#and sees dami sparring with tim or someone

[sleepy-writes-stuff]

I love the tags!

I want a story where DC learns about DP because of Wulf.

Wulf is just chilling when Damian comes across him.

Maybe, at first, he assumes Wulf is like Killer Croc, but when he gets closer Wulf stays calm.

Of course, Wulf only/mainly speaks Esperanto. This leads to Damian deciding to learn the language, so he speak to his new friend.

But also, Damian is his father's son, so he ends up trying to sneak Wulf into the manor.

Eventually, Danny comes looking for Wulf because he's worried and that's how the Bats end up finding out about ghosts and the Anti-Ecto Acts.

[to-the-stars8]

Learning to Love Slowly

Jason Todd x Reader All Chapters AO3

55- Circus Acts and Stitches

You clapped when Dick landed on his feet effortlessly, showing you that even though he was taken out of the circus there was no taking the circus out of him. Jason threw a sly comment across the Batcave about how his tricks were what tipped Tim off, and that, at the end of the day, would probably be the source of uncovering all their identities. Dick didn’t pay any attention to him, instead going back onto the uneven bars, while you turned back to Jason. 

He was sitting in the med bay with Bruce stitching up a cut he had gotten on his arm while sparring with Damian—Jason wasn’t ashamed of getting cut by his younger brother, and even complimented Damian’s growth after he had told him off. 

“How’s he doin’, Mr. Wayne,” You asked, getting up from your spot to wander over. 

Bruce chuckled, “He’ll live.” He turned to his youngest son who was sitting nearby cleaning his blade. “Any deeper, though, Damian, and you would have cut an artery. You need to be more careful when sparring.”

“You can’t blame me for his lack of speed,” The little boy said nonchalantly. “The bigger ones move slower.” 

“You better watch that fuckin' mouth—” Jason started to say before Bruce gave him a pointed look. 

You finally managed to reach Jason before he could get up to return the favor when Damian stuck his tongue out tauntingly, pressing a kiss to his temple to calm him. “Let’s see the damage.” 

Peering over, you could see a long cut on Jason’s arm that would no doubt turn into a scar, no matter how well Bruce could stitch up an arm. The sight made your stomach churn, but you made sure to not let Jason know by smiling up at him.

Your eyes then flickered over to Damian. It was a bit obvious to you that he felt bad about hurting his brother and that he was trying to cover up just how much he cared. Damian was sitting too close for someone who supposedly was proud of his win and his eyes kept looking at Jason’s arm with flashes of guilt, though his face was motionless as he kept his facade of indifference. 

“You got ‘em pretty good, Dami,” You said. 

Damian only nonchalantly said, “Yeah.”

Jason’s eyes looked to you before Damian. He tried to jokingly say, “When I brush up on my stealth, kid, watch your ass.” 

“Jay…” Bruce said, tone thick with a readied reprimand, as he finished up on his son's arm. 

When Jason was all wrapped up and looking as he did before sparring, Damian seemed to relax a little. You reached over and ruffled his hair, whispering that it was okay. All the while, Bruce told Jason the same tale of how to take care of his wound, it sounding more like another lecture than advice. 

“Fuck, it’s hot as hell down here,” He said suddenly, wanting to just stop his endless talking. “Wanna go for ice cream, babe?”

“I wanna go for ice cream,” Dick said as he swung upside-down from one of the bars.  

Jason opened his mouth before closing it again, taking a second to think about what he wanted to say before finally coming out with it. “As long as you’re not gonna do any circus acts, you can come.”

The amount of joy and surprise on Dick’s face told you that it must have been the first time in a while that Jason had willingly let him accompany him anywhere. When he turned to Damian and invited him, the look reflected Dick’s. Surprise, though with a hint of underlying suspicion that sparkled in his green eyes. 

Cooly, he responded, “You’re not planning on some sort of retaliation, hm? This has to be a trick.”

You looked up at Jason, “You better not be.”

“No! No. I just want some fucking ice cream, I swear on my own grave,” He said, mumbling an apology afterward to Bruce who grimaced. 

Damian finally relented, sliding off his chair after putting his sword to the side, though not without a threat that if it was a trick the cut would be worse than before. Jason looked to you for strength before thinning his lips to keep an insult from passing through them. That little boy had a thing for testing every nerve. It gave him pause for a moment, wondering if he had been the same way as Robin.

Dick, overjoyed, hopped off the bars with an extravagant flip. Clapping again, you went over to him to ask him about it, leaving Jason with Bruce and Damian. 

Jay sighed before looking down at his younger brother. “Damian, you don’t have to worry about hurting me. There are no hard feelings. If there were, I’d let you know. And, I...I’m sorry for what I said to you earlier, too. I’m too grown to be talking to you like that.”

Jason surprised himself with his apology and consolation toward his younger brother. It left him to wonder if what he had said to Damian was your influence or something he wished had been said to him when he was younger.

Damian was quiet for a moment, not sure how to respond before finally mumbling something about how he wasn’t worried about Jason being hurt and that his words had little effect on him. Still, his words must have had some effect since his little brother was now sticking around a little closer with more comfort. 

“Are you coming, too,” Jay asked Bruce. 

As quick as Catwoman’s whip, he turned around, “Me?” 

“I mean, who else? You should know that if you come you’re paying, so…” Jason looked down, expecting Bruce to decline with some poor excuse. Instead, the words that hit Jason’s ears sounded so different.

No, not different, he quickly decided, familiar. 

Bruce sounded like Dad again. “I think we can squeeze it into the budget. Let me get my keys and wallet.”

Jason nodded, watching his father walk away before looking over to see Dick attempting to get you to grab onto the uneven bars, to which he was threatened with no ice cream if he continued. Dick pulled away, mumbling about how his little brother was no fun, as you hopped away talking about how excited you were for ice cream. Damian was quick to show off his skills of flips and tricks, all of them Dick’s old moves, which impressed you immensely. 

Jason found himself liking the way you were immersing yourself into his family—better yet, into this life. You acted as if all of this was normal, taking it all with the love and acceptance you could muster. He realized that you were unintentionally reminding him that this life wasn’t always black and blue bruises with bloody cuts. It was family—love.  

[theredheaded-stuff]

Batfam on a mission and being attacked by LOA assassins and them taking them all out except they notice Dami not trying to take out his opponent but merely playing with them (not toying with but actually having fun sparring sort of fun). The Batfam intervene and Damian quickly defends them before revealing their identity as his twin sister, Athanasia. Damian manages to convince Athanasia to come back to the cave with them, on the ride back although they are sitting quietly the Batfam can easily tell the twin are, as they assume, communicating through twin telepathy.

How does the Batfam react to Damian revealing he has a twin sister born of both Bruce and Talia?

How does the Batfam react to Damian and Athanasia’s twin telepathy?

Damian was having fun "fighting" Athanasia, like they used to do when they were kids, Batfamily is very confused.

Jason didn't seem surprised, after all he's lived with both of them since they were babies (at least before coming to Gotham) he has fond memories of telling the story to the twins and they both talk about the story with each other.

Bruce looked at Damian in a questioning way, no one can say what feelings he was feeling at that moment, Athanasia decided to take a step forward and make it clear that she didn't go before because she didn't want/ was having some trouble since she feel a little guilty with let Mara "alone"

Dick smiled at both twins, it was easy to see the way they protected each other and would do anything for the other's well being, he was proud that Damian and Athanasia have another youngest in the family doesn't sound so bad

Barbara as soon as Athanasia got more comfortable started braiding the girl's hair, that was fun for both of them, Barbara used to play with Cass' hair so the feeling was good, While Athanasia remembered when Damian made a point of learning to braid hair simply to "make her hair beautiful".

Stephanie and Athanasia? Bond through Athanasia talking about funny or embarrassing happenings from Damian and her childhood, Damian face is red? Yes but is happy with the situation.

Duke and Alfred are preparing some extra food while asking if Athanasia has any restrictions or favorite foods, it turns out that Athanasia has some very different tastes than Damian.

While Damian doesn't like sweets that much and prefers to eat them with cinnamon if he does, Athanasia loves sweets and would totally eat any sweet with strawberry syrup.

Tim and Athanasia prove to be both coffee lovers, Tim is happy that someone "is like him" Bruce is worried about someone else getting addicted to coffee in the house, Damian prefers tea.

Cass and Athanasia started practicing dance moves together, apparently both are unbeatable with classical ballet! Barbara's eyes are shining with pride, Barbara helped make the bun in both hair.

Both Twins Love Alfred's Cookies

Athanasia reminds Bruce a lot of Talia, but he's born with his eye color, he's amazed, but sometimes it does Bruce miss Talia a lot.

( I answered the first ask about how to handle the powers in the last post)

Thanks for the ask darling

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Into The Unknown, Part 32

First

Previous

Marinette hugged Damian around his waist, her head resting on top of his. She’d had a long day at work – being a secretary wasn’t easy, especially not when you’re working for someone as important as Bruce Wayne – and she had figured that the best way to relax was to attach herself to her kid.

She hummed, watching as he drew. He’d been steadily improving, especially over the past month or so. What had been the vaguest of blobs had steadily transformed into things. Recognizable things, even. Most of the subjects of his works were just things he saw around the house or, occasionally, animals.

She yawned quietly and closed her eyes, letting time pass her by as she recharged.

The door swung open and she pulled herself back to attention. Tim spared her a grimace as he walked in, and she noticed he had a slight limp. Her eyes flicked over him in search of a visible injury, but either it wasn’t too bad or he had hid it too well for her to find it.

“Are you okay?”

He dropped his duffel bag on the ground and, after closing and locking the door, started trudging over. “Good news is Steph has gotten past the ‘freeze’ response.”

“Bad news is…?” She said slowly, watching him grab an ice pack from the freezer.

“She throws a mean punch,” he grumbled.

“You could’ve blocked it.”

“It’s the first one she’s thrown during a sparring session,” he sighed. “Avoiding it might have discouraged her.”

She shook her head just slightly, amused. He huffed quietly and clambered into bed, then held his hands out for Damian.

“It’s my turn on the baby.”

(Marinette was pretty sure English wasn’t supposed to work like that, but who was she to argue with a native speaker?)

She stuck her tongue out at him, hugging Damian tighter. “Screw you. Hug your ice pack.”

He glared at her for a moment, before something seemed to hit him. He wrapped his arms around both of them and started dragging them into his lap. Marinette squeaked in surprise while Damian complained about how they were “messin’ my pictuwe!”

Tim paid this no mind, lazily resting his head on her shoulder. “Now I have a baby and a Baby,” he said and she didn’t have to look at him to know he had the smuggest grin on his face.

“You’re the worst. Right, Dami?”

“Wowst!” Damian agreed, nodding fervently, much to Tim’s dismay and Marinette’s eternal amusement.

He squeezed them tighter. “Stop turning Dami against me.”

“Stop sucking,” she huffed, but she settled down in his arms and Damian quickly followed suit. For a few moments, the only sound in the room was the quiet scratching of Damian’s colored pencils and their steady breathing. Then, she said: “‘Baby’?”

He snickered quietly. “What? All the sappy couples have terrible nicknames. It’s good for our cover. Want a different one?”

“Ava and Paige are going to hate us more,” Marinette said, grinning now. “And, yes, at least go with something that doesn't make me think of our child.”

He hummed, leaning his head against hers. “I called you darling a while back and you seemed fine with it. Sound good?”

She felt her face redden just slightly and she leaned into him as well. “I mean, sure, but what’s with the sudden interest in our covers? No one’s even questioned us yet.”

“Don’t like your use of ‘yet’,” he teased lightly. “And… I don’t know. It just sunk in, I guess.”

She blinked and craned her neck to look at him, but he was looking down at what Damian was drawing without really seeing. “Are you serious? It’s been, like, two years. It’s taken that long for it to sink in that we’re doing this?”

“Not what I’m talking about.”

Her eyebrows disappeared behind her hairline and she tried to get something from his expression, but he was either calm or carefully managing it.

Then, suddenly, his eyes lit up. “Have you seen what Dami’s drawing?”

Normally, Marinette wouldn’t be distracted so easily, but she happened to glance down and a gasp escaped her lips.

Damian had decided to draw the stereotypical family portrait that every kid in every movie did, the three vaguely humanoid figures (painstakingly labeled ‘tim’, ‘mari’, and ‘me’ in the shakiest lettering she had ever seen) all holding hands. The sun in the corner had sunglasses, a classic. The flowers doodled at their feet were almost as tall as Damian was.

She squeezed him tighter, unable to keep the smile on her face. “Cutie,” she cooed.

“I call dibs on keeping it in my wallet.”

“No, it’s mine, I want it on my desk,” Marinette said.

“Spar me for it?” Tim responded, pressing a tiny kiss to her shoulder. “It’s only fair.”

“Not at all! I’m out of practice and you know it!”

“And I’m injured,” he argued, but she could feel him grinning against her skin.

She huffed. “Keep this up and you’ll be even more injured.”

“Threatening domestic violence? How terrible of you, darling.”

Marinette’s voice squeaked.

Tim did a cartoonishly evil laugh. “The picture’s mine!”

“Hey, wait a minute –!”

~

Tim sat at the counter, his eyebrows furrowed together as he searched through webpage after webpage.

They had agreed to start Damian’s schooling early for many reasons.

The main one was that they needed him to be educated if they even wanted to have a chance of fooling Bruce and even if they could have somehow taught him at the insanely accelerated pace that he had had in his original life… they found that they didn’t want to. There was no way in hell that they would put that much stress on a child, and especially not their child. So, this was the next best thing. Start his schooling when he was only just about to be three, maybe do some tutoring at home, and hope that’ll somehow be enough to fool the World’s Greatest Detective.

(A smaller, only slightly less important reason included the fact that he would look so cute in a uniform.)

“Should we do a private school?” Asked Marinette, looking over his shoulder as she attempted to do a French braid in Damian’s hair in hopes that it might help alleviate the frizziness.

He considered this. Money wasn’t a problem, WE was exceptionally generous and paid for the schooling of their workers’ kids, but…

“I dunno, he’d have to get in,” Tim said, sighing and closing his laptop.

She hummed a little in understanding. “Don’t get how they expect a portfolio from a two-year-old.”

He snickered quietly, spinning the barstool around to look at them. Marinette had, somehow, managed to make a somewhat nice braid circling his head and was now carefully setting little snippets of her herbs in his hair.

There was a couple of moments where Tim wondered if she would murder him if he messed up Damian’s hair. He looked at her concentrated face, lips pursed in the slightest of frowns and eyes narrowed carefully, and he decided that the answer was probably.

She finished after a couple more moments and held up her phone to take a picture of Damian, who smiled widely the moment he realized what she wanted, and then turned the phone to show him. Damian gasped, eyes wide, then beamed even more, turning to show Tim the phone.

Tim smiled and barely stopped himself from ruffling his hair on instinct, instead opting to pick him up and kiss his nose.

Damian giggled and squirmed in his grip until he could lean forward and wrap his arms around Tim’s neck in a hug.

Marinette pouted playfully. “I do all that work and he hugs you?”

Tim could only shrug helplessly and return the hug. “I mean, it all paid off, I think, you can hardly even tell his hair is frizzy… but do you think you’ll be able to do all that in the morning?”

“Definitely not. ” She sighed. “And, I guess, with how much stuff he does at the daycare it would probably get undone pretty quick… unless I can get Ava to protect him…? No, she has other things to do… but…” Marinette descended into mumbling.

Tim, however, made up for her quieting by gasping loudly as an idea hit him. “Your friend, Ava, works in a daycare, right? Think she has any experience with the whole ‘preschool portfolios’ thing?”

Marinette’s head jerked up in surprise before her eyes lit up. “It’s gotta be worth a shot, right?”

~

Marinette blinked as a phone screen was shoved in her face, jerking her head back slightly so she could actually see what was on it.

“... no,” she said, glancing away from the screen just in time to watch Tim’s smile drop.

“Aw, why?” He complained. “I’ve never been to one before!”

Marinette didn’t question why. Tim was plenty rich enough in the other world to go to ball games, so it was either due to his terrible parents or because Gotham was a terrible place without any fun. Instead, she just sighed and said: “I’ve watched a baseball game before, it’s so boring. Trust me, you’re not missing out.”

Tim huffed and put his phone away. “C’mon, it’s almost my birthday!”

“It’s almost my birthday, too. And, actually, my birthday is first so mine supersedes yours. Loser.”

He pouted and slumped beside her on the couch, practically boneless, until he could rest his head on her lap. “Not how it works.”

She snickered, absently running the hand that wasn’t absently scrolling down the Interflix home page in search of something interesting through his hair. “Dami would hate us if we went, y’know.”

He, somehow, managed to sink further. “Not like one of our friends couldn’t babysit him…”

Marinette looked down at him, which was definitely a mistake because he was giving her what had to be the best puppy eyes she’d ever seen.

He latched onto the weakness immediately, grabbing her hand and giving a pleading expression. “C’mon, it’s just one night, right?”

… so that was how she ended up at the baseball stadium, wearing an overlarge Gotham Knights jersey (courtesy of Tim, who she doubted even knew who the player on her back was). She tugged at the weird-feeling fabric, trying to figure out why people paid so much for them, only to nearly get tackled out of her seat by an overexcited Tim.

She barely caught herself before they could crash into the person next to them and he had the decency to give a sheepish smile before handing over the cotton candy he had promised.

They settled down in their seats. Tim had suggested ‘offhandedly’ mentioning that they were going to a ballgame to Bruce to see if the man paid for front row seats for them, but she had socked him in the arm for the suggestion. So, they were currently about as far back as they could be while still being able to see the field.

“I still hate you, you know,” she said, though her glare was diminished by the fact that her face was buried in a fluffy pink mess of cotton candy.

Tim grinned, tearing off a piece for himself and tugging her closer.

The game was dreadfully boring. Marinette understood playing them, but sitting still and watching other people play baseball just made her feel weird and antsy.

But, she glanced over at Tim and saw him at rapt attention, leaning forward in his seat as much as he could without dragging her forward as well as he watched everything play out. His eyes were curved into a bright smile as they followed the ball around the field.

… maybe it wasn’t so bad, she thought, focusing on her cotton candy once again.

… but also if Tim ever tried to get her to go to a ballgame again she was going to jump from whatever seats he bought for them.

~~~~~

Next

@unoriginalmess @hammalammadamdam @astrynyx @laurcad123 @927roses-and-stuff @toodaloo-kangaroo @queenz-z @imarivers8 @jeminiikrystal @adrestar @twsssmlmaa @literaryhiraeth @trippingovermyfeet @ev-cupcake

[mxddyhero]

i bring you some batmankai thoughts:

1) Dami sparring with Guy-san

2) Juza using the batfam as inspiration for Fallen Blood reruns (also just Juza respecting the fuck out of the fam)

3) Tim and Banri unable to stand each other because recognition through one another (derogatory)

4) Sakoda meeting Jason "Crime Boss" Todd

Cam your mind... >>>

AND THANK YOU SO MUCH FOR THE ASK,, I AM LIVING, BREATHING, EXISITING SOLELY FOR THIS AU NOW SO TYSM FOR INDULGING ME 🙏💕🙏

Also I saw you've been thinking about this since 2019 holy shit,, please share any more thoughts/ideas/drabbles/anything you have,, I am desperate and in love with this idea so !!!

I adore the heck out of this one... both of them having been raised as a fighter solely for someone else.. trying to find their own place in the world after having been told their feelings and thoughts didn't matter... I think Guy could really help Damian understand himself better while understanding that the fighting that has been such a fundamental part of his life isn't necessarily a bad thing. It's still a skill to have, and it keeps him sharp and connected to his family before the one he has now. Also can you imagine the league having taught damian Zafran,, and it helps the both of them feel just a little more at home... 🥺 also can you imagine Citron introducing Damian to Juliano... he would love that so much...

GOD YEAH,, the batfam definitely fit Blood as a hero much more than the others and he would for sure be able to use that to really flesh out Blood's emotions. Imagine Juza just being sat in the lounge brooding and everyone is like 😶 They definitely can't leave Juza alone in his own head too long, for sure BUT Sakyo does commend him for taking the reruns seriously and if he gets him a slice of cake from a local bakery on closing night, no one in autumn says anything. AND AAAHH YEAH,, he really would!! Mans knows how hard it is to push away family for the sake of sparing them from being targeted so he just feels bad they're all so distant from one another. I can imagine him trying to tell them that since they're all in the same line of work, it makes them just as likely to be targeted anyway so there's no harm in just. Trying to listen to and understand one another better. Alfred would also love Juza I just know in my heart this is true.

QHSVSJSVJ GOD,, YOU'RE SO RIGHT- Even if Banri isn't quite as showboaty as he was at the beginning, I can see it still being so fucking grating on Tim. I feel like Dick would encourage Banri at first, giving him praise when he can immediately do super hard parkour stunts, but after seeing how much it's effecting Tim, he kinda drops it out of respect. But imagine Banri and Tim just being sat in the lounge together in dead silence as Banri tries to ignore Tim and play a rhythm game and Tim doing WE work and Tim just suddenly is like, "So when are you gonna tell Juza that you like him?" And Banri immediately loses his streak, drops his phone and gets on the defensive and Tim's just like, "sweaty palms, elevated heart rate, flushed cheeks and ears. You're a dead giveaway, dude. You really should just tell him since your life is ultra easy mode, right?" And banri just stomps away, and Tim just grabs another coffee before returning to work- I think they would aggravate the hell out of each other and you know what? Good for them.

Oh tm god.. og my gjfhdhdv no because okay. I'm not sure if we know the extent of Sakyo's willingness to commit/past history of crimes with the yakuza (I'm en only so I only got as far as autumn2) but. Since at the beginning of the game, he propositioned Izumi to pay the debt back with something other than money, I will just assume he has also murdered men ahscdhdhb (/lh I love sakyo a lot he is my beautiful blond babey and I love him so,, anyway.)

Sakyo overhearing Jason on the phone to someone, clearly managing whatever he has going on back home while he's away. But then he hears "Do I really need to do the thing with the heads in the duffel bag again? That was a good bag, yknow. It took me weeks to find a decent replacement because I couldn't just go back to the warehouse and pick it back up. Even if I couldda, the bloodstains definitely wouldda clashed with my sweats. Whatever, just do what you need to let these guys know we mean business." Before he can turn around, Jason has hung up and is like, "oh hey, S. Sorry 'bout that, you know how it is."

Jason definitely doesn't like taking business calls when he's out of town for obvious reasons, but it turns out, some of Two Face's guys had been trying to recruit children while they knew he was gone and Roy knew he would wanna hear about it. Sakyo can respect that, having wanted the Ginsenkai to leave Azami out of their business operations and the two just end up chatting on intimidation tactics and business streamlining. Jason is delighted that Sakyo agrees on his take of "you can't eradicate crime, you have to control it", and offers to make him an honorary member of the outlaws. Sakyo politely declines of course, if word got out, it might damage Mankai's reputation immensely and Jason gets it.

Anyway uhm also imagine them getting onto the topic of acting again and Jason telling him he always wanted to be in a play, but couldn't on account of the crime-fighting-vigilante-teen-then-dying-and-planning-his-familys-downfall thing, which really left little to no time for hobbies and Sakyo is just like. You're gonna be lead for our next play, I will train you myself and you're gonna be the best actor Gotham has ever seen. Cue akigumi plus Jason training montage (because cmon, mans would have to be in an action play with the stunts he can pull) and him and juza having a lead together... okay this is just very self-indulgent ahsvdjdbj

[icerosecrystal]

The Love We Give To You

Mominette Month 2021

Day 02: Signs of Affection

Masterlist

Author's Note: Hey everyone! Day 2 was a lot of fun to write! I hope you guys enjoy it! Also, to make sure that no one is confused, I wanted to let you all know that this is not a continuation of Day 1.

It has been three months since Marinette married Bruce and became a part of the Wayne family. Bruce's and Marinette's had a great relationship. Bruce showed affection through cuddles and kisses. Not that he would ever admit to doing it. Alfred and Marinette had bonded over their love of baking, cooking, and mother-henning the children. They showed their affection when they offered to help each other. Whether it be with work in the kitchen or little hobbies. All of the children loved Marinette and showed their affection for her in various ways.

Dick loved hugs. The moment he spotted Mari in the room, he would bound over to her, a smile on his face, and squeeze the life out of her. She would always let out one of her tinkling laughs in response before returning the enthusiastic hug.

Tim liked to give her hugs and kiss her cheek in greeting. But for him, it was more his actions than anything. He would get her a cup of coffee and then babble to her about really anything. In turn, Marinette would patiently listen, adding her input when necessary.

For Jason, he didn't appreciate physical affection as much as his other siblings, but he still would allow some of it, but only ever from Mari. Jason would show his appreciation for Mari every time he helped her out with whatever she was doing. He would sometimes talk about he was feeling also. But his favorite part would be when Mari would indulge in his thrill-seeking activities with him. He loved that she didn't try to change anything about him, and he always did the same for her. He even tried to make a leather jacket with her help.

Cass liked connecting with people on a soulful level. So she would usually sit by Mari when she was designing something and meditate or even only watch her work. They would also meditate together at times. Due to Cass being born into the League of Shadows, she found a lot of physical affection to be strange. But she sometimes did hug Mari.

Stephanie was as enthusiastic with her affection as Dick was. She would bounce over and hug Mari every time she entered the room. She would also constantly cling to Mari and would urge her to make waffles with her.

All of Mari's new children showed her different signs of affection except for Damian. She didn't think that Damian should be as blatant with his love for her, but she wanted even the slightest bit of confirmation that he loved her.

A Week Later

Damian flopped down onto his bed in misery. He had just witnessed another hug session between Dick and Mari. Damian wanted that same love, but he was confused about what to do. He felt like he was betraying his birth mother by trying to show Mari love, even if Talia wasn't the best mother ever. Besides, why would Mari even want a former assassin child as her kid? She's probably happy with the rest of them. At least they were somewhat ordinary. Even Cass, the only other one that had only ever been an assassin, was a lot more passive than him.

He continued to mope about his problems before he suddenly had an epiphany! What if he tested her? He needed to make sure that she was worth loving. And so, the next day, when everyone but Marinette, Alfred, and himself was out of the house, he went to the Batcave. He then started sparring against some dummies. He was hoping that Mari would attempt to bond with him and offer to spar with him. And sure enough, after a few minutes of sparring on his own, a melodic voice behind him called, "Damian? Why are you sparring on your own?"

Damian, in turn, replied, "I had nothing better to do. Would you like to join me? I could teach you."

He watched as her face lit up with unspoken happiness before she stepped onto the mat. They both positioned themselves into a starting position for the spar. He then counted them down, "Three, two, one, go!"

He had barely uttered the words before Mari ducked down low, whipped her leg out, and swung it towards him, hooking the back of his ankle with her foot. The action resulted in him falling to the floor. He quickly jumped up and kicked her leg from behind, causing her to hit the ground. Before he could tackle her, she rolled on the ground and jumped up, punching him as she went. He quickly recovered from the hit and followed with his own, which she caught and flipped him over, putting him back on the floor once more. Before he even got the chance to try and get up, she clambered over him, putting him into an armbar hold. And with that, Mari had officially won the spar.

Damian stared at her in awe as she climbed off him, beaming in excitement. Mistaking his silence and awe for embarrassment and hostility, Marinette frantically tried to make him feel better, "I am so sorry, Damian! I didn't mean to be so aggressive! I know that you wanted to teach me, but I already knew how to fight! But I thought that I would pretend that I didn't! But you were giving me a challenge, and I accidentally started treating it as a real fight! You are an amazing fighter! I am so, so sorry–"

Before she could continue with her spiel, Damian interrupted her with a whisper, "You're awesome." Realizing what he said, he ducked his head, attempting to hide the blush that had made its way onto his cheeks. He quickly gave Mari a tight-lipped smile before running to his room, ignoring Alfred's questioning gaze. He had to think. Right now!

He quickly slammed the door and leaned his head against it. Okay. Things that he had learned today. Number one, Mari knew how to fight. Number two, She knew how to fight very well. Number three, Marinette was awesome. Number four, she was much better than his mother could ever hope to be. And number five, he wanted Mari to be his mom! And he knew how to do it.

Two Weeks Later

It had been two weeks since the spar between Mari and Damian, and much had changed since then. And everyone in the family knew it. But no one, except for Marinette and Damian, knew why.

The first thing that changed was Damian's attitude towards Marinette. Before, he would try his best to never be in the presence of his stepmother. But now, he didn't mind. Everyone could tell that he would try to delay his time spent with her. Not many people would realize it, but the Wayne family wasn't just everybody.

What changed next was how he responded to her words. Before, he would roll his eyes, ignore her, or huff. But now, he would still grumble, but it was always half-heartedly. And one time, they caught him smiling at Mari. The dramatic gasp that Dick let out didn't help anyone in figuring out what was going on.

Then he started doing little things, like pecking her cheek before he left for school. He would smile at her, give her a tiny compliment, paint while she designed. They were such small actions, but every time Damian did them, Marinette's heart swelled with happiness. She was in disbelief that Damian was showing his love for her! Yes, he wasn't as blatant about it as his siblings, but he still did it, and that made her all the happier.

But the day that things finally changed completely was when Damian Al-Ghul Wayne walked up to Marinette Dupain-Cheng and cuddled her. It was an ordinary Saturday. Everyone was up early except for Damian. But then Damian came in yawning and looked around. He saw Mari sitting on the couch stitching something. Damian trudged over to her and sat down next to her. He put his legs up on the couch and buried his face into her chest. Marinette smiled gently at his actions and put down her sewing things before putting her arms around him. She then started stroking his hair, and as if he was part cat, he preened at the attention and pressed his head to her hand in want of more strokes. Damian then mumbled, almost incoherently, "I love you, Ummi. You're amazing."

Marinette stopped stroking his hair in shock, and Damian looked to her worriedly, thinking that she was mad with his declaration. But instead, her face broke into a huge smile, and she hugged him tightly, breathing out, "I love you too, Dami."

All while this was happening, the rest of the Wayne family looked at the pair in awe. Finally, Jason spoke, breaking everyone out of their stares, "When did this happen?! And what did happen?!"

Damian looked over at Jason with a scowl and said, "I found out two weeks ago that Ummi is amazing. She beat me in a spar. Now, she's my Ummi, and none of you imbeciles can take her away from me!"

Everyone except the pair continued to be bewildered over the situation. That was when Dick spoke up, "Ummi?"

Damian looked ready to murderer them for not allowing him to cuddle with his Ummi, but all the same, he replied, "I heard a lot of children call their mothers 'Ummi' in the league, or at least in private. But Mother never permitted me to do the same, alone or in public. She said that I was the heir of the league and should, therefore, be as nonsensical as possible. But now that I have Mari, I finally have someone to call Ummi."

By the end of his speech, Marinette looked to be close to tears, and everyone else was looking at him in surprise. Marinette started clinging onto him, whispering, "I love you so much, mon cheri. I'll always be there for you."

Damian blinked back tears and clung back, saying, "I know you will. I am your favorite anyways." When Damian saw his siblings realize what he said, he jumped off his Ummi's lap and ran out of the room. Behind him, a herd of footsteps was heard, along with shouting from each of the children (except Cass). Each of them trying to convince him as to why he was wrong and why they were the favorite.

Back in the living room, Alfred had left to give Marinette and Bruce some alone time. Marinette beckoned Bruce over to sit beside her. She pecked his mouth before seeing the adoring stare. She raised an eyebrow and asked, "And what is it that you are staring at?"

Bruce pulled her closer, inhaling her jasmine scent, and mumbled, "Oh, nothing. Just looking at my beautiful wife that I can't believe I managed to marry."

Marinette flushed a deep red before punching his arm, "Sap."

"Your sap," he retorted back.

"Yes, my sap," she whispered before giving him a deep kiss.

As Bruce pulled away from her, he mumbled against her lips, "Besides, we all know I'm your favorite."

Marinette smirked before saying, "Oh, I don't know. Your son seems to be just as charismatic as you."

"Exactly–," Bruce started saying before he realized what she said. "Hey! Come back here you!" Marinette giggled as he chased after her trying to tickle her.

The rest of the family came into the room, trying to find the cause of the noise. But they stopped at the scene of their parents laughing together on the ground. Dick then yelled, "Cuddle time," and jumped onto his parents, the rest of the kids, even Alfred joining.

As they all laughed together, Marinette looked at every member of her new family. They were all so different, and that was what made them unique. Even their signs of affection were unique to themselves. But at the end of the day, she knew that they loved her and that she loved them. And that was all that mattered.

2011 words

Day 2 is done! And on time! I wonder how long that'll last!

~ ❄ Crystal ❄

@mominettemonth

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[bluegarners]

“Damian takes a pic with a mall santa, chaos ensues”~ anon

For 12 Days of Batfam prompts

“I do not see why traveling here was necessary.”

“Aw, don’t be like that, Dami! We’re going gift shopping!”

“Clearly. However, actually going to this cesspool of idiots is ridiculous. The internet exists for a reason, Richard. It is about time you learned how to use it.”

“That takes all the fun out of it though,” Dick pouts, landing a hand in Damian’s perfectly combed hair. “It’s practically like a tradition at this point. Besides, it’s a lot more fun to actually look at what you’re buying and not just try and guess what it’s like through a screen. What if it wasn’t like you wanted? What then?”

“Returns exist as well,” Damian grumbles, swatting at the hand still latched firmly to his scalp. “If the purchase is void, then a simple return is all that is necessary to begin again.”

“For once,” Tim sighs, cringing a bit at the obnoxious mall-music and over enthusiastic sales people trying to approach him, “I agree with the brat. This is uncomfortable and just… over the top. I know what I’m looking for, and reviews on products help determine if the thing is actually good. There isn’t any reason to be here, Dick.”

“On the contrary, my beloved brothers,” Dick grins, mouth stretching impossibly wide as his eyes land on something in the distance, “There is actually a fantastic reason for us to be here.”

As if deciding on something, Dick nods to himself before quickly turning around and clapping his hands together. “Okay, here’s the plan. We’re already here and it would be a waste to drive back after it took us an hour to get here, so we are staying.”

Cue the simultaneous groans.

“Ah, ah, ah,” Dick reprimands. “Let me finish. You guys can do anything you want. It’s the freakin mall, so it’s got other stuff than just stores. I don’t care what you do, as long as it’s legal. You could even just hang out in the food court, as long as you’re doing something. I need to do a couple things, but I will call you when I’m done and we’ll rendezvous somewhere.”

“You are leaving me here?” Damian asks, surprised. “With Drake of all people?”

Dick leans down to ruffle his hair again, but Damian moves away, a dark scowl edging its way onto his brow. “No, I refuse to be left alone with this imbecile.”

“As if I’d want to babysit you in the first place,” Tim mutters, glaring at the youngest.

Dick smiles pleasantly, a contrast to the way he squeezes both of their shoulders tightly, pulling them closer to him. 

“We’re not going to have any problems, right boys?” he asks sweetly, eyes crinkling. “Because it would be a shame if I had to make use of that lovely return policy on all the gifts I had planned this year.”

“Do you take me for a child-”

“Seeing as this is the last week I have left in Gotham, it would be quite the disappointment if I didn’t get to train surf with either of you before I leave again too.”

Damian shuts his mouth quickly, the idea of banning dual patrol before the eldest’s departure more threatening than lost gifts. 

“I don’t like train surfing,” Tim says smugly, crossing his arms in victory, “and I don’t like playing babysitter.”

Dick slowly tilts his head towards him, and the strain in his smile is enough to make Tim wither a bit. 

“All I’m asking for is maybe an hour of alone time while I get some stuff done. You don’t have to do anything together, you don’t have to go shopping if you’re so adamant on doing it online, and you don’t have to eat. Just please stick together. That’s all. Please, Tim.”

His resolve lasts all of four seconds before it crumples, and Tim looks to the side as he groans out a forlorn, “Fine.”

“Great!” Dick exclaims, an easy smile blooming back onto his face. “I’ll see you guys in an hour.”

And just like that, Dick disappears into the crowd, leaving behind two very disgruntled boys in his steed.

They stand there, refusing to acknowledge one another’s presence, before Tim sighs again and thinks, Well, might as well be a big brother. Holiday spirit and all that jazz.

“Okay,” he starts, half-way turning to face the youngest again, “Is there anything you want to do?”

Damian doesn’t say a word.

“Any stores?”

Silence.

“They, uh, have a movie theater in here. Any movies?”

Damian still refuses to open his mouth.

Well, fuck me, I guess, Tim bemoans, having the inability to think of anything worse to do than spend his Saturday afternoon looking after the gremlin in his charge.

Suddenly, Damian turns on his heel and begins walking away. Tim frowns, chancing a quick glance behind him to see if Dick was secretly watching them and if he could make a break for it, but decides against it at the last second. A happy Dick Grayson was infinitely easier to deal with rather than a disappointed one.

Everyone knew disappointment was worse than anger. 

He follows Damian quietly, keeping his distance and sidestepping the insane amount of people and sellers, all looking to get something. Tim doesn’t hate people, per-say. He finds them fascinating at times, but when he’s not looking to be fascinated, he just finds them uncomfortable to be around. Noisy, touchy, and all around obnoxious. There were precious few people Tim could say he liked to be around, and these strangers in the enormous mall were not them.

Damian walked with purpose, easily evading others and taking turns as if he knew where he was going. Perhaps he did, but Tim can’t recall a time where any of them actually frequented the mall often enough to know where things were. At least without looking at a map or asking an employee.

A minute later and Damian vanishes from sight. In a blink, he’s gone from the endless swirl of people and Tim panics slightly. How does someone lose a child so quickly? How is that possible? He was literally right in front of him, Tim had his gaze locked on the green hoodie, but it’s as if the brat was made of air. Poof, gone.

He pauses, turning this way and that in search of the elusive Wayne. It was unfortunate that the brat was shorter than the average 13 year old, if only by half an inch, but now was not the time to goad over heights. Tim is tempted to just text Dick and say he lost Damian, but hearing that in his head, after literally five minutes of being alone, does not sound like a fantastic idea. He can practically predict the lecture that would follow, words of, “Come on, I know you guys don’t get along super well, but he’s your brother,” and “I was gone for all of two seconds- how did he escape so easily?”

Tim groans, a common thing he’s been doing ever since they stepped into the epitome of capitalism, and resigns himself to continuing the search. Oh, he was so going to beat the brat during their next spar. This entire thing was not worth the discounts.

.

.

.

Damian smirks as he watches Drake fiddle around like a fool, searching blindly for him. If Drake had actually been paying attention, he would have seen Damian step into the small candle store to the right, hiding behind an outrageous depiction of Saint Nick practically shoving some holiday scent down his throat. 

As it were, though, Drake was a twit with half the brains of a goldfish, and Damian feels a sense of satisfaction wash over him as the older teen walks away in the opposite direction. 

He was free and alone. Perfect.

Well, not really.

Damian had agreed to go to the mall in the first place on the condition that it would just be he and Richard. It had sounded somewhat enjoyable, Richard hinting at some sort of surprise, but he was greatly displeased at the sight of another figure waiting for them in the car. Of all the people in the world to choose from. Of all the available and useless ignoramuses out there, Richard just had to ask Drake to come along.

Of course, he immediately protested because he had been promised that it would just be the two of them, but Richard insisted and used that horribly childish face with wide eyes and saddened sulk and giving in, at that point, was the only wise decision Damian could make from then on. In no way did he plan on spending this hour with Drake, awkwardly attempting conversation and suggestions that sounded boring enough to sleep to.

So, his plan of action was simple and executed flawlessly. All he had to do for the next 50 minutes was stay out of sight of both Drake and Richard, and the rest of that time was his to do with as he pleased.

He had already chosen gifts to present later on in the week, there was no need to do extra shopping, so all there really was to do was explore. 

Which is exactly what he did for the next forty minutes before he felt his phone begin to vibrate in his back pocket. He pulls it out, squinting at the caller ID of Grayson.

He lets it ring for a few seconds, some part of him thinking the wait as some sort of pay-back for betraying his promise, and answers on the last ring.

“Damian?” Richard says, urgency coloring his voice.

Instantly, Damian is paying more attention. “Yes? What is it?”

“I need you to meet me at the center, it’s important.”

“The center?” Damian mutters, scanning the crowded walkways for a map. “Why? What is happening?”

“I’ll fill you in when you get here, okay? Just get here as fast as possible.”

“Affirmative.”

Richard hangs up first and Damian begins searching for the nearest wall-map. He finds one and tsks when he sees he’s in the far west region of the mall, the center, if he walked like a normal person, taking upwards of about five minutes to reach.

He’d been given no details, nothing except the urgent lilt in Richard’s voice, a dead give away to how nervous he was. Nervous about what though? What could possibly make Nightwing frantic in an area like this? It must be something mildly bad, or at least dangerous for civilians, for Richard to call him. Crowd control possibly.

He hadn’t heard anything other than the usual noise of the populace, so Damian rules out a fire or some maniac shooting. There doesn’t seem to be an urgency in the way the crowd shifts, no clear tell for panic. 

His phone vibrates again and Damian immediately answers.

“Where are you?” Richard asks, that same nervousness pitching his voice.

“I am near a clothing store: Urban Outfitters,” he responds, picking up his pace slightly.

“Hurry,” Richard pleads. “You need to be here in two minutes or less or else I might- just hurry, please. When you reach the center, there will be a large Christmas tree off to the right. I’m over there. Find me when you get here.”

“Wait, Richard-” but Damian can’t get anything else in before the older man hangs up again.

The vagueness of the situation begins to worry Damian as well, doing as asked and trying his best to weave in between people and their annoying need to create a stiff, horizontal line wherever they walked. He curses when a little girl holding an absurdly shaped stuffed animal darts out in front of him, oblivious to the obstruction she’s caused.

She trips and falls, slapping into the smooth tile. Damian is tempted to walk around her, unmoved by her pitiable cries for her clumsiness, but when he glances back and sees no one else, no parent or sibling or literally any other bystander willing to help her, he rolls his eyes and turns back around. He holds out a hand and pulls the little girl to her feet, her tears silenced by the strange act of kindness.

“Where are your parents?” he asks gruffly, anxious as the precious seconds tick by.

“Uhhhh….I don’t know.”

I should’ve kept walking, Damian thinks to himself.

.

.

.

Tim is practically giddy with excitement. Dick stands behind him, arms crossed and peering over the heads of countless other parents and children, in search of Damian.

After having wandered around in a vain search for the brat, Tim had finally given in and texted Dick, apology in tow, when Dick had told him to meet him in the center of the mall. There, Tim had spotted the eldest standing in a long line filled with kids no older than eight and tired parents, disheveled and attempting to keep their children’s hair neat.

As soon as he’d tapped on his shoulder, Dick had reared around, the biggest shit-eating grin on his face as he said, “It’s tradition to get a picture with Santa.”

Tim less than fondly recalls his own picture with the infamous mall Santa, the old man smelling of cigarettes and too spicy cologne to mask it. All the bat-kids had taken a photo with the cheap Santa at some point or the other, Tim having been the oldest to do so at fifteen. Dick had taken his when he was ten, and Jason at eleven. 

However, once he registers the actual words that had come out of Dick’s mouth, Tim feels something close to euphoria rise in his chest as he now understands it was the brat’s turn to sit on off-brand Santa’s lap and have his picture taken. Oh, would that be a sight to behold. Chaos to be sure. Most likely some screaming as well. A lot of protest and cursing. Maybe even some tears.

A sight to behold.

“I knew you guys wouldn’t stick together,” Dick explains, “So I figured I’d call you over here earlier. Then, I’ll call Damian once we’re close to the front and act like it’s an emergency so he’ll have no choice but to come quickly.”

Tim was impressed. “You know,” he says, eyeing Dick, “You’re a lot more evil than everyone thinks.”

“The term you’re looking for is evil mastermind, Timmy.”

“Uh huh,” Tim jokes, excitement building in his bones as he notices they’re only two spots away from what is destined to be the greatest moment of his life. 

“Look! I see him!” Dick exclaims, pointing in the far distance.

Indeed, there was Damian in his green hoodie, half-jogging, half-walking as he headed towards the Christmas tree Dick had directed him to.

“We’re next,” Tim says anxiously, glancing at the teenager dressed as an elf, who was probably wondering why the two of them were standing in a line meant for children.

“It’s fine,” Dick reassures, his own thrill building. “He’ll be here.”

And, as if one cue, because malls are where miracles happen, Damian calls out, “Richard!”

Dick waves him over, compulsion in every movement of his arm. “Hurry, Dami!”

The teenager elf is now guiding them into the “Miracle Circle” and Dick yanks at the sleeve of Damian’s hoodie before he can even register what’s happening. Tim has to keep a hand over his mouth in order to stop himself from snickering at the bewildered look on the youngest’s face, eyes blown wide as he takes in the bright lights and tinsel.

“Richard,” he growl-whispers, “What is this?”

“Tradition,” Dick answers, tugging him closer to the overweight man sitting on the massive throne. “And it’s time you partake in it. I let you get away from it last year because I lost track of time, but not this year. This year, Dami, is where you finally experience,” he leans in closer, nearly whispering, “the joys of a mall Santa.”

“No,” Damian says, aghast as Dick pulls him closer and closer to the center. “No, I refuse. Unhand me this instant.”

He is powerless though against Dick’s firm grasp and excellent navigation skills. Everyone is watching. Everyone is staring.

“Hello there, little one,” mall Santa booms, arms out stretching as he reaches for Damian. “Come sit on Santa’s lap and tell me what you’d like for Christmas.”

“Richard,” Damian pleads, struggling as he eyes the suspicious fake beard, “If you do this, I will never forgive you.”

“I’m sorry, Dami,” Dick amends solemnly, a lie written all over his face. “I have to. It’s tradition.”

Faster than even Damian can react, Dick is sweeping him off his feet and plopping him onto the lap of a complete stranger.

“What’s your name?” mall Santa asks, Damian recoiling at the rank breath.

“Let me go,” he demands.

“Oh ho ho,” mall Santa chuckles, stomach jostling like a gross bowl of jelly. “We haven’t taken our picture yet!”

Mall Santa points a little off to the right, and it is with horror does Damian spot not only Richard, but Drake, Father, and Pennyworth aiming cameras at him.

Drake waves at him, shit-eating grin plastered shamelessly on his face. Richard is cooing through his phone, oo-ing and awe-ing at the scene. Father looks at least a little bit sympathetic, pity spelled out over his face as he watches his youngest son try to free himself from the mall Santa’s surprisingly strong grip. Pennyworth takes one picture, quickly putting away his phone. 

Damian is sure that the one picture is enough to spell doom for the rest of his life.

“You know,” mall Santa whispers, nearly suffocating Damian in the vice-like hug he’s trapped in, “Most kids smile when they take pictures with Santa.”

“I am not inclined to smile for a pedophile,” Damian snarls back.

“Well,” mall Santa sighs, voice suddenly less cheery, “I guess that means you’re on the naughty list then, you little shit.”

Damian stills in his struggle, eyes widening as he turns to meet the green eyes of the man who holds him.

“Todd?” he hisses, humiliation rising as the man just chuckles, winking.

“Happy holidays, little boy,” Jason cheers, playing up the act. “If you’re good, Santa might-”

The next morning, the top headline from the Gotham Gazette reads, 

Christmas Chaos: Youngest Wayne Punches Santa!

The article gets framed above the tree in their living room, and Damian waits for the day to exact his revenge. Soon. Soon.

[srose-foxfire]

Can you do write something of Dami and Rae being separated and then meeting again after x amount of years? Make it fluffy please. thnx!!

A/N: I hope this is fluffy? Enjoy! (P.S I’m sorry this is long)

~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~+~

“I want you to keep this safe for me. This will be my promise to you that I will return.”

“I will guard it with my life Raven.”

“Thank you, Damian.”She said softly with a smile and slowly turned her back to him and walked toward the blinding light before her. Damian’s heart quicken making it hard to breathe. She was leaving him again; he had been down this road one-too many times and he couldn’t let her leave him.

Damian reached out to grab her, but it seemed he couldn’t get to her. He looked down and saw both his feet were glued to the ground. He then tried calling out her name, but no words came. He strained to make just a single sound, he reached out again to just touchher. To make her look back to him and see how much he neededher in his life. Damian called out again, this time tears started streaming down his face. He continued calling out her name to no avail, she couldn’t hear him as she disappeared into the white blinding light.

-- -- -- --

Damian jerked awake as he gasped for breath, he clutched his aching chest as his heart continue to compress deep within him. His face was soaked by both sweat and tears. Once Damian could collect himself, he settle back into bed and pulled the blanket to cover his naked chest. He rubbed his forehead clean from all the sweat and just stared at the ceiling. His bedroom was illuminated from a small streak of moonlight coming from through the thick dark grey curtains. The light hit a small object on his nightstand making it shine which caused Damian to turn his attention to it.

It was a small black open ring, with a black crescent moon ending on one side and a small black star on the other end. Damian reached and grabbed it, making the small black gems on the crescent and star glimmer under the moonlight. This ring is his sole reminder that Raven will one day return to him. She gave him the ring, the last reminder she had from her mother before she was destroyed as the rest of Azarath by Trigon.

Raven had been gone for nearly seven years now, and not once has Damian been able to get a hold of her. After she had imprisoned her demon father into the sacred crystal on her forehead. Raven started using more of her magic to keep him locked and to suppress his ill-demeanors about her. Raven was fighting him constantly for three years before it started taking a toll on her health. In order to help her, Raven had to leave the Titans and go with Zatanna and John Constantine who were going to help her find a very powerful sacred ground to relocate Trigon’s prison. The two magicians believed they could help continue training Raven in understanding her magic and channeling it from a longer distance so she could have a normal life just like the one she was living around the time Damian had joined the Titans. As much as he wished it, he couldn’t understand why none of her teammates had been allowed to contact her or even help her locate this sacred place.

Damian checked the digital clock on his nightstand, it was 3:00am, he should really go back to sleep and rest up for the long night that waited for him. His father was throwing a masquerade gala to help raise funds for an orphanage. Being a Wayne sometimes came with disadvantages, having to praise and entertain the daughters of partners and businessmen that worked with Wayne Industries. Most girls Damian met weren’t very bright, most of them worried who was wearing the best design dress or who had the best hair and nails done for the night. Damian always pulled through most events but there had been some occasions that some girls would cling onto him like a leech hoping they would end up in his bed. Being Robin, helped him escape those certain leeches.

Putting all these thoughts to the side, Damian couldn’t bring himself to fall asleep fearing he would dream where Raven goes through the light and never returns to him. After Raven’s first year of being gone from the Titans, Damian realized just how much he wanted her to be in his life. It was then he finally understood he actually loved her and would ask Raven to allow him to court her when she finally returned.  

-- -- -- --

Could someone just please shoot him down or better yet some emergency rise for Robin to be needed and take Damian Wayne away for this gala. Since everyone was wearing a mask, no one could identify him. He had stood at a distance when his father announced the start of the gala and giving a very moving speech to get everyone to donate. None one and no leechhad seemed to figure out where Bruce Wayne’s youngest son was in the gala. Though he didn’t have to entertain anyone he was terribly alone and bored to his mind.

His so-called brothers ditched him at the last minute, none of them picked up his calls or answer his texts. Tim and Jason were no surprise, they hardly came to any galas or events hosted by Wayne Industries. Dick Grayson however always strides to be the best oldest supportive brother, and when he was supposed to be a goodbrother, he’s a no-show. Next time Damian sees either one of them, they are dead meat.

Looking down again at his phone it was a little pass 9pm, in a few minutes an announcer will announce a small dance will begin. Good thing this time his toes will be sparred. Not wanting to pay attention, Damian accidently caught small talk from two young men talking about which of the two were going to score to take to bed a young lady dressed in white. Damian looked up and examined the two guests, they were both well-dressed though it seems they fed off of their family’s money. Damian narrowed his eyes at them and being very discreet he followed their line of sight to see who they were preying at.

His eyes widen when he saw her. She was dressed in a sleeveless pearl white mermaid dress, following the ‘v’ shape her bosom, it was decorated with white feathers. From her waistline to the bottom of her dress; there were silver embroidery scattered, making her sparkle like starlight. Her skin was pale, but it glowed beautifully under the lighted golden chandeliers. Her hair black as a raven’s feathers was long and curled to her waist. To complement her attire and her beauty she was wearing a white mask, with white feathers fanning out from one corner of her mask.

She was a goddess, among mortals. Damian couldn’t understand why he was so entranced by her, she wasn’t her. And yet he was making his way towards this mysterious woman as someone announced the start of the dance.

“Excuse me, may I have this dance?” Damian asked with the upmost of sincerity he ever gave to an unknown stranger.  

“You may.”

Damian had to keep himself from frowning. Even though he was wearing a simple black domino mask someone could notice with how unpleased he was that the mysterious woman had her eyes hidden. He hadn’t noticed before, but the eye area was covered by a thin white lace mesh, making it impossible to see her looking back at him or to even distinguish her eye color.

Damian place his hand on her small back and guided her to the middle of the dancefloor with more people pairing themselves as a pianist started playing some keys on a grand piano to get the waltz started. Soon an accordion and flute joined in.

Being a gentleman, Damian carefully guided her left hand onto his shoulder. His left hand stayed carefully on her back, as his right took her hand in his and started turning them both. Swaying to the music, the two stared into each other, or that was what Damian dreamt was going on as they both got lost to the music. He continues leading her into the waltz, but part of him believed his soul had been lifted from his body and there was no other person in the room. It was just them, dancing.

Not being able to contain his own curiosity Damian cleared his throat, “I must ask, do I know you by any chance? You seem awfully familiar.” His partner looked away for a moment but continue to sway with him to the music. She looked back at him and gave him a faint smile before nodding her head lightly to the sides. “Perhaps I might have seen you at a different gala?” Damian continued.

“Very unlikely, this is actually my first time coming to an event like this.” She answered softly to him.

“Then can I ask for your name?”

“I believe the idea of a masquerade is that you don’t ask for one’s identity. It keeps everyone in a “blissful mystery”, or so I’m told.” She chuckled lightly like she had some inside joke

“You are actually correct, my apologies.” Damian told her as he continued to lead her in circles in the ballroom. They dance for almost half an hour, not speaking to each other but being content in one another’s presence. As the dance continue, Damian had whispered into her ear if she like to go out to the balcony and be away from the crowd, she nodded with a faint smile.

As they exited the dancefloor a cool soft summer breeze blew around them, making the mysterious woman’s long hair sway in rhythm. She reaches out and grabs onto the rail looking down to the busy streets of Gotham, while Damian discreetly admired her from behind. He didn’t know what had gotten to him, he thought he would never find interest in any other woman besides Raven. Part of him feared that he may be forgetting about her or the feelings he believed he had been because of his teenage hormones when Raven had left.  Damian took his hand out from his pants pocket and looked at the ring he promised to care for.

“It’s beautiful.”

Damian looked up to find his mysterious woman looking up to the night sky, smiling as she seems to count the countless stars scattered across.

“It is.” Damian answered as he put the ring back into his pocket. “If I may be so bold to ask, why did you come to this event? Are you here for business or-”

The woman in front of him chuckled lightly, before turning to face him. Leaning against the rail, she answered him. “You ask allot of questions… Mr. Wayne.”

“How did-”

“It’s not hard to distinguish you in a masked crowd, given to the fact I’ve seen you wear a similar mask countless nights before.” She turned her head to the side; her left hand reaches the edges of her mask as she slowly pulled it off her head. She kept her eyes looking down, but already Damian’s heart was beating rapidly inside his chest. He continues to look awestruck as she slowly brought her eyes up, looking right into his very soul. Her eyes were amethyst. “Hello Damian.”

A fly could just fly straight into his gaping mouth as Damian continue to stare. He tried counting the countless time he wished for her return. Hoping and praying to whatever god there was to allow him and see her again. The one girl in this world to ever hold his heart in her hand. Finally, his mind was able to wrap around the news and he couldn’t contain himself anymore. “Raven!”

Damian practically sprinted the last two steps to engulf Raven into his arms. He wrapped his arms around her body tightly, making sure this was all real. She gave out a surprised squeaked as her own hands hugged him back. “It’s really is you? Raven Roth you are really here? I am not dreaming?”

“Yes. It’s me. Damian there’s so much I need to tell you and I don’t know where to start-” Damian didn’t let her finish for his lips captured hers. He knew this wasn’t the way to reunite with his friend but the part of him that yearned for her for many years took over his control. He was madly in love with her. Raven was an empath after all, surely, she would be able to read all his thoughts as he continues expressing his feelings for her through this kiss. Never in his life Damian had felt like this; helpless and vulnerable. Yet at the same time that didn’t feel as a bad thing for Raven completed him in a way that made him stronger.

Damian could hear Raven gasping for breath in between kiss. He slowly pulled away and allowed to fill her lungs with air. He felt guilt start to consume him as he realized she may not feel the same towards him. Still having his arms around her said with a low voice, “I couldn’t wait. I am sorry, but I needed you to know how I feel about you. Raven, I love you.”

“Damian.” Raven answered softly as her hands slid up his chest and she looked up into his eyes, “One of the reasons I had to leave was because my father had figured out one of my weaknesses. He found out that I fallen in love with someone I would give my life to protect. It’s you Damian Wayne. I love you too.”

Her warm small hands came up to cradle his face and she slowly pulled him closer to lightly kiss him. They pulled away slowly, Damian could only smile warmly down at her and he reached into his pockets for her ring. “I believe I can finally return this to you.” He looked up to find Raven, had her brow raised at him. Giving him a questioning look. “What?”

“I can’t believe you have it with you, I would assume it would stay in some drawer or a box in your home.” Raven snorted.

“I did promise I guard it with my life, I can’t guard the ring if it’s not near me at all times.” Damian said proudly as he slipped the black ring onto Raven’s finger. “Perfect fit.” He whispered, something about placing the ring onto her finger made it seem like he was branding her. Raven looked up at him, she still had those beautiful amethyst eyes that held galaxies in them, she may look a little different now with fair skin and black hair as night; but she was still his Raven. His Raven.

Damian wanted to show her how much he aged into a man; show her he wasn’t the young teenager she had said goodbye seven years ago. Damian reached up slowly to remove his black domino mask. Just when he was about to grab onto the edge and pull it off, he was stopped by Raven’s hand holding his.  

“No. Keep it on. I don’t want anyone finding out I’m with Damian Wayne.” Raven let go of his hand, she trailed the tip of her finger down his chest, before poking where his heart was. “I want to be a little selfish tonight and keep you all to myself.” She reached up and give him a gentle peck on his cheek.

“I am all yours, my love.”

-- -- -- --

A/N: Wowzers can’t believe how long this took me to write. You wouldn’t believe how much I rewrote and rewrote this prompt countless times till I was able to pick one idea that best fitted with what I wanted to portray. I have another requested prompt asking about their first date, so that will be the next one you will read by me. After finishing the requests I will get back to finishing “First Impressions” and updating “Under an Autumn Moonlight”. After that I am gonna try my hand and share with you the first chapters for one of my Damirae longer fics I have planned. Hope you are excited as I am to share this story with you all.

Thank you so much for readying, till next time!

~ S.Rose

#damirae 

[batfam-rewrites]

Batfam During Quarantine: Avatar

Dick: Okay, lets try to keep the craziness to a minimum. Harper and Cullen are quarantining for two weeks so lets not do anything to make them jealous.

Duke: *Duke and Tim walk into the room* Omg, We just finished watching Avatar The Last Airbender for like the fifth time right now! I LOVE THIS SHOW SO MUCH!!! WHY DID THEY EVER TAKE IT OFF OF NETFLIX!!!

Dick: Guys, come on. I literally just said to keep the craziness to a minimum.

Tim: They have Netflix set up on their tv. They should be fine.

Damian: What is Avatar The Last Airbender

Everyone: *gasp*

Selina: Some....

Jason: Sh ta ta ta ta. *presses his finger to Selina’s lips* Don’t speak, I know just what you’re sayin’, so please stop explainin’.

Selina: Really Jason? How long have you been waiting to use that one?

Jason: *breaks into a dance* All night long, all night.

Stephanie: What is going on with you Jason? 

Tim: I know right? You don’t ever listen to Lionel Richie, let alone pop music.

Jason: It’s his fault! *points at Dick* Him and his stupid playlist!

Dick: “Don’t Speak” isn’t on my playlist though.

Jason: I ummmm...... radio.

Dick: *gasp* You listen to No Doubt!

Jason: No! Maybe!

Dick: O-M-G!

Jason: They’re a guilty pleasure! Now don’t mention it again.

Cassandra: Guys!!! What is The Last Airbender?

Duke: *starts to explain but Dick holds him back*

Jason: *to Damian and Cassandra* You poor depraved children.

Damian: I’m not a child.

Jason: Hahaha, your cute. Avatar The Last Airbender is the beautiful brain child of Michael Dante DiMartino and Bryan Konietzko. It is a fantastic series that can not be summarized by anyone or even a movie. Anyone who tries instantly robs the person of the magic of the original series and ruins the exper.....

Damian: You know what, screw it. This isn’t worth it.

Dick: NOOOO! Come on Dami, we can watch it all together, just the nine of us.

Duke: Yeah, come on Damian.

Stephanie: It’s a really great series Dami.

Cassandra: I mean I’m interested.

Tim: *turns his head towards Cassandra* We already knew you were on board. *turns his head back to Damian*

Damian: Fine, I’ll give your stupid show a chance.

Everyone: Yaaayyyyy!!!! *they all start to head down stairs when Dick gets an alert on his phone*

Dick: Actually, this is going to need to wait. Cass and Tim, come with me. I’ll alert Babs and Kate.

Jason: Why, what’s up?

Dick: There’s been a murder at Blackgate.

Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, Red Robin, Orphan, and Commissioner Gordon

Jim: Batman and, wow there are a lot of you!

Batman: We want to try and get this over with as soon as possible.  

Jim: Very well. Victim is Julian Gregory Day, better known as Calendar Man. The body was found at 10:15. He left his cell at 10 to meet with the D.A. to talk about getting a reduced sentence. Both of the prison guards who were escorting Julian Day were knocked out during the attack. All of the camera’s were out, too.

Batwoman: The marks on his neck suggest that he was strangled and can’t quite tell but there’s something under his fingernails. He couldn’t have saw this coming but he definitely tried to put up a fight.

Batman: Okay, Batgirl and Orphan, lets have you head to the morgue with the diener and see if they could find out what’s under his finger nails. Batwoman, question Hugo Strange. Go through the audio files and see what you can find. Red Robin, you and I will see what any of the inmates in the cell block know. Jim, order your men to check the other camera monitors for anything suspicious.

Jim: I’m not one of your......

Batman: *glares at Jim Gordon*

Jim: I could figure out your identity any time I want. 

Batman: *smirks* Is that a promise?

Jim: It’s a door I’m willing to keep closed unless you cross the line.

Batwoman

Something she didn’t mention at the crime scene was that there was traces of reddish brown hair, so that points fingers at James Gordon Jr, Clock King, Edward Nigma, and Roxanne Sutton. Kate has her suspicions, but as of right now everyone is a suspect.

Hugo Strange: Hello Batwoman. How may I assist you?

Batwoman: I need to know about a few of your patients.

Hugo Strange: You know I can not tell you much I am.....

Batwoman: I am familiar with the confidentiality agreement. I need to know about Julian Day.

Hugo Strange: Poor guy. It’s a shame what happened to him. His most recent audio files are all yours. You’ll find the information you need in there.

Batwoman walked out of the room and began listening to the files in the secret Batcave in Blackgate.

Batgirl and Orphan

Batgirl: *walks into the door* Ugh, what is that smell?

Orphan: Rotting goat sex.

Batgirl: *burst out laughing* What?

Orphan: Rotting goat sex. 

Batgirl: What made you say that?

Orphan: Red Hood told me that’s the name of the yellow squares you put on sandwiches. The ones that go bad over time and smell like this room.

Batgirl: Okay, don’t listen to Red Hood anymore. It’s called cheese Orphan.

Orphan: Cheese. Okay. Got it.

Batgirl: So, how are you enjoying quarantine in the mansion.

Orphan: It’s not bad. Been sparring a lot. 

Batgirl: Who exactly? You’re not hurting my boyfriend right?

Orphan: Nope, but I kicked Helena’s butt a few times.

Batgirl: WHAT THE FUCK DID YOU JUST SAY!!!

Coroner: *walks out* Hey, so the.... Sorry, am I interrupting something.

Batgirl: No. Tell us about the body.

Coroner: Okay so prior to his death it seems the victim was drugged with a depressant. Obviously slowing his reactions. Underneath his fingernails are threads from the string that was used strangle him and some dead skin cells.

Batgirl: There’s not a lot of options for strings except for shoelaces, and unless someone has a very old shoelace, that means the string had to have come from outside the prison.

Coroner: Correct, the threads are definitely not made from the same material as the shoelaces.

Orphan: Anything else.

Coroner: Yes, there was some short white hairs found on his body which is odd, but probably from facial hair or eyebrows.

Batgirl: Thanks! Let us know when you have an idea who those skin cells belong to. *both Barbara and Cassandra start walking away* Tell Red Robin what we found out.

Orphan: But we’re supposed to report to Batman.

Batgirl: Fuck Batman.

Selina, Bruce, Lucius, and Alfred

At Wayne Tower

Bruce: *starring at his computer screen* If I buy this company, then I can buy a donut, and the cosmic donut will make me live forever, plus more profits, because three coffees plus one donut equals one Tim. *Lucius Fox knocks on the door* Do you want to build a snowman?!

Lucius: Mister Wayne, we need to talk.

Bruce: What is it Lucius?

Alfred: You’re overworking yourself.

Bruce: *looks up from his computer* Dad, I mean Alfred, Selina, what are you doing here?

Selina: No simple way to say it but this is an intervention.

Bruce: I don’t need an intervention.

Selina: Bruce, it’s been a bit over two months since quarantine began. You’re company is doing just fine. Don’t you think you deserve a break?

Bruce: With a little less help from Red Tim, I need to work as much as possible to get the cosmic coffee back on track. The hacker a few weeks back did a bit of damage.

Alfred: Master Bruce, even the Batman needs a break from time to time. Isn’t that the real reason you have Master Dick running around in the Batsuit instead of you?

Bruce: No! *Bruce takes a moment to think it all over* Partially.

Lucius: You are putting to much pressure on yourself. You keep on talking nonsense and are obviously sleep deprived.

Bruce: No! I’ve haven’t put enough pressure on myself since I became Batman. Once Batman came into the picture I didn’t focus on the company any longer. And I’m not sleep deprived, I’ve slept 4 hours last night! I’m getting more than enough sleep.

Lucius: You had more of an impact on the company then you think. If it weren’t for you acting as a real CEO, we wouldn’t be doing a going green initiative, there wouldn’t be a yearly fund going out to local orphanages, you created a functioning way for employees to work from home while increasing productivity. I can go on for hours about the positive things you have done as Bruce Wayne.

Selina: You have done so much. Come home, sleep. Enjoy time with you’re family.

Bruce: I can’t do that, I can do more. I can help other companies, too.

Alfred: I remember one time, it was when you turned 5, your father was supposed to be at the hospital. However, the day before he had worked all day to make his patients feel better, so he could spend the next day with you. He wouldn’t have missed your birthday even if it would cause the end of the world. Master Thomas knew the importance of taking time off to spend time with his family. It is time that you do the same.

Bruce begins to tear up. He reflects on how often his father worked day and night, but regardless how often he worked, he always had time for him and his mother. He knew his father loved him with all his heart. Then he thought of Alfred. He wasn’t really his father but Bruce always saw him as one after his parents died. Alfred loves him as much as he loves his own family. 

Bruce: *rolls his chair back and walks over to hug Alfred* Thank you Alfred.

Alfred: Anytime sir.

Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan

*In the Blackgate Batcave*

Batman: What did we find?

Orphan: The threads under Julian’s finger nails came from a string outside of the prison meaning that it could be one of the employees who’ve killed him. Skin cells under his nails are being scanned now, and white hairs were found on his body. Also cheese is not called goat sex.

Red Robin: WHAT! *Dick and Tim start laughing hysterically* 

Batman: Why would you think that!

Batgirl: Jason told her. That’s beside the point though.

Red Robin: *whispers to Dick* What did you do?

Batman: *whispers to Tim* I don’t know.

Batgirl: Stop whispering, we can all see you!

Batman: Got it. Kate what did you find?

Batwoman: Day was in an extreme state of paranoia before he died. Talks about how he was going to tell the D.A. about corruption in Blackgate.

Batman: Interesting, did he say anyone’s name?

Batwoman: It’s not clear, but I would assume so.

Batman: That makes sense. When Red Robin and I interviewed his cellmate, Drury Walker, he said he was starting to suspect something was going to happen. He had suspicions that James Jr. was going to kill him.

Batwoman: If I had to assume, I would say the same. I noticed a large sum of reddish brown hair at the scene where the body was found.

Batgirl: There was white hair found on the body though. With Day being strangled the killer would be close enough to possibly have a few hairs fall onto his body.

Batman: Do you have a sample?

Batgirl: Obviously.

Batman: Okay, I’ll program the computer to scan it. I know it’s not ideal but we’ll find out in twelve hours. Tim, Cass, and Kate, go update Commissioner Gordon. Babs, do you mind if we talk for a moment.

Batgirl: Sure, if you feel like doing so now.

Batman: *takes off the cowl and mask* What’s wrong? 

Batgirl: How could you not tell me Helena was staying at the mansion!

Batman: I didn’t want you to overreact.

Batgirl: How could I not! One of your ex girlfriends is sleeping under the same roof you are!

Batman: Look, this conversation is a bit more complicated than I anticipated so we’ll talk more about it later.

Batgirl: You know what, do yourself one better and just don’t talk to me at all. *Barbara places her mask back on as she storms out*

Red Robin: *sneaks out from behind a door* I swear I totally wasn’t eavesdropping, but that sounded like it could have gone better.

Batman: Yeah, it could have. *Dick than walks out pulling the cowl over his head and placing his mask back on*

Batman and Batwoman

Batman: *knocks on the door*

Hugo Strange: Hello Batman, Batwoman! How may I assist you?

Batman: We have some more questions to ask you.

Hugo Strange: Please, come inside!

Batman: How has James Jr. been doing in his sessions?

Hugo Strange: He has been doing very well! Obviously he had to spend a small period in solitary for killing his cellmates but he is getting better. If he is a prime suspect you may look into his files.

Batwoman: When did you two last meet?

Hugo Strange: Yesterday.

Batman: When did you two conspire the death of Julian Day?

Hugo Strange: I’m sorry, what are you talking about?

Batwoman: *grabs Hugo Strange by the shirt and lifts him* DON’T PLAY GAMES WITH US STRANGE! ANSWER THE QUESTION!

Hugo Strange: I swear I don’t know what you’re talking about!

Batman: We saw that you transferred Day to Gordon’s cell! He has killed every cellmate he’s had! You were sentencing him to death!

Batwoman starts to shake Hugo Strange violently until a gun shot is heard from across the room. 

Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan

James Jr.: Hey Batgirl! I see you’re walking again, isn’t that such a neat surprise.

Red Robin: Shut up, James!

Batgirl: James, we want to know what happened?

James Jr.: ..........

Batgirl: Answer my question asshat!

James Jr.: Whoa little sis... I want to stay I was told to shut up!

Batgirl: Do you realize what’s happening?

James Jr.: I’m being interrogated.

Batgirl: You’re going to be transferred to Arkham. If you confess your time there could be reduced! 

James Jr.: Fine... I confess...... I cut open your teddy bear and filled it with razor blades when we were kids.

Batgirl flips the table and pins James to the wall, punching him in the head multiple times. Orphan then runs in, trying to help Red Robin to get Batgirl to stop punching James Jr.

Batgirl: Rot in fucking Arkham for all I care! You should have been sent there to begin with!

Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan begin to walk out the door before James Jr. lying on the floor yells.

James Jr.: WAIT! It wasn’t me, I promise!

Batgirl: Doubtful.

James Jr.: Red Robin, come on. I know you’re going to give me a chance. Hear me out.

Red Robin: Batgirl, let’s give him.....

Batgirl: NO! HE HAD HIS CHANCE! HE DECIDED TO WASTE IT!

Orphan: Batgirl. Please.

Batgirl: *stops in the hallway* Fine.

A few minutes later Red Robin is in the interrogation room with James Jr. with Orphan.

Red Robin: James Jr. Did you kill Julian Day?

James Jr.: No.

Off in the distance they all hear the gunshot from Hugo Strange’s office.

James Jr.: And there’s my proof.

Batman, Batwoman, Batgirl, Red Robin, and Orphan

Red lines flow down Hugo Strange’s face as blood pours from the hole in his forehead. Batman and Batwoman turn around to see who fired the shot, and are shocked to see Eduardo Flamingo. Batwoman drops the dead body of Hugo Strange as Flamingo fires three shots at both Batman and Batwoman. Both are unfazed by this and punch him in the face, causing him to fall back on the floor.

Batman: *picks up Flamingo* Who hired you?

Eduardo Flamingo: *cough* You just watched him die.

The GCPD arrives to the room and arrest Flamingo.

Commissioner Gordon: Freeze! You have the right to remain silent. Anything you say can and will be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be provided for you.

He had confessed to everything. The murders, the contract Hugo Strange offered him to kill Day. No details was left out. By the time they all left the prison it was 12:30 in the morning.

Batman: Batgirl, let’s talk. 

Batgirl: I don’t want to talk.

Batman: Babs, if you won’t talk, then listen, please? *tears start to fill his eyes and make their way down his mask*

Batgirl: If anything, you listen to me *tears streak down her mask as well* I don’t know where I stand in this situation, and right now I really don’t care! For the time being don’t talk to me. *she takes out her grappling hook and leaves the four other members just standing there*

Batwoman: I’m not going to get too involved in this, but you know if you need to talk Dick, let me know.

Batman: Thank you.

The two hug and then go their separate ways.

Dick and Barbara

When they got home, Dick reached for his phone and started to text Barbara. He tried to explain how he never knew Helena was going to show up. How she showed up out of nowhere. How she is his everything, his world, and he doesn’t blame her for being skeptical but he still loves her. 

Barbara doesn’t want to read a word of Dick’s excuses. This has happened before when Dick was dating Koriand’r and Zatanna. Even before they were in a relationship, she knew he at one point was seeing multiple girls at a time. She doesn’t know if he is really sleeping with Helena behind her back, but she knows that she can’t trust Dick for the time being.

After his shower he walked to his room where he saw Helena laying on his bed in her costume. She then tosses his Nightwing costume at him.

Helena: Hey Dick, how about you throw that on and we do a bit of role play.

Dick: Cool, I’m into that. I’ll be Nightwing, the guy who loves Batgirl so much, and you’ll be Huntress, who sleeps on the first floor. You’re going to leave my room and I’ll lock my door for the rest of the night.

Helena: Rough night, lover?

Dick: I told you to stop calling me that.

Helena: I know, but I love it.

Dick: Helena, please just leave.

Dick just lied on his bed staring at his phone, wishing that Barbara would text him back. Fifteen minutes later he hears a knock at his door.

Bruce: Hey Dick! Are you okay?

Dick: What is this? Am I dreaming?

Bruce: No. I heard what happened. Just know if you ever want to talk about it, you can come to me. 

Dick: Thanks Bruce!

Bruce: Want to watch Avatar as a family? Damian told me how you talked him into watching it. I think it’s a fun idea!

Dick: *smirks* Sure!

They both walk downstairs to the media room as they see everyone down there already. He noticed Helena was sitting at the far end of the room so Dick considered sitting by Tim and Stephanie who seemed to have been chatting it up, but decided against it and sat near Damian. 

Dick: *leans over towards Damian*

Damian: Don’t you even think about it Grayson!

Dick: *wraps his arms around Damian* Come on, you know you love my hugs!

Damian: I will cut off your arms in your sleep,

Dick: You’re so adorable when you think you’re threatening.

The episode begins to play and everyone fell silent. As the second one ended everyone looked at Cassandra and Damian to get their reaction.

Cassandra: That was awesome!!! Let’s watch one more!

Damian: It is surprisingly entertaining. A little silly but intriguing.

Jason: WE KNEW YOU WOULD LIKE IT SUCKER!

Tim: One of the greatest shows ever!

[daemoninwhiteround2]

Jaycubus Anon: Can I have some Catlad!Jay x Robin!Dick? Or maybe a version where they’re Stray and Nightwing and are commiserating together over the antics of their successors: Catlad!Tim and Robin!Damian. Maybe this Jason also trained with the League of Assasins so Damian kind of knows him?

(switched to Catlad Dami and Robin Tim BC Tim Drake is the world's number one Robin fanboy and also I will never not find big brother!Jay&lil bro!Dami adorable)

"We were never like this, right babe?"

Jason leans his head against his mate's shoulder, and looks down to where his protégé is playing with Dick's--or, at least, with the knowledge that Jason has if Damian's combat abilities, he'd call it playing.

Tim might call it something different.

Ehh, what does he know. None of his limbs are broken and all of the cuts can be hidden under clothing that's appropriate for the weather. By League standards, this is two kittens batting at one another with soft, clawless paws.

... OK, he's spent way too much time with Selina lately.

"I certainly never played with you like this," Jason hedges. It's true, his tenure as Catlad and Dick's as Robin were more ... It feels disingenuous (and it also makes him feel ancient) to say simple, but it was. The Rogues were ... less, then. Catlad and Robin were able to play together, chase each other around. They never had to spar, or play-fight like Damian is doing with Tim. And yes, some of the change is due to the different temperaments of their chosen successors, but still.

"You call that playing?"

Jason can just about hear Dick's eyebrow being raised.

Jason blinks as Damian tosses Tim across half the rooftop. To his credit, Tim rolls to his feet and darts back in, swinging his bo staff at Damian's feet.

"Yeah, 'course."

"I'd call it flirting."

Jason reflexively scoffs, but something in him urges to pause, to reconsider Dick's words.

...Hrm. Damian is being ... gentle. As gentle as he can be, with the way he was brought up.

(Damian is the only good thing to ever come out of the League. If Jason ever meets Talia or Ra's in a dark alleyway ... It doesn't matter what his mate wishes, only one of them is leaving.)

"Could be," he reluctantly agrees.

Dick presses a quick kiss to his forehead and then settles an arm around Jason's waist, pulling him close.

"Yeah, see, look at that opening Kitty's leaving him--it's like he wants Rob to show off."

If Damian were within earshot, he wouldn't allow Dick to get away with the nickname, but, well, Jason likes being the only person who Dick calls Catlad, even if he doesn't use the name anymore.

He hums a non-committal note and they settle back to watching their kids protégés fight in silence.

Then,

"Better warn Kitty, tho. Superboy's been throwing out some pretty strong signals that I think Rob's starting to pick up on, and he doesn't exactly strike me as someone who shares."

Jason wheezes.

[queerbutstillhere]

Damian accidentally seriously hurts Tim during a sparing match and refuses to spar for weeks after. (it's tim specifically to contrast how he once tried to kill him)

(this started off nice and sweet and ended in a mini vent- Enjoy!)

It had happened almost a month ago, but Damian remembered it well. Too well.

He had been sparing with Drake, he was using a rounded blade, and Tim was using a basic Bo staff. Neither should be able to inflict that much damage, but Damian never really needed tools to kill, did he?

Damian doesn't even remember what exactly happened, just that Tim had said something and it set Damian off. He remembered being angry, and then some little jab about his friends had been made and he just saw red.

He remembered the moment it happened, catching Tim's Bo and slipping past it, grabbing him by the neck and just slamming him to the floor. Tim, shocked, but not stopped, rolled away and kicked Damian to the ground. But Damian was functioning by Muscle memory. He had jumped and grabbed Tim, pinning him down as the older teen tried to roll away, pressing Tim's face into the floor. He caught Tim's flailing arm in one hand, easily twisting it up and around, over his back in an awkward and painful position.

"Damian! Oh my God, stop!" Someone yelled, Dick maybe.

"Damian!" A female voice exclaimed in horror.

Tim hissed, trying to get Damian off.

And then he heard it, the sickening pop, Tim's arm jerking odd. Tim howled with pain, wildly thrashing and throwing the now shocked Damian off.

Damian was a trained assassin. He knew exactly what he had just done, and how bad it could be. He knew what this could mean. He felt bile rising in his throat and he jumped to his feet, even as people came running over, grabbing Tim and helping him to the medwing, even as he whimpered with the pain. Damian could just stand there on the sparing floor and stare.

No one reprimanded or even looked at him, but they didn't need too. He felt like vomiting. He had just hurt his brother, maybe permanently. How could he have done that?!

He had sprinted to the locker rooms, bent over a toliet and hurled. Then he had hurriedly changed and ran and locked himself in his room, refusing to see anyone until the next morning when he had to get up for school.

Now, four weeks later, he hadn't stepped on the sparing mat once. He still worked out, but he just boxed with sandbags or dummies. He refused to spar with anyone. Even his father.

Tim hadn't been seriously damaged. Damian had just severely dislocated his shoulder, and stretched his nerves, causing some residual numbness throughout his whole shoulder. Tim wasn't even that mad, in fact he, as well as every other family member who lived in the manor, seemed very concerned about why Damian had so immediately closed off. And it was infuriating. He wanted them to scream, to hit him, punish him. But no, everyone just kept saying it was an accident, as if Damian hadn't been fully aware of his actions. As if Damian hadn't done it on purpose.

It made him want to vomit.

Suddenly he looked up at some point and found Tim standing a few feet away, arms crossed, watching him silently.

"What, Drake?" Damian hissed out in replace of his usual yell as he hit the dummy.

Don't let him see how bad you feel.

"What are you doing?"

"Working out."

Damian punched the dummy rapidly.

"No. That's not what I meant. Why are you avoiding sparing. You used to love sparing because you got to show off all the time, you got to beat us. What happened?"

Damian didn't respond, hitting the dummy so hard it actually fell over. He turned and walked away, pulling off his gloves and grabbing his water bottle.

"Damian. I'm not mad, you know that, right?"

Damian actually dumped water on his face because that sentence made him choke. He set down the metal bottle and swiped his sweaty t-shirt over his face, drying it slightly. He didn't meet Tim's eyes.

"Damian."

He just focused on restrapping his gloves on.

"I know," he said softly, turning to walk to the sand bag. Tim slid in front of him, blocking his path.

"No you don't," he said, sounding sad, but not surprised.

"Drake, move," Damian said, narrowing his eyes defensively, but no actual anger came.

"No. Damian, we need to talk-"

"I do not wish too."

"I don't care!" Tim snapped.

Damian blinked at him.

"You can be all stuck up and shit, but God! I'm not mad, Dami, I need you to know that! Shit like this happens all the time! Dick's injured me during a spar before, hell even Bruce has, and you know how he is during sparring!"

The yelling was good. Yelling meant he was mad about something. Being mad was better, for Damian it made sense. Forgiveness did not.

"You gotta stop beating yourself up over this! It was just a dislocated shoulder, and I'm sure you didn't mean it!"

"Yes I did!" Damian practically screamed back.

Tim took a step back, confusion filling his face.

"What?" He breathed out.

Damian clenched his jaw and looked away. "You made some asinine jest towards one of my companions and I. . . " He trailed off, shrugging slightly.

Tim took a breath in, and held it, Damian prepared himself for yelling. It's what he deserved. But Tim just let it out in a low hiss and then reached forwards, grabbing Damian's shoulder.

"Kid, I'm sorry I made fun of your friends. I should not have done that. I know how much they mean to you and how loyal you are to them. I apologize for my actions."

Damian's jaw fell open and he stared at Tim in shock. Why the hell was he apologizing?!

"But seriously, you can't go around dislocating people's arms just because they said something about one of your friends."

Damian quickly composed himself, nodding lightly.

"And at least you didn't push me off a dinosaur again," Tim joked with a friendly smile.

He reached up and ruffled Damian's hair.

"And Damian, if you want to talk about it, my doors open."

Tim went and started walking away. Damian stared after him in confusion.

"Drake. Why are you not mad?"

Tim stopped and turned around, looking confused.

"What?"

"You.... You are not angry?"

"Well, I mean, a little. But I'm not- I'm trying to understand your past and how you handle things better. So I'm trying to be a little more forgiving of you."

" . . . I don't understand. I've tried to kill you."

"Yeah, well, in all fairness, so have a lot of my friends. And in all fairness, I wasn't exactly nice to you."

Tim shrugged and turned, walking away. Damian watched him leave before returning to boxing, though he was throughly confused now.

The next day, after Tim got home from work, he would find Damian waiting for him in the kitchen.

"Hey, baby bat," Tim said, walking towards the coffee machine.

Damian watched as he poured himself a cup of coffee.

"How was work?" He asked, manners getting the best of him.

"Miserable. Don't do it. I could not recommend working for Bruce."

Damian smiled slightly, glancing down at his book for a moment before marking his place and closing it.

"Can we. . . Talk?"

Tim gave a genuinely surprised look, but quickly covered it, smiling and nodding.

"Sure." He came and sat beside Damian at the island.

Damian was silent for nearly a minute before looking up.

"I do not understand why you are not mad," he said bluntly. "It does not make sense to me. I intentionally hurt you, I could have done far worse, but yet you apologized to me. It is not logical. By all means you should've yelled or wanted to get vengeance."

Tim frowned, tilting his head slightly. Then he sighed.

"Damian, Jesus. No. That's not how families work. You're my little brother. Little brothers always intentionally hurt their siblings. And maybe you could've done more damage, but you didn't. You stopped yourself. You intentionally avoided sparring with anyone else because you didn't want that to happen again."

Damian shook his head. "But-"

"No. Listen, I forgive you, okay? I don't want revenge, I just want you to not be walking on nails around me anymore, okay?"

Damian blinked at him a few times. Then looked down.

"I apologize," he breathed out.

"I know. I forgive you," Tim repeated, reaching out to squeeze Damian's shoulder.

Damian nodded slightly.

"And thank you, for telling me," Tim said.

When silence hung over them for a few minutes, Tim stood, gently squeezing his shoulder again.

"I have to get downstairs and start working. See ya around, kid."

Damian watched Tim's back as he exited the kitchen, strangely feeling a little better after that conversation.

Send me prompts!

[dc-x-readers]

You Boys Pt 2 (Damian Wayne x Parental!Reader x Duke Thomas)

Part One Here

As Promised my loves, part 2.

This one was so much fun because I like writing pissy Bruce. Also apologies that Damian is a little OOC

You and Bruce came to an agreement, sort of. Neither of you really liked it, but Damian refused to return to his father if you weren’t with him. So Bruce set you up with a room in the Manor, and a car so that you could get to and from work.

Damian moved in a week before you did, he called and texted you everyday, and most importantly he sent you pictures of his pets. You smiled at each message from your boy while you packed up your belongings into small boxes.

The day you were to move in, you were surprised that Bruce, Damian, and Bruce’s oldest son, Dick, came to help you move your stuff into a large SUV. Dick had a kind smile and he thanked you for taking care of Damian when they couldn’t. You liked him more than Bruce, who was still cold to you.

The moment that you three arrived to the Wayne Manor, Damian grabbed your hand and dragged you inside, giving you a tour of the most important rooms (in his view). The tour consisted of Damian pulling you through the kitchen, dining room, library, his room, and finally your room. Once that was done Damian introduced you to his pets.

“He was the only reason I wanted to go back.” Damian admitted, scratching behind Titus’ ear.

“How long have you known who you were?” You had asked Damian many times, and he would always stiffen and not talk. You didn’t know why, but you tried not to push it too hard.

“I want you to meet Goliath.” Damian said, effectively changing the subject from your question, “But father doesn’t want you going down to the Batcave.”

And of course Bruce didn’t want you down there.

“Well you will just have to show me tons of pictures.” You smiled, and Damian smiled back.

That night you eat dinner with Damian, Bruce, and Dick. It was mostly silent, with Damian insisting on sitting next to you, Bruce at the head of the table, and Dick sitting across from you. It was awkward and silent, with people just pushing around their food.

It was Dick that couldn't take it, he stood up looking pointing at Bruce, “I’m going to go patrol. Dami want to go with me?”

And you answered without thinking about it, “It’s a school night. He needs to go to sleep.”

No one was expecting you to say that, because Dick stared at you, opening and closing his mouth, and Bruce had a hard set to his jaw. You didn’t look up from the food on your plate.

Finally Bruce gave Dick a tight nod, and Dick slipped from the room, leaving his dirty plate.

Once you finished your meal, you took all the plates to the kitchen, despite Alfred’s protests, and told Damian to get ready for bed. You were so in the habit of acting like his guardian that you forgot that it wasn’t your job anymore. Not really.

“Y/N.” Bruce said from behind you as you were washing the dishes, you turned around almost shattering the plate. Bruce looked angry and you were suddenly a little scared, because this man could probably kill you five hundred ways. “I know that you’ve been taking care of Damian for a year now, but I am his father, and I make the calls.”

“Is this because I told him he can’t patrol?” You asked, because you had a very good reason for that.

“No.” Bruce said flatly, and you could hear the lie, “This is because you are now living with us and you think you are still responsible for Damian’s well being.”

“Well someone has to be!” You shouted before you could stop yourself.

You knew it was a dumb thing to say, but the look that Bruce gave you, radiating rage and questioning your authority, made you even more positive that you were being an idiot.

“What did you just say?” Bruce asked, stepping closer to you, and you leaned back into the sink scared. “Are you insinuating that I can’t care for my own son?”

“I found him bleeding in a dirty alleyway in Gotham. And I took care of him, alone. So no, I don’t think you can.” You shouted back in anger.

You watched as Bruce sucked in a deep breath, you could see him count to ten, and you wondered if he would punch you. It would be fair, because you were being a jerk, but you really hoped he wouldn’t.

“If… If this is going to work we need to set up rules.” Bruce finally said through gritted teeth, “Rules we can both agree on.”

“Fine.” You shot back.

“Fine.”

“Rule one, no patrols on school nights.” You stated. Bruce didn’t say anything for a long moment, and so you left, let him stew in his own anger. You would talk about rules in the morning.

You walked up to Damian’s room, he was sitting up on his bed, his cat was on one side, and Titus was curled up at the corner of his bed. Damian looked worried, but when he saw you the tension eased from his face.

“Umi, what took you so long?” Damian asked, and you smiled before placing a quick kiss on his forehead.

“Just got lost.” You replied, because Damian didn’t need to hear that his parents were fighting.

You stayed with Damian for a half hour before telling him to go to sleep, and then you returned to your room, where you sat up the entire night, wondering if this all was a mistake. Maybe you should have stayed at your apartment, and petitioned for custody every other weekend.

The next day you got back from work tired and just really wanting a long shower. You weren’t expecting to see Bruce sitting at the kitchen counter with a piece of paper in front of him, he looked almost as tired as you.

“Y/N, I thought we should write out our rules.” Bruce said.

You almost laughed, because you were really not expecting Bruce to actually make a contract, but he was a businessman so it made sense. And you wanted this to work, so you sat down across from Bruce and the two of you worked out a real and serious contract. One you were both okay with.

One thing that you hadn’t been expecting when you were living in the Wayne Manor was for it to always be loud. There were always a bunch of children running around, and usually breaking things. Damian usually forced you to stay away from the others, wanting you all to yourself, so you didn’t really know many of them.

You and Damian were baking cookies together in the kitchen, when a sleepy 17 year old stumbled into the kitchen, he stared at you, and then at Damian who was excitedly helping you mix the batter, and blinked a lot.

“Hello.” You said with a smile, and Damian whirled around to see his brother.

“Umi that is Drake, don’t pay any attention to him.”

“Thanks demon.” Tim muttered, grabbing some coffee.

“Kid, that’s not nice. Apologize.” You said not even looking at Damian.

Tim opened his mouth to say something, probably along the lines of ‘he will never apologize,’ but Damian looked at Tim and quietly said, “Sorry Drake.”

Tim stared at you with wide eyes.

“Who are you?” Tim asked in amazement, and you just laughed, continuing the cookies.

That night the entire Batfamily gathered in the living room, and you were there as well, watching as Damian verbally sparred with his brothers. Everyone was talking and having a good time, and you were standing against the wall, feeling a little left out, but not wanting to intrude more on Bruce’s life.

That’s when you noticed another kid hanging around the outskirts, he too looked slightly uncomfortable. You made your way over to him, “Hey. I don’t think I know you.”

The boy looked up at you with wide eyes that reminded you of Damian when you first met him.

“You’re Damian’s… you’re Damian’s.” The kid said, and you laughed.

“Good to know that’s my legacy, that I belong to a child.” You snorted and the boy looked a little embarrassed, “But that still doesn’t tell me who you are.”

The boy smiled his face darkening with a blush, “Right. I’m Duke. Duke Thomas.”

“Well Duke. Duke Thomas.” You smiled, and the boy rubbed the back of his neck. You felt bad for embarrassing the boy so badly, but it was really easy, “You look hungry. I made cookies earlier, you like chocolate chip?”

And you felt your heart break a little when you saw how excited this child was, he clearly wasn’t noticed enough. So you took him down to the kitchen where you you had left the cookies, you listened to him as he told you about his day, and you congratulated him when you found out he was president of the Spanish club.

When the two of you returned to the living room Damian came up to your side, and he glared at Duke, “You will leave my Umi alone.”

“Kid.” You said warningly.

“Sorry.” Damian muttered, he didn’t sound sorry. He took your arms and dragged you back to your room.

It was three AM on a Friday night-- Well you guess Saturday morning-- when the door to your room opened with a loud creak. You were still very much asleep and didn’t notice, even when your visitor tapped on your face, once, twice.

The third time you shot up to see Damian and Duke both standing in front of you, you were shocked to see them.

“Dami?” You croaked out, “Duke? What’s going on?”

Damian shifted from one foot to another, he looked embarrassed. Duke on the other hand didn’t have trouble asking, “We had a … bad patrol. Can we sleep with you tonight. Please?”

That woke you up really quick. You were alert, looking at the two boys, they were both in pyjamas and there was no visible injuries.

“Are either of you hurt?” You asked, pulling the two closer to you.

“No Umi, I just wanted to be with you. I’m not sure why Thomas is here.” Damian muttered, and you didn’t say anything about the comment. You were too busy pulling both the boys into your arms. That night you fell asleep between you two boys, a protective arm slung around them.

You would have serious words with Bruce in the morning.

[caffeinatedtimdrake]

what about a damian x reader for 46, 47, 58 and 30 where reader is a 'ghost' or someone who isn't noticed by many and is mainly the second option of everyone and is damian's bestfriend and then one day she juts distances herself and stops talking because she feels like she's just damian's second option and he'll forget her in the end?make it angsty (just light pls.) and fluffy in the end please.

I hope this is okay anon! 2.8k of (older!)Damian x female!reader fluff ft a sprinkling of angst.

30.“I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you!” “And I’m trying to subtly avoid it!” 46.“I thought you forgot about me.” “Never.” 47.“I’m fine.” “You don’t look fine.” “Then stop looking.” 58.“Why me?” “Because you saw me when I was invisible.”

Spring hangs in the air, sweet with sunshine and apple blossoms, and silence hangs between you and Damian like the tendrils of a weeping willow beneath a pristinely blue sky. A week-long break lay ahead of you, but a metaphorical storm cloud brooded over your head and dampened any inkling of exaltation you might feel about several days of freedom. 

The grass is green with life, but you are green with envy, failing to suppress the bitter sensation of jealously flitting around in the pit of your stomach. 

Damian’s eyes are green too, a heated and tangled rainforest flecked with gold and turquoise, as he watches you from the corner of his eye. 

“You’re unimpressed.” 

“What? No way! I think it’s totally cool that you and Jon are training more together. Super son connections and stuff. It’s neat. Really, Dami.” 

He narrows his eyes, studying the profile of your face with intense predatory conjecture, but you keep your gaze glued straight ahead, barely scuffing your sneakers on the asphalt sidewalk. 

You know that if he meets your eyes, he’ll see the storm of insecurity brewing in your soul, and you don’t think you can bear to be so vulnerable right now. 

He bites his bottom lip for a moment in speculation. If he wants to pry, he resists the urge. 

“Yes, I suppose. Sometimes I’d like nothing more than to stuff a sock in his mouth and punt him across a field, but he’s a relatively suitable training partner. There are certain things he seems to inherently understand, despite occasional moronic comments.” 

You wonder to yourself if those are things you’d never be able to understand, even if you tried.

“He seems like a good guy.” You surmise in a flat tone that hopefully isn’t too telling of your agitation. 

He nods slowly, like he���s unsure of whether or not to completely agree.

“Are we going to get dinner tonight?” 

Damian sighs. “No, Tim is revamping the security system at the house and wants to show me.”

“Bagels on Saturday?” 

He winces a little and shoots you what might be an embarrassed smile. “Can we accomplish that in less than half an hour? 

“Yes? Probably not enjoyably, though.” You answer hesitantly, something like discomfort and hesitation swirling in your stomach because you feel a little bit like you’re stepping on his toes. 

“I am scheduled to spend the day training with Jon and Jaime at an obscure base off the coast.”

“Oh.” You blink at the ground. 

Damian shrugs disinterestedly. “I think I prefer going through drills with the older heroes, though. They provide more of a challenge. Jon can get predictable and boring.” 

“Boring?” 

“Indeed. Repetition is so arduous. I am entirely disengaged when we spar for too long because I can precisely anticipate his moves. Then I leave him and challenge someone who keeps me a little busier.”

You inhale sharply at this, gripping the straps of your backpack until your knuckles turn white. 

Damian can’t help but frown at this. “What’s wrong?” 

Just worried you’re going to tire of our friendship and leave me forever, that’s all. 

“Nothing. I’m fine.” 

“You’re wrinkling your nose in that little way that says you’re thinking too hard about something and I’m alarmed.”

You relax your face immediately, blinking and flushing pink. “No. I’m fine, really.”

“I don’t believe you, Y/N.”

You shoot him a glare.

“You don’t look fine.” 

You bristle. “Then stop looking, Damian.” 

He mutters something heatedly under his breath that sounds an awful lot like, “Impossible,” but you let it roll off your shoulders. 

“Tell me more about training. Are you the shortest of all the Titans?” 

He grimaces. “For now. I’m practically Wally’s height now. But don’t change the subject, Y/N. I know something weighs heavily on your mind.” You can feel his gaze allay minutely, tender concern softening his sharp, boyish features. “You can always talk to me, you know.” 

You shake your head dismissively, heat lingering in your cheeks. “It’s nothing. Speaking of weight, who do you think is the heaviest? You think Cyborg’s metal parts are that heavy?” 

Damian glowers, halting in front of the path that leads up to your house. “I’m trying to have a serious conversation with you!” 

You nod pliantly, slowly meandering away from him. “And I’m trying to subtly avoid it.” You say with a lump in your throat, while the worry in his soul pours through those coniferous eyes, brows knit together and nose slightly wrinkled. 

“What does that mean?”

“Nothing. Have a good break, Damian! Bye!” You chirp and duck inside your house, locking it firmly and sliding down the cool expanse of wood until you were seated on the ground, heart aching. 

You know that if Damian really wanted, he could easily unlock your door or slip in through a window. 

But he doesn’t. Instead, he watches you flee potentially vulnerable conversation with a funny little sting of disappointment across his heart. When he doesn’t break into your house and wrap you in a bear hug, you feel that same sting. 

It has been three whole days since you’d heard Damian’s voice and you feel a black hole rapidly expanding in your heart, swallowing your sense of reason and applying pressure to your deepest vulnerabilities. 

You’ve texted each other sporadically – apparently Bruce is teaching him a new tech program and the Batcave isn’t good for his cellphone reception – and he’s sent you only two funny kitten videos. 

You hate the sticky, whiny sentiment of clingy behavior; you’ve always tried to avoid being too dependent on and too invested in anyone. You can’t help the deeply affectionate attachment you feel for Damian. His friendship matters to you more than any friendship has before; a deep, soulful amity of both comfortable confidence and new boundaries.

Granted, things are a little different in the moment; you can’t confide in him because he’s the object of your insecurity and that would be too far outside your comfort zone, throwing yourself into the open ocean without swim lessons or flotation devices. 

As you lay on a fuzzy rug in the middle of your bedroom, you have a hard time swallowing the truth: you are too afraid to tell Damian that it makes you jealous and insecure when he hangs out with other prodigal vigilante youth because, like in your darkest nightmares, he could realize that you’ll never be quite like him and leave you floundering in the lonely, murky solitude from which he had saved you. 

Before Damian, you’d been a wallflower, but you never felt that you bloomed in a slow and beautiful way like the roses and ivy across the bricks of Wayne manor. Forming connections wasn’t your strong suit to begin with, a childhood plagued by years of immense shyness and an adolescence filled with what felt like perpetual inferiority. You struggled to find a place amongst your peers, chosen last for sports teams in gym class and simply forgotten in group projects, and you struggled to find yourself. 

Since Damian arrived in a whirlwind of wisdom and fire, he has helped you excavate and dig to discover who you truly are. 

You’re getting a little carried away thinking about the pretty curl of his mouth when your phone rings. 

“Speak of the devil,” you mutter before rolling onto your stomach and swiping to answer.

“Y/N?” 

“Hi, Dami.” His name is sweet on your tongue, anxieties aside. 

“Hello, Y/N. How have your days off from school been so far?” 

You lay your chin on the ground and flop your head onto its right side, sighing deeply. “Nothing overly spectacular.” You glance over at your unopened backpack. “I’ve done some homework, but that’s about it. You?” 

I’ve also thought of you excessively, you say to yourself. 

“Simply more training. I called because I was wondering if you would like to come over and eat dinner. A few of the other trainees might be around.”

You sit up quickly, as if you must compose yourself even over the phone to have any chance at impressing these people.

The fear of inferiority crawls up your spine, poisonous. “I can’t.” 

“Oh?” 

“Y-yup.”

Over the phone, you can practically hear the way his eyes narrow into suspicious slits. “Why not?”

“Plans. I have plans.” You twist your fingers nervously in the rug. 

“Hm. Like what? With whom?” 

Before he can chase you with questions and expose that absolute lie, you blurt, “Sorry, Dami, I gotta go. Talk to you later! Have fun tonight!”

You end the call and fling your phone across the room, falling back onto the ground with a pained groan. 

Damian wasn’t raised to express fear. Instead, he was taught to embrace it and mold it into a source of control and strength. However, currently, he’s slumped across the couch on his stomach with only one boot and an arm thrown over his head and he looks anything but powerful: he looks like a distraught teenage boy. 

Tim quirks an eyebrow and nudges Damian’s ankle. “You missing something, kid?”

Damian harrumphs and waves a hand dismissively. 

Jason locks eyes with Tim from the other side of the couch and shrugs. 

“A shoe, your dignity, a sense of reason…?” 

Damian raises his head from the cushion to glower at Tim, hair mussed and cheeks pink. “Yes, maybe, and no.”

“Well, I can’t help much with the personal crisis, but you’ve gotta start somewhere so here’s your other boot.” Tim drops it gently onto Damian’s back. “I’m here for moral support. We head out for recon in twenty.” 

Face still shoved in the couch, Damian manages to wiggle around and tug on his shoe. When he goes limp again, Jason decides the only thing he can do is plop down on top of his adoptive younger brother. 

Save for several expletives and minor squirming, Damian doesn’t put up much of a fight. 

“What’s wrong, Dami? You’re acting an awful lot like…an insufferable teenage boy. Hormonal changes are tough, I know.” 

“I am fine, Jason.”

Jason settles in and gets more comfortable atop the lanky boy. “I don’t buy it,” 

“You don’t have to.”

“Should we give Y/N a call?”

Damian stiffens gracelessly and Jason barks out a laugh, titling back his head and practically cackling in amusement. “So that’s the problem, huh?”

“Define problem.” Damian says cautiously.

“You and Y/N are experiencing a rough patch and you’ve no idea how to smooth things over again? She hasn’t talked to you properly in days and you’re scared of losing her?” Jason muses, pleasantly surprised that Damian hasn’t flung him across the study yet. 

Damian moves his head so his cheek rests against the leather of the couch. “Perhaps.”

“How are you going to make things better?” 

Damian frowns. “Isn’t that what you, the seemingly experienced and doting older brother figure, should elucidate?” 

Jason grins, warm and playful, patting Damian’s shoulder and standing up. “Communication is key. You don’t know what she’s feeling, she doesn’t know what you’re feeling. In all the guesswork, someone is bound to get confused and hurt. More time spent in silence is more time spent in uncertainty. You feel me?” 

“Yes. I also felt your revolver digging into my spine.” 

You’re floating dreamily between that ethereal, cozy place between asleep and awake when you hear a crash from your bedroom. 

Your heart stops and you freeze on the couch where you dozed off to a decade-old princess movie. 

The knives are preoccupied in the dishwasher, so you grab the next best weapon – a large wooden spoon – and shut off the movie, listening intently for the intruder. 

You stealthily wind your way off the couch, across the living room, and through the kitchen. When you start to turn the corner to beeline down the hallway, your nose collides with smooth fabric and a solid surface. 

You yelp and jump back, raising the spoon with your eyes shut tightly, fearfully to whack the intruder blindly and hopefully beat them senseless.

Slender fingers deftly wrap around your wrist and finesse the potential murder weapon from your grasp. When you part your mouth to shriek, the spoon is shoved in your mouth. 

Your eyes snap open to see stormy green orbs and amused skepticism. 

“That spoon is very threatening, Y/N.” Damian’s voice is low, mouth twitching as he feigns temperance. 

You let it clatter to the floor. “Excuse me for feeling threatened. I was under the impression that an intruder had entered my home.”

“Who else would know how to wrangle with your wretched window besides me?” 

He has a point, but you scowl. “I don’t know, the world is a crazy place.”

Something about this softens his sharp, teasing intrigue. “Tell me about it.” 

“You’re always out fighting evil with superpeople. You tell me.” 

“I don’t think there are enough words to explain it.” Damian frowns a little, peeling off his mask, and reaching out to press a finger to your cupid’s bow. You blink at him in confusion, but then he pulls his fingers away and they’re shiny with blood. 

“Oh. Is that mine?” 

“I’m almost one hundred percent certain it isn’t mine.”

You touch the space below your nostrils. “You gave me a nose bleed, Damian Wayne.” 

You let him pull you into the kitchen “Yes, and since you are my best friend, I do not even mind how utterly unsanitary this is.” He muses after he washes his hands and rummages through your cabinet for tissues. 

He rolls a few tissues up and places his hand on your chin to tilt your head back. His fingers are rose petals against your skin. 

You unceremoniously jam the tissues up your nose. “My blood is on your hands, Damian.” You mutter darkly, humorously. 

He meets your eyes, sparkling with a somber sort of reverence and you feel your heart jump into your throat. “And my heart is in yours, Y/N.” He tells you softly and for a moment, you feel like you’re stuck in candied sugar, sweet and fragile. 

“Did someone kick you in the head too hard?” 

“Not quite. Rather, Jason metaphorically knocked some sense into me, as much as I lament admitting this.”

Your eyebrows shoot up. “Please elaborate.” 

Damian sighs and drops his hands, leaning back to rest against the opposite counter. He’s nothing short of captivating, all long and slender in the moonlight streaming through the window, tousled dark hair and inexplicably emerald eyes, shadows playing across the handsome angles of his face. 

“I thought you forgot about me.” He murmurs, peering at you almost shyly through thick lashes. 

“Never,” You breathe. “That would be impossible. I’m so scared of being clingy, sometimes I wish I could forget you. Other times, I’m simply scared of you.”

This visibly startles him. “I scare you? Of all things in this city? Why me?” 

“Because you saw me when I was invisible. At first, it terrified me. Being seen is being vulnerable. But now? I don’t think I could function properly outside of your line of vision. You see me and I don’t want to go back to being unseen.”

Damian frowns. “I have no plans to terminate this friendship and leave you, Y/N.”

You shoot him a pained look, wincing when you wrinkle your nose in trepidation. “But plans change, Dami. One day, you might wake up and realize you much prefer the company of superhero proteges. Plus, you get bored of training with Jon – who knows if you could simply get bored of being friends with me?” 

He leans into your space and instinctively you lean back, the edge of the counter digging into your waist because he smells of gracefully aged leather and something sharp and sweet, like mint. He reaches a hand up to tenderly tuck a strand of hair behind your ear with a bittersweet smile pulling at the corner of his mouth. 

“Y/N, you mean infinitely more to me than some training exercise or computer program. And you’re fixated on indefinite, hypothetical ‘what if’ questions. I live in a world of probability, not possibility – unless it comes to you. Being without you and your kind smile and appreciation for the little things in life? That is impossible for me. In many ways, without you, I would be blind.”

Tears prick at the corners of your eyes and you have to shove the tissues further up your nose because you keep sniffling and he’s allowing you a precious glimpse into his tangled soul.

Damian reaches out to squeeze your unoccupied hand, cheeks flushed, rosy pink beneath brilliant bronze. “I know you felt invisible for a long time, but I assure you that you’re anything but. You are seen.”

[schweeeppess]

Get Back Up (Batfam AU)

a/n: Sooooo, what is this? another au i’m going to kill myself over 😂 why yes. yes it is. Author’s note is short, because my brain hurts. technical no capes au because the bats were the only ones who didn’t become heroes. everyone else still is. like the justice league, titans, and then titans are still a thing just not with any bats.

there that’s your info. if there is no codename, there was no ******ing career. Emma is an OC, and Dick is married to Kori in the au. It will be expanded on.

I hope you like :D

Tim stretched as he walked for the indoor gym, rubbing at his eye with a palm afterward. Even from the hall he could hear the sounds of impact on a heavy bag.

He snorted, pushing the hair out his eyes, stepping into the room and seeing what he’d already suspected.

“Hey, Jason!”

Jason glanced over at his shout, resting a hand on the bag to still it and taking out an earbud.

“Bro, how early do you wake up for this? It’s ten.”

Flashing a smirk, Jason rubbed a wrapped knuckle. “You know the saying, Timmy: Early bird gets the worm.”

Tim shook his head as he sat on a bench and looked up at his brother. “What worm is there to get?”

In an informal response, Jason shrugged, picking up a grey towel from the ground and wiping at the sweat on his face.

Changing the subject Tim said, “Dick’s coming over today; says he’s bringing Mar’i and Emma.”

He caught the rolls of hand wraps Jason tossed him, continuing. “Kori’s on Titan stuff, otherwise he’d probably bring her too.”

Jason took a seat beside him as Tim started wrapping his hands, taking a long drink of water from the bottle he’d had under the bench. When he finished with the water he wiped his mouth, leaning his forearms on his knees, and looked sideways at Tim.

“So you’ll have someone to train with in your weight class,” he drawled, a brow raised a little, lips pulled in a smirk. “It’s gonna feel great to win, huh, Baby Bird?”

“I hate that nickname,” Tim muttered. Louder he insisted, “I’ve won spars with you.”

“Yeah, ‘cause I let you.”

“No way you’re that much of an asshole.”

“Hi, have we met before? My name is Jason Todd.”

“Fuck off. I’m banking it on your pride not letting you admit it: I’ve beaten you fair and square.”

There was a loud gasp from the doorway and the brothers paused their arguing to see Mar’i standing there, hand over her mouth that was stretched wide in a grin, eyes sparkling mischievously.

She looked up at her dad—who was standing just behind her—still grinning, and said, “Uncle Timmy said a bad word!”

Paling, Tim immediately started to protest. Fuck my luck.

“I didn’t know you were already here!” he defended.

Dick smiled brightly, shaking his head. “It’s fine, Tim.” To his daughter he said, “Mar’i, don’t snitch on your uncle, and do not say any curse words. Your mother would kill me, and I like to think I’m a good dad.”

Mar’i pouted and Jason smirked, getting up and greeting his niece by way of scooping her up in his arms and swinging her around, saying “I missed you, Starlight!”

Tim smiled at the scene, noticing the outfit Dick was wearing for the first time: jeans, a blue button-up, and his favorite jacket, shades hanging from the collar of his shirt.

“You look like a dad,” he grinned. “How’s fatherhood, Grayson?”

His brother snorted, walking over to take Jason’s previous spot. “You’re just asking? Mar’i is six—I’ve been a dad for six years already, and now you’re asking.”

“Uh, yeah?”

Dick laughed quietly and Tim caught sight of his second niece in Dick’s arms, asleep. Wordlessly Dick passed Emma over to him.

When she was nestled in the crook of Tim's arm Emma fussed a little, squirming as if to get comfortable in this new human's arm, and Tim offered her his unoccupied hand. She grasped two of his fingers tight in her tiny little hands, and Tim forced himself not to make any cooing sounds at her. Instead he grinned widely.

Smiling gently at his daughter, Dick spoke. “It’s great. I mean, yeah, I miss six hours of sleep, but I wouldn’t give them up for the world. They’re my girls, you know?”

No, he didn’t, but Tim could imagine. He imagined being woken up every two hours or so in the middle of the night at his baby wailing, calming her down for her to go back to sleep, changing her, feeding her, and doing it all over again at different times throughout the day, and it seemed daunting and terrifying.

Yeah, no, Tim was fine with just visiting and carrying.

“Sure,” he answered, shifting to kiss his niece's head before looking over to where Mar'i had Jason on the ground, an arm pinned behind him.

Jason was grinning and Mar'i was cheering, jumping off her uncle and flying over to her dad to boast proudly about taking down her professional boxing uncle Jason.

Dick smiled a little bigger, saying, “Awesome job, Mar'i!” Glancing to his brother who was picking himself up he said, “Maybe your uncle Jason's getting old, huh?”

She laughed, whipping around to face Jason who gave Dick an indignant look.

“I'm twenty six, Dick,” he protested. “If anyone's old it's you, Mr. Thirty-One-Year-Old.”

“Technically, you're both old.” Tim smirked a bit at both their offended looks. “What? I'm twenty one.”

“Actually,” said a new voice from behind them all, “you're all old. I'm seventeen.”

He didn't even need to turn around to know who it was, and Tim rolled his eyes.

Jason narrowed his own, crossing his arms over his chest, and said, “Shut it, half-pint.”

“Tim's shorter than I am, actually,” Damian corrected with a wicked grin Tim's way, stepping into view.

“Emma's the youngest! We're all old,” Mar'i declared, jumping at her uncle Damian for a hug. He caught her and hugged back. “Hi uncle Dami!”

“I've told you to call me Damian since you were Emma's age,” he huffed.

“Aww, but Dami, don't you like your nickname?” Tim smirked at the withering look Damian sent him.

Jason grinned, adding, “Naw, I think he prefers his nickname: Baby Bat.”

Damian snarled at the mention of the name, so Mar'i tightened her arms around his neck in warning and Damian choked.

“Mar'i,” Dick warned, amused. “Don't choke your uncle, even if he's being dumb.”

“Sorry,” she called, releasing Damian to run over to her dad and take a seat on his leg, smiling sweetly.

Damian rubbed the back of his neck then turned a little to glare at Jason.

“Call me that name one more time and you'll be retiring early,” he hissed.

“Boys,” Bruce's baritone greeted as he stepped into the room.

Tim glanced over his shoulder and nodded once before looking back down at Emma.

Jason offered a two-fingered salute and said, “Old man.”

Damian didn't do anything but offer a peace sign, stepping closer to Jason to jab at his side with an elbow.

Dick smiled, moving to stand and shifting Mar'i to his hip in one fluid movement. “Hey, dad,” he greeted, hugging the older man when he was within range.

“Grandpa B!” Mar'i cheered, throwing her own arms over her grandpa's broad chest for a hug.

Bruce hugged both of them, kissing Mar'i on the head. When Dick stepped back, leaving Mar'i in her grandpa's arms, Bruce asked, “Where are Emma and Koriand'r?”

“Well,” Dick started, “Tim's carrying Emma, so you'll have to try and pry her away from him now--” Tim narrowed his eyes at Bruce “--and Kori's working with the Titans right now. She'll be over as soon as she's done.”

When Bruce nodded, Dick asked his own questions. “Where are Duke and Cass?”

“Cassandra is visiting Stephanie and Barbara for the next two hours, and I think Duke went out for something he needed. He should be back in about thirty minutes or so,” Bruce answered.

Dick nodded. “Got it.”

Turning to Tim, Dick suggested they start stretching before they sparred. Tim pouted because it meant that he would have to surrender Emma to Bruce, but agreed anyways, rising to pass the infant over to his adoptive father with narrowed eyes.

Jason was giving Damian a noogie as Tim left for the gymnastics room with Dick, and looked up to them briefly to call a see you losers later.

Tim was so tempted to flip Jason the bird, but remembering that Mar'i was there kept him from doing so, and he instead hurried after Dick faster.

When he reached him, Dick smiled.

“Ready, Baby Bird?”

“I hate that nickname,” Tim said, shifting his stance and smiling. “But yeah. Let's do this.”

tags: @mizmahlia @boosyboo9206 @an-all-write-life @avengerdragoness @crazyfreckledginger @red-balistic @emmadevr  @tomscaprisun @queen-fighter @jaybird-rednerd @shirokokuro @aaren-27 @disgrays-on @prettylittlebrownskingyal @osejn @v01d-ch1ld @angstytodd @rosevered

[squiddybeifong]

Training

Day 6 of RobRae Week 2019:

Part 1 here

--

Damian sneered as he unsheathed his sword and pounced towards the mage’s back, easily rolling out of the way as she sent a wide disk of magic his way. He anticipated as Cass jumped from her spot and sprung to the left, an unfriendly string of Arabic slipping out of him as Raven’s powers flipped him.

The boy let out a huff as he landed on his back, immediately jumping back to his feet as Dick’s voice filled the air, “GO RAE!”

Raven glanced to where he was watching, hesitating for a beat too quick. Her eyes widened and she moved with her shadows, narrowly avoid a fist to the nose and a blade to the stomach. She stumbled for half a second, just barely recovering as the two tiniest Bats lunged at her.

She twirled, bringing her forearm up as Cass punched the magic shield that formed to cover the mystic’s face, hitting so hard that she ricocheted back a few feet. Raven used the momentum to jump back, not able to stop Damian from landing a hit to her shoulder.

A pause as she stumbled and slid against the shadows again, then Jason cried out, “KICK HER ASS, DAMI!”

For once the bird seemed inclined to listen to him.

Raven bounced back, easily shifting her weight side to side as she dodged his sword the best she could. Her senses went on even higher alert as Cass vanished from her sight and her spread attention got her a shallow slice just above her knee.

The demoness flew a few inches off the ground and dodged another kick, delivering a punch that sent her and Damian in different directions. Robin easily shook off the hit and lunged for her again. Tim’s voice cried out, “YOOOOOO!!” at the same moment Babs proudly called everyone to notice, “LOOK AT CASS!”

Raven took in a loud breath of air as she dived through the air, but not before Cass practically landed on her, her elbow landing in a hit just barely above the ex-Titan’s kidneys.

Raven hit the ground and rolled, her hands encased in black the moment she landed. She rose up til she stood, feeling more than hearing as the two Bats launched another attack. Her magic flung out at the same time as Damian went high and Cass dove low.

All three paused, breathless and tense. After a second a low laugh forced its way out of the demoness’ throat, the movement pressing almost painfully against Damian’s sword. She didn’t dare move her feet, lest Cass’ ironclad hold break her knees.

A breath slid out of Raven and she chuckled again. Amethyst eyes flicked from Damian to Cass and back.

“You two are very impressive,” She praised, her heartbeat still pounding in her ears. When neither mortal moved her shoulders shook as she held back her amusement, her thumb twitching as the magic dissipating off her hand. Violet eyes were bright as she simply said, “I yield.”

Both Bats immediately withdrew from her, although the proud spike in their emotions was telling enough. The mage grinned as she shook herself out, biting back a groan at the stretch of soon-to-be-bruises. Her healing ability worked wonders, but that didn’t mean the throbbing hits hurt any less.

Although, maybe that was just because she hadn’t fought in a while. “Haven’t had a fight like that in a while,” Raven muttered as she rolled her torso, finally getting the full effect of Cass’ diving act. “You guys certainly know how to coordinate.”

Cass grinned behind her mask and Damian scoffed, his chest not-quite-puffing as he wiped the sweat off his blade, “It was nothing. We do even better when it’s not merely practice.”

He glared at his sister as she elbowed his side, Cass’ head turning as Dick hopped onto the platform. His eyes were bright as he congratulated, “Y’all’ve really improved since the last time I trained here.”

“What is with this family and contractions?” Raven muttered to herself.

“I’m not gonna go full B on you two; you know where you slipped up. But,” He nudged his girlfriend’s shoulder, getting her to face him as he jogged a few steps back. Raven aimed a flat look his way and he grinned even wider, the tiny beginnings of a laugh line around his mouth making her heart flop.

“You were fighting a demon. And you see,” Dick suddenly got into a defensive stance, his shoulders shaking in held laughter as his love raised a few inches off the ground in return, “The key to fighting Raven is that her emotions are her greatest power--”

Cass jumped back half a heartbeat before Damian, the two narrowly dodging their brother as he charged. Raven but back a groan as she skipped to the side, a shield coming up to block her soon-to-be-sore right side.

Dick rolled over the shield and she let out a yelp as he grabbed her hips and dipped her, stealing a kiss. Someone called out a disgusted “Grooooooss!” from the stands and a second later Nightwing stood to his full height, continuing his sentence as if he hadn’t cut himself off almost half a minute prior, “--but they’re also her greatest weakness.”

Babs’ voice called out from the sidelines, “So that means we all can kiss her, then?”

He turned to give the redhead a look, his growing smile lessening its impact, “Shut up!”

--

After a brief and impossibly chaotic round of Rock, Paper, Scissors to determine who had to answer the bat signal, as well as Dick’s promise of a future massage, Raven found her way to the roof. She rolled her shoulders and watched as the signal faded from the sky, impressed and sore at how well of a sparring session that was.

Raven hummed and crossed her legs, smiling down at herself. Training had been… fun, all things considered. She felt like she belonged here among the gloom of Gotham and the organized disorder that was the Bat family. They all seemed to really like her; Hell, even B was acting like she wasn’t a burden.

It was surprising and nice. She wondered if bats and birds usually got along well in other situations too. Her eyes opened as the sound of footsteps on the roof alerted her to someone hesitantly approaching from behind. Speaking of bats…

Raven wordlessly patted the ground next to her. Steph’s eyes were bright as she eagerly took a seat next to the hero, “Hi.”

“Hello,” The mage’s smile seemed to put the blonde at ease, although her shoulders dropped at Raven’s words, “We missed you at training.”

She rubbed behind her arm, “Sorry, I slept in. Busy day yesterday, y’know? Trying to finish everything before you got here wore me out a bit.”

“Wish I was that lucky.”

Batgirl snickered, the answer obvious, “Dami wake you up as early as Dick would let him?”

Purple eyes met the girl’s curious sapphire gaze, “He camped outside our door.”

“He didn’t!”

“He did, but I actually didn’t want to talk about Damian.” Raven tried to open up the best she could, her face softening as she felt that same eagerness that all but radiated off the hero, “I wanted to talk about you.”

“Me?” Steph blinked, a flush heating her cheeks, “What about me?”

“Well, I don’t know a lot about you. I know that you’re a hero. And that you’re blonde and fought against B’s stubbornness until you could be a Bat.” Raven paused, her eyes sliding to Gotham’s buildings and then back to Steph. She shrugged, “That’s it. But you probably know a lot about me through my time as a Titan, huh?”

The girl sheepishly nodded, her eyes widening as the demoness nudged their shoulders together, her voice genuinely interested, “I want to get to know you, Steph.”

“Really?!”

Raven nodded, looking amused at how flustered the blonde was getting. It reminded her of the first time she met Donna and that was putting some charming parallels into the mystic’s mind. Steph smiled at the attention and tugged at a lock of hair, horribly aware that her voice just cracked. “I mean, um, sure! Sure. So, uh, what did you wanna talk about?”

Raven put a hand on the hero’s shoulder, seeing the way her chest hitched at the contact. She sent a wave of calm into the air around them, quietly commanding, “Breath, Steph.”

Her cheeks reddened and Steph covered her face with her hands, embarrassed. “Sorry, I’m just…”

“Excited?”

“Yeah, I’m a really big fan and I’m meeting you. But like, I know I already mentioned that.”

“Well,” The Azarathian rolled her lip in between her teeth, switching the topic to a more even ground, “Dick mentioned that you love waffles too, maybe we can start there?”

As if on cue the teen’s stomach rumbled. Raven lips formed a soft smile, her arm reaching back to rest her weight on her palm. This Batgirl was certainly different from the first one she’d met, and Raven really liked the change.

A pale hand pointed towards the window Steph had come up through, “Did you miss breakfast? I’m sure we can sneak something.” Steph looked positively entranced at the opportunity and Raven stood, casually adding, “I know Alfred’d cook for us if we asked.”

In fact, they didn’t even have to ask. The butler was carefully cutting his pastry dough when they walked in, wrinkles crinkling the corners of his eyes at the sight of them getting along so swimmingly.

“Ah, there you are, Miss Stephanie. There are Belgian waffles and hot syrup on the stovetop when you’re ready.” He aimed a smile Raven’s way, nodding a simple, “Master Richard also asked me to tell you that he went to help Miss Cassandra with a quick recon opportunity that sprung up. They should be back within a few hours.”

“Thanks, Alfred.”

“Anything for family, Miss Raven.”

He glanced once at Steph, who was already practically inhaling her plate and winked at his eldest ward’s beloved, “There’s also a possibility that I made a few extra waffles, if Miss Stephanie doesn’t get to them first.”

Raven smiled back, stage whispering to Steph, “He’s just the best, isn’t he?”

The blonde nodded, raising the syrup like a drink, “Hell yeah he is!”

Alfred didn’t look up from his crimping, “Language.”

“Heck yeah he is!”

The mystic snickered and let her magic encase a waffle. She took a seat next to Steph and the two fell into an easy conversation, going from the worst kind of syrup they’d ever tried to the best ways to get Batman to ask what updog was.

After far too short of a time one of Batgirl’s pockets let out a shriek, filling the room with a steady beep. She cursed under her breath and lifted the device to her face, her lips twitching down in worry as Tim’s voice carried over the comm, “Spoiler, I need your help. Half a block west from Robinson Park. Come up from the rooftops.”

Steph touched the mystic’s arm, a rueful hint to her voice as she jerked a thumb over her shoulder, “I gotta go…”

Raven shooed her towards the door, “Go on, help him. I’m gonna be here all week, you know.”

The hero stood, a brow raising, “I thought you were only staying the weekend?”

“I made other plans.”

Steph tried but couldn’t contain her smile, “Our girls’ night?”

“Exactly. But no time for planning now, go kick some bad guy butt first,” Her amethyst eyes were warm as she waved the Bat away, not able to stop her chuckles as the blonde ducked her head, doing a horrible job of hiding her blush. Her comm shrieked out again and a second later Steph was out the door.

Alfred spoke up from his baking, “You’re certainly fitting in quite fine with the rest of the family.” His gray eyes were warm, “I’m glad.”

Raven fiddled with the ends of her sleeves, “I know Dick is glad too.”

“Are you?”

A smile lit up her face again. Alfred hadn’t seen her much in the short day they’d been in Gotham, but she was smiling more than he’d ever seen her before. It was a wonderful change yet he still felt a stab of impatience that Master Richard was hesitating on the obvious course of action. But the butler didn’t let his thoughts show and Raven didn’t acknowledge if she felt any change in his emotions. All the woman did was murmur a soft, “I really am.”

She shook her head before she could get lost in her thoughts, standing to peek at what Alfred was working on. “Hope this isn’t rude, but what are you making?”

Oh, she was absolutely meant to be a Bat. The old man chuckled, “Master Dick mentioned you’re a fan of key lime pie.” He glanced from her face to the eight additional pie tins in front of him, “I’m just ensuring that there’ll be enough to feed the whole family and for at least one to go back with you to Blüdhaven.”

“I really appreciate it.”

“It’s no problem at all, Miss Raven. Did you have anything you particularly wanted? I don’t believe you’ve eaten too much today.” Her half of a waffle certainly couldn’t have been enough, not when she was sparring earlier.

But the mage only shrugged, an odd mix of calm and disquiet all but seeping out of her, “No, I was going to meditate first. Maybe we could share a cup of tea before everyone gets back? Just before lunch?”

The butler raised a brow, a smile in his eyes, “I’d like that very much.” His chin tilted towards the back door, “If you’d rather not be inside, the courtyard is bound to be quiet right about now. I’ll make sure no one disturbs you.”

Raven nodded and turned to the door, pausing at the doorway when Alfred spoke to her back, “Oh, just one more quick question, Miss Raven?”

She blinked at him, curious.

“If I were to send someone out with snacks later, would savory or sweet be best?”

The demoness chuckled, “Both?”

“Alright then, Miss Raven. I’ll leave you to your meditation.”

A half-smile filled her face and she slipped outside, retracing her route from her tour with B until she found the courtyard. Her steps were slow as she bypassed the fountains and carefully trimmed hedges, taking in the beauty that was Wayne Manor. The calmness reminded her of Dick and she smiled to herself, wondering when he’d be back. Her injuries from sparring were all but healed by now, but she still wanted that damn massage.

Shaking her head, Raven’s eyes lit up at the sight of a wooden bench, just under the shade of one of the many trees that dotted the manor. She took a seat and immediately went cross-legged. The empath took a deep breath, Dick’s name slipping out as a part of her calming routine and, a second later, she began silently chanting her mantra.

After what must have been an hour, Raven eventually opened her eyes, softly glancing around at the courtyard. Whether it was the muggy light of noon, the fact that she’d just meditated, or the fact that she felt Dick’s aura within the manor’s walls, everything looked cozier. She raised her face to the sky and let out a breath; her view was breathtaking.

Even when cloaked under the rainy gray sky that Gotham seemed to always sport, the plants were lush and the birds were chirping out, fluttering this way and that as they prepared for a rainy spring. Raven sagged onto the bench and let herself get lost in the quiet of the courtyard.

After a few minutes of listening to the robins’ songs, she heard the faraway click! of a door opening and felt another Bat’s presence. The empath waited until he was a few yards behind her to turn to him, languidly smiling up at the teen from her spot on the bench. He grinned back as pale hands patted the seat next to her, “Hey, Duke.”

He lifted the tray in his hands up an inch in greeting, “Heya, Rae.”

His steps faltered at the name, but she didn’t seem too annoyed by it so he added, “I mean, uh--” The metahuman’s smile was getting increasingly awkward, “Can I call you Rae? Dick said you didn’t really like nicknames, but…”

When his explanation trailed away she shrugged, a tiny hint of a smile on her face, “Rae’s fine.”

“Oh! Okay, that’s good,” Duke took a seat next to her, a hum of surprise escaping when a disk of black magic formed a table for them. He couldn’t bite back a snicker at the way her face lit up at the sight of spread Alfred had made for her; snickerdoodle cookies, peach slices and a croissant sandwich, complete with a thermos of tea.

“Shouldn’t you be on patrol? Or did Alfred rope you into getting me to eat?”

“I’m taking today off, actually. There’s a lotta stuff going on, y’know.” He cheekily smiled at her and Raven laughed, “Well I’m glad you’re here now. You gonna share this picnic with me?”

“If you don’t mind me--” He cut himself off with the look on her face, his shoulders losing any tension.

“Of course I don’t mind. I haven’t had a chance to really hang out with you yet,” Her head tilted as she thought of her time at the Manor so far. She pointed a peach slice at him, “This is the first real conversation we’ve ever had, don’t forget.”

Duke snickered as she stole another peach slice from him, “We should have more.” He ran a hand over his short hair as a thought came to him and Raven waited, but he changed the topic.

“Anyway, I didn’t want to… intrude, I guess? Dick warned us you aren’t the most talkative. And I know I’m not as loud as the others, but he figured we’d get along pretty well.”

Raven sipped her tea as he spoke, shrugging out, “I don’t make friends all that quickly. Doesn’t mean I don’t like talking to people,” Her eyes brightened and she winked, “But I always seem to get along with Bats and you’re not looking like an exception.”

“I don’t make friends all too fast either, but you’re cool and you’re family now,” Raven grinned at Duke’s words; she was a fan of this kid already. The empath shifted and began unwrapping her sandwich, “Well, how about we eat? Food apparently is a great way to start a conversation.”

The meta snickered as she handed him half, “I’d hate for Alfred to see we have leftovers.”

She ripped off some of the croissant’s top, tossing the pieces the birds’ way. Duke seemed to enjoy the relative silence as much as she did so they stayed quiet, listening to the eager chirps of the birds and the dreary sound of wind rustling the trees. Amethyst eyes flicked to the teen and Raven smiled at him.

“I’m glad you came out here. This is nice.”

Duke gave her a little smile, all but sagging into the bench, “I’m glad you’re here too.”

“Can’t usually get some peace and quiet around here?”

“Everyone’s on their best behaviour, actually.”

She gave him a look and he nodded, as if accepting the incredulity of his own statement, “Even Damian.”

The meta bit the inside of his cheek, “We just want you to feel included, y’know?” His brown eyes flicked to just behind her, his face brightened at the sight of his brother.

“Mind if I join?”

Duke raised a hand in a wave, “Hey, D.”

“Dick,” She let out a little hum and lifted her face as he pressed a soft kiss to her forehead. Her palms softly glowed blue and she pressed them against his shoulder, pulling out a bullet and starting to close the hole.

Nightwing sat down next to her, grinning at the impromptu picnic table, “You two seem to be getting along well.”

“I mean Rae and I are basically siblings now, so--” Duke laughed as Dick reached forward to flick his shoulder, the two sharing a look. Raven shifted, a flutter in her heart. She’d known him for years, she knew what Dick was planning even without her connection to his emotions, obviously. But hearing Duke say it was really making this trip real.

Raven took a sip of tea as her boyfriend laid his chin on her head, casually talking to his adoptive brother about something or the other. Her violet eyes met a robin’s beady gaze and she fought the urge to stick her tongue out at the little creature.

She wasn’t just a bird anymore. She was a Bat.

Her breath calmed at the solidness of that title, of having a damn-near traditional definition of a family, despite all that extras this particular one would entail. Raven leaned her weight against her love, listening to his heartbeat with one ear and Duke with the other.

Dick must have felt her realization through their bond but he kept talking, his right hand skipping down to intertwine with her left one. His thumb rubbed circles over the finger that would undoubtedly bare a ring soon and Raven hid her smile behind another sip of tea.

[icerosecrystal]

Day 2: Swordplay

@daminette-december2019-2020

The Waynes knew that Damian was hiding something from them. Why else was he sneaking out about every day at the same time to god know where? What they didn't know was WHERE he was going. So, they did the most logical thing they could do other than following him. Because unlike Jason, who seemed to have a death wish, the rest of the Waynes were quite happy staying alive. And they didn't want the words,' maimed by their little brother' written on their tombstone. They decided to confront him.

One day as Damian was sneaking out once again, all the Wayne siblings stopped him from going through the door. They noticed the sword in his hand but didn't say a word about it. Instead, Jason gave Damian a shit-eating grin and said, "So Demon Spawn! Where are you going? Do you have a cute date, or are you planning someone's murderer?" ...Yeah, Jason had a death wish.

Dick quickly broke in before Jason could do any further damage, "That's not what he meant, Lil' D. We're just curious about where you've been going lately. We want the best for you, Dami."

Damian looked conflicted on what to do, and his siblings thought that they had put him in a hard place, but instead, he answered them like the brat he was. "Tt, it is not the business of any of you imbeciles. So go and get your idiotic brains out of my business and go and annoy someone else." He then stormed out of the manor and quickly got into his car before driving off. Dick, Jason, Tim, Steph, and Cass all looked at each other. Yeah, they were going to go follow him, but they were curious. And at this point, they were willing to die if only to get information. Guess curiosity really did kill the cat...

And that is why they were now following Damian's car to his unknown destination. After a couple of minutes, Damian finally stopped the car in front of a building. They looked over to the building and realized that it was the local gym. But, the Waynes always had a rented out room because it wouldn't be a good idea for them to be seen sparring. It would create too much gossip, and the Waynes already had enough of that circling around them 24/7.

They all quickly took off their suits, wearing their civilian clothes again, before walking into the gym. They hurried inside, hoping to see the cause of Damian's secrecy.  And what they saw greatly surprised them.

There inside the room was Damian and a girl! They were both holding katanas. The one that Damian was holding was the katana he had snuck out with today.  The girl, on the other hand, seemed to be using one of Damian's katanas as well. But something that all of Damian's siblings knew was that Damian NEVER let anyone touch his katana. Just who was this girl?

They watched the pair swordfight. But two things seemed odd during the match. One was that Damian and the girl were equally matched, and Damian didn't look to be holding back. Another was that they weren't just sword fighting. They were flirting the whole time! During the match, they danced around each other exchanging blows and witty, flirty remarks. What they were doing wasn't a swordfight. No, it was swordplay.

Finally, the girl pinned Damian to the ground while smirking, "Looks like I won, Habibi Al-Shaytan (My Beloved Demon)."

Damian chuckled lightly which scared his sibling half to death. "It seems so, Malaki Jamiliti (My Beautiful Angel)." He then leaned forward to kiss her. And that was when Jason decided to announce his presence along with everyone else.

"WHAT THE FUCK!!! You have a fucking girlfriend! Why the hell would she want to date someone as demonic as you?!" When the girl heard that, she walked over to Jason and roundhouse kicked him. This effectively made him shut up, and she released the anger she felt when he said negative things about her boyfriend. Her actions left everyone in shock except for Damian who was smiling at her proudly.

Jason groaned in pain while muttering, "Shit, that fucking hurt. How could a small pixie manage to do that?" His words ended up snapping everyone out of their shock.

Stephanie bounded forward and shook her hand furiously, "Hi, Tiny! I'm Stephanie! But, you can call me Steph! The asshole you kicked is Jason. The smiling man is Richard or Dick. The quiet but analytical girl is Cassandra or Cass. The man who has a coffee in his hand and looks like he's seconds away from collapsing is Timothy or Tim. It's nice to meet you!"

The girl smiled pleasantly before replying with a hint of a French accent, "It's nice to meet you too, Steph! I'm Marinette. I assume that you are Dami's siblings."

Dick smiled widely, "Oh, little D! You talked about us!"

Damian huffed, "Tt, they're mostly complaints about you imbeciles."

Marinette shook her head with a smile on her face. She then looked over to Tim as he asked, "How did you meet?"

Marinette replied, "We met a few years ago through a mutual acquaintance. We became friends and started dating two years ago."

They looked from Damian to Marinette in disbelief before shouting, "YOU'VE HAD A SECRET GIRLFRIEND FOR TWO YEARS!!!".

Oh boy, was the thought that went through Damian's head. This was going to take a lot of explaining.

Bonuses:

#1 Bruce and Alfred find out about Marinette.

Bruce: You're saying that Damian has been dating someone for two years and NONE of us knew about it

Everyone other than Damian, Marinette, and Alfred: YES!

Bruce: I'm going to go process this somewhere else. Congratulations son on your girlfriend

Alfred: *Starts tearing up:

Everyone: What's wrong?!

Alfred: I'm finally going to have a great-grandchild

Everyone other than Damian and Marinette: ...

Damian: This shows how much faith Alfred has in you guys getting a partner and keeping them

#2 Marinette's reaction to Alfred wanting a great-grandchild

Marinette: Wait! You're relying on us for a great-grandchild

Damian: What's wrong, habibti? Don't you love me?

Marinette: *Red as a tomato and buries herself in Damian's chest* Why are you supporting them?!

Damian: I want a kid with you, Angel. *kisses her neck* Good thing we have good genes, we'll be able to make amazing children

Marinette: *Marinette.exe has stopped working. Would you like to close the program or wait*