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ikindamissbeingphysical · 4 years ago

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Your Costume Would Look Better on my Bedroom Floor - RIVUSA fic

Read on ao3 here: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29331153

Riven hooks up with a masked girl at a Halloween party and is determined to find her again.

But his feelings are torn, when Musa, his newest-specialism partner, starts acting weird.

The music's so loud that she can't hear herself think.

And what a blessing that is. The strobe lights flash neon; reflected off of shiny, sweating bodies and the shadows cast are hues of amber and red and Musa could get lost in the blur of those lights and the pounding beat of the music and visions of Halloween masks. Skeletons slide past her, girls with impressive (read: petrifying) make up, fairies with fangs, and even specialists with werewolf ears.

She isn't sure quite how it happened, but a group of girls she isn't particularly close to, from her English class, had begged her to be their ninth muse.

"Your name is Musa!" Daisy, the water (not earth, not earth) fairy had said, leaning against the back of the chair and giving Musa her biggest puppy-dog eyes. "And we totally like, need a ninth muse. Please!"

The other girls had all nodded vigorously. Musa had inwardly cursed her inability to pack away her things faster and high-tail it out of the class as soon as the bell had rung, cursed herself for letting them corner her like this. And even though she hadn't wanted to, she could read the wholesomeness radiating off of them like enormous waves. It was only an earnest desire to have fun. Daisy had prattled on about the group photo opportunities, how she even had Musa's costume all lined up, when Musa had lifted her hand to silence the babbling.

"Alright," she said, to their elation and surprise, "fine." And then she'd put her headphones on and done her best to forget about it.

She'd wondered for a while, briefly, if the Suite had wanted some sort of group costume. It wasn't Stella's thing, really, to coordinate outfits with other people, and as the end of October rolled around, Sky and Bloom had begun the hunt for couples costumes and Musa had supported each suggestion whole-heartedly; eager to avoid any awkwardness.

Stella's at this party too, somewhere. Dressed in some intense haute-couture, and Terra too, as a bat? Musa isn't sure, and she wasn't about to ask. Aisha would show, for an hour or less, before rushing back to the dorm to study for the Elementals final on Tuesday. Sky and Bloom were on the dance floor, and Musa allowed herself a moment to bask in their respective bliss.

It had been a good night so far, to her surprise.

Daisy and her classic-fanatics had helped her into costume, and there had been pre-drinks (fruity cocktails that were worryingly easy to drink) and a lot of photos.

Musa had to admit, they looked good. The nine of them, in their silks and their satins, and the intricate, embroidered masks that sat on the bridge of Musa's nose and fanned her eyes with fine, delicate lace detail.

"You'll be Euterpe," Daisy had said, with perfect pronunciation, as she helped Musa into the lilac and purple swathes of silk that cinched in tight at the waist. "The muse of Music. Since you're always listening to it!"

"Funny." Musa grinned, only a little forced, before she'd turned to the mirror and blended out her eyeshadow.

It's not that she doesn't like Daisy. Daisy’s fine. Nice. Perfectly average. It’s just Musa keeps to herself. Her mother had always called her an introvert, or rather: someone who re-charged in the dark with music, before the battery was high-enough to go out and socialise again. Some people require more energy: the girls in her Suite are a moderate amount, but Daisy and the English Lit gang? They require a lot of power. They can be draining.

They're all out on the dance-floor now, though, leaving her alone, and Musa sips her strawberry daiquiri and basks into the mind-numbingly, paradoxically loud, peace of the crowd.

"As hot as you look in that costume," comes a slow, sultry drawl, "I'm sure you'd look much better out of it."

Musa's smiling, it's a reflex to smile now, whenever she hears Riven's voice. She doesn't like to think about the ramifications of that too much, so she turns and grins up at him, content to enjoy the night without over-analysing the feelings that have been simmering just under her skin for a while now.

Riven's...well, she's glad for the low-light, because she can feel the burn in her cheeks. Some sort of pirate, maybe? But he's shirtless, with that broad, wiry definition she's grown use to seeing from their Specialism training together, and there's a dark trail of hair leading into his black leather pants. He's got a leather waistcoat on too, over his bare torso, and an eye-patch flipped up onto his forehead, a red bandana tied around his neck and his hair all mussed in that way she knows takes him at least twenty minutes in the mornings.

He towers over her, a drink in hand, and an appreciative gleam in his eyes. She leans against the pillar and sips her strawberry potion. "How many times have you used that one tonight?"

"Only half a dozen," he shrugs, one hand toying with the silk train of her dress. The fabric is so light, it glides through his fingertips and she can feel the heat of his hands on her thighs.

"Wow. Way to make a girl feel special."

He chuckles, and his breath fans over her ear and she shivers all over. "Is that what you want, baby?" He asks, pushing in closer, and she sets her drink down before she spills it. "You wanna feel special? I can arrange that."

She wonders if he's drunk, or feeling bolder than usual in the dark- she certainly is- and she almost can't contain her joy that he likes her back. It spills out of her, and he smiles in bemusement.

They've flirted before, in class, or well- something like flirting. Something like banter, but with softer edges, and secret smiles and inside jokes, but he's so well-guarded, Musa can never quite get a fix on his emotions.

She can now though, she can read the desire and it's not at all hidden, and she feels brave and confident so-

She stretches onto her tiptoes (screw Daisy and these short-ass sandals) and bites the bullet and kisses him.

He moans in surprise, and she hears his own drink being set down, before his hands are in her hair, mindful of her mask, moving gently through the beads and jewellery, skimming down her body to her waist and then his mouth is on her jaw, and Musa leans her head back, granting him all the access he wants, as she clings to his shoulders.

It’s perfect. It’s body-tingling, it’s everything she let herself think it would be on all those lonely nights when he was just letters on her phone, shining in the darkness.

"I've wanted this for so long," she admits, elated, and Riven hums in surprise, pulling away a little.

His lips are raw, and she runs the pad of her thumb over them. She did that. He nips at her finger, and she laughs.

"Really?" He asks, curious but not displeased, as he leans in for another kiss, "do we share a class or something?"

She laughs, before she realises he's being serious. It takes her a long, awful moment, before it all clicks.

Riven doesn't know it's her.

Riven doesn't recognise her.

It's like she's been shoved into the Alfea-River, cold and sobering and awful (no matter how much Aisha sings it's praises) and Musa stumbles out of Riven's embrace, heart-pounding, stomach dropping.

"Hey," Riven frowns, reaching for her arm, "what's wrong-"

"I-" She can't believe it. For a wild moment, she'd thought- allowed herself to think that Riven wanted- "I have to go." is what comes out, before she turns and bolts into the crowd. She runs into people, gets a few elbows in the ribs, her dress snags on a door handle and she hopes Daisy isn't mad- before she finally gets outside.

She gulps in the night air, feels the prickle of tears on her cheeks and wipes them away harshly, laughing at her own ludicrousness. What was she thinking?

She rips off the mask, and a loud, embarrassing sob tears from her throat. She looks over the empty-parking lot, can still hear, mostly muted now, the music inside. The drop from cloud nine to here is giving her whiplash.

"Musa!" Comes Terra's concerned yelp, and Musa jumps. She's not used to being taken off-guard, not when she can feel people before they sneak up on her. Especially Terra. And now great, she's crying, and she hates crying in front of people. Terra bundles over, wrapped up in a thick winter coat. Was she leaving the party early? "What's happened! Are you okay?"

Musa tries to play it off, she doesn't like being the centre of attention. "Yeah, no- I'm- long night. A bit fried."

Terra nods: understanding. "I'll bet. Me too. Let's go back to the Suite. I can make us some hot-chocolate. We can watch a movie?"

"That actually sounds really nice." Musa whispers, letting Terra guide her away. Terra's a comforting mix of worry and a fissure of pleasure. Musa assumes the latter is because they're finally spending some time together. Terra's all about roommate bonding, and Musa supposes she hasn't always been the most accommodating. It’s a good distraction, to focus on how she’ll make more of an effort with Terra.

Later, once they're both in Terra's bed, drinking hot chocolate (which is really, rather painfully sweet for Musa's taste, but she drinks it anyway) and watching Garfield Goes to London, the events of earlier seem sort of like a nightmare.

She drifts off, her head finds Terra's shoulder, and Terra is warm, and smells like apple-body wash, and she falls asleep, hoping that when she wakes up, it won't have been real. It'll be the morning of October 31st, and none of will have ever happened.

The sun rises on November 1st.

Riven tosses his shoe at it, but it remains stubbornly in the sky. Mocking him. It's then he realises how cold it is. And then, a little dimly, he notices that he's outside. Dazed, aching, and evidently he slept in the now dew-damp grass. And that the rather ugly looking cloud frowning down at him is-

“Morning, Silva.” Riven mutters, trying to block out the light. His voice sounds as rough as he feels. He gets to his feet, wobbling, and Silva steadies him and brushes some of the dead grass off his shoulders.

“This is the way to behave?" Silva berates, but he doesn't sound too angry, so Riven drowns it out. "This is the kind of example my two best Specialists are setting? I expect this from you, Riven, but Sky? How disappointing.”

Sky? Oh, that's right. Riven has a murky memory of the two of them searching for the grounds for- shit. More memories trickle back to him. The lovely lady in lavender, with thighs he's desperate to get his hands on, and who'd had a crush on him for ages. How she's disappeared and he didn't have her name, her number, her instagram, only a description of her costume. Sky had been eager to help, more than a little drunk, with Bloom on his arm. Riven wonders where Bloom is, before deciding he doesn't really care that much.

“Saul, it wasn’t, I’m sorry.” Sky stammers, as Riven turns and heads back to school.

It's still excruciatingly early for a Sunday morning, as he staggers back to his room and into the shower. The hot water cascades over him, sinks deep into his bones and soothes. I've wanted this for so long the mystery-girl whispers, and she's achingly familiar, tantalising, lighting up a spark inside him that doesn't burn often. Fuck, she was hot. He's not sure what happened, but he's pretty sure it isn't how the night was meant to have ended.

When he gets out of the shower, Sky is sitting on his bed, pinching the bridge of his nose.

"Got a good tongue-lashing?" Riven asks, pulling on a shirt.

Sky groans. "There was more alcohol in that punch than I thought." His phone buzzes, and he smiles at it, and Riven rolls his eyes.

"I take it your girlfriend got back."

"Yeah, she- oh wait." Sky's eyes light up, "did we find your girl?" Riven shakes his head and Sky slumps with disappointment. "Oh, maybe Bloom knows. What was she dressed as again?"

"I don't know, a goddess or a princess something? It was purple."

Sky types into his phone and Riven chugs half his bottle of water and contemplates bullying one of the first-years into bringing him a stack of pancakes from the cafeteria.

"She can't remember anything." Sky says apologetically, sliding his phone into his pocket. "We think someone spiked the punch."

"Right." Riven sighs, and honestly, of course someone spiked the punch. He knows at least five different people who tossed vodka shots into it throughout the night. He may have been one of them. "I need food."

He's almost out the door when Sky's voice drifts after him. "You're still gonna look for her right? You said she was your soulmate!"

Jesus. He's way too soft a drunk. "Forget I said that." Riven demands, even though it's futile, because Sky likes to collect all the soft, little vulnerable parts of people and treasure it about them forever. "But yes, I'm still gonna find her. At the very least, it's a damn good lay."

Sky jogs after him down the hall, stumbling into a member of the cleaning-staff and haphazardly picking up the mop. "And at the most: you'll fall in love. Imagine it, Riven." He slings an arm over Riven's shoulder. "You: in love. It's hard to picture, right?"

"Keep dreaming, mate."

"It'd suit you, I bet." Sky continues, ever the optimist, "maybe it'll tone down your dickish tendencies by 30%. Maybe even 40."

The arm over his shoulder turns less into a friendly gesture and more into a drunk man desperately needing support, so Riven clutches Sky tighter and helps him down the stairs, wondering when he got such an idiot for a best friend.

The cafeteria's fairly empty, Riven would expect nothing less for this hour, so he dumps Sky unceremoniously at one of the many vacant tables, and flashes his most shit-eating grin at the lunch lady who hands him a plate full of pancakes so reluctantly, he'd almost think she'd rather have handed him a terminal illness.

He turns, ready to re-join Sky and hatch a game plan for finding his mystery girl, when his eyes lock onto a figure in the corner of the room.

It's Musa. As soon as he realises it, he's already on his way over. He's drawn to her, he's always been drawn to her. It had been easy, at first, to shrug it off as attraction. He's hot, she's hot, it's basic physics. But they've been sparring partners for two Semesters now, and though he'll never admit it, he likes her company. Likes the easy banter and the way they fit together. If he ever let himself think about it more deeply, he knows he'd stumble onto how compatible they are. How everything seems just a touch brighter when she smiles at him.

"Well, you look radiant this morning." He says, dumping his plate onto her table with a clatter and watching her wince.

Her hair's a mess, her make-up dried, and her eyes red. He chuckles at how bedraggled a figure she makes, normally so pristine and put-together. It's a fun contrast.

She looks up at him, annoyed, before something strange flickers over her face. It startles him, whatever it is, she looks- ashamed?

"Ut-oh," he sing-songs, folding up one of his pancakes and sliding the whole thing into his mouth. "Regretting last night's decisions, are we? Where'd you end up? Let me guess: Terra talked you into her weed-brownies and she fucked up the batch. Baked, I don't know, fucking clovers instead of weed into the batter."

It earns him a tiny little smile on the corner of her mouth, and his whole body curves closer to her in response. "Don't even. I want to forget it. Forget everything about it."

She takes a long gulp of her drink and he notices it's black coffee. Not very Musa. She likes that disgusting earl grey shit the school doesn't stock very often. When she's forced to have coffee, it's so milky that she might as well not bother. Something's off. He examines her a little more closely, and, not for the first time, envies her powers. To see what was going on in her head, to see her emotions instead of sitting across the table and guessing at them, would be extremely useful right now.

She reaches across the table and steals one of his pancakes, and she looks so pitiful that he lets her, and she tears it up like a bird before she eats it. "What about you?" She asks, not meeting his eyes, "how was your night?"

For some reason, he doesn't want to tell her about the mystery-girl and his new quest to find her. It feels...wrong, to brag about some conquest. It shouldn't. It's not like they're- they're just friends. Barely. "No complaints," he says instead, and he hates this a little bit, that they're both being so evasive.

So, he gives her shin a good kick under the table.

"Ow! Riven!" She scowls, whacking his arm.

He grins at her. "Muscle spasm."

She huffs out a fond laugh, when anyone else would have stormed away from him. "Oh, really? You're getting muscle spasms now? Good to know, so I can kick your ass in training this week."

"You wish." He hums, ripping the next pancake in half and offering the larger piece to her. She takes it and eats it, and when the maple syrup dribbles down her hand, she licks it up from her wrist to her thumb, with a rose-pink tongue that Riven can't look away from. He thinks, vaguely, that she's asked him a question, because she's looking at him with expectant eyes, but there's still glossy, shiny maple on her lips and he thinks it would probably taste a lot better on her. "Huh?"

"I said, I think Sky's going to throw-up."

He follows her gaze to where Sky is leaning over the table, looking particularly green.

Riven shrugs, going for another pancake. "Probably. He's a light-weight."

"Shouldn't you tend to him? Best friend duties?"

"Oh," Riven hums, smacking his lips together, "is that why all of yours are here with us?"

Musa frowns down at her coffee. "They wanted to come with me, but...it's so loud sometimes, you know? Sometimes I just need this. Peace." She closes her eyes, breathes in deeply, and Riven is arrested by the sight of her.

By the time he regains control of his vocal abilities, her eyes are open, ringed just a little with purple, and she's beautiful. "Does that mean I count as peace?" He teases, just a little flattered.

"Please," she scoffs, "your emotions are not quiet. You're as loud as Terra-"

"Fuck you, take that back."

"-but it's different."

Riven leans closer on the stool; curious. She doesn't often talk about her powers with him, and he knows why. He'd been pretty blunt when they were first paired up, practically threatened to ruin her life if she'd so much as peeked into his head. He knows now that her control still isn't great, and that she tries, and that most of the time, she doesn't want to know what anyone's feeling, not when it drowns out her own emotions.

Prompted by his look, she struggles to find the words. "Terra is...it's like a room of people all yelling my name. They each want something different, they each crave something, and it's just not a fun situation, really."

That sounds about right. He can't imagine any situation being fun with Terra. "And what about me?"

"You-" she meets his eyes, and quickly looks away again, and he's so fucking intrigued by her. What is this? She's never been like this before, he's never been like this before. It's too soft, too intimate for them. But it's a quiet, empty Sunday morning, when she looks at her black, black coffee and says: "You sound sort of like a rainforest. It's lots of sounds: a growling jaguar, beetles scuttling up wet bark, gorilla's moving through trees, the creak of branches, storms, rain, it's...it's a harmony. Each sound is a different emotion, but they come together, like an orchestra. It's..." Her cheeks flame red, and he can tell she wants him to look away from her, but he can't. "It's peaceful." She admits, finally.

Riven opens his mouth but nothing comes out. It's the nicest thing anyone's ever said about him. He feels raw, cut to the bone and exposed like a deep paper cut. The air seems to sting around him, and he can't believe that it's Musa, Musa, that associates him with something that isn't bad.

"So. Yeah." She says, awkwardly, toying with her empty coffee cup. "I feel really stupid, by the way, so feel free to even the playing field."

"Don't feel stupid." He whispers, and his voice must sound different because her eyes snap up to meet his. His hand is across the table, and he's not sure how it got there or what he planned on doing with her. Her fingers thrum against her cup in response. Neither one of them moves. "I uh-, that's...I picture you sometimes. Like, obviously I don't know what you're feeling, but sometimes when you're talking or we're fighting, I get these images of you, like landscapes." What the fuck is he doing, why is he speaking, why doesn't he shut up- "like a white-sand beach, or an over-grown field of harebells."

Riven can feel his heart thumping in his chest, and Musa is staring at him, and their fingers are inching, slowly, towards each other and then-

Sky vomits. Loudly.

Musa jumps up. "Oh my god!" She cries, rushing over to him. Riven scrambles after her, as Sky coughs up the rest of it. "I'll get him some water." Musa says, running to the lunch lady.

Riven pats Sky's back, and Sky looks up at him, still a little green around the edges. "Oh hey! You should definitely ask Musa if she saw your mystery girl last night." He says hoarsely. Still definitely drunk, then.

"Shut the fuck up and don't say anything about that to her." Riven hisses, as Musa returns with a plastic cup of water. She looks between them curiously, and Riven gives Sky a warning glare, but all Sky does is vomit some more, and then reach for the water with a pained smile. "I'm gonna take him back to the dorm." Riven mutters, and Musa nods.

"Sure, uh, feel better Sky. I'll see you in class, Riven."

"Bye Musa! Say hi to Bloom for me!" Sky bellows, and Riven regrets, just a little, spiking the punch.

"Dressing to impress." Stella observes, spotting Musa through her hand mirror as Musa walks into the classroom on Monday morning.

Stella's been bitchier than usual to all the girls in the Suite. Musa is nearly one hundred percent sure that things with her mom are worse than usual, so she's given Stella a lot of leeway. Her patience is reaching it's limit, though. Especially because she is dressing to impress. They share this class with the Specialists: History of Magic, and as she'd pulled on the thigh-high socks and fussed over her space-buns for slightly longer than usual, she maybe, sort of, a little, had a certain Specialist in mind. And Musa does not like being called out.

"I'm surprised you even noticed my outfit," Musa says, voice just a little mean, "considering the fact you spend almost all your time looking at yourself in the mirror."

"Hm." Stella cocks her head, "can you read how I feel about that joke? Or should I tell you?"

Definitely a mom-thing.

"Watch it, princess." Riven calls, catching Musa's attention from one of the desk's near the back. He kick out the chair beside him for Musa, who ducks her head to hide her smile, as she goes over to join him.

Stella rolls her eyes. "You fighting Musa's battles now for her?" She asks, as Musa shrugs off her backpack and takes out her pencil case.

"Musa starts her own fights," Riven grins, grabbing the leg of Musa's seat and dragging it closer to his own. Their thighs touch. Musa's breath hitches, and she looks up at him, but he's still looking at Stella; a challenge in his voice. "But I sure like to finish them. Wanna tussle, blondie?"

Stella looks over the two of them for a moment longer before turning away. "Whatever." She mutters, dismissively.

Riven looks down at her then, a lot closer than Musa expected, and smelling of cologne. Does he normally wear cologne to class? She doesn't know. But he fills her head with pleased, protective, content and she likes that he's in such a good mood. "She's not wrong, though," he murmurs, tweaking one of her space-buns, "this is a big improvement from the train-wreck you were on Sunday."

"Gee, thanks, Riven."

"You're welcome."

The teacher walks in then, so Musa has to flip him the bird under the table, and Riven laughs too loudly and has to turn it into a cough when Dowling glowers at him.

To Musa's relief, the lesson is...normal. As normal as it is for the two of them to sit beside each other in History of Magic, which isn't really. She normally sits beside Stella, and meets Riven's eye every few minutes, as he purposely disrupts the class, or cracks a joke, and then he seems to find her, relishing in everyone's good-humour but seeking her out all the same, as if to check he's made her smile too.

Or maybe she's reading too much into it. He's forgotten the kiss, that much is totally clear. It probably happens to him all the time, kissing unknown girls under flashing lights. After she left, he probably found a new conquest.

She tries not to let it get her down. It's not as if he's dating anyone, not that it would- not that it would matter.

But then she remembers yesterday morning. Remember's him leaning in, his emotions a swirl of brutal honesty as he said she was a field of overgrown harebells.

She hadn't even known he knew what harebells were, but then again, why wouldn't he? She has a vague memory of him as a first-year, hiding in the Green House most lunch times, smuggling potted plants back into his dorm room. She knows if she told anyone (which she wouldn't, not ever, not without his express consent) how soft, and sweet and brutally deep he can be, no one would believe her because he hides it, buries it deep under everything else, and for some reason, he shows it to her.

"What?" He whispers to her, and she turns, pulling from her musings to see him leaning in, an eyebrow arched.

Musa looks at him quizzically, before he taps the edge of her notebook.

Oh fuck. She's written his name. Riven stares accusingly up at her from the top corner of her page.

Thinking on her feet, she scribbles some more:

wanna have lunch today?

He reads it, and he nods, but still looks a little bemused, so she keeps writing:

in the woods. past the barrier.

"Ah," he whispers, nodding, and she feels relief bubble up inside her. "Sure. I'll meet you at 2."

"Riven," Dowling calls, and Musa jerks her head up. "Something you'd like to share with the rest of the class?"

Riven pretends to think. "Not that I can think of." He says, "you go on."

Musa can't help her smile, and Dowling catches it. Disapproval wafts off of her, and Musa cringes away from it.

"Ignore her." Riven mutters, uncapping his pen, "crazy old bat."

Then he writes Musa in the top left corner of his notebook, and she knows he caught her, but when she sees his smile, her mortification fades away. She likes her name in his handwriting. How he loops it, how the M's tail drifts into the u.

She pushes her own notebook towards him. "Write it again," she whispers.

"Kinky." But he obliges her, and writes Musa, you should wear those socks more often. His eyes flicker to her legs and she rests her chin on her hands.

"I knew you'd like them."

His hand reaches under the table, toys with the end of her socks on her thigh. "You were thinking of me then you put them on?" He asks, voice low, and she doesn't mean to dip into his head but the arousal is strong and sweet and addictive.

Triumph lights up her mental periphery, and Musa looks around to see Stella's eyes on them, a smirk on her lips.

"Shit." Musa whispers, pulling her legs away, turning from Riven entirely, heart pounding. She can feel his disappointment, but she forces herself to focus on her notes. It could be worse, she tries to reason, Stella's a great secret-keeper, when she's not pissed off. And besides, what's the secret? Sure, she and Riven flirt, it's harmless, it's nothing, it's-

"You're in love with him." Stella says, accosting her after class, as Musa looks desperately for an escape route.

"What? No-"

"It's not fun, is it? Having someone know your feelings?"

Musa sighs and takes a breath. "Look, Stell, it's really nothing. Please."

Stella looks over her, pursing her lips thoughtfully. Finally, she relaxes. "I'm not going to tell anyone, Musa. I'm not a total bitch."

"I don't think you're a bitch." Musa says honestly, "I think you can be bitchy, when you have a bad day, but I know you're going through your own stuff. Everyone has their shit."

"You sound like him." Stella shudders, looping their arms together and leading them down the halls like they're best friends again. And really, with Stella, they might be. The girl doesn't hold a grudge. "But I like it: the two of you. You really were dressing to impress. Have you made a move?"

"No- look, I-" she doesn't know where to begin, or how to explain, and Stella's eyes are really blue and piercing and a little frightening.

"Stone circle." Stella says, steering them to their next lesson. "Perfect. We'll partner up, our powers don't need too much guidance, and you can tell me everything. Finally. I feel like you never have any good gossip, when really, you should have the best considering your power."

"I don't really wanna talk about it, Stella-"

"Tough." Stella sings, navigating the cobblestones outside in her heels with enviable grace, "you're getting my help, whether you want it or not."

Musa thinks of the notebook tucked tenderly into her bag, of Riven writing her name, and he way he'd pulled her chair closer to his. The way she'd flushed hot all over at such an easy show of strength.

"Maybe I do need your help." She mutters, and Stella squeaks so loudly that two magpies leap out of trees into the sky with fright.

Riven's scanning instagram account after instagram account, looking for any girl in the school that bears a passing resemblance to the one he kissed on Halloween. A lot of them posted photos of themselves in costume, so it's easy to cross them off the list. But it's not really working. He can't quite get a fix on the features the girl had. The shape of her lips or her nose are a blur to him. He shuts off his phone in frustration and Sky pauses in his never-ending quest to do as many push-ups as possible.

"No luck?" He guesses and Riven clicks his tongue. "Maybe she doesn't go to our school."

He's considered that. "She said she'd liked me for a while."

"Maybe she's from some sort of facility? She's clearly not well."

Riven tosses a pillow at Sky, but it lacks heat.

Sky gets to his feet and reaches for a protein bar. "Maybe we should just accept that she's gone? You and Musa seem to have a pretty good thing going."

"Musa?"

"Don't play." Sky rolls his eyes, "I'm not blind. Also, you left me alone at a lunch table to puke my guts out while you made moon-eyes at her."

"I think the alcohol has seriously affected your recall abilities."

Sky shoves him a little, before joining him on the bed. "She's nice, she likes you, you like her. I'm not seeing the problem?"

Oh brilliant, they're doing this. A conversation about feelings. "We're friends." Riven says carefully, because Sky talks to Bloom and the last thing Riven needs is for Musa to hear some hacked, Chinese-whispers version of this. "We're good friends, and I don't know if there's anything more to it than that. We flirt, but..."

"You're a flirt." Sky nods, understanding. "You don't know if it's real?"

"Exactly."

"Well, do you want it to be?"

"Jesus, Sky, what are you, Freud?"

"Seems like a straight forward question."

"Well, of course." Riven erupts, getting to his feet and pacing the length of the room and back. "Of course, I'd like it to be real, why wouldn't I? She's the only person at this school that understands me. She's gorgeous, she makes me laugh, she-"

"Oh shit."

Riven turns to look at Sky, who's looking at him like he's grown two heads. "What?" He asks, feeling self-conscious, and Sky back-pedals.

"Nothing, I just- you...you love her. It sounds like. Like maybe you love her, a little."

Riven remembers his stomach tightening when she'd taken the seat beside him in History. Of the way he always seems to seek her out, how each buzz of his phone might be a notification from her.

Love is a far-fetched notion. But he likes her. A lot. Too much, sometimes. He always feels one breath way from over-playing his hand, from revealing his deck, and he just doesn't know if his flush is enough to get him through to the next round. He doesn't know if he can risk going all in. Doesn't know if he'll survive it.

"You've got to tell her, dude," Sky murmurs, and Riven nods.

He decides he'll do it in Specialism, but words fail him when he sees her on their training mat, hair in two high pig-tails, grinning at him in the morning sun. "Ready to get your ass-kicked?" She calls, as he drops down his bag beside her and joins her in their warm-up stretches.

"In your dreams." He says, wondering how they got here. Marvelling at the fact she's here, in their spot, on their mat, waiting for him with that smile. Wondering when and how and why she stuck by him when all he ever tried to do was shove her away. "Musa," he begins, watching as she fumbles with her laces. He knocks her fingers out of the way and laces them for her himself, the way he does every week. She emits a little pulse of gratitude and it wraps around him like an embrace. "You're getting better at that." He hums.

"It's pretty great," she beams, proud of the advances in her magic. She's been struggling for some time, but more and more often lately, she's able to communicate like that and Riven's rewarded by little pulses of smugness, playful, pleasure as she projects them at him in lieu of a response.

He wants to feel other emotions from her. He wants to know what want will feel like, knocking him to his core, knowing that she could show him if she wanted him, when she wanted him- "Musa," he tries again, when Dane's shadow falls over them both.

Riven glowers up at him and Dane's smile wavers. "Uh, hey Riven. Hi Musa."

Musa offers a small wave, and Riven gets to his feet. "What."

"I just- Sky told me a few days ago about that girl you were looking for? I think it might actually be a friend of my sister's. She's a second year too: transferred a few months ago. She's really nice, her name is Lila."

Riven takes a deep breath and keeps his voice low. "That's great, Dane. Now get lost."

"Uh, o-okay, do you want me to text you her number?"

"Scram!" Riven growls, and Dane high-tails it, and when Riven turns around, Musa's face is different, and she's lacing up her other shoe on her own, so skilfully Riven suspects she never needed any help at all, and crap.

"You've met someone," Musa says, smile tight, tone light hearted. "That's great."

Riven looks at her. "Is it?"

"Well, sure it is," she laughs, "you didn't say. When did you guys meet?"

He wants to rip his hair out in frustration. Does she not care? Is this all a front? Does she want him to find someone else because she can read all his emotions and the fact that he's in fucking love with her is creeping her out? Is she jealous? "On Halloween, actually."

Her eyes flash to him and away again. Her voice sounds heart-broken when she says. "Oh."

He can't bear the sound of it. He reaches for her wrist, staring at her as if he could peer into that brain of hers and get just a glimpse at whatever's going on. "I was looking for her, but I'm not anymore."

"Why not?"

"Because she's not you."

Musa's breath hitches, and Riven's hand on her wrist gentles, and her fingers touch his arm. "Riven..."

"Do you? Even a bit?" He asks wretchedly, trying to brace himself for her disgust. For her to pull away. Or maybe she'd do it gently, full of kind words and understanding, and honestly he's not sure which he hates more. But he won't lash out. Not at her.

She laughs, a little watery, and she moves so their fingers are twined together. "I've liked you for ages, Riven," she admits, and his heart swells, when-

It all fucking slots into place.

"Jesus." He groans, pulling her hand to his and kissing it. "It was fucking you, on Halloween, wasn't it? I should've guessed." He's such a moron. Of course it was her, who else could it be? Who else could hold even a candle to what he feels for her?

Musa's eyes are owlish. "What do you mean?"

"You're the goddess. The purple one."

Her cheeks flame and she ducks her head. "You remember that?"

"I just told you I was looking for her!"

"For me?!" She squeaks, "I thought you'd hooked up with someone afterwards-"

He pulls her in for a hug and wraps his arms tight around her. Smells her hair and feels almost giddy. "You thought I didn't want you." He breathes, the thought unfathomable. Does she not know? Does she not know the depth of his desire for her?

"Well, I don't know," she says mulishly, her voice muffled into his chest. Her arms are looped around his neck, and she fits into him: small and perfect. "I wasn't sure if it was more than flirting."

"It was. It is." He promises, and they pull apart, and he feels shy, suddenly, under her shining eyes. "Show me." He pleads quietly, "project it."

She worries her bottom lip with her teeth, but nods. "Alright, but if I turn this entire class into an orgy, that's on you."

When the love wraps around him, it isn't a pulse of emotion. It doesn't feel like finger-tips tracing over his skin, like her joy does, it feels like something else. Like warmth. Like turning your face into a shining sun, or putting your frozen-hands above a fireplace. It's heady and endless and perfect.

"Ow," Musa pants, and the warmth disappears, and she's standing in front of him, rubbing her temples. "Did that work?"

He steps forward and kisses her, leaning down, emoting as much love as he can, hoping she can feel it in her mind, or from their kiss, hoping that she knows, finally, that he's been waiting for her just as long as she's been waiting for him. Maybe longer.

"Oh," she murmurs, pleased-as-punch, when they pull apart. And he laughs.

"Yeah. Oh." He brushes her hair out of her face, "what does it feel like? My love?"

He's not sure what he expects her to say. Something about a beautiful rainforest, or perhaps a landscape. Maybe something like what he felt from her: a warm, life-giving heat.

But instead, she leans up to kiss him again and she says:

"It feels like you."

#rivusa #fic #ao3 #riven x musa #fate winx club #fluff

76 notes · View notes

thiswasinevitableid · 4 years ago

Note

for monster march, ghost + indruck + nsfw?

Here you go! I borrowed some ideas we’ve tossed around on the Discord

A sketchbook, new pens, a Hershey bar, and a bag of jumbo marshmallows. A small but lively fire. And a new, huge, fuzzy sleeping bag waiting for him in the tent.

Not a bad camping set up for a city-boy art goth (as Barclay likes to call him).

Indrid sticks another marshmallow on the fork, roasting it until it’s deep brown, the smell of burning sugar curling through the air and settling in his hair. He’s never liked Graham Crackers, so he jams a square of chocolate into the molten center of the marshmallow and shoves the entire thing into his mouth.

Kepler is small. Barclay hadn’t been kidding about that. He’d also been right that one of the two tattoo shops in town was willing to hire Indrid after looking through photos of his work and confirming he completed his apprenticeship.

He’s been living in the Eastwoods campground in the Monongahela National Forest while he apartment hunts, and the tattoos he’s done so far netted him enough cash to buy his luxurious new sleeping bag. He might be waiting on a place for some time, so he may as well camp in style.

Three “s’mores” later, the moon is up and the night is chilly enough that he wants his sweatshirt. Ducking into the tent, he can’t find it on his pillow, where he swears he left it this morning. Maybe he accidentally buried it getting dressed.

A splashhiss interrupts his rummaging. Scrambling from the tent, he discovers his fire is now a pile of soaked ashes and logs being angrily stirred by a thick piece of kindling.

“Excuse me, but what the fuck?”

A man in a ranger uniform appears, the stick falling through his hand as he gives Indrid a disapproving stare.

“Look here, I know you’re new here, maybe to campin entirely. But you can’t just leave a fire burnin when you go to bed.” He doesn’t sound mad, more like he’s a disappointed big brother scolding his sibling.

“I wasn’t-”

“And all this” he gestures to the food on the table, “has gotta go in the bear box. Black bears are real good foragers and we don’t want ‘em comin’ into camp and gettin to comfy around humans.”

“Of course, but-”

“You didn’t take any food into the tent, right? Wouldn’t want somethin to decide to join you ‘cause it smelled a snack.”

Indrid pinches the bridge of his nose, “I am aware of all of these rules, and plan to follow them. Once I actually go to bed instead of ducking into the tent for my sweater. But since my evening appears to be over…” he grabs the marshmallows, roasting fork, and chocolate, carries them to the bear box, and slams it closed.

When he whirls back around, the ghost is still there, chagrined.

“Uh, sorry. I kinda jumpy about people leavin fires alone.” In the lantern light, his smile is as charming as his drawl. His stocky, bearish shape and unassumingly handsome face command Indrid’s focus, which is why his revelation comes so quickly.

“You...there’s a statue of you at the visitor center. Which makes you, ah, damn it what was the name-”

“Duck. Duck Newton. They put my legal name on there, even though Juno tried to stop ‘em. But my name’s Duck.”

“It’s nice to meet you, Duck. I’m Indrid.”

“Nice to meet you too. Uh, sorry for ruinin your campfire, looks like you were havin a nice time.”

“It’s alright. I suppose I’m grateful there’s someone haunting the campsites to keep them in order.”

“You’re takin me bein’ a ghost surprisingly well.”

“I’ve always been interested in strange things, to the point that I earned the nickname ‘mothman’ in high school.”

“Huh” Duck watches him a moment, then shrugs, “well, guess I better be goin’. Have a nice night, mothman.”

With that, he’s gone.

------------------------------------------------------

“Hello again.” Indrid says as the campfire smoke curls around a human form, “Doing your rounds?”

“More or less. I like my job, and ain’t about to give it up just because I beefed it and turned into a ghost.” A creak as Duck joins him on the picnic bench. When he materializes, he floats slightly above the worn wood, watching Indrid draw.

“That’s incredible, it’s so realistic it’s like you pressed the leaves into the pages instead of colored them.”

“Thank you.” adds depth to the leaf, “you know, I looked at the statue again today. It hardly does you justice.”

From this close, he can see a blush spread up semi-opaque cheeks. Then he starts fading.

“Oh, ah, I’m sorry. I was aiming for a benign compliment, not to make you uncomfortable.”

“S’alright, just surprised me. Not many folks wanna flirt with a dead guy.”

“I’m more interested in what the ‘dead guy’ wants.” Indrid smiles, hoping to convey he would submit to spectral touches as readily as he’d keep talking.

Duck floats closer, “Kinda curious about your other drawin’s.”

Indrid turns the sketchbook back to the beginning, “they’re half portfolio and half travelogue. Here” he holds up a fade, detached piece of paper, covered by an Morpho Butterfly that looks ready to fly away, “this is the first tattoo I ever designed.”

“Damn. Guessin’ that means you did this one” he touches the Rosy Maple Moth on Indrid’s forearm (or tries to). It’s chilly, but not in the way Indrid feared. More like taking a cool shower on a sweltering day.

“I did. Here, it gave me an idea for my first series of flash tattoos…”

They go over the illustrations page by page. Slowly, Indrid weaves in questions to Duck who, instead of recoiling from discussion of his mortal life, tells him rambling stories about the woods and which places serve the best food in town.

The conversation doesn’t end until the fire goes out on it’s own, Duck standing automatically, grabbing a water bottle, swearing, and then disappearing so he can pick the bottle up.

“Do you think that’s part of why you’re still here? Some unfinished business having to do with the woods?”

“Nah.” The water bottle thunks back on the table as Duck reappears, “I tried to live a normal life, improve the world the way I knew how, make some kind of difference to this town. Then I had to go play the goddamn hero.”

“I would say saving two dozen people from a forest fire makes a considerable difference in the world.”

A sad huff of a laugh, “Yeah, guess you’re right. Just...I meant to do somethin’ with my life, not my death, even if it was a small somethin’, and the closest thing I got to unfinished business is a model ship.”

“I...what?”

“It was four-masted and everything! I had Leo order it in special and everything and then I never, I never got to-” He tilts his head up, sniffs once, “never mind. I better let you get to sleep.”

By the time Indrid calls “goodnight,” the ghost is gone.

------------------------------------------

“Please tell me you’re gettin a place soon so you stop eatin everythin outta a can?” Leo bags the last of groceries.

“No such luck. Ah well, there are worse things than canned soup and Pop-Tarts.”

“At least let Barclay feed you, half the point of havin a friend who can cook is to let ‘em do it for you. You need stamps or anything?”

“N-” A box behind the counter catches his eye. It’s at an odd angle, as if whoever put it there is hoping no one will see it. Indrid can just make out an illustration of a four-masted ship.

“Is that for sale?”

Leo looks where he’s pointing, and for a moment something in his gruff affability wavers. Then he nods, “Yeah, suppose it is.”

“Can you ring it up for me?” Indrid nearly bounces on his toes when Leo sets the box on the counter and confirms his hunch.

The older man sets a gentle hand on the cardboard, sliding it across to Indrid, “Don’t worry about that, kid. It’s yours.”

----------------------------------------------

“Duck?” Indrid turns in a circle by the picnic table, “Duck, I have something for you!”

He saw the ranger briefly last night, but he didn’t hang around. Gingerly, he sets the box on the table, tearing off a piece of sketch paper to write a note in case the ghost stops by while he’s asleep.

“Holy fuck.” Duck floats across the table from him, “‘Drid, where did, how did--why?”

“Leo still had it. As for why I, ah, it seemed like you still wanted it. If you can douse a fire and over my camp stove, I figure you can build a model ship.”

Duck disappears and Indrid’s heart sinks; that must have been too much. Then he’s squished in an invisible, wonderful bear hug.

“Thanks, ‘Drid.”

From then on, Duck spends every night at his campsite, building the ship while Indrid draws, reads, or talks with him. The model lives in the safest corner of the tent during the day.

“I mean, I’m up durin the day too, but I scared a few folks on accident and I don’t want people avoid the forest because of me.”

Indrid also learns that Duck is stuck within a certain radius of where he died, and that his attempts to talk with Juno when she was in his part of the woods only lead to his friend thinking she was hallucinating and Duck feeling miserable for three solid days. Indrid offers to act as messenger and invite Duck’s friends (many of whom have, by chance and by proximity to Barclay, become his friends) to the campsite to see him. The ranger is quiet for some time after that offer.

“Not yet. Maybe someday, but not yet. I, it ain’t even been a year, ‘Drid. I think a lot of ‘em are still hurtin. And, and maybe this is selfish but...I ain’t ready to deal with them findin’ out I aint fully gone. It’d be so much all at once.”

Indrid doesn’t bring it up again. More than once, when Aubrey tells a story about Duck only for her eyes to sadden halfway through, or when he sees Juno looking at Duck’s statue a little too long, he struggles to keep his promise.

A cold front blows into town and, since he’s still in the tent, he pops into Kepler Thrift N Find in search of an extra sweatshirt. Tucked in between one reading “Ranchos” and one with a picture of Garfield is a soft, well-loved hoodie with “Monongahela National Forest” on the front. He buys it and wears it home, the fact it’s loose in the arms making it even easier to tuck in his hands when he gets cold.

He stops by the visitor center out of habit, checking out the new plush wild animals. There are also hints of Duck here and there; his name on displays, his face in group photos. As he contemplates a small, squishy black bear, he notices Juno looking at him more than usual.

“Hello again” he sets the bear on the counter.

“Howdy. This all?

“Yes, please. Are you alright? You look, ah, tired.”

“Yep. Or, uh, just noticed that sweatshirt. It was one that got made special for staff a few years ago.”

Indrid fidgets with the cat-bitten drawstring, “It was Duck’s, wasn’t it?”

“Uh huh. He put that patch on the sleeve. Guess it startled me to see it on someone else.”

“I understand.”

“Knew him since we were kids. Hell, he’s my daughter’s godfather. Still don’t feel right, bein’ here without him.”

Indrid pushes the bear towards her and she pets it.

“What was he like?”

In the empty visitor center, Juno tells him. In her stories are echos of every conversation he’s ever had with anyone who knew Duck. When it’s time to close up, she asks if she can hug him, and thanks him for listening to her.

“Guess you weren’t kiddin about wanting to sleep with a bear” Duck teases as Indrid sets his new purchase inside the tent. Indrid whaps at him, arm going through his torso. The ranger floats nearby as Indrid heats up ravioli and opens a can of Mountain Dew. Indrid tells him about the conversation with Juno.

“Huh, guess that is my old one. Glad someone is gettin some use outta it. And it looks good on you.”

Indrid sets down his bowl, “We talked a lot, Duck. And it made me think about what you said to me one of the night after we met. You said you wanted a chance to make the world, the town, a little better. Everyone I’ve talked to, and I mean every one, has a story about you. How you helped them, how Kepler is worse off with you gone. You did so much, even with your time cut short. I, I wanted you to know that.”

The ghost looks away, “I wasn’t done tryin to help.”

“You still aren’t. You do what you can to keep the forest and the visitors safe. And you, you’ve made my life immeasurably better Duck. Seeing you is the best part of my day and I think I’m falling--ah, that is, you’re not done making a difference.”

Duck hasn’t moved since Indrid started talking about his feelings. When Indrid tries to meet his eyes, he disappears. Hurried, he reaches out to offer a reassuring touch and gets only air.

“Duck?”

Nothing, even after he calls his name three more times.

He slumps onto the bench, “well, fuck me I guess.”

---------------------------------------------------

This is a terrible idea. But it’s his last, and therefore his best.

Indrid even asked Barclay’s boyfriend, Joseph, if anything in his impressive library of the paranormal advised the reader on dealing with upset ghosts. A few did, always from the perspective of trying to get the specter to go away. They said nothing about what to do if your upset ghost was missing, leaving an ache in your heart you didn’t know you were capable of feeling.

Instead, after a week of silence, Indrid changes tactics: if he can’t coax Duck back, maybe he can annoy him into appearing.

Tonight, he finishes dinner and cleans his dishes, puts the bulk of the food in the bear box, and then tears open a bag of chips, scattering them across the table. He eats one, then leaves the open bag laying amongst the potato shards.

Next, he dumps his remaining water on the fire, which takes it down to embers but does not extinguish it. When none of that gets a reaction, he decides to narrate.

“Hmm, that should be fine, it’s not that dry and I don’t think sparks can go over the edge.”

“Should I leave these juice pouches out? Yes, I think I should, in case I get thirsty at night. Maybe I’ll take one into the tent, just to be safe.”

He already feels silly and like no one is listening, and so he escalates.

“I know I shouldn’t leave food out for the wildlife, but since there’s no handsome, ghostly ranger here to punish me for my transgressions, I am just going to leave some nuts out for the raccoons. I like raccoons. They deserve nice things. Hell, how about I just leave them a whole buffet since no one is stopping me!”

All he gets in reply are the few bugs awake this early in the spring and the crack of brush as a small mammal runs away from the weird bipedal thing yelling at his camp fire. He doesn’t leave out food for the raccoons; he climbs into his tent in a huff. What a bad idea, to think this of all things would bring Duck back to him. He’s being childish and bratty and selfish; Duck doesn’t deserve that, no more than he owes Indrid his company.

He changes into his pajamas pants and sleep shirt, intending to go back out to make the site safe and tidy. Except.

Except something just opened the bear box. The chip bag crinkles and the fire hisses out a minute later. He should be running outside to apologize, but his mind has simultaneously registered the full darkness of the night , the possibility that Duck is not the only paranormal thing in these woods, and the fact the nearest other campers are on the other side of the campground, meaning he is very, very alone.

The zipper on the tent moves, the flap falling open so his lantern shines on nothing but April air.

“Duck? Please say that’s you.”

A low chuckle, “It’s me, ‘Drid.” The fly zips shut, “mighty peeved about that trick you pulled.”

“I’m, I’m sorry. I missed you, but that was a bad way to communicate that.” He can’t see him, and the lantern only picks up the odd shift of sleeping bag or tent floor, so Indrid’s eyes’ dart about trying to pinpoint him.

“Oh, you communicated plenty, sugar. Like what you want a certain, uh, ghostly ranger to do to you.”

“Oh god” he winces, “please, forget I said that, it’s humiliating.”

“Not all that surprisin, truth be told. I mean, you and I flirted now and then. And you told me enough about yourself for me to suspect that you’re a kinky little weirdo who’s dyin to get fucked by a ghost.”

“I, I feel I should point out that I only want to fuck one ghost. You. I want to fuck you and that means fucking a ghoOOOst.” He gasps as cold lips press into his neck.

“I can make that happen, darlin, all you gotta do is say it. You were a pain in the neck earlier, so now I expect you to be real polite and use your words.” Duck’s voice has never been like this before, rough and possessive yet still, under all of it, the same warmth draws Indrid in like a flame.

“I want you, Duck.”

A bite to his ear, strong arms wrapping around his waist from behind him, “Want me to do what?”

“Fuck me” this is like every wet dream he had as a teenager, the supernatural being coming for a fellow outsider.

That gets him a tender kiss on the cheek, “That’s better. Though, if I’m rememberin correctly, word you used was punish.”

Indrid yelps as Duck turns and shoves him to lay across his lap, kicks his legs out in surprise when his waistband slides down to his upper thighs.

“Yesss” he wiggles his ass as Duck palms it, “yes, Duck, pleaseAHgod” the first strike stings, and Duck doesn’t let him recover before delivering five more, three to each side. His cock perks up at the pain. Stranger still, because Duck is invisible, all Indrid has to do is tilt his head to watch it harden and twitch with each slap.

Twenty strikes later Duck pauses, hand rubbing soothing, cool circles on the burning skin, “Learned your lesson?”

“Mmhmm.” Indrid presses an awkward kiss to Duck’s knee.

“Glad to hear it.” Duck hauls him up onto his knees, slides a hand under his shirt and up his chest, “I’m rarin’ to feel more of you--holy fuck”

“AH!” Indrid arches as Duck toys with his left nipple piercing, his other hand quickly finding the right.

“God, fuck, you’re fuckin hot, if I were alive I woulda taken you home first time I saw you.” Messy kisses cover his neck as Duck tugs the piercings.

“Gaahnnyes, that’s, that’s very flattering.”

“Ain’t flattery, sugar, it’s the truth. Never could turn down some skinny punk with piercin’s and messy hair, not when I was a teen burnout hidin in the woods and sure as hell not now.” He moves Indrid onto his back, rucking up his shirt as his legs twist in his half-down pants. The ranger cups his face, and Indrid is positive he’s meeting his eyes, “tell me what you want sugar, tell me so I can treat you right.”

“Marks, I want marks anywhere you’ll give them.”

A growl from above him, then lips smashing into his, drinking him in before continuing down his throat, biting and sucking hard enough that he cries out every time. Duck pauses, teasing his nipples with his tongue as he rakes his nails up his sides. He sits up and for a horrible moment Indrid loses him. Then with glee he watches five red marks drag down his chest. He moans, rolling his hips and discovering just how closer Duck’s clothed cock is to his own. The contact only feeds the rangers eagerness, and Indrid is tosses and turns as he sucks, bites, and scratches, laying claim to the illustrated expanse of his body.

“More, please, god that all feels so good.”

“Don’t worry darlin, still got plenty of you to mark up, but we’re gonna do somethin else while I do.” He eases Indrid onto his stomach, slaps his ass fondly, “don’t go nowhere.”

Indrid’s duffel bag unzips, clothes and pens moved aside until a bottle of lube hovers in the air. The tube compresses and drips coat the rough outline of fingers. When the two digits press into him he sighs, eyes closing as he melts under Ducks watchful eyes.

“That’s it ‘Drid, relax for me. Got well over a year of horny to work out, so this cute ass needs to be ready to take it.”

Indrid pushes his hips back in reply, taking as far as the fingers will go and whimpering excitedly when he presses in the tip of the third. Duck works that one more carefully, kissing Indrid’s face and shoulders as he whispers about how good he is, how much he’s wanted this.

“I want it too so for, for goodness sake please fuck me soon or I’ll leave my entire cooler out for the bears.”

“Only one bear in this campsite tonight darlin.” Duck laves his tongue down the base of his spine, bites down hard on his ass. Indrid’s still moaning from the pain when his cock pushes in.

“Fuuuckme that’s good. Shoulda snuck into your tent sooner, sugar, made you a fuckin cocksleeve you feel so fuckin good.”

“Ohgod” is all Indrid, voice muffled by the sleeping bag he’s biting, manages before Duck adjusts them so Indrid is on his knees. The ranger isn’t gentle, pounds into him like he’s nothing but a warm hole and chuckles whenever Indrid moans.

“H-handprints, Duck, want hand prints GAHyesyesyes” he struggles to move in time with the ghost as the air fills with ear-splitting slaps. He’s so close, the pain and the sensation of phantom fingers claiming his body making his body beg for release. When he slides a hand down to jerk himself off, the arm twists up and stays trapped against his back.

“You wanna cum, you know what to do.”

He blinks away the ecstatic tears, words raw in his throat, “Please let me cum, Duck. I want to, need to cum while you fuck me pleaseplease-” he cuts off into whine as the ghost works his cock hard, all the while jamming into him hard enough that the smooth fabric of the sleeping bag burns his knees. When he cums it’s with a weak cry of Duck’s name, which is swallowed up by hungry lips as Duck kisses him over and over, repeating Indrid’s name like an incantation as he pumps his hips and cums, pulling out as he does so it splatters on the reddened patches of his ass.

A final kiss to the top of his head, and then there’s no contact between them and the zipper is moving.

“Oh no you don’t” Indrid scrambles, sweaty and exhausted, between the tent fly and the invisible man somewhere in front of him, “for goodness sake, Duck, I thought you liked me enough to at least let me fall asleep before you ran.”

The ranger finally appears, hair a mess and cheeks noticeably pink, “‘Drid, all that was amazing, but it’s all I can give you. I, I can’t...you said you were fallin for me and I can’t give you that.”

Indrid cocks his head, “Why not?”

“Because I’m a fuckin ghost, ‘Drid! You deserve to be with a livin’ fella, you deserve someone who can be a real part of your life.”

He crosses his arms, “Duck, you are a real part of my life. Honestly, what part of all the nights we spent together, all the ways we take care of each other, all of this” he points at the rumpled sleeping bag, “suggests otherwise?”

The ghost doesn’t speak, simply hugs himself (or tries to).

“If this is too much, if I’m offering something you do not want, then please tell me. But if this is you thinking that some paranormal quirks keep you from being a worthy partner for me, kindly think again.”

Duck disappears and Indrid is gearing up to try and tackle a supernatural entity when a familiar face buries itself in the crook of his neck. The ghost clings to him, and Indrid clings right back.

“You really wanna give it a go?”

“More than anything.”

Duck lifts his head so their cheeks rest together, “Then fuck it. Let’s see what happens.”

----------------------------------------

Indrid finishes hooking up his lightly used Winnebago, AKA his solution to the lack of available apartments. He’s in a different section of Eastwoods, but he’s happy with his new spot. He opens one of his few boxes, gently lifts the completed model ship into a place of honor, and waits, humming happily, for an unseen hand to knock on his door.

#indruck #monster march #indrid cold/duck newton #reader request #ghost au

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middleinthenight21 · 5 years ago

Text

Ain't that the worst thing you ever heard? Part 3

This is sad for me, It's the end

Thanks to @ravenfan1242 Without your help I could not have done this. Thank you!

If you read stay safe

"Damian Wayne has a girlfriend and she's beautiful."

"It is a pity that Bruce Wayne's son already has a partner."

’’ I ship them so much.’’

’’ Tessa Collingwood and Damian Wayne are so beautiful. God, they look so in love’’

’’ I need someone to look at me like Tessa at Damian’’

Tessa Collingwood was a British actress, mostly known for starring in teen series. Her fame exploded when she participated in a Netflix series about the rampant life of wealthy teens, the series was questionable in many ways, but it powered the careers of its stars; Tessa Collingwood accumulated more than three million followers on her accounts, being a celebrity on Instagram looking beautiful in all her photos. The actress was gorgeous with long fire-red hair, a freckled face and big blue eyes, plus an innocent smile.

The photographs circulating on the internet were taken at an auction, the youngest of the Wayne family holding a glass of champagne out to the crowd, right next to an ice sculpture in the shape of an angel with flapping wings and Tessa Collingwood looked impressive In a red dress that highlighted her hair, she was hiding a smile behind her glass. The following showed a conversation with Dick and the one who was supposed to be the manager of the actress, but the young woman was inclined as if paying attention to something Damian said and smiled.

Conner was jealous and Jaime muttered something in Spanish about the fate of some.

He rolled his eyes.

"What is she like, man?"

He frowned, he was not willing to talk about anything related to the actress, since it could be misinterpreted, especially by his colleagues, who tended to exaggerate everything and if a few simple photos could ignite all that paranoia a few words would probably make them explode. He threw his bag on the living room sofa and ignored the questions choosing to sit down.

Jaime snorted "Give us something. You are being linked to an actress and model, and you are so indifferent" He showed the actress' social networks on his cell phone, as if that cleared his mind. "It's Tessa Collingwood! She won an award for best actress in a drama series. "

He said nothing.

Donna grimaced at the ceiling, she didn’t even know who they were referring to and was thankful that there was at least one reasonable person in the room.

Superboy didn’t stop talking to Garfield about the actress and her presence at the auction, as well as reading comments together and laughing out loud when they called Damian a gentleman, but he refused to continue this conversation.

His older brother sat next to him, crossing his legs with a smirk. He nudged him "Tell them. She kept smiling at you. "

"You too? I let them take a photograph for a single event and they already mad up a silly love story", he growled. His words were tinged with rejection at the idea of all those people getting into his life. Over time, he accepted that some types of relationships are necessary, but if he considered it, it would not be in the public eye. The point was "He had to wear the scarf. "

"And Bruce would have loved it."

Damian said nothing, just grimaced and looked away. The journey from Gotham to Jump City was more tiring than he’d like to admit, plus the auction for the sculpture by Allard, an artist known for his dark style, became famous for his sculptures of smiling demons, tormented angels, and trees with sloping logs; He had been fascinated by the man's work and the details, even though people murmured how horrifying it was.

The event was slow and boring, he knew it would be, but there were responsibilities that came with being a Wayne. Commitments.

"Dick, you have to tell us," Conner insisted. "Is it true that she offered him her phone number as anonymous sources say? "

The man laughed at just imagining it and Damian crossed his arms.

Jaime looked at him as if he had done something wrong.

Garfield kept reading comments aloud and zooming in on the photos.

Troy cocked her head, processing who the actress was and why they cared so much.

Conner bombarded Dick with questions, trying to get as much information out of him as possible. He couldn't believe he considered him a friend, he's an idiot.

"I prefer cancellation."

Each one looked at him. He ignored them by focusing on removing from the packaging of the small statues he bought at the auction, as well as a handwritten book by an anonymous ancient Arab poet., The piece was valued at less than a million dollars and how millionaires are of unknown origin. They had nothing to brag about, but Damian found a value for it, perhaps because he is also an Arab, perhaps because people are stupid, especially those with more superficial money.

His older brother gave him a sideways glance.

"What? " He asked defensively. He put everything heshe bought in his bag, taking care that it was kept in perfect order.

"You've been reading a lot lately."

"Is there something wrong with that?"

He raised his hands, as if stopping an invisible attack.

"No, I didn't mean that, Damian." He shook his head. He put a finger on his chin thoughtfully. "It is just that I have seen you with at least two books in the week. Three days ago, I saw you reading Lovecraft, then Whose Body? or whatever ... "

Garfield looked up from his phone and watched him.

"Who, darling?"

Kory stroked Dick's chest from behind, pressing her chin against the hero's shoulder. Damian pulled away, despising the show of affection from the apparent team leaders, and the entire team made excuses to go elsewhere.

"I have to go bathe with my tongue." Garfield disappeared down the hallways.

The couple laughed. It seemed that they lived in a sugary bubble when they are together, all the time they touch each other and smile every time their eyes connect, once the caresses begin, they do not stop and they are not shy at all ... Damian has bad memories of this.

He left.

He just wanted his bed. After finding his face on the internet and what's on the fingers of so many people who just want to get involved in the gossip of the moment, he wanted to train, use his time productively.

Preparation is a prerequisite for victory.

And he's always ready, but he just wants to sleep.

For some reason, he can't help but start reading this book. That baffles him.

When passing through the kitchen a person is sitting eating a cereal bar and holding a coffee with a pungent chocolate aroma. She keeps a book over her face, covers her expressions and is dressed completely in dark tones., She had on a sweatshirt that is triple her size and one shoulder is exposed, he could only see a vestige of some shorts , since they disappeared in the long sweatshirt and thick stockings.

Her foot moved to the rhythm of an imperceptible melody and her hair was tied back in a high ponytail, leaving strands at the nape of her neck.

She turned the page "If you stay longer there, I will consider you as a stalker, what do you want?"

"And they say I'm rude."

Raven looked up. Her eyes narrowed when she saw him standing at the door, he was not surprised that she did not look excited, since the girl rarely showed her emotions and he was grateful for that. After coming from an event surrounded by teenagers who sighed ion his face, daughters of mayors, granddaughters of businessmen, actresses, models and influencers who took pictures of him on his social networks without asking for his permission.

He had considered suing, but Dick found it unnecessary and his father kept speculating with Selina about the possibility that a black-market gang would steal the pieces. Bruce thinks they collaborate with the Penguin, but he doesn't count them until they arrive.

The best detective in the world.

She puts the book down, but reluctantly does it "Sorry. I thought it was Garfield or Conner. " He bit down on the cereal bar, keeping an eye on Damian. "So, what happened? "

He frowned.

Raven watched him.

She is empathetic, he reminded himself. Sometimes he overlooked that detail, this was one of her powers, that does not make it more tolerable, he did not like that people would look below his appearance; It felt like an invasion of his privacy, it doesn't feel right, but he can't get mad at Raven for knowing too much.

Supreme warriors like us never give the enemy a chance to defeat us, not when it comes to emotions or appealing to feelings. We must get rid of them to rule the world, Ra's Al Ghul was clear. You cannot guide them to a better world, being equal to them.

You will not be useful to me, just as you are.

He pushed Talia and Ra's voice away, as if shaking the dust off.

He sat across from Raven. He watched her silently taking small sips of her coffee, when he met her he believed that she was a person drinking bitter espresso, but she has an insane inclination towards sweets of all kinds; she went to that little sweet shop on Riva Street where they prepare artisan cotton candy and bought those colored candies that she keeps in her pockets, like an amulet.

Damian grimaced when she added a spoon of cream to her coffee and licked what remained on the kitchen utensil. Pennyworth would disapprove of her behavior; he can almost hear the scolding in his head.

"Nothing. "

For a few seconds he struggles to remember her question. If this happened to him in the mansion, his older brothers would mock his face, and he grimaced.

After a weekend at Wayne Mansion living with his brothers and Helena, he was fortunate to be back with the Titans - his thirteen-year-old version would hit him in the face - but his little sister is loud, shaking her fists in the air and she opens her mouth as much as she can, claiming attention only for her, the noise of his brothers adds to it, that combination almost drover him crazy.

He doesn't want to talk about the auction.

"Look." She pulled a package out of her pockets. He raises an eyebrow, because he doesn't think it's anything special. "Son ghraybeh" she tried to pronounce. Raven lowers her voice, like she does when she's admitting something, she doesn't want anyone to hear. "I bought them in an Arab store. "

Damian analyzes one of the cookies. In his childhood in Tibet he had seen these biscuits in the markets of the nearby towns, the masses had almonds, pistachios and all kinds of nuts, but he had never tried them.

He bit into it. The sweet has a bitter flavor charged by spices, it’s an explosion in his mouth and he’s almost transported to those stores, to women covered by hijabs and it reminds him of the music his grandfather listened to during dinners, Of burnt incense, the blue hyacinth that grows as a weed and the Dragon Blood tree that rested in the garden that was extremely cared for, his grandfather had said that it is as old as he is and it’s sap is the color of blood.

Raven smiled, she bit into one of the cookies herself while drinking coffee.

He is not surprised that she had visited Arab stores, since in her spare time she visited bakeries, and that bookstore where the owner recommended novels and would have a reserved seat in the Costa restaurant while reading a book, as well as the ice cream parlor hidden among the luxury stores .

She tried foreign dishes, does not despise any genre of novels and is shocked by the arts. He supposed it was due to her time in hell, but deep down it's more than that; Raven is someone who leaves memories between those streets, measures people's energy and how they impact places. At first, he thought that her powers focused more on magic, such as enchantments, potions and spells, but she is more focused on emotions and feelings, she is different from Zatanna or Constantine.

"Is it true that the Belmont Allard sculptures were being auctioned?"

He set the cookie aside by making a mental note to finish it longer.

"I should have known that you were interested in his works."

Raven rolled her eyes, glancing at her book, her eyes scanning the page, and was drawn to whatever she now has on her reading list. She was quiet, reserved, and would rather sit in the back than walk in the front, but she should not be underestimated, and Damian had seen her vanquishing godlike humans and demons, yet she has a gentle aura. It is difficult to explain.

"Allard is famous. It has a history related to Satan, it is full of treasons, witches and enrichment overnight. "

She Mocked "Typical of pacts with the devil. "

Despite her mocking tone the truth slips.

Damian pulls out the book he bought, it's not flashy, it's dirty and worn. It smells of dust and dry ink, lined by a thick cloth of a dull red hue, it has damp spots and folded corners.

She says nothing but he sees the interest in her eyes.

"It is from an anonymous poet. It is of Arab origin; historians say that the book dates from 750. approximately, which corresponds to the times of an Iranian revolution" explained. "They assume that the author is a wealthy man because of the references to luxury and the elaboration of the work, but they are not sure. "

She stared at the book. He let her analyze it, but she frowned as she turned the pages and her mouth twisted into a grimace, like she was annoyed.

"What's wrong? "

"The book transmits strong feelings" her eyes shine, and she continues turning the pages. Damian raises an eyebrow, waiting for a clearer answer. "It brings me a feeling of longing; it is as if the author had misplaced something or someone" she closed the book. "It's amazing, I never felt this coming from an object" she leaves it.

He frowned.

It doesn't seem like a danger to him.

"Also, I can't read it."

He rolled his eyes.

Almost on impulse he opened any page of the book. The leaves are of a yellowish tone, with the corners eaten by humidity and the poet's pen is small and light, a scribble made of ink that in some places is smeared and he is surprised by the content of the letters.

"What does it say? "

He read in a loud voice. His voice was released, his mother tongue slides through his tongue and it is simple, after speaking English for so long it is even relaxing to speak Arabic, but she was puzzled and confused by his words, she was even happy that she does not understand what he is saying. Despite knowing the language, the words feel foreign.

عظامي المحطمه تتصلح

مع كل تلك الليالي التي قضاينها

حبك سر آمل احلم اموت لحفاظ عليه

التغير من اولوياتي

Despite everything, he prefers that she be the one who listened to him. Damian realizes she is comfortable; he feels domestic and that makes him reconsider what he just did.

The girl bows her head and frowns, she didn’t understand what he just said and struggles to try to associate the words, but the English and Arabic languages are opposite. Raven rests her head on her hand.

"What does it mean? "

Damian Wayne does not make these kinds of mistakes, his grandfather would subject him to abysmal punishment and his mother would slap him in the face, even his father would growl, but the answer is said before he can avoid it.

The translation is simple for him, a custom that he acquired over the years.

"My broken bones are healing with all these nights we spend. Your love is a secret that I am waiting, dreaming, dying to keep" responds. "You change my priorities. "

He looks her in the eye. Her eyes are like the purple tanzanite, a precious stone that Ra´s Al Ghul kept around his finger in a ring, a symbol of his status and power against his enemies; in the end it did no good, even the most powerful person in the world and his kingdom had fallen. Ra´s Al Ghul was no different than Julius Caesar, Tarquin, Darius I, Napoleon or Hitler and what they built.

Now he understood that the stone on his grandfather was a sample, a shell to inspire fear; Tanzania is extremely rare and expensive, its color was a boost to make it so coveted, and it seems imprinted in Raven's eyes.

He is aware of the level of communication they have; words are not necessary. Damian would have turned away, walked away and ignored her presence, he did not like that anyone felt familiar with him., He is a warrior not a sentimental teenager, but after the last few months he had been alone, nobody talked to him apart from matters involving the missions, he couldn't help but measure his actions and keep an eye on anyone who was around, it could be a stalker, maybe a person who hates him, or someone interested in selling a photograph to a magazine.

Damian preferred solitude, he exiled himself while the media storm passed over his head. Long ago he would not have cared, the Titans many times represented being a nuisance, they were open to anyone who told a sad story without caring about their past, but the weight of the distance began to haunt him.

He understood the nature of his character, how difficult it is to establish relationships, and the approach is difficult to deal with. Damian was extremely professional at best, concerned with realistic aspects and devised plans based on data, measured his peers and analyzed each and every action, judged and issued verdicts, disliked being touched by anyone and growled with his words to anyone who treated him like a child to be protected.

What before seemed to him aspects that should be highlighted now are the reasons why he is so hated.

He realized that his skills are a mattress; He was not welcome in many places, many heroes had complained about him and insulted him to his face, but they recognized how good a fighter and excellent strategist he is, not for nothing he is the son of Batman and the heir to the League of Shadows, and that does not mean anything. People on the internet didn't care who he was, what he accomplished, or what his story was. They hate him for the pictures, videos, and comments, and he couldn't do anything. It's tiring sometimes, when people decide to subject you to rejection and there is nothing to do to correct that.

They besieged his castle, forced him to close the gates of the kingdom.

He may not need third-party approval when criminals were loose on the streets, but it doesn't make it more tolerable.

His father told him of the harassment he would receive when he was recognized as the son of Bruce Wayne, but his home was snatched away, burned from head to foot and he had to create a new belief system out of thin air, he wanted to feel like he belonged somewhere. Bruce was right.

His privacy was stolen, he found his face on the covers of youth magazines and invented relationships with strangers based on nothing, he committed innocent people to address him and he does not want to live like this. He hates other people getting into his life, he doesn't have to explain to anyone, or hide, but Damian does.

I despised help, as well as apologies and looks of pity from others.

Raven was silent, and did not push him away when it appeared, she doesn't not care about the cancellation or how the Internet saw the next heir to the Wayne fortune. It was silent, private and intimate.

It is not dependency, it is not attachment based on loneliness or trauma, he doesn't even know where to catalog it. Raven had a breakup recently, although he knew that she is now friendly, that had affected her and he was canceled, tried and sentenced to global rejection, while his civilian identity was compromised, it is not a good combination.

She gulps and looks away. His hands tremble around his book and he almost see her shudder.

Damian stirs uncomfortably and insecure, he wants ...

"Tessa Collingwood talked about you!"

The entire group entered. Kory had ordered food from a local restaurant, and the rest just argued around the news on Garfield's phone, as if this was a gathering of old ladies arguing about the life of a misbehaving neighbor.

Raven raises an eyebrow "The actress? "

Jaime nods.

"She mentioned Damian in one of her stories," Garfield replied. Donna laughed at something, and Conner grimaced rereading the screen. "She said:’’ Me and Damian are just friends.’’

Kory smiled.

"I doubt I was friends with someone I saw only once." He crosses his arms. Looked at the Titans. "In fact, I have known certain people for years and doubt that I would include them on my list. "

Jaime rolled his eyes.

"Do you have a friendship list? Dude, that's absurd."

Conner nods looking at the green teenager, while Donna decided that the adult conversation is more interesting.

"Anyway, this beautiful actress mentioned you."

He hit the table with his book, attracting everyone's attention. "I don't care what it has to do with her." He turned around. "I will be in my room."

Someone called him, it was Raven ...

He stopped, standing at the door with his fists clenched.

He looked at her, while she held the book in her hands and smiled, just a little, as if she had heard an internal joke that only she knew. He had left the book.

So, everything was very clear and he's an idiot because he hadn’t seen it before.

***

Raven was lost.

Completely lost.

Alone and confused in her room, wandering from place to place like a caged lion. She wanted to demand answers, she felt like she was about to go crazy, and it is as if it is slowly killing her, she tries to fight, but she loses the fight as soon as it begins.

She compared this sensation with the previous ones; Raven had experienced love, the one that hurts your heart, the one you justify when you are hurt and you throw yourself into the void, with your blindfold you stumble over stones and ignore the blows, but this is different; born of intimacy, like a secret that grows until it is difficult to maintain.

She had to know.

Oh, Azarath.

She never learns from her mistakes.

Now she talks to everyone except him.

When surrounded by her peers it's easy to keep up, she just focuses on the cakes Kory brought, Donna's fighting techniques she hones in the training room, she even prefers her father's voice in her head to pay attention to her.

If she bleeds, if she hurts not to have it, she would never tell him.

Your love is a secret that I am waiting, dreaming, dying to keep.

Damn the poems of unknown Arab authors.

Raven wants to bury her feelings; burn his perfect face and the dimple rarely shows to others. Maybe he's aware of his own charm and she did something that bothered him, and he's only taking revenge on Raven in the worst way, Damian was vindictive and…

This is ridiculous.

I'm going to kill that boy, witch. You are a whore girl.

She makes a gesture to turn away her father's voice, but he doesn't shut up and she doesn't care.

She is so disoriented, she lives anchored to him like a bird in her blue sky and she has no way to kick him out of her life, she just doesn't want to. She is not selfish, she would never put her desires or her integrity over that of others, but she hates it because she could not have him in her life without compromising their friendship, the level of confidence they have and that feeling of home when they are going through difficult times.

Home is the place where, when you have to go there, they have to take you in.

Now it had taken on a new meaning. There are people who went through her life, were transitory, arrived at a specific moment and continued on, like nomads who left a lost object, and those who stay and fight by her side, accept her without expecting anything in return, they are important, they are family. However, there are others that transcend to the next level, they are like home, places shout their names and even everyday aspects seem valuable.

Raven does not want to despise this, but she is not going to ruin it by confessing her feelings, she felt like a schoolgirl who jumped when she saw the boy and hid in the corners.

Someone knocks on the door and opens it, she discovers Damian's serious face, frowning and holding two coffees. The first rays of the sun illuminate his face, as if blessing his soul and highlighting his tanned skin, and for a few seconds it seems that he knows.

"Good Morning. "

She steps aside, letting him pass. Her voice is monotonous, tired and she considers for a few seconds not to let him in, but it is too late.

Everything seems to be pulling towards him, as if he possessed a magnetic field and was a magnet. This morning he was not wearing his uniform, but a simple plain t-shirt in pastel blue and dark jeans and Nike sneakers, he squares his eyes like when preparing for battle or listening to something or someone who he does not like.

From here she perceives that he is having an internal struggle.

He leaves the coffee glasses on a small piece of furniture and stands in front of the window with his arms crossed behind his back.

"Is Something wrong? "

Hearing a bark and opening the door, Titus enters the room going upstairs to his house licking the pillows and spinning on the mattress. With Damian he was disciplined, obedient, surprisingly submissive, but when Raven is around, she allows him to be playful and mischievous, as if he had never become an adult animal.

Damian had scolded her for being permissive, but in her mind, he was never going to stop being that puppy she gave away inside that box. The animal had been scared, lost and away from his brothers, he trembled when a person approached, and she seemed to see her friend in the animal in a strange way.

Titus was shy and fearful when he arrived. Little by little he emerged from his cocoon to become a loyal and courageous Great Dane.

He didn't challenge him for messing up the bed like he normally would, so she started to worry. She didn't feel anything and that was frustrating, it was easy for Raven to understand people through her magic, although she didn't like what was underneath, but he only let her see what he allowed.

"What wrong? " She asked again.

"People have spoken again. "

Raven grimaced "Is it because of the actress? "

He turned his back on her and the young woman sat on the ground, partly so as not to disturb Titus, to have a better view, partly because she felt closer.

He was still flat, like a soft wave on a lake, and that is not all; it's just the outside.

"A little." He paused. "People hate Robin, people love what Damian Wayne stands for" His face is reflected in the window glass, he is impartial, and he keeps that scowl that characterizes him. "I do not care. My father says that the press is like vultures, but sometimes they are noisy. "

She cannot relate to that.

Raven enjoyed anonymity, she may be a consecrated heroine, and has a couple of victories on her record; people do not stop to talk about her private life, but are interested in the source of her power, her dark and quiet nature, they build and destroy theories, but nothing else.

She was a favorite on YouTube and blog channels focused on mysteries, conspiracy theories, and the paranormal.

She can't imagine what media persecution is, online harassment and what it means to have so many people eager to know about your life, that drove celebrities crazy all the time, some fell into addictions to flee their problems, those who survived cruelly understood the boundary between professional and personal, marked the line and took refuge in their homes, as if they lived in a fortress. Robin was a global trend in social networks, it required many people to achieve this.

Damian had stayed away, holding on to his training and lifting his chin as high as possible, but she knew him; with him not everything is said, it is not what is shown.

"Damian" she calls him because she knows his thoughts are strong right now. She reached for the coffee. She appreciated the warmth of the drink in her hands, it feels real. "It´s okay" she smiled.

He looks at her.

She had never seen that shade of green before. He may not realize his own charm; his face reflected the golden rays, and his dark hair shone in a lighter shade.

Titus now sleeps in bed and his snoring is deep.

He sits next to her in the lotus position and they watch the sunrise together. They do not say anything, they do not speak much, both are people who were touched by tragedy, who face battles while forging their way to adulthood and are not used to expressing their feelings, interpreting silences and supporting each other from a distance with small gestures.

She wants to have better words, be more forthcoming, and offer advice, so they could talk more about his breakdowns. Raven would cleanse his heart if that helps his heartbeat, a word and it would be his.

Damian takes her hand.

His fingers are barely touching, his skin is hard, and that scar that ran like a thick rope over his knuckles is soft to the touch; his fingers are long and shiver, as if cold, but he remains in place; she compares it to a burn and is surprised.

Raven wants to hold onto him, because he doesn't deserve all the hatred, they chase him with torches and spears. She wants to tell him that she regrets him for his past, for all the manipulation, because there was no one to show him love and treat him like a child, who sees him as a person during his childhood and she wants to smooth his wrinkles that were beyond the ones visible. She wants to show the affection that was denied him all his life and tell him that she does not care what they call him on the internet- Either as Robin or Damian Wayne- Deep down, he is only a kind and generous soul, and she is fortunate to see it, even if he is insufferable.

She squeezed his hand. Words are not necessary.

He keeps his gaze on the dawn. His eyebrows tremble and he showed his emotions for the first time, it is like the caress of the wind of a summer night.

Silence.

They are like little children who take too much importance on their clasped hands. There is no lust, nor the typical approach to achieve something, they are two people who are used to being alone, pushing everyone away, seeing the worst in people and being disappointed, betrayed and disheartened, clinging to the other; it is so simple and complex.

He leans his head against hers and leaves it.

At first, she is surprised, but she thinks he is like a scared animal that would walk away in the face of any foreign sound or reaction. It is beautiful, vulnerable and serene, like a new dawn.

Aware of his exhaustion and frustration, this simple action reflects the fatigue of all these months of witch hunting, keeping quiet and holding on his own, she can feel him letting go of his burdens and that mask of indifference is shattered.

Her hair is soft, and his shoulder bumps into hers; He is taller, and his muscles are worked by constant exercise and his breath tastes like coffee.

The scent of shaving lotion reaches her nose, she was aware of that smell and it was masculine, it had a woody touch and she was relaxing.

Can they stay like this forever? In the silence and secrecy of her room with their hands clasped and leaning on the other drinking coffee from plastic cups ...

... And suddenly, this is enough.

***

Raven bought a dress.

That night is hot, and they visit an open bar on the seashore. The music is relaxed, the musicians play bass drums and ukuleles, giving the place a tropical atmosphere; decorated by lights and all the tables and chairs are made of wood, with small floral decorations as centers.

The sound of ocean waves and salty-smelling air was sleepy, almost as if slowly inducing her to sleep.

Kory forced them into a night of mandatory fun, booked a table in a corner under a palm tree, would give them a little privacy, and they wouldn't get as much attention. She sensed that in the place photographs were not allowed was a factor for her to choose it.

The tradition of compulsory fun was installed with the arrival of Damian, she was left justifying small getaways or celebrations of birthdays, anniversaries, certain days of the year.

Raven thanked the team leader- who she considers to be an older sister- since the bar is not very crowded nor does it allow crowds with all those people sweating under the influence of alcohol, but the place is familiar, spacious and quiet. Her powers would not overwhelm her.

"Honey, will you bring us our drinks?"

Dick nods walking towards the bar. The man was wearing a simple T-shirt and shorts, on the other hand, his fiancée looked glamorous in the purple dress with large openings revealing her shapely legs and a plunging neckline.

Garfield, Conner, and Jaime share a conversation with Donna about the dance, but the young woman only frowns when she looks at the musicians.

"It's Latin music. "

Jaime snorts "Don't look at me, dude. Just because I'm Latino does not mean I know how to dance. "

"I'm not the best dancer anymore." Garfield looks with a grudge at Damian, who grimaces looking away.

"I just beat you."

"You break codes and all that, surely you did it with the dance machine. "

Raven snorts, but she's amused.

"That was a long time ago." He looked at everyone. "Can we get over it? "

When Dick arrived he announced that he asked for drinks for each one, but they had a limit of two, because some recently stopped being minors, also in the tower they had rules and arriving drunk is on the prohibited list; for those who are minors there are unlimited juices.

The night is progressing normally, although she sees certain people who are surprised by her colorful group, nobody really cares. They are just a group of friends enjoying an evening by the ocean.

Damian rolls his eyes when Dick starts Kory dancing with a slow song.

"They've been dating for years."

Raven raises her eyebrows, not at all surprised. She already knew.

"I mean long before they became teammates." He gives his whisky a small sip. "When he was a boy, he kept having suggestive calls with her." He shrugs.

"No way! " Conner leans in and opens his mouth.

Jaime contains a laugh.

"Are you seriously surprised?" She didn’t need to be empathetic to know that.

They look at her, but it's Garfield who speaks first.

"Did you know?! " He shakes his head. "Of course, you knew, why didn't you tell me?! "

"I did not mean that. "

"Traci arrived!" Jaime gets up from the table and disappears.

After two years together he is still excited to see her enter the room, Raven got along with the girl, she is pleasant and has a pink aura, used to loving and showing it, she also has Jaime around her fingers.

Raven drinks her gin and tonic, the drink is incredibly sweet and fruity. Her friends raised an eyebrow at seeing her bite into the lemon wedge that decorates the drink, but it's not that she cares, it's probably because she's going for her second fruit drink and sweet alcoholic drinks are misleading.

A boy appears pushed by his group of friends, who laugh giving him sidelong glances and extends one of his hands to dance, he is tall, and his face is youthful, perhaps just after finishing high school. His emotions are strong too, but the one that predominates is lust, she has a moment when images of herself come of kissing him in the dark.

He has too much imagination.

"Would you like to dance? "

She shakes his head, absorbing the lemon juice to the last drop. The scene almost seems funny to her, this boy asking her to dance in front of her friends, among them her ex-partner is present, along with the young man who answered the name of her best friend, who also has feelings. It is funny.

A smile glides across her lips.

The boy stirs uncomfortably without knowing how to interpret her smile, but she continues to shake her head, so he leaves.

"You have low tolerance, Roth."

Raven grimaces "It will pass soon. Alcohol will be in my system for exactly forty minutes and then I'll be like new. "

She calls a waiter asking for a Cuban mojito with that sugar-covered rim she likes so much.

When the drink is put in front of her, it is just as promised and she almost sighs when she sees it. Damian drops his drink, gives her a disapproving look with those green eyes, and she could cry right now because she thinks it's cruel and insane to be around him.

Conner invites his friends to dance wanting to flee from the discomfort. The others continue to join the small group that formed in the middle of the dance floor, Kory and Dick get all eyes, they move well.

Raven sips the drink through the straw. The little umbrella is a hindrance, so she pushes it aside noticing how her fingers tremble, the sugar and the drink mix is not a good match.

Damian approaches, but she moves away.

She should think twice before entering his space.

Raven looks him in the eye. Noting that his expression reflects concern, just as he was ready to scold her, she knows that scowl and he has that plain short-sleeved shirt with the designer's name she can't pronounce and some worn jeans; For someone with so much money, he have not invested too much in his clothing.

His eyes are green as a drink, and he raises an eyebrow. His features are a mix between the Middle East and the West, his Arabic accent is light, as if he had always spoken English and he moves his fingers on the wooden table; remember that morning when their hands touched.

She wants to cry.

"It's not fair."

It's not fair that he so perfect, while she was melting away for keeping her secret just to keep him within her life. It's not fair!

She doesn't want him as her best friend.

He is a magnetic force in the form of a man.

She is attracted to him. It is not a fairy tale, it is not idolatry, just esteem it, the past seems to have been erased by a rubber when they were together, and she is dying to have him.

Random, she's so angry.

Damian grimaces "are you okay? "

"I'm fine. "

That’s a lie.

"Let's go," he says, taking her by the forearm before she finished her drink and takes her to the parking lot without asking. He opens the door of his car, sitting her in the back seat. "Try to get comfortable" He sits down on the pilot's seat and starts the car.

She really wanted to stay.

She rests her head against the headboard and looks out. The highway is fast and distinguishes trees and pieces of the ocean illuminated by a moon.

The lights are off, and there is no music.

She lies down in the back seat.

It smells of leather and that forest fragrance, just like his lotion.

Suddenly the tears slide down her eyes, they are thin. She is angry with herself for being weak, with him and for the life that kept hitting her, a few weeks ago she had been convinced that she is much better alone, lives well and recovers from a breakup, she is not missing anything, then he entered little by little to her life and she wants to push him away, now she just wants him to stay a little longer. A little bit closer.

Raven wants to see what's underneath that bad boy attitude.

He sees her in the rearview mirror "what's wrong with you? "

"Nothing," she says in a broken voice.

Damian raises an eyebrow. Maybe he doesn't care, maybe he's worried she will throw up in his expensive car or she pretends that she cares just so he doesn't make her feel bad.

What doesn't kill her makes her want him more.

He tilts his head she and sees that sharp scar in the corner of his chin catch the silver glow of the moon. This is horrible.

"It's not important what you're upset about."

What?

Damian, the worst adviser in the world.

Yes it is important because it would destroy everything, they would end the reading of books on the roof, visits to Riva street where they would chat in the book store, the shared cafes in their room when they feel too lazy to go up or the weather is not favorable for them and the way he smiles marking that dimple on his cheek, how he held her hand and leaned his head against her. She thinks that if she lost him, she wouldn't do those things again.

Her heart breaks.

She would never walk down Riva Street again.

It is her fault.

It is his fault.

She imagines reading Robert Frost alone knowing he didn't love her, she would visit Riva Street trying to meet again, she would finish the cafes on the floor of her room because she is dumb enough to confess. Damian wouldn't worry about love affairs, he has a purpose and it would be a distraction, a stone in his shoe, he had better judgment, therefore he would walk away first.

He would not give her second glances; in fact, he would despise her for ruining their friendship.

It terrifies her too much.

She cries like a baby in the back of the car.

When they park in front of the tower of the Titans, she does not think twice and opens the door running into the forest that surrounds the home of the young heroes, entering it as if he were chasing her. She can hear the car's engine go off, as well as his desperate call, then the footsteps.

Raven takes off her shoes.

Thanks for the lightness of her dress. She thinks about going through the back door of the tower and locking herself in her room, tomorrow she could say that she was drunk and was not thinking clearly, but now she needs to be alone.

Maybe she deserves it.

She is running barefoot through the woods with her dress catching leaves and branches, just as her hair is now a wind-tossed mess. The moon is a fuzzy point between the treetops and the warm weather does not help.

She runs a hand down her face, ridding herself of the tears that were running down her cheeks.

"Raven!"

She is not a runner, so she is caught by arms before she could open a portal to her room, another country or dimension, she really doesn't know for sure. There are three uncertain options.

Damian pushes her away, looking her in the eye.

"What's wrong? You ran away, the car was moving, Raven."

His hands go up and down her shoulders to her arms, giving her warmth. Then she realizes that she is trembling, like a scared puppy and she is a total disaster.

She wanted to escape to close her fate, because she deserves to be alone and having him close is her own personal torture.

Damian had come to her in moments of vulnerability, when no one was looking, he trusted her more than anyone, he was harassed and hated by people. Damian Wayne was easily associated with actresses, models and celebrities, they took his privacy without his consent, everyone hated or loved a version of him.

He showed her his true self and she paid him by falling in love with him.

He had driven her crazy, begging him to knock on her door or end it all.

It would destroy years of friendship and companionship.

Raven got out of a relationship, that's not how it was supposed to go, she hadn't looked for it.

He looks her in the eye, as if waiting for her to tell him the devastating ending of a novel. He is so close that his mint breath almost makes the tide, his hands are warm as the desert and she has to look away so as not to be consumed.

Her heart beats painfully in her chest.

She ruined her life for not being his.

She wants so much and that is hurting her.

"Tell me."

She digs her feet into the ground, her toes touch the ground and the dry leaves. This is real.

Suddenly, she is angry with everyone and everything.

Tell him! A voice rolled her, almost crying. You're going to ruin everything, says another with resignation.

However, something inside her asks for more, she wants to have him closer and her hands tremble wanting to interlock their fingers; it is as if a spirit had possessed her body and made her ambitious and selfish.

She feels her heart breaking.

Wanting it is bad. Damian doesn't deserve this, but ...

Now or never.

She shouts: "I love you! Ain't that the worst thing you ever heard?"

Time is frozen, like dead. Everything stops.

Damian is silent.

She swallows and clenches her jaw.

She wants to cry.

She has ruined everything.

But he looks up and smiles like a devil.

***

The lights are off when they reach her room, Titus is playing with her sheets and there is disorder.

She stands still, not knowing what to do.

The moonlight is bluish, almost blinding them and everything is silent. The door to her room is open, the kitchen light is dim and she listens to a tune in the distance, she thinks it's the radio that Kory always leaves on.

The tension could be cut by a knife, but it is different.

Raven has passed the effect of alcohol and knows that she has done something that is irreparable, but she couldn't care less, because he smiled and held her hand gently; Damian dropped the costumes a bit, sheltering his feelings and emotions as heshe had been taught all his life, just for her. Nobody else.

He is standing at the door.

He looks her in the eye and there is an unspoken agreement between the two.

Close the door.

Raven is an awkward mess, it will take days for her emotions to normalize, but this time she allows her stomach to spin, her hands to stay inert at the sides of her torso without knowing which position to adapt, and her brain short-circuiting.

All roads had led her to this moment.

Feeling their fear and how confused they are, none are used to showing affection unless someone loves them, but they try. She stands firm.

Damian says nothing when he approaches, he takes her hand gently interlacing his fingers, it is like fire and ice, two forces that collide. It is something so every day, but with him it is as if he left a mark that she cannot erase.

He presses their foreheads and she sigh.

She had been a hawthorn tree for a long time, but now she may be a rose.

He caresses her face, the pads of his fingers running down her forehead, her cheeks up to her neck. It is pure, there is longing and affection, he will not tell her that he loves her too, but the gentleness and innocence of the act is enough to let her breathe out, because they do not need to speak, nor do they require speeches. Love can be declared to anyone, castles are built on the sand with ease only from confessions based on nothing, but demonstrating it is something else.

Raven kisses him on the cheek, presses her lips against the skin, and the fingers he keeps on her neck tremble. His breathing is ragged, as if he was agitated; they were both so lonely, apprehensive, and fearful that this bubble was an illusion.

They cannot make promises now because this is running a thread.

Darkness surrounds them, like a blanket on this summer night. There is no one in the tower, everyone stayed at the bar and they only heard Titus's playful grunts.

Her hands go up his chest and go to the nape. They take it easy, adapting to being this close, and trying not to get the blow too strong to leave them in shock.

She presses her forehead against his cheek.

Her father's voice is strong and threatening, but she contains a smile because it is so ridiculous and funny.

"What does he say? " He whispers.

She looked him in the eyes "My father wants to kill you. "

Damian frowns "And me to him. "

Raven laughs, a loud, clear laugh; she shares his feelings about her father.

"I will have a good relationship with your father," he says sarcastically. His voice is light and attracts her, like bees to honey. "It would be a shame if you spend time with me. "

"It would be," she whispers.

He brushes back a lock of her hair, pressing both hands to her cheeks. He kisses her cheek lightly with the touch of a butterfly and sighs, almost instinctively closes his eyes and kisses her on the corner of her lips, they are like school children experiencing romance.

When they finally kiss, it is soft and delicate.

She has to lean on him not to slip, and her heart trembles with joy, because she has what she wanted for so long. She doesn't know when they crossed the line, when she started having feelings for him, it felt like a thousand years ago.

She in a safe place, she feels like she been waiting a long time to find something like that. This is the kind of love that time does not heal, that makes you sigh and beg for more.

She would ask him to please stay.

In the past she believed that love is painful, that it steals things from you and runs away, like a criminal, but it is more than that.

Kissing in the dark, limbs trembling and hearts pounding, praying this doesn't end. They are a blank page on a desk, which is filled as they go.

Raven strokes his hair, and feels his breath catch.

They stay there and Titus jumps around her, barking and expressing enthusiasm; he is the only thing in the room that is moving.

He kisses her again. This time it is safe, the kiss is slow, and he seems to want to savor this moment and her legs tremble.

His breath is slightly bitter, like whisky, and her lips are ice cold in the drink. It is an interesting contrast to his warm skin to the touch and she realizes how much she wanted to feel each of his scars, she wanted to perceive what his skin is like and the lights change the color of his green eyes, she wants to know what is under his clothes, count his freckles, moles, wounds and scars.

One of the straps of her dress falls from her shoulder.

Her body is new to him, and she is more than willing to get used to it.

Let him have everything; her heart, her body and soul.

***

Damian and Raven talk and agree to have their relationship private.

In front of the titans they are companions, they get along well, but it is not that they revolve around each other, in fact, they hardly speak if it is not for the missions. They try to separate the professional from the personal, they would have nothing in front of the others, but they look in private corners. No one knows what is between them.

They do well.

Damian has already been exposed to the media, they had gotten into his life and he was hated by everyone for his attitudes like Robin, but when they are together that does not matter. All the drama queens and the noisy ones muffle their voices and the statements of celebrities approaching him lose their meaning.

He doesn't care what is said in the tabloids.

He thinks the Titans are suspicious, but not that there was enough evidence, and none are willing to answer the questions or pay attention to suspicious glances. Nobody asks Damian, but his brothers are an exception, after all, they didn't learn from the best detective in the world for nothing and sometimes he thinks it's a curse to surround himself with his family.

He thinks Alfred and his father know but ignores them.

They are not a sentimental couple, nor do they go out too much, only on missions or compulsory fun dates, to walk in the park with Titus, although they rarely go together, since they fear finding the photos on the internet; they prefer to be in the room, have breakfast on the roof of the tower, lie next to each other without speaking, they could read together or hold hands and Damian prefers to enjoy her company when no one is around, She is surprised when she feels light waking up by his side in the morning or by entering her room after a mission.

Damian walks to her room with Titus following in his footsteps.

He goes through the room where the group watches a movie, Raven is not there, so she assumes that she must be in her room probably because they are watching a horror movie and it is not that the girl is a fan of horror movies that include Blood and uncensored deaths, the group barely notices as they are thrilled by the butter knife murder scene.

He opens the door and is surprised.

She is reading in his bed, wearing a shirt that she stole from his closet and never returned, and shorts made from gray fabric. Now she wears a plain Dolce and Gabanna shirt for sleep, as if the designer's brand was nothing.

Her short hair is strewn across the pillow and she is focused on the letters in that book.

Titus jumps onto the bed, licking the girl's face, she suppresses a smile, and looks up to see him lock the door securely.

She pet the dog "Hi. "

He quietly walks over to his computer, pulling a document Drake had sent him out of the recycle bin that contained a report with a couple of errors. His father instructed him to correct the mistakes since his brother had overdosed on coffee or something.

she is probably feeling his apprehension.

From his bag where she carries his pet's leash, water bottles, the muzzle and a part of towels, she extracts a cotton candy wrapped in a plastic bag, it looks like a pink cloud.

When he saw the vendor in the park, he remembered how she had that insane obsession with sweets and his mind began to associate her with caramel, soft and extremely sugary flavors. Sometimes he doesn't understand how she can tolerate eating a whole cotton candy.

She smiles at him and takes it in her hands. He sits on the bed, and she spreads her feet using his lap to support them; Damian looks down as if asking why he did that, but he just lets it go.

Raven eats the cotton candy, while smiling as she tries to push the dog away. Finally, the animal licks her fingers absorbing the sweetness, and she laughs.

He tries to focus on correcting the report, but her laugh distracts him.

"I'm trying to finish," he declares, but his gaze is no longer focused on the screen.

She puts a piece of cotton candy in her mouth and smiles. She doesn't answer him, but she looks sorry for interrupting him, heshe knows it's not her fault, but she didn't impose rules on Titus and around Raven he behaves like a spoiled brat.

"Sorry, it's just ..." The dog jumps on top of her and licks her fingers. Damian decides that enough is enough and with just a sign Titus settles near his feet. The girl grimaces picks up the book and opens a page. "Is that the report they called you so much for? "

He nodded.

Gotham City.

The Penguin robbed the city bank, between the streets ...

Raven shakes her hand and opens her palm. Now heshe is sitting next to her, she bumps her shoulders against his, she is small and their palms touch, she thinks she wants to interlace her fingers, but she puts a piece of cotton candy in his hand.

"Eat a little."

He is transported to the first night of mandatory fun when he hated being with the Titans, he did not belong because he knew everything there was to know, he was the most intelligent, disciplined and the most brutal fighter in the world, but nothing else and that is precisely what he lacked. He did not have any social skills, it was never clearer than in that amusement park, he had thought that his mistakes were great, he did not deserve that any of these people accepted him.

Raven had gotten closer; he didn't even know why. She offered him cotton candy ...

Just like now.

Shit. His father would kill him.

He closed the computer and set it aside. Damian eats the cotton candy, he still doesn't like it, it melts in his mouth and it is pure sugar, it is gooey, and his throat warms up, as if he had ingested a liquid at high temperatures.

He draws her in and sits her on his legs.

Raven is slim and diminutive, not muscular like Kory or Donna, but possesses the body of a runner, although both know she is not exceptional in sports, she prefers her magic. He surrounds her waist, and she rests her head against his cheek, as she likes to do when they hug.

She keeps her gaze on her book and turns the pages.

Read:

With his back to the sun, another day ends in this abandoned town.

You have a wish list:

-Know the city.

-Build an aviary for those little birds that roam your yard looking for food.

-Risking for someone and that it turns out well.

…

Damian laughs wryly.

"What? " She asked, looking him in the eye.

Raven pulls back a little but adjusts the position so that both legs rest to one side.

"You were drunk when you confessed. You took a chance. "

She buries her head in his shoulder "Don't remind me. "

She is embarrassed. He Finds this charming.

"It went right."

Raven stiffens, and looks him in the eye, but Damian is smiling because he can't help it and he likes to see how certain answers surprise her. She puts those eyes that he only sees when he smiles at her, it's like she's melting inside, struggling to hold back a sigh; He has seen her do it before they started dating because Damian Wayne is not a fool, he is still the son and heir of the best detective in the world, and he was taught from a young age to measure personal body language; It is adorable.

Maybe he still slips.

He strokes her hair, tucking one of her locks behind her right ear.

They looked into each other's eyes.

"Yes." She kisses him, sighs against his mouth, and Damian interlocks his fingers giving her a soft squeeze. "I did something right. "

His grandfather and mother would be scolding him, an Al Ghul did not hold his partner as a delicate thing and allowed himself to be kissed without a purpose, even his father who had lost the ground to the Gotham cat would give him a disapproving look, it is dangerous to establish a personal connection with your teammates, but none knew and to be honest, they were not interested.

In fact, no one knows for sure.

The diamond sparkles on her forehead.

"My father still wants to kill you."

Of course, yes.

She changes position now sitting face to face, strokes his chest until she stops at his heart and stays there. He really doesn't understand how he came to this, he didn’t expect to find love, nor in a million years would he think about being in this position, but he won't run from this. All the voices from his past scream in his head, but Damian stays.

It is so unexpected.

Damian hates when something doesn't go according to plan, because he usually has it all coldly calculated, if it doesn't work then he would have a backup. As the future leader of an organization, his life was designed, as Robin, he has to be prepared for everything and being a Titan, he took on the hard work, the aspects that others would not take care of, everything was perfected. This is out of his hands.

"I hate accidents except when we went from friends to this"

Raven smiles and they kiss.

All the murders, all his past, all the pain and confusion, the hatred and the persecutions are nothing compared to her.

End.

#damirae #fanfiction #damian wayne #raven #damian x raven

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justalitlecreacher · 4 years ago

Text

I’m here to prove that Andrew Garfield’s portrayal of Spider-man/peter parker in The Amazing Spider-Man is objectively the best love action adaptation of the character. In this essay I will....(yes this is really happening)

Edit: 10/20/20- i want to indulge myself in spiderman content but finding non mcu spiderman content is exhausting so imma update this instead

TL;DR

Andrew Garfield is my favorite of the 3 Spider-Man actors. TAS’s Peter is more fun and dynamic than the cookie cutter “shy introverted nerd that has a crush on a girl who’s way out of his league” Peter in Tobey Maguire’s movies. I enjoy Tom Holland’s portrayal of the character, but hate the way Disney has written the movies. I enjoy the characters, plot, and humor of The Amazing Spider-Man far more than the other 2, and i deeply wish we had gotten the third movie with the canon BIder-Man of Andrew’s (and my) dreams.

[DISCLAIMER: I HAVE NOT SEEN THE AMAZING SPIDERMAN 2 OR ANY MCU SPIDERMAN MOVIES OUTSIDE OF CLIPS AND REVIEWS ITS ALSO BEEN A VERY HOT MINUTE SINCE IVE SEEN A TOBEY MAGUIRE MOVIE]

Characterization

Most arguments against Andrew Garfield’s Spidey( AG’s from now on) begin and ends with “he was a good Spider-Man but a bad Peter Parker”. This references an outdated post comparing all three Spidey actors.(Id attach the image here but i dont want the post to be too long(thats a lie this is so long what am i doing with my life)) The post also claims that Tobey played a good Peter and a poor Spidey; and that Tom is good at both “roles”.(Honestly I think it seems silly that this seems obey the “third time’s the charm” rule but thats just me). Most people using this seem to be Tobey stans who have forgotten or ignored the rest of the post funnily enough, but the ones that go further into the WHY AG is a poor Peter are also incorrect. This argument also ignores the idea that there can be more than one version of Peter Parker which is blatantly incorrect. Just look at Into the Spiderverse or the PS4 game; these provide 4(5 if you count the pig) versions of Peter themselves, and that doesnt even include the comics.

Arguments that go further in depth claim that the AS Peter is too cool or well liked by his peer to be a “true” Peter Parker. The evidence for this seems to be that Peter has a skateboard.(which what? didnt realize that having a skateboard would instantly make you cool brb guys). Adding to that i dont really see where people get the idea that Peter is popular or well liked. While looking for complaints i found this qutoe from reddit(theyve since deleted it looks like but i’ll add a link in the notes) “He's angsty, pretty socially awkward, has an aptitude for science, and is kind of an outsider. He gets bullied by Flash and he gets his ass kicked after trying to stand up to Flash. He isn't a "cool" person in any way (until the ending, in which he's best buds with Flash, so I'll give you that). While Maguire is more accurate to the 60s comics where Peter in high school is just a fucking loser with basically no friends, in the ultimate comics, Peter is more of the kid who has a small amount of friends, but isn't popular.”. Honesty i fully agree with this because once again, other versions of a character are allowed to exist. You can dislike one version, but its silly to dislike something for not being exactly like another thing.

Ive also heard that Peter isnt “nerdy enough” in this movie which really doesnt make any sense considering the entire plot happens because Peter was looking into some of his parents’ research. If he wasn't interested in looking further into his father’s work what reason would he have to go to Oscorp where he’s bitten by the spider? Why would he have become Dr. Conner’s assistant? If he wasn’t intelligent how did he develop the web shooters?(something that Tobey!Peter doesn't have to do out of plot convenience might i add).

Another complaint i see is that the quips he uses in the movie(the first one specifically it seems) makes him seem like an asshole. Honestly thats a fair complaint, but i think its a good bit of characterization; espcially if he does get better about it in the second movie like the internet suggests.The Peter in this movie is a rightfully angsty teen; of course he acts a bit of an ass to criminals(also i feel like its important to mention that he’s like that to criminals? its not like hes being a dick for no reason).

Compare this with the Tobey Maguire(TM) movies. Like i said i haven’t seen these in awhile but as far as i’m aware TM’s Peter doesn't really do anything particularly nerdy in the film? I may have forgotten something( ok in the scene before he gets bitten he knows a cool spider fact) but he doesn’t have to invent the web-shooters because they came with his powers and he’s only at Oscorp in the first place because it’s a school field trip that he appears to be taking photos for. This Peter does fit the definition of outcast(friendless and bullied for it), but honestly i just dont like him. He’s weird and something about the character makes me feel like i should be a little grossed out every time he looks at MJ at the beginning of the movie.

I honestly don’t have any complaints for Tom Holland’s(TH’s)Spidey. Tom is a great actor and from what ive seen i enjoy his portrayal of the character.( He made me cry when i character i actively dislike died).

Story

I cant really say much for TAS story. It’s interesting but nothing special really. However, there is one scene that i don’t think i’ve seen anything like since( the closest would probably be the train scene in the original trilogy).

The crane scene. Early in the film Peter saves a boy from a car that has fallen off of a bridge, and at the end of the movie this becomes relevant again when it is uncertain that Peter will be able to get to the lizard to stop him in time.(as Peter is already injured and pretty far from the lizard’s location). The boy’s father is then revealed to be a construction worker who recognizes that Spider-man is going to need help to get to the lizard; he remembers how Spider-Man saved his son and organizes the rest of the construction workers to build a path out of crane arms for SM to swing from. All of them are putting themselves in danger by not evacuating, but SM’s actions in the first act of the film motivate them to do what’s right.

I love this scene primarily because it highlights something that i think is a really important part of Spider-Man’s character; his connection to the people he saves. SM is often shown interacting with and chatting with the people he has saved after the fact. One comic shows Peter accidentally scaring some bullies and then taking the time to ride the bus to school with them to continue their conversation and educate the students on bullying.( There’s definitely more but this is off the top of my head).

Another scene in TAS that i love is shortly before the crane scene when Peter is originally attempting to make his way across the city to stop the lizard, and he is shot down by the police. They manage to unmask him before Peter comes to his senses( he had just been shot and fallen pretty far out of the sky in his defense). From there Peter is able to deal with the police while keeping any of them from getting a good look at his face. The one cop he cant take out happens to be Gwen Stacey’s father who had previously had an argument with Peter about Spider-Man(Peter obviously on SM’s side and Mr. Stacey against SM). Peter turns and allows Captain(?) Stacey to see his face. I believe that this is an example of an unwilling identity reveal done right. i really enjoyed this moment because Peter had just shown that he likely could have gotten out of this encounter with his identity in tact as he had just taken down however many men. This implies that it was an active choice on Peter’s end to trust that Captain Stacey would ultimately do the right thing and allow Peter to go fight the Lizard, rather than a final desperate attempt to get away unscathed. Whether or not this interpretation of the scene is correct or not it still gives the character a bit more agency than some versions have done with their identity reveals.

In Spider-Man 2 Peter starts to lose his powers because he’s having internal conflict about wether or not he should be Spider-Man. Honestly thats kinda neat and i might want to give that a rewatch. As for the one i have seen i don’t have any complaints. I do however prefer the way that Peter was bitten in TAS because it was a result of him poking around where he shouldn’t’ve been rather than him just happening to be standing in the right place for a spider to land on him.

Onto TH’s movies; the way Disney has treated Spidey in the MCU is why TH’s is my least favorite version of the character. I feel like too much of the story revolves around Iron Man; Iron Man made Peter’s suit and equipment, Iron Man introduces Peter to the MCU(via blackmail but thats another rant for another annoyingly long post), its Iron Man that “makes” Spidey in this universe rather than Spidey being self-made. In Homecoming(which remember i havent seen outside of clips so bear with me) most of the conflict is cause directly or indirectly by Tony’s refusal or inabilty to communicate with the teenager he’s meant to be mentoring

For one the entire incident with the ferry could have very easily been avoided had Tony bothered to communicate with Peter enough to tell him that the situation was being taken care of. On top of that at the moive’s climax Peter is shown trying to get in contact with Happy(from what ive picked up isnt he a chauffeur? like idk his deal i just know he’s someone Peter got pawned off onto after Civil War). Peter even goes as far as to somehow hack into Happy’s phone(i think thats what happened it was a weird tech thing that shouldve been a red flag that the call was important though) but instead of listening; Peter is ignored. If this was a different kind of movie Peter literally could have died and itd be the fault of Happy and Tony like..... A large portion of conflict comes from characters being incompetent and not communicating and thats just poor storytelling.

Before this turns too much into an anti mcu rant id also like to say that the way they did Civil War was really dumb considering that Peter defects to Cap’s side in the comics, but whatever.

Also i loathe the way they handled the identity reveal at the end of Far From Home. With MCU movies most people know to expect an end credits scene by now, but typically that scene is not important to understand what’s happening in the films; they just aren’t important. Putting an identity reveal here makes it seem significantly less important than it is. On top of that i dislike their use of J Jonah Jameson for this scene.

JJJ is a character who has been repeatedly shown to have a genuinely good heart. All of his anger comes from a place of love for his city(he even says this hemself in the ps4 game when May writes in to tell him that he needs help). He hates Spider-Man because SM reminds him of the masked man who killed his wife; JJJ has never been able to get past that( and Peter’s antagonism of him definitely doesnt help) However, JJJ has been shown to care for people; he has a son who he often brags about, and one comic shows that JJJ is paying Peter for “amateur” quality photos because he knows that Peter is having a hard time and “just need some help”. JJJ has even learned Peter’s identity before and kept his secret for him(seriously though i cant remember the name of the comic but its defiantly worth the read), and in the original trilogy when Goblin threatens JJJ he claims that he doesn’t know who sends in the photos of Spidey because he does it via email( this is a lie). The MCU will have a very difficult time convincing me that JJJ would ever out a teenager’s identity and put him in danger like that. It goes too far against his character.(this could be hypocritical of me to say considering how i just insisted that multiple versions of a character can exist but whatever ¯\_(ツ)_/¯)

This is accidentally turning into an MCU rant but id also like to say that i hate the lack of a TH!Spidey origin movie because it gives you no motivaion for Peter becoming SM or explanation of his powers; most people will know these things but if youre unfamiliar with the character its bound to be confusing(and im a sucker for origin movies)

#long post #spiderman #andrew garfield #The Amazing Spider Man #mcu crit #j jonah jameson #can you tell i care a lot?#cause i do #rant #ramble #this was not proofred #like at all #see theres a typo in that tag!#i would apologize but im not sorry

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heymeowmao · 5 years ago

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Cao Yuchen - Answering 10 Fan Questions

Q. Most of The Untamed cast love cats. Why do you prefer dogs? If you get another dog, what breed would you get and why? A. I love them both- cats and dogs. Actually I still have a cat at home. It’s just that she sleeps a lot and I never really see her. It’s a Garfield [lazy?]. Next time. I promise. Next time I do a stream, I’ll bring my cat to show everyone. She snores when she’s asleep. Her name is Mei Niu. And... If I could raise another dog, what breed? I think I would raise.. maybe one like Lao Huang... I really like Hot Pot.. dobermans. We play well together. Me, Lao Huang, and Hot Pot.

Q. Do you have any favorite Japanese anime characters? A. Anime characters... I do! I like to watch Naruto and One Piece. I watch them all. I watched Naruto when I was a kid and One Piece when I was filming Glory of the Tang Dynasty. Because the filming period was very long- almost half a year, and there were always times for us to rest. I wanted to pass the time so I thought of what to watch that was long- and thought an anime would be perfect. So I watched OP, and have been watching it up until now. I’ve watched up until Luffy was fighting Kaido. But as for a favorite character.. I really like them all. I like Sasuke from Naruto. From OP I like.. Zoro. And then... there are too many. Japanese animes are really too good.

Q. If you could choose a place to go travel, where would you go and why? A. If I could choose anywhere I wanted to go, I think maybe an island? I think and island is safe, because it’s in the tropics. I think the coronavirus is averse to heat, right? So I think and island is the safest place- also it’s relaxing. I don’t really like going to big cities for a vacation. I like places with beautiful natural surroundings. I like natural things. So I might choose the Maldives- I could go diving. I have a diving certificate!

Q. What was your first impression after reading the CQL script? Did your impression change after filming? A. Receiving the role of Jin Zixuan... I looked him up, because he’s in the novel, right? He’s gives off a proud, rich 2nd gen feeling. But during the filming process I think I came to slowly understand him better. I really think that among the characters, he’s a very nice person. He’s righteous and had a very positive constitution in love and towards his situation. He’s kind. When I was acting as him, at first I would find him proud and a little annoying. Later I found out that he is not like this at all. He’s kind and cute.

Q. Have you finished posting all the pictures you took in Thailand? A. Did I go to Thailand and take photos...? I should have... posted all that I could post. There are also ones that can’t be seen. XD No, there are none of those. I think I posted them all. Anticipate the next time I go- I’ll take more pictures.

Q. Are there any types of characters you would like playing? Any genres? A. I’d like to try out a comedy. To an actor, comedy is more difficult than something suspenseful or tragic. Comedians really need that connection and communication with the other actors. [...] You really have to hit the nail on the head to get the jokes across and have everyone laughing. Comedic actors are really impressive. I want to give it a try.

Q. “This question and a previous one sort of overlap...” If you had a holiday where would you go? A. Ok fine. I would go... the previous time I said somewhere hot like an island.. so this time... maybe Iceland. It’s a place everyone imagines going to at least once. I want to see the aurora there. But I heard it’s quite scary? It paints the whole sky and there’s a loud roar. It sounds scary.

Q. What’s your favorite and least favorite season? Why? A. My least favorite season... there’s not much to hate about it though. Maybe winter? Because.. I can’t play basketball. It’s really cold and I’ll feel lazy and not want to exercise. I’ll want to eat, and then I’ll get fat. So I don’t really like winter. My favorite would probably be spring. The weather would be more comfortable, and then you can get out of the house and feel really good.

Q. Aside from cooking, do you have any recommended drinks? A. So.. this is asking me what I like to drink, right? What do I like to drink... I don’t like anything that is too sweet. I don’t like eating anything that is sweet either. But... cola. I think everyone likes that. Sometimes I also really crave it. I drink carbonated water more. I used to have stomach pains and couldn’t drink it. Later I drank carbonated water and it can neutralize your stomach acids and make you feel better. I’m better now though!

Q. What’s your next stop? When will you be coming to Japan? A. You’re asking me this question... Maybe... I don’t know either. During this pandemic, a lot of things have been put on hold and there are many deviations. We should be able to get to you, but I don’t know exactly when. There definitely will come a time.

#The Untamed Boys #Cao Yuchen #yeah i joined tht fb group #but i dont post anything #.__.#i didnt transcribe it ALL but most of it #i wonder if i will be booted from the group for posting?#oh but they dnt know which acct is mine #meowmao works

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clayfaced · 4 years ago

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POSITIVE 20 QUESTIONS TAG GAME

ily @hopeisthewholepoint i was doing this a while ago and then the draft didn’t save so this is about 30 years late by now whopps. ily thanks for tagging me tho. ❤

1. Name 4 fictional characters who showcase your personality the best, with explanations if you want.

My girl Edrisa Tanaka from Prodigal Son bc we’re both socially awkward but at least she’s unapologetic about it. I want to say I have Sam Wilson’s humor and I too do what everyone else does just slower. Raymond Holt because I love fluffy bois and I’m down to fight anyone who says anything bad about my pets. Ben Wyatt because we’re both human disasters and I like making dumb stuff when I’m bored.

2. Aesthetic

Playing pool terribly with friends, peanut butter and banana sandwiches, colorful rain jackets. Balloons, music playing from car radios, collecting movie ticket stubs. Painted nails, open windows, and fish stamps on postcards. The smell of fresh basil.

3. Favorite musical/play? (If you’ve never seen a musical or play, one you’d be interested in seeing?)

Come from Away. Hands down. Though I will say I saw recordings of the National Theater’s Frankensteins recently and both are very good but the Miller-as-the-creature version is especially good.

4. What is the best compliment you’ve ever received?

Okay this is a bit of an unfair question bc I die at any and all compliments. But one that I thought of today /a couple days ago/ a long time ago when i started writing this that made me happy again was when someone I'm in a club with let me borrow his camera to take pictures during a performance. I hadn't taken pictures in a while and I had so much fun and I don't really contribute to the club so I finally felt like I had purpose. It was hard to see how they came out on the camera but the next time I saw him he said they came out really well and someone else said that he's normally picky when it comes to photos but he liked mine so that made me feel even better and it was overall a very nice time. It wasn't even really the compliment (I mean, it still was but) it was also just the gesture to offer a camera when he heard I liked taking pictures. I didn't have my camera with me until after this and it really made me remember how much I liked it. Anyways he graduated and hasn't been in the club since last semester so I never see him but it made me v happy.

5. How many times have you been in love?

Miss me with that romantic love but I fall in love with friends and people and every little thing everyday.

6. Embarrassing story or fact about yourself that makes you laugh now?

Bold of you to assume I've recovered from anything embarrassing ever.

This is a bit of a cheat bc it was always funny but my middle school PE uniforms had words and definitions on the back of the shirts (no i don’t know why) and mine said “final: adj. last in place” or something like that and you know what? it was RIGHT.

7. Favorite Disney/Pixar movie?

Probably Up. Idk I don’t really have one.

8. Favorite flower or plant?

Probably triostar plants because they’re cute and pink.

9. What’s your favorite holiday?

Halloween 🎃! I love the idea that kids are going bonkers and getting candy and having a good time. And I love that it gives not-children people a chance to dress up and have fun and take themselves less seriously for a day.

EDIT: NO ONE TOLD ME I MISSED QUESTIONS 10-14. NO ONE LOOK AT THIS .LOOK AWAY. IM FIXING IT. HOW DID I MISS FIVE WHOLE ENTIRE QUESTIONS. SMH.

10. Name three things that made you laugh or smile this past week.

This meme dee just sent me a minute ago. I had a socially-distant dinner with a couple of my friends whomst I love a lot on Saturday and it was very nice to see their beautiful faces in person again and I love them a lot. Time isn’t real I don’t know what happened this week. I set up the Xbox again and I’ve played a little little bit of Assassins Creed (which Im very bad at) and Skyrim (which im only a little bad at) and that’s been fun. Bonus answer of dee, nina, and I have been watching 911: Lone Star together and it’s v v fun.

11. What song would you play to introduce yourself to someone?

That is way too hard of a question to definitively answer. My music taste varies so wildly and my favorite song is usually the one I've obsessively listened to the last. Using that logic: Bang! by AJR or Wake Me by Bleachers. Or Chris Martin’s cover of Shelter from the Storm by Bob Dylan. Yeah. The last one.

12. Name something that truly makes you feel peaceful even at your most stressed moments.

Being a passenger in a car with music playing though that doesn’t really happen when I’m stressed. I wouldn’t say peaceful because when I’m not good at that when I’m stressed and most of the time when I’m stressed I have too much stress inside of me so I would rather get it out than be peaceful. So I just put earbuds in and listen to music too loudly so I don’t have to hear anything around me and I can just sort of release all pent up energy with the music and calm down.

13. What do you, did you, or would you study at college?

I’m studying film! I’m technically undeclared but I’m hoping to declare soon. :-). Yes I’m going to be unemployed and leech off of dee for the rest of our lives thanks for asking.

14. This is kind of a weird one, but which outfit of yours makes you feel most like yourself?

Um. Definitely sneakers (by default my white ones because I only have one pair) because I like being able to Move. Same reason for my black pants bc they’re not restricting at all and comfy. And then probably my gray sweatshirt which dee will murder me for saying bc it means I have zero (0) colors in my outfit but it comfy. I like having colors but I feel more comfortable in more neutral colors.

15. What is a quote you live by?

Oof oof I don’t know. I think there are a lot of quotes I want to live by and then I forget about them so if I am living by a specific quote, it’s not consciously. I reblog a lot I like to my words tag or text tag, and this one:

“‘Do you fall in love often?’ Yes often. With a view, with a book, with a dog, a cat, with numbers, with friends, with complete strangers, with nothing at all.” (Jeanette Winterson)

explains me very well. I don’t know that it’s something I live by because it’s just a state of my existence but it me.

16. Name the funniest playlist name you have.

I wish I had funnier playlist names. One of them is living room couch alone for a very specific mood when it's after 10 o'clock and everyone else is asleep and I'm in the living room alone on the couch and I'm not tired and time doesn't feel real. It's a good mood. I also have one called new york times which isn't funny I just like it.

17. Make a reference to an inside joke you have with someone you love with zero context.

“you know why we do this?" *snap with one hand* "because we can’t always get our arms free to do this” *dramatic arching snap with both hands*

But that one’s not with dee ( @mrrmiracle ) so give me one sec to think of something else too. Ok here we go:

"that Andrew Garfield movie"

18. What is a message you would give your younger self if given the chance?

Stop overthinking and start doing. You can’t sit at home sad your friends aren’t hanging out with you if you never ask them to hang out. Initiate things. Its not as scary as it seems. Also for the love of all things holy please form good habits now. Form all the good habits I have none and I’m tired.

19. Who is your favorite family member? (If you have no good blood family members, feel free to mention someone in your found family)

um my cats :// im just kidding it’s @mrrmiracle obviously.

20. What’s a secret dream of yours?

Um lol to not be alone. To be employed doing something I enjoy and make enough money to support myself. If I put lol will this sound less sad.

I’m tagging @mrrmiracle, @grayson-dick @valleydean and @daredeviil and if anyone else wants to do it just say i tagged you and i’ll edit it to include you 👀. i just get anxious tagging people bc i don’t want to annoy people and i never know who wants to be tagged or not.

#thanks for tagging me!!#ilu nina #tag game #you dont have to do it if i tag you obviously i just didn't know who to tag #uhh lemme know if you do or dont like being tagged and i'll continue or stop tagging you #not fandom

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nightofnyx8 · 5 years ago

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Robstar week 2019: Day 1

Alright, I’m pretty new at this writing thing, but I have been such a fan of this wonderful couple, so I decided to participate this week to celebrate these two. Hope you enjoy, and be sure to take a look at all the amazing submissions for this week!

WAYNE MANOR

X’hal. This wasn’t good. She hadn’t meant to wander off this far.

Even after all the warnings Dick had given her about how big the mansion was, her curiosity had won out and she’d gone exploring. She had lost count of how many doors she had opened, and she could never tell if she was going down the right set of stairs. They all looked the same to her. The last thing she needed was to enter one of those secret passageways Dick had mentioned and find herself stuck between the walls.

She sighed in defeat and sat down on the nearest chair, staring at the carvings lining the staircase. Everything here was adored with gold, silver, and intricate details. It was beautiful, but all a little too fancy for her taste. Even the palaces of Tamaran were decorated only with weapons of war. Sometimes she forgot that Earth was not constantly under attack—well, at least not by merciless slavers from other planets.

She had been so excited when Dick had invited her to spend the Christmas holidays with him at the mansion. She had met Batman before, but Dick wanted her to get to know the rest of the family as well. However when they had arrived, the only person to greet them was an older gentlemen in a black suit.

What had been his name? Oh, he was ever so kind.

Oh yes, Alfred.

“Are you a member of the Wayne family?” she had asked him.

“Alfred’s our butler.” Dick corrected, which only made Kory more confused.

“And what exactly is a butler?”

“Hmm” Dick mused, looking at Alfred. “Well, I suppose the normal definition of a butler doesn’t really apply to you, does it?”

The gentlemen rolled his eyes. “I believe I am the one who assures that the residents of this house don’t end up in Arkham Asylum.”

Alfred had shown her room, but soon after Batman had called Dick to help him on a case that everyone else was helping on. After promising to be back soon, he kissed her and sped off as Nightwing into the twilight, leaving Kory alone in this giant, empty house.

Alfred had left to prepare dinner, and Kory had gotten bored of watching clouds in the fading light. She found the rooms next door to be more guest bedrooms, and wandered off down the hall. Unfortunately, she didn’t realize how large the mansion really was until it too late. She couldn’t tell which hallways she had been through and which ones led back to the main floor. She was entirely, hopelessly lost.

She sighed again, her stomach growling. She lost track of the time a while ago, and her mind vaguely wondered if Dick and the others had returned home by now. Were they looking for her?

Eventually, her hunger motivated her to keep moving. Maybe some lost soul had left behind a little something in this maze of a house. She entered a new hallway (at least, she didn’t think she had entered that hallway before) and opened the nearest door on her right. The room opened up to reveal an enormous grand piano, nestled alongside a glass-stained window that reflected the moonlight in various patterns. Beautiful yes, but not where she wanted to be. The next room revealed a library that was filled top to bottom with books. Glass cases showcased books with yellowing pages and intricate hand-painted drawings that were probably centuries old. She could have stayed in that room for hours, but she continued her search for the main floor. The last door in the hallway stored canvases and paint for the wandering artist to create whatever they wanted. Oh yes, she would be coming back to that room later…if she could find it again.

Kory descended a long, winding staircase and wondered dully how many floors this house had. She knew the Batcave was down below, but had no idea where the entrance was. Knowing her luck she’d probably end up in some booby trap set up a hundred years ago.

She opened another door to find a small gym. The next room held a gallery of paintings. There was also a room of statues, three movie theatres, and about a dozen mini golf courses (seriously, did anyone actually use these rooms?)

The next three doors in the neighboring hallway were locked. The first had multiple and complicated lock systems complete with a note stating that visitors were not welcome (unless it was Starbucks). The second had a large, “Beware of Dog” poster above a set of double-bladed swords. The third only had a sign painted in blocky lettering: No Trespassing: Violators will be shot. Survivors will be shot again.

The last door in the hallway was surprisingly unlocked. Kory opened the door slowly and found a cozy room with a simple bed and large fireplace at the end. She was about to leave when something caught her eye. She entered and found herself drawn to a beautiful painting positioned above the fireplace. A man with jet-black hair that looked curiously like Dick had his arms wrapped around a thin woman with auburn hair. They looked very much in love. Kory examined the eyes of the woman with curiosity. She would recognize those eyes anywhere; she got lost in them every time her boyfriend looked at her. A sudden realization jolted through her. This was Dick’s old room.

She didn’t want to pry, but there were many things she recognized as she looked closer: old red bird-a-rangs from his days as Robin, newspaper clippings of mysterious characters, and an entire shelf dedicated to cereal boxes. Kory laughed quietly to herself as she pulled down an open box of Fruit Loops. As she did, she realized that a wall panel next to the cereal shelf was opened slightly. She reached in and found the contents to be pictures.

She sat down on the bed and went through each one of them. Pictures of Bruce (mostly brooding), of Wally doing dumb things, of Victor and Garfield doing even dumber things. There were pictures of a much younger Dick, younger than before she had met him. She had forgotten how short he was back then. And there were many more pictures with people she did not recognize: a red-headed woman in a wheelchair at the computer; Dick laughing with two other boys, both with dark hair and blue eyes; a young man asleep with a large, black dog at his side. She flipped to the last picture and recognized herself and Robin dancing together. Kory smiled. She remembered that night, at a Junior Prom on a cruise ship beneath the stars…

“Why am I not surprised to find you here?”

Kory jumped and saw Dick standing at the doorway, looking relieved.

“Next time I’m giving you a tracker.” He continued. “We’ve all been looking for you for the past hour.” He sat down next to her and kissed her forehead. “You alright?”

“Yes,” she replied. “I suppose I did get a little lost.”

“What’s this?” He plucked the photo from her hands. “Ah yes, our little prom date. I had never seen you quite so jealous, Princess.”

Kory scoffed. “Would you like me to repeat how you acted in response to my betrothal on Tamaran?”

Dick roared with laughter. “Alright, you win this round.”

Kory was silent for a moment as she looked again toward the picture of Dick’s parents.

“You have your mother’s eyes.” She stated simply.

“Hmm?” His gaze followed hers and his expression softened. “Oh. Yeah, everyone tells me that. You know, she’s the one who pegged the name ‘Robin’ in the first place.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He smiled to himself at the memory and continued. “My mother designed a costume for me so we would all match in our trapeze acts. I hated it at first, I felt like a walking green, red, and yellow target. But she told me that I reminded her of little robin, flying high in the air. So I guess it stuck in the end.”

Kory listened carefully. It was rare that he talked about his parents, and she wanted to memorize every single detail he revealed to her.

“I wish I could have met her.” She finally said.

“She would have liked you.” Dick replied. “Especially being that you can actually fly. Mom would have been ecstatic.”

“Well, I always feel like flying around when I am around you.” Kory blushed slightly as Dick fixed her with his clear, blue eyes. Grinning, he bent down to kiss her, but they were interrupted by the sound of Kory’s stomach growling.

“Oh my,” Kory held her stomach. “I believe I am ‘starved’ as you say.”

Dick laughed again. “Alright, Princess. Dinner first, and then I’ll introduce you to the rest of my crazy family.”

She took his hand as he led her out the door. Her love wasn’t exactly an open book, but she loved putting together the pieces of his life, little by little. And she fell more in love with him every single time.

Perhaps she should get lost more often.

#robstarweek2019 #starfire #robin #waynemanor #teentitans #fanfiction #writing #pointlessfluff #doingitanyway #robstar week 2019 #robstarweek 2019 #koriand'r #dickgrayson #robstar #enjoy

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purplesurveys · 5 years ago

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567

When was the last time that you were sick? January 2017. Do you like fall? I’d give you my thoughts if we actually got that season, but we don’t. Would you rather live somewhere that had hurricanes or tornadoes? We already get hurricanes; we just call them typhoon on this side of the world. On the other hand, we never get tornadoes so I’d rather live somewhere with something I’ve already been used to all my life. Do you say tomato or do you say tomoto? I know not one person who says it as tomoto. What is the most expensive thing that you own? My car, which my dad bought for me.

What is the background of your cell phone? My lock screen photo is Beyonce sitting on a throne. My home screen is a photobooth image of me and Gab. Quick choose, green or blue? Blue. What was the last thing/person to annoy you? My mom woke me up from SUCH a good sleep at 5:30 AM earlier. To be fair I totally got why she had to call me up (I had left my car’s interior light turned on overnight) but I really was sleeping so fucking well – and in the middle of an entertaining dream too – so I was annoyed because I usually can’t go back to sleep anymore once I’ve woken up. What was it that made that thing/person annoy you? ^ I explained it already. Does the number ten have an special meaning to you? Other than a perfect score on a quiz, not really. Who is better Superman or Spiderman? I hate any superhero stuff but uh Spiderman I guess, because I like Andrew Garfield hehe Who could you look at all day and never get bored of? I think doing that would be pretty boring regardless of whoever it is. I’ll rephrase the question and say I can hang out with Gab all day and I wouldn’t get bored. Have you ever felt like you found 'the one'? I’ve felt that sensation but I don’t really like throwing terms like that because 1) they’re cheesy and 2) I don’t want to sound so sure then have it bite me in the ass one day. Romeo, Romeo! wherefore art thou Romeo?; What scene and act was that from? I forgot and I don’t care. Have you ever had a pet that you disliked? No never. I absolutely loved every single pet I’ve had. What was the last thing you ate? Chocolate crinkles. My mom’s work boss got them for me :) When was the last time you saw hail? Never. We don’t get that a lot in the city, and when they do happen here I’m never in the area to witness it. Is MTV overrated? It kinda was, for a very long time. But I don’t know anyone who watches it these days. Have you ever watched The Hills? No. Are you more of a sappy love movie person or horror flick person? Horror flick. I would have said both, but I realized I’m into romantic comedies and not ful-blown sappy romantic stuff. Have you ever lost someone close to you? My grandfather. Nacho and I were never BFFs but we were close enough for him to give me a nickname and for him to annoy me most days. What time is it right now? 10:27 AM. Is there anything better you should be doing? Yes but I don’t care. When was the last time you were on a plane? I think it was March. It would also be the last time I would talk to my brother. Where were you going? We were flying back to Manila from Albay for a quick vacation. Where do you want/where was your first job? I wanna be somewhere in PR. If you could learn to play any instrument what instrument would that be? Piano, definitely. Are your toes cold right now? Nope and it’s certainly not freezing at the moment. Ever been in trouble with the cops? Traffic officers, yes. But not the actual police. Have you ever thought/have ran away from home? I mean, it’s a typical 12-year-old thought. So yes. I haven’t thought about it since getting older, though. What is on your mind right this second: I’m thinking about what time I should start taking a shower and get ready to drive to school. I’ll probably get going by 11. What color eyes do you prefer: Green or Brown? I don’t have any preference, but I do realize that two of my celebrity crushes have green eyes hkjdhfjkhfjkhkjghg Do you need to clean your room? No, I just cleaned it up last weekend. How many TV's are in your house? Four. Do you miss anyone right now? Sure.

Do you love/have a crush on someone? Both, yes. Have you ever wanted something so bad it hurt? [Trigger warning] Usually it’s during my most depressive episodes where I’m off to bed and desperately wishing I just died in my sleep so I don’t have to live through the next day anymore. Have you ever given a nickname to your pet(s)? Kimi has so many nicknames. Do you have a weird infatuation with snowmans? No? What was the last thing you spent money on? JM and Laurice dragged me to a ramen place last Tuesday even though I said I will be having a date on Saturday and that I was saving money for Christmas presents BECAUSE THEY’RE DEMONS. Hahaha jk but in fairness, Laurice offered to just buy one ramen for the two of us so we split the payment for it and I only had to pay half of what I would originally have to spend. Ever been on a boat before? I’ve been on many bangka. When your country has 7,107 islands, taking a boat isn’t an unpopular choice of travel. Which is better: Skiing or Snowboarding? I haven’t tried either. Does it seem like everything practical gives you cancer these days? What does this even mean... Anything you're looking forward to in the next few months? Sleeping my ass off throughout Christmas break. What are you thinking right this minute? How I want to skip my one class today.

#survey #surveys

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traincat · 6 years ago

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so i was talking to someone and they asked me how come i love a movie that everyone hates? and i just. can understand why people didn't like TASM2? like. I feel that, you'd have to dislike Spider-Man as a whole to actively hate it

Oh man, first off, I just want to say, “how can you love a piece of fiction that everyone hates” is like, one of the worst argument of all time, full offense to whoever you were speaking with. The inner Jewish grandmother in me hears that and says, “What, and if everyone suddenly loved jumping off a bridge, you’d do that too?” There are a lot of reasons for not liking a piece of fiction but “well everyone else hates it” really isn’t one of them, to anyone who feels pressured by popular opinion. It’s totally okay to like things other people don’t, be they fiction, food, or fashion, among others.

(I have a lot of TASM asks right now and I’m working through them in a weird order, apologies to the askers.)

Which brings me to your second point, and like, obviously I love The Amazing Spider-Man 2 a whole lot, but I do think there are valid reasons why someone might personally not like the movie even beyond just personal preferences like “I like this actor’s performance/face/whatever, I don’t like this other actor’s performance/face/whatever” etc. One big thing about both Amazing Spider-Man movies is that they’re an adaptation of The Night Gwen Stacy Died, and they know what they are – it’s all set up even in the first movie. The bridge models on the Parker mantel place. Gwen’s first outfit, along with her last, are tributes to her classic Amazing Spider-Man #121 outfit, involving a coat, purple skirt, and knee high boots, with the first also featuring her iconic black headband. There’s the “I’m going to throw you out a window now” scene, not to mention the death of George Stacy, a precursor to Gwen’s death. (I’ve talked about this before on Gwen’s death, but I do think it’s fascinating how TASM exists in a pop culture landscape where 616 Gwen’s death already happened, and how that drastically alters George’s last words to Peter, going from asking him to take care of Gwen to asking him promise to stay away from her.) The movies knew what they were doing from the start. The audience, on the other hand, didn’t. And I think the experience of watching TASM2 for the first time can be wildly different depending on if you went in knowing about/expecting Gwen’s (especially brutal) death scene, and depending on your personal feelings about the story TASM/2 chose to retell and about the death of Gwen Stacy. And that’s just one reason.

And I can talk about all the things I love in TASM. I can talk about how, in my own personal opinion, it is the film series that cares the most about being faithful to the source material. (Raimi’s Spider-Man, in my opinion, does a great job creating a very specific look, and drawing on classic elements, and creating its own now classic Spider-Man mythology like the upside down kiss, but it ultimately disappoints me with how it chose to interpret the characters. MCU’s Spider-Man, any other thoughts I have on it aside, is clearly more interested in impressing modern audiences and projecting FUN in letters sixteen feet high than it is in being a faithful Spider-Man adaptation.) And it can be debated whether or not it’s a GOOD thing for a film to try and be faithful rather than doing its own thing, but it is a thing I personally love about it, then I can look at the movies and pull things out of them and go “and they got this from here, and that from there” etc. I like that they did things differently while still leaning into the source material; the mystery of Peter’s parents being a big plot of the plot, for example, is something I’ve seen be criticized, but the fact is this is a plot from the comics and when you have a character who is built on these layers and layers of secrecy, it’s a worthy exploration to see where that comes from. I love that the movies focus so heavily on Peter’s relationship with May, and TASM2′s “you’re my boy”/”I’m your boy, you’re my everything” scene is a huge part of that. I love that they’re both crying in that scene. I love how genuine the emotion in TASM2 feels. I love that the first TASM movie took Flash’s limited screen time and didn’t make him one note – aside from Gwen, he’s the only person in the school scene to try and comfort Peter after Ben’s death, and his “it feels better, right?” line is a reference to Flash’s abusive home life from the comics. I love the amount of detail put into the look of these movies – I love the set design of Peter’s room, the posters, the photos of Gwen, how it’s realistically messy and not at all an Ikea-looking cookie cutter set. I love Gwen’s evolving style between the first and second movie, trading in her sleek straight hair and sweaters for waves and jewel toned pattern pieces. In a visual medium like a movie, all of this information is used to tell you things about the characters, and I think TASM uses its environments and its wardrobe to pack as much information in as it can. I love that TASM2 filmed 90% in New York state, which as far as I know is pretty unique in a superhero film. I love that both movies are a love letter in their own ways to New York, to the dazzling heights, to Spider-Man’s iconic connection to his home city. And yeah, I love the tragedy of the movie, I love The Night Gwen Stacy Died as a story that changed the landscape of Spider-Man, I love the raw emotion of the whole thing, and I love that a version of it was made where Gwen got to save New York not once but twice before she died, and how it’s not fair, but the point of it is that it’s not fair, and I love stories that sometimes don’t have happy endings, and I love the performances that were given in retelling this particular story. And yeah, I love that TASM and the people involved in making it, including Andrew Garfield, obviously really cares about Peter Parker as an individual character, and they let him be angry, and be sharp-tongued, and physical, and weird, and not a perfect person because what mattered was the responsibility in the character. TASM’s “That’s not your job”/”Maybe it is” exchange says it best.

But I think ultimately where a lot of the hate comes from is that there’s a pattern in fandom, and we saw it with Raimi > TASM, and with TASM > Homecoming, and even a little bit with Homecoming > Into the Spider-Verse, though I do think the last one is a little difference because of the circumstances. I’d like to think that all the recent criticism of Homecoming’s blatant theft of Miles’ character and story to build up the MCU’s version of Peter Parker is genuine (and I do think most of it is) but I see this patteen whenever a new version of something comes out. There’s a tendency – and I think some of this is studio-led; they want people to throw out the old in favor of the new because it’s simply much better for their business – to trash the one that came before it. Oh, actually, it was bad, it was boring, people only liked it because of this one actor, etc. The MCU in its entirety, with all the marketing power of Disney behind it, has become incredibly good at doing this not just with other Marvel movies under different studios, but with superhero movies on the altogether, whether it be through buying review or through the pressure exerted to acknowledge the MCU as The One True Superhero Movie Franchise. (For the record, there are MCU movies I like, and ones I don’t, and ones I don’t feel anything for, but I truly doubt that the evangelical nature of the truly hardcore MCU audience sprang up completely organically.) Sooner or later, they’ll reboot Spider-Man as a live action film again. I hope they pick Miles as their lead when they do, but it’ll probably be Peter again, and even if the next one does star Miles – eventually, there will be another Peter Parker movie, and as soon as the next actor is cast, we’re going to see this pattern again. I would be willing to put money down on it.

At the end of the day, like I wrote in my big Homecoming criticism post, I’m a little tired of the idea that there can only be One True Adaptation, which is where a lot of this argument comes from, when it comes to a body of works that spans decades and hundreds upon hundreds of issues. “Oh, we already had a bunch of Spider-Man movies” is like, so? We already had a bunch of Spider-Man comics, too. There’s so many stories to adapt and retell, and I love the one TASM/2 threw itself into adapting, but there’s so many more I want to see up on screen, too. (Here’s to Sony’s announced Kraven movie project! PLEASE be a Kraven’s Last Hunt movie!)

But yeah, ultimately, popularity isn’t exactly the best metric for how good a movie is, let alone how much you’re allowed to enjoy it, and what matters is that you liked it. I love it a lot, too.

#tasm #traincat talks comics #*replies #Anonymous

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darkspellmaster · 6 years ago

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YJ Theory: Prince Brion, Princess Tara and the Judas Contract...

Lot’s to unpack here so hang on to your horses. Given recent events in Episodes 4 to 6 we now have more information at least regarding what may have happened to Tera Markov, and what that could mean for Brion, his brother, and the other factors involved, namely Tera Markov and her brother Gregor.

So let’s start with what we know for sure from Young Justice that between the end of Season 2 and the start of Season 3, Tera Markov, daughter of the King and Queen was kidnapped, along with other kids that were considered viable for the Metahuman Project that is going on in the show.

We know that at the Start of Season 2 she’s been missing now for two years. Assuming that she’s about Steph’s age in the photo or maybe about 13 years old.

We know that her brother Brion is older than her, and he’s 17 at this date and time.

We also know that according to Dr. Jace she doesn’t know where she is. We also know that Dr. Jace did help with the experiments, so we know that she’s at least complicit in what happened to Tera as of this time.

According to Dick we know that Tera was last seen with the League of Shadows.

We also know that Black Spider was working with someone to attack a dude as part of an assassination and he was crushed by a bolder.

gif art credit goes to artemis-crock

We also know for sure that Biron and his Uncle (Baron Bedlam) both control geological structure (Rocks, lava, etc) and like all good geomancers they can make things float and fly and the like.

We also know that according to Ra’s he’s no longer part of the League of Assassins, nor part of the Light.

This is actually rather interesting because we later get both Jason and Damian Wayne in the moment. It seems that, for whatever reason, Ra’s has been removed from that seat of power, but who’s been placed in there? Well the answer should be quiet obvious by this point.

Slade Wilson, aka, Deathstroke the terminator.

So why is good old Slade important in this case, other than he was a key player in the story of the Judas Contract? Well there’s a few things we need to get out of the way about about Slade first.

According to his profile he’s not listed as affiliated with the LoA, and regarding his personality, it seems like he’s a very cool individual only showing emotions when he needs to, namely when challenged, or annoyed by something or some one. On top of that we know he’s a man that wants to move up in the world, as he states about his ambition with the Light, “take a seat at the table” and probably become their leader.

Given that Talia is with her father there’s only a few people that could take on the role as Head of the LoA, and outside of Talia’s younger sister, and possibly Lady Shiva or David Cain, Slade Wilson is the man.

But how would he have beat Ra’s in a fair fight to take it over, and why? He’s not a member of them so what does he get out of it?

Well for a few reasons: First and foremost, the LoA is a boon to whomever controls it. They are assassins who have no fear of death and when it comes to take overs you want a team on your side that can cause the most damage without causing the most stir. Secondly by taking them over he shows his ambition to the other members of the Light and thus moves closer to his goal of becoming the head of the Light. Third is likely that he did so on the behest of someone like Lex whom he’s worked with before in comics and is willing to do dirty deeds to get what he wants. Ra’s has a noble streak, and one that deals with the earth. While he can care less about humanity as a whole, he’s against the planet being wrecked, and if Darkseid get’s his way that will happen.

(Remember folks Ra’s and Vandal are the oldest in the Light, and would see Darkseid as both someone to work with but also someone to not trust and Ra’s would jump ship way before Vandal would to protect things that he deems worthy, like his grandson.)

Lastly there may be a more personal reason for this action. We know that previously in comics Slade lost his son Grant to the Teen Titans. He sees this as a personal blow and wants to get revenge. We haven’t seen this Slade show anything of family, but given it’s Deathstroke and the time jump, I’m pretty sure between the time that we first saw him in season one, into season 2 and the time skip, there may have been a case where Grant, his son, died.

This would give him ample reason to set up Terra as a mole inside YJ and use her to probably get him as the Leader of the Light. After all, how many people would suspect a girl like her to be a trained killer.

So how does Terra and Brion fit into all of this?

With this revel we know we’re dealing with someone with Rock Powers. Also it’s clear that her stance and body shape is that of a teen girl. So how did she end up with the LoA and working for them?

Simplest answer is that she was saved by them.

Wait, how could that be? Why would the LoA save Tera?

Option 1: The answer is kind of interesting if you theorize about it. We don’t know how long the LoA has been without Ra’s, but I can guess that he probably went against the Light after he concluded that Darkseid was a danger to the earth and just so happened to free Tera. While with Ra’s Slade came and beat him. leading her to want to protect him and be with him for reasons of thinking he’s hot.

Option 2 is more likely though. While Ra’s probably did leave the Light at this time, Deathstroke saw a chance to get in with the Light. However he would need some major stuff to back him up to be promoted to sit at the table. So what does he do? More than likely, with the help of others that work with him (maybe Cheshire, maybe some other people who knows?) they found out about the Kidnapped Princess and found her before she was transported and saved her.

Because of this, and probably because Deathstroke may be a dad, he knew how to calm her down with her new powers and Tera, falls for him. Now the question is exactly how far does this go, but we’ll get to that later. In this case though Deathstroke uses her to confront Ra’s, which would explain why Sensei knows about her in the first place, and her actions warping the earth, may have lead to Ra’s being beaten by Slade. Slade then took the group and lead them away from the Island to his own location, and used them to show the power that he held to the Light, who offered him a seat at the table.

Tera, now probably going by Terra, in turn is trained with the LoA to become a ruthless killer. Namely as a means of getting back at people who have wronged her, as well as Slade fueling a desire for revenge and power. Given that Terra in the comics was far more of a selfish, power hungry, narcissistic person, it’s not hard to see him appealing to her desire to not be a princess. There could be more there too.

While fighting with Sensei, the older man unleashed a rather interesting comment about Brion. Brion in his anger was shouting about where Tera was, and in turn Sensei noted that if he were her he would stay away from him too.

Now I’m not sure if the words were run away, or stay away, but in either case the implication is that Tera doesn’t want to be found because she may feel he doesn’t understand her. And that too is very true of his character.

We see Brion over and over lose his temper and ignore the feelings of others around him and just plow into a situation because he think’s he’s right. He may have, like Gregor, not been listening to Tera and making her feel like her ambitions, dreams or goals didn’t count. Thus making her a hell of an easy mark for Slade to come in and act like a father figure to her.

So we know he’s trying to find her, the thing is, will he be happy with what he finds?

Given the story of the Comic Judas Contract, I would say that Brion may be taking Beast Boy’s part in this some what. In the original story, Terra played on Garfield’s emotions and eventually broke his heart when she was revealed to be a traitor to the Teen Titans.

However, given that Gar is right now with Perdita, I’m not sure that story will go forward that way. Rather I can see by the end of Part 1 the team finding and saving Terra from Deathstroke, and Brion getting her to join the “team” only for her to betray them to the Light at some point in part 2 of season 3.

Honestly if I was to take a guess on it. I would say that Terra will be the one to kill Gregor, ending his life so that she could take over or for Slade to gain control of the nation, or possibly for the express purpose of making him pay for her not making it out alive. It’s not that hard a guess that Terra turning on the team will be heart breaking for her brother who tries to reason with her but can’t.

There is also the option that she kills Count Vertigo’s niece for him as a favor from Deathstroke. This would set up Gar along side Brion to help bring her down. As I see it they (Brion and Terra) are going to have to fight, since Gar is possibly not going to be the one that will deal with her directly.

In the end I feel like Tera’s going to be a rather emotional problem for Brion, one that could lead to possibly him fighting against Slade and possibly getting the crap beat out of him for trying to get his sister away. Or more than likely she’s going to wind up allying herself with Slade and acting as a mole for him leading into Part 2 having some damning consequences in the show.

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nightmaretyrantvantas · 6 years ago

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I am not my insecurities reflection- a truthful based oneshot

IMPORTANT AUTHORS NOTE PLEASE READ

Ok, this will be a long author’s note but please bare with me as this is very important for you to understand this oneshot. For some context here because I havent posted alot about her yet, this is a oneshot about my Dc oc Gracie Lucio, set kinda in the same universe(i guess) of the teen titans judas contract movie( with Damian as robin) and its a oneshot written partly out of a vent of my own body image issues and partly out of an expression of how I’ve learned to look past said issues slowly.

But this gets very angsty until the end

Now to give a bit more context for the piece itself. The oc herself, Gracie Lucio( because I havent posted any art of her yet) for the reader’s understanding, she is not human, she is a werewolf(it feeds into her story so dont get me started on it alot of research went into this aspect of her character and it plays into her body issues)and body wise looks similar to Dick in the first season of Young Justice. Shes a naturally thin figured , broader shouldered girl who could( if she really wanted to) pass as a feminine boy with short jaw/ barely chin length hair( think of a thick messy longish pixie cut of dark hair). So shes naturally lean and lanky and a little underdeveloped for a 13 year old girl and as a heroine she has toned muscles from years of hero work. Most wouldnt see her having too many insecurities about her body image and appearance, but in truth shes riddled with them. She ages a bit differently than humans, it takes her body longer to develop and even then in some areas it develops differently all together. She struggles to gain any extra weight or build up natural feminine curves, something she wants. She WANTS to look like other girls her age, with more developed and heavier bodies, with curves and more weight and an actual figure. But with a supernaturally high metabolism added on top of a already genetic based thin figure and a intense and sometimes rigorous training and workout routine plus her work as a heroine gives no leeway to gain really any extra weight, its always worked off one way or another. And this causes...comments to be made about why she looks that way by civilians. and though she never shows it publicly she takes many of these, usually not flattering and sometimes cruel and rude, comments to heart(much like I used to unfortunately) and it worsens her negative feelings. This is a small story of her seeing those problems and issues and trying to face and overcome them. This is more centered around Gracie and Dick and Jason and their platonic and sibling like relationship as they help her through her darker times( again, this is partly me expressing my own personal struggles with body image (which arent the exact same as the character but the language and the comments are very similar)and partly how those two helped inspire me to have more confidence in my body no matter what I look like) and also a deeper peek into her complex relationship with Damian(but thats not the biggest focus) Sorry this was so long I mightve info-dumped a little but its important to understand the story. I hope you guys enjoy?

This is also told in Gracie’s point of view

This will cover some pretty deep kinda issues like body image problems and over eating and weight loss/gain and mentions of eating disorders without really discussing them and bullying so if that upsets you in any way now is the best time to scroll past for your own sake, I dont want you to upset yourself over my crappy emotional writing

I do not look that bad.

That’s what I have to force my mind to accept as I look into the mirror, meeting my own aqua green eyes hesitantly.

I always hated looking in the mirror lately, especially after training or after bathing, like now as I stood in the middle of my room in a slightly loose training type sports bra and spandex shorts. I don’t even want to glance down at my body, out of fear for seeing the same thing I always do.

‘She so skinny...is she eating right’

‘She needs to eat more and gain some weight’

‘what a twig for a superhero’

‘how have bad guys not snapped her in half? Jesus Christ I could probably break her with a sneeze!’

‘What a bad influence shes setting for young girls with such an thin figure!’

‘I think He needs to eat more Christ that poor boy must be starving! Why isn’t Nightwing feeding him more’

The flashes of comments flooded my mind the moment my eyes flickered down to the rest of me. To my thin, unfeminine figure. My underdeveloped and flat birdcage of a chest. To my lanky, toned, too flat stomach. The pinched waist figure. The flat empty expanse I called hips that blended too well into my too dainty looking bony legs. I looked too fucking skinny. And maybe they were right...as a hero I was a role model to those younger than me, and I promoted a Bad Body Image for girls to idolize with my lanky boy figure.

And it was a horrible body type I had no goddamn control over.

My species was not an easy one to live as, especially not intermingled with humans. The team knew, the team understood, but the rest of the world didn’t. As a lupinotuum pectinem, or lycanthrope which in easy translation is simply “Werewolf”, my whole body inner workings were different. Most of my kind were naturally lean and thin, like tall healthily thin model athlete body types and in general the females, even alpha females, were practically born twig like almost. And on top of that our bodies developed....differently. I was not raised by a pack or by my own kind after age 8, so even I didn’t know the full extent but females bodies took longer to grow and it made it very hard for them to gain weight because of the unnaturally high metabolism. Add being a superhero who once trained under a certain league member to the mix and you go from being the “healthy and admirable” type of skinny to the “unhealthy and concerning”type of skinny.

I hated it, and I hated my body. I hated pictures of me from the neck down, because they all looked the same no matter who they were with. And I saw the comments everyone made. Whether its a surprise photo Garfield took dragging me into the picture to commemorate something or another or me taking pictures around Gotham or Blüdhaven with Dick on the social media Gar helped me set up, or even the rare photos I’d get to take with Jason or Damian or Tim and get to post. Every time the flood of comments were the same. The same things I now repeated over and over as I looked over my body angrily.

OMG look at that poor girl is she ok??? She looks like she needs to be hospitalized!

Christ almighty BB isn’t it too early to be posing with skeletons?? LOL

Dude not funny that girl must be anorexic or something.

Such a cute sibling couple but sweetie you need a fast food break to add some fat to those bones!

Fuck kid go eat something instead of taking pictures

Awwww you two look real happy! I hope you’re on the way to lunch or something!

Holy shit your guy’s size difference is so vast its almost worrying

how are you even alive with that little weight

Go eat some junk food or something before you pass out

OMG look at her shes so small and stick like! Her clothes look like they’re hanging off a scarecrow!

That girl cannot be healthy tell me someone is making her eat more

Every time its always the same damn thing....

I couldn’t do it anymore. I turned away from the mirror nearly in disgust and went back to changing into more casual clothes, bitterly noting how my clothes did in fact seem to hang awkwardly on my body as if I was too thin for them to fit correctly. Like they always did lately.

Ew look at her she looks so gross all stick-like like that!

What a fucking twig of a girl! Are those her ribs poking through her shirt??

Bitch go eat a fucking hamburger you need some damn food in you.

God that weight cant be healthy you need a doctor!!

“Kid? Yo kid you in there?” My head jerked up from the comments flooded screen of my phone to meet Jason’s eyes, catching the quirk of his eyebrow as he sat across the diner table from me. We were at a diner he favored whenever he came into town to visit, a little family owned treasure with delicious and greasy food and the sweetest staff on earth. We frequented the spot during his visits, our own personal little thing since we’d gotten closer. I plastered on a smile and ignored the slight narrow of those blue eyes, the small furrow of his brow got as I snapped off my phone and set it aside.

“Sorry Jay, BB tagged me in something dorky and I got distracted. So what were you saying?”

He didn’t believe me, and I didn’t blame him. I wasn’t the most convincing at that moment but I kept that damn plastic smile on my face and snagged some of his curly fries right in his face, making him crack a smile and smack my hand away from his tray.

“ Hands off my food, eat your own wolfie.” I rolled my eyes at the stupid nickname I’d been branded and let the plastic smile slowly be replaced by a more genuine one as we began chatting again, grabbing my over sized cheeseburger and finishing every last bite and moving onto the large fries and two milkshakes, hopelessly praying that maybe this time the calories would stick and trying to push away the comments to the back of my mind. I was with Jason and we were having a damn good time, and I wasn’t going to let those comments ruin his visit...not again.

You should be ashamed. All you’re doing is promoting bad eating habits looking like that.

You’re such a bad influence for young girls who idolize you with such a horribly unreachable appearance.

Shes too bony to ever be considered pretty

Does she have a eating disorder or something?

I stiffened instantly startled by a hand on my shoulder, turning off my phone instinctively and making the endless comments disappear into darkness before whoever could see them over my shoulder. The hand was big, calloused, and gentle and I felt myself relax as I looked up behind me with a smile.

“ Hey Dick, did you need something?” He smiled down at me with that big bright smile that made all the dark thoughts and feelings melt away and gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze, blue eyes meeting aqua green.

“ Well I was wondering if you’re doin’ anything right now or if you’d want to go catch dinner with Kori, Dami, and I. I noticed that you’d skipped your usual early dinner....” I wasn’t surprised he noticed, he normally did...

Once again that smile plastered itself on my face as I told him I’d love to, and to just let me go get changed into something better. I saw his hesitation at the fake smile, practically smelled it on him and prayed he wouldn’t bring it up right now, god please don’t ask now or I might just break...

Maybe god is listening because he didn’t mention it and just told me to meet them by the front doors of the tower in ten.

How are you not dead yet?

Jesus Christ stop promoting your eating disorder like its a good thing!

She looks so sickly is she ok? :(

Yeah shes sick, sick in the damn head for posting such disgusting pro-Ana pictures

How can you post pictures with a clear conscience looking like that?

Some “superhero”

I was wrong, no god was listening to me.

Dinner was rough to get through, even if it didn’t start that way.

For once I didn’t have to worry or dread possibly checking my phone for anything, I turned it off by the time we got to the restaurant. I even got a small compliment from Damian on our way in, though it was more a snark at me not tripping up the stairs. But it was Damian so I snapped right back with a smile, knowing he didn’t really mean it. Sitting beside Dick and across from Damian, I nudged his foot with mine in a silent gesture to cheer up even a little. He huffed through his nose but I saw his body relax and it made me relax. Those moments before the food came, our chatter and soft laughter as we looked over the menu, and the soothing knowledge knowing that Dick pulled me and Damian along to this dinner so we would go out on a date ourselves, ever the best brother and wingman. The mood was light and pleasant and I could see even the ever sharp and moody Dami lighten up a little by the time we ordered. Maybe the mood shifted into something different as we waited for our food and I was sipping on my tall glass of iced cola, when Damian’s fingers casually brushed over the top of my unused hand that laid peacefully on the table. The gesture was subtle and light, quick enough to miss if your senses weren’t sharp. I didn’t acknowledge it and neither did he, a silent understanding that words would just ruin whatever this was. I accepted that happily, as he was much more engaged in the conversations and even smiling a little more during them as he debated with Kori on leading strategies. Things were pleasant, comforting at that table in those few seconds before the decline, Dick smiling and chuckling at his lover and little brother, Said lover and brother having a more upbeat discussion about different leadership styles and their effects, and lightly debating which work better for what. And Damian’s hand next to mine, ever so lightly brushing against it in his wordless way to say I was still there and at even the smallest twitch I’d have his attention again. Dick ruffled my hair and asked how my online courses were coming along, since I didn’t attend schools publicly and I was more than happy to babble about my classes, and my current work in them. It was nice and I was happy, all the horrible feelings from before draining away as I tuned everything else but these three out of my enhanced hearing. Why had I even felt so shitty when I had great people like them in my life?

Then I heard it as that damned supernatural hearing tuned back in to the rest of the world.

The words and whispers and mutters and the blatant gossip and bad mouthing.

“Look at that younger girl sitting at that table dear...shes so thin I think she should be in a hospital not a restaurant.”

“Ewww mom look that girl looks like a skeleton!”

“ Honey shush….”

“Is….is that girl ok?”

“Dude of course she isn’t just look at her shes unhealthy as fuck. Probably has some kind of eating disorder too or something.”

It all flooded over me and all of my happy mood washed away under the wave. I couldn’t tell if the others could hear them so I grit my teeth tried to tune it all back out, trying so hard to focus more on Kori’s explanation of her points. My hands began to curl up subconsciously, making Damian’s attention snap to me. Fuckin I….no, I cant tell him...I shouldn’t. I forced my hand to uncurl and that stupid smile sprawled across my lips as if someone had put tape over them. I saw his eyes narrow and near begged mentally for him to not say anything or for Dick to distract him...anything.

“Ahem….your meal.”

I have never more thankful to a waitress before in my life...until I saw the look she gave me as she placed my admittedly large order of food in front of me, something that was normally a platter for two people’s worth of beef and sides. I caught the judgmental and suspicious look she had glancing between me and my food and I felt shame burn all over, starting to hang my head to avoid that damn look.

“ If this is all our food then your job is done. Don’t you have OTHER tables to be serving?” Damian’s curt and sharp tone cut through the air and briefly through my shame. This waitress knew nothing about me and i certainly owned no one any explanations about my eating habits, so why was she hanging around giving me looks about my food…?

“ Damian don’t be so rude!” Dick cleared his throat and I felt his strong arm wrap protectively around my shoulder as he leaned close to the edge of the table while Kori’andr apologized for Damian’s attitude vaguely. But I could hear it, there wasn’t much life to her apology. It sounded like a politely required apology, almost...defensive?

“ I am so sorry about my little brother Miss. He’s also sorry. But do you need anything else since we seem to be all set here but you’re still hanging around when you must be very busy…?” Dick’s words were sweet and cheerful, but there was an edge to his tone that gave a clear warning. His arm around me tightened a little protectively as he gave one of his signature charming smiles that could light up half the damn city as he then inquired if there was some sort of problem. The waitress stammered that there wasn’t any problem and that it was fine and for us to enjoy our meal before scampering away to continue her work. I felt other patrons eyes most DEFINITELY on us now and I couldn’t help shrinking into the taller man’s side to hide.

“ I’m sorry this keeps happening…” I murmured to him as our respective dates started eating and slowly reviving their conversation, moving on to mission recounts and training while Damian shot a dark look at the other patrons that made them look away. Dick gave my shoulder a squeeze and i moved closer for that familiar warmth and comfort...my chest felt heavy and my appetite had died and I wanted to curl up in my room and die of the shame. But I couldn’t, he wouldn’t have let me. So instead I instinctively sought out the safety Dick’s presence brought me, like a protective older sibling whose arms I could be enveloped in and forget about the harsh world outside them.

He knew without words, catching my body language before anyone else at the table. He knew me best.

“ Do you want to leave? We can get to go boxes and enjoy this meal all the same back at the tower, or even mine and Kori’s apartment. Is that what you’d rather do?” It was tempting, oh god it was so tempting to just say yes and let him lead me away while I re-gathered myself, same way he did when we were both 13 and living under the same roof...before…

I shook my head and forced those thoughts to the very back of my mind. I was in a dark enough place of mind already without that.

“ N-no...you guys set this up...i...i don’t want one nosy waitress to ruin our whole meal. Lets just eat ok D?” He smiled at the nickname and ruffled my hair with a nod, both him and Kori making sure I knew if things got too uncomfortable we could leave and the heaviness eased a little at their consideration. I started picking at my food and slowly regaining my appetite, once again nudging Damian with my foot to start up conversations. I ignored the words for the majority of the dinner, we even began to enjoy ourselves again. The last straw was probably as we were paying and putting leftovers in to go bins. I was admittedly nibbling on food out of my bin, despite starting to feel full.

“ I swear you are a bottomless pit sometimes Gracia.” I rolled my eyes at Damian’s remark and gave him a small smirk as I licked my fingers clean.

“ This bottomless pit can still kick your ass in training wonder boy~” He grunted and I saw the challenge glow in his eyes as he smirked back, an excitement for tomorrow’s combat training flaring up between us.

“ You really shouldn’t mix up your delusional dreams with reality alpha PUP.” I said something snarky back and we began to bicker halfheartedly over who was winning. I finally snapped shut my leftover box and stood with Damian as we stared each other down confidently, Dick chuckling at our competitiveness.

“ Tomorrow morning’s combat training will certainly be interesting with these two all riled up already.” The words didn’t fully process as I cracked my knuckles and squared up to the admittedly….taller boy.

“ Last I checked Damian I was ahead 11-10. And tomorrow, I just cant wait to make it 12.” He gave a hard laugh to my face and faced up to me with a smirk as our other two companions stood and shooed us more in front of the table so they could leave their seats. He opened his mouth to say something likely scalding and snarky back at me when the worst comment pierced between us both like a goddamn bullet.

“ Damn, I never knew such a sickly, too skinny bitch like her could eat like such a fat fucking pig.”

I think I stopped breathing as my body flinched at the following laughter. The man was clearly on the tipsy side and sitting at a larger table with a group of laughing friends, though the one who said it was standing next to the table with a drink that reeked of the cheapest alcohol this restaurant probably sold, and he didn’t stop there. Oh god of course he didn’t stop there. He kept laughing and loudly making obvious comments at me and openly mocking me and how much I ate to his table, either fully aware of what he was doing and that we could clearly see and hear him or too drunk to really care as more insults and name calling that I had heard and seen and read plenty of times before fell from his mouth. My heart was pounding in my ears as the next few moments happened slowly.

I thought I had seen anger plenty of times before, the worse being the one and only time someone made a malicious joke about my appearance to my face when I was walking beside Jason and it took all my supernatural strength to drag him off and away the guy before he murdered him in broad daylight and to keep him walking to wherever we had been heading.

I had seen pissed, but I had never seen downright hellish fury until that moment when I looked at Damian and Dick.

I had seen Damian mad, and angry, and pissed, a few times in our first meetings at me personally. I had seen Dick mad, angry, and pissed off a a fair chunk of times, even if they had never been directly at me. I had never seen this expression on either of them in those times. And in those few moments that passed almost in slow motion and Damian began to lurch forward with murderous intent the thought finally hit me. ‘ Was this...the first time these two had really heard the comments about me? Oh god…’ I felt like I was moving in honey as Damian stalked past me and I tried to reach out to him slowly, a gleam to his eyes that made my blood go cold.

If someone was to ask me in the future what I believed Death looked like, I would say with completely conviction that death would have the exact eyes Damian had in that moment: lethal, merciless, and furious. And he would have Dick’s cold expression, a look I never wanted to see on the normal cheerful man’s face ever again.

Time snapped back to a normal speed like a whip and my hand grasped nothing but air as Damian stormed over to the man.

“D...da--”

“What did you just say you disgusting drunk.” I might’ve shivered at his tone and I felt Kori’s hands on my shoulders tugging me back protectively as she looked down at me worried.

“ Gracie...don’t listen to him, there’s no reason to cry.” Cry? What was she talking ab--

That’s when I felt it, something warm and wet sliding down my cheeks and dripping off my chin. I...I was crying. My walls and my limit of bottling things in for one day was crumbling away as I watched Damian go to confront the man, my voice disappearing under the surge of hurt and anxiety. I couldn’t even say his damn name. I felt frozen and helpless as Dick stalked after Damian, fists clenched.

I had to do something say something anything to stop them before things went badly I had to I had--

“Eh?What the fuck did you say to me brat?”

“ You heard me you worthless piece of filth. Apologize to her, now.”

I needed to do something anything as I felt myself crumbling. Why wasn’t Dick stopping him why

“ And what if I don’t pipsqueak? You gonna hit me? Now scram. Maybe take your little bitch to a hospital for treatment instead of parading her around a restaurant with normal people!”

“ He might not do anything, But I will. Now take it back before things get messy.”I think my body began trembling as I watched panic swelling. I just wanted to leave and go home. I didn’t want to see this unfold, I just wanted to be home at the tower curled under my covers to simulate the warmth of another person holding me. I wanted to be anywhere, anywhere else then stuck in this nightmare.

So I moved without thinking and lunged, aiming for the back of Dick’s jacket to grab and ready to swallow any shards of pride and beg to leave. Instead I collided with Damian’s back and rolled with it, hugging him tightly from behind and tugging back with a whimper.

“ P-please you two...l...lets just leave...please lets just go home please…” Kori grabbed Dick’s arm firmly and tugged him back.

“ Dick...shes in the midst of an anxiety attack, let it go and lets leave. We need to get her out of here.” He took a difficult deep breath but nodded glaring down the man harshly enough that he flinched and scurried to the bar with his tail between his legs mumbling insults. One of his friends started to stand and began nervously apologizing, though one vicious look from the boy I was holding shut him up fast. It took me and Kori working together to drag the two out of the restaurant and the ride home was tense and silent. I couldn’t look at any of them, instead opting to stare at my feet wiping my eyes.

“ Does that happen often. People talking about you like that.” His cold tone made me flinch a little. At this point I was so upset and anxious and emotionally drained on the inside that I thought Damian was mad at me of all people for what happened. Those dark thoughts began to slowly bubble up to the surface and my insecurities screamed that he blamed me for what happened in the restaurant. I remained silent, too upset to answer. I heard his growl of annoyance and I began to hunch up, ready for a verbal fight.

“ Damian drop it for now. Shes in no right place of mind to talk about it.” Dick warned from the driver seat with a low voice that reminded me he was also upset and angry. When we got back to the tower I didn’t wait for anyone to say anything, I just bolted for my room as fast as I could, at a inhuman, unnatural speed that they couldn’t keep pace with.

I stayed locked in my room for three days, not willing to face any of them the next morning during training. Everything was heavy and hurt and it was hard trying to rebuild those shattered walls of protection, that image of unbothered confidence. I stayed in bed locked away from the world and curled up under the weak protection of my sheets mostly unresponsive to those outside it.

The first to come knocking and checking on me was Kori, asking if I was ok and if I needed to talk. She left after a little while of trying for a response unsuccessfully though, saying she’d come back to check on me later. It was maybe an hour later that Garfield came knocking, asking why I’d missed breakfast AND training. His voice was concerned as he asked if everything was ok and if I was even in there. The concern poked painfully into my silence, tempting me to speak and make myself vulnerable.

Vulnerability killed. I knew that first hand. So I forced myself to stay quiet until his knocks and footsteps faded away.

The rest of the day passed in a bit of a self deprecating blur, only marked by Kori’s two other attempts at my door. The last one I barely noticed as exhaustion kicked back in and I drifted off into an unsteady sleep

The next day after I woke up things still went by in a near timeless blur. I could hear my phone buzzing and vibrating and rattling for my attention but I left it there on the nightstand unnoticed and curled further under the sheets, lost in a slate tinted world of dark thoughts and darker temptations. But that day was harder to drift away through.

The first to stop by was Jamie, knocking a few times and calling out to me with concern and worry clear in his voice as he asked if I was ok. He asked if I’d eaten at all since yesterday, since he hadn’t seen me leave my room. The thought of eating made my stomach stir and my body curl around it ashamed. He knocked a few more times after that, his voice growing a bit more worried at the lack of answer. After awhile I heard him walk away and I barely lifted my head as I hugged my too skinny too unhealthy body close, feeling those blaring imperfections and flinching at myself.

It was no wonder everyone said those things...if so many people said them so often then they must be true.

The next to come by was Raven. She only knocked twice and gave a small sigh.

“ Gracie...I know you’re in there. If you need someone to talk to...my room is in the next hall over, and I will be here to listen. I wont force you to come out...just please remember you aren’t alone here. You have the team behind you.” I bit my lip hard enough to make it bleed to keep my ensuing whimper silent. The words, soothing and reassuring in context, stabbed into my heart and my resolve. I WANTED to depend on them, to throw open the door and break down under the assurance I could and would not be treated differently after, and be assured and comforted and remind of the positives. I wanted it so badly I was scared of it. Or maybe...I was scared of it NOT happening as those damn fears and insecurities and dark thoughts sowed heavy doubt through me. She lingered a little longer than Jaime, eventually her footsteps disappearing. I remember meekly poking my head from the sheets to stare absently out the half covered windows lost in thought, time slipping by me once more to the point I almost didn’t register Garfield and Kori both stopping by my door again at least twice more worried.

When Dick stopped by as the sun was setting was when the harder pain set in.

I heard the knocks and ignored it in favor of the changing color sky the sunset offered, my room washed in a dim orange and amber gleam. Then I heard his voice, soft and sick with worry from the outside and my heart thudded so hard it hurt. Hard.

“ Gracie...C’mon Gracie-girl please open the door. We’re all worried about you...I’m really worried about you. You haven’t eaten for a day and a half...Please let me in...” I almost broke completely at the pain in that familiar voice, the voice I never wanted to be the cause of being in pain or anguish again.

Well looks like I did a GREAT job of preventing that didn’t I?

He knocked again, asking and pleading and trying to reason, anything to get that door to open. My eyes burned with hot fresh tears and I curled up into a tight ball whimpering softly and breaking my vow of silence.

“....D-dick...p-please...j-just leave me a-alone…I-i just need some t-time alone…”

My voice came out pathetically weak and shaking with tears, which I know he heard. There was a silence for a few moments, perhaps shock that I actually answered this time. I felt warmth sliding down my cheeks as he sighed and reluctantly muttered that he’d come check back on me tomorrow and that there was leftover dinner ready for me to heat up on the kitchen counter before he slowly walked away. His fading footsteps echoing in my ears. Was my heart breaking on every step away? I couldn’t tell. That feeling slipped into the dark thoughts that followed the setting sun. Dark thoughts that also reminded me of the one person who HADN’T come to check on me, and the resulting pain of his absence.

The third day had been mostly quiet. It was almost a painful relief, quiet meant no additional pain of--

“ Gracia.”

That one word coming from Damian’s mouth sent so many things through me and sent any resolve I had spiraling away. His tone was a forced kind of neutral, he sounded as if he was trying to stay calm but it wasn’t exactly working. There was something to his voice I had no energy to figure out. He didn’t knock and there was silence for a few moments but I felt his presence remain.

“ You haven’t eaten since the restaurant.” No questions with him, he didn’t need to ask, always calm and analyzing.

“ ...You cant just stay in there forever Gracia.” A stern lilt to his voice, weakly enforced by the faint sound of his hand on the door. I could only whimper and curl up more. There was another stretch of silence before he sighed and his footsteps continued down the hall.

He was the only one to come check on me, a blessing and a damnation.

The day and night went by so listlessly I didn’t remember falling asleep, only waking up to banging knocks on my door. The volume grated on my sensitive hearing and made me flinch. Who would even be knocking like that…?

“ Oi. Kid. I know you’re still in there. Open the door.” Jason’s hard and no shit taking voice shot through me. Why...Why was Jason in the tower? Why was he in the city?

The knocking continued relentlessly, unlike the others. It even got louder and angrier.

“ Kid I said open this goddamn door.” There was no request or plea in his voice. It was a command, a harsh, cold command. I tried covering my ears with my hands and curling into a tight ball as the knocking continued. He wasn’t about to give up to a little girl.

I knew this too well.

“ Graciea Rosica Lucio I swear to god if you don’t open this goddamn door in the next couple second I will break it down. Now get off your fucking ass and answer me.” I don’t know what it was, but hearing his threat sent my body into mechanical motion, trudging over to the door and reluctantly unlocking it and letting it slide open with a low hiss, the banging finally ceasing. I couldn’t look him in the face, empty and ashamed it took threats to get me to open the door. So I stared dully at his boots and took in his scent as he grabbed the front of my shirt and dragged me back inside. I stumbled clumsily along with as he sat me on my bed and stood in front of me. I kept my gaze down towards his knees, the smell of nicotine wisping off his body in a way that told me he very recently had been smoking, no less than an hour ago most likely. Smoke and city is what filled my room. There was only a beat of silence before he spoke.

“ Look at me.” I lifted my head and stared at his chest and his crossed arms, unwilling to look him in the eyes. I couldn’t bare to see what kind of disappointed look he likely had on his face. Perhaps I didn’t want to see my reflection in his eyes, see the sickly, disgusting and bony figured girl with greasy hair and dark circles under dulled eyes and sallow cheeks. I heard the slight growl that rumbled from the back of his throat in warning and I briefly wondered if I would be forced to look him in the eyes. His arms uncrossed and I prepared myself for anything.

Anything except for two big plastic grocery bags filled with fast food bags and orders was dropped onto my lap, the contents still hot. I blinked slowly once, twice, and finally got enough courage in my confusion to look up at his face. When I did I was a little startled.

“ Eat. And you aren’t moving until those bags are polished off understand me?”

He looked visibly angry, eyes narrowed and mouth locked in a fearsome scowl with eyebrows furrowed. But his eyes were soft and worried and it took me a minute to realize worry was what was making his scowl so harsh. He crossed his arms across that broad chest again and I realized he was in his work gear, all the way down to the guns strapped to his thighs. All he lacked at the moment was his helmet and domino mask, his dark hair messier than usual and the white streak falling between his eyes. We had a staring contest and in those pupils I saw myself, I saw the shell I had become and it made me sick, breaking me briefly from the depressive haze.

How the hell had I let myself fall this far, this deep?

We didn’t speak until he grunted, eyes narrowing more in a way even those concerned blues didn’t weaken the glare as he spoke gruffly.

“ You better start eating before I start just shoving it down your damn throat.” I knew he would too. He wasn’t fucking around, I didn’t doubt he’d follow through with any threats made. Slowly I looked down at the pile of food and reached for the first bag, pulling it open and blinking fast as fresh tears stung my eyes.

It was from our favorite diner, and it was my usuals two cheeseburgers and large lightly salted fries with a second order of fat steak fries and fried pork strips. He’d even gotten all the little sides I enjoyed with it and I looked back up at him with a pained look. Maybe that look made him relax because his expression softened slightly, his voice quieting to something gentler.

“ C’mon now...I brought you all your favorites, now start eating...it’s been three days and your body cant handle that. We can talk after.” My shoulders slumped as all the tension stored in my body dissipated a little as he continued to speak, like a tightly pulled strong finally cut loose.

“ Kid I’m not mad at you. No one is. So just eat the food and then we’ll figure shit out, just like we do on any other visit.” I think the tears started falling because his face got blurry and there was warmth in my face. If I did start crying he didn’t say anything, just nodded at the bag. I gulped and slowly but surely pulled out one of the burgers and slowly took a bite, struggling a little to swallow it with a throat that was closing up from emotions. Once I did though my hunger kicked me hard and I began devouring the food, one bag after another.

It took me about a half hour to finish both plastic bags but I did, followed by slamming through at least two water bottles and one thick milkshake that almost made a mess. Jason simply watched over me as I ate from his spot in front of me. The silence was almost soothing, not painful as it had been before. I wiped my mouth with the back of my hand as I looked back up at him and we made eye contact.

“ So are you going to tell me what happened? Really happened?” I broke his gaze to stare towards the floor as the acidic shame began to creep back over me. He sighed.

“ C’mon kid just let it out already. Who am I to judge? So why don’t you trust me like you USED to and tell me?” Those words shot through my heart and head.

I...I wasn’t trusting him...trusting anyone...I…i...

It was like Jason opened a flood gate.

It all came spilling out with a new surge of tears and mid sentence cracking sobs, my body physically heaving from the intensity as it all came out. All the months of insecurities and pain and doubts and fears and comments and negativity and hate and bullying came rushing out like a tidal wave and Jason took to all, listening to everything without a single word as I let everything out and let myself break down completely, wails and sobs replacing words eventually. I felt him shift and kneel in front of me, felt big strong sturdy hands grip my shoulders to steady me and keep me anchored as I buried my face into my hands and gasped out cries and pained wailing yowls that filled the room and spilled out of it. I vaguely remember the sounds of multiple hurried footsteps coming towards the door but I didn’t care. All I felt was Jason’s hands on my shoulders and his steady, continuous heartbeat in my ears as well as he strong breathing. One set of footsteps dared to enter the room and hurry over, only stopped by Jason’s calm voice.

“ Let her get it out, its the only thing that’ll help.” The footsteps stopped and eventually the wails faded into blubbering whimpers and whines and hiccups, constantly sniffling. I lifted my head to look at him through blurred eyes and got one brief sight of Dick standing behind Jason that sent me into a whole new wave of sobs.

God I’ve been nothing but selfish and now I’d fucking hurt Dick again even when I swore I’d never do that again and i--

I let out a high pitched whine that turned into pathetic blubbered and wailed apologies. Over and over like a broken record I couldn’t stop apologizing to them for everything even parts that weren’t my fault in any way I still apologized for it I just couldn’t stop. Jason’s grip on me tightened only slightly before slipping away and for a single moment I was terrified I’d annoyed him with all the apologies and was about to add that to my list of them when two strong arms wrapped around me and and Dick’s scent surrounded me.

“ Shh shh shh shhh….shhh Gracie its ok now shh shh its ok I got you its not your fault…” I sniffled and wailed out more sobs and begs for forgiveness as I clung to him like he was a life preserver. And at that moment he was. He hugged me tighter and practically cradled me into his chest stroking my hair as he murmured reassurances, assuring me I was well forgiven and it wasn’t my fault. Everyone got insecurities especially when facing so much negativity. How I was so strong for fighting it for so long regardless. But it was ok to not always be strong and be able to handle it. That he was there and it was ok now. It took awhile but eventually all my noise quieted down to sniffles and hiccups and the occasional whimper as my trembling and heaving finally eased away into a limp tiredness. I felt exhausted but in a way different than the past couple days. I felt lighter and the more Dick spoke gently the lighter and more relaxed I felt,all the pain easing as he banished every dark thought one by one.

“ You ARE a hero Gracie.”

“ you aren’t a skeleton or a scarecrow or a twig.”

“ You are not too bony.”

“ You’re beautiful.”

“ You aren’t sick and you don’t need any doctors.”

“ You’re ok. The way your body works and retains weight naturally is not your fault.”

“ You’re only thirteen you’re still growing kiddo.”

“ I was scrawny and thin until I was at least sixteen Gracie its not that uncommon.”

“ You do NOT have to hold yourself to stupid human beauty standards.”

“ You’re beautiful to us, that’s all that matters.”

“ You’re ok, you have us.”

Each and every statement cleared my mind and I slumped against him with tears still falling down my cheeks. His hand carefully cupped the back of my neck in a soothing gesture to ease the wolf side of me, adding a very small amount of pressure to ensure the sense of security and safety the movement brought. I whispered out a hoarse thank you, my throat sore and raw but already beginning to heal. He smiled into my hair and I let my eyes slip shut in contentment. I felt...stabilized, as if the whole world had been constantly tilted dangerously under my feet for months and now it had finally been returned to normal, balancing me once again.

I felt a second, no technically third, hand tangle itself into my thick and greasy hair and ruffle it affectionately, fingers tangling themselves in the dark chestnut locks.

“ We’re always here for you kid. Whether you like it or not. You can be honest and confide in your inner circle Gracie. We aren’t going to look at you any differently...so next time don’t keep your mouth shut.” My nerves settled and I leaned into his hand with a loud hiccup, making him snort. I looked up and saw both older men smiling down at me, both with their own kind of soft expressions. I rubbed my eyes and wiped my nose and smiled back shakily, feeling like everything was going to be ok for the first time in a long while.

I learned a few things a few hours later, after I’d fallen asleep in Dicks arms and woke up on the couch out in the Tower’s game room with Garfield and Jaime looking after me. My head was resting on Garfield’s leg and he had his elbow rested on my upper arm comfortably as he and Jaime played some kind of two player video game, keeping their voices lower than usual to be considerate of me sleeping. Opening my eyes was difficult as they felt dry and crusted and stung from crying so much. But my throat was no longer sore. When they saw I was awake they paused the game and and told me they were happy I was up, as I had been out cold for at least a solid couple hours. That was when I learned the first thing : Dick and Kori had informed the team of the incident at the restaurant after the first day I stayed locked up in my room, and Garfield had let it slip in his rage that he thought I had finally stopped getting those comments, and confessed that I’d been getting bullied and harassed about my appearance online for months. What I found out was all those months what I failed to notice was Garfield fighting back on my behalf every chance he got. He defended me, constantly called people out for harassment and even worked on getting some of the worst and most aggressive ones banned. For months he’d been do it as relentlessly as he could, filling his own social medias with both our pictures and his constant defense and positivity towards me to fight it back. It got lost in my own comment section so I stupidly didn’t realize. It warmed my heart knowing he’d kept my back even when I never noticed or mentioned it, though he waved it off and just gave me his big old smile telling me it wasn’t that big a deal,

“ After all, you’d do the same for me in a heartbeat!” And he wasn’t wrong. But I still hugged him tight in thanks anyway, an embrace he happily returned as he warned me next time I lied about being harassed there’d be hell to pay.

I assured him there wasn’t going to be a next time anymore and for the first time in months finally wholeheartedly meant it.

The second thing I learned was Jaime told me during those first two days I was locking myself away Damian had gone back to the restaurant and used Bruce’s name to hunt that guy that had been harassing me down and gotten a few hefty harassment charges and minor endangerment charges slapped onto the guy, throwing in a sob story of how I was now in emergency care in the hospital because of him. I knew he didn’t throw his last name around often, didn’t exactly like having to do so to be taken seriously. The fact he did for me…

I had a lot more feelings for Damian after that knowledge.

The third thing I learned was that the only reason Dick and Kori hadn’t come by to check on me yesterday was was because they spent the entire time hunting for Jason to get his help with getting me out, and when they DID find him he stormed for the tower and made it there before they did somehow, he was that angry.

As they were telling me this and retelling a very tense video call between Nightwing and Batman during the second day Damian came in in his full Robin attire, regarding us stoically. When I saw him I stood and the room quieted as I approached him, the both of us observing each other. When we stood a foot apart I stared into his masked eyes quietly and he looked into my tired eyes. I saw his mouth start to open to speak and my body lurched forward without me, hugging onto him tightly.

“Thank you...you didn’t have to do that for me thank you thank you thank you…” He was quiet and I was about to let go and move away when I felt his arm come around me and grip the back of my shirt, returning the embrace. Neither of us was at a point that we were really physically affectionate by any means but my heart swelled when he hugged me back, leaning his head against my own and allowing me to bask in the warmth of his arms and his scent. When I felt him roll his shoulders I took that as my cue and slowly pulled away, gently pressing a kiss to his cheek as I did before retreating back to give him his space.

I think I saw his cheek flare pink but I’ll never say for sure because that would mean admitting just how red my own cheeks were.

I’d love to say that after that everything ended happily and perfectly and things went great forever and ever. But I cant, life doesn’t work like that.

But things did get better.

I was under heavy supervision several weeks, with almost stricter watches on my food intake to make sure I didn’t try to over eat or try to force weight gain. Bruce had me stay with him and Damian for a few weeks as well to make sure I didn’t slip back into that dark place. It was a bit smothering at times...but in all honesty I welcomed the smothering because I knew it meant how much they all cared. And staying with Bruce again...it brought up my mood believe it or not. Being in the manor brought back happier memories of my childhood and seeing the man I considered a fatherly figure more often perked me up. Plus I got to see Tim a lot more than usual in those few weeks, a perk and joy all in itself as he kept me company when he wasn’t too busy with his work. Tim was also the one who disabled all comments on my social medias one calm rainy evening in the lounge. I was grateful and he patted my head after as he read his case files. I think I might’ve fallen asleep against him, I cant say I fully remember. With each passing week I felt better and better. It took a long time for my self esteem and confidence to rebuild itself, but it got some jump starts. Perhaps the best part was two months later after a sparring session with Kori. She was giving me tips on striking with a staff when Dick and the big bad bat Brucie himself walked in.

“ Batman? Has something happened?” He shook his head and put his hand on my shoulder.

“ I’m going to borrow Gracie for a few minutes.” Dick gently took her hand and smiled as he whispered something to her as he led me out of the training room and placed a long bottle of what looked like red chewy vitamins into my hand. When I looked up at him confused he gave me some of the best news of my life.

“ These are specially created vitamins designed to accommodate your body’s inhuman metabolism. Tim helped me create them. They're designed to help regulate fats and carb distribution in your body and allow your body to hold onto and gain more weight without immediately burning it off. Take one every week and in a few months you should be up at least one weight class if not more as long as you keep to your regular healthy eating habits, just like you wanted. By Tim’s calculations within the year you should gain enough weight to have a thicker figure, though you may always retain this thinner “ballet-ques” figure...you will more closely resemble the figure of girls your age.” I stared up at him then at the vitamins and sniffled, fighting off tears of joy. All those weeks with Tim and his seemingly just curious questions about my species and their anatomy...the “ case files”...I owed Tim a lot for this.

“ It was Dick’s idea, after all that happened two months ago.” The softer tone brought a smile to my face and I nodded, barely restraining the urge to hug Bruce while he was in the cowl.

“ T-thank you...thank you this means more to me than you know…” He nodded and turned to leave but I caught the ghost of a smile on his face as he walked away.

And once he had I ran back into the training room and tackled Dick to the ground with a ecstatic howl, shifting mid leap into wolf form and licking his face in gratitude, making him laugh as he lazily tried to push away my affection.

I started taking them that day, and it took a few months for a noticeable difference to take place, but it did. My clothes and uniform stopped hanging off me like a walking scarecrow and I started developing the beginning of a feminine figure. I stopped trying to stuff my face too much at every meal and with every week after my self esteem raised back up a little higher. Maybe people saw it in the big, wide crooked smiles in pictures of me now, no matter who they were with. Or maybe the team saw it in the fact I stopped trying to hide my body in layers of clothes, walking around in my favorite tank top after missions instead of over sized sweatshirts and shirts, or the fact I didn't mind sudden pictures taken of me. Regardless it showed and in time I was more than happy to show off that confidence. Throughout it all Jason made near constant visits between jobs to make sure I didn’t have too major of setbacks and Dick stayed by my side as often as he could, supporting me and being a physical reminder almost that I was never alone.

And I didn't feel alone.

And one day as I was getting ready for an outing I paused in front of the mirror and looked at myself, looked at my slightly more filled out tank top and the small curve of slightly more defined hips and an actually fairly filled out stomach, a fuller figure to match my broader than normal shoulders. I slowly looked into my own eyes and after a moment I began to smile.

Somehow….I didn't hate looking into the mirror as much as I used to.

“ I do not look that bad. I look fine.”

“ Gracie c’mon you coming? C’mon the others are gonna leave without us!”

I smiled at my reflection wider before running off out of the room after Jaime’s voice.

“ Im coming!!”

I dont look that bad.

And now I could finally start to see that.

The end.

OOOOOOOH ITS FINALLY DONE ITS FINALLY DONE!

Ive been working on this for three months now and it was really difficult to finish. Originally it wasnt supposed to be so angsty but...it turned out really angsty at the end.

@phantommoonpeople

@kid-crashed

@call-me-n0ni-chan

Tagging those I know will want to read this

I hope you all like it!!

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