#Steph Babs alfred and Tim gave him advice

[e-m-inem]

In a happy little place in my mind, two things could have happened when Damian went to high (/middle) school. (More likely middle)

#1. Damian is wholly unprepared for the sheer pettiness, chaos, immaturity and frankly insulting behaviour of these children. Not because of: the insults, petty attempts at bullying and poorly concealed attempts at networking.

No.

It's because they're not trying harder. It's frankly pathetic how none of them have even attempted blackmailing him into a friendship to get closer with his family- there's not even poison in his meals!

He's severely disappointed.

#2. He takes his father's advice about being a role model for his subordinates peers.

If no one is going to teach them, he will.

He takes the whole student body by storm and makes them into the most cunning, efficient, menacing, and above all, loyal 13 year old socialites in the making.

Damian has an adequate army now. Complete with units, chains of command and his most trusted informant squad.

Who are actually the mean girls who love to gossip.

But what's the difference?

#3. Both of the above, in that exact order.

Fic recs are very much appreciated, if inspired by me please let it be known to the world!

[timdrakecoffeemug]

Shazamily 'n Batfamily hc because I'm bored!!

Billy

The one who introduced the whole family to the Wayne's, he gets along with Bruce and have a fatherly relationship, but he's not letting Bruce adopt him.

He gets along well with Dick and Tim, doesn't talk much to Jason, he goes with Damian to animal shelters to help, doesn't talk much with the girls but he thinks Steph is amazing and wants to learn some movements from Cass. Duke is his frenemie and Babs is the one he ask for advice.

Freddy

He's a Batman enthusiast and is always asking Bruce questions, is friends with Damian, he knows Tim's Robin history by core (he jokes about how he would have done the same if he lived in Gotham), ask questions to Dick and he has a massive crush on Jason. He thinks Steph is neat and has some inner jokes with her, Cass scares him a bit by how quiet she can be, and Duke is his video game partner to kick Billy's ass. Haven't spoke much to Babs but thinks she's amazing.

Also, Alfred gaves him a Tupperware with cookies and other treats to share with the Shazamily, but he eats almost all of it on the way home when Rosa picks him up from the Wayne manor.

(When he's allowed to go to the Batcave, Bruce handcuffs him because he keeps touching everything. Literally everything.)

Mary

Oh, she loves all of them! Because she was the first child, she gets along well with Dick, even patrols with him from time to time.

Damian reminds him of Billy when he first arrived home, speaks with Jason from time to time and she's also worried about Tim's coffee addiction. She gets along well with Duke.

Also, she's always invited to Cass, Steph and Babs' girls night. She's the one in charge of the snacks.

Darla

She's friendly with everyone, but doesn't talk much to anyone besides Steph, who shares a passion for the color purple and silly stuff. When she goes to the manor with the other's, she goes straight to the kitchen to see Alfred cooking, and sometimes he allows her to help him!

Pedro

Little guy right here has a massive crush on Dick !! Like, the stuttering and blushing type, but tries to act cool around him. He plays sports with Jason and Tim, likes to see Damian training. Duke is the one he gets along with the most. Haven't spoke much with the girls though, but Cass is his favorite one.

Eugene

Ever since he got to met Barbara, he spends time with her, learning how she keeps tracking of every movement that is done in Gotham, aspires to be as good with tech as her.

He spends time with Tim too, mostly when Tim is working on the Batcomputer. He's the only one of the Shazamily allowed to touch it.

Plus:

Rosa and Victor feel really in touch with Bruce, who's an orphan like them. They think they're very similar, keeping in mind the amount of children Bruce adopted too.

Rosa shares cooking recipes with Alfred, and from time to time they have a friendly competition on who makes the best dessert. The kids are the judges and it's always a tie.

[shakespeareallanpoe]

Batfamily Secret Santa

With the holidays coming up here's my headcanon for what each of the batfamily members would get each other if they were doing a secret Santa. (And yes, I know Bruce is canonically Jewish, but I believe either Tim or Dick are some denomination of Christian so I'd imagine they have a mixed holiday celebration at the manor)

Bruce (got Stephanie)

Ok so Bruce is super generous on a good day and I can't imagine Steph wouldn't be dropping hints since Thanksgiving, so he'd probably give her everything she asked for plus a new movie Wayne manor doesn't have, so after the celebration they could watch it together as a one-on-one bonding thing since he's pretty big on quality time in some versions.

Dick (got Bruce)

Bruce really doesn't expect anything for the holidays which is perfect because I have this headcanon that Dick is actually really bad with giving gifts. Someone bullied your little sister? Not on his watch. Life advice? He'll pull from his past experiences to tell you what not to do. Emotional support? Bro he's there. But birthday/anniversary/holiday gifts? Expect a mug with Snoopy's face because you both watched Charlie Brown together once. In July. He's just that kind of gift giver. So I'm thinking Dick would get Bruce a dinosaur themed 1,000 piece puzzle because Bruce likes dinosaurs and he likes puzzles so boom! Match made in heaven, ya boi is a genius. 😎

Barbara (got Jason)

Babs is a pretty practical person so her secret Santa to Jason probably consisted of a gift bag with manly smelling body wash, a gift card to Barnes & Noble, and a CD mixtape of Jason's Spotify favorites so he can pop it into a car and listen to it during long car rides.

Duke (got Damian)

So Duke is a pretty creative person when he's passionate about a project and his ideas are definitely one of a kind, but I think for some time he would really struggle with coming up with a secret Santa for Damian because he isn't all that close with Robin. He knew Damian appreciated weapons but he's also the type of person to not want Damian to think that weapons are all he is by getting him one. Presents for Damian's pets are off the table since Damian spoils them on every day of the year, so Duke would probably gift Damian something for the child he is, since Damian never had a childhood. Maybe a telescope so Damian could look at the stars with his family on clear nights. Just like what Duke's mom gave him as a boy for the holidays one year.

Cass (got Dick)

Cass didn't receive material gifts for most of her life so she probably enlisted Alfred's help. Given that the butler knows Dick pretty well, they decided to give him a gift basket with blue ribbon that had a T-shirt of his favorite band, some flash fuzzy socks (Wally would approve), and his favorite holiday candy. Dick is really more of a quality time kind of person if you want to make him to feel special, so it didn't need to be elaborate anyway.

Jason (got Cass)

I don't care how much people try to make Jason into a sexist, ignorant-to-the-fine-arts kind of person. Jason doesn't give a fuck about gender stereotypes and he loves learning, especially about classical things like literature or fine arts. For his secret Santa to Cass he got them both tickets for a weekend trip to Russia to see a ballet in person in one of the grandest cities in Russia. Cass has obviously been to many places across the world, but it was always for a mission and nothing more. For the holidays, Jason gifted her two days where they could travel and explore the culture, living like locals or being those stereotypical tourists just for shits and giggles. Just a few days without work to relax and live happy lives as regular people. When Cass got her gift Jason pulled her aside afterwards to explain it, so she wouldn't cry in front of everyone. And she did cry. Just a little. So did Jason.

Tim (got Duke)

Tim wouldn't think too hard about Duke's gift since he knows the people Duke hangs out with. Or could find them. Getting Duke a gift was as simple as casually running into Duke's friends and asking them about what Duke likes. Not that he or Duke's friends ever mentioned this to Signal, so when he opened his secret Santa and found some hyper-specific things amongst some more generic gifts, he began to wonder just how much Tim knew about his life.

Stephanie (got Babs)

Steph is absolutely the type of person to get someone for Christmas something they want themselves. So a lot of the gifts Bruce gave her look similar to what Babs got from Steph. Not that she means anything by it, but in her mind if it's worth wanting, someone else close to her probably wants it too. And Babs doesn't mind. She already bought herself a new desk light after the old one got knocked down one too many times, so it doesn't matter if she has a cute keychain to go on it.

Damian (got Tim)

Regardless of his age I think a younger sibling will always be a younger sibling. Damian would probably give Tim a large fancy gift bag filled with tissue paper... and nothing else. He'd do it just to see Tim's reaction to rifling through the bag for several moments to come up empty. Then, when Tim admits defeat, Damian would hand over a gift he asked Jon to pick up for Connor, nicely wrapped with Tim's forged signature and everything. He wasn't about to get Tim a gift but it's okay because he knew Tim would've somehow forgotten to get his boyfriend a holiday gift anyway. (And he did)

[666mistyday]

Batfam Headcanons pt. ?

Tim is really good at ice skating (ice skating lessons when he was growing up)

Duke's favorite ice cream is mint chocolate chip

Jason would totally not *wink* give any of his siblings advice on getting back at someone in a petty way, he'd be like "do NOT put sugar in their gasoline tank, that would absolutely ruin their car" or like "never ever send them a glitter bomb, that shit would never be entirely cleaned up"

Dick did a photo shoot for Abercrombie and Fitch back when he moved out of the manor and then bribed Babs to delete it from the internet later on (only she has copies of the photos)

Tim, Duke, and Cass are k pop stans

Dick owns one of those indoor trampoline parks in bludhaven

Bruce had the "green lantern" name trademarked because he was feeling petty one particular morning after a JL meeting (it only lasted a year because he didn't feel like renewing it so he gave it back)

Steph is the designated one (after beating the shit out of Black Spider that one time) that kills the spiders around the house (she charges favors and they depend on how big is the spider)

Dick is that Michael from the office meme rolling up to poker face blasting in his car pulling up and say "it's Britney bitch" every time Steph asks him to pick her up (at this point if someone tries to clone Dick that's how she can tell if he's the real one)

Steph and Cass were watching the parent trap for the millionth time and decided to pierce each other's ears like in the movie, zero thoughts just vibes

Damian loves The Grinch movie, he thinks the animated one is trash

Cass has a collection of chapsticks and has them meticulously counted so if she sees one is missing she isn't afraid to throw hands

Sometimes when patrol is too slow Damian will whip out his little sketchbook and doodle or full-on draw the skyline of Gotham or whoever he's patrolling with

One time after not seeing them after a long time Jason decided to prank Bruce by putting a lot of fake tattoos on his arms, neck, and torso and wore a muscle tee to roll around the manor

Bonus

Alfred greets everyone each morning as they come down to have breakfast

[incorrectbatfam]

Can I get headcanons for an au where Bruce adopted the kids when they /were/ babies, please?

Use the bathroom, get comfortable, and maybe have some tissues on hand.

For these headcanons, we’re gonna assume they were adopted in order of age, and that they’re all under 18. So Dick and Babs are 16 (with Babs being older), Harper is 14, Cass is 13, Jason is 12, Tim is 7, Steph and Duke are both 5 (with Steph being older), Carrie is 3, and Damian is 1. Yes, I’m aware that it diverges from canon age gaps but once you keep reading you’ll see why I did that.

Now for the headcanons (in no particular order):

Alfred is “Grandpa” and Bruce is anything from “Dad”, “Pops”, “Old man”, “Baba”, etc. All the other adults, like Kate or Clark, are aunts and uncles.

Steph and Duke compete over everything, like who can tie their shoes the fastest or learn to ride a bike first. Steph makes a point of letting everyone know she’s older, but Duke fires back with the fact that he’s taller. They’re both at the top of their kindergarten class and are known for butting heads, but God help anyone who decides to pick on one of them.

Harper got her first period at school while wearing white shorts. Thankfully, Dick and Babs came in clutch.

At school, Kon told Tim that he got ten dollars every time he lost a tooth. Tim tried to hack the system by pulling a bunch of teeth out at once (thankfully to no avail) until someone caught him.

Babs has a different secret handshake with each person.

When Damian first came along, everyone expected Carrie to be angry or jealous since she’d no longer be the baby of the family. And she was a little jealous at first. But the moment she saw him, her eyes went wide and she whispered, “He’s so tiny” and vowed to protect him with everything she had.

The last business trip Bruce took was when Cass was a baby, and the reason why it was his last one was that while he was abroad, Alfred sent him a video of Cass taking her first steps and he burst into tears in the middle of a meeting because he wasn’t there to witness it in person.

Dick once used Damian as a wingman to pick up girls. It worked so well that Jason tried the same thing, only to have it grossly backfire on him.

Whenever Bruce needs a break, Alfred will call everyone to the living room for one of his infamous spy stories.

Cass is the queen of April Fool’s.

Tim, Steph, and Duke regularly climb on each other’s shoulders to try to reach the cookie jar.

Harper is a pro at getting gum out of people’s hair. Tim is a pro at the exact opposite. 

Bruce gives Dick “the talk”. Dick then gives it to Harper who gives it to Cass who gives it to Jason and by then it’s so misconstrued by then that Bruce has to re-give it to all the kids.

One time Jason lashed out at school and it led to the teachers referring him to a therapist. Bruce stayed with him during the first appointment and Jason admitted to feeling unwanted because of what some kids at school said. Meanwhile, back at home, all the other siblings were trying to get their names to be Damian’s first word, like a competition. None of them ended up winning because when the other two came home, Damian called out to Jason. (And Jason cried on the spot because it didn’t matter what people said at school, he was wanted by the right people).

Group outings with the Kents or the Allens are a normal occurrence.

Harper gave Bruce a heart attack when she DIYed her hair dye and piercings.

The first time Tim saw a shooting star, he was convinced that aliens had arrived to take over the world. His conspiracy-driven panic spread to his younger siblings and that’s how Alfred found them all hiding in a blanket fort wearing saucepans as helmets.

Steph once got lost at the mall and the first thing she did was buy ten Build-A-Bears. 

Cass regularly carries her younger siblings like suitcases.

Bruce never rushed Dick into getting a license or helping out around the house.

Harper once snuck on a train to the next town without telling anyone because she wanted to ask Kate advice on coming out.

Nobody got any sleep for the forty-eight hours when Damian’s favorite stuffed animal went missing.

Duke is a LEGO kid. Carrie is a horse girl. Together they created the ultimate toy equine sanctuary.

Bruce can’t ground the kids. They’ve unionized.

Jason is no longer allowed to pick movies on account of the time he chose an R-rated slasher.

It’s an open secret that Cass accidentally left Tim at a haunted house once. 

Alfred custom sews a ten-person "get along" shirt.

Duke once snuck Damian to school for Show And Tell. Steph ratted him out almost right away.

Jason tried to make his younger siblings reenact Shakespeare. It lasted a good thirty seconds before it dissolved into people hitting each other with props.

As a big mystery/conspiracy theory person, Tim was wholly convinced that Damian was an extraterrestrial because the first time he saw him, it was at the hospital where Damian was hooked up to a bunch of machines after he was born. It wasn’t until after three different people explained the concept of preemies to him did Tim finally get it.

Carrie loves to play dress-up and will rope in anyone in the vicinity.

Bruce’s favorite song to sing to someone when they’re upset is Lean On Me by Bill Withers

Cass taught everyone obscenities in sign language and it was all fine until someone caught Babs at school and she got detention

Alfred can’t remember the last time the house was not babyproofed.

Between birthdays, holidays, Gotcha Days, and other special days, there’s always a reason to celebrate at Wayne Manor.

Whenever they fly on the private jet Duke's in the cockpit insisting he knows more about airplanes than the pilots (Alfred or Kate) bc he watched the Planes movie.

Harper got matching leather jackets for all the sisters.

Bruce gives Tim "coffee" that's 90% milk and a splash of coffee for flavor.

Cass and Jason communicate solely in inhuman grunts.

Carrie can and will latch onto the first person she sees like a koala bear.

There's a running gag among friends on how many siblings Dick has because he tells stories without ever using names.

Bruce comes home after a long day of work and everyone drops what they're doing to dogpile on him.

Harper only got an after school job to pay for her Club Penguin membership.

They all make snowmen in descending size order with Bruce's being this huge towering one and Damian's being like three inches tall.

The girls have a "no boys (except the baby) allowed" zone.

Carrie can't pronounce the letters "R" or L".

When Damian learns to crawl suddenly all the other family members become a jungle gym.

Bruce doesn't notice when someone invites a friend over without permission because what's a few extra kids anyway?

Harper comes out and for a week people wouldn't stop making bi puns.

They try to do that thing where each family member puts a different colored handprint on the mailbox and they end up running out of space.

As the oldest Dick gets stuck with babysitting or he's forced to let Jason tag along when he goes out (bc all parents make their older kids do that) and he resents it but at the same time no one can talk trash about his siblings.

Damian's animal collection begins when he brings in a mouse from the yard. (Cue the hilarious siblings-helping-him-hide-new-pets montages.)

Someone beat Bruce for “World’s most attractive man”, but that’s okay because he was voted “World’s happiest man” instead.

[whumpbby]

With the sickly au!Jason fics and such, what would Damians reaction to Jason be? This could be reverse Robins if you want. Or it could be that Jay never really got better, he was never Robin, more like what Oracle is.

Aw man, a sickly little Jay picked up by the reverse-WaynesTT 

Bruce found him in the streets as usual and brought him home - because at this point he already had Damian and Tim, and Duke was his Oracle, and Steph was the budding Batgirl (Say, he was adopted by the Commish and Babs’ older bro who didn’t know about his powers - yet;]) and he was used to kid-acquisition, okay?  He knew how it went - he’d try for a moment to pretend he’ll give them out to some other good family, only to inevitably end up with the kid back under his wing, because he was a man who couldn’t let go;]  

So, to skip the charade, he brought Jay back to the Manor. Damian was picking up the slack of angsty Red Bat with the Titans, Tim was back from the dead and causing chaos, Duke was tortured by the Joker and barely escaped with his life (and maybe-maybe-not discovered he wasn’t quite human) and Steph had a little mute tagalong she couldn’t seem to shake, and Bruce needed something to focus on - something that was good, and normal, something he could help with. 

It wasn’t Robins Bat needed, after all, it was the children behind them - the family he could return to at the end of the day, softness he could feel without pain of tragic memories. Help he could give to someone without it turning sour. 

And Jay needed help - a small thing, he needed food and warmth, and medical care. Heck, Tim was a small kid when Bruce adopted him, but Jay was beating him here - Tim was just slender, but well-feed, Jay was malnourished and wasted by a never-quite-healed pneumonia. Living in the cold and damp did a number on his respiratory system, knocking out his bronchi and sinuses, rendering him asthmatic and nah, Bruce wasn’t going to hand the kid over to the services in that state - at this point he already knew he couldn’t trust them.

So, Jay got his own room and Alfred took to his medical care with gusto - the man also needed something to focus on, the issue with Tim was painful for everyone. And Jay was starting to believe his luck might have turned finally for the better.

So, it was Steph who saw him first - he was asleep on the couch after a rather tiring bout of sickness, swaddled in blankets and flushed with fever (Alfred allowed him to spend the day downstairs so the boy wouldn’t be alone and was easier to keep an eye on). She was back form a patrol, walking to the kitchen for a snack, wiping her hair after a shower and speaking loudly to Alfred - when the man peeked out of the kitchen and gave her the most powerful ‘shush’ in his arsenal. 

Only then she noticed the bundle on the couch - a fine detective she was, huh - and her first reaction was “Is he freaking serious?!” and the second was “Wow, he’s a little cutie, isn’t he? We didn’t have a redhead yet!”

(in this au Jay had red hairXD) 

From there Duke was send photos (because of course he was) and was “Oh no, I will protect this baby with my life!” because he’s a good guy and his older-brother instincts were rock-solid.

Damian learned about his newest sibling when he returned to the Manor for Alfred’s birthday (they were at odds with Bruce at the time) and saw the slip of a child hiding in the corner of the kitchen, watching Damian give Alfred his best wishes. His instant reaction was anger (because it was his go-to reaction in most cases at the time) and poor Jay ran away scared. Alfred was not impressed. 

It took a bit of time for the kid to stop fearing the big scary man - Bruce was big, but he was soft and not scary at all. Damian was big and tough and had a perma-frown and Jay saw him on some portraits int he Manor, but in person he was more imposing than the boy from the pictures. 

Damian was unhappy about another stray his father brought home. At least Staph had all her vaccinations! (To which Steph threatened to lick his face while he was sleeping, because that was the relationship they had). That sickly little thing was going to die on the streets! He was in no way going to be Robin! 

But Bruce didn’t want another Robin. He wanted to give this child a good home and education and future. Yeah, Jay was very poorly and it was doubtful that he’d ever be strong enough for the feats of athleticism their job required, and that was okay, he didn’t need to be. If he ever learned their secrets, it would be one thing, he’d never go out into the field. He could be like Duke, who stepped away form Robining when he became a fulltime older brother and decided that he could do more good for Batman and his dad behind the screen.

(Damnit, now I want Damian and Duke to have this relationship of equals where Dami was the Robin and Duke was the Bitgirl Black Bat and they are grown up now and have this cordial brotherly bond where Duke is not afraid to verbally trash Damian when necessary and Damian pretends to ignore him, but always takes his advice into consideration, and they both roll heir eyes at Bruce and his drama, and they’re both shattered over what happened to Tim, and they have each-other’s back, and it was Duke who taught Damian to stand the fuck still when someone hugs him)

So, Damian now had to creep back into his baby brother’s good graces, because somehow Alfred took the boy under his wing and one needed to keep the Butler sweet. And okay, Jay was a good kid, smart, eloquent, scared of being abandoned, desperately needing a family. He liked halva. He was okay. And it was good to have a baby bother again, to have some life back in the Manor, to have Bruce smile again from time to time over aced report cards and books stacked neatly next to the couch.

One day, a few months in, Damian came back home with a present for his newest sibling. 

He brought Jay a cat. 

[thebluenebula]

First Xmas Gala

Ashleigh Wayne Au Fic Masterlist

The day of the Gala has come, and Ash couldn't be more nervous, but with her family by her side everything will be fine, right?

Preparing for the Gala

. . . . .

I didn't sleep that night. I got up at five, shower, shaved, and cleaned myself up. I tried to do something with my hair, but there wasn't much I could do, so I ended up leaving it as it was.

As I headed back to my room, I spotted the boys in Dick's room, getting ready. The five of them were wearing similar black suits, each had unique accessory matching the Wayne wearing it. Dick, Duke, and Damien all had ties, blue, yellow, and green respectively, Tim a red bowtie, and Jay a loose floor length skirt.

I stared in aww at my brothers. "You guys look stunning."

Dick looked up at me curiously. "Thank you. Are you wearing that?"

I was still in the clothes I'd worn the day before. "First off, I already look better then you."

Jay snickered. "That's not hard."

"Secondly, no. I'm going to get changed now."

Duke adjusted his tie. "Well hurry."

I headed to my room, stripped and looked into wardrobe. The suit, or the dress? The suit was nice, and I knew I'd be comfortable, I wouldn't stand out, but I had to wear the dress. I wanted to wear the dress.

I examined myself in the mirror. The blue dress hugged my body, not too tightly, but enough. The long skirt hid the sneakers, and tracksuit bottoms I was wearing underneath. I rubbed my bare arm. It felt right, but could I really wear it in front of all those people? In front of Cassie?

Someone knocked on the door. I recognised Harper's knock. "You decent, Ash?"

"Yeah, I am."

"Mind if we come in?"

I unlocked the door for them. Carrie, and Harper walked in. I looked at the girls. Harper was wearing a black suit, with a blue undershirt, while Carrie was wearing her green sun dress

"You look amazing." We all said in unison. It was followed by a burst of giggles.

Carrie leaned against my dresser. "So, are you ready for your first Gala?"

"I guess so."

"You look worried."

"All things considered, the Galas the least of my worries."

"Cassie?"

I turned back to the mirror. "Yes. Do you think she'll like this dress, or should I wear a suit?"

Harper came up behind me, and wrapped her arms around me. "Do you like it?"

"Yeah, but-"

"No buts. You like it, so nothing else matters, plus I know Cassie will love it. You want to know how I know?"

"How?"

"Cause you're in it."

I leaned my head back into her. "Thank you, Harper."

In the mirror, I watched as Carrie pick up my pair of fishnet gloves. "You've been taking fashion tips from Dinah I see."

I took them from her, and pulled them on. "Zee, actually. She's got great style. Would one of you mind taking a picture of me?"

Carrie grabbed my phone. "Not at all. Strike a pose."

I smiled as she took a step back to get a proper shot. As the camera flashed, I felt a sudden weight on my back.

I tried to steady myself as Harper clung to my back. "Photobomb!"

I giggled as we fell onto the bed, knocking her off of me. "Photohog more like it."

When we were done laughing, Carrie took a proper photo, then one of the three of us together. I sent them to Siobhan, then the three of us headed downstairs.

Everyone was gathered in the living room. Bruce was the first to spot us. "Ashleigh, you look stunning."

Kate appeared behind him. "Understatement of the century."

I could feel my face reddening. "Thank you."

The same could be said for them. Bruce was wearing a pitch black suit. In a dim light room, he'd be hard to spot. Maybe that was the point. Kate's outfit was at least bit more colorful. Her black dress had intricate red lines swirling through it.

Carrie coughed, drawing our attention to her, and Harper. "There are other children in the room looking for positive verbal reassurement."

Bruce russeled their hair. "You two are just as stunning as ever."

Carrie fixed her hair in one motion. "Good. Thank you."

Harper was not so lucky. She gave Bruce a sour look as she pushed the loose hair from her face. "Yeah, thanks."

I looked around the room, admiring everyones outfits. I'd seen Bab's dress the day she got it, but it looked even better on her. The green empire dress worked so well for her. As for Steph, and Cass they both wore matching sun dresses. The only difference being the colours, purple, and black respectively, both with splashes of yellow.

We took the obligitory family photos. First, all of us together. Then the adults. Then the kids. Then a couple more in our own little groups.

Steph had taken on the role of 'parent who wants way too many pictures'. She insisted on getting dozens of pictures of everyone. After what felt like a hundred pictures, Steph left me alone, and went to get pictures of Bruce.

Kate took my hand in hers. "You nervous?"

"More then I've ever been."

She gave it a gentle squeeze. "You'll be fine."

"What if I fuck it up?"

"You won't."

"I'm going to do something wrong or forget something- The flowers! What did I do with the flowers?"

"Calm down."

I thought for a minute as to where I left them. "They were in my room. I'll go get them."

I turned to go get them, but Kate grabbed my shoulder. "You stay here, I'll get them."

Kate left, and returned a few minutes later with my flowers. She set them down nearby, and we chatted as we waited.

Since the Supers and the Wonders were also going to the Gala, Bruce had suggested they all carpool with us. It wasn't long before the Supers arrived, much to Tim, and Damien's delight.

Clark wore a lovely tan suit, Lois a very professional looking black suit, she was still very much in reporter mode. Conner, and Jon wore near identical Superman-esc suits. They we're adorable, and clearly Tim agreed, considering how quickly he jumped into Conner's arms. Kara had a lovely yellow bouffant dress, and Karen a green sheath dress. It made her look like a news anchor. Of course a news anchor wouldn't wear a green dress.

Artemis arrived soon after to pick up Jay. She had a beautiful red dress on, that ended just past her knees. I was kind of expecting her show up with the other Wonders. She assured us that the others had just run into some delays and would be here soon.

As the two went to leave, Jay stopped, and turned to me. "Piece of advice, make sure to use pro- oww!"

Artemis smacked the back of his head. "Don't you dare finish that."

"I was joking."

For just a moment I was worried that if I messed this up Artemis would break my arm, then I realized how ridiculous that was. Cassie was more then capable of doing that herself.

The two left on Artemis's motorbike, because leaving in a car or limo would have been far too boring for them.

Bruce leaned into me, and whispered. "You did have 'the talk', right?"

"Yes! What do you people think is going to happen tonight?"

Kate flashed a cheeky smile. "All cards are on the table."

I was spared delving any further into that conversation by the doorbell. Alfred left the room to answer it. It had to be the Wonders. Too late for me to back out now.

Alfred with Diana, Donna, and Cassie. I felt my heart beat faster as I saw them. Diana was wearing a blue bodice gown, Donna a sleevless black sheath dress with stars down both sides, and Cassie was wearing a red spaghetti top, and a blue skirt with stars, it looked like the one from Wonders Woman's old costume.

"Sorry for the delay." Diana apologised. "Someone forgot to check the tank before we left."

Donna sighed. "I said I was sorry."

Cassie hit them. "You two, stop fighting."

Once Cassie managed to stop the two bickering, they split off to socialise. Diana went to Bruce, and Clark, Donna to Dick, and Babs, and Cassie found her way to me.

She had a beaming smile on her face. "You look amazing."

"Thank you. You look beautiful."

She gestured to my gloves. "Got them from Zee?"

"She recommended a store."

I gestured to her skirt. "Diana's?"

"Bingo."

The two of us began chatting. Tim, Cass, and Steph joined us. We giggled amongst ourselves until the time came for us to leave.

Alfred walked over to us. "Miss Ashleigh, Miss Sandsmark, I believe it is time we leave."

Alfred, and Cassie began walking off. I went to follow them, but Steph grabbed my arm, and gestured to the flowers. "Forgetting something."

"Oh yeah." I quickly grabbed them. "Thanks."

Cass kissed my cheek. "Head up, be proud." 

"Thanks."

I caught up with the two. Cassie looked at me. "What held you up?"

"I forgot something." I presented the flowers to her.

She examined them. "They're beautiful. What are they?"

"Flowers."

She punched my arm. "I know that. What kind?"

"Oh. The red ones are amaryllis, the yellow are orchids, and the blue ones are larkspur."

"I've never heard of that last one."

"Neither have I."

"Did you just choose these because of my costume?"

"For the most part."

"Dork. I love them."

We wandered out to the car that Alfred had for us. We sat into the back.

"Flowers, and our own car, not a bad start to a date."

"The seperate car was Dick's idea." I admitted.

"In that case I'm surprised it's not filled with rose petals and candles."

"Oh don't worry, he wanted to."

"He's like a cliche romance novel, in the best ways. What stopped him?"

"Babs had him a short leash. He wanted to arrange a romantic candle lit dinner in the fanciest restraunt in Gotham. I figured that might be too much."

"That's ridiculous but sweet. Someone going to be lucky to have him one day."

"Yeah, they are. Would you have liked that?"

"I'll love whatever we do, as long as we do it together."

"I'll remember that for next time."

She smiled "Already thinking about a next time?"

"No. I mean yeah, but- sorry."

"It's alright, Ash. You don't have to be nervous."

"Says you. I don't think I've ever seen you nervous."

"I'm nervous right now."

"About the date?"

"Yeah."

"You have nothing to worry about, this is going to be the best date I've ever been on."

"How are you so sure?"

"I've never been on a date before."

Cassie laughed. "Doesn't that mean it will also be the worst date you've ever been on?"

"Shush."

The rest of the ride was filled with our typical banter. It felt so natural that I forgot it was a date. I only remembered as we pulled up to the Gala. I stepped out of the car, turned, and offered Cassie a hand out. "M'lady."

She took my hand, and giggled. "You're such an idiot."

We headed into the building. As we walked in, hand in hand, I realized something. I was so worried about the date portion, I forgot to ask what you actually did at a Gala other then dance.

I guess I have to do as I usually do, figure it out along the way, and pretend I knew all along.

The first thing I spotted once we were inside was the huge Christmas tree. It was bigger then any I'd ever seen, and beautifully decorated.

I was quickly whisked away as Cassie pulled me along behind her. Hours passed as we chatted, and joked. It really didn't feel much different then when we normally hung out.

We talked to people, the Bats, the Wonders, others who I'd never met before. When it came to that, it was more Cassie talking, and me hiding behind her. I did notice that Artemis, and Jay were no where to be seen however.

Eventually, we spotted them standing by the food table. Cassie gently dragged me along behind her as we headed over to them.

Closer now I noticed that Artemis had her hand up Jay's skirt. The two were so busy with whatever they we're doing, they didn't hear us approach.

Cassie coughed. Artemis quickly straightened up, her hand accidently pulling Jay's skirt up. He quickly pushed it down. "Hey!"

"Don't blame me. You should have worn trousers under it."

"I like the breeze."

Cassie, and I giggled at the two. "Should we even ask?"

Jay reached into his skirt, and pulled out a resealable bag full of treats. "Stealing."

I looked at him curiously. "Where were you keeping that?"

"I have the inside lined with pockets."

Cassie shook her head while chuckling. "Why are you even stealing that food, it's free?"

Artemis shrugged. "It's more fun."

I nudged Jay. "You can't go one night without some kind of mischief can you?"

"God, no."

Artemis began whispering to Cassie. Jay, and I watched them curiously. The two girls looked to us. "One moment."

They walked away, still whispering. I turned to Jay. "What's going on?"

"I have no idea." He turned back to me. "Anyway, how's the date been?"

"Great."

"And the ride here?"

"It was good, yeah. We chatted."

Jay smirked. "Is that all you did?"

"I'm going to hit you, really fucking hard."

"So is that a yes?"

"This close, Jay."

"You wouldn't hit me."

"Keep pushing, and you'll find out."

Jay was about to respond when music suddenly came on. I watched as people gathered into the center of the room.

He nudged me. "You should go dance with her."

"I might mess up. The last thing I want is to fall over her, or the other way around."

"You've been practicing all week for this. You never once knocked Cass."

"That's Cass."

"Good point."

"If she doesn't bring it up, I think I'll just avoid it."

"Too bad." He grabbed the scruff of my dress, and dragged me towards Cassie.

I tried to pry his hands from my dress. "Jay, I swear to god."

"You are going to dance. Babs, and Cass spent all week teaching you."

"Fine."

We got to Cassie, and Artemis. They looked over at us. Jay kept a hold of the neck of my dress. "Ask."

I turned to Cassie. "Would you like to dance?"

Cassie smirked. "Depends, is Jay going to dance with us."

I elbowed his stomach. He recoiled, and let go of me. "No. He won't."

Artemis laughed as he grabbed her arm to stabilise himself. Cassie, and I headed out to the dance floor. She took my hand. "You know how to slow dance?"

I placed my free hand on her shoulder. "Yeah."

She placed her other hand on my side. "Guess I'm leading."

"I'm sorry, I wasn't thinking. I can lead if you'd prefer."

"It's alright, Ash."

We moved around the ballroom elegantly to the song. Eventually Cassie closed the gap between us. "You know, Ash. For a someone who seemed like they really didn't want to dance, you're quite good at it."

"I've been practicing."

"With Dick?"

"No. He wanted to show me, but Babs wouldn't let him. She, and Cass showed me."

"That explains it."

The song stopped, and we stepped apart. "What now?"

"Wanna take a walk?"

"Sure."

We soon found ourselves out to the balcony. It was empty. The silence was nice, as was the cool winter breeze. "Tonights been nice, Cassie. Thank you."

She leaned her head onto my shoulder. "I'm glad you enjoyed it."

"I'm sorry if it wasn't what you wanted."

"I wanted a date with you, Ash. The Gala was just a great excuse for it. Tonight's been everything I wanted."

"Tonight's been a night of firsts for me."

"Oh, yeah?"

"First Gala, first date, first slow dance, even my first time wearing a dress out. It's been an amazing night, Cassie, and I have you to thank for all of it."

"This nights not over yet, Ash."

"Something you had in mind?"

"I was thinking we spend more time out here."

"That'd be nice. Maybe we can do this again. The whole date thing."

"I'd love to. Any suggestions?"

"How about the restaurant Dick was on about?"

"Sounds like a nice place."

"It would be with you there."

Cassie looked at me. "Did you just attempt to flirt?"

"Depends, was it any good?"

She kissed my cheek. "Awful, but you tried."

I felt the blood rushing to my cheeks. I stared out into the darkness. It got dark so quickly during the winter. The Bats, usually, would be out on patrol by now, and I would be home worried sick, but not tonight. Tonight, I knew they were inside, enjoying themselves, safe, and that made me happy. As did Cassie's hand in mine.

Today was a good day.

. . . . .

Writing this fic was so hard for so many reasons. The primary one was just to find the motivation to finish it. I set a deadline for myself of the 10th. It is not but the 10th but close enough. I think this turned out great, hope you enjoy. I also intend to post a Xmas fic soon aswell, so look out for that if you're interested. Though it might not be out by Xmas if I'm not feeling like it.

[dibs4ever]

Brotherly advice

Tim knocked on Dick’s apartment door before he almost immediately answered.

“Hello Brother, you’re here right when you said you would be.” Dick smiled opening the door wider for him.

Tim walked in eyeing the relatively clean apartment

“Thanks for letting me come over”

Dick nodded “Thanks for asking to come over, I’ve been kinda wanting my family to come over” he smiled hoping up on the kitchen counter and sitting criss cross

Tim eyed him, of course Dick would sit on top of his counter top

“I need your help”

Dick nodded signaling for him to continue

“Stephanie wants to have sex tonight” he spoke

Dick looked taken back for a second before nodding “Oh, nice . Ya know you are a real gentlemen for waiting . Having a baby and deciding to place it wasn’t easy for her.”

Tim nodded, he looked down sheepishly. It’s Ugh, it’s gonna be my first time” he put his hand nervously on the back of his neck.

Dick looked at his 16 year old brother and nodded “Oh well that’s very-special”

Tim let out a sigh “Yeah, obviously it’s not Stephs first time but at the same time it kinda is. I mean her ex was her first but they only did it like 3 times before he broke up with her and she found out she was pregnant and she hasn’t been with anyone since.”

“I get what you’re saying” Dick hopped off the counter “You should definitely treat her like it’s her first “ he placed a hand on Tim’s shoulder. “Nothing but respect and asking her what she wants” he walked to the fridge grabbing two bottles of water. He passed one to Tim and kept one for himself

Tim nodded “When was your first?”

Dick blinked “I Umm I was 17”

“Really?!” Tim asked his eyes widening

Dick nodded “I don’t know why that’s surprising. I wanted it to be with someone special so I was waiting.”

Tim nodded, he could see that. Dick was a romantic. “If you don’t mind me asking who was it with?” He took a sip of water

“Barbara” Dick spoke without missing a beat

Tim choked on his water “Okay, I shouldn’t be surprised” he coughed

Dick chucked

Tim eyed him for a moment “Can you uhh tell me about it?”

Dick paused “You want me to tell you about it?”

“If its not too much. Feel free to say no. I just-I’m kinda nervous. I want it to be perfect for Steph and maybe you can give me some pointers. That’s sorta why I came here”

Dick flashed a smile “Come, sit” he motioned to the stool

Tim obeyed, Dick hopped up on the counter resuming his position from earlier.

”So one night as Batgirl and Robin, Barbara and I got to talking and realized both of us were still virgins. And although we both wanted to loose it we wanted it to be with someone we cared about. So we agreed to loose it to each other . Mind you this is before we ever dated —at this point we were just best friends who had crushes on each other.”

Tim nodded

“Bruce was away on league mission in space, Alfred was visiting family in New York and Jim was well Jim-working at the precinct.

We decided it’d be fun to do it in the manor guest house. Since it was rarely used and that way it wouldn’t make being in each other’s bedrooms awkward afterwards. I went in about an hour before she was supposed to be there. Changed the sheets to silk ones, brought her favorite blanket, extra fluffy pillows. I lit the entire room with candles and had the defuser going with her favorite scent-mint.

She arrived, we didn’t jump right into it. We watched a movie cuddling and getting closer and closer as the film wore on. About quarter way through we started kissing, nothing we hadn’t done before. About half way through we had gone further than we had before, with the movie long forgotten. Things continued on”

Tim watched as Dick smiled at the memory.

“ I’ll skip the details out of respect to Babs. But at first it was really awkward, both of us kept asking the other if what they were doing was okay. If they wanted to be harder-softer, faster-slower, where they should touch.” Dick explained

Tim nodded “ Thats what I’m worried about “

Dick shook his head “ Don’t be. Beside the second time around we had it down”

“ You guys did it twice that night?” Tim rose an eyebrow

He nodded “ First was to figure things out second time was to enjoy it, after we gave each other messages of course.”

Tim looked at him oddly

Dick shook his head “Dont worry Messages aren’t a definite requirement. That’s just something Babs and I have been doing since we were 10.”

But only go in for a round two if she initiates it” Dick waved a finger

Tim nodded again

Dick smiled “Respect is everything. Always make sure she is comfortable “ he took a sip of water “ Always make sure she doesn’t feel pressured “

“So, good sex is built on respect, trust and understanding?” Tim asked

Dick shrugged “I guess so” he nodded “Talent and skill will become a factor after” he grinned reaching over to pat him on the shoulder. “When it comes to that I’ll give you some more detailed pointers” he winked

Tim grimaced “”I think I’ll figure that out myself”

Dick chuckled “Suit yourself” he leaned back a little “I hope your first time is as memorable as mine.” He laughed lightly “Little bit of humor and some advice. In the Ugh morning, Barbara was sorta limping, I was scared I hurt her.”

Dick looked up in thought “She laughed so hard at my concern before assuring me it was normal. So don’t freak out if she’s a little sore okay.”

He smiled “You think Steph is having the same conversation with Barb?”

Dick smirked “If she is I’d like to hear how she is saying it......probably that I’m a beast.”

There was best of silence Dick could tell Tim was still a little uneasy

”Look Tim, do you love Stephanie?” He asked his tone becoming serious

“Of course!” Tim spoke without hesitation

Dick nodded “Would you do anything for her? Do you respect her.”

Tim nodded “Yes to both”

”And does she feel the same for you”

He shrugged “I believe so”

Dick smiled “Then you’ll be fine” he assured

[writersfailure]

Sad lil roll

A/n: So I basically stole from the how to cheer up a sad person comic. I’m sorry to whoever created it. I believe it was made by @amrat_alislam on I don’t know where. Anyway, here have some fluff and this was requested by the amazing @z3phyr0s . Reader is between Tim and Jason age wise. Again, trying to make the reader gender neutral, if I accidentally mess it up, let me know. Please and thank you.

Enjoy! ***************

Your brothers knew something was up when you came home, a scowl on your face, and stormed up the stairs to your room. You slammed your door shut and they could easily tell that you had had a less than perfect day

“We’ve got to cheer them up. But how? They normally are never like this.” Damian muttered. “Do you have any ideas?”

Tim shook his head before his eyes lit up with an idea. “I know! I’ll call Steph, she’ll have some advice. She’s really good with this type of thing.” He dialed the blonde’s number.

“Hey Tim! What do you need?” She asked.

“Hey Steph. Well, Y/n has had a very bad day and we need to find a way cheer them up. Got any ideas?”

“Well there is this one thing I know. I’ll send you the steps.”

“Okay, great. Thanks Stephanie!” Tim said as he hung up. He got the required steps on how to cheer up a sad person. “Okay. Step 1, Lay blanket out. Sounds easy enough.”

Damian and Dick left the room and soon returned with the comfiest blanket in the house. They had stolen it from Bruce’s room, which might normally be a death wish but it was worth the risk to cheer up their sibling.

“Okay. Step 2. Pick up sad person…… I’m not doing it. The last time I tried to pick y/n up, they weren’t very happy.” Tim said with a wince when he remembered the first and last time he would ever lift y/n. Lets just say he’ll never look at glitter the same way ever again.

“Well I’m not doing it. Y/n has made it very clear that whenever someone tries to lift them into the air, they’ll attack. I’d like to live through this week.” Dick said.

Jason snorted at his brothers. “Wimps. Too scared to go and simply pick up a person.” He said with a smirk. He looked at Damian and nudged him with an elbow. “Go get y/n, demon spawn.” Jason muttered.

This soon led to a mini war between the four before Jason was chosen as the sacrificial victim. He went into your room, where you were crying on the bed. He put his arms around you and lifted you up.

… About 2.5 seconds later, he was kicked out of your room and shaking in fear of his younger sibling.

“One of you guys go do it. I refuse to ever do it again!” Jason shouted. His shouting drew one of the quieter members of the household. Cassandra waved at her brothers and raised an eyebrow at Jason’s behavior.

They all just pointed at y/n’s room. “He had to go pick y/n up.” Tim explained. Cass still looked confused and just decided to go into your room. She came out 2.5 seconds later with you holding onto her and crying into her shoulder.

Cassandra gave her brothers a look that can only be described as, “Really? You couldn’t do this simple thing.”

To avoid embarrassment, Tim looked at the next step. “Steps three and four. Lay the person on the blanket and roll them up like a sushi roll.” They all did so. At this point you were beginning to wonder what the hell was going on.

“Step 5, place the sad roll on comfy place.” They all helped get you down to the couch where they gently set you down and followed step six. Hug the sad roll close. Even Titus and Alfred the cat came and joined the lil bat sibling group hug.

“Okay. Step seven. Put on the roll’s favorite movie. Y/n, what’s your favorite movie?” Tim asked. You looked away and muttered for them to leave you alone. “Okay Plan B. Who knows what y/n’s favorite movie is? Dick?”

“I’ll call Babs. She knows everything!” Dick said. He was just happy for an excuse to call her. “Hey Babs, can you tell me what y/n’s favorite movie is? They had a bad day and we’re trying to cheer them up.”

“You don’t know what your sibling’s favorite movie is? What kind of a brother are you?” Barbara said. She loved to tease the boy and he had walked right into this one.

“I have a lot of siblings, okay? So what is it?”

“(Favorite movie). You’re welcome.” She said and hung up. Dick smiled and found the dvd. Your family huddled around you in what resembled a cuddle fest and Tim began to read the final steps.

“Steps seven and eight. Feed the roll snacks and give the roll water since tears dehydrate.” Damian disappeared for a moment and reappeared with a fresh batch of Alfred’s famous cookies. Your family patiently waited for you to take as many as you wanted before they began all out war over the remaining ones.

When you looked around for something to drink, you had about five different water bottles sent in your direction. Jason tried to give you some alcohol but Dick confiscated it from him. It was quite funny to see your tallest brother hide on top of the fridge to try and protect his drinks from the oldest one. Damian helped the situation by poking Jason with a broom handle.

Tim just sighed and handed you (favorite drink). Soon you all were settled together and watching the movie. One by one, you all drifted off to sleep. After all, having a good cry tends to tire you out. The rest of the family was exhausted from cheering you up.

Bruce walked in the door to find all of his children asleep on the couch. He saw you in the middle and smiled gently. He knew that it had been a bad day for you, Alfred had warned him. Bruce carefully picked you up and carried you to you room.

After he was done tucking you in, like he had done so many times when you were younger, he noticed you had a phone in your hand. He took it and realized that it was Tim’s phone. He opened it and smiled when he saw the little comic. He looked at you then back at the phone and chuckled.

You were a happy lil sushi roll for sure.

********** A/n: that’s done. I hoped you people liked it. Also, feel free to request stuff that isn’t DC or isn’t the bat boys. I make no promises but if I know it and I like the request I’ll write it.

[dyketectivecomics]

Wayne Manor is Totally Haunted

(its still friday the 13th heeeeere)

b/c of the Wayne family’s extensive history & the fact that they’ve owned most of the land in what is now Gotham at sm point, ofc the manor & grounds are haunted

-bruce grew up in the house so he’s just in denial completely. its just the usual creaks and groans of an old house guys theres NOTHING HAPPENING

-when dick was in the circus, he was taught to ignore spirits. Ofc some of them could be friendly or familiar but there were too many bad ones trying pretend to be good. So better to not acknowledge any of them

-so ofc he just ignored all the weird shit in the manor before finally moving out & starting the Titans

-after meeting raven he made a promise to himself never to mess w/ supernatural stuff unless there was ‘an expert’ there. (he can, will, and has backed out of rooms w/ his hands in the air repeating “nope nope nope” until he was far enough away to be safe)

-babs always got bad vibes from the west wing of the manor but she’s only ever seen a ghost once on the grounds.

-it was one of the first times she visited & there was a groundskeeper pruning the bushes & making them neat. She waved politely at her & she nodded back and that was that

-it was only a year later when Bruce mentioned that they needed some more ppl to do groundskeeping, b/c there was only the one /guy/ Harold? she doesnt remember ever seeing him… & it’s been a good 4 yrs since they hired someone else… that’s when she realized she saw a ghost.

-she never rlly mentioned it until a year after that revelation bc she was kinda freaked about it

 -Jason nicknamed all the specific knocks and bangs ridiculous names. (& found out years later some of them were actually spot on for some Wayne ancestors ???)

-after he died, he was totally in tune with the dead. Still gave them nicknames, but now they were more appropriate & a lot more chill abt their /paranormal activity/ b/c jay understood where they were coming from

 -Tim is the only one who’s adamant abt there not being ghosts in the manor. (Bc it secretly freaks him out too much but he wont admit it)

-tries to combat his fear w/ memes

-Cass & Damian both know better than to mess w/ demons, so they ignore the hauntings of the house.

-but like dick, they take a ‘supernat. expert’s’ experience & advice seriously.

-steph chooses to remain blissfully unaware & blames everything on Bruce’s imaginary cat. (eventually on Alfred the cat too)

-“Bruce u rlly need to put a bell on that cat & get him to stop pushing stuff over” “steph, u don’t even live here??? Why.”

-duke was the one who put his foot down after his 3rd sleepless night

-“you guys know like 3 ppl who regularly talk to the dead. Each. cant someone come & exorcise the demons or help these ghosts move on???”

-suffice it to say, the manor got a lot quieter after that… but the grounds are still hella haunted b/c its so much harder trying to track down ghosts in the woods

-alfred is p sure that there’s a couple dead bodies in unmarked graves around the wayne property, but it was before his time so its not rlly of concern for the kids.

-”just.. don’t wander too far from the trails. i know you can handle urself but plz”

[thebluenebula]

Getting Ready for the Gala

Ashleigh AU Fic Masterlist

Ashleigh didn't like the thought of Galas. Big social events with lots of people she didn't know, and didn't want to, but all it takes is a simple question from Cassie to change Ash's mind on going.

First Xmas Gala

. . . . .

Babs, and Dick had to pick up there outfits for the Gala today, so Bruce, Kate, and I tagged along. After they got that sorted, we hung around the mall for a few hours before heading home. By time we got back, it was already past six.

Alfred was waiting to greet us. "Welcome back. Miss Sandsmark came by, she was asking for you, Miss Ashleigh."

"Did she say what she wanted?"

"No, but I did allow her to wait in your room. Unless she left unbeknownst to me, she should still be there."

I turned to the others. "I'm going to go see what's up."

"Come down in a couple minutes, we'll have some ice cream." Bruce shouted after me as I ran up the stairs.

I got to my room, and Cassie was sitting on the bed, looking through one of my sketch book. "Hey."

She looked up. "Hey. Alfred said I could wait up here. Hope that's okay?"

"Yeah, absolutely."

She set down the sketch pad as she got up. "They're good. You should try posting them online, or something."

"I have a Pixtagram for that."

"You do? You never mentioned it."

"Never came up."

She looked at the two bags I was holding. "Whatcha got?"

"Stuffs. I was shopping."

"Anything nice?"

"Plenty. Bab's, and Dick had to go pick up their clothes for the Gala. You should see them. They're beautiful."

"I bet. Speaking of the Gala, I was wondering if you were planning to go?"

"No, I'm not."

"Would you consider it?"

"Why do you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering if you wanted to come as my date?"

"Like a date, date?"

She gave me a confused look. "Yes?"

"Like a, I like you and want to go on a romantic date with you, date?"

She grabbed my shoulder, and shook me. "Yes, for the love of god, Ash."

"I just want to be sure."

"And now that you are?"

So many thoughts raced through my head in that moment. "I'd love to."

She awkwardly rubbed her neck. "I was kind of expecting you to be here earlier, so we could've talked more about this, but I've got to run right now, I have a thing with Donna."

"Yeah, sorry about that."

"My bad, I should have called before I came over, but maybe we can talk later, over call?"

"Yeah, absolutely."

Cassie rushed out of the room. "Thank you. Talk to you later."

I took a moment to get my thoughts together, before heading down to the kitchen. I hadn't planned to go to the Gala, but I guess now I had to.

Bruce, Kate, Dick, and Babs sat at the table eating ice cream. Bruce looked up from his treat. "Does Cassie not want any?"

"No, she left. Had something with Donna."

"Oh, what'd she come around for?"

Kate smacked the back of his head. "Stop being nosey."

"Ow!"

Bruce went to smack Kate, but she grabbed his hand. "Dont even fucking think about it."

I smiled at the two. Sometimes it was hard to believe they weren't siblings.

"Do not make me come in there!" Alfred shouted from the adjacent room.

Their hands quickly shot to their sides. Dick handed me a bowl of ice cream. "If you wait any longer, you'll need a straw."

"Thanks." I leaned against the counter. My mind was racing. I'd never been on a date. I definitely could use some advice, but who to ask? Dicks got the most experience, Babs has common sense, Kate is easy to talk to, and Bruce, well I don't think he's been on a proper date with anyone that's not a villian in quite a while, but it'd be nice to ask him.

"Ashleigh? Ashleigh!"

Something bounced off my forehead, snapping me back to reality. "Huh?"

Kate was staring at me. "You alright?"

"Yeah, why?"

"Cause I had to bounce a napkin off your head to get your attention."

I looked at the crumpled up napkin on the floor. "I was just thinking."

"About?"

When in doubt, pick every option. "Cassie just asked me on a date, to the Gala."

Dick jumped up excitedly. "Really?"

Babs grabbed his hand. "Calm down, Romeo."

Bruce got up, and leaned against the counter beside me. "What did you say?"

"Oh, I said yes."

He lay a hand on my shoulder. "I guess you're going to the Gala after all."

"Guess so."

"You okay?"

"I've never actually been on a date."

"Don't worry, between everyone in this house, we have plenty of experience."

Cassie and I talked later that day, as we said we would. We confirmed our plans for the Gala, then we talked about feelings. More her then me. I'd never really talked feelings to Cassie much. I never felt the need to.

She told me how she'd thought I was cute the first day we met, how over the next six months she'd formed a crush on me. With some encouragement from Donna, and Artemis, she decided to ask me to the Gala.

Of course I thought she was cute as well, and sure, I'd thought about asking her out, but I never intended to act on those thoughts. I figured a couple of weeks, and they'd pass, but she asked me, and I said yes.

The next week was full of preparing. Babs had agreed to show me how to dance, and Dick wanted to help me with an outfit.

So the next day, I found myself standing in the middle of the ballroom. It was still crazy to me, to be living in a house with it's own ball room.

Babs entered, followed by Cass, Steph, and Dick. "So you ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

"Cass will be your dance partner."

"Why Cass?" Not that I had a problem with Cass, but I had expected one of the others.

"Because no matter how badly you mess up, you won't knock her off her feet."

"This is why your the smart one."

Steph scoffed. "Tim's the smart one."

"But Bab's has brains, and common sense."

"Yeah, that's fair."

I gestured to Steph, and Dick. "And why they here?"

"They wanted to watch, plus they're want to sort out your outfit after we're done."

"Alright."

"Okay. Cass will lead first. Just do as she does."

Cass took my left hand and draped it over her shoulder, then placed her right hand on my side. She took my free hand in hers. "Ready?"

"Don't blame me if I trip over your feet."

"Scuff my shoes, and you will live in constant fear of my vengeance."

I nervously giggled. "That's a joke, right?"

She smirked, and took a step to the left and I followed. Then another. "Now right." Two steps to the right.

We repeated these steps over, and over again. I watched our feet as we moved from left to right. It was simple, but I did have a serious case of two left feet.

Babs coughed. "Eyes up, Ash."

I quickly looked over to her. "I was watching our feet, I swear."

"I know that, your hand would already be broken if you hadn't been, but keep eye contact. Focus on her."

I nodded, and looked to Cass. "How am I doing?'

She had a reassuring smile on my face. "Great."

We kept at it for a while, slowly adding more, and more on. After a while, Babs decided we were finished for the day.

Dick, and Steph quickly took this opportunity to drag me away to my room to sort out an outfit. Dick, and Steph sat down on the bed. The two already had their outfits sorted, so they insisted on helping me.

Dick clapped. "Let's get started. If we want something made in time for the Gala you're gonna have to decide on it soon. So whatcha thinking?"

"Made? Can't I just buy something?"

"You could, but getting one made just adds a bit more you to it."

"But thats so ex-"

"Don't say it."

"That's so impractical."

Steph smiled. "Practicals boring anyway."

Dick nodded in agreement. "So come on Ash, if you could have any dress in the world made for you, what would it look like."

I thought for a moment. "It'd be blue, maybe."

Steph leaned forward. "Is that it? You don't have anything... more specific in mind."

"Well I have loads of ideas, but most them don't really work together."

"Just start shooting 'em out."

"Hold on." I opened a folder on my phone, and handed it to Dick. It was full of my ideas for outfits. It had pictures of dresses, and sketches I'd done. "These are some of the ideas I've had."

Dick quickly scrolled through the pictures before handing it to Steph. "Ash, how long have you been thinking about getting a dress?"

"A while."

"I can tell."

Steph set down the phone. "Lots of  potential candidates here, but you'll have to pick a favourite."

I sat beside her. "So what do I choose?"

"That's your decision."

"Steph, you know I hate functioning as an independent human."

"If I'm making all the decisions, I'm the one going on the date."

"I can't tell if you're serious or not."

Her eyes narrowed. "Try me."

Dick grabbed her shoulder. "You agreed you weren't going to steal anyone elses date."

"Wait!" I was flabbergasted. "You actually stole someone's date?"

"They said I was bluffing."

"Who?"

"Harper."

"She must have been so pissed."

"I think she was actually more impressed then pissed. You should ask her to tell you about it sometime."

"Yeah, I will."

We began weeding through the ideas. A little while later, and we were left with three outfits.

I looked at the remaining ideas. "My brain can't decide between them."

Dick stood. "Well you don't necessarily need to pick right now. Sit on it overnight, and we can talk about it in the morning, but for now, we've got to get supper."

We got supper, and headed to bed. I didn't sleep, instead I spent hours reading articles about first dates, advice, things to avoid, etc. Morning came before sleep, so I got up. Alfred was the only one in the kitchen. I skipped the breakfast, just got a cup of coffee, and sat down.

Alfred came over. "Are you alright, Miss Ashleigh?"

I looked up from my phone. "Yeah, why do you ask?"

"Because if you tighten your grip on that mug anymore it may shatter."

I hadn't even realized how tight I was gripping it. "Sorry."

"Don't worry, it certainly wouldn't have been a first." He sat down beside me. "Now, do you wish to tell me what is bothering you?"

I set my phone down. "Well I was reading online about flowers for my date with Cassie, and I don't know, a lot of these articles say they're out dated."

"Believe it or not Miss Ashleigh, but its had been quite a while since I've been on a first date, but in my experience you can't go wrong with flowers."

"They're just really cliche, I don't want her to think I put no effort into this."

"Miss Sandsmark has been coming around this house for years now, and I know for certain, that no matter what you do, she'll know you put your heart, and soul into whatever you choose."

"Thank you, Alfred. Since you're clearly a Silver Fox, any advice on flowers?"

"As a matter of fact, I've been growing these rather delightful flowers in the garden that I feel Miss Sandsmark would love."

"I can't just take them Alfred, you work so hard on that garden."

He stood up. "Nonsense, it's only a few, plus it will be nice to see them serve a purpose."

I followed Alfred out into the garden. The flowers he showed me were perfect. The colours popped, and they looked amazing.

The rest of the week came, and went in what felt like an instant. I sorted out the dress with Dick, and Steph the next morning. It arrived later in the week, looking exactly like something out of my dreams. I tried it on, and it fit perfectly. It wasn't until I stepped out to show it to Dick, and Steph that I realized the problem. I was terrified. Terrified of the thought of being in public with this, of Cassie seeing me in this, but it was too late to back out now.

Every evening was spent with Babs, and Cass practicing dancing. By the end of it, I was actually okay, and, more importantly, I was enjoying it.

The night before the Gala, Carrie had insisted on stealing a handful of us away to see her new dress. Duke, Harper, and I sat on her bed facing the wall.

"Alright, turn around."

We all turned back to Carrie. She stood in front of us in a green sun dress. The colour perfectly matched the lenses of her glasses.

Duke smiled. "It's beautiful Carrie."

Harper stared at her for a moment. Tilting her head from one side to another. "It's lovely Carrie."

"But?"

Harper looked at her curiously. "But?"

"You usually have some kind of smart ass comment."

"Carrie, for once can't I just appreciate how amazing you look in a dress without making a smart comment?"

"You can't think of anything, can you?"

Harper sighed. "I've got nothing."

Carrie turned to me. "What about you, Ash, nothing to say?"

"You look gorgeous, Carrie."

"Thank you."

Duke looked over to me. "So, Ash, when are we seeing your dress?"

"When I wear it tommorow."

Harper bumped me. "Come on, Ash. Give us a sneak peek."

"You'll see it, when I wear it."

We giggled, and chatted for hours before I headed back to my room. I sat on my bed. I was knackered, but I didn't feel like sleeping. I was too... excited, or maybe it was the nerves.

A knock at the door drew my attention. Jay walked in holding a garment bag. "Hey."

I looked at her curiously. "Hi. What's that?"

He lay the bag down on the bed. "It's one of Harper's old suit. It should fit you."

"Thanks, but why?"

"You don't exactly seem... comfortable in the dress, I figured, if you need it, this can be an alternative."

"Thanks, Jay."

"Just remeber, Ash, we'll be there tomorrow. If someone so much as looks at you wrong, just tell me."

I looked at him curiously. "What would you do?"

He smile, and cracked his knuckles. "I'd make sure they'd never do it again."

I giggled. I'm sure that was just a joke, right? "Thank you, Jay."

He got up, and ruffled my hair. "Enjoy tommorow, kid."

He left me alone. I lay down, and let my thoughts run away.

. . . . .

So writing took like forever, but it was really fun, and is kinda important for some of my future ideas so I hope you enoyed.