#adrien agreste x damian wayne

[marsrize]

Rewriting my story with you [Part 1 of 6]

Ao3 : Here. Summary : Adrien is not feeling well. He decides to run away from his problems and finds himself in Gotham. But his traitorous heart starts to beat for a certain vigilante. Why did he always have to choose to complicate everything? Relationship : Adrien Agreste x Damian Wayne WARNING: This story makes a lot of references to depression. If you are not comfortable with this kind of theme, I would not recommend reading this fic. 

Chapter 1: I have a problem    

Gotham City was always shrouded in darkness, but for Adrien Agreste, also known as Cat Noir, it was the perfect place to escape his complicated love life. He had left Paris for a while, hoping to find some peace of mind, away from Ladybug and their unresolved feelings.

But Gotham was a different kind of chaos. A darkness that seemed to creep into your soul, and Adrien found himself feeling lonelier than ever. He had always been a lone hero in Paris, but in Gotham, he felt even more isolated.

He was sitting alone in a coffee shop, lost in his thoughts, when he heard a familiar voice behind him.

"Adrien? What are you doing in Gotham?"

He was surprised to see an old acquaintance: Zoe Lee.

The girl had had to leave Paris during their second year of high school to live with her father. Who would have thought that she also lived in Gotham?

"Zoe!" Adrien exclaimed, standing up and hugging her tightly. "What are you doing here?"

"I'm supposed to meet up with some friends, but they just called me and said they'd be late. I came here to pass the time. I didn't think I'd meet you..."

She looked at him, her smile a little hesitant.

"You're definitely the last person I expected to see here in Gotham."

Adrien scratched his head in embarrassment. He couldn't see himself telling his life story to someone he hadn't spoken to in a long time.

"I wanted a change of scenery. You know... See what the world looks like outside my cocoon..."

"I understand the feeling!"

She sat with him for a while. Finally, when her phone began to vibrate, she excused herself to leave.

"Let's exchange numbers, I still have so much to tell you!"

Adrien couldn't bring himself to say no to her. He felt terribly alone, but at the same time, didn't want to talk about it.

What a strange feeling.

So, he did what he always did: he smiled and gave her his number, like the stupid perfect doll he was.

Adrien returned home. He didn't have much to do so he sat at his window. He had chosen to live in a part of Gotham City that had a bad reputation. Why? He wanted to be as far away from the rich as possible. He had been surrounded by those hypocrites all his life, the last thing he needed was to be around those bullies who thought they were above everyone else.

The window had a fire escape. He stood there, just staring into the void. He came to his senses when he felt the cold breeze give him chills. It was already dark, and he had not eaten anything solid yet. All he had in his stomach was the coffee he had drunk with Zoe.

It was time to go out and buy something to eat. Hopefully there would be a robber or someone to put an end to his miserable existence. As if the universe was laughing at him, nothing happened to him during that night. Nor during any other night. He could go out as late as he could, take the darkest alleys. Nothing happened to him. He didn't know if it was luck or a curse.

This went on for several weeks.

He talked to Zoe regularly, and they called each other from time to time. Adrien was still not getting better, but... He had fewer suicidal thoughts. He just had this constant emptiness in his heart.

Then one night, while wandering around the city, he found himself in a dark alleyway. He wasn't paying attention and before he knew it, he was surrounded by a group of dangerous-looking men.

Adrien tried to run (it was ironic, considering the fact that some time ago he had wished to be attacked), but they caught up with him and started to beat him up.

Just when Adrien thought it was the end for him, a mysterious figure appeared out of nowhere and took down the attackers with incredible speed and precision. Adrien was in awe as he watched the masked figure effortlessly defeat the attackers.

As the last attacker was taken down, Adrien stumbled to his feet, unsure of what had just happened. The masked figure turned to him, and for the first time, Adrien saw the bright green eyes behind the mask.

"Are you okay?" the masked figure asked, extending a hand to help Adrien up.

His heart missed a beat. Then his heart began to beat very loudly. It was as if he was able to hear his own heartbeat. Adrien couldn't believe what he was seeing. This figure was unlike anything he had ever seen before. He felt drawn to the stranger, as if there was something about him that made Adrien feel safe and comfortable.

He took a few steps back. His mouth opened and then closed again. He was no stranger to this situation. Something similar had happened to him before. Adrien was petrified. He finally found his voice and managed to thank his mysterious savior in a low voice.

"Thank you."

The masked guy simply nodded and disappeared into the darkness.

Over the next few days, Adrien couldn't stop thinking about the mysterious figure that had saved his life. He wandered around the city, hoping to run into him again. But the masked guy seemed to be nowhere to be found.

One night, while Adrien was walking home from a dinner with Zoe, he heard a commotion coming from an alleyway. He cautiously approached the alleyway and saw that a group of men had cornered him again. Adrien was about to turn and run, but before he could, the masked guy appeared once again. With incredible speed and skill, the masked figure took down the attackers, leaving them dazed and confused. Adrien felt overwhelmed with gratitude and admiration for the stranger but at the same time, he felt like giving himself a slap.

Buddy, you're just getting out of a chaotic situation. You've spent the last few years in love with a great girl, but who only sees you as a partner, and you... You, you idiot, have a crush on the first guy who saves you? What's your problem?!

"Who are you?" Adrien asked, as the masked guy helped him up.

"I'm Robin," the masked guy replied.

Adrien felt a jolt of recognition at the name. He had heard of Robin before, but never thought he would meet him in person.

"Thank you, Robin. You saved my life."

"-Tk- It's what I do."

As Adrien walked away, he couldn't stop thinking about Robin.

[trashyangelic]

glad to find this. this is really cute. i think it would be best if Marinette was in a relationship with Felix and Chloe can be with Jon Kent y'know.

Fuck. I’m Gay.

I’ve been reading a lot of ml salt fics lately (mainly @unmaskedagain which is a literal goldmine of saltiness). And getting into the Damienette ship. Marinette really does deserves better (Fuck Canon) but so does Adrien. He is not a “sidekick”. Chat Noir and Ladybug are partners = equals. So I decided why not write a fic where Adrien gets his own happy ending in the form of a grumpy assassin-turned-vigilante that loves animals more than people. 

Somewhat of a crack writing where creative liberties were definitely taken. 

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.

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Lila Rossi is a bitch and everyone knew it. Well, by everyone, Adrien means himself, his good-amazing-make-pastries-for-him friend Marinette, his maybe-not-really-sure friend Chloe and his-not-that-close-really-classmate Nathaniel. 

Yeah. It was a small number. 

But Lila is still a bitch. 

Keep reading

[mochinek0]

Looking Back (Part 1)

Adrien couldn't help but look at Marinette across the room. The only thing that bothered him so much was that she was there with her husband, Damian Wayne. He saw the smile he missed; saw her laughing with friends. He could see how close she was to him, every time she turned and looked at him to continue the story.

"How did you meet your husband, Marinette?"

"Yeah he doesn't look familiar."

"Did he go to school with us; I feel like I would have remembered him."

"Uncle Jagged took me on tour when I graduated, half way through the year, and I met Damian during one of the stops." Marinette answered.

Adrien looked away and noticed his friends were uncomfortable. Some people, those closest to Mari, stopped listening to Lila. Kitty Section had launched to stardom with their amazing clothes, lyrics and Jagged Stones backing. The others…..'Did I do the right thing?' was running across their minds.

"Hey, let's get out of here for a bit." Kim spoke, "I need a drink.

"Alya nodded, "It's….unnerving, right now."

"I don't know." Nino declared.

"It'll only be for an hour." Kim sighed, "There's a place to drink a block away. We can walk over and back."

"We can take my car." Adrien smiled, "I'll probably only have one drink."

Outnumbered, Nino groaned, "I'll drive us back."

After a quick round up, they left to a near by bar.

"This isn't how I expected this reunion to go!" Alya whined, "I thought Marinette would be miserable and we would be telling her, 'You should have be nicer to Lila'. Why is her life; her friends' life, better than ours?"

"Odine broke up with me two months after she found out that I had pulled a prank on Marinette when we were twelve." Kim sighed, "She never got over it. She said I was heartless and a monster to do that to a girl. She said she would be terrified of having daughters with me. I wasn't even thinking that far ahead."

"Looks like you are now." Nathaniel stated.

"I- She was the first girl to confess to me and our dates weren't horrible!" Kim retorted.

Alix chuckled, "Thought that was Marinette."

The former swimmer growled, "Shut up! It's not my fault that girls only want some slim-fit guy!"

"Mylene and Ivan are married." Nino pointed out, "Neither of them are 'slim-fit'."

"That's right!" Alya shouted, "You're blaming us, but guys only want model types. Where's the love for curvy girls, huh? Show me thicc love, dammit!"

"I don't know." Kim spoke, "Where did it go, Nino?"

The DJ rolled his eyes, "It was a mutual break up. We had conflicting schedules and barely had time to talk to each other. It was a ten minute talk at most and then class or sleep. Even now, most dates I've had have been coffee because I'm tired after a gig."

Nino realized his best friend had been quiet so far. He was sure he would have defended himself when his long-time ex brought up models. Out of the corner of his eye, he spotted five shot glasses.

"Hey, Dude, are you okay?" Nino questioned, "You ususally don't drink this much."

Adrien turned to Nino and pouted, "I should have married Marinette."

The model didn't expect the table to erupt in laughter.

"Nice one, Dude." Nino smiled, "I understand you want to be included."

"I'm serious!" Adrien whined.

"Dude, if you really feel that way, you only have yourself to blame." his best friend stated.

"Huh?" Adrien replied, confused.

"You were the blindest idiot, as a teen." Alix cackled.

Alya rolled her eyes, "Mari was head over heels for you. It's why she bullied Lila, duh."

Adrien tried to shake off the alcohol, "Bullied Lila?"

Alya took another sip, "You know because you and Lila were dating."

"I would never date that Bitch!" the model shouted.

Everyone froze and looked at him.

"What?" Kim questioned.

"I never dated Lila." the Agreste heir snarled, "I would have never-She's not my type. Fuck, I would never date a model, period. I have always hated modeling; both Chloe and Mari knew that. I did it to get my father's attention."

Everyone looked at each other as the web of lies began to untangle in front of them. After all these years, the thread had begun to snap.

"You all thought Mari was bullying Lila because she liked me?" Adrien continued to rant, "You forget she helped me get with Kagami. Kagami even told me she tried to get us back together. Hell, 'Gami had a crush on her, but ended up with Felix instead. She still says that if Mari suddenly wanted to get together, she'd drop Felix."

No one knew what to say. Everything they thought they knew, that kept them as friends was slowly coming undone. They had been 'Team Lila' for the longest time and now….what were they? Adrien never dated Lila. Adrien said he would never date her. He believed Marinette wouldn’t bully Lila simply because Lila had feelings for him because Marinette helped him get a girlfriend. If that was all true, why did Lila say they dated? Why did she say Marinette bullied her? As if a distant echo, they recalled Marinette calling their friend a liar. Had Lila really lied to them all this time?

Kim let out a loud belch, "Like we believe that." his speech slurring.

"You're saying I'm lying?" Adrien questioned.

Mr. 'Just A Friend' had feelings for her?" Kim answered, "Yeah, right."

"Mr. what?" Adrien asked.

"It's your catchphrase." the former swimmer laughed, "I'm sure you all remember. 'Who, Marinette? No! She's just a friend. She's a good friend. She's a great friend. You'll like her once you get to know her and be friends with her. She's an amazing friend'."

Alix yawned, getting bored of the dying party, "You had 'FRIENDZONE' tattooed on your forehead."

Alya relaxed. She had been so close to believeing that she had betrayed the wrong person, but Adrien having feelings for Marinette was laughable at this point.

"Marinette obviously got tired of hearing how much of a 'friend' she was to you." Alya declared, "The shit I had to listen to when we were friends! How 'dreamy' you looked. The names of you imaginary kids! You two gettign a hamster."

"She found someone better." Alix shrugged, "He's taller and looks strong as hell. The only things you share in common are green eyes and wealthy families."

"Gold digging, Bitch." Alya snarled.

"I thought that, too." Alix admitted, "From what Juleka tells me, Marinette makes more than Adrien alone on her fashion commissions. That's without using her muscle hubby or his family name. Rose said that not even Luka compares. Kitty Section went with them to the Caribbean and …muscles and scars. Said Mari couldn't keep her eyes of him and they barely saw her after that."

"Demon God." muttered Nathaniel.

"Demon God?" questioned Nino.

"His brothers call him 'Demon Spawn', but he's chiseled like the sexy Lucifer marble statues that the church said no to." Nathaniel groaned, "I should have taken my chance, too."

Nino glanced at Adrien and saw him tearing up.

'Shit.'

"Okay, I think we get the idea." the DJ stated, trying to change the subject.

"Alya's right. We tried to get them together so many times, but he always thought they were 'friendly outings' even though eveyone had a date." Kim continued.

Nathaniel took another shot, "Imagine getting kissed by the most popular girl at school and thinking she was 'just being nice'."

"Lila?" Alya replied, "I thought-"

"Lila was popular in class, only." Nathaniel answered, "Marinette was popular all over school. The true 'Queen' of the school."

Adrien quickly stood up, scraping his chair against the floor, and rushed out. Nino quickly rushed out after him.

"What's his problem?" Kim asked.

Alya's eyes trailed after Nino's back before she took another drink and turned back to the group.

Nino quickly spotted Adrien's car. He slowly approached it and found him sobbing in the passenger's seat.

'At least he didn't think he could drive.'

Nino walked around and sat in the driver's side. He simply patted his friend's back.

"Did-Is what Kim said true?" Adrien asked.

Nino unintentionally paused his hand's movements, trying to decide what would be best.

"Nino!" Adrien shouted, "You're my best friend! Is what-"

"Yes." he answered.

He could feel the weight of Adrien's gaze on him.

"We did try setting you up with Marinette." Nino spoke, calmly, "Everyone in the school could see she liked you. I don’t know when she stopped; we truly believed that she was mean to Lila because Lila was with you."

"Not in a million years." Adrien replied.

"You sure?" Nino asked, looking at his friend.

"Not even if it brought my mother back." Adrien growled, "I can't stand her."

Nino started the car as Adrien sunk into his seat. They drove in silence, but he faintly heard the model's sniffles. He knew Adrien might not possibly remember the night and he didn't want to say anything that was too damaging. It was a conversation for another time…if there ever was.

Adrien thanked Nino as they got out of the car and he took the keys form him, "She looked happy tonight, didn't she? Her smiles were always the brightest."

Nino watched as tears fell down his friend's cheeks. Adrien quickly turned and went inside. Nino sighed and took out his phone.

"Yo, Max. I need a ride." he spoke, "Got a minute to spare?"

[preciouslittletoonette]

I wanna put these kids in situations

[leadenn]

Hello welcome to my Chloé, Adrien, Jon, and Damian being childhood friends agenda. Chloé and Damian fucking hate each other until they're 13 and form an alliance against Gabriel bc they both hate him more than they hate each other.

Bruce knows Gabriel bc rich people stuff, so when he had another accidental child acquisition arc he figured Damian could use a friend or two his age (Jon, Chloé, and Adrien)

Damian dislikes this at first, but then he doesn't hate being around Jon and Adrien. Chloé is a different story. She's a spoiled brat, he hates her, and he doesn't understand why killing her would be a bad thing. The feeling is mutual.

Jon and Damian have comical little shenanigans hiding their hero identities from Chloé and Adrien, and they have to do the same shit except hide it from Jon and Damian once they get their miraculous.

I can imagine them all going on vacation together or something and going over the various ways to hide shit from each other

Damian: I open the doors so you can't rip them off the hinges by accident- Jon: I did that twice. Damian: Because Agreste said something you considered "cute" and you were flustered enough to behave like a barbarian. Do you have any other comments? Jon: You know you're only allowed to have two weapons on your person, right dude? Damian: Tt. Yes. Jon: Do I need to check your pockets? Damian: *pulls out an unrealistic number of knives from his pockets, and reaches into his socks to pull out more knives*

Meanwhile in paris Chloé: You don't need to lecture me about making sure Pollen behaves. She's never done anything wrong ever. Adrien: You and her came up with the idea to pretend Pollen is a wasp and have her try and sting Lila in front of everyone Chloé: Yes, and? It was funny and she totally had it coming. Adrien: ... Chloé: Don't fucking say it- Adrien: Beehave. Chloé: If Pollen and I can't do the wasp thing YOU CAN'T MAKE BAD PUNS-

[ghostdoodlen]

Stickers I made somewhere back in February? For a sticker competition in discord.

Just found out they became stickers like two hrs ago

You can imagine my excitement

Unfortunately they had to be 320x320 pixels :P

But I still like them.

[quindread]

DISCREPANCIES

Yet another Daminette post.

An actual fic this time. IDK if this will remain a one-shot or nah.

It’s not everyday you discover that the person you are undeniably attracted to is a retired hero. Damian did not know whether to feel horrified or relieved.

This was Jason’s fault like always. He just had to go and befriend Marinette as his alter-ego. And somehow that ended up with her outing her past so she could purge the pit madness out of him because she was kind and generous like that.

But who was he kidding, Damian was happy for his older brother. This was Jason’s chance at normal life. Besides, demoting him back to Peter sounded like an appropriate retribution anyways.

Now, Spoiler, Orphan, and Red Hood were on Marinette’s balcony as was agreed upon. Since Marinette was familiar enough with Damian and his mask could only cover so much, Robin was relegated to chair duty since it was too risky to have him in the meeting. So he wormed his way into a task he would normally leave to the other members of his team to be able to observe - babysit - his siblings in fear that they would scare Marinette off.

Through the Bat-computer, Red Hood could be seen knocking four times against Marinette’s glass door when the clock struck ten. Not a second later and it slid open.

Damian did not expect to see a topless blond. And so did everyone else it seems from the sound of gasps coming from inside the cave and the monitors. He could not even imagine any guy close to Marinette without the risk of popping a vein. But there he was, gaping at the view of an unknown guy his age standing in her apartment.

“Oh, hey. It’s the batfam!” The man grinned like it was completely normal to have three vigilantes on what was supposed to be a lone woman’s balcony. “Come in! Mari’s waiting in the living room.”

Mari?

An invisible weight dropped against Damian’s stomach. This guy was apparently on nickname basis with Marinette.

The footage shook slightly as his siblings step foot into Marinette’s home. He ignores the pit in his stomach in favor of taking in every detail he could. Cream walls, random trinkets, vintage decorations, and a painting he recognized as a gift her gave her, framed and hanged beside a vase of irises. The weight in his chest seem to dissipate at the sight.

Then the footage pans to the topless guy again as he opens a door. He could hear Timothy whistle in appreciation and Damian would have shivered in disgust if the monitor did not currently have the vision that is Marinette Dupain-Cheng plastered on it.

She stands and smiles and Damian could only stare. He was glad the monitors were generations better than the ones his father originally used. He could see how her eyes crinkle into half moons as she greets his siblings.

“Sit wherever you like.” Her voice sounded just as refreshing coming from speakers.

His siblings all settle around on their chosen seats. From Spoiler’s view, the topless blond is seen leaning against adjacent wall. Where the fuck is his shirt?

“Uh, is he supposed to be here?” Spoiler points at the guy and Damian takes note of this, she did always support him in his paltry romance endeavors.

“Oh! This is Adrien Graham de Vanily—“ Ah, yes the next name to be added in Damian’s ledger. “—but you may know him as the first Chat Noir.”

Oh.

That changed everything. Marinette told Hood about her relationship and role in the Court. She mentioned that she was closest to the cats and the dragon - they had a good camaraderie. They were teammates. Friends. Just friends.

But why in the world was he without a shirt? Does he not have any decency, lounging there like he was some sort of nudist? Is this some datum of friendship Damian was not aware of?

“And why is he…?” Yes, Stephanie asking the right questions.

Marinette eyes her friend and sighs. “Ah, we were—“

“We were in the middle of a very heated debate,” Graham says with a smirk and Damian swear he could see crimson. He squeezes his armrest hard.

Footsteps sound from his back. “Dames, it’s probably nothing—“

“Fuck off, Drake.”

“Okay! Woah. Last names. Geez, you really like her.” Before Damian could respond, a smack echoes through the cave.

On the monitor, Marinette is shown standing by Graham as she slaps him on the arm repeatedly. It sounded like music to Damian’s ears.

“Stop.“

Smack.

“Saying.“

Smack.

“Stuff“

Smack.

“Like“

Smack.

“That.“

Smack.

“People will get the wrong idea!” Marinette admonishes but her efforts are futile as Graham laughs louder at every contact of her hand against his skin. She faces Damian’s siblings with a slight flush on her face.

“We really were debating,” she says.

“About what exactly.” Red Hood drawls in amusement. “And did he really need to be shirtless for it?”

“It was to prove a point!” Graham exclaims.

“And the point being; you lose!” Marinette slaps him again.

“You’re biased! I’m literally a model!”

“Ex-model!”

“B—I—A—S—E—D.”

“Am not!”

Graham sticks a finger into each of his ears. “Your biased opinions are painful. I gonna get tinnitus,” he snickers and that seems to stop Marinette from hitting him again. Shame, it was beginning to get entertaining.

She glares at him for a second which just seemed to amuse Graham even further.

“You know what,” Marinette starts. “You can call me biased and I won’t give a fuck.” Damian definitely did not get hooked at the way she cursed.

Marinette pokes Graham’s chest before taking a huge breathe.

“Because for me, Damian Wayne is way hotter than you.”

.

.

.

Tim gasps beside him. “Holy shit.”

Holy shit, indeed.

Damian sat there, fully aware that he was probably as red as the accents on his suit. His head was ringing with embarrassment and he swears that he might get thermal shock if he tries to breathe in the drafty air from the cave.

And Marinette was not even finished. She pokes at Graham with ferocity - her every word clear with conviction.

“You may have abs but Damian was literally carved by the Gods.”

Damian disagrees but preens at the compliment anyways.

“I will die happily after he lets me take a body shot off of him.”

She can’t! Damian would be the one doing the dying the moment her tongue touches his abdomen. And he has been through it before, what’s one more if this is the particular cause of death?

“So, you do wanna bone him!” Graham exclaims smartly.

“Kwami! Yes, I do! Can this discussion wait another time?!” Marinette shoves him this time. Damian can hear his heartbeat drumming in his ears.

“But why don’t you?!”

Good question.

“Because we’re friends! And I’m fine with that!.”

Graham raises any eyebrow at her. “Are you?” He asks and she falters, stepping back with her arms crossed.

“Y-Yes!”

“You’re a shit liar.”

Marinette tries to slap his arm again but her catches his wrist. “You are more than just your duties, Marinette.”

The way Graham’s playful demeanor melts of his face suddenly reminds Damian that this man was a hero, a child soldier, who lived with his emotions under duress for years. His voice was solemn, grave with grief.

“You’ve given up more than anyone for the sake of the Order.”

“Adrien—“

“Why can’t you take a pause and live—“

“It’s not that!”

“Mari—“

“Damian isn’t interested in me—”

“You don’t know that!”

“—He’s gay!”

What the actual fuck?

“He and Jon dated. How am I supposed to compare to his best friend? And that’s even if he would so much as look at me which he never will because he is not interested on the opposite sex!

No. Nonononono. This was nightmare, somebody wake him up. Damian and Jon kissed twice and that was the end of it - you could find more spark in a coin battery. And he looked at Marinette plenty. He just makes sure she could not see him doing so like the sneaky assassin that he was.

Timothy had dropped to the ground a while ago and was cackling so hard that Damian fears he might pop open like a kernel and loose his spleen. Again.

From the monitor, his siblings were laughing up a storm as well as Marinette and Graham stood there in confusion.

“Wuahahahahahaha—He’s not—hahahaha—The Wayne kid is—Oh my god, I’m so glad I volunteered to be here.” The feed from Spoiler was pointed at the ceiling. Damian could imagine her clenching her stomach as throws her head back in laughter.

“He’s bisexual.” Orphan says, amused. The only reliable footage came from her albeit a little shaky.

Marinette blinks at her. “And you know that how?”

“We talk. Rescue him and his family all the time.” Hood and Spoiler could be heard agreeing.

Graham pushes Marinette down on her spot on the couch. “And now that we’ve established that, you are going to make a move on him,” he says.

“I will not.”

“You will—“

“He doesn’t see me like that!”

“—after you heal M. Hood.”

That snaps the mood in place and the conversation is stirred away from the topic of Damian.

Said subject was unfocused during the rest of the meeting, his thoughts replaying every single interaction he and Marinette had. In the end, he came to an obvious conclusion:

Marinette will be getting that body shot.

~

AN: There you have it folks! Another one from my archive. I just edited the dialogues. And speaking of archives, should I post this on AO3?

Inspired by the recording contact lenses in Battinson. Here we have an indirect Daminette confession witnessed by Cass, Steph, Tim, and Jason.

You may have noticed that Damian first-names his siblings in this one. I always though that it would be a good measure of his growth as a person. And I headcanon Damian going from last names to middle names to first names as his tolerance (read love) for his siblings grows. He goes through middle names because his male siblings absolutely detests it (except Duke). Imagine pubescent Dami addressing Jason as “Peter”.

Adrien taking his mums maiden name after handing Gabriel’s ass to him? This is non-negotiable. But I really had no idea if I should write Damian referring to him as Graham or Vanily. I like graham crackers so there you go.

Damian and Jon as a ship will always have a place in my heart. Like I can see them trying for more but deciding against it. I think Jon has a partner in the comics. And with his new age, he and Damian now have this space between them I hate with a passion. (I saw a fan-art of Damian crying about how his Jon was taken from and I bawled like a baby. Please do link that art in the comments. I enjoy pain.)

And finally, should I make this a multi-chapter fic? Or is it satisfactory as one-shot?

[loveyou3000mylove]

Prompts, Tropes and Ideas series

thy should see

the reader/protagonist doesnt  relise they are falling in love with s/o\other character

Works best for fics where they have powers or something....

IDEA

Example:

1.Y/n subconsciously smiled when Damian pinned Beast boy, effortlessly winning the sparring battle. Rolling her eyes when Damian moved toward her in a 'cocky' scowl "'Didn't take you for a smiler Miss. L/n" Damian spoke, with a raised brow  ''I'm not, obviously? l was just thinking of how easily l could pin you.'' She replied with a smirk, a hint of challenge in her voice.

IDEA

2. Soulmate AU (where the soulbond is when ever the other touchs the other it leaves an imprint)

Prompt list

Angst⁂ 

Fluff⌂

 Hurt/Comfort⌁ 

(^^THESE ARE JUST SUGGESTIONS^^)

001: "I hate you so much, but I can't love anyone more." ⌁

002: "How could Cupid be so cruel."⁂

003: You love them, but they don't notice you.⌁

004: I got love to spend but I can't get the chance, I hope they don't mean what they say but I keep seeing them sticking around like they can't get enough so I stay.⌂

005: Reader has closed walls but can't help but blush and stutter at they're advances.⌂

006: "We are not the same, yet we aren't opposites either."⌁

007: "I guess am a bit lonely?"⌂

008: "The curse of the third date, relationships don't last long, so good luck."⌁

009: "I long for you, you complete me."⁂

010: "Pizza after? My treat." "Yea, would love too."⌂

011: "What would I do without your smartass"⌂

012: "Your fine, am fine, we're fine"⁂

013: "You don't deserve her/him, no one does."⌁

014: "Stop tormenting me, I can't get you out of my mind."⌁

015: "You're a distraction I can't ignore."⌁

016: "No one is ever taking you, away from me"⌁

017: "You should've left" "Why" "Everyone else did"

018: "I think I love them" "Took you awhile"

019: "Am not her! Okay, so stop acting like it, stop calling me the wrong name....just be with me, your (y/n)...me"

020: "I had a friend once" "Wht happened?"

021: "I was inlove with you....I am inlove with you"

022: "Can't remember the last time you looked at me like that...why do you do this to me"

Tropes

001: Enemy to Lovers

002: Strangers to Friends

003: Best friends to lovers

004: Couple to Enemies to Lovers

005: Online Friends to Lovers

006: Forbidden Love

007: Unrealistic crush to Lovers (limerence)

008: Boss x Newbie

009: Rival Bands

010: Pen Pals to lovers

011: Platonic Soulmates to Romantic Soulmates

012: Older x Younger (very large gap- 6+ years)

013: Amnesia sufferer x hopelessly in love

014: Side character x side character

015: MC x bestfriend side character

[kleenex-tissues]

Yours Truly (21)

Read on AO3 here

Ch. 21 - Stop the Clock

“Do you Parisian heroes make a habit of getting impaled, or is that just you?”

Marinette wanted to go back to sleep, but a burning pain in her leg and throat kept her mind from drifting off. She almost hadn’t heard the sly remark above her because of it. Almost. Most of her nervous system was currently failing her, but she managed to groan out, “No’ usually, bu’ firs’ for every’fing.”

She was met with a chuckle, and she tried smiling back. She wasn’t sure if she succeeded. Her eyes fluttered open to a blurry world, a black and blue blob staring down at her, and she wondered if this was a pain-induced hallucination. At least the voice speaking to her was nice. Maybe it was an angel?

“Ladybug, I’m so glad you’re okay!”

Adrien?  No, probably Chat Noir. Not that that distinction mattered anymore. It had only been a matter of time until she found out his identity. If not on the field, she would have had to know as Guardian eventually anyway. She just wished it could have been under better circumstances.

When Marinette tried to mumble his name back at him, he quieted her. “No, don’t talk! You’re really hurt right now, and you have to stay as still as possible.”

Staying still sounded nice. She could do that.

“Listen, I know Tikki is slowing the blood loss, but I need her. Someone has to cleanse the akuma and use the miraculous cure. I'll give you Plagg. We just have to do this quickly.” He was stumbling over his words in his panic. “I’m so sorry I let this happen, M’Lady.”

In any other circumstance, she’d hesitate, not wanting to reveal their identities to anyone else. She still wasn’t sure if the black and blue blob was a real person or not, really, but their situation was dire. This would be an issue for her to deal with when she was more coherent. Tikki would understand, she was sure of that at least.

“Spo’s off.”

As soon as the red flash of light disappeared, Marinette began screaming. The pain was too much too soon. It hurt, and she heard Adrien sobbing out apologies as he removed her earrings. He grabbed her hand and despite both of their shaking, managed to slip his ring onto her finger.

Someone held her head down, and she heard another voice whispering, “Mari, it’ll be okay. I won’t leave you, I promise.”

The voice sounded familiar, but she knew there was no way Damian was in Paris with her right now. She listened to it anyway, and thanked the universe for sending her such a comforting gift in her final moments.

“Your partner said you need to call for 'Plagg.' Can you do that?”

A gloved hand was rubbing her cheek, and she leaned into it. She tried nodding, but ultimately gave up in favor of mumbling, “Claws ou’.”

The green light that encased her seemed to ease some of the pain. It had become much more manageable, and she tried to pull her focus onto the hands holding her face to distract herself. She needed to focus on anything but the cold metal in her upper thigh and her scratchy throat.

The hands came loose from her face for a moment, and she tried to follow before they quickly returned, bare this time. They were warm. She leaned into them as best she could.

One hand rubbed soothing circles on Marinette’s cheek, and the other moved up to stroke her hair. She barely felt the tears dripping onto her forehead.

Finally, the world was righted again, and she felt the ladybugs swarming her body before she saw them. It wasn’t very often that she had the chance to feel the miraculous cure from this side, but it felt like nothing in the world had ever made sense before that moment. She felt like she was home.

Marinette began to properly stir, blinking away the blurriness that had clouded her vision. The night was bright with Parisian lights, just like it should have been. She began to that she might have imagined the last however many hours, but her fears were assuaged when she held up a black gloved hand before her eyes. This wasn’t the Ladybug suit, and that certainly wasn’t Chat Noir looking down at her.

Holding her were two men she had only ever seen in the news — Nightwing and Robin. Where had Damian gone? 

The hands still performing ministrations on her head belonged to Robin, and judging by the sopping wet hair Nightwing sported, they were who had pulled her from the Seine.

She blinked up at them before Robin pressed a desperate kiss to her forehead, tears still streaming down his cheeks.

Wait, why was Robin kissing her?

What had happened when she was passed out?

—

Damian had never felt such righteous fury before in his life, not even when his father had gone missing or all the times Ra’s had beat him senseless on the sparring mat. He had arrested many monsters and let them live, but he knew he could never grant such a mercy to the man who had done this to Marinette. This pure soul deserved everything life had to offer, and he would gladly give it to her, which meant destroying Hawkmoth.

He hadn’t had the chance to think better of it before he began pressing a hurried kiss to her forehead; he just needed to feel that she was still there, from his fingertips to his lips. It was rather embarrassing that Dick had been the one to witness it, as well. He wouldn’t say anything of it now, but Damian knew he was never going to live this down.

Yet right now, nothing else mattered. His Mari was safe, her beautiful heart beating in tandem with his. Everything about her was beautiful. Her delicate face, lithe hands, and soft hair felt almost too good to be true. He could live a thousand lifetimes repenting, and he still would never truly deserve her.

Part of him was glad that she had changed suits because the black leather highlighted the deep blush painting her skin. The red spandex would have distracted too much from it. 

Marinette let loose a nervous laugh. “Uh, what did I miss?”

Damian never let his eyes linger from her own, but he could feel the shit-eating grin dancing across his brother’s face. He chose, very pointedly, to ignore it.

“I took too long to get here,” he whispered to her. “I wish you had been able to inform me of this foul bastard tormenting your city. I would have had his head on a platter for you in a heartbeat.”

Dick chimed in, “Wow, kid. You sure know how to woo ‘em.”

Marinette’s face somehow became impossibly redder, and the skin was burning underneath his hands. She tried to sink into herself, but the tight leather suit left little room to hide. The faux cat ears were definitely not helping her.

Before she had the chance to question the vigilante’s familiarity with her, her partner came rushing towards them. He now donned a red and black polka dotted suit similar to the one she had worn earlier. The accessories they had swapped seemed to be the cause of it, but they could discuss this later. Maybe when they hadn’t just watched Marinette thrash around in agony.

The ladybug hero fell onto his knees and threw his body around her, crying into her shoulder, “Thank Kwamis, you’re alright! I don’t think I could have lived with myself if anything had happened to you.”

Marinette pulled a hand up to gently pet her partner’s hair, a soft smile gracing her now less-red face. He buried his face further into the crook of her neck, and she brought her other hand to rub along his back. Damian felt his heart drop at the exchange.

“It’s alright, Minou.” She let out a dry laugh. “Now you know how I feel every time you throw yourself head first into danger.”

Damian was overcome with a sudden possessiveness. He knew who this other boy was. He was Adrien, the boy who had broken Marinette's heart, and the one she still called her best friend. Damian believed that perhaps she was far too forgiving. He would never let anything bad happen to her again.

One of his hands moved to push Adrien off of her, the other still tenderly holding her face. The other boy was caught off guard by the sudden movement, and Marinette’s eyebrows jumped in shock.

“Bug off, Minou, ” Damian growled at him. His hand returned to rubbing her hair back. “She’s mine.”

He felt a sudden smack against the back of his head.

“For fuck’s sake, Damian. I taught you to act better than that,” Dick chided him. Damian swung his head around to meet his brother’s menacing gaze with his own.

“So much for secret identities, Grayson.”

Dick rolled his eyes. “Like she wasn’t gonna find out anyway. What, with your little kiss and confession.”

Heat rose in Damian’s face. Whether it was in anger or embarrassment, he couldn’t say, but suddenly he was tackling Dick back into the river. It wasn’t a ‘confession,’ okay? It was simply a truth she should be aware of. Damian Wayne didn’t do ‘confessions.’

They hit the water in a tangle of limbs and spandex, and Damian swore he could hear Marinette laughing as he submerged into the water. He was overcome with the thought that maybe, it wasn’t so bad to open up his heart to someone. After all, nothing in this world could possibly be sweeter than her voice. 

A kick to the jaw reminded Damian why he had tackled Dick into the Seine in the first place. He was so going to kill him.

[wonderwomanpleasesteponme]

Soulmate Maribat au where Damien's soulmate mark is a ladybug, Marinette has three soulmate marks a robin, a black cat and a snake, Adrien has two soulmate marks a ladybug and a snake and Luka also has two soulmate marks a ladybug and a black cat.

[marsrize]

Rewriting my story with you [3 part of 6]

Ao3 : Here. | Part 1 | Part 2

Relationship: Adrien Agreste x Damian Wayne

Summary: Adrien hits rock bottom.

WARNING: mention of depression, mention of suicidal thought.

Adrien had been living in Gotham for a few months. After a meeting with the vigilant Robin, he started collecting Robin-themed merchandise.

It was of course a secret. He didn't tell anyone about it. It was strange, but having all these figurines and clothing themed to the young hero of Gotham made him feel less lonely. It had become his new reason to live: to own the complete collection of Robin goodies.

 Wasn't that a bit pathetic? Totally.

What had also changed in his life was the constant presence of Zoe. She had made friends in Gotham, and she wanted him to meet them. He had refused several times before, but when the blonde insisted, he finally said yes. He was getting ready to join her. Adrien opted for a Robin hoodie and a pair of jeans. He did not have especially need to attract the attention and did not have any intention to remain very long.

He was supposed to meet Zoe's best friends in Gotham: Mia Mizoguchi, Colin Wilkes and Maya Ducard.

There might be a fourth person, but Zoe told him that it wasn't sure if she and her friends would be able to get "The Cactus" to come. This was the nickname of the person who was apparently also part of her circle of friends but who was not very sociable.

He arrived there and met Mia, who insisted that he call her "Maps" and Maya. The one called Colin was on his way, he was late because he was out picking up "The Cactus". Adrien felt absolutely uncomfortable, but he was good at pretending. He had been pretending all his life, so playing the role of the cheerful friend wasn't too difficult. Sure, it was extremely draining, he could already see himself completely dead tired at the end of the day.

As he was chatting with Zoe and her two friends, a young man approached the table pulling another guy behind him.

"Hi guys, sorry for being late, Cactus wasn't very cooperative."

"Stop calling me Cactus. Tt. This is a waste of time."

The young man ignored him completely and turned to him, smiling.

"Hi! You must be Adrien. I'm Colin. And the Cactus you see behind me is named Damian."

"Hi, nice to meet you."

He smiled at the two.

They ordered a few things from the menu. He chose to have a chocolate waffle with a cappuccino.

Time passed at an extremely slow pace for Adrien. Pretending to be happy for so long was really tiring. To make matters worse, the Cactus.....euuh... Damian was staring at him. Adrien was doing his best to ignore the guy, but it was getting more and more uncomfortable.

Eventually, he got tired of it.

"So... Damian, right?"

"Hmm."

"You... have something to say?"

This guy, Damian, looked at him for a few seconds in silence. They were the longest seconds of his life.

"You look tired."

He had heard it wrong, hadn't he? Was he a bad actor? Yet he had the feeling he had managed to hide his discomfort perfectly.

"Oh yeah?"

"Hmm."

"It's possible. I don't always realize it."

He smiled awkwardly at him. Colin put his arm around his shoulder. Adrien did his best not to push him. This guy needed to learn to respect people's private space...

"Don't worry about the Cactus, he's still grumpy."

"Don't call me Cactus."

Colin rolled his eyes.

"See? Grumpy."

After three hours of endless conversation, Adrien finally found an excuse to leave. When he arrived home, he closed the door of his apartment and let himself slide down it. It was as if his body was waiting for this signal. Tears began to flow down his cheek. He sobbed as quietly as possible.

 He really was a loser.

For the next few days, he couldn't go out. It was just too much for him. So he stayed in bed most of the day or stood at his window staring at nothing. Adrien hardly ate at all. Finally, on the fifth day, he decided to take a shower and go out. It was late at night, but he didn't care. He went to the nearest Bat Burger. Then he started walking home once he got his order. He didn't feel like going straight home and finally decided to find a quiet place to eat his burger.

Adrien decided to eat at the top of a building. He was never more grateful for his years of acrobatic training (a long story... He needed it to be more effective in his role as Cat Noir).

He began to develop this habit. To climb as high as possible somewhere and look down at the city below.

One night, Adrien stood at the edge of a tall building, looking down at the busy streets below. The wind blew through his hair, and he closed his eyes, taking a deep breath. He had been feeling depressed for months, and he didn't see any way out of the darkness that surrounded him.

Suddenly, he felt a hand on his shoulder, and he turned around to see a young man in a black, red and yellow suit standing behind him. Adrien recognized him. He had the feeling that his heart had just left his chest. He could feel his blood freeze. Adrien felt ashamed. Here he was in front of his crush when he was in a questionable situation. He really was lame, wasn't he?

"Please step back from the edge, sir," Robin said firmly. "It's not worth it."

Adrien looked at him for a moment, then sighed heavily and stepped back. He didn't know what had brought him up here, but he knew he didn't want to die. At least, not yet.

"Thanks��"

He felt ashamed to show this part of himself to someone like Robin. That weak and pathetic part...

"I don't know why I came up here."

Robin looked at him.

"It's okay."

He was silent for a moment, apparently searching for his words.

"Sometimes life can be overwhelming, and we feel like we have no other options. But there's always a way out, even if we can't see it at the time."

Adrien nodded slowly, still feeling lost and confused. Robin seemed to sense this and placed a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"If you need someone to talk to, I'm here for you," he said softly. "I may not be a professional, but sometimes it helps just to have someone to listen."

Adrien looked at him, surprised at his kindness. He had never expected the guy to be so compassionate. A soft warmth spread in his chest. Slowly, he nodded, and the two of them sat down on the edge of the building, talking quietly as the sun set over the city.

As they talked, Adrien began to realize that there was still hope, and that maybe he didn't have to face his problems alone. He didn't know what the future held, but he knew that he was grateful for Robin's intervention and kindness.

And as he walked away from the building, Adrien couldn't help but think that maybe, just maybe, things were starting to look up.

[lily-drake]

Master List Part 2

Master List Part 1

Dickinette

Biosibling!Dickinette: Birds of a Feather Flock Together: Part 1 Part 2

BioDad!Dickinette:

Of Broken Hearts and Shattered Minds

Ric Rolled: Part 1 Part 2

Casinette: Sibling!Cassientte: Stop in the Name of Your Sister: Part 1 Part 2

Bruce:

BioDad!Bruce:

Where is She?!

You've Got to be Kitten Me: Part 1 Part 2

He Stole My Heart So I Stole His (Felinette) Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9

BioDad!Month (2021): Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Everything after Part 11 was posted exclusively on my Ao3.

Found Family:

Watch What You Say: Part 1 Part 2

Adopted Into a Better Life

Drabbles/Story Ideas

Batman Specific:

Why are you here Batman?

In a Different League: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

6 Times Tim Suffered Alon + One Time He Doesn't

[maribat-menagerie]

Malachite Milestones Wave 2

Starting off, Thank you all for your amazing suggestions!

We had a total of 11 responses and 47 unique ships. These split into 8 Garnet, 25 Rhodonite, and 14 Alexandrite. Another amazing stat is that one ship was suggested so many times (15) that it was promoted to Garnet. While it the ship seems to have plenty of Maribatters wanting it, it is still going through the voting process to be fair. Those in the discord know what ship that is. The next step is voting on the ships that Maribatters want to see as the Active Roster. The link will be featured below.

Below the line is the list of ships that are featured in the form above. Only 17 will end up in the final event.

The Full Compiled List of Ships to Choose From:

Garnet Guardians:

Brucinette

Cassette

Konette

Marave (Marinette/Raven)

Marijon

Roynette

Stephinette

Wally / Marinette

Rhodonite Ravagers:

Alix / Barry Allen

Billy Batson / Marinette

Clark Kent / Marinette

Selina Kyle / Marinette

Victor (Cyborg) / Marinette

Juleka / Kor'i (Starfire)

Roy / Adrien

Kon / Adrien

Bart / Adrien

Jason / Adrien

Jason / Fei

Jason / Nino

Cass / Nino

Damian / Nino

Damian / Chloe

Wally / Chloe

Dick / Chloe

Dick / Miss. Bustier

Dick / Felix

Tim / Felix

Tim / Zoe

Tim / Luka

Barbara / Luka

Klarion / Lila

Alexandrite Avengers:

Oliver Queen / Barry Allen / Emilie Agreste

Cass / Kagami / Marinette

Tim / Kagami / Marinette

Tim / Marinette / Felix

Bart / Marinette / Felix

Raven / Beast Boy / Marinette

Steph / Cass / Marinette

Wally / Dick / Marinette

Wally / Dick / Adrien

Jason / Roy / Adrien

Damian / Jon / Adrien

Bart / Kon / Adrien

Bart / Kon / Tim / Adrien

Jason / Roy / Kor'i / Juleka / Adrien

[mochinek0]

Daminette December 2023: 18-Hiding in the Shadows

Marinette looked around her pent house in Paris. She had everything she wanted as a teenager. Well, almost everything. She was a well-known fashion designer, to the people that were aware of her. She kept her business a secret and used an alias. Her clients all came from judgement on her other clients. Others designers knew her as 'Passion' after her store's brand. Very few knew her as Marinette Dupain-Cheng: Gabriel Agreste, Audrey Bourgeois, and Jagged Stone.

Marinette had enough money to pay her rent, her fabric, all of her equipment, anything a business woman could need. Marinette herself, not so much. She missed being able to walk out and go sit at a café for a bit. When she saw Wayne Enterprise opened a section in Paris, she came up with an idea.

'Wayne Enterprises is a place that usually pays big. Even a part time job should be fine. A little play money couldn't hurt. A few extra euros so I could eat out, get some comfy clothes so I'm not rushing between orders and messing up wouldn't hurt.'

Damian Wayne sat at his desk, looking through potential applicants. Many of them were attached to big names or had one of their own. As he rang background checks, he could see they were all connected to each other in one way or another. He smirked at his idea.

'Let's put on a show. I want to see what kind of people these applicants are around each other. Would they out themselves?'

Mari was escorted to a waiting room as Damian Wayne got through other interviews. When the door opened, the last thing she expected was to see some familiar faces: Chloe, Adrien, and Lila.

"I don't know why you're even here, Dupain-Cheng." Chloe snarled, after the door was closed, "This is a big company that would love to work with our families. You have nothing going for you."

Marinette sat down and smiled, "Is that right? I guess I must have sent the wrong order to your mother and that's why she wore my design down the red carpet at the MET Gala."

Chloe tensed up and refused to meet her gaze. She could tell Adrien and Lila were surprised as well.

Chloe cleared her throat, "You're lying."

"Call your mother and ask." Marinette shrugged, "Oh, that's right! She doesn't like you; she prefers your half sister, who can actually work and living on her own, instead of leeching off of her Daddy."

"This isn't you, Dupain-Cheng." Chloe declared.

"No. This is me." Marinette shrugged off the concerned looks, "I'm just not being forced to coddle you to make Caline Bustier's life easier. 'Oh, just show Chloe some love, so she'll know what it's like and she'll get better eventually. You'll see.' Even she knew you were a horrible person. She basically thought you were The Grinch. That with enough love, your heart would grow three sizes and you wouldn't be such a bitch anymore."

Everyone was speechless at Marinette's attitude. This wasn't the Marinette that they grew up with.

"Chloe Bourgeois." a security voice called.

Chloe held her head high as she walked into the office.

"Damian Wayne." Chloe stated.

"Sit!" he demanded.

Chloe was shocked by his attitude.

'Doesn't he know who I am?'

"Do you know who I am?" she shouted.

"A spoiled brat; Ive read the articles on the internet." Damian stated, "You are known for crying for your father when you don't get what you want. Even though you are the oldest, your half-sister is who your mother relies on to bring customers for Style Queen in New York."

"My father-" Chloe snarled.

"Isn't the mayor anymore. He hasn't been the mayor in three years." the Wayne heir spoke, "If you're thinking of blackmailing me, you chose the wrong person. Spread whatever lies you want or cry to your father, the hotel owner. I could make one post about how horrid his hotel is and he would go out of business. Could you live with that?"

Chloe stood there, speechless. The only person who talked to her like this was her mother.

"I'm in charge, here, and if it came down to it, your job would be scrubbing toilets all day." Damian declared.

Tears formed in Chloe's eyes.

'He's glaring at me, just like Mommy. He doesn't look happy. He looks at me like he wishes I was gone or someone else.'

"We're done here." Damian stated.

Chloe quickly rushed out of the office. The three saw her rushing away, crying.

'I knew she wouldn't last.'

"Marinette, I can't understand why you're like this." Lila spoke, as she took her seat.

'He made that Daddy's Girl cry. I better go at this carefully.'

"Oh, shove it, Lila." Marinette sighed, "All three of us, here, know you're a lying manipulative bitch. You don't have to fake it."

"I don't know-" Lila continued.

"Adrien already told me years ago that he made a deal with you. He made one with me, too. Did he ever tell you that?" Mari questioned.

Lila glanced towards Adrien, who kept his head down.

"Oh, he didn't." she giggled, "You see, I was already designing for Jagged Stone when you arrived to our school. Adrien even had me autograph things I designed for him."

The model had turned towards Adrien and was now glaring at him.

"I could have made your whole 'tinnitus-kitten bullshit' story go up in flames since day one." Mari smiled, "I could have video called him and you would have been labeled as delusional."

"I took all our friends away!" Lila cried out, in victory.

"No." Mari answered, "You took away people, who were finally talking to me. Chleo ensured that for seven years, I had no friends. Those 'friends' just went back to not talking to me. You didn't actually do anything. If anything, you helped me. You took away the class president duties from me and I had more free time. You turned Alya and Nino away, so I couldn't babysit. I designed more clothes and got more clients. You didn't make my life worse, Lila, you made it better."

Lila fumed. Adrien had played peace maker between the both of them. From what Marinette was saying, she could have won the war in an instant! She thought she had chased Marinette Duapin-Cheng out of school all those years ago and here she was smiling, practially laughing at her, saying it wasn't true. She had thanked her and said she made her life better.

'I need this job so I can rub it in her face! I need to win against her!'

"I do hope you at least did some research into Damian Wayne." Marinette stated.

"I've known Damian Wayne since we were children!" Lila announced.

"Is that what it told you, you should say when you looked up how rich his family is?" Mari inquired.

Lila stood up, in rage.

'How dare she!'

"Lila Rossi." security called out.

Lila smirked, "I'm coming."

"She really should have done her research." Marinette spoke out loud.

"Why do you say that?" Adrine asked.

"Lila likes to play off her tears and looks." Mari declared, "Damian Wayne hates going to galas because of girls that try to attach themselves to him."

"And?" Adrien questioned.

"He broke an Italian model's arm two months ago, for lying to him." the designer stated.

Adrien paled at her words. Marinette merely smiled and pulled out her phone and dialed emergency services.

"Hello, what is your emergency?" the voice asked.

"I think we need an ambulance at Wayne Enterprise." Marinette stated, "I think someone's arm is broken."

"Are you with this person?" the voice questioned.

"No." the designer answered.

"I have sent medical to your location." the voice declared, before hanging up.

"That was pretty extreme, Marinette. I have faith in Lila!" Adrien shouted, "I don't think he would do that! The Waynes have an imagine to uphold!"

"Maybe, you should have done your research." Mari shrugged, "You still have time. Maybe five minutes."

Lila sauntered her way into the office.

"Hello, Mr. Wayne." She spoke, calmly.

"Sit." He demanded, not looking up.

Lila waved off his decleration. She moved past the chair in front of his desk and walked her way to his side.

"Can I sit on your lap?" She asked, "You see, I have tinnitus and-"

"There is nothing in here that would activate your tinnitus. Tinnitus is when you can't here anything for a brief amount of time, but a loud ringing. It's usually followed after hearing an extremely loud sound. I should know; I went to medical school." Damian stated.

'Shit. My usual tactics won't work here.'

Lila nodded and made her way back to the seat.

"Why shoud I hire you?" The Wayne heir questioned.

Lila fluttered her lashes, "I'm a model for Gabriel Agreste."

"Former model." Damian interjected, "You now model on Instagram and Only Fans."

Lila turned red. She didn't expect them to aware of her new lifestyle.

"Now, Miss Lerouch-" he continued.

Lila paled, "Wh-What did you call me?"

"Cerise Lerouch." Damian stated, "Did you think I would not delve into your background? I have to know who I am working with."

Cerise quickly leaped up from her seat and rushed around the desk.

"Don't touch me." Damian demanded.

"I'll do anything." Cerise cried out, grabbing onto his arm.

The Wayne heir growled, "Let go."

"I can help you relieve stress in other ways, you know." Cerise pleaded.

Damian grabbed her wrist and twisted it behind her back, harshly. Cerise screamed in pain.

"I have no need for whores." Damian spoke.

He grabbed the back of her shirt, arm still twisted, and walked her to his office door. He grabbed the knob and threw her out, in front of his security team.

"Drag this whore out by the hair, if you have too, but I want her off Wayne Enterprise grounds and blacklisted!" Damian shouted.

"Yes, Mr. Wayne." they spoke simultaneously, as he slammed his door shut.

"Shit, I think her arm is broken." the one on the left declared.

"She would call an ambulance?" the one on the right asked.

"Please, help me! It hurts so much!" Cerise begged, cradling her arm.

"You shouldn't have pissed him off." the one on the right declared, "Damian Wayne isn't one to mess around."

A man rushed towards them with medical workers.

"Did you guys call for an ambulance and someone with a broken arm?" the new guy asked.

"No, but perfect timing." the one on the left stated, "Girl with broken arm right here."

Cerise was walked by the waiting room. Inside, she could see Adrien looked horrified before turning to Marinette. She was smiling at her. Then, the baker's daughter flipped her off.

'She knew! That bitch knew how this would end!'

Cerise burst into tears as she was carted off.

"I guess that just leaves you and me, Agreste." Marinette stated.

Adrien began to feel uncomfortable.

"I do hope you do better than they did." She spoke, "For your Father's sake."

"Huh?" Adrien asked, confused.

"Damian Wayne isn't one to back down, not even to his father. He can make his father bow down to him. You have no idea how......attractive that is to a woman, Adrien." Mari smiled, "A man with a spine."

The model gulped, watching Marinette lick her lips.

"You should grow a spine." she declared, "Maybe then your father won't force you to model for him. I' sure that's why Kagami chose Felix over you. Your cousin has a spine. It looks good on him. Maybe, that's why Kagami didn't take my advice on how to get back with you after the break up."

Adrien only looked at her in shocked.

"Alya told me you broke up and I went to see her." Marinette continued, "I tried to help, but she didn't want to. She said it was better that way and well, Felix and you did look alike as teens. The same face with a spine; kind of hard to resist. They're so happy and their twins are adorable."

"Adrien Agreste, Mr. Wayne will see you now." the voice spoke over the intercom.

The model looked over at the designer. She waved at him, but said nothing. Adrien stood up and stood tall.

Adrien walked into Damian's office. It was intimidating; Marinette was right. He was scarier than his father.

"Why should I hire you, Adrien Agreste?" Damian questioned.

"I hate modeling. I prefer computers and science. I want to break free of Gabriel." Adiren admitted, "You don't have to worry about me telling him anything because I never learned anything about fashion. I couldn't even tell you the names of two different shades of fabric. If anyting, you should hire Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Marinette has always been an amazing designer. She was recognized by Father and Style Queen when she was only thirteen. She's the one who would know everything about fashion."

Damian hid his smirk behind his hand and looked down at the papers about Adrien again.

'What a miracle worker you are, Miss Dupain-Cheng. Agreste grew a spine.'

"We may have an internship available in our science department." Damian spoke, "Do you still live with your father?"

"Yes." Adrien spoke.

"We have a company home we prefer our interns reside in." Damian continued.

He noticed Adrien seemed relieved about that.

"The internship isn't a guarantee." The Wayne heir continued, "We need to see you commitment and dedication first hand. If you can't keep up, we'll put you in a different department. If you keep failing to meet our expectations, you'll have no choice but to keep modeling for your father."

"Tell him we'll work with him for one year, as a test." Damian continued, "You have one year to get your affairs in order. You'll need to move in one month from now and if not, consider the contract cancelled. I will inform them you are expected."

"Thank you." Adrien smiled.

Damian waved him off and Adrine walked out of the office, happy.

Marinette stood up when her name was called. As she walked towards the office, she saw Adrien smiling at a paper. She entered the office and closed the door.

"Please sit Miss Dupain-Cheng." Damian ordered.

Marinette immediately took a seat in front of him.

"Why should I hire you?" He questioned.

Mari shrugged, "You don't really have to."

"Oh?" Damian pushed.

"I'm only here for a part time job." the designer answered, "You know, helping out on the floor, coffee grabber, secretary gig. That sort of thing."

"Excuse me?" he asked, shocked, " Aren't you a fashion designer."

"With my own clients and I can pay for my own things." She smiled.

"Then why are you here?" Damian questioned.

Marinette sat back further in the chair and got comfortable, "Play money. I spend my own on my deisgns, fabrics, equipment, rent. Why not have a little extra to treat myself to a night out or a night in, for once?"

That was not the answer he had been expecting.

Damian laughed, "What if I decide to keep you?"

"Keep me as in?" Marinette pushed.

"I decide I want to become one of your clients." he offered.

"Are you offering?" the designer asked, "I've seen some of those suits you wear to galas and it doesn't bring you out to your full potential."

"And that would be?" he asked.

"You're outshined by your father, your older brothers, and the company." She spoke, "You can stand out, but maybe you want to fade into the back, less people to grope you."

Damian chuckled and stood up from his seat. He made his way around the desk and rested on it.

"What would you dress me in, right now?" Damian questioned.

"Depends." Marinette smiled, "Do you always wear a suit to work or are you interested in a change?"

"Tell me about this hypothetical change." He demanded.

"Ever heard of quick change wear?" She asked.

"No." he replied.

"It mainly takes woman into factor. Clothes that can go from working at the office to going out on a date or partying." Mari answered, "Just a few adjustments and possibly a new shade of makeup and usually people tend to think they took all day to get ready."

Damian took what she said into account, "And for men?"

"Most don't really have the option." Marinette shrugged, "Shame, but on you.....your figure. Well, there's nothing sluttier than a man wearing a sleeveless turtleneck."

The Wayne heir couldn't help but think of his old League of Assassin's outfits.

"No one at work would know if you have a blazer on and buttoned." She continued, "It is your office so you can always install a closet here and keep an extra pair of clothes. Jeans, if you prefer. Who is to say that this whole time, you weren't wearing sweatpants and just dressed from the waist up."

He chuckled ather way of thinking.

'Effective, but true not the less. I could kick out anyone who entered my office, should I choose to dress comfortably, and there was a closet hidden behind the cabinets.'

"Another thing most people tend to do is incorporate their culture into their clothing, as well." Marinette spoke, "Personally, I use apple blossoms in most of my designs for myself."

"Miss Dupain-Cheng, you are not what I was expecting." Damian declared, "I like to expect everything."

Mari smiled, "I've been known to be...unpredictable."

"You want to work part time in the fashion section." The Wayne heir stated, "Even if it's just grabbing coffee or lunch for others."

"Correct." she answered.

"Fine." Damian spoke, "You can work here, part time, at least three days a week. I f you have a big comission, I want to know about it. You can keep the details to yourself, but I want a time frame."

Marinette nodded, happily.

"I also want you to make me something to relax in the office that could pass for office wear." he suggested, "I'll pay for fabric of course. I can send you the details of my heritage via email, later."

Marinette stood up, "I'll start on that and bring it by Friday."

Damian grabbed her hand and kissed it, "I'll see you Monday morning, at 9AM, for work. We can go over your schedule then."

Marinette felt her face flush as his lips connected with her hand. His gaze was piercing.

"Yes, Mr. Wayne." She answered, flustered.

Damian waved his hand, dismissing her, but he still followed her to the door.

"You know, Miss Dupain-Cheng." He whispered, pressing himself to her back, "They may not be able to see it, but I see what lurks in the shadows. I can see what you hide there. I can wait a bit longer for the side of you that wants to come out and play."

"Is that so?" Marinette whispered back.

"I'll enjoy getting to know you, in the future." Damian spoke, before opening the door.

Marinette took a breath before she walked out the door.

"Marinette, did you get the job?" Adrien asked.

"Yes." she answered.

The model sighed in relief, "I told him you were good. I told him about Father and Audrey."

"Did you think I wouldn't be able to get it on my own?" Mari questioned.

"That's not what I meant!" Adrien cried, surprised at the question.

"Then, don't belittle me and my work." Marinette declared, "He already knew who I was. The Wayne keep a check on everyone and everything. Did you seriously not expect him to know about our families? He was probably listening to us in the waiting room."

Adrien gulped in response.

"Besides, I wasn't apart of whatever you three were fighting over." Marinette smiled, walking away.

'What did she mean by that?'

Adrien turned to see Damian Wayne leaning against the door, wearing a smirk on his face. Damian took notice of the model and hardened his gaze. Adrien gulped as Damian stood tall and closed his door again.

'What was he staring at?'

Adrien turned his head back down the corridor and saw Marinette speaking to the receptionist.

'He was after Marinette the whole time!'

'He already knew who I was.'

'He was probably listening to us in the waiting room.'

'Besides, I wasn't apart of whatever you three were fighting over.'

TAGLIST: @maribat-calendar-events @animeweebgirl@a-star-with-a-human-name@meme991001@vixen-uchiha@abrx2002@alysrose-starchild@fandom-trapped-03@dood-space@moonlightstar64@saltymiraculer@marveldcedits20@09shell-sea09@icerosecrystal@animegirlweeb@insane-fangirl-of-everything@blueblossombliss@nickristus-dreamer@megawhitleycalderonpaganus@missmadwoman@meira-3919@princessdaisysolosyourfaves@blep-23@fangirlingfanatic@darkhinauniverse@ravenr22@im-a-satanic-ritual@ravennm84@bianca-hooks123@a-slytherinish-gryffindor@starling218

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my exchange gift for the maribat server and specifically for @writingsnippetsthatneverupdate! prompts were "i can't lose you" "you're safe" and adridami! thanks MGI for hosting!

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A Little Birdy Told Me 19

Beginning

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Summary:  Just another day at Gotham Academy, well, Damian wished it was. His acquaintances seem to like to make it anything but.

Damian was not having a good day despite his father’s wishes. For the record, he did try to have a good day, it’s not like he purposefully went into the school with the intent to not, but it seemed like any good luck he had had in the last couple of days (which wasn’t much mind you) ran out. The whispers were what had tipped him off to begin with, usually he could brush them off as nonsensical youth gossip and carry on but the stares coupled with the whispers put him a bit on edge. He hadn’t done anything to his knowledge to warrant the behavior he had observed when he walked in but he didn’t let it show that anything was amiss. He merely strode to his locker and dropped off his afternoon class books before shutting it and locking it swiftly. Damian had tried to be nonchalant about his locker in the beginning, but when it had been broken into in his first week he had been livid, and upgraded the security courtesy of Drake. Apparently some schoolmates just wanted a peek into the newest Wayne’s locker and see if there was anything damning they could use against his Father to sell to some tacky tabloid. Needless to say, he and his father had been less than amused and in Damian’s case, hopeful that he would not have to stay in the ridiculous establishment. 

As he had said, luck was not on his side back then, so why would it be now? 

“Oh our favorite and sometimes benevolent Ice Prince of Gotham Academy.” an annoyingly familiar voice sang out as the body it belonged to slumped against the locker next to Damian’s. “Have you heard the latest gossip, my liege?” 

“Hardy. How many times have I told you I do not listen to drivel?” Damian replied in the most monotone voice he could pull-off. The one that made Drake throw pillows at him because he disliked how robotic it made him sound. 

“Oh, of course, of course Milord. But…this “drivel” as you call it has to do with you.” Claude Hardy, active member of their drama club, well-liked, class clown and as always an avid gossiper told Damian. Damian didn’t talk to him a lot, or well, it was better to say he tried not to. With Hardy came Allegra Vogel: accomplished flutist, ballerina, the queen of gossip and his class’ president, Alan Lopez: writer, soccer player and like his friends Hardy and Vogel, a gossip and Sebastian Allaway: one of the school’s best track members and whose parents own and run The Cottage, the restaurant that replaced Bamonte’s Restaurant after Don Maroni died and The Maroni Family dissolved (assumedly). An odd group of…almost friends, more so associates maybe to him, he wasn’t sure yet if they were friends but Damian would admit they were entertaining at the least.

“Can you never just get to the point, Claude?” The newest addition to the friend group, and Damian’s associate circle asked dramatically. Damian’s gaze shifted to look over at Gotham Academy’s latest transfer Chloé Bourgeois. Nicknamed Queen Bee by the friend group, but Damian noticed she always smiled sadly when she was called that. Perhaps her friends noticed too because Queen Bee quickly shortened to just Queenie. Both nicknames were ridiculous if you asked Damian, he somewhat disliked nicknames. It was fine when Dick did it, because he did it out of affection, Jason did it to be a dick and Tim did it to be annoying. Well that was his theory in any case. 

“You missed it too Queenie!” Hardy helpfully pointed out. 

“Traffic was worse than usual but I’m not that late Drama King. English hasn’t even begun.” Bourgeois snarked back.

“Bourgeois has a point. The school day has barely begun, how have we missed anything vital?” Damian asked with a furrowed brow as he closed his locker and led the group in the direction of their English class. 

“It’s sad how you both don’t get here early enough to socialize like proper socialites,” Hardy sighed dramatically before he perked up and looked at them with a glint in his eye. One Damian was not a fan of as it often painted trouble for him. “That class exchange thing, the one Damian’s father is funding, the class arrived the other day and oh boy was Headmaster Hammer not amused!”

Damian stiffened but kept walking, the news startled him but he was not going to let it show. He could not let anyone know he knew about the class already and especially not about Marinette. “Oh? I thought they were supposed to start next week? That’s what Father said. I would also like to point out that one cannot be late to gossip as I was not here to begin with.”

“Exactly. At least Wayne has brain cells that work.” Bourgeois teased. 

“Are we teasing Claude?” And now another person was walking with them and Damian had to resist the urge to sigh loudly. It was too early to be this social. 

“Don’t we always Allegra?” Bourgeois asked as though the answer was obvious which to be fair it was. The group did tease Claude an absurd amount, but he just made it so easy. 

“Oh yes of course. How silly of me to forget.” The other blonde responded with a teasing laugh.

“Why are you guys so cruel? I’m just here, existing. I’m just a little guy.” Claude pouted. 

“You are taller than us.” Damian pointed out a bit bitterly. He was of average height for his age but it seemed like a lot of his male classmates surpassed average in grade school. 

“ANYWAY. Sir Ice Prince and Queenie, you both weren’t here on Friday-” 

“I had an appointment, I told the group this on Thursday.” Bourgeois interjected.

“I didn’t want to leave Richard alone after what happened at Wayne Tower on Thursday so my father excused me from class.” Damian threw in, in some way it was the truth. Dick had been rather…wound up after the situation at the Tower and the run in with Brat Chat hadn’t helped anything. He may be playing it off but Damian knew his older brother well and he knew that Dick was holding everything in still. So it was no surprise that Dick was sticking around Marinette more than the rest of them. He was worried about the girl, that much was clear and it didn’t take a genius to guess it was because he felt responsible for her being Fear Toxined when he was there and able to do something, but the fact of the matter was there really wasn’t much he could have done. Dick was stubborn though and would continue to blame himself until Dupain-Cheng was safe or until Damian could beat sense into him. He had no problem exercising the second option. Dick was too hard on himself. 

“That’s understandable. How is he doing?” Vogel asked softly. 

“Better.” He replied honestly. 

“I’m glad Dick is doing better, but you and Chloé really did miss one hell of an…interesting day.” Hardy continued. Damian merely hummed in response, he knew it was futile to try and argue that he was not interested because Hardy didn’t care. Or just didn’t believe him; either option was equally annoying. “Like I said, that French class the school is doing the exchange with arrived on Friday. Like the whole class. I can tell you guys now, they did not make a good impression on our dear schoolmates.”

“Oh…yeah…the class exchange. You said they’re French?” Bourgeois asked nonchalantly, though Damian could see her body stiffen as stutter as they walked before she collected herself. 

“Yeah. I thought they’d be nice to speak with. Especially this small group that had been discussing music but…” Vogel scrunched her nose up, it made her distaste well-known. Though, Vogel was not one to hide how she felt to begin with so the expression wasn’t a surprise. Especially to Damian who had knowledge of the class already and he knew he wouldn’t like most, if not all of them. “Instead of telling me about their songs and band and such they only spoke about this girl in their class. I swear, you would think she was newly Sainted or the like with how they looked at her and talked about her. It was like experiencing a cult without actually being in the cult.”

“Oh yeah. It was some real Jim Jones’ shit.” Hardy readily agreed.

“Language.” Damian couldn’t help but quip. He was too used to telling Jason, Tim and Steph that so they would have to add to Alfred’s ‘Swear Jar.’ 

“And the teacher acted like their behavior was normal!” Hardy continued as though he hadn’t heard Damian. Brat. “She acted like they were perfect little angels.”

“It was disturbing.” Vogul shook her head.

“The teacher…” Bourgeois was inspecting her nails, feigning disinterest but Damian could see the subtle shake in her hand. “What was her name?”

“Why? Think it might be your old one Queenie?” Hardy asked with a smile but the twitch of his brows told Damian he was worried about the answer Bourgeois might give. “What are the chances of that?”

“Just- What was her name, Claude?” 

“Uh, something with a ‘B.’”

“You’re beyond help Claude. How do you not remember?” Vogel asked.

“Look. In my defense, I don’t like her and I don’t pay attention to things I don’t like nor care for.”

“You’re horrible. Her name was Caline Bustier. Her class was supposed to be placed in ours but apparently now, that’s not even certain. I think I heard someone say Headmaster Hammer was not at all pleased with how they came in and demanded their schedules. I guess their class president was supposed to be present but she was not there. Word on the street and from the horse’s mouth is that she went missing after the whole Two-Face, Scarecrow situation at The Tower.” Vogel was as connected as ever. Damian was impressed she had all that info already given it had only been a few days since everything went down. Not to mention a weekend passed, which meant some of her sources were not available to talk with, or so Damian assumed. She probably had them all on speed dial for all he knew.

Another thing he observed? All of them looked at him like he had answers. He did, but he wasn’t going to say anything, it was for Marinette’s safety after all. So he sighed like he did best, “Even if I knew something, I wouldn’t tell you.”

They nodded. “Fair.” Hardy said with a shrug, he was used to those kinds of answers. He would have to be since he had been bugging Damian since he started at Gotham Academy. 

Bourgeois had stopped walking and though he wanted to just head into the classroom, it was quite literally fifteen steps away from them and if he went ahead it would be incredibly rude to ignore whatever was bothering the girl. Alfred impressed upon him how a gentleman behaved and leaving Bourgeois in this situation was most definitely against Alfred’s teachings. As though the man himself was watching him, Damian stopped walking and barely held in his complaints. His grandpa was terrifying when he wanted to be, especially when it came to manners. Damian shuddered at the memories of Alfred’s etiquette training but managed to hide it as he turned to face Bourgeois who honestly looked close to passing out right there in the middle of the hallway. “Bustier?” She gasped.

“Chloe?” Vogel asked as she placed a hand on the other blonde’s shoulder. 

“Oh my god, they are your old class.” It was a statement rather than a question from Hardy. The Style Queen Heiress’s reaction was all the answer they needed but she did give a stiff nod. The answer was…interesting to say the least but it also put Damian on edge. If that was her old class then she must have known about Lila Rossi, granted she had been at their school for about a year now but due to the family’s research, Damian knew the Lila situation had been going on for about four years. So Bourgeois had been in that class when it was happening, Damian knew the school sounded familiar, he just couldn’t remember why. He, of course, had done his own research into Chloé Bourgeois when she had been announced as the new transfer student but admittedly he hadn’t dug too far as Dick and Alfred told him that was not the way to make friends. He couldn’t help being cautious, it was a skill he had to learn very early in the League, so anyone new that came into his life he couldn't help but be suspicious of.

Honestly, he did the bare basics of a background research on Bourgeois that the fact he was being surprised by a fact he could have found out if it weren’t for ‘manners’ and ‘courtesy’, he would have found out about Bustier’s class before the exchange program was finalized. He could have prevented so many annoyances by arguing with his father about them. Though that would have meant never meeting Dupain-Cheng… he didn’t know how to feel about that. “We can speak about this after class. The bell is about to ring and I for one would rather not be counted late while I have the ability to be on time in mere steps.” Damian announces as he walked on, he would gather whatever information he could from Bourgeois at lunch, he had time. 

_______________________

[LUNCH]

Chloé took a deep breath in to calm herself for what felt like the millionth time that day. Ever since she found out her former class was the one that won the spot for the Gotham Education Exchange she had felt like her heart was about to beat out of her chest all day. She didn’t want to face them, she wasn’t ready to face them, ever since her move to Gotham Chloé had changed and she knew it was for the better. There was no Hawkmoth in Gotham, so no reason to not feel, and well, Jean-Claude made her go to therapy and though she found it ridiculous to begin with, she had to admit it did actually help if you put the work in. It was the end of collège for her when she realized just how absolutely miserable she was. Her parents’ fighting had gotten worse, her classmates were all sheep, she knew that before but she thought they had grown some kind of backbone when Marinette started standing up for herself but then that liar joined the class and things changed. It was terrifying to see just how fast everyone turned on the person they called their ‘Everyday Ladybug’. If they turned on her that fast, what would happen to Chloé? 

What happened was nothing she hadn’t expected. Much like Dupain-Cheng she had been sent to the back, at first she had been there with Sabrina but by 4’eme* the redhead had left her. She had the mercy of not being targeted by some of the classmates “pranks” like Dupain-Cheng had been but no one spoke to her, no one acknowledged her unless they absolutely had to. Chloé had tried to get her dad to do something about it but that was when he and her mother’s fights started getting bad and they paid less attention to her. The only one who seemed to care what was happening to her was Jean-Claude, he tried to help as best he could but there was only so much he could do. She thought Mme Bustier would do something as she had always been on her side but when Chloé tried to complain she was hit with that good old infamous ‘good example’ bullshit. It was like a slap to the face. Usually hearing that would have brought a smug smile to her face because it wasn’t her getting that talk, she was the one who got her way and the others were supposed to be the ‘good examples’. 

It threw her for a fucking loop is what it did and it sent her in a deep depression. She was so used to getting her way by throwing tantrums, throwing money or just in general throwing something someone’s way, then all of a sudden she couldn’t get her way by doing what she used to do and she was lost, utterly lost. Her mother and dad kept fighting, sometimes she expected it to get physical with how close both got to one another while shouting and maybe that was the one saving grace that never happened but she never wanted to see her mother throw her heels at her dad ever again. That was as physical as it had gotten and it scared her because one of those times one of the heels almost hit her when she tried to enter the room and beg them to stop fighting. That was the last time she tried. By her last year, 3’eme, they had at least taken to fighting with each other through their assistants and poor Jean-Claude in a ridiculous imitation of Mlle Sancoeur (she never did like when Chloé called her by her first name despite the fact she has known her since Chloé was in diapers.) But when they got lawyers involved they didn’t fight over one thing, one important thing, her. 

No. She was thrown around like the shared house furniture trying to be divided, except where they argued about who kept what piece of furniture, they argued why the other should keep her. They did it with her in the room. It was then that she realized that neither of her parents’ really loved her, oh she always knew with her mother there was never any love, but when her dad didn’t fight for her? It hurt more than she cared to admit and that was the day of her final akumatization, Folk-Tail. From pictures she had seen her hair had grown down to her feet in its ponytail but it took on the likeness of a scorpion’s tail, her skin had turned gray but it looked like she had cried after just putting on mascara that was definitely not waterproof since she had black streaks starting from her eyes going down her face, she wore what she always imagined Princess Potentilla wore when she was made to live in the small house by her jealous mother and on top of her ponytail sat a crown of forget-me-nots. The tale of Princess Potentilla and Prince Narcissus had always been her favorite fairytale. It was no surprise that her akuma had been fairytale based since at that moment in time all she had wanted was for her life to be like the fairytales Jean-Claude had often read to her. She just wanted a happy ending. 

Apparently her power was to assign roles to people, roles of famous fairy tale characters or creatures that she felt they reflected. Since she herself had been a sad reflection of Potentilla, her father was of course King Cloverleaf and her mother Queen Frivola. Those she did not personally know were given basic roles like a villager or the like. She had gotten to most of her class given they were hanging out at the park that day in celebration of their last year of collège. It was no surprise that she found out Lila had been turned into the Big Bad Wolf, what did surprise her was that she had hit Dupain-Cheng and the girl had become Melinette, the helpful, powerful fairy from her favorite story. It shouldn’t have been so surprising and yet it was. It was after she had been defeated that she reflected on it all, her akuma had been surprisingly truthful with what she herself felt but was too scared to acknowledge. Her father was only interested in what had his attention like the glory of being Mayor and his true love running his hotel much like King Cloverleaf loved being King but only because it gave him the means to hunt to his full pleasure. Her mother was a vain woman who cared too much about her reputation much like Queen Frivola who thought herself the most beautiful woman and threw the most lavish balls but when she saw the beauty of her daughter, she hid her from the kingdom out of jealousy. She had no Prince Narcissus. Yet she had Marinette, determined, helpful, kind Marinette who was very much like Melinette, the fairy who raised the Prince. 

If she had hit Hawkmoth with her ‘tail’ he for sure would have been Grumedan the Evil Enchanter. It was that akumatization and everything else going on around her that made her snap. She didn’t want to be like her mother or her father. Hell, she had spent so many years trying to be like her mother in an attempt to get the woman to just get her name right! Chloé didn’t even know who she really was but she wanted to find out and she knew that wouldn’t happen in Paris. She broke down to Jean-Claude about it all, she cried for the first time in a long time, she didn’t care if she got akumatized again, she wanted to cry, she needed to cry. That was when Jean-Claude took charge, he yelled at her parents, demanded a meeting with them and the lawyers outside of Paris because he knew emotions would be high and he demanded parental rights over Chloé. In some ways it shocked her and at the same time it didn’t because he was always the one taking care of her. He wanted her. He cared for her. Chloé had zoned out after his demand because she was just so overwhelmed, someone actually wanted her; she missed the fight and following negotiations. Since her parents didn’t want to take care of her Jean-Claude would be her parent, they wouldn’t change her name since Jean-Claude fully expected her parents to still provide for her.

Oh she knew they fought that with everything they had but Jean-Claude told her after the fact that he essentially blackmailed them. If they provided for her by sending money to her and Jean-Claude after their move and if they kept her as their heir for their respective businesses until she was old enough to decide if she wanted to take over either business, then he wouldn’t go to the media with some illegal stuff he knew had gone on and absolute neglect the put their child through. They folded quickly since there was nothing more important to Audrey and André Bourgeois than their reputations. Before she knew it, after all the necessary paperwork was completed, she and Jean-Claude moved in with his sister Margot in Gotham, New Jersey. It was quite the move and it was hard to adjust but Jean-Claude was patient with her but firm, they arrived in the summer which was the perfect time for her to start therapy apparently. She thought it would be hard adjusting to Gotham and its unique brand of crime but it really wasn’t. Costumed weirdos running around causing havoc? Old news. No Miraculous Cure? Now that, that was scary and took time getting used to. 

All in all she thought she was getting better and growing. She had friends, actual friends! She liked hanging out with them, listening to them, just in general being with them, she didn’t have to fake anything around them. Sure she had a hard time with Damian but that was just because he was so standoffish and kind of reminded her of Felix which wasn’t great but she was starting to separate the two in her mind. Though both boys were fond of their families, Damian wasn’t as conniving as Felix nor as fake, he was simply blunt and in some way it was refreshing. She liked their little odd group of friends and one acquaintance who was becoming a friend and she didn’t want anything ruining it. Especially not her old class but she was still fragile and they had the power to set her back and she didn’t want that at all. But Chloé Bourgeois was not someone who bowed to anyone and she wouldn’t start now but…she would talk to Jean-Claude about it all and maybe see if her therapist would be available for more sessions or even on speed dial. 

“Chloé?” Allegra’s voice tore through the murky fog that her thoughts had become and she finally realized she had somehow made it to their table. 

“Hey. You okay Chlo?” Sebastian asked. 

“This is about your former class, is it not?” Damian asked but the way he said it made it sound like it wasn’t a question. It made her wince.

“Damian. A little more tact next time please.” Allegra said as she pinched the bridge of her nose. 

“But he’s not wrong is he?” Claude asked next. 

Chloé looked at her friends and tried to swallow the lump that had formed in her throat, her hands clenched and unclenched around her lunch tray that she hadn’t noticed she didn’t set down and she took in another deep breath. “I am…I’m scared. I was not the best person to them as I’ve told you all before, I was a bully. But towards the end of my years with that class things changed. They changed. They didn’t speak to me. At all. Me and Mari-another classmate, we were isolated, basically banished to the back to be all but forgotten. Well…I was. Dupai-the other classmate, she wasn’t as…fortunate?”

“Fortunate?” Allan echoed.

Chloé nodded. “I would take my fate over hers any day. I was forgotten in a way, but they did bad talk me and insult me when they knew I could hear but they never acknowledged my existence. It was like I wasn’t there in the room while they were talking. But Ma-my classmate, they bullied her, worse than I ever did and I admit I bullied her for years. While I did it out of jealousy and to just get her mad or in trouble, they did it to break her. I did nothing to help. I was going through things, yes, but that’s no excuse and I don’t know how I’m going to face any of them.” 

It was quiet. Awkwardly quiet. Chloé was close to just pushing away from the table and just storming out because everything she was feeling was too much but a small yet loud ‘Hm’ stopped her and called her attention. It came from Damian who was staring at her with his calculating eyes that gave her the creeps from time to time. It was like he was trying to pull your secrets out of you with his eyes. She stared back at him as he stared at her and leaned his elbows on the table, interlocking his fingers and resting his face on his hands. “So you know Lila Rossi. Tell me about her and everything she’s done to Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

Well that was not what Chloé expected him to say.

________________________

Chloe Bourgeois

@Bee-utifulMe

School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready to call my therapist.

#imdonewithtoday #gothamacademy #itsbarelynoon 

💞MAPS💞

@ImTheMapImTheMap

RE: Chloe Bourgeois

       @Bee-utifulMe

[School is barely halfway over and I’m already ready…]

Mood.

#Iwasnotpreparedforthatenglishtest #TTuTT 

Notes: 

*4'eme (3'eme) are the last two level of schooling in college (French schooling). College typically goes from ages 11-15, 4'eme is for those 13-14, 3'eme is 14-15.

Prince Narcissus and The Princess Potentilla is a fairy tale that you can read here if you would like context -> HERE

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