but he has had the lesson very solidly ironed in his mind how unconducive to understanding he can be. So, he gives his son his space.

Despite the child's refined nature, little pieces of him remind him of Jason, far beyond the boy's temper, pride, or even his cursing. Bruce had seen Damian in the library once, his fingers tracing the spine of a newer copy of Huckleberry Finn.

Red and orange flash by his primary monitor, and Bruce pulls himself from his thoughts.

Batman rises, ready to confront whatever ghosts will taunt him in the shadows.

-- 

The world roars in her ears, and no matter how hard she tries, Cassandra can’t stop the erratic sequence of deep breaths that claw out her throat. For once she’s glad she’s not wearing her old costume. The mask reminded her too much of smoke inhalation and chains and-.

“Why?” She rasps in a throaty, breathless voice that has not escaped her for years. “Why would you do this?”

“Can’t a mother test the progress of her daughter?” Shiva replies coolly. Her stance gives off nothing, so Cassandra does not deign her a response.

“He went looking for me, you should know.”

Her head snaps up.

“He was curious. A unique girl who can read the body as if it were a book and a unique woman who can do the very same? An unlikely coincidence,” Shiva turns her head away, ducked down as if she had already admitted too much. “He asked me, if it was my choice to leave you with your father.”

“It wasn’t.”

Sandra nods.

“He told me that was, and I quote, ‘a load of shit’.”

“Sounds like Jason,” Cass mutters under her breath. A hush falls between them, not comfortable but not unwelcome either.

“It is not me you came here for,” Sandra says with such conviction that Cass can’t help but gape in her disbelief. Of course, she did. Shiva gave birth to her.

Before she can voice her thoughts, Sandra grasps her shoulder and wraps her arms around Cass.

“You’ll find your brother soon. I can promise you that.”

 --

Gotham rumbles, her shock snaking through the crown of her scalp. She knows that tonight is the night; when events will pass and tear the whole city asunder. For better or for worse, she cannot tell.

But she is eager to find out for herself.

 --

“Think that’s a wrap for tonight?” Jason asks quietly, almost inaudible over the Gotham rain. It’s the only coherent sentence he’s made in days, so Rose takes what she can get.

“Probably, you’re not shanghaiing me into grabbing groceries, right?”

“Maybe,” He chuckles, but even though his voice is filtered by their comms, she can tell it’s forced. “Anyone ever tell you how similar some of our problems are?”

“Really? You realised this just now?” Rose rolls her eyes because, honestly. “I mean, at least your dad isn’t some psycho assassin supervillain.”

“Aww, Rosie, making your old man sad. Truly, I’m hurt,” Hues from orange and blue armour melt from the shadows as Deathstroke emerges, eyeing her. “You don’t wear the uniform like Grant did.”

“It’s not meant to and either way, I barely knew him or Joey.” She draws her blades, trying to hide how much her arms are shaking. It doesn’t help. “No thanks to you.”

“Is that Slade?” Jason’s voice is like music to her ears, relaxing her muscles in the ways she needs.

“I made your brothers stronger,” There’s an edge to Slade’s voice, sharp as the glistening blade he brandishes. Ready to pounce at a moment’s notice. “I suggest you come with me so you can be the same.”

“What, dead because of problems you caused?” She laughs shakily, grimacing under her mask. “I suggest you fuck off.”

“I’m coming, Rose.”

“No can do. There’s a hit on the two of you, and its fait accompli,” Deathstroke makes a ‘what-can-you-do?’ gesture and Rose darts forward, her tears faster than the raindrops that dance on her skin.

 --

Batman has followed the Red Hood for hours now, and he has no idea what to think. He expected someone wielding the Joker’s former identity to be as insane as the Clown Prince himself. Yet, the red helmet only bobs up and down as if it were in conversation rather than rotating listlessly.

Despite how antithetical the new face in Gotham is to his beliefs, some actions catch him off guard about the man.

While he has seen no deaths on this patrol, with every bone the criminal breaks, the same hands offer food to street children and escort working girls to their homes. Bruce is thrown, viscerally, into a memory of the bird that flew beside him to do the very same.

The Dark Knight watches him stalk through Park Row, freeze and then take off in another direction.

It is time.

He pursues the criminal, sprinting across the rooftops of Gotham, gliding above catwalks and fire escapes. Within minutes, he overtakes and blocks the path ahead of Red Hood, who curses and vaults over his body.

Or at least, he tries to as Batman grips the man’s ankle and slams him back into the pavement. Hood never misses a second, drawing a knife and swiping at his limbs. He lets go; the man faces him again, twirling the knife round and round.

“B,” A modulated voice hangs in the air, but there is a quality to it that tickles his conscious, like an old ghost whispering in his ears.

“Red Hood, I suggest you surrender peacefully, or I –.”

“Cut the act, alright? You think that just because you’re Batman, nobody can be above you,” Red Hood laughs. Through the modulator of his helmet, it comes off as hollow. “The truth with a saying like that –.” The knife is stowed away. “– It just means nobody is beneath you either.”

The criminal grapples him; kick, jab, punch, kick again in a rapid dance of attacks that Bruce can barely keep up with. Some of the criminal’s movements are achingly familiar yet so foreign that the composite form nauseates him. Red hood strikes over and over until he actually has him, the Dark Knight, pinned.

“And some of us can’t wait to drag you all the way down.”

Jason had always had a gift for speaking. His sister’s hands may be knives, but his words were bullets.

Breaking out of the Red Hood’s hold, that is what Bruce muses in his mind.

 --

They’ve been at a game of cat and mouse for so long now. Locked in a chase of diving and darting around a maze of alleyways and rooftops. Jason drops on one of them and turns to face his pursuer, who draws short away from him.

“What, can’t work it out?” He triggers the seals on his helmet as he lifts it off. Without the lenses he can see, even in the rain, the second Bruce recognises him. “You really didn’t care enough to remember my name or something?”

“Jason,” Bruce’s tone gives off nothing and everything. “W-Why are you doing this? How are you –.”

“I’m doing this because you refuse to do what needs to be done.” Jason snarls, venom laced in every word. “You want to rule them by fear, but you never go any further with the ones who aren’t afraid.”

“Jason, I don’t under-.”

“I died for your cause, and in less than a year you shove some other kid in the uniform so he can die too!” He is raving now. He also doesn’t care. “You let my murderer run wild and slaughter thousands and when someone finally steps up to do what needed to be done, you cut her out?”

“I had to –.”

“Had to what? Isolate her? Run her out of the only family she’s ever known? She was my sister, my whole fucking world; who believed in you and you left her like she means nothing to you! Cass is gone now, and that is your fault!”

“If you would –.”

“Do you even remember? That the only thing I ever made you swear to me, that you vowed on your life, was that you’d never let her down?” For once this night, his voice isn’t angry or vicious. It is a void, detached from any feeling. “Guess I should have known better.”

He knows, almost intrinsically despite the years, that if there is one thing that Jason has said tonight, those are the words that pierce Batman’s defences. It’s why he lets Bruce rush forward like he wants to. Allows the chase to continue. When he jumps, Jason lands in an apartment that carries the same bloodstains that leaked down his mother’s arms a lifetime ago.

 --

Black Bat arrives in Gotham, and superficially, it is empty. She almost hails Barbara when bright flashes shine in her peripheral vision. Lo and behold, Deathstroke and an unknown are locked in a duel below her.

Cassandra drops from above, and at that moment, she kicks Deathstroke into a wall hard enough to knock him unconscious. His opponent, she notices, stops immediately.

Before her is a girl, hair silver under the moonlight, garbed in orange and black.

Then the Batmobile rounds the corner, a small figure rising from the hatch.

"Black Bat," Robin says, "You have not responded to Oracle, she was-."

Damian's eyes bug out once he notices the girl beside Cassandra. She fully expects him to snarl or draw his ridiculously long katana. Instead, uncharacteristically rushes forward and embraces the girl tightly instead.

"Wilson. A-are you finally assisting us in Gotham?" Damian says, even with his head buried in a shoulder. "Drake may be intelligent, but his incompetence with the sword is impossible to rectify."

"Missed you too, D-man," The girl chuckles and ruffles the boy's hair. "I would help, but what’s up with tall, slim and broody over there?"

Cassandra crosses her arms expectantly at Robin, who obviously only just remembered her presence when he unlatches himself immediately. His cheeks may be red, but Damian still raises his chin proudly.

"I found her, Rose," His body language and eyes seem to sing. "I found his ukht."

The girl spins sharply, wolfish eyes drawn wide. “You’re her,” Rose breathes, awe rippling off her body. “You’re Cass.”

She would have flinched, but the body language is so familiar. Cass tilts her head.

“Yes.”

Rose grabs her arm so hastily that she almost rips it back in shock. But something is so honest about her body language that Cass relents, letting the girl lead her where she is needed.

 --

He kneels, tracing the dark stains. Behind him, Batman pauses. Not even he would dare to disturb the sanctity of this room.

“Jaylad, please -.”

“Don’t call me that. That isn’t who I am,” Jason rounds on Bruce. He gestures to the shattered window, the ripped upholstery, and the bloodstained floor. “This is what I grew up being, what I never wanted anyone else to.”

He taps the insignia on Bruce’s chest with his pistol.

“That, right here, was your promise to people like me. People that needed help and protection,” He spits. “And you couldn’t even do it for the ones closest to you.”

"I just want to-."

"Want to what? Parade your antiquated sense of morality to hide, while the rest of the world suffers for what you refuse to do? Or cast out others from taking it in their own hands?"

Tears are building in his eyes, but he wipes them away while Batman stands ramrod straight.

"I don't think you understand. That you've never understood," The man begins, and Jason gapes because what the hell does that mean? "If I let myself cross that line, even for Joker, I won't ever come back."

"You know what I think about that, Bruce?" Jason breathes deeply, feeling the whispers of the Pit roaring with the heavy rain in his ears. "I think that's a huge self-aggrandizing load of bullshit."

He charges forward, knocking Batman's legs from under him and ramming his face into the ground. Batman is down to his knees before either can even blink.

"And I'm so fucking tired of hearing it."

Jason levels the barrel at Bruce’s forehead, torbernite lining the edges of his vision, engulfing him in an absence.

“What’s the use of you learning to do right when it’s troublesome to do right?”

 --

Then, her voice shatters the tension in the air, gripping his heart and silencing the susurrations of the rain that suffocated his ears.

“When it ain’t no trouble to do wrong, and the wages is just the same.”

-- 

“Cass?” The boy in the alleyway says. A gun. An apple in his hand. The girl falters in the doorway, her fist tongue clenches, and she nods.

Previous Chapter | Next Chapter

[bgn846]

The Fight

Unable to keep his footing, Ignis could only brace for the impact when the alpha charged at him. It hurt, but he wasn’t down for the count yet. Swinging his legs out briskly sent the alpha down on his back with a thud. The guy barely twitched before he was back up on his feet.  He was persistent, Ignis could give him that.

Groaning at what had been a nice calming break fifteen minutes before, Ignis vaulted himself back up to standing and summoned his pole arm bringing it down on the man’s shoulder. Maybe the asshole would stay down now. No such luck, apparently getting hit with a metal pole merely energized the man. He screamed out some sort of feral battle cry and rushed forward once more.

This had to stop, Ignis was getting tired. His mates were still busy guarding Noct so Ignis was on his own for this fight. The last thing he’d expected was to get attacked by some raging alpha idiot. He’d simply slipped out the back door to get some fresh air. There had been too many alpha’s in a small space, he needed to get away.

They were at a new restaurant for shiva’s sake. A normal eatery in the fancy part of Insomnia that happened to have been constructed entirely with recycled materials, hence, Noct’s visit for the ribbon cutting.  All of that had gone according to plan; it was the celebratory party afterwards that had given Ignis trouble.  All the overbearing scents and raucous laughter were too much. Not to mention the amount of alcohol present.  Why was this party so rowdy?

The excessive drinking was also to blame for Ignis’ current predicament. The one drunk alpha who felt he was entitled to a piece of omega never went well. Ignis could defend himself, he wasn’t without skills. This alpha, however, needed to go away.  Not wanting to outright maim the man Ignis had gone a little easy, now, though as the alpha charged once again, Ignis rethought this tactic. He was already tired and this wasn’t helping.

Raising his weapon Ignis prepared to strike the alpha again. A flash of blue light erupted out of his peripheral causing him to flinch. A second later Noct appeared in front of him and blocked the hit from the larger alpha. The prince moved gracefully and quickly gained the upper hand. Warping from one side to the other helped confuse the other alpha and soon enough Noct had landed several kicks to the man’s abdomen.

Normally Ignis wouldn’t just stand idle when Noct was in danger, but from where he stood panting for breath it seemed as though Noct was doing fine.  He wasn’t left watching alone for long, Prompto appeared by his side a moment later, gun drawn, but pointed downward. Quickly looking back to the fight, Ignis was able to witness the final blow. Noct summoned his father’s sword, the one he’d been gifted on his twenty first birthday, and spun through the air with the precision years of training will offer.

Noct easily connected the pommel with the man’s temple; the alpha crumpled instantly and fell to the ground.  It was only after the assailant stayed down, unmoving, did Ignis dismiss his own weapon. Backing up slightly caused him to bump into Gladio. Ignis hadn’t even been aware his mate was so close. Opting to lean back Ignis let Gladio wrap his arms around his waist.

Ignis caught a glimpse of how enraged Noct was when he turned and stalked over. His magenta colored eye’s were trained on his own.  “Did he hurt you?” Noct seethed as he came to a halt in front of Ignis.

“Nothing that won’t heal in a few days,” Ignis managed in between breaths.

“Who is he?” Noct demanded.

“I believe he’s the driver for one of the developers.”

“He’s getting arrested and charged with assault,” Noct angrily added as he took a deep breath. “Why were you out here?” he asked with a tone that meant he was serious.

“I needed some fresh air, I’m sorry highness, there were too many alp--.”

Noct’s eyes widened and he quickly dropped his hardened expression, “Shit, sorry I’m not mad I just wanted to know all the details. Don’t apologize, you didn’t do anything wrong.”

Before he was able to respond, the door to the building behind them opened, and several other people spilled out into the rear parking lot area. This of course was followed by even more people coming out to investigate. Needless to say, the night ended up dragging on as they waited for things to be dealt with properly. The police came, interviews were given, security footage was reviewed and the man was arrested.  

Turns out he was a known offender that liked having his way with omegas. This time however, he picked on the wrong omega. The adrenaline rush had long since worn off as they all made their way to the limo to go home. Ignis could honestly say he was exhausted. Thankfully, his pack hadn’t left his side since the incident. For once they had a driver as well, which allowed Ignis to nestle in the backseat with Noct and Prompto on either side. Gladio seemed to know he wouldn’t fit and he took the seat opposite and simply watched.  His warm smile was enough to appease Ignis until he could hug his alpha again.

The drive was a blur as they headed back home, Ignis was still amped to sleep so he instead watched the scenery wiz by. They’d be back and out of the public eye soon enough. The only thing left to figure out was what to do when they arrived. A hot shower sounded divine but Ignis wasn’t so sure his mates would let him go it alone. That was the only fault at being the lone omega in the pack, they doted on him and even more so when things like this happened.

Not that Ignis was upset at their clingy behavior, he secretly loved it. However, his energy level was reaching its limits and he needed to rest. It seemed his exhaustion was more obvious than he’d realized when Noct and Prompto both refused to let him go on the walk up to the suite.

“I’m alright,” he tried feebly as they manhandled him into the elevator.

“Don’t even try, we’re not letting go,” Noct pouted as he smashed the button for their floor.

Sighing fondly Ignis let himself be pulled around.  It wasn’t until they’d reached the front door did Ignis realize what Gladio had been doing. His normally very cuddly alpha was working, his eyes scanning every hallway and dark corner. Figures, he was still on guard, Ignis had to work hard not to keen lovingly out loud at the gesture. Ignis knew that once they were safely inside Gladio would loosen up, but for now it was making his inner omega swoon mightily. The moment the door was closed and locked behind them everything changed. Prompto tackled him for a bone crushing hug and wouldn’t let go.

“Ow,” Ignis huffed softly.

“Shit, sorry!” Prompto exclaimed

“Come on, we are all jumping in the shower and then it’s out to the hot tub on the deck,” Gladio proclaimed as he herded them down the hallway and towards the master bathroom.

“The hot tub?! At this hour, surely you’re joking,” Ignis blurted as he was dragged along.

“Why the hell not, we all want to cuddle you and the hot water will help loosen your muscles up.” Gladio offered.

“It’s nearly three am and I’m barely keeping my eyes open.”

“Prompto can you go turn the jets on and get the cover off?” Gladio instructed ignoring his worries. “Iggy, babe, you are allowed to fall asleep in the hot tub ya know that right?”

“Yes, yes, but I’ll get all pruny.”

“Gladio’s right it’ll help you relax, after that fight especially,” Noct added as he stepped forward to help Gladio undress him.  “Besides we can’t all fit in the bath together, the hot tub will be better.”

Ignis had no time to form an argument in favor of sleeping instead. He was whisked away to the shower where all three of his mates, Prompto had returned from his mission by this time, miraculously fit into the shower stall together. The hot water felt so nice and Ignis couldn’t help but pull the nearest body close to lean on.  

“Careful, you’re gonna make me fall over,” Noct whined as he reached out to steady himself.

Humming in response Ignis simply enjoyed the warmth and let Prompto and Gladio wash away the dirt.  He’d all but forgotten that his pale skin was starting to show bruising from the fight, when Noct sighed mournfully.

“I wish we’d been there to help you fight that asshole,” the prince lamented.

“Though based off the footage I saw you were really giving it to him,” Prompto added with a hint of awe. “Like you hit him with a pole arm and he didn’t stop. Plus you kicked him a ton and he still didn’t slow down.”

“He was the true definition of aggressive, I’ll give you that,” Ignis muttered from where he had his nose buried in Noct’s neck.

“Oh but guys, guess what, guess what,” Prompto enthused suddenly, distracting them from talking about the awful alpha.

“Oh no, I know that tone, you’ve done something,” Gladio sighed as he reached out and ruffled Prompto’s wet hair.

“I drew the curtains on the patio so we could jump in naked!” the blond added excitedly.

Noct jumped up a little and Ignis could tell he was smiling. “Nice one buddy!”

“So we ready?” Gladio asked as he leaned over to shut the water off. “We’ve got an omega to cuddle.”

Despite having his eyes closed Ignis rolled them for good measure. Reluctantly pulling away from his prince Ignis barely had time to react when Gladio swept him up off his feet and headed out of the bathroom. “Gladio! You’re still wet!”

“Yeah and what’s the point of drying off when we’ll be jumping in the hot tub?”

“The floor is getting dripped on!” Ignis whined pitifully. Though truthfully it didn’t matter, the floors were all tile and they were all clean.  His only worry was Gladio slipping but he’d already made it out onto the patio and was climbing up over the edge and into the blissfully hot water. Six, Ignis needed this.  

“Hey big guy you gonna share?” Prompto asked as he joined them and waded over to sit next to their alpha.

“I think we should all get turns holding Iggy,” Noct supplied as he climbed in and immediately ducked his head under the water. Coming up a second later he floated closer and wedged himself in between Gladio’s legs and wrapped his arms around Ignis’ waist.  

It didn’t take long and Ignis could feel himself drifting off. Gladio was still cradling him like a baby which didn’t help matters. He always fell asleep when Gladio held him. His remaining waking moments kept occurring when he’d get passed off to one of his mates. First he awoke to Noct hugging him and rubbing all over his scent gland. Unable to keep from giggling, as it tickled, Ignis turned his head and went back to relaxing.

He somehow missed getting out of the hot tub, and his next waking moment was Prompto pulling him close in their stupidly large bed.  Returning the gesture, Ignis hugged his beta tightly. He felt warm and his mind was finally at ease over the evenings events. The hot tub had done the trick, releasing all the tension from his aching muscles.

“Sleep, you’re safe,” Gladio whispered from nearby as the bed dipped.  Soon a strong arm was wrapped around his midsection.

“Wh’s Noct?” Ignis managed as he tried to see in the dark.

“M’here,” came the muffled reply.

Ignis realized that both of his alphas were on the outside edge of the bed. Gladio was behind him and Noct was spooning Prompto. Smiling at the protective behavior Ignis let his mind shut down. Sleep claimed him almost immediately after that. There was nothing left to fret about, he was safe.