#because like what am i supposed to think from 'robin speaks very highly of you superboy. youll do fine'

[garlic-sauc3]

thinking about timkon

[lunarianillusion]

A change in fate

A Maribat fanfic

prologue

Marinette had made a grave mistake that would put the fate of Paris in peril. After a stressful battle, with a murderous akuma along with a sentimonster that could shroud the battlefield with a thick mist and Mayura, she had renounced her miraculous. Her civilian life had been getting more and more miserable thanks to Lie-la and even though she had a small but loyal group of friends it was to much. The omega could not take all the responsibility and Tikki insistence to keep moving forward and to keep doing her best was exhausting to say the least. So, she renounced the little god for a moment of pure silence, but that moment had allowed her to get akumatized.

“Oh, Tikki. I’m sorry. I’m so, so sorry,” the girl whispered to herself. A lone tear ran down her cheek, her face blank from any emotion.

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In the aftermath of the battle Marinette had found that a new ladybug had risen. This one seemed to be flaunting her ‘excellence’ and was slandering the previous ladybug with viperous intend.

The noir omega had gone to her master to find out what the plan of action to reclaim the miraculous was going to be. But when she arrived, she was scorned for her negligence in losing the ladybug miraculous.

“You should have been more careful Mrs. Dupain-Cheng. I intrusted you with one of the greatest powers within our universe and you take such lenience with it. This is not a game. Now we do not know who the ladybug wielder is and that could jeopardise the fate of Paris if not the universe,” The old beta berated.

Marinette felt her inner fire begin to boil over once more, but instead of a cold despair like a hours prior, it was a raging inferno. He thought this was a game to her, has he not been paying attention to how Chat Noir was acting at all! And Intrusted! He forced the role of ladybug onto her. With no warning, no prior preparation and the way he chose made her question if he should even have hold over the remaining miraculous. So, she snapped.

“Intrusted?!” The omega shrieked, baring her fangs. “You practically forced the role onto me! With your misguided way of choosing exam and then gave me no training, no guidance and just watched as I tripped every step of the way! You speak of me being lenient, have you even been paying to Chat Noirs behaviour?!”

Fu opened his mouth to interjected, but Marinette did not give him a chance. He would hear what she had to say.

“Do not even try making any excuses for him and do not give that crap about the ladybug and black cat being meant to be together. You know that all the flirting is uncalled for and distracting. How many innocent people have been hurt or worse, because he could not stop harassing me. Let’s also not forget all the times in battle he got mind controlled or straight up killed! He is a thorn in once side, that only adds to my stress. Stress from being ladybug, stress from trying to find Hawkmoth and my civilian life with all of its own responsibilities. I try to be ‘perfect’, but I am only human, and we are not supposed to, as a species, bottle up all of our emotions. So, I am ���sorry’ if I cracked under all the pressure, but I am not an emotionless doll that you can make do as you will, and I will just go along with it!” Marinette roared.

The omega took several deep breathes. Having finally let out all of her despair, pain and rage. So, now she tried to calm herself and get her flaring spiced up scent, that reflected her raging emotions, under control. She was truly grateful far Wayzz. If not for the small turtle protection around the shop, she would likely have been akumatized again.

“Very well,” the ancient beta sheathed, eyes glaring cold daggers into the omega before him. “Then you shall no longer carry the title of ladybug. I will release you from that burden. You shall never get a miraculous from me again. Cleary you are to unstable now to carry such a great honour. Given with what cast you have matured into.”

Oh, he did not just go there.

“We shall see how the new ladybug does. She might do far better with Chat Noir than you ever did.”

Marinette highly doubted that. She had seen the recording of the fight. Chat noir had been killed halfway through the battle and had been arguing with the new ladybug non-stop before that. Tripping each other up on purpose. The unknown ladybug had only been able to win by the skin of her teeth.

“Now leave my shop and do not come back. You are no longer welcome here.” Fu ended his speech by turning his nose to the girl and staring her down.

The silence in the room was deafening.

After a long moment of getting her emotions under control did Marinette straighten up. Her face a blank emotionless mask, a reflection of her spend emotions, and left the massage parlour. Leaving an enraged old beta and horrified kwami, who truly wished this was all just a big nightmare, behind.

The young omega then aimlessly walked and walked, hoping that buzzing in her head would just stop. He feet brought her to the place where it all began. The battlefield where she fought her last battle as ladybug.

She stood there for maybe an hour. Just standing there, her mind a whirlwind of thoughts and regrets. Before deciding it was time to go home, if she could even call it her home. Her parents no longer trusted her, thanks to Lie-la. They did not abuse her with any violence but did make her work long hours in the bakery when they wanted to go out. Which they had been doing more and more as of late. Other wise they just ignored her. This made her wonder if they ever truly cared for her.

Marinette sighed and was about to turn around. When something caught her eye.

It shined blue and seemed to call to her.

_____________________________________________________________________

Timothy Jackson Drake truly did not wish to leave Gotham, but he could not take anymore of his old pack. Be it the attempts on his life or the neglect that has been growing over the months. The way most of the pack just ignored him on a daily basis made him think of when he was still living with his parents, when they were still alive.

Everything stared to get shaky when Jason retuned from the grave. At first Tim had been exited in small part, since he had always looked up to the second robin. Then came the attempts on his life. Tim knew that in large part that had been the fault of the Lazarus pit and the Al Ghuls, but the scar never fully faded.

His relationship with the older alpha was now shaky at best. They could get along but there were some moments.

And then came Damian Al Ghul Wayne.

Things started to truly spiral for the young alpha with the arrival of the violent pup. In all honesty he could not fully blame all of the violent tendencies on the pup themself. Most of it had come from the way Damian was raised.

The Al Ghuls just loved to fuck with the Wayne pack in more ways than one.

Even that did not excuse most of his actions. The thing that got Tim the most however was how the pack barely reprimanded or the corrected the pup on his behaviour. Even when the demon spawn tried to kill him on so many occasions. He barely got a slap on the wrist. A very slow transition ensued for the pup and Tim because of this and to this day the demon spawn would try to kill him, at the most inconvenient of times.

And then the brat was given the robin mantle. No choice had been given to the youngest alpha in the matter. Dick had just taken the mantle and given it away with barely an explanation given or time for Tim to prepare a new identity before the reveal.

He relationship with his older brother became extremely strained after that.

After that whole debacle he had gone to find Bruce. In a sense hoping that it would help the pack. In a way it did, but Timothy became more and more like a poltergeist to the Wayne pack. He could stand right beside one of them and they just would not notice him.

Thank god for Alfred though if not for the old beta Tim would not have survived to this point.

And was one of the reasons why Timothy wanted to stay. But no, he needed to leave. He first thought of going to the titans but decided against that. He had gotten estranged with his old friends over the years and did not feel comfortable with still being so close to Gotham. No, he needed to start a new.

Which lead to were he is now. On a plane to Paris, staring melancholily out the window. He had prepared everything in advance to erase his old self from the Wayne pack and keep off their radar. There was a reason however for choosing Paris.

While once going through the justice league files, he came across a curious case that had been played off as a prank. It was a call for help from a few years back. It had been made by what had to have been a young teenage hero. She had called saying that a villain by the name of Hawkmoth had shown up and was using negative emotions to turn civilian’s into superpowered pawns to do his bidding. It had been written up as a prank because no calls for help had come for either the French government or the JLE. Then again Guy Gardner was the one to look into the case, so grain of salt. And when Tim looked into the case, he found nothing but nothing as in complete radio silence. As if Paris had completely dropped of the face of the earth news wise.

So, he would take a look himself and see for himself what this was about and if it was truly a prank than he could just find a way to start a new life in the city of love.

[yukiwrites]

Henry, Sharing Experiences

Thank you so much for the patience and constant support, @xpegasusuniverse! I hope you like it!

Summary: Interestingly enough, there was no known School of Magic at the Altean continent -- apart from a very specific one only known to Plegians. Henry was pleasantly surprised when he found out that there were people who went to a magical school just like him when he overheard them talking in Askr...

Commission info HERE and HERE!

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Askr, home to the one and only Summoner who’s rumored to be able to lead the Order of Heroes to victory against any foe. In such a place where many people from differing backgrounds joined hands to work together side by side, a wide variety of groups were formed.

What started as a simple meeting between fellow practitioners of their preferred art of war turned into complex classes with a rich curriculum during the time the Heroes had between battles. One of the most prominent of those were the magic classes: they varied from beginner to intermediate to the Mastery class, which only consisted of the teachers of the previous two courses.

There were mages from all walks of life within this niche, which in turn only enriched the students’ experiences. As a matter of fact, some of them had met one another back in their home world, as it was the case with the four mages who attend to the School of Sorcery in Fhirdiad: Annette, Constance, Lorenz and Mercedes were all attending to the lectures in Askr just as they had done so in Faerghus.

Though, this time, they were all classmates.

“As riveted as I am to be able to attend magical classes with you, Mercedes, the mere thought of not being able to do so back at the School of Sorcery is enough to make me want to reverse the hands of time myself!” Constance shook her shoulders after a sigh, walking close enough to Mercedes to hold her arm.

“Oh, yeah, Mercie mentioned you two just missed each other, right? Wah, I’m so sorry, Constance… But hey, at least now you’re together! And we’re all together!” Annette hyped up beside Mercedes, puffing her cheeks and chest up.

“I suppose, yes,” Constance lifted her chin, “still, to think that we could have been reunited much sooner…”

Mercedes smiled softly, basically sandwiched between her friends. “What matters is that we’re all here now, right? And learning so much, too!”

“Aptly put, Mercedes!” Lorenz intervened from the side as they were all leaving the library that had been hijacked by the mages to be used as a classroom. “To think that all of us attended the Royal School of Sorcery but only ended up as classmates in another world! The goddess truly plays her cards well, do you not think?”

Hearing Lorenz’s words, a white-haired head popped up from behind him, as someone who had also just come out of the library. “Ohhh, so there are magical schools in other worlds, too! I wonder how different they were from the one in Plegia, though.”

“What manner of-” Lorenz jumped out of his skin, almost letting out a disgraceful yelp. “Good lad, I would ask that you do not sneak up on your peers! A word of caution.”

“Oh, whoops, sorry about that. Robin sometimes scolds me about that, too -- guess I’ve been hanging out with Kellam too much, nyaha!”

“Whyever are you speaking to us, good sir? We’ve places to be, so if your business is over…” Constance lifted her chin condescendingly, ready to wrap her arm around Mercedes’ to lead the way back to where they were going.

“No, no, wait! I got curious about this sorcery school in your world. You see,” Henry matched the pace, inserting himself between Constance and Lorenz, “the one back in my world -- heck, back in my country -- taught a veeeery specific kinda magic. Eeevery mage born there only does dark magic!”

“My word, dark magic?!” Lorenz let out an exclamation of surprise. “Back in our world, I’ve known only a few who are capable of wielding such dangerous yet powerful magic…”

“See?” Henry pointed to Lorenz. “I was actually surprised when I got here and found out that there were so few dark mages! I mean, back home they were made in the HEAPS, nyaha!”

Annette’s eyes shone. “How different was your school life, uh-”

“The name’s Henry! I’ve been here for a while so I know allll about you guys!” His smile grew pointedly as a shadow covered his thin eyes. He then giggled, shaking off the cold that had crept in their spines. “But I asked first! How’s the School of Sorcery back in your world?”

“Um, being asked like that at point blank, it’s kinda hard to even remember what to say, you know? Um, umm…” Annette widened her eyes, then scrunched her face in deep thought. “We had… different classes? Ahah, wait, that’s obvious-”

“If you are asking about how the classes were divided, Henry, then the curriculum here in Askr wildly differs from the Royal School of Sorcery in Fhirdiad.” Constance stepped in as Annette mumbled and Mercedes patted her head. “There were classes focused on potion-making, illusory magic, red and white magic, summoning circles-”

“Whoa, whoaaa! Potion? Summoning? Illusory? That’s the same thing back home! How come you’re not a dark mage, then?” Henry tilted his head to the side in wonder.

After all, to him, making potions, illusions and summoning ghastly beings were simply different kinds of hexes. One would collect materials, which could serve as the sacrifice needed for the hex to work depending on the complexity of it; dissect the magical property of each piece of each ingredient (because bat wings were a common material for memory-related hexes, but bat eyes were great for indigestion) and how they interacted with one another so they could be mixed into a magical instrument.

Yet, what Constance meant by those were pouring magical power into concoctions and culinary as a means of enhancing them as well as summoning stronger red magic. The four classmates exchanged curious glances, indeed confused by Henry’s, well, confusion.

If their classes were the same, why, indeed, weren’t they versed in the same kinds of magic?

Noticing the silent conversation going on between them, Henry widened his smile. “Hey, hey, what else? Did you have long-range concentration? Magical energy expansion? I can throw a curse from wayyyyy into Embla from this spot, nyaha!”

All four gasped in unison. “E-Embla?! Surely you jest! No matter how much it borders Askr, it is still another country entirely!” Constance was the one who spoke first, followed by Annette’s vigorous nodding and Mercedes’ sigh of wonder.

“Huhh, so no magical energy expansion? I mean, I heard that a guy managed to curse one of Ylisse’s princes from the Plegian Castle, so doing it from here to Embla is a piece of cake!” He threw his head back in laughter, remembering how excited his teacher was to talk about the ‘glory of the past’ of a guy that died hundreds of years ago. “So how does your magic work, then? Only short range? Ohh, wait, but dark magic in combat is more limited, so maybe I mixed the horses there, nyaha!”

Lorenz awkwardly cleared his throat. “I-indeed, it would be unthinkable to send a highly concentrated mass of magic across countries so easily. I am, however, intrigued by these so-called ‘hexes’ -- as I have only heard worrisome words about them…”

“They’re the most fun things to do! We had a whole term on ‘how to spread a curse from someone’s little finger until their heart without anyone noticing’ and boy was it a BLAST to do all those experiments -- literally! We exploded so many things...” A shade covered Henry’s thin eyes once again as he giggled happily, which made Lorenz gulp instinctively.

“That was rather specific!” Mercedes mentioned. “I don’t recall the Royal School of Sorcery to have anything like that…”

“Perhaps the seminar ‘the art of levitating oneself as a second-nature’ that had been part of the curriculum since the foundation? It IS completely different from the ‘Levitating’ class…” Constance twisted her lips.

Annette, who had her head down the whole time, suddenly jumped from Mercedes’ side to Henry’s. “OH! You know what I just remembered?” 

Henry smiled widely. “Eh? What?” 

“The way you’re talking about these awesome stuff like they’re normal-- we gotta take you to Lysithea! She didn’t go to the same School of Sorcery we did, but she’s AMAZING with magic, like you! I saw her snap a lightning bolt from the other side of the battlefield like it was nothing!” Annette went from admiring to bragging about her classmate, listing the many occasions that Lysithea managed to impress her -- and how she considered the other as a rival of sorts.

“Woow! I don’t really think I’m that amazing with magic, but I can crack a few skulls more than other people, nyahaha…!” He chuckled darkly before taking Annette’s hand. “Let’s go back to the library! She’s that girl with white hair, right? She stayed behind!”

“Ohh, ohh! She did? I gotta try harder to catch up to her, then! C’mon, Mercie, let’s go!” Full on her try-hard mode, Annette’s eyes shone with the prospect of being among two magical prodigies and the amount of knowledge she could acquire from them.

“Heehee, don’t pull, Annie, I’m coming!” Mercedes dangled behind her over-excited best friend. “Constance, sweetie, you too!”

“Very well! Surely my vast knowledge will be needed!”

Lorenz watched the scene unfold with wide eyes, suddenly finding himself alone. “Why- how dare you abandon your peer in such a manner!” He ran after the group with an offended tone.

Little did they know about the barrage of questions Lysithea would ask Henry after hearing about his magical prowess, wondering if they, perhaps, shared a circumstance…

[lov3nerdstuff]

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 4.6}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 4.6k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

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"What do you think how old she is?"

"She looks older than my cousin, but younger than my neighbour… and she's a fourth year, isn't she?"

"That's what he said, at least."

"Well, I was too terrified to actually listen properly!"

"C'mon, he wasn't all that terrifying today…"

"He's always terrifying!"

"Are you talking about Professor Snape?" Robin asked without even opening her eyes, as the sleep slowly cleared from her mind. The conversation, even if it had been respectfully quiet, had been what she'd woken up to, but seeing as she actually felt well rested, it likely wasn't what had actually woken her up. The two voices remained silent upon her question, and thus Robin sighed and opened her eyes at last. Gosh, what time was it even? She felt like she'd been sleeping forever.

With another sigh, a content one for once, she sat up in her bed and blinked a few times until her eyes would focus. Right, a new room… and new roommates. Two young girls were giving her highly doubtful glances from across the room, as they both sat cross-legged on the fourth and only unused bed. Well, now was the time to be nice for once. Robin had promised it after all, and she would try her best no matter what.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to interrupt or listen in on you two." She started with a small smile while she got up from her bed, in the hopes that it would make the situation a little less awkward. "I'm Robin Mitchell. And since the only thing I accidentally overheard from your conversation was the question about my age… I'm fifteen. And indeed in my fourth year here."

"Told you she's older than my cousin." The girl with long blonde curls said to her pal, quietly, and Robin smiled in return. Then the girl turned towards her. "Sorry, uh… hi. I'm Cassandra Miller."

"I'm Jorien Blakeley." The second girl added with a small wave. She was the exact opposite of her friend, with short brown hair and surprisingly bright blue eyes. The two of them really made an odd pair.

"It's lovely meeting you." Robin replied with a sigh and the very same smile. "I sincerely hope that you aren't all too mad at me for moving into your room."

"Professor Snape said he made you move in with us. He was very direct about his demand that we don't question you. So… What did you do to upset him? Why did he punish you? I mean… isn't it really degrading to live with lower years?" Cassandra asked and leaned her head to the side curiously. Robin could work with that curiosity, very well even.

"Professor Snape didn't punish me, he did me a favor. I am very grateful to be here." She replied and sat down on the ground in front of the bed the two girls were seated on.

"But… why?! Professor Snape, doing you a favor? Are we talking about the same person?!" Cassandra inquired further, with a deep frown, and Robin already got a good feeling for why Snape had sent her to live with these girls.

"Professor Snape isn't half as bad as people believe." Robin mused with a smile directed at the ground, before looking back up at the girls. "He sent me here because he believes that we would get along, and I hope that he's right."

"Nobody in Slytherin gets along with us." Jorien finally spoke up as well. "And we don't like them either."

"That sounds very familiar." Robin chuckled and shook her head to herself. Yup, she definitely knew why Snape wanted her to keep an eye on them. "I don't like the people in my grade either. They're dimwitted dunderheads who usually don't know what they're doing."

"Really? But they seem so… knowledgeable and important. Like they do know what they're doing." Cassandra shrugged. "Just like you do."

"I seem important?" Robin laughed and frowned at the girl in good humor. Maybe this was her chance to get on their good side. "Well, I'm not. I'm just another roommate, a girl like everyone else. No, actually… I'm more useful as a roommate than most people. I know a few things that make life around here easier, as well as some pretty neat magic."

"Really?! You… would show us some of the things you do in your year?" Now both girls actually looked positively delighted. "What's your favorite subject?"

"Potions." Robin was quick to reply. "But I do like herbology and charms and defense against the dark arts as well."

"I feel like we're gonna get along great." Cassandra smiled brightly. "I promise we're not gonna annoy you! Right, Jorien?"

"Yeah, sure…" The quiet girl shrugged, but with a smile. "I've always liked older people better anyway."

At that, Robin felt pleased. She'd always liked older people better too. Ironic, if one considered that she was here to protect two younger girls now. "I won't bother you either, no worries. But seeing as I remember how difficult my own first year here was, as a muggle born among people who've known magic all their lives, I… would like to offer my help, if you ever should need it. "

"YOU are muggle born?!" Cassandra's jaw literally dropped, and Jorien's surprise was a little more subtle.

"Yes. And I know how difficult that can be, so if you need an ally, I'm right here."

Both girls smiled at that, and Robin smiled too. There had been a fifty fifty chance that they'd just frown at her in distaste upon her offer, and she was honestly glad that her directness had paid off. Maybe they would actually come to see something like a prefect in her. Or a tutor, in a way.

"Oh god, we forgot to tell her the thing!" Cassandra suddenly blurted out with wide eyes directed at her friend. "Professor Snape will kill us!"

"Snape only looks like he will kill you, but I can assure you that he will not. Remind me to give you a few survival tips for potions class at some point." Robin smirked. "And are you supposed to tell ME the thing?"

"Yeah… I cannot believe I forgot that!" Cassandra rolled her eyes and dropped her head into her neck. "Professor Snape wants you to go to the headmaster's office."

"Oh?" Robin's eyebrows rose in surprise. "Did he give a specific time for me to be there? What… time is it even?"

"It's half past nine in the evening. Still Sunday. In case you weren't sure." Jorien immediately replied, and Robin found herself impressed with the thoughtfulness of that reply.

"He only said you should go to the headmaster's office as soon as you were awake." Cassandra shrugged. "So… I guess if you don't tell them that you've been awake for a while, we won't get into trouble."

"I won't tell on you, don't worry." Robin sighed and rose back onto her feet. "But I better get cleaned up now. I wouldn't want Dumbledore to see me in my pajamas as well." The suspicious silence that followed upon Robin's statement spoke for itself, and while she moved to collect everything she needed for a shower and getting dressed from her trunk which had been moved here some time while she had been asleep, she added, "Just ask when you have a question. I don't bite."

"When you say 'as well'... Do you mean someone other than us?" It was Jorien who asked, to Robin's surprise, but not at all to her dismay.

"I mean that too many people have seen me in my pajamas in the last twenty four hours." Robin replied with a laugh. "Hagrid, for example." Somehow, she didn't need them to know that she had spent most of the night in Snape's laboratory. That piece of information was better left between her and him alone. But she also wouldn't lie if they asked about it, she never lied.

"I think your pajamas are cool." Cassandra replied easily.

"Very smooth, Cas…" Jorien whispered to her friend next to her on the bed, while Robin finally walked towards the door with a change of clothes under her arm. With another quick smile at the two girls, she made for the showers at last.

… … …

"Do come in!" Dumbledore called from inside his office, in reply to Robin's knocking, and she did so without hesitation. "Miss Mitchell, it is good to see you."

"Good evening, headmaster." Robin greeted politely as she stepped up to his desk. She'd decided to wear black jeans with a white blouse and a grey jumper for the occasion, as a change to the pajamas. "I was told that Professor Snape wished for me to find you."

"Indeed, he and I both deemed it best that I speak with you first before any decisions are made."

"Speak with me about what exactly, sir?"

"About consequences. I was told in sufficient detail about the occurrences of last night when Professor Snape came to consult me in the matter of an appropriate punishment. In fact, he suggested that you should decide about the fate of your tormentors yourself." Dumbledore said easily, with a mild expression and an inquiring look.

Robin's eyes widened at that, and her heart skipped a beat. "He did what?! I mean… why?"

"Professor Snape believes that it would be best for everyone to leave the decision up to you."

"And you don't?" Robin inquired with a curious half smile. "Is that why I'm here?"

Dumbledore's own smile widened and he nodded once before he replied. "I do not doubt Severus' decision to trust you, Miss Mitchell. However I am curious to know how he was led to leave the choice of punishment up to you, and that is why I wished to speak with you first."

"So you really wish for me to decide over the fate of… how many people exactly?"

"Seventeen." He replied calmly, but the number felt like a punch to the stomach to Robin. Considering there were only 23 people in her year in Slytherin, 17 was a lot.

"I don't know, sir…" She frowned to herself first, then at Dumbledore. "Do I really have to do this?"

"Severus told me that you do not harbor any desire for revenge, which is quite astonishing in my eyes."

"Because a Slytherin is always supposed to seek revenge?" Robin asked almost a little bitterly, but not enough to make her sentiment clearer than it already was.

"Because going by the accounts of what was done to you, it only seems reasonable to feel a desire for revenge indeed."

"Well, I don't." Robin shrugged. "I feel a desire for this to be over, and for it to never repeat itself."

"And you wouldn't deem revenge an appropriate way to achieve that?" He inquired with a humored subtone to his voice, and folded his hands on his desk.

"Revenge isn't an appropriate way to achieve anything but momentary satisfaction. There's no gain in it, only suffering on either end." Robin replied without even thinking much about it. She's had that conversation too often already. "Professor Snape knows that, he taught me that even. I really don't know why he wants me to pick the punishment."

"And yet the choice is entirely yours." Dumbledore smiled that signature small smile of his. "He put their fate in your hands, and so do I."

Robin took a deep, conscious breath, and thought for a moment. Her heart jumped at the thought that Snape really wanted her to decide, that he deemed her choice better than his own. She didn't want to disappoint him… but she also didn't want to disappoint herself.

"There is nothing that would excuse or make up for what they did. Nothing at all." She finally spoke up again, and Dumbledore listened intently to what she had to say. "And quite frankly, I don't believe that any punishment will make them doubt their own actions. So I… have to think of myself."

"And what do you mean by that?" Now the headmaster looked sincerely curious, not in the superior 'I know what you're going to say anyway' kind of way, but like he truly didn't understand what Robin was going for. She liked that.

"If their fate is mine to choose, I will make a selfish choice." She went on, and Dumbledore frowned. "I want to forgive them."

The old man's eyebrows rose in surprise and he kept looking at Robin for a painfully long moment, before he turned towards one of the moving paintings and ordered the man in it to find Snape and tell him to come to the headmaster's office in an instant. Robin's heart squeezed painfully… had she done something wrong? Wasn't this an option she could choose? Somehow the silence in the office felt too thick for Robin to breathe.

"Now, what leads you to say that forgiveness is a selfish choice?" Dumbledore finally asked, and Robin's attention returned from the decorum of the office back to the man behind the desk.

"Because they won't take it seriously anyway… My forgiveness is nothing to them. Honestly, they'll probably laugh at me for being such a pansy. I thought about it in the shower, which, uh, you probably didn't need to know, but anyway, I came to the conclusion that I need to forgive them if I want to move on and leave all of this behind me. So really, I'm just-" Robin was cut off by a knock on the door, and the entrance of Professor Snape.

"Ah, Severus, you were quick." Dumbledore mused with a pleased smile.

"I happened to be nearby." Snape replied, but his eyes stayed on Robin as he came to stand next to her in front of the headmaster's desk.

"Miss Mitchell just wanted to explain why she would like to forgive her tormentors rather than punish them." The pleased smile on Dumbledore's face widened while Snape on the other hand looked mildly surprised and even less content with what he was hearing, but Dumbledore ignored him entirely. "Do go on with your reasons, by all means."

"Uh…" Robin suddenly felt insecure about her choice, seeing as Snape's reaction was rather mixed. But she was doing this for herself for once. "I have to forgive them if I want to move on with my life without dragging the weight of this on my shoulders. And I have to do it now, or I might never. Grudges grow, and they're harmful more than helpful. I want to be better than them."

"You are better than them by any means, you don't have to prove that!" Snape replied in a low hiss that really sounded all but pleased. "They don't deserve your forgiveness, not even half of it."

"But I do." The words came from somewhere beyond Robin even as she spoke them, but she felt they were true. "You are absolutely right, they don't deserve my forgiveness. But I deserve to forgive, I need to forgive. Because if I don't, I will become exactly that thing I'm so afraid of becoming. You know it's true… you saw it."

Another moment of silence. Snape looked at Robin in the most enigmatic way possible, Robin held his gaze in determination that she was doing the right thing, and Dumbledore watched the scene in front of his desk with great interest.

"It is your choice. I do not have to approve of it, even if it is terribly righteous. Naive. Idealistic." Snape finally spoke up, back in perfect neutrality, and Robin let out a breath in relief. At least he wasn't completely upset with her.

"But isn't that exactly why you left the choice to her in the first place, Severus, because you knew that she would make a wiser choice than you and me?" Dumbledore asked in what almost sounded like humor, upon which Snape scowled and rolled his eyes in return. So that was a yes. The headmaster turned to Robin. "Forgiving is perhaps one of the greatest acts of courage, and no matter what your peers might say about it, you should keep in mind that it renders you stronger than any form of punishment could have."

"It's only self-preservation." Robin shrugged in return. "I'm not that noble, I just don't want to be angry and afraid for the rest of my time in Hogwarts. As I said, it's a selfish choice."

"And yet it's a wise choice not everyone is strong enough to make." Dumbledore replied with a cryptic expression, and Robin wondered for a brief moment what she was missing here. But he continued before she could ponder over it any more. "However I do agree with Severus in one aspect, namely that it would be naive to think that they wouldn't attempt a similar thing with a different person at a different time."

"Unfortunately there is little to no chance that those horrid creatures will learn from their mistake, seeing as they are not even aware of what exactly they did." Snape added, with a pointed expression at Dumbledore instead of Robin for once.

"Miss Mitchell came to that conclusion as well, before you arrived here, and both of you are absolutely right. This is not an issue solved with a few weeks worth of detention, nor with a letter to the parents. I hardly believe that any of the pureblood families would find the torture of a muggle born as condemnable as we do."

"May I make a suggestion?" Robin asked before she thought, but then again, she had thought about it quite extensively before arriving here.

"You have an idea, Miss Mitchell?" Dumbledore wondered, and Snape also turned back towards her.

"Just because I didn't choose to punish them doesn't mean I didn't think about an effective way to do so." She shrugged in return, feeling a little weird with both men's fullest attention on her. "I mean… I had a thought. It's probably inappropriate, and it's not what you would consider a traditional punishment."

"Do go on." Snape was the first to reply, as he looked down at Robin with curiosity and the faintest amusement, while Dumbledore for once looked mildly irritated. Honestly, had they expected Robin not to think about what she could do to those people?! She wasn't a saint, for hell's sake!

"Well, I was doing this experiment in my mind on my way here, and I asked myself what could possibly even have a chance to suffice to make them understand what they did. And it was fairly obvious from there." She shrugged.

"Elaborate."

"Yes, I would appreciate that as well."

"Well, just like you said, they don't know what they truly did. They think it was a funny prank that scared a classmate." Robin went on in her most factual voice. "And as we've discovered last night, it is nigh impossible to really understand what happened without experiencing it. So I thought the only thing that could make them understand what they have done, which in return is the only way for them to possibly realize that it was wrong, would be to let them have the same experience. Now, I do of course realise that I cannot and do not even want to curse those people as they have cursed me. But there is always the shortcut to having people feel and see what someone else has been through."

"Do you realize what you are suggesting there?" Dumbledore asked with a frown in return.

"Of course I do. But seeing as Professor Morgan was able to try demonstrating legilimency on me a few years ago, I reasoned that it would not be a forbidden procedure to do on students." Robin answered almost easily. "I thought about it. They don't have to see all of my memories of last night, but the basics should suffice. Really, feeling the terrors and the pain they caused themselves is hardly even punishment. Just like touching a hot stove… it doesn't hurt at first, but still the pain always comes with utmost certainty. Like casting a spell against a mirror."

"And you have had this idea all this time while we have been talking, and still chose to forgive them instead?" Dumbledore asked again, in as much astonishment as his ever-calm features would show.

"Yeah. As I said, I have no desire for revenge. This idea wasn't as much an idea as merely me being curious about what it would take to maybe make them understand." Robin shrugged again, and offered the headmaster a half smile. "I still stick with my choice to forgive. But I also have no intention to let them stab me in the back twice. You were looking for a possibility to prevent them from doing this again, and I merely made a suggestion. If you deem it inappropriate, that's perfectly fine."

"Actually I do deem it very appropriate, even if for the mere sake of your reasoning. We indeed cannot and will never torture a student in this school, but it is our responsibility to act as a mirror for their own choices and actions." Dumbledore said seriously and leaned forward onto his desk while keeping his eyes on Robin. "But are you certain you want them to know of your emotions and memories, Miss Mitchell? Surely the events must have been quite terrible, if not traumatic."

"Well, they only have power over me if they keep me from speaking up, right?" Robin replied with a quick glimpse at the potions professor next to her, barely catching sight of a very subtle not-smirk. He definitely liked her idea, she could tell by the mere fact that he didn't call it idiotic. That was as much approval as she would get with a third party present.

"Placing images and emotions in someone else's mind is a difficult task that takes a long time to master even for doing so with one person at a time. It doesn't suffice to take a mere look, there are higher skills involved." Dumbledore stated with a look at Robin, then at Snape. "With every due respect to Miss Mitchell's skills, I doubt that she would be able to accomplish such a task. By herself, that is."

"If it is your wish that this idea be executed, I will see to its completion." Snape replied dutifully, and Robin wondered for a brief moment if they really intended to listen to her stupid idea. Again.

"Uh, so… my choice to just forgive them is out of the window?" Robin asked before she could help it.

"If it was, I would personally curse every single one of them myself." Snape growled in return, and Robin couldn't help wondering if he was this protective of every student in his house or if it was only her. She hoped for both at once, with different parts of herself, and certainly with different motivations behind it.

"Maybe see this measure as an extension of your choice. They will be forgiven, and therefore given the chance to grow from their mistakes." Dumbledore smiled that small smile at Robin again, and she was starting to believe that it was his version of Snape's scowl and her own neutrality.

"I can do that…" She mused in return. "Thank you, sir."

"So be it." Dumbledore sighed, sat up straight and then leaned back in his chair. "I leave the rest up to you, Severus."

"Very well."

Then they said their goodnights to the headmaster, and Robin followed Snape out of the office and down the stairs in silence for a while, until she just couldn't keep the comment to herself anymore.

"Professor Dumbledore is way too good at twisting realities." She stated, unsure if Snape even heard her despite walking through the empty hallways directly next to her now. "That man could sell you anything and still convince you that it was your own idea."

"Very true." He replied though, and Robin smiled to herself.

"I hope I didn't disappoint you by choosing forgiveness over revenge." She said after a while.

"You only would have disappointed me if you had chosen like I would have. Now, as… reluctant as I am to admit it, I believe you are correct about sparing yourself pain by forgiving. You made the right choice, Miss Mitchell. Don't let me or anyone else tell you differently."

"Thank you for giving me the choice in the first place."

"It was the reasonable thing to do."

"So… do you think my idea will actually make them reconsider their actions?"

"If it doesn't, there is nothing else that could." He sighed, and suddenly stopped walking right in the crossing of hallways. "However I was surprised that you suggested it in the first place."

"Why?"

"Because, all things considered, it could very well have been my own idea."

Robin couldn't help smiling at his words. "It's a compliment that you deem the idea that good, but an insult that you're so surprised about it."

"I am not surprised that you had a good idea!" He rolled his eyes exaggeratedly, and Robin had to smile even more. "I am surprised that you would share your memories and emotions so willingly."

"I won't. You will." She shrugged. "I don't know a thing about legilimency, unfortunately, and definitely not enough to cast a spell over seventeen people at once."

"Indeed. However it is all the more surprising that you seem to have no issue with me deciding what your classmates shall see."

"It's not surprising at all. I trust you, and I trust you to know what they need to see and what not. For all I care, they can know everything that happened up to the point where Hagrid dragged me away from the lake."

"Even-"

"Yes." Robin nodded before he could even say it out loud. "Even that. They must know, and they must feel it. But I'd rather not have anyone but you and me know that I attacked you with a saucepan."

"Likewise." He replied with a not-smirk he didn't even try to hide. "Though we should discuss the appropriateness of your choice of weaponry at some point."

"I literally didn't have any other choice!" Robin protested with a laugh. "I was terrified, and there was nothing else I could protect myself with."

"It is good to see that you chose to protect yourself at all. Doubting reality is a wise thing to do. The world is full of deceit."

"I know." Robin's lips tugged into a small smile, as she wondered whether Snape knew that she was aware in return that his scowls and indifference were mostly facades. He probably knew… their discussion in the beginning of the school year had been a good enough indicator.

"I will summon all seventeen individuals to the potions classroom after dinner tomorrow, then we shall see how well they take the consequences of their own actions."

"Would you like me to be there or stay absent?"

"That is your own choice. But I would prefer to have you there."

"Okay." Robin replied quietly, smiling, in the hope that her tone didn't betray her. She really needed to find a way to suppress the desperate leaping of her heart, the tingles all over her skin, the idiotic grin on her face. Or simply get better at hiding it, if this would become a normal occurrence now. Somehow, she had a strong idea that it would.

_____________________________

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SBGS ch 6

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | ao3 

2:00AM | CoffeeVamp: marinette dupain cheng could step on me and i would thank her

CoffeeVamp: did you all see how bad ass that girl was

CoffeeVamp: she was just like demon spawn is robin? Well fuck you for being in paris

CoffeeVamp: and her file oml this girl does so much for paris and he classmates treat her like CRAP

Daddy: How do you know her Damian? Clearly you guys have met before. Can you really trust her with your identity?

Jesus: this girl has been keeping her own secret identitieS under wraps for years I doubt she’ll rat 

CoffeeVamp: DONT EVEN GET ME STARTED ON MDC 

CoffeeVamp: all i ever wanted was for MDC to design smth for me but u ruined ALL my chances demon spawn !!!!

2:15 AM | TheOG: I think we can trust her

TheOG: Don’t think she trusts us tho

CoffeeVamp: yea what was with the zip ties 

CoffeeVamp: do you have smth to tell us ;))) 

CoffeeVamp: have u been getting spicy in paris ;))) 

CoffeeVamp: remember to use protection we don’t need any mini yous around

LadyLady: she’s good. I can see why Ladybug trusts her

DemonSpawn: She’s a friend I met in Paris. She can keep a secret.

2:20 AM | DemonSpawn: I regret not trusting her. 

CoffeeVamp: i cant believe that u thought someone who was nice enough to spend time wu willingly could be a supervillain

Jesus: that’s pretty fucked up man

Jesus: Surprised she didn’t rail on you more for that. I would’ve given you a beat down

LadyLady: u need a game plan to get her on your side. She doesn’t have a good reason to trust u anymore and id like it if we were on good terms with the one person that can contact lb

The OG: ^^ babs is always right

TheOG: you only have two weeks

DemonSpawn: How do I get on her good side?

Jesus: you better hope and pray because girls like that do not forgive easy

TheOG: try being her friend again

Jesus: like she wants to be his friend anymore

LadyLady: Apologize to her.

#

Jason is right.

It’s clear that Marinette does not want to be involved with him any longer. Marinette comes in right as the bell rings, then faces firmly ahead and doesn’t spare him a single glance. Notes that he slips to her are ignored. She doesn’t check her phone for his texts except for once, when she texts him: anything related to last night will be discussed out of school.

Instead of going home for lunch, she willingly sits with Lila, just so she can avoid him cornering her in the bakery. Damian watches them from a distance, but he’s close enough to hear most of the conversations. Most of their other classmates are taken in by some video on Alya’s. There’s a quick exclamation from the Ladyblogger, saying something about being able to meet some American celebrity, and she and the rest of the class run off to somewhere else, though not before inviting Lila and Adrien. They’re turned down, and Marinette continues to sit with the two of them.

“We’ve got a photo shoot together later today.” Adrien sounds tired. Like he’s giving up, almost. 

“Would you like to come, Marinette?” 

Damian can’t make out Marinette’s reply, but she must say yes, because Lila’s calculated facade slips away to reveal shock and interest. Lila entwines her fingers with Adrien’s, an act Adrien clearly isn’t expecting, as he flinches. 

Marinette levels a glance at Lila, who looks surprised at Adrien’s reaction, not that Damian can blame her; she practically hangs off Adrien every day, playing up their couple relationship for the media, and Adrien never reacts like this. He inches closer. Lila reaches out to touch Adrien on the shoulder, in a gesture of soothing, but Adrien flinches again, this time gaining a distant look in his eyes and starting to breath hard. Lila goes to kneel--it’s clear that Adrien is on the verge of a full blown panic attack-- but Marinette holds Lila by her arm and shakes her head, gesturing for her to wait off to the side. 

Adrien’s reactions are trademarks of an abuse victim. His reactions are rather dramatic in comparison to the clenched jaw and distant eyes that he normally sees in kids in Gotham, which leads Damian to the conclusion that this is either a more recent thing, or when he is abused, he emphasizes his weakness in attempt to get the attacker to stop. The question of who seems rather redundant; everyone knows that Adrien Agreste is the sheltered, sunshine boy who never stepped a foot out of his mansion before turning twelve. Though he models, his actions are still highly restricted. There’s not really much of a chance for Adrien’s abuser to be anyone other than the people within his immediate vicinity, so the suspects were his father, the personal assistant, his drive, or someone he works with.

He’ll have to keep this information in mind moving forward. Though Damian ordered extensive background checks on each and every student at Francois Dupont, he only read the profiles of the people in his class, and only keeps tabs on the people that are of interest.nIn Mlle. Bustier’s class, the only people who Damian is interested in are Marinette, for obvious reasons, Lila Rossi, for the sheer number of times she was akumatized during year two of Hawkmoth’s presence, Chloe Bourgeois, who may not be Francois Dupont student, let alone in France at the moment, but has a parent who currently sits at the top of his family’s Hawkmoth suspect list and has gotten countless people akumatized, and Adrien Agreste, the only person other than Marinette who hasn’t been akumatized in the akuma class. If Adrien really is being abused-- and he doesn’t really see any reason for Adrien to fake the symptoms, given that there’s really nothing for him to gain out of this situation-- that knocks him up a space on the list of Hawkmoth suspects. Victims of abuse, especially in a high profile situation, are often likely to either lash out or coop themselves up. Since he isn’t purposely excluding himself from activities, given that he converses with Marinette, Lila, and two other classmates named Nino and Alya, it’s possible that he has adopted Hawkmoth as an alter ego to pursue revenge. 

All this, of course, is mere speculation. Before making any abrupt jumps in his logic, like he did with Marinette-- though he defends himself with the fact that his thoughts on her being Hawkmoth were mere speculation, and that it was merely coincidence or a case of extremely bad luck that Marinette… what, thought he was Hawkmoth as well and then passed the information onto Ladybug? Now that he thinks about it, the whole situation seems ridiculous, and he finds that Ladybug’s lack of tact when coming face to face with her supposed arch-nemesis doesn’t befit a hero of her caliber. She seemed oddly emotional about the whole thing, like his existence as Hawkmoth was a personal betrayal. But Ladybug and Damian never met before that. Why did Ladybug take Marinette’s personal vendetta upon herself? His head hurts.

Damian finds himself walking over to their table, where Marinette is speaking in soothing tones, careful not to touch Adrien at all. He calms down enough to start breathing regularly. Even though his eyes are still watery, he looks up at Marinette with a tentative smile. Marinette looks back at him with such pure, unadulterated love, that Damian blinks slowly to make sure he’s not seeing things. There aren’t many people who show emotions that don’t have some hidden barb underneath, or an undercurrent of a different emotion alongside it. 

Then, Marinette sends a calculating look at Damian, and a briefer one at Lila and Adrien. 

“Lila, can I talk to you in private for a moment?” Although Marinette’s tone keeps to a pleasant range, Damian finds it rather familiar. Like when Alfred pulls him or one of his brothers to the side to politely tell them what they’re doing wrong and how to remedy it. But there’s a bit of genuine ferocity in Marinette’s tone, and the Italian girl steps back. 

“Adrien, I’m going to leave you here with Damian just for a second, okay? I’ll be right back, and if you need me for anything, just call.” She gives Damian a look that says if you hurt this boy, I will end you and heads off with Lila. 

“Damian,” Adrien says. He’s trying to come off as calm and cheery. He misses the mark terribly. Somehow, Damian gets the feeling that the boy isn’t very good at bottling up his emotions, odd, considering that he’s grown up partially in the limelight. “I see you’re well acquainted with our everyday Ladybug. She really is amazing.”

There’s a touch of awe, and it makes Damian uncomfortable for no good reason. 

He’s not sure how to deal with people who look like they’re about to cry. Damian doesn’t have to deal with that. Dick’s in charge of any emotional clean up that’s necessary in the public; Alfred helps his family manage their emotions in the manor. He decides that going with the flow is the best option in this situation. An everyday Ladybug. What an interesting piece of terminology.

“She is.” Damian admits,  “We’re not currently on the best of terms.” 

Damian will be surprised if Marinette even manages to civilly work with him for the rest of the week. He wasn’t expecting their subsequent interactions after last night to be the same as they were prior to her finding out that he was Robin and thinking that she was Hawkmoth, but he thought she would just interact coolly with him. Not this silent treatment. She refuses to talk to him and only looks at him with some combination of disdain and ill intent. 

He can’t manage to give her the same treatment, both because he is on a mission and because he can’t fault her for thinking that he was Hawkmoth. The situation is really, rather comical, but he spent enough time ruminating on his actions the previous night to pick up on all of the red flags that made her come to that conclusion, and even is she was a hero for a short period of time, he can’t expect someone who is, by and large, a civilian to have the same investigative capabilities his family does. If anything, he is ashamed of himself for jumping to the conclusion that she was Hawkmoth, when instead, it turned out she is working for Ladybug. 

However, the Marinette he’s seen so far doesn’t seem the type to hold grudges, especially not when it comes to any pressing issue, and he finds that all of the decisions she makes are heavily logic-based and influenced by Sabine’s values, who is definitely an upright woman if he’s ever seen one. Marinette has too strong of a work ethic to actually ignore Damian when it comes down to it, but he has to wonder why she acted so blatantly hostile to him. Her character combined with her actions just don’t match up, which means there's another reason why she’s acting this way. 

While Damian excels at extracting raw data and testimonies from people due to brute force, and is decent enough at getting people to do what he desires, determining the source of a person’s frustration, what drives a person-- he needs more work with that. He’s much better at getting people mad. And Damian doesn’t think he’s seen Marinette mad at anyone except for Celia DeVries. She has nerves made of steel and patience carved from diamond.

“I hope you figure it out.” Adrien says with such sincerity that it’s frightening. He’s surprisingly pure-hearted for a model entrenched in a mega corporation like Gabriel. The entertainment industry, particularly the fashion side of business, is a very cut throat world. Adrien doesn’t seem like a person who’s been in the public eyes for years. “Please be a better friend to her than I am. I really wanted to do more for her, but my hands are... tied.”

Lila is subdued when she and Marinette return. Her eyes dart to Adrien, and she frowns and bites her bottom lip. Then she looks away and crosses her arms. 

“Let’s get back to class. I’m excited to go to the photoshoot after school! I haven’t spent any time with you in so long, Adrien.” Marinette doesn’t sound like she’s faking it. She sounds so genuinely happy, and Damian wonders if he can make her sound like that again. If he ever made her sound like that. 

Adrien looks at Marinette, then asks Damian, “Would you like to come too?”

The look that Adrien gives him tells him to say yes, even though he can feel the cold that radiates off Marinette. Damian agrees; it’s time to try Barbara’s suggestion and apologize, and since he doubts that he’ll get a word in edgewise when they’re working together at night, he has to try apologizing sooner.

The rest of the school day slips by in a blur. 

Then, the four of them are out on the streets, and Damian finds their combination unnerving, to say the least. He’s still on bad terms with Marinette, and Marinette has never been on the best terms with Lila. She’s going to this shoot solely for the opportunity to be with Adrien, and something about that unsettles Damian. Still, regardless of how Damian feels, the photographer on the set of Adrien and Lila’s shoot loves all four of them.

“Fantastico! Adrien’s friends are rare finds. It’s true about what they say; beautiful people, they associate with beautiful people.” The photographer flits around Damian and Marinette, getting uncomfortably close. Damian shoots him a glare, but the photographer simply takes it in stride.

“Yes, yes, the most beautiful eyes, so passionate. The perfect measurements, too! Lara,” he calls to one of his assistants, “Get them all to makeup. These four are who I’ve been waiting for to fulfil my vision of envy. Gabriel will have to wait on his magazine spread. I’ve been inspired!” The photographer circles the four of them, like a hunter and his prey. 

Out of nowhere, the photographer grasps Marinette’s chin, and despite the initial flinch she gives-- he’s not sure whether she was going to kick or punch him, but the sudden spitfire in her eyes said she was going to do something-- she settles into a locked jaw and curled fingers. Damian sees a slight jump from Adrien as well, which seems unusual; on the way over, he talked about how he worked with this photographer before and was very comfortable with him. He regaled them with funny stories of how he tended to reference spaghetti in shoots that were less pleasant to make the models laugh. 

“Ah, Adrien, you have truly delivered the favor of Fortuna upon me. I cannot believe I never saw this earlier. You have brought this girl to shoots before, have you not? I never forget a beautiful face, even when I am focused on other things.” 

Marinette calmly displaces Vincent’s hand from her face. “Thank you for the kind words, Monsieur, but I think it best that we just watch the originally planned shoot. I am no model and have no interest in being one.”

Vincent gives Marinette a once over, like he’s not used to people disagreeing with whatever vision he has for the day. “From one artist to the next-- this project is important to me. I’ve had the idea for years, but have yet to come across the perfect models to portray it. What will it take to convince you? ”

At this, nearly all the tension that Marinette has coiled up in her shoulders dissipates. Vincent has said the right thing. “I see. Really, Vincent, I think it’s best that you continue with the Gabriel shoot. M. Agreste wouldn’t be happy if he found out that his spread was delayed.”

“But the Muse, Mademoiselle! She runs away so quickly. And the four of you are perfect.” Vincent turns to the other three. 

“Surely, you understand. Mlle. Rossi, M. Agreste, you must have felt an urge to do something so strongly that it pulls you in. And you,” he looks more closely at Damian. “You are an artist as well, aren’t you Monsieur? I can tell. It’s in the hands and eyes. Art, she comes, but she is fickle. If I don’t do this now, it will be gone forever. And the pursuit of true art means more than any Gabriel spread.”

Surprisingly, it is Adrien who responds first. “I might not understand art, Vincent, but I know what you’re talking about. The feeling of wanting to do something badly, to set yourself free…”

He twists his ring. Marinette looks at him sadly again, hands twitching like she wants to hold him to provide comfort. 

“Besides, I don’t really want to do a Gabriel spread today. I haven’t spent time with friends in a long time, and I don’t think anything could make me happier than doing a photoshoot with you three right now.”

This makes Lila look at Adrien in a curious sort of way. Not the sad look that Marinette is giving him, but one of a slowly dawning realization. When Adrien references her as a friend, she looks happy. Proud, almost. Then, she looks like she’s connecting dots in her head, and she doesn’t look happy with the conclusion that she’s drawn. As soon as the frown  touches her lips, Lila shifts back to an impeccably crafted mask. 

Damian doesn’t agree with the sentiment that they are friends. He has barely had a full conversation with the blond, though he will admit that Adrien does have more of a brain than the rest of his classmates. He looks at the ill-concealed shadows beneath Adrien’s eyes and sees Tim.

Lila agrees almost immediately after Adrien finishes speaking. “Inspiration is fleeting. Art waits for no one.”

Marinette purses her lips. She asks Vincent, “You won’t get in any trouble for this?”

“I can handle any backlash Gabriel throws at me. Heaven knows that man has pissed off one too many photographers before.”

“You can, but what about everybody else involved?” She looks at Adrien, specifically. He fidgets with his ring again, and sends Marinette a look so pleading that she sighs. “Fine. I don’t mind doing the shoot.”

“Fantastico!” He turns his gaze to Damian.

“I’ll do it.” He’s never been particularly fond of photographers, given that the invasiveness of the media has led his family to various unpleasant situations, but Cass went through a photography phase, and out of all of his ‘sibling’ relationships, he is the most willing to indulge her. 

“Will you tell us what the subject of the shoot is?” Marinette has inched closer to Adrien. Adrien pauses, stops fidgeting with his ring, and looks at Marinette. A world weary smile creeps onto his face, and his hand reaches out for Marinette’s like he wasn’t expecting himself to do that. He looks surprised when he finds his hand in hers, tenses for a moment. But Marinette doesn’t say anything, and rubs soothing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. This seems to relax him more than fidgeting with his ring. He sags, and Damian can’t bring himself to feel anything but pity for Adrien. Lila looks curious, but not jealous. 

Vincent surveys the four of them again, a growing smile on his face. “No, I think the four of you are already perfetto. A little direction here and there, but yes, yes, this is very good.”

“Lara, bring them to makeup. You know what to do. I must set up! Don’t call Gabriel; we will most likely be taking this to a second location at sunset.” Then, Vincent is off, muttering something in Italian under his breath. 

“Thank you so much for agreeing to do this shoot,” Adrien rambles as soon as they get into makeup. “Vincent is such a great photographer and he’s taken really good care of me over the years. He’ll take good care of all of you as well.”

He continues, a little softer. “I really wanted to spend time with the three of you, together. I--I think it would be really nice if we could all be friends.”

Damian has his eyes closed because eyeshadow is being applied, but he can practically feel the surprise rolling off Marinette.

“Adrien, we are friends already.” 

“We are, but we’re not really close. The only person I talked to often was Nino, and recently, father has-- ” he breaks off, looking exceedingly uncomfortable, before speaking quickly in an attempt to speak up before losing his nerve. “But I don’t just mean friends with me, I mean the four of us. I want the four of us to be friends.”

The makeup artist who is working on Adrien shushes him, but Damian gets to open his eyes. Adrien is clearly nervous. He’s not shaking-- he is bred far too well for that-- but he has reverted back to fidgeting with his ring. He tries to bite his lip, but the makeup artist shakes her head and tuts.

The girls are both silent, and Adrien looks so nervous that he has to do something. He doesn’t think he’s interacted like this with anyone as nervous as Adrien before; his brothers were all big personalities, as were the Teen Titans. He may have come across nervous or anxious civilians as Robin, but those situations were more straight and cut, involving little to no talking. Damian decides to that a cross between how he interacts with Dick and how he interacts with the people he saves is the best bet for this situation, though his tone comes out more condescending than he planned.

“Why the four of us?” Damian can’t really see why Adrien has singled out the four of them. As far as he can tell, there’s no good blood between them. Adrien, Marinette, and Damian all harbor varying levels of dislike or discomfort towards Lila; Adrien, Lila, and Damian have all fucked over Marinette in various ways (or so he Damian assumes on Adrien’s part-- he is sure they would have been closer, otherwise); Lila, Marinette and Damian haven't talked to Adrien in any capacity that implies that they're more than mere acquaintances; Damian has done nothing that would put himself in the favor of the three. 

Adrien fidgets even more, and the makeup artist smacks him and says that she doesn’t want to have to redo his eyeliner. “I think we all have a lot in common. And, I might not be good at showing it, but I like the three of you.”

Marinette makes some noise in disbelief and Lila narrows her eyes. 

“Hear me out on this, guys. All of us try to help people when we can,”

“That’s basic human decency, Adrien,” Marinette says.

“Me, helping people?” Lila scoffs.

“We help people out more than most people do-- and Lila, you really do help people. Sure, you might not have been telling the truth about all of the celebrities or all of the charities you worked with, but you’ve helped a lot of charities throughout the years.”

Damian quirks an eyebrow. “And me?”

“I’ve heard about Silverstein and Company.” Adrien says, then continues on with his list of Reasons Why They Should Be Friends. 

“None of us like telling people about our problems.”

This is met with no resistance.

“And we’re also all lonely.”

Silence. 

Marinette’s makeup artist breaks up the oppressive silence, “And all good looking to boot!”

“It’s true what they say about the most beautiful,” Lila’s makeup artist says, “They’re always so troubled.”

Marinette laughs, but it’s strained. “Don’t worry Mademoiselle. We’re just being teens.”

“Loneliness isn’t a good reason to form relationships.” Lila says. Her voice is quiet. She looks off to some fixed point in the distance.

“It’s not the worst reason there ever was,” Adrien shrugs, satisfied now that he’s said his piece. His shoulders are back a little more now. Whatever happens next is up to them, not him. “And I like all of you. I think we all have very unique personalities that could work well together.”

Marinette shrugs her shoulders. “If there’s one thing that I’ve learned about relationships, it’s that initial compatibility means very little in the grand scheme of things. Relationships can work as long as you work for them. They might not be the fairy tale storyline that people chase after, but relationships that are worked on last longer. Adrien could be right. We might be able to all be good friends.”

Lila fixes Marinette with a stare. “You’re willing to be my friend? After what I did to you?”

Marinette shouldn’t be willing to be friends with Lila after what she did. In fact, after reading multiple books on healthy relationships when trying to cope with Chloe way back when, she shouldn’t be willing to be friends with any of them. It feels fucked up, but Marinette realizes that Damian, who believed she was a super villain, has the least strikes against a healthy relationship currently. 

Even though Marinette knows that circumstance doesn’t excuse any of them-- Marinette doesn’t excuse her stalkerish tendencies back when she first met Adrien, either-- she knows that the three of them are just teens who have too many responsibilities and problems on their shoulders. They’re capable of change, and as both Ladybug and Marinette, she wants to believe that someone’s past actions doesn’t mean they can’t move forward. Perhaps their current actions should be taken with a healthy dose of cynicism, and perhaps their past colors how much Marinette will be able to trust them in certain areas, but throughout her years of existence she’s seen that there is no person who has only done good in their life.

“You’ve been better lately. I respect someone who changes themselves for the better.” What Marinette doesn’t say; she’s mostly willing to try this tentative friendship out for Adrien’s sake, because Lila seems to be the only one who can get Gabriel Agreste on her side and Marinette needs her help if she and Adrien’s trust if she can ever dream of emancipating Adrien. 

Marinette is also confident that Lila is currently coming into her own, and knows that Lila didn’t have any good example to model herself after during her formative years. The fact that she’s changing now? It’s honestly pretty impressive, and even more so considering the people that are in Mme. Bustier’s class aren’t exactly cut from the most inspirational cloth. Why Lila is trying to change is something Marinette is curious about, but they’re definitely not close enough for Marinette to ask Lila that. There is also the very important fact that Lila has not been akumatized this entire year, nor has she gone out of her way to encourage someone else’s akumatization.

A small smile settles on Lila’s face. “Thank you. For what it’s worth, I am … sorry for what I did to you back then.”

Marinette hums with her eyes closed as a light layer of shadows placed on her crease. “I accept your apology. While we’re on this topic, I’d like to apologize to Adrien. I’m sorry that I haven’t been a very good friend to you. You’re an amazing person, and I want you to know that. Your self-worth should never be degraded by other people, and I really hope that you can come to rely on me.”

A watery, affectionate smile from Adrien. “Marinette, you’ve always been one of my best friends.”

“I regret what I said to you yesterday,” Damian cannot muster an apology-- he does not apologize, certainly not for doing his job, but Marinette is… useful. He needs her to accomplish her mission, and she’s kind. 

There is no verbal response from Marinette, but she’s looking at him, at least. She hasn’t looked at him all day besides the one glare she gave him that told him to take care of Adrien. 

Lila looks between the two of them. “What are you sorry for? I was under the impression that the two of you were great friends.”

He is sorry, if only slightly, but it takes a lot for him to get an apology. If anything, Marinette should be apologizing to him, for mistaking him as Hawkmoth, right? “Last night was--”

Marinette cuts him off with a sharp laugh. “Damian here thought I was Hawkmoth.”

Adrien bursts out laughing. “Oh my god, you thought Marinette was Hawkmoth? Out of all the Parisians you could choose! You know she goes around the city saving random people, right? She’s our everyday Ladybug. Doesn’t sound very supervillainy to me.”

Lila laughs too, and the tension in the preparation room finally breaks. “Please, if Marinette were Hawkmoth, she would have gotten Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculous already. Have you seen what a planner she is?”

This gets Adrien to fake shudder. “It’s true. If Marinette really were Hawkmoth, she’d be so powerful. She knows everybody’s deepest fears, can kick ass and take names, and can come up with the weirdest plans that solve everybody’s problems in an instant. Imagine if she went to the dark side.”

“She would make an awful akuma.” Lila agrees. “How powerful you are as an akuma is linked to how strong you are mentally and how strong your emotions are when the butterfly lands on you. Whatever makes Marinette upset enough to have an akuma after her would probably be the result of some very strong emotions.”

“She’d be strong enough to level the entire city.”

Marinette is bright red, and if it were not for the fact that mascara is being applied to her lashes, she’d probably have her face buried in her hands. “Okay, okay, I would be an awful akuma. But I won’t ever be akumatized, so it’s fine.”

Adrien thinks of Marinette being an akuma more, and his face goes pale. “She really would be able to steal Ladybug and Chat Noir’s Miraculouses successfully.”

“No, she’s too morally righteous to do that. She’d probably go after Hawkmoth and win while she was akumatized.” Lila looks pensive. “All akumas retain most of their original personality traits, just exaggerated. Some even have some semblance of control over their actions.”

“If that wouldn’t be one of Anime’s top 10 betrayals, I don’t know what is. Hawkmoth akumatizes Marinette and then she rightfully kicks his ass.”

“Guys,” Marinette hisses. “I won’t ever become an akuma. Never.”

“You say that like you can refuse Hawkmoth,” Lila laughs. “You can certainly go after akumas, but refuse them? No way.”

Adrien zeroes in on Marinette’s hesitance. “Have you?”

Marinette shifts in her seat, her mouth set into a grim line.

“You have,” Adrien says with a touch of awe. Damian is impressed too; no reports of people being able to refuse an akuma have passed through the many hours of research he’s spent scouring the internet. He understands why Ladybug put so much trust in Marinette. “When?”

This sets Marinette on edge. Her back straightens into a board. 

Lila picks at her fingernails in shame. “Did I?”

Marinette doesn’t respond, but the tremble of her mouth and her silence answers the question well enough. 

Damian doubts he’ll ever get the full story of what happened that first year when Lila arrived. Marinette isn’t one to snitch, and Lila is both unwilling and tentatively ashamed of the past. Adrien won’t answer out of courtesy. Damian will never go to any of the other classmates to hear a bastardized version of what went down. He supposes he’ll never find out the whole truth.

Marinette’s stylist claps her hand. “Okay, enough teenage angst for today. All of your makeup is done, so it’s time to get into your outfits. Let’s go, kids.”

They’re silent as they dress.

#

The shoot is a flurry of excitement. There are many whispered conversations, but Marinette can’t keep track of half of them. Whenever she isn’t in a shot-- which is fairly rare as she seems to be the main subject of whatever Vincent is shooting for-- Marinette focuses on what needs to happen next. Though she’s still not currently the biggest fan of Damian or the Justice League, she will give them a fair chance, because as much as she hates to admit it, she needs the help. Batman is right. Even though she wasn’t actively working on the case for the first year, she still had plenty of time to gather evidence to back up her main suspects. Her lack of expertise in technology hinders progress greatly.

Not to mention that because Marinette was so wary about hurting Adrien and so swamped trying to keep a balanced schedule, she wasn’t able to find enough evidence to feel safe in her convictions. Master Fu warned her of incorrectly accusing Gabriel in the eye of the public, and he hasn’t come out to fight since the Scarlet Moth incident. She’s tried to investigate Gabriel in his own house, but any evidence slips through her fingers. He’s a very careful man.

 Now that the promise of college is coming up, Marinette needs to take Hawkmoth down. Marinette doesn’t want to continue her schooling in France. Not anymore. She wants to go to a foreign college, where dreams of akumas won’t plague her at every step. Half the reason she finds herself on the streets as a civilian constantly is to erase the gory imagery of death and blood that linger in her mind eye from akuma battles. Seeing happy and alive citizens in all of the areas where Hawkmoth attacked make her feel better, but aren’t enough to chase away her nightmares entirely.

Marinette moves through the rest of the photoshoot in a haze. When she is in shot, she focuses on whoever she’s shooting with. Lila, with sharp green eyes, barely begins to lower her guard when Marinette directs the conversation towards past modelling shoots she’s been involved with. They interact unnaturally at first, but after starting to talk about Dior’s Spring/Summer ready to wear line, they find that they have similar tastes in silhouettes, though not in color. 

She forces herself to ignore the fiasco that was last night, and talks to Damian about small nothings that don’t touch on anything important. When she runs out of topics, she begins to talk about Renee, and his gaze shifts to something resembling regret and some other emotion she can’t read. Dealing with whatever issues Damian has is not ideal. He’ll have to sort out his feelings on his own.

Adrien’s expressions are the easiest to read. Whenever he’s in a shot with Marinette, he is happy, plain and simple. There is less weight on his shoulders, and as Marinette attempts to cheer him up with poorly thought out puns, he looks like a kid again. He even starts punning back, and Marinette can’t believe how much she missed that. Chat Noir stopped punning a while ago, and it hurt in unexpected ways. 

Really, Marinette just wants Adrien to be happy. Adrien is Chat Noir. Her best friend. Her partner. Marinette thinks Adrien deserves the world. She wants to pave a path for him so that his entrance into the adult world is easier, because the facade Gabriel has built of a picture perfect family attempting to cope with the loss of a mother and wife isn’t what Adrien needs.

Maybe Marinette wants him to have the childhood he wasn’t afforded. Marinette clings to warm memories of her own childhood, where Maman trained her in self defense and Papa taught her how to bake when things get particularly hard nowadays. Her heart warms when she sees Adrien give shy smiles to Damian and Lila. She’s proud when he strikes up conversations with them.

In all honesty, the only part of the shoot Marinette remembers is the last section of group photos they take when they move to a second location. It’s a cold day in Spring, which means Parisian tourists are more likely to be found inside an art museum, rather than on the beach. Adrien convinces them all that they should run around the beach, and somehow, they end up playing some extremely difficult version of capture the flag, but without the flags. 

Somehow, Marinette ends up on a team of her own, for the sole reason that she’s the only one wearing white, and the person who holds the opposing team’s flag is Damian. She tackles him onto the sand, but not before both Lila and Adrien are hot on her tail. They end up in a pile, and Adrien’s laughter rings so sweet and true, that Marinette’s heart fills with love. She shifts, so her body is facing skywards instead of into Damian’s arm, and she reaches one arm across Damian’s body to grab Lila’s hand, who flinches at first touch, but relaxes. Marinette’s other hand finds itself tangled in Adrien’s hair, and despite the cold weather, Marinette is content. 

She looks towards the horizon, where the sun is setting in a million different colors, and finds herself longing for a time where every day can be just like this moment.Where there is nothing filling her head except thoughts of the people who make her happy. Her eyes shift straight up.

Where morning fades into night, the sky is so very, very, blue.

#

Marinette’s room turns into an organized warzone at night.

The area of her room that was previously used to hold up various sketches and mood boards for designs in progress turns out not to be an upholstered wall, but a curtain that hides two whiteboards and a small library of books on the psychology of emotional manipulation, manuals of martial arts, and various books on strategy. The shelf above her desk space holds a projector that Marinette uses to project images from her computer onto the left white board. 

“I’ll catch you up on my previous attempts and what you have to know in order for this partnership to work.” She takes her tablet out, flips through several screens, then uses her fingerprint to unlock a folder of notes. “This is a chronological list of things that Ladybug and I have attempted in order to find Hawkmoth’s location. There is a separate folder with suspects for identity that’s alphabetized. If you’re interested in more in depth analyses of past akumas, I can send that to you and your team’s emails now, as most of the information is readily available online. I’m assuming that you have a team, correct?”

“Yes, I can send their email addresses to your number.”

“No, for any information regarding Hawkmoth or superheroes in Paris, you can contact me through this number and email address. Ladybug and I both check it regularly; it’s a safer, more encrypted way of communication.” Marinettte taps her Miraculous communicator and connects it to her computer, so she can work on a bigger screen. “Which person is your main point of contact?”

“Oracle.” 

Marinette contacts Oracle through video call. She doesn’t want to have to explain everything twice even if their partnership turns out to be nonviable. It takes a few moments to get through, but a woman’s face pops up on the screen. She’s a redhead and doesn’t wear a mask. Her coloring is obviously different from the rest of Batman’s affiliates, and despite her initial grievances with the white films over the vigilante’s eyes, she understand why it’s necessary; their suits aren’t magic, and there’s nothing stopping people from running facial recognition software and matching them up to people who reside in Gotham. 

“How did you get this number?” Oracle asks warily. 

Marinette moves her chair slightly so that Oracle can see Damian, who's currently looking at her tablet on her chaise. “I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, your point of contact in Paris and the one who will be working with you for the next week. As you can see, Damian’s already viewing some information that Ladybug and I have compiled over the years. Please get the rest of your team on this call. I’d like to get all of the basic information out of the way now.”

“Damian?” The girl on her screen is a dead ringer for the girl they compiled multiple files on yesterday, but she can’t get a trace on where they’re calling from, which makes her suspicious.

Damian shoots her a text, confirming that it is actually him in the room, then goes back to scrolling through the tablet.

Nightwing, Red Robin, Red Hood, and Batman all appear on the screen shortly. 

“Great, the gang's all here,” Marinette says unenthusiastically. “I’ll say it one more time. I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng and I will be your primary point of contact during your two weeks trial period here in Paris. I’m assuming that your team has been brought up on the events that occurred last night. In order for this attempted partnership to go more smoothly, I will provide you lists of suspects, past attempts at revealing Hawkmoth’s location, and more detailed information about all of the past akumas that have appeared. These files will only be available to you for the week unless the collaboration goes successfully. Damian has already given me your contact information.”

As an afterthought, Marinette adds, “Don’t bother trying to copy any of the files. You won’t be able to. You also won’t be able to pick up on my location through this video call; I’m using a Miraculous Communicator. The magic makes it so that any technology other than another Miraculous will be unable to find any identifying location.”

Marinette knows about this thanks to Max’s brief stint as Pegasus. Though Marinette had not yet learned spells that would allow her to materialize her communicator outside of the time that she was suited up, she had Max try to find Ladybug’s location after sending him a text. He and Markov were both unable to. 

“Since the Justice League insists on sticking their nose where it does not belong,” Marinette can’t help but be bitter about this whole situation, despite the fact that her frustration with Damian has decreased. “Ladybug and I have created a plan to make full use of your resources while you’re still butting in. I’ve sent a list of which organizations need monetary support. Most are affiliated with mental health.”

“Let’s move onto how you guys as a team can help us. As far as I understand, Batman’s team is proficient in technology and investigation. For the past two years that we’ve actively been on the case, nobody has had those skill sets and been in the long term possession of a Miraculous. The police attempted investigation for the first year, but their evidence and information was largely unhelpful. I will give Damian the Miraculous Communicator that I am in possession of to use his skills with so long as he tells me what he’s doing with it and he uses it while I’m in his immediate vicinity. He can try to find out Hawkmoth’s location on it, perhaps with a greater degree of success that we have been able to.”

She goes through the checklist she made one more time, just to make sure that she didn’t miss anything. She doesn’t really expect anything much to come out of this collaboration, except for the reassurance that the Justice League won’t interfere at the end of the week. Speaking of: “One more thing. I want a notarized agreement that the Justice League will not interfere in Paris, nor will any of their agents of affiliates be sent here if this collaboration doesn’t yield information that is already known.”

“Got a lotta spark in you, don’t you, little mouse?” The vigilante called Red Hood-- the one with a helmet instead of a stupid domino mask-- laughs. 

Marinette scowls. So far, the Justice League-- particularly the vigilantes of Gotham-- have not left her with a stunning first impression. Maybe she’s a little biased,  but they certainly don’t seem to have any respect for her. Still, she only has to work with them for two weeks. “My name is Marinette, but clearly your helmet hasn’t shielded you from the memory loss that frequent concussions have clearly given you.”

“She got you there, dumb ass,” says Red Robin, a grin a mile wide on his face.

“Hood,” sighs Oracle, sounding highly stressed. Marinette decides that she is the most likeable. “Like I said earlier, we want to be on good terms with Marinette.”

“I’ll get you the documents and funds by tomorrow.” Batman’s voice is just as gravelly as the first time she contacted him. She finds that the more she hears him speak, the more pleasant she finds his voice. An acquired taste. “Even if this week is unsuccessful, the Justice League will be more than happy to continue to fund these organizations. Is there anything that Ladybug, Chat Noir, or you need personally?”

“None of us are going to use the Justice League’s funds for personal gain, Batman.” The accusations grates on her. 

“Batman means,” Nightwing shoots a look to the side of his screen. Interesting, Marinette thinks. All of Gotham’s vigilantes are in one location, judging by their backgrounds and the location tags that her communicator provides her. Perhaps they have a headquarters of some sort. Back when there were extra heroes on the Miraculous team, Marinette sometimes wished that they had a location that they could all reliably gather at without revealing someone’s identity. It certainly would have made strategy easier. “That being a hero without any support is difficult. It must have taken a toll on your personal lives. If we can aid in any way, we will. We can excuse absences or hire tutors as necessary.”

“I’m no hero.” But Nightwing’s proposal may actually be helpful. Even though Marinette is making the grades necessary to go to the colleges that she wants, her continual absence and tardies aren’t very flattering. 

Then her mind flashes to Adrien. Can she use this offer to get him out from underneath Gabriel’s thumb? Marinette doesn’t know if she can do that. He’s already in a delicate position-- and already at risk, thanks to the photoshoot earlier today-- and she’s not sure that Gabriel won’t move towards drastic measures if anything changes on Adrien’s end. If she wants to get him away from Gabriel, she may have to reveal his secret identity.

“Ladybug will make the decision for herself; she has access to everything that is said during our meetings. Chat Noir isn’t in the loop about our communications or any of the investigations that Ladybug and I have done. Ladybug says that he’s stressed in his civilian life, which is why his appearances have been decreasing,” Marinette admits. “I’ll leave it up to Ladybug to give your offer to Chat Noir. If I can get a reliable excuse to get out of class or get to class late, that would be greatly appreciated.”

“Chat Noir doesn’t know?” Red Robin sounds horrified. 

“He’s currently a high risk for being akumatized. Ladybug didn’t want to risk it.” 

Red Hood crosses his arms. “So you have more of a job than Chat Noir does in all of these Paris heroics, huh?”

Even if Chat Noir did know, Marinette would have her hand in the pie at least twice as much as him. 

“I wouldn’t say that. I’m just more available than he is.”

“And more trusted than he is,” Red Hood insists. 

It’s not that Ladybug trusts Marinette more than she trusts Chat Noir, it’s that Ladybug is Marinette. But she’s not going to admit that. Not to them, and certainly not until Hawkmoth is taken down. Maybe not even then. She can only imagine the looks of devastation that she’ll get if she does admit that she’s been Ladybug all these years. Her parents will freak out, Adrien will probably feel heart broken and betrayed, and Alya and the rest of her classmates will inevitably rail on either her or Lila or both of them. It just doesn’t sound appealing to her anymore, though she can certainly remember a time not so long ago where she so desperately wanted to expose her identity. 

“You’d have to ask Ladybug that,”  Marinette settles on. She copies and pastes one of the many messages that she has pre drafted and schedules it to send a few minutes later, so Batman’s team receives a communication from Ladybug while Marinette is at the white board. She spent all of last night preparing for this meeting, imagining so many scenarios that she barely slept. The email she’s sending will suggest what Damian should attempt to do with the Miraculous communicator that Marinette has. She adds in an extra comment that she trusts Chat Noir with her life, and that she’ll talk to him about offering him help in his civilian life, but won’t mention anything about the Justice League. 

“Why doesn’t Ladybug just use her own communicator to join in on these calls?” Red Robin asks after receiving her email.

Marinette turns from the white board, where she is listing the past three akuma attacks and where her top three suspects were at each of the times. “There may be magic surrounding her identity, but that doesn’t mean Ladybug wants more time for all of you to try to figure out her identity.”

“Sounds irresponsible of her,” says Red Hood. “Leaving a civilian to do all of the dirty work. Who are those people you have listed on the board?”

Marinette decides to let the comment about Ladybug slide. Red Hood is currently her least favorite out of all of Gotham’s vigilantes, but she has to remind herself that respect is mutual, and Ladybug hasn’t really given them much to go on.

“The top three suspects for Hawkmoth. Gabriel Agreste, the CEO and head designer of Gabriel. Nathalie Sancouer, Gabriel Agreste’s personal assistant of over twenty years. Mikael Bordeaux, CFO of Silverstein and Company's French holdings.”

Oracle takes off her glasses and wipes them. “Sounds like your top candidates are all people in pretty high positions.”

“Agreste,” repeats Nightwing. “Agreste, as in Adrien Agreste? The boy that’s in Damian’s class?”

“The same,” Marinette says, not sure she likes where he’s taking this conversation.

“Hold up,” Red Robin says after a few moments. “Why is it that Gabriel Agreste and Nathalie Sancouer are on your list? Both Gabriel and Nathalie have been akumatized before. That should automatically take them out of the running.”

Marinette shakes her head. “That’s what I thought in the beginning, while the police were still in charge of the case. But based on my understanding of akumas, it’s very possible that Hawkmoth can transform, send out an akuma, then detransform and let themself be akumatized.”

The whole Collector incident was a deliberate ploy to throw her off. She spent at least half a year convinced that Gabriel and Hawkmoth couldn’t possibly be one in the same, despite the fact that he had the Miraculous Tome.

“What about Adrien, then? He’s the only one in your class that hasn’t been akumatized, sans yourselves, he hangs out with the people most likely to cause and become akumas, and has caused a fair number of akumas himself. Besides, he must know it if his dad’s Hawkmoth, which means he could be Mayura or even Hawkmoth himself.” Even if Red Robin presented her this theory before Marinette knew Adrien was Chat Noir, she wouldn’t have believed it. 

“Adrien is not Hawkmoth.” Marinette isn’t sure how to explain how she knows without revealing his alter ego. She can’t tell them that he wielded the snake Miraculous either, because that contradicts her earlier statement that she didn’t know any of the other holders.

“Demon Spawn,” Red Hood says. “What do you think about Adrien? You’ve been in a class with him for the past month.”

Damian finally looks up from Marinette’s tablet, blinking to bring himself back into the situation at hand. “What?”

Marinette scoffs, remembering that he thought that she was Hawkmoth. She’s not upset about it, but she doesn’t trust his ability to discern alter egos-- at least not magical alter egos. “I wouldn’t trust Damian’s ability to read people as reliable evidence to tell whether someone is Hawkmoth or not.

This causes a myriad of reactions from Batman’s team and most of them are surprisingly loud. Red Hood whoops, “Roasted,” while Red Robin laughs and pounds the desk in front of them. Oracle smiles wide, her eyes crinkling. Even Batman manages to draw a smile to his face. 

This makes Damian put down her tablet on the chaise and flush slightly. “I said I was sorry for that.”

Marinette thinks about brushing him off in annoyance but decides against it. Just based on the evidence that he gathered, it wasn't an awful assumption, and the Miraculous magic probably prevented him from even thinking about the possibility that she could be Ladybug, leading him to the next most possible conclusion. “It’s fine.”

In fact, even if Marinette can’t trust Batman and his affiliates with Chat Noir’s civilian identity, she should still try to maneuver Adrien away from his current situation. She can call it in as a personal favor to Marinette, and as long as they have human decency, they should agree to her request. She’s been gathering receipts that detail Gabriel’s systemic abuse of Adrien for years. This is a good opportunity to begin Adrien’s emancipation process. She’s currently on her way to a better friendship with Adrien, and since Batman insists the Justice League has all the resources that she wants, there’s no reason not to take advantage of them. She turns back to the camera. 

“Adrien is not Hawkmoth and wouldn’t know whether his father or personal assistant are. In fact, it would be preferable to remove Adrien from Gabriel’s care; Adrien is in danger of being akumatized because of how awfully Gabriel treats him, and I have the evidence necessary to take him to court. I just need a legal team that’s good enough to go against a billion dollar company.” And time to convince Adrien that he needs to leave. That may be a more difficult task, considering the unending love and forgiveness he’s displayed for matters concerning his father so far. Honestly, sometimes Marinette thinks that he never learned how to hold a grudge. 

“Noted. Let’s come back to that later, though. I want to talk about some other suspects you have on this list you gave us.” Oracle readjusts her headpiece and shoots a glare over her shoulder, presumably to tell the rest of her team to quiet down and get back on task. They certainly have an interesting team dynamic. They’re much warmer to each other than Marinette first expected them to be. They’re certainly closer than she and the Miraculous Team had been, when there still was a team, at least.

Oracle shares her screen. On it is a picture of Andre Bourgeois. “If Hawkmoth is able to be akumatized, then Mayor Bourgeois is one of our top suspects. The Justice League has compiled multiple lists of suspects before we sent Damian to Paris. He stopped a lot of international press for akuma attacks and has caused multiple akumas.”

Marinette frowns. Mayor Bourgeois being Hawkmoth crossed her mind a few times, but she always decided that he was largely incapable and had little motivation. “What are your criteria for deciding who might be Hawkmoth? I highly doubt Mayor Bourgeois is Hawkmoth, despite him stopping the press.”

“We determine how many akumas a person has caused, how much damage the akuma caused to the person’s primary residence and workplace, and how well they’re connected to the people being akumatized. Andre Bourgeois has been involved in the akumatization of slightly more than half of all the akumas that have occurred, so long as we include his relation to his daughter and wife and there has been extraordinary little damage done to the arrondissements that he frequents.”

“Interesting. Share the list with the contact information I sent you earlier. You share some of the same criteria as we have come up with, but you’re drawing the wrong information from what you have. Akumas caused is also one of our criteria, as well as the damage that has been done to the person’s residence. I don’t think that a person’s personal relations play much into who ends up being akumatized, however, there’s good reason to believe that Hawkmoth is in a position of power, or at least well connected. They seem to know what’s happening in the city before it ever hits the news.” Marinette opens a program on her computer, then turns on the projector to display a map with pins. 

“We’ve been interested in the location of primary suspects at the time of akumatization; Ladybug believes that Hawkmoth’s Miraculous power is restricted to Paris. Which means that Hawkmoth needs to be in or close to Paris at the times of all akumas, which crossed Mayor Bourgeois of my list a while ago. He’s been absent for multiple akumas when he needed to go to conferences outside of Paris. The purple dots are Gabriel, the red ones are Nathalie, and the blue ones are Michael. You can see that they’ve all been in Paris every time an akuma occurred and within a ten mile radius of where the akuma was first spotted. That’s quite unusual, considering they’re all in high positions of companies that should typically have them travelling.”

 There is also the little detail that Marinette found the Miraculous Tome in the hands of Gabriel Agreste, but Marinette doesn’t feel safe indulging them with that information yet. If she tells them, they will want to see pictures of the book. 

“How haven’t you cracked this case wide open yet?” Red Robin looks at the screen appreciatively. It’s clear that Marinette spent a lot of time on this.

Marinette bristles. She may have a good amount of information, but her proficiency with technology leaves much to be desired. It took her an unnecessarily long time in order to get the map up and running. “Well, Red Robin, that might have something to do with the fact that neither Ladybug nor I knew anything about how to use technology in the way that was necessary to track him once the police handed over the case in the second year. Or maybe it has something to do with the fact that falsely accusing someone as Hawkmoth could ruin their entire life.”

Master Fu warned her against direct actions against anyone on her suspect list. In fact, he outright forbade her from doing anything, and although she no longer takes his words at face value after the many bumps in their relationship, she’s not going to try to ruin any of these people without evidence. Especially not Gabriel, not when he’s Adrien’s father. 

Red Robin frowns. 

Marinette takes a deep breath. She’s too tense. She’s been taking every word that these vigilantes say as something they don’t actually mean. Marinette needs to relax. Jumping to conclusions helps no one. 

Damian’s eyes are on her, and she’s sure he’s passing judgment. She needs to get out of this situation, get out of this headspace. It’s not productive or healthy. 

“I think we should end this meeting now,” Damian says, and Marinette begrudgingly agrees with him. She knows this is his olive branch.

“You were the one who was upset at the lack of time,” Oracle points out. “We don’t have much time. We need every minute we can get.” 

“Marinette has given us plenty of information to digest for one night. We’ll regroup tomorrow and start on coding the programs to determine Hawkmoth’s location.” Damian reaches over Marinette to end the call. 

Obstinately, Marinette refuses to look him in the eyes. She’s been flip-flopping this entire day, and it’s not doing any great wonders for her mental health. Everything’s been coming to a head in these past few days, and it isn’t a good feeling. She can feel the pressure on her shoulders, the expectant gazes of all of Paris to do her duty and expose Hawkmoth, but she feels the weight of the inevitable backlash Adrien will face if her theories are true. 

The past few days feel like three years compressed. People she’s never interacted with have inserted themselves into the fray, and the big leagues have pulled out all the stops. She just talked to Batman and his team. He’s been in the hero game for decades, and she’s in the room with his son, Robin. 

Everything is just too much.

Marinette feels like she’s been a bad Ladybug. Like she hasn’t done enough to find concrete evidence of her primary suspects because she is afraid of what will happen after. She’s half surprised she hasn’t gone into hysterics yet, but then again, she’s gotten very good at holding herself together when everything around her falls apart. The added touch of an outsider makes the fragile balance she’s achieved teeter.

Damian takes her distressed appearance personally and heaves a sigh. “Look, I --I didn’t think that you were Hawkmoth all along, only for a day before everything went down. I don’t know what I wanted out of you, but your friendship was nice. I did genuinely want to be friends with you, and I still do.”

This makes Marinette feel even worse. She’s trying so hard to find fault with Damian-- which is surprisingly easy-- in order to distance herself. She can’t afford to get attached to someone who can hurt her and is likely to hurt her, because an akumatized Ladybug is the last thing Paris needs. But hearing him apologize so genuinely means that Marinette can’t summon up a negative response. She may not be able to say that she truly knows Damian, but she knows that he is a very prideful person. It can’t have been easy for him to apologize to her so openly. An acidic response rests on her tongue for a moment before she pushes it back.

“You were just trying to follow up on a lead. I shouldn't blame you.” 

“But you do.”

He hit the nail on the head. Marinette grimaces, letting her eyes flick over Damian’s hunched shoulders and set jaw. She doesn’t blame him for thinking that she’s Hawkmoth, but she does blame him for getting the Justice League more involved, which makes exactly zero sense if she evaluates the situation logically. Her heart feels like Damian is the element of change; if he never arrived in Paris, Marinette would still have everything under a better semblance of control. It doesn’t matter that Batman said the JLA had been looking into Paris for half a year, and that even if Damian weren’t sent, there would have been someone else.

It’s fitting that in order to move forward, they must break down whatever security that Marinette has built into her life, because life is just cruel enough to mess her up like that. Right now, she’s a wreck mentally, emotionally, and even physically. Marinette can feel her throat closing up. 

“It’s not your fault,” she offers. “And maybe if we get out of our current situation, we can try being friends again. But right now? I-- there’s just too much stress on me, right now.”

Damian understands this, but as he descends the steps of her ladder, Damian can’t help but wish that she felt otherwise.

Omake

“How is it that Mayor Bourgeois is not in your top three suspects for Hawkmoth? He’s stopped a lot of international press about the akuma for the first year!”

Marintte deadpans. “Honestly? The man is way too stupid to ever be Hawkmoth.”

“Haven’t we come to the conclusion that Hawkmoth is stupid though? He couldn’t steal jewelry from two untrained teenagers for years!”

Marinette decides not to take offense at that, and concedes. “Fine, maybe he should be on the list. I’d certainly akumatize Chloe and Audrey Bourgeois if I had to interact with them on a daily basis.”

_______________________________________________________

will these be regularly scheduled? absolutely not, even though i have the whole thing finished because i get the feeling that i am going to Change Things sooner or later (somebody please smack some sense into me everything in this story goes awfully very soon and the plot goes wonky and AHHHH)

[lady-plantagenet]

What hasn’t already been said: The Spanish Princess 2

Episode 1: CamelNOT

[Lively Music Plays]

I shit you not... that’s what it said in the CCs.

Tower of London (?)

*Catherine looks at the array of crowns like a museum curator and the proceeds to strut down the halls*

Wolsey: *gives her this strange look which is a mixture between damn girl and the eagle is my spirit animal.

Then Catherine gets fake detained and taken to Henry in what must be a strange variation of the whole Robin Hood/Maid Marian roleplay they historically engaged in.

... did she just call his erhm manhood his kingship? Well that’s original, I’ll give them that. Also funny how Bessie Blount initially looks on in fright... don’t worry girl that will be you soon.

———————————————————————

*the four ladies have a brunch friendship moment together*

I see Blount is among them... I see they are setting her up as Catherine’s friend in order to play up the whole betrayal.

Alright. Jokes aside, I realised how much I’ve played myself. I was inspired by @melusineloriginale ‘s sporks (which if all this TSP episode posts got you in the mood for PG show mockery I urge you to check out here - you’ll thank me later). In truth, Henry VIII’s early reign is a bit too late from my main area of focus for me to make intelligent jokes.

I’ll content myself with just bullet-pointing random thoughts that came into my head, and if some intelligent thought gets through, well that would be the pinnacle. In any case I’ll aim to not parrot some of the stuff that’s already been said, repetition can get annoying.

This image embodies this post, but maybe not the show. I’ve noticed those Starz productions get better by the end.

First Scenes:

- The recap just reminded me how much I will miss Margaret Beaufort in the coming episodes. I know her portrayal was innacurate but Harriet Walter just made everything better.

- They are making such a big deal out of this whole ‘we were crowned together, we rule together’ thing in this episode - it makes no sense. Catherine was an influential Queen but she was definitely no more than a consort and never saw herself as more.

- Ruairi’s new haircut is pleasing to my eyes.

- When she says ‘Abuelo’ it’s super adorable awww

The Ferdinand and Charles V scene:

- Bessie Blount looks so much like Ursula Pole lmao. Also they totally got the Pole children’s birth order wrong and UGH WHERE IS GEOFFREY POLE???

- I like Mary Tudor’s actress and her facial expressions. However, this whole polyglot image they are representing is innacurate. I am fairly certain she knew no spanish and I recall reading a contemporary account which said that she was not very learned.

- I’m pretty sure it would be considered bad luck to prematurely crown your son ‘Henry IX’ while you’re still alive.

- I actually like the whole Grape motif in this episode. It’s probably the smartest thing they’ve come up with so far for this episode. I know a lot of you will be all like ‘there’s no record of Ferdinand being abusive’ but this choice sort of makes sense when you recall Joanna’s treatment. Also I appreciate them for not being tacky and showing flashbacks of more overt abuse eg physical. The sugared grape is also fairly symbolic (the sugar is like a gilding, the grape easily crushable)

- OMG the guy from Garrow’s law is playing Thomas More!

- AND PLEASE PLEASE TELL ME IM NOT SEEING THINGS? Margaret Pole x Thomas More is happening?? Please god that is a historical crackship I am getting behind. Yes. This is what I’m most invested about.

Margaret Tudor and Scotland Scene:

- The whole ironic cutaway to Margaret being all depressed after Charles Brandon’s statement about her charming Scottish king is such a cliché movie technique.

- If this were a more artsy film I would think the whole setup resembling a stereotypical middle-class family breakfast was done on purpose for humorous effects or to create a link with the past. But here I don’t have as much trust in the producers. I think they just failed to capture the time period accurately.

- The modernisms continue: ‘Negassi please stop playing’ idk, there just something so modern about this for some reason ahaha

- Also again, I’m getting tired of all this ‘Catherine is basically queen herself’, ‘Catherine is a political genius’, ‘Catherine Catherine Catherine’ ugh. I don’t think the producers understand that Henry VIII was a very autocratic and traditional ruler. He didn’t make any show of joint-rulership (correct me if I’m wrong).

- The teeth thing is funny, smart and I liked it.

Back to Westminster:

- I like Ferdinand’s actor!

- Also Catherine’s response to ‘who are you loyal to?’ was not that smart. I feel like the producers wanted us to be impressed. What if Spain and England’s interests conflict, ey??

The Joust:

- I care too much for the whole Margaret Pole plotline. I’m so invested.

- I could watch a series of More and Pole just exchanging lines. I love the actors too and this is my hope for this series. The whole frustrated parents is SO CUTE.

- I didn’t know More tutored Reggie, I would be curious to know more.

- The way compton says groom to queen’s stool is freaking hilarious. He looks like a pervert.

- Henry Pole is a darling and must be protected at all costs.

- Oh Christ oh Christ that eyeball shot was just... good job on the special effects guys. Don’t know what the point of that choice was.

- I found the whole armour mentions after interesting, it looked so set up as a PR campaign because Stafford speaking about the armour just sounded like a statement agreed on beforehand ‘should have worn the same’ and the Catherine with ‘steel in the bones’ and Ferdinand’s impressed face (it was him playing them?)

- Am I giving this show too much credit?

- Also whats up with “God save the Queen?”

War Counsel:

- Henry VIII’s actor is quite charismatic in this scene. It’s almost as if Catherine is the hothead and Henry the wise one that speaks less but more significantly. It almost feels like they gender-swapped them.

The Bedchamber:

- Did Catherine breastfeed the baby? I thought it was Anne Boleyn. Doubtful... I’m tired of the trope of ‘you’re a good woman if you insist on breastfeeding the child yourself despite social conventions’. For a feminist show, the writers seem very attached to some 1950s perceptions of motherhood.

- I feel like the age difference between Catherine and Henry is well conveyed.

Scotland Again:

- ‘All the sheep were pregnant’ 👀 oh touché Margaret. oh my. Did she just?

- I know they are playing out this disenfranchised Margaret arc to reinforce how great Catherine and Henry are (cheap technique) and to build up to her involvement in Flodden (innacurate historically but I know what the show will do). But I will say this: the humour is pretty good in the Scottish scenes! But I know it’s unintentionally so... (I highly doubt they wanted us to laugh at Margaret hitting James or calling Alexander a pig).

Westminster and the baby chamber:

- What’s are those red splotches on the babies face??

- Oh that shot of Margaret and silent Reginald :((( it makes me sad.

- And now the Poles are at church! I just love the look of them.

- That scene of Maggie and Catherine was needed, as we didn’t get the best friends vibe much in this episode. The whole thing looked a bit pagan though, but it was nice :)

The whole Ferdinand’s betrayal segment:

- The grape motif again was fitting, him snapping the fruit right before she gets to it even despite her knowing what he’s like and what he’ll do, was a good parrallel.

- I’m tired of hearing of this ‘Camelot’. Even in the novel, Camelot was Catherine and Arthur’s dream and... can we just live it up with Arthur?

- Ursula Pole’s, Bessie Blount’s and Mary Boleyn’s actresses look way too similar.

- I fail to see why Catherine thinks she’s turning into her father... she doesn’t strike me as much of a game-player or subtle two-facer.

- I’m intrigued what will happen with Oviedo and Lina... I feel like they won’t stay in England long.

- He was made knight bannaret... nice... but why does he thank Catherine publicly for this? It was in Henry’s gift that he was made a commoner Knight.. if this transpired irl Henry would have been gravely insulter.

Catherine’s Dead Baby and thereafter:

- Guys. In all seriousness, I don’t think the TV series is trying to imply that Catherine killed the baby with her negligence. I mean, they are so bent on us liking her they wouldn’t do that. It would be a bit too ballsy anyway. Remember the red splotches I mentioned earlier? Could those have been a sign that he was already ill but no one noticed/was in denial?

- The pebbles in hands would have had more emotional payoff if it had been established earlier if you know what I mean. Basically, this episode is too fast and entire arcs begin and end within it which extinguished any build-up.

- Oh man Henry is so sweet in this, how will they build him up as the tyrant he was historically if they keep this up?

Scotland Again:

- I must admit, I don’t like all those nicknames they keep using. But somehow James calling Margaret ‘Meg’ is nice and seems fitting.

- What’s a hermana sister?

England Last Mourning Scenes:

- YOU DID NOT BUILD CAMELOT ughhh

- Why is Catherine giving the speech and not Henry?? It turns out Catherine was more emotional historically then the whole perception of ‘perfect queen of stone’ to which some people hold her. However, I doubt it would have been proper of her to give a speech in such a emotional manner.

Conclusion:

6.5/10

Some of the dialogue was stilted, the costumes are confused as to which era they’re supposed to be (aesthetically distracting) and many other characterisation issues.

I don’t have high hopes for this series in terms of cinematography or art but I sure as hell expect it will be entertaining. So far, everything is just getting set up and I find some aspects promising. As you can tell I am truly excited over how the Margaret Pole plotline. I am also interested in how Henry will be portrayed, with Catherine being so OTT and pushy this episode Im starting to Stan him more. In this show he appears sensitive and serene and kinda... adorable. Kind of like a little brother hanging onto his sister’s skirts.

But in a way that is a disservice to the real historical figure which would not tolerate such a representation. I am very irritated by this whole ‘joint-rulers’ thing which is just sooo innacurate. These STARZ shows have an obsession with showing women turn into men for the purposes of feminism - I see.

Catherine overpowers Henry too often and it sometimes feels like he’s HER consort. Of course, the feminism in this show is schizophrenic as we get the overemphasis of Catherine as a 1950s motherly ideal with the whole breastfeeding angle (“you’re better than other noble woman who would find this beneath them”, “they’re not as motherly as you”).

So the relationship dynamic between Henry and Catherine is a bit off at the moment, but oh well.

Mary Tudor is a bit distracting with her dark hair but I find the actress extremely endearing and promising. I know there will be emphasis on her storyline too and I hope they’ll not be clichéd with it.

[aliasimagines]

Secrets part 2 (damian wayne x harley quinn’s daughter)

read part 1 here

The young Wayne boy sat on the edge of a huge building lost in his thoughts. The gentle wind ruffled his black hair. He was thinking about you. Again. He sat there, again thinking of your soft lips against his. The way his name rolled off of your tongue. Your eyes, your hair.. He couldn't help but wish you were here to keep him company. But Damian was on patrol and he can't just kidnap you from your bedroom in the middle of the night. I mean he can, he just won't.

Robin was so deep in his thoughts that he didn't even notice Nightwing jumping and landing next to him.

"Hey, what's up Little D?" Dick asked in his cheery voice. A scowl appeared on Damian's face as he turned to his oldest brother.

"You meant to say Robin right, Nightwing?"

"Sure Little bird. Now, what's on your mind?" he asked sitting next to the young Wayne.

"You sure you want to know that 'Wing?" asked a voice from behind them.

"Tt. I didn't know what was missing..." Damian rolled his eyes at Red Hood who sat down next to them.

"Continue guys, I wanna hear all the gossip!" Jason said in a fake excited voice which came out pretty irritating through his helmet.

"I'm... Don't you have better things to do?!" snapped Damian standing up. Or trying to stand up. His green boots got stuck and he almost fell on Jason. Fortunately Dick could grab Damian just in time so he didn't fell on Jay, or off the building. Robin straightened his uniform, stepped behind his brothers and turned around so now his back was facing a very confused and curious Dick and Jason.

"Now you gotta tell us what's going on with you"

"It's... I don't have to do anything you say Todd!" he took a deep breath "But I choose to tell it to you. Don't make me regret it you idiots"

"No promises." Dick elbowed Jason for this comment.

Damian turned around and exhaled the breath that he was holding. His fingers played with the rough material of the back of his cloak. He opened his mouth but Jason talked first.

"You're gay."

Dick hit the vigilante's helmet. "Shut, the hell, up. Go ahead Dami, don't care about him."

Damian glared at Jason.

"I have a girlfriend"

"She is a cover up for you being gay" stated Jason, but he laughed a little at the and. He earned a hit from both Robin and Nightwing this time.

"What's with you saying gay? You and Harper are together or what?" Damian narrow his eyebrows, angry expression spread across his face. He just freaking told about his girlfriend and Jason couldn't act like an adult for one goddamn minute!

"Watch it, demon"Jay threatened causing Dami to step closer.

" Or what, Todd?"

Nightwing finally stepped between them.

" Heyyy guys. There's no need for this. Lil D! You've got a girlfriend! I'm so proud of you! Congrats! How long have you been together?"

Damian teared his gaze away from Red Hood and looked at his oldest brother.

"5 and a half month"

"WHAT?!" Dick shouted, his voice echoing in the empty streets of Gotham. "FIVE MONTH?? HOW THE HELL DID YOU MANAGE TO HIDE THAT FROM US?!"

"Stop shouting you moron!" Damian hissed. Clenching his teeth he fought back a smirk. Dick was right, he successfully hid his relationship for month from his family (expect from Alfred, he knows everything).

"How the hell did you manage to KEEP a girl for 5 months? Like, is she okay? Is she under hypnosis? Is she blind? Something gotta be. No sane human being would date you."

Bruce's voice rang through the brothers's earpiece.

"Jason that's enough. Damian we are going to talk after patrol."

"But Fathe..." he couldn't finish because the dark knight of Gotham continued to talk.

"I want to meet her. Invite her over for dinner tomorrow. Or today as it is half past midnight. Call her. I will tell Alfred."

''But...''

"Now Damian."

Damian mumbled something in Arabic while he fished his phone out of his pocket. Damn I forgot to send her a pic on snapchat. He tapped on the yellow and white ghost icon and quickly took a picture.

Damian forgot about his brothers so he put away his phone with a smile on his face.

"Damn I'm soo curious about the chick"Jason sighed. Damian jerked his head in the direction of the black and white haired man.

"Don't call my girlfriend a chick. That is rude. "

"Chick is not rude, man!" Jason put his arms up in defense.

"Okay guys that's enough for today. Since nothing's happening I suggest we go back to the cave and get some sleep." Dick's voice sounded tired.

"Someone needs their beauty sleep?" teased Jason but he agreed with Nightwing. In the last few weeks he only got to sleep maximum two hours, or if he was lucky,three hours of sleep per night. Jason could use some sleep.

Damian only nodded in response before jumping away in to the night. He did not want to go with the Batmobile, that would mean that he has to sit through a very long and awkward conversation. No, the talk can wait till he gets back to the cave and also he can clear his head while walking around a bit.

By the time he got home the first rays of sunlight appeared on the dark sky. He pushed back his hood as he entered the cave. Bruce was, of course, waiting for him in a chair with a book in his hand. Without looking up from his reading he greeted his son. Damian did the same and sat down next to his father.

And with that they started a conversation that all fathers and their sons should have eventually.

~°~

(later that day, around 5pm)

You stood in front of your body sized mirror, pulling your dress down a little. You fixed your hair and make up (if you wear any). You nervously slipped into your shoes and sat down at the living room table. Lucy was watching some stupid cartoon that made absolutely no sense but, Lucy was 4, it didn't have to make sense. Some random colorful creatures popped up on the screen making the little girl jump and laugh in surprise.

"Did you see that Y/N/N?" your little sister asked in glee, than when she saw your dress she tiled her head in confusion. "Why do look like a princess?"

"Aw baby you think that I look like a princess? That's so sweet sis. Well, the reason I am dressed this way is that I am having dinner with Damian."

"Is he  coming over?  Will he bring his puppy too?" Lucy asked excitedly.

"No baby, I' m going over. And Titus is not really a puppy anymore, he is bigger than you." you tried to explain but Lucy shook her head and only said 'Puppy' before turning back to the tv.

"Are you ready my dear?" your aunt Delilah walked into the room. "Oh Y/N you look so pretty! I'm sure Damian's family will love you!"

A quiet laugh escaped your lips.

"Well I hope so!"

A knock interrupted you. You knew it was Damian so you quickly give a hug to your sister and aunt before racing to the front door. As you opened it you saw your boyfriend. And he was wearing a black suit with a turtleneck. Damn...

"Hello Beloved, you look beautiful!"

You smiled at him and kissed his cheek.

"You don't look that bad either" you winked at him.

"Come on, habibi. Alfred is waiting by the car." he took your hand and led you outside.

Alfred was indeed waiting next to the black car. You approached him with a big smile.

"Hello Alfred! It's so nice to meet you! Dami speaks so highly of you."

A quiet laugh leaved the butler's mouth as he saw his young masters reaction on you calling him Dami in front of him.

"The pleasure is all mine, Miss" than he opened the car door so you and Damian could get in. As you sat down next to each other on the backseat Alfred closed the door and got in too.

The car was filled with quiet whispers on the road to the Manor. You told Damian that you were nervous about meeting his family and he said that although his brothers are idiots everything will be fine.

When you arrived to the huge mansion you looked around amazed.

"Oh my goodness! You live in freaking Hogwarts!" you shouted excitedly. Damian put his arm around your waist as you walked uo the stairs.

"Well, not quite but all right."

Alfred again opened the door for you. All of you got in but Alfred rushed to the kitchen so he could finish dinner.

You were about to say something when a big black dog run out of nowhere.

"Titus! Heya boy! How are you?" you bent down a bit to scratch his head. Titus barks at you happily.

Damian smiles at the scene and lowers himself down too. He pats his dog's back when someone runs through the hallway. It was Jason, Damian saw the white streak in his hair before he disappeared at the end of the hallway which led to the living room.

You looked up too, that sent a questioning look to your boyfriend. Damian opened his mouth to explain that you shouldn't mind Jason because he is an idiot but Jay returned.

"Hellooo demon spawn! You finally here, I'm starving and Bruce wouldn't let me eat before dinner." he tought for a second "Not that he is the boss of me...Anyway. Hello random chick, I suppose you're the demon's girlfriend?"

Damian raised his fist, probably to punch Jason but you caught his hand.

"Yeah, I'm his girlfriend. And you must be the rude, idiotic brother. Am I right?" you looked at each other for a few seconds before Jason burst out laughing.

"Ahh, she's sassy. I love it! It's Jason by the way." he held out his hand for you, and you shook it with a little smile on your face.

"I'm Y/N."

Damian, who was clearly annoyed by the fact that Jason was touching you, cleared his throat.

"Okay, you met Todd. Let's go find the others." Damian pulled you away from Jason. Titus followed you into the living room. You saw two boys sitting there, both of them older then you. That's probably Dick and Tim,you tought. You stepped foward as much as Damian's arm around your waist let you.

" Hello!" you waved at them. The taller boy quickly stood up and run to you.

"Hello dear! I'm Richard but everyone calls me Dick, It's so nice to meet you!"

You let out a laugh as he pulled you into a big hug.

"It's nice meeting you too, I'm Y/N."

"You got yourself a nice girlfriend Lil D." Dick said turning to your boyfriend. Damian nodded.

"Indeed Grayson. MY girlfriend is very 'nice' as you put it." you quickly kissed his cheek.

"Aww Dami! You're so protective of me it's so cute!"

Damian's cheeks turned bright red and his brothers started laughing at what you said and Dami's reaction. Tim stood up and walked beside Dick.

"Hey Y/N, I'm Tim"  he smiled at you. "Nice to see that demon' s socializing."

"Haha Drake you're soo funny. You all are sooo funny. Where's father?" Damian's voice was sarcastic but you couldn't miss the little worry in it by the end of the sentence.

Dick pointed to the stairs.

"He is in his office."

The youngest brother noded his head in response an motioned for you to go up the stairs.

Damian guided you through the hallway. Looking around you saw a few pictures of the boys and Mr. Wayne, expensive vases and paintings.

When you finally stopped it was before a big oak door. Damian reassuringly squeezed your hand before knocking on the wood surface. You heard a muffled 'come in' before Damian opened the door.

You to step in the rather big office. Bruce Wayne sat at his table and looked curiously at you.

"Ah, you're here. Sorry son I lost track of time." the man stood up and held out his hand for you. "It is a pleasure to meet you Y/N."

"You too Mr. Wayne" you tried not to show how nervous you were as you shook his hand.

"Please call me Bruce." you acknowledged it with a small nod. "Allright, we should get down for dinner. I'm lookin forward to getting to know you Y/N."

~°~

Although the family dinner was quiet chaotic due to the brothers you enjoyed it. Okay maybe Bruce's always watching eye and questions were a bit awkward but he was just worried about his son and curious. You can't blame him for that. Bruce didn't trust you fully just yet but he also you that you can't choose your parents and he didn't want to look at you like The Jokers and Harley Quinn's daughter but as Y/N, the girlfriend of his son. And he couldn't deny the fact that Damian indeed seem happier and quite calmer. He just hopes that everything goes well and that you won't break Damian's already fragile heart.

At the end of the night Damian took you home but this time he used his motorcycle and didn't ask Alfred to take you. He wanted some privacy with you. The night was chilly against your skin as you hopped off when he parked in front your house.

"Your family seems... Nice." you said giggling.

"They are horrible. I know."

"Oh no! They're not horrible. Just a bit wierd but I liked them. And they love you Dami, that's what I care about."

Light pink blush stained his cheeks and he shook his head.

"I really like you, beloved. Thank you for coming tonight.... It meant a lot." you jumped to hug him. He hugged back tightly. You stayed there for what seemed hours but were only a few minutes. He kisses your forehead before pulling away.

"You should get inside. It's getting colder."

"Allright... Good night Damian. I love ya." you said before rushing inside to your aunt who was surely waiting for you awake so you can tell her every single detail.

Damian watched you wave from the top of the stairs before closing the door. He got on his motorcycle and headed home. On the way back he could only think about you and for once he didn't care about the grin on his face.... He is so in love with you.

[parkersbliss]

Hi! May I have a ship for Stranger Things? Im about 5'2" and Korean. I have have Wavy black hair bangs and circle glasses. My sense of style varies a lot and ranges from grunge to soft art mom. I will listen to any type of music except country. I love anything to do with music. I can be very shy or very talkative. I'm very confusing and insecure. I love animals especially cats. I am very caring to the point it can be unhealthy. I'm a nice person but I can be very scary. I'm bisexual thank you!!!

Hi hi!

I ship you with...

Robin!

You found Robin to be very intimidating at the beginning.

She was just so out there.

You get me?

Loud, funny, not afraid to speak her mind.

And you were not so outgoing.

However, after talking to Robin before a bit you found her really chill and laid back.

Which made it easy for you to talk with her.

You ranted a lot to her.

She’s very good at listening.

Robin sucks at advice but, not listening.

Steve was her wingman.

After months of Steve hyping her up, she finally asked you out.

I think she stood there sweating for a good five minutes.

You were highly concerned because, um Robin is supposed to be chill.

“Are you okay?” You asked, laying a hand on her arm.

She starts sweating more.

“I wanna take you out!!”

“What?”

Tbh, Steve was no help. He was laughing in the corner.

“I wanna take you out.”

“Are you sure...?”

She just grabbed your hand, “I’m fucking positive.”

“Ok.”

Robin takes you to the Starcourt mall at a small cafe.

You two just talked and talked and talked.

For two hours.

Ok so now that you two are things let’s talk fluff.

I feel like people are always confused about what you guys are.

Robin just throws a hand over your shoulder and pulls you close.

You just laugh and when no one's looking she kisses your cheek.

You and Robin normally do each other’s hair all the time.

Intricate braids and stuff.

Robin also loves how kind you are.

Although sometimes she had to step in when you’re being too nice.

“Can I borrow your pencil?”

“It’s my last one...”

“Please?”

“Ok...”

“No! No. You can’t she has... a sickness!”

“Alrighty then.”

Robin is a sucker for cheek kisses btw

Here’s a kiss

There’s a kiss

Everywhere’s a kiss!

You totally go into the arcade to talk with her until you get yelled at.

It’s either the manager or Steve.

Robin is also fascinated by your Korean culture.

She also really loves Korean food.

On your 20th birthday, Robin got you a cat.

You cried.

And it’s not that you didn’t like him, you were just so happy.

It was a small black fluffy jellybean.

You named him Raven.

Robin loves holding your hand btw

She also loves when you get mad at someone.

It’s very rare but, she LOVES it when you get all snarky.

She feels like a proud mom.

Robin understands how insecure you can be and will ALWAYS be there to comfort you and tell you how much she loves you and how beautiful you are.

If you’re ever feeling sad she makes funny voices with Raven until you start laughing.

She just wants you to be happy.

Ships closed

[irondadgroupie]

Bohemian Rhapsody: Chapter 10

A/N: You might be wondering how long this story is going to be. Truth to told, @iamwhump and I have NO IDEA!

“Ugh, your hair is getting too long,” Tony muttered as he brushed the boy's curls. “How can that be? I thought your body would be focused on repairing your brain! Or did I misread the manual to your powers?”

Peter, as always, gave no answer but Tony did not let it get him down. If he did that, he would have lost his mind weeks ago.

“Would you mind if I cut it some? You have so many split ends you won't even believe!” He brushed loose hair from Peter's pillow and let out a breath. “You know, I do love myself but monologues are getting kind of boring. So, if you would be so kind to wake up that would be great.”

Peter stayed silent.

“Hey, any sound would do. A groan, a mumble, a scream, anything your mouth can come up with.”

Tony waited but nothing happened. He was too used to the ventilator, he was afraid Peter would never learn to breathe by himself again.

“Okay, do you want to see a movie then? May brought a bunch of them. Let's see... Peter Pan, the human version, Harry Potter, Robin Hood, God I have not seen this in ages! I loved it as a kid- Mom took me to see it in the premiere.” He trailed off and did not witness Peter's eyes opening. It was a shock that nearly stopped his heart.

“Peter,” Tony breathed out and stood up from the slouched position. He cradled the boy's face in his hands and tears filled his eyes. “Kiddo,” He kissed the boy's temple and embraced him. “Oh my God! You- you're here!”

Tony let go and stroked the boy's cheek, tears falling onto his skin. “You gave us such a scare but you came through, like you always do.”

Peter was staring at the ceiling, his eyes unblinking.

“You're such a brave boy,” Tony moved closer so he was in Peter's line of vision.

Nothing happened.

Tony frowned. “Peter?” He waved a hand over the boy's face. No response.

“Hey, kid,” Tony's heart nearly stopped again and he grasped the boy's shoulders in a desperate act. “What is wrong? Are you blind? Can't you hear me?” He pinched Peter's arm, but got no sound, no twitching, just a red mark from his nails. “Help!”

Things happened all to suddenly for Tony to make sense of them when the doctor entered the room, May following closely behind. It didn’t take either of them long to find the reason for Tony’s panic, and paradoxically, the medic managed to ease his worries and make his heart ache at just the same time.

“Don’t worry, Mr. Stark. This is a good sign. A very good even so.” He said, swiftly moving the penlight across Peter’s line of vision. “This counts to the first signs of reaching a minimally conscious state. While he won’t yet be responding to commands or follow objects and such, he becomes increasingly aware of his environment. You might be experiencing him grasping your hands, probably even attempting to vocalize on reflex.”

“Vo-“ May stopped. “Will he be aware of the ventilator?”

“That’s hard to say. Given his vitals, he’s clearly already fighting back against it a little. But most patients in coma do not mind the ventilator in early stages of even a newly gained full consciousness. And we hope to have him away from the vent before that happens. If he continues to progress at the rate he is now, I don’t see any reason for it not to happen.“

“Alright so - what are we supposed to do now?” Tony asked, still struggling to regain his composure after the initial shock.

“Just continue as you did before.” The doctor answered with a smile on his face. “Talk to him, respond when he’s showing physical signs of short consciousness. The only thing that becomes important now is that you close his eyes when he opens them for too long at a time, because the blinking reflex might be hard to control just yet. But at the state he is in right now, I would rather not want them to be taped, in case he quickly regains consciousness.”

“Quickly? What time spans are we talking about right now?”

There it was again, the casual shrug. “Hard to quantify. Maybe just a few hours. Maybe another few weeks. It’s very individual.”

Tony sighed, fingers tracing the line of his eyebrows before he turned around, looking at Peter. The boy’s eyes had closed again. “You’re an especially sleepy individual, huh?” He smiled weakly. “But take your time. Your aunt and I won’t go anywhere.”

“Man, this movie is dark,” Tony muttered as Lampwick turned into a donkey. “How did your parents let you watch this?”

Peter laid beside him and Tony was almost expecting the boy to stay silent for the rest of his life. The doctor had informed them a week ago that Peter was now in a minimally conscious state and yes, there were some moments when Tony was certain a part of Peter got through the haze in his brain. But those moments were few in between.

“Jiminy Cricket is absolutely useless,” Tony shook his head and leaned on the pillows. Peter’s hand twitched and the man smiled tiredly. “Fine,” he grasped Peter’s hand and kissed the boy’s knuckles. “He is a great little bug. My new favorite.”

Peter grasped his hand.

Tony snorted. “Oh, so that you hear? And all those heartfelt proclamations of undying love you chose to ignore.”

“It’s not his fault, you told them while he was sleeping,” May chuckled as she opened the door. “Oh,” She glanced at the screen and offered Tony a take-away cup of coffee. “I was so scared of this movie.”

“I am not shocked,” Tony smiled and took a sip. “I have half a mind to turn this off but Peter doesn’t let me.” The man softened the blow with leaning down and setting a tender, long kiss on Peter’s head. The boy grasped his mentor’s hand.  “You’re pretty communicative today, kiddo.” He remarked, caressing the boy’s cheek with his knuckles.

“Maybe he simply knows what time it is.” May guessed, letting herself sink in the chair at Peter’s left side, her hand finding his. Tony had his eyebrows raised, but taking a look at his watch, he understood what she was talking about.

“Your aunt’s right. Almost forgot it’s training time already.” That fact was true in even two definitions: Ever since the first days of coma - or rather ever since his hand allowed it - he’d done the prescript workout with Peter every morning and evening, hoping to counteract the muscle-loss that the doctors feared was only increased by how enhanced his metabolism worked. However, it was Saturday, and Saturday evenings were usually spent training with the other Avengers. Tony should probably be down there too, but he couldn’t care less. At the moment, he had more important things in mind than his superhero-side or even company business. Pep kept him informed over the most important stuff when she came for lunch, but the decision-making rested on her. Once all of this trouble was over, Tony mentally reminded himself, he definitely needed to profoundly thank her for never not having his back.

“The others miss you a lot.” He started, standing up, deciding to start with the kid’s legs this time. “If you’d be conscious enough to give it a glance, you’d see the tons of gift cards and presents. Literally everyone sent one.”

“It’s beautiful, really.” May agreed. “There’s the new flowers Pepper brought yesterday, Areca palms. Huge ones, but the doctors said it might do you good because it supposedly keeps the air in this room fresh and clean.”

She and Tony shared a look instantaneously, realizing yet again that neither of them had an idea when Peter would have the pleasure of breathing in said freshness again.

May shook her head and just went on. “Then there’s literally dozens of ‘get well soon’ cards. And I mean dozens. Probably more than I have colleagues - and you know what that implies. I probably don’t even know half as many people.” Tony laughed while his hands were gently moving Peter’s feet.

“Me neither.”

“How come everyone knows Peter then?” May asked.

“Answer’s easily given, isn’t it?”

The smile finally reached the woman’s face too and she tightly squeezed her nephew’s hand. “Yes. Yes it is.”

“I can’t really pinpoint when it happened, but he certainly became everyone’s favorite intern. He’s really talkative, but in a genuine way. Most highly intellectual people have a tendency to be very unsociable. Peter isn’t. He’s the one person you tell about your daughter’s birthday once and he remembers it and brings a card the right day the next year. People like him because he actually listens to what he’s told.”

“Most of the time.” May put in.

“Most of the time.” Tony agreed, thinking about those plenty times the kid has disobeyed orders given, though for a good reason. “But seriously. If engineering isn’t going to get your speciality, you could really become one of those classic talking therapists. You never fail to make people happy, and make them become the best version of themselves he can.” Tony coughed, contrived enough to ensure May that he wasn’t sick, but natural enough to hide the intense sadness lingering behind the words. Peter had really managed to get the very best out of him.

“Speaking of Happy,”, he casually changed the topic, moving up to the kid’s arms to work on the arm muscles too. “He brought a card, too. And that new self-driving Lego car you so eagerly talked about last time he shuttled you. He might appear a little distant sometimes, but he really cares for you, too. We all do. And we’d all be goddamn happy if you just wake up soon.”

Peter didn’t respond, neither by a hand twitch, nor by opening his eyes, and after a while, May just continued to describe the presents he’d gotten.

Tony woke up around midnight that day. Lights were dimmed down – he’d asked Friday to gradually lower the settings beginning at eight pm to imitate somewhat of a daily routine to Peter. It took him a few minutes to realize what had woken him, and another to try and translate it into his language. Peter was moaning quietly, single vocals forced out of his mouth despite the breathing tube holding them down.

“You’re okay, kiddo? Does something hurt?” The boy had been laid on his back again, and Tony feared that it had not yet fully recovered from being laid on for almost two weeks straight. However, Peter’s heart rate was too low to indicate that something was physically painful.

“Or was it because I fell asleep?”, he inquired, squeezing the kid’s hand gently and massaging his temples with his thumb. “I should’ve stayed awake. It’s your aunt’s sleeping time. I’m sorry. Watching movies all day is just really tiring.”

Peter moaned again, and the sound broke Tony’s heart. He’d give everything he had just to hear the kids real voice again.

“I’m here, don’t worry. I’m always here.” He assured, but that didn’t entirely seemed to be it either. Tony tried to make the next guess. “Wanna hear a story?” Peter neither agreed to, nor refused the offer – or maybe Tony just couldn’t tell. He reached forward, scanning the literal tower of books they’d built for something he could read. “Something light-hearted, I assume, huh? Don’t have to get deep into the sciences when it’s almost midnight.”

Tony laughed at the irony that – if things were alright – they would be probably awake spending their time in his lab; on science stuff. Although Peter always became a little groggy around midnight, and they usually spent an hour just sitting in the kitchen, finally eating and drinking the required amounts and sometimes searching for new shirts for Peter. “I really miss seeing those engineering puns on your shirts. They certainly never failed to make my day.” He swallowed, suddenly having a vivid image of the hoodie Peter wore the day things were still alright. The print said: “I make horrible science puns, but only periodically.” The kid had loved it, given that this basically summed up his humor. But it had probably been cut apart by the emergency services. Tony would definitely order him a replacement. “Maybe that’s what we should do. Try and find you some new jokes to try out when you’re better. What do you think about that?” He used the time waiting for an answer looking his request up until he found some good ones.

“Okay, you’re ready? Here we go: A photon checks into a hotel and is asked if he needs any help with his luggage. He says, ‘No, I'm traveling light.’” Tony rolled his eyes. “God, that was a really bad one. This one’s better. Organic chemistry is difficult. Those who study it have alkynes of trouble. If that isn’t worth a shirt-print I don’t know what is.”

He saved it, deciding for himself that he was going to get the kid the best self-made science-shirts that ever existed, just to see Peter’s eyes light up in laughter. “Let’s mix it a little. One good – one bad. Although I bet you’d laugh about all of these. What did Gregor Mendel say when he founded genetics? ‘Woopea!’. We forget about that one and just go on. A couple of biologists had twins. They named one Jessica and the other Control.” Tony smiled. “I bet we’re going to hate this one in just a few weeks. When we’ve adjusted your formula to the new requirements, they’re gonna beta-test it on rats to see how efficient it is in comparison with control groups.”

Tony spent the next half an hour reading all kind of science jokes to Peter, suddenly realizing he probably wasn’t doing it mainly for the kid – but for himself. Whenever he finished reading one he imagined the boy’s reaction to it: Simply rolling his eyes, or even crying in guffaw over how awful some of these were. When Tony had once pulled the “Iconic Bond” joke, Peter had laughed so badly he couldn’t breathe straight for a solid ten minutes. God, how badly he wanted just to travel back to that moment and pretend the last weeks have been nothing but a very, very cruel nightmare.

“I had to make these bad chemistry jokes because all the good ones Argon.” He finished fittingly, after what must be the hundredth joke. “Some of those were actually quite good, weren’t they?” Peter squeezed his hand, and Tony smiled. At that point, he could easily imagine the kid might’ve even heard him in the haze of his brain. “But it’s really late, so maybe we’re just going to read you a goodnight story, and then you just relax for a little while. I put on some music, too.” He picked a book filled with Toy Story short stories and searched one he hadn’t read to the boy just yet, leaned back in his chair and started telling Peter about Woody’s on-road adventures, until even his eyes almost dropped.

“Goodnight, Pete.” He whispered, tenderly stroking the boy’s curly hair.

[dcarevu]

Batman TAS: Perchance to Dream

“It’s a big hole in the ground, with a big car in it that’s all black. Remember?”

Episode: 30 Robin: No Writers: Joe R Lansdale (teleplay), Laren Bright (story), and Michael Reaves (story). Director: Boyd Kirkland Animator: Dong Yang Airdate: October 19, 1992 Grade: A

This should go without saying, but because of the nature of the episode (and because it was spoiled for me before I ever saw it), I am issuing a MASSIVE SPOILER WARNING. Take this as me telling you that going into this episode blind is highly recommended, and part of the fun of it is the mystery.

Are you ever disappointed to wake up from a dream? For me, it is usually a matter of not having finished the story that was playing out, or forgetting details. I don’t like waking up and causing cliffhangers which go forever unsolved, especially when I can’t even tell people about them. Then there are the dreams that you are so glad you woke up from. Usually these dreams consist of the scariest things we have ever experienced. Isn’t it crazy to think about? For many of us, the scariest moments of our lives never even truly happened in the real world. Batman lives these moments practically every episode. Things like our friend getting half of their body demolished and then turning into a contradicting gangster, or a clown who turns all the fish in the area into smiling, trepidatious frights. These events have very dreamlike qualities. They likely would never happen in real life, and don’t make all that much sense. Ironically, when Batman has what starts out as the best dream of his life, providing an escape from all that we try to avoid at night, he wants nothing to do with it. Because even though our REM thoughts are his conscious ones, and he probably could have lived the rest of his life in bliss, it means nothing to him if it’s not real. Looking the other way is not something that Batman is capable of. This is why he has made the enormous impact he has. Not only did the night at Crime Alley send his life into a gothic cave of despair, it also seemed to cause him to purposely repel any hope of happiness. Happiness to Batman is irresponsibility. Yet he stops at nothing to allow the innocent to live the happy life he is incapable of.

This is one of my favorite episodes of the entire series, even though I never got to experience the unknown. Batman falls into a mysterious trap, but wakes up immediately afterward. Suddenly, his life is completely different. His parents are alive. Selena Kyle is set to become his wife. He is no longer Batman. The weight of responsibility has been removed. He is set to live life as a rich playboy, while someone else swings around the city in a bat-mask. But there is a nagging feeling that none of it is right. There are inconsistencies and problems that prevent him from enjoying. Through a series of events, he ends up at the top of a tower in a cemetery, in a fight against himself, eventually jumping to what seems like his death. He wakes up from a dream that the Mad Hatter set up for him, and apprehends the criminal. What makes this episode so sad is that Bruce so desperately wants the dream to be real. At one point, after talking to Leslie Thompkins, he actually does begin to accept things. He tells us, “The nightmare is over!” Bruce considers his life a nightmare. He hates being Batman, but he is an addict. Right as he is truly about to throw his old life away, he opens up a newspaper and can’t read a word. The text is all jumbled. This is proof that this new life is not real, as he knows that in dreams, it is impossible to read. Cleverly, at the beginning of the episode, there is a sign on a building that is jumbled up, and no one mentions it. A very subtle detail that one can appreciate on a second watch. Another Easter egg is the music that plays immediately as soon as the title card pops up. It’s the Mad Hatter’s theme music, and we have only seen Hatter one time, so one is not likely to recognize it. But if you know it, you know it. Figuring this detail out yourself can give one a sense of accomplishment, and discovering a twist ending on your own rather than a spoiler is incredibly satisfying.

I also noticed that certain characters are nowhere to be seen, most notably being Robin. At first I wasn’t sure how to take this. Does Batman regret inviting Robin into his life? Why is Robin not there? This is supposed to be his desired life. But after talking to Char, I realized that in Batman’s ideal world, Robin’s parents never would have been killed in the first place, and so Robin would have no reason to be living with Bruce. Alfred is here, but his usual warmth seems to have vanished. I think this is less a reflection of Bruce, and more that Alfred never had to become such a fatherly figure. He lived with Bruce’s parents, serving as the butler, and not much more. He is still fairly friendly, but there is not as much between he and Bruce as there typically is at all. Also, I’m not sure if this was an inside-joke, but there is one point where Alfred helps pick out something for Bruce to wear. He selects a brown coat and says, “This should be just the thing for your meeting.” In the DVD commentary, the crew has joked about Bruce’s sense of style, making fun of his typical mustard-yellow and brown combo. The way Alfred says it makes me wonder, but I could be looking way too much into it.

Perchance to Dream is mostly action free until the ending, but Dong Yang still manage to knock it out of the park. Their best work yet, and they especially shine during the climax. There were some incredibly beautiful shots, and other points in the story are great too. There were a couple instances where the animation was massively smooth, reminding me of the pilot The Dark Knight’s First Night. I’m wondering if they blew their budget on this one, and that is why their work on Robin’s Reckoning is so poor (coming soonish). Credit should also go to Boyd Kirkland who’s angles and ideas give us a sense of wonder at every step, even when fairly mundane. The voice cast does the same. I swear the police officer is voiced by the dude that did a bunch of trailers in the 90’s or early 2000’s. Because I am so used to hearing it in that environment, yes, it sounds very out of place in Batman, but in a good way. His delivery is startling, and it acts as icing on top of the dreamlike cake. While we’re on voices, though, it should be noted that Bruce doesn’t talk in his Batman voice for the majority of the story. if this is his natural speaking voice, I think he should have been. I’m sure there’s a way to make it sound happy. They did it in Batman Beyond. At the same time, lines like “I’ve never felt better in my life, sir” have such perfect delivery they make me tear up, and said any differently would not have been as stellar. Oh gosh, and Mad Hatter’s delivery. The anguish made you feel for him, and he is not a character I held any sympathy for previously. I found him to be the ultimate incel. Many people see him as a tragic character, he’s a creepy asshole who carries the dreaded “nice guy syndrome”. Does he mean well? Don’t know, don’t care. But hearing him scream at Batman, explaining that he was willing to give Batman the life he always wanted just to prevent him from being a bother anymore, it’s heart-breaking. He simply wants Batman out of the way, and he decided to do it humanely this time. I find this very interesting, and this Mad Hatter episode dwarfs Mad as a Hatter.

Batman’s wipers come on after his car is coated in gunk. It’s the little details.

Nothing good ever happens on catwalks in this show.

Pictured here is a 13-year-old in the presence of Justin Bieber. Or whoever the kids listen to these days.

Little known fact, the Batcave is very much there. But this is. obviously an episode where it’s located behind the bookshelf, not behind the clock. Silly Bruce! Must have forgotten to read that part of the script.

Well no wonder he always wears that jacket with those options. 

I’m wondering what types of things Bruce does with his parents still alive and all. Then again, nothing in this world exists beyond the boundaries of when the dream starts and ends.

Bruce has been wanting Selena practically since her first appearance. But that face says it all. Is this relationship any more genuine than Mat Hatter and Alice’s?

This is the point of the episode where I could really sense the gears in Char’s head working. It’s the point where things go from being wrong to impossible. 

Notice the sign. 

Love the movement of Batman’s cape.

Some of the unusually smooth animation I mentioned before.

Great takedown. Batman holds the guy and spins down a pole, making him so dizzy that he faints. 

These two have the most conflicting colors on...

“Then... The nightmare is over.”

Kinda wish we saw Bruce shed a couple of tears.

Not only is the text all jumbled up, but there also seems to be way more text than what would fit on the paper. Even more strange, we see a smiling Batman. 

A look of madness on Bruce that we hardly ever see. it’s a great facial expression. 

The text here is also unreadable. Also, we’re getting to the point of the episode where virtually every angle is perfect. So here is a series of shots:

Boyd Kirkland and his team clearly cared a lot.

Batman comes in mysteriously like a kite. It reminds me of when Dorothy was trapped in the tornado. 

Bruce gets a taste of what criminals get almost every night.

Seriously, how can a figure with cute little bat-ears be so threatening-looking?

The Mad Hatter’s model isn’t quite as finicky this time around, and while I still feel that it was probably hard to translate to animation, it works a lot better. He looks like he belongs on the show.

Look at that smug face. He is sure that Bruce will never escape. I also like the thought of Bruce reaching a waking point, so even though he’s still asleep, he still picks up conversation going on around him. His subconscious recognizes Jarvis’ voice, and that’s how dream-Bruce was able to reveal the truth. But that’s just my interpretation. 

Bruce took a gamble, and you can tell by his expression that he may regret jumping. He truthfully has no idea if this will do the trick or not.

This is weird, but I love the shape of Batman’s eye here. 

Char’s grade: A Next time: The Cape and Cowl Conspiracy

Full episode list here!

[bluerene]

river, part one [starx]

hi 

it’s been a looooong while since I’ve really posted any writing (coughLIABILITYcough) but I’ve been working on this for a while and it feels worthy of being put up. Technically, the whole thing is meant to be a longass oneshot, but I figured that with tumblr’s format, it might just be better in shorter breaks. 

I’ll post on ff.net once all the parts are uploaded here. I don’t think it’ll exceed 5? 

things to note, uhhhhh, inspired by the hook from Eminem’s “River ft. Ed Sheeran”. also @fireflyxrebel ‘s blog bc starx <3 <3 <3 And my innate need to start new stories when I haven’t finished any. Post-Tokyo, sans kiss. 

I invite critiques, requests, reblogs, and reviews (i.e. please tell me if it’s garbage :)!!!

without further ado, this is River. 

I’ve been a liar, been a thief

been a lover, been a cheat

all my sins need holy water, feel it washing over me

Little one, I don’t wanna admit to something

If all it’s gonna cause is pain

Truth and my lies, now, are falling like the rain

So let the river run

I did it for the look on his face.

Man, you should’ve seen it. I think he might’ve stopped breathing. It only lasted for a moment, but damn, it was funny. Then he started throwing punches. She was dazed and pink but she managed to wiggle out of the red bands that strapped her to the wall. Her fists were clenched, but she didn’t look angry. Confused, stunned, maybe even a little curious.

The next bit was mostly a blur - I was busy dodging his fury, making little comments that only irked him more. I glanced over at her a few times. She was distracted, not really making a move to catch me. He was too busy dealing with me to notice that the only teammate at his disposal was a bystander.

Bird Boy knew my moves well. He landed a few nasty hooks, his steel shoes connecting with my chest once or twice. We were too evenly matched to make the fight come to a clean end. He anticipated the toys in my belt, from the x-shaped shurikens to the scarlet rubber bindings I enjoyed shooting so often.

I played the weakness. I glanced at her again, more noticeably, and raised my palms, prepared to strike.

It worked - he turned around and shouted her name, snapping her out of her thoughts. I shifted my aim and fired, wrapping him in thick red cords.

“Robin!” She shrieked, transferring something from her fist to her pocket.

“It’s been fun playing, kids,” I said calmly, “but I’ve gotta run.”

She was at his side immediately, peeling away the tightly wound bands.

“Hey, cutie,” I called, grinning at the sight of her crimson cheeks, “think about what I said.”

I gave them a two-fingered salute and tapped my belt, teleporting to the rooftop of the warehouse we were in. Ordinarily I’d try to get as far away from them as possible, but I was low on juice and until I replaced the Xenothium in the suit, I’d be stuck making short jumps - too short to escape their field of view.

“What the hell just happened, Starfire?” Ouch, he sounded pissed. Pissed and loud.

I positioned myself flat against the roof, straining to hear more.

“He escaped,” she said mournfully, “oh, Robin, I am truly sorry, I was...out of my skull?”

“Head,” he corrected, softening slightly, “what did X say to you? Where’s the paper he gave you?”

“He merely made another of the date comments,” her voice was meek and apologetic. I could picture her twisting her fingers nervously or playing with her hair, “and I... the paper was burnt by my starbolts.”

That made me do a double take. She was lying.

“He’s an asshole.”

“Indeed. But there is nothing we can do about him now, yes?”

He sighed tiredly, “yeah, whatever. He didn’t make off with much. I’ll deal with it tomorrow. We should head back, patrol wasn’t supposed to run so late.”

“Robin-”

“Don’t worry, Star. I’m fine, just frustrated. You’re right, there’s nothing that can be done right now.”

She seemed to accept this, not fighting back with any words as they exited the warehouse. I scooched closer to the edge of the roof, careful to keep out of view.

“Ride back with me?” He offered.

“Another time,” she replied, sounding alarmingly close, “I believe I require a midnight flight.”

I turned my head in what I assumed was her direction and - well, shit, there she was, floating with her back to me.

“Suit yourself. Don’t be too long, I’ll lockdown the tower after you’ve come in.”

“Thank you, Robin.” She turned and looked straight at me, lips pressed in a thin line.

I made a move for my belt, stopping when she shook her head. It was such an imperceptible movement, I was certain I had imagined it. But I obeyed anyway, waiting for the sound of the bike revving and speeding off into the night, until we were enveloped in silence once more.

She landed beside me and hoisted me up by the front of my suit, pushing me onto my feet. I stumbled back and shot her a glare.

“Ease up, cutie.”

“You do not get to speak to me in that manner,” she seethed, reaching into her pocket to retrieve a crumpled up piece of paper, “I will give you ten seconds to explain what this is before I throw you into the harbor.”

I shrugged, “it’s exactly what it looks like.”

“I do not understand. Even you are not stupid enough to give me-”

“My phone number? Stupid, no, interested, yes. Don’t try tracing it, you won’t get anywhere.” This wasn’t entirely true, but I was pretty confident she’d believe me.

“What did you hope to accomplish with this?”

“A date,” I said cheekily, “or a chat. I’ll be walking away from here with at least one, that’s for sure.”

She frowned, “I am still confused.”

“Me too, actually, why’d you lie to your boyfriend?”

She blanched, turning away quickly.

“He is not my boyfriend.” She muttered.

“Nuance,” I said smoothly, moving to stand beside her, “you still lied.”

“Would you have preferred I allow him to attack you?”

“Well, no, but I’m surprised you took my feelings into consideration.”

She shook her head, “it is not that. I am trying to understand you, and I do not think involving Robin would be of any help.”

“Oh? What do you wanna know?” I moved closer to her, praying that she wouldn’t crush my bones if we touched.

“Why do you do this, X?” She asked quietly, turning to face me, her fingers still clutching the scrap of paper I’d shoved into her hand twenty minutes earlier.

“I can’t help it if I like you, beautiful.”

She blushed and stepped out of my reach, shaking her head, “I am not referring to the flirting. I am referring to...the facade. The persona. X, you are capable of so much.”

Ohhhhhh, fuck. This was not where I wanted the conversation to go. I figured I’d tease her a little, flirt things up, play the game.

“You think too highly of me,” I said quickly, crossing my arms.

“I do not think that is true,” she replied, “you are strong and clever and you have aided us on several occasions. You could be a great asset to the Titans if you-”

“I’m not interested in being recruited, cutie,” I shot flatly, “I’m a thief. I do what I want, when I want. That’s all there is to me.”

“You are wrong. I know there is more.”

“You don’t know me.”

That shut her up. I felt bad, but not enough to take back what I’d said. I wasn’t wrong. She had no idea what she was talking about.

“Then let me.”

What?

“Excuse me?”

“Let me know you,” she said firmly, leaving no room for argument, “you have been persistent about taking me on an outing. I will go on a date with you, if you allow me the chance to truly know you.”

I shook my head, thankful that the mask hid my eyes which were probably the size of dinner plates.

“No way, cutie, you’re crazy.”

She shrugged, “perhaps I am, but I will not leave you with much of a choice. You will take me out on a pleasant excursion and allow me the opportunity to get to know you better. In return, I will not inform Robin of our conversation tonight, or give him this-” she brandished the slip of paper triumphantly.

“It’s a dead number anyways,” I lied, “go ahead, he’ll probably be more pissed at you anyways.”

Her eyes narrowed, lips curving into a smirk.

“You underestimate Robin. And you underestimate me.”

I had to smile at that, “Cutie, I would never underestimate you.”

“Marvelous. Then I shall contact you via this number to arrange an evening for our date. I would appreciate it if you cooperated, but it is not necessary, because this will happen either way,” she said briskly, rising into the air.

“One question,” I said, definitely not getting caught up in the sight of her long red hair flowing in the cool night air, “why are you doing this?”

She smiled slightly, “I believe in chances and goodness. Consequently, I believe you deserve to have and be both.”

“No, no,” I shook my head, “I meant the date.”

She blushed again, “conceivably...it could be fun.”

With that, she was gone, her exit accented by a bright green streak in the sky.

-

X’hal I must be insane.

Raven certainly thinks so. I told her what I had done - used Red X’s affections for me against him. She feels it is a terrible idea. I do not disagree.

I find him to be intriguing. He has proven himself to be worthy of the Titans time and time again, saving us, assisting us, often choosing to help rather than run. He claims his motives are his own, and perhaps they are, but I truly feel there is more to it.

To be clear, I am still very confused by many of his actions. I do not understand why he has chosen crime, nor do I understand why he flirts with me. I am not even sure the flirting is genuine.

Humans are such complex creatures. They err more often than not. Matters of honor hold great weight with some and no weight at all for others. Actions are coupled with intent to determine consequence.

Humans also veil their emotions. They feign kindness to disguise malice. Conversely, they can act cold to hide affection. I have seen it often with Robin.

Tamaranians are the opposite. We are compelled by our soul and our strength. We pride ourselves on our ability to feel, and express our feelings through touch rather than verbally. I have become quite accustomed to the various displays of physical affection humans utilize. High-fives and the bumping of fists in congratulations. Hugs for comfort, friendly kisses on foreheads and cheeks, sometimes hands as a means of being silly or flirtatious. Mouths with romantic intent. This, I find rather foreign.

Raven suggested, rather hesitantly, that I might have agreed to Red X’s request because I have been feeling lonely and I enjoy his attention. I know she did not mean to insult me, but I felt slightly affronted. Mostly because I could not disagree with this observation either.

I have long given up on Robin. Tokyo put a distance between us, an uncomfortable bubble that neither of us have been able to break. He is still my friend. I still love him. But I am tired of waiting.

Red X has always been amusing to me, though I try to hide it for Robin’s sake. I do not need his flirtations or compliments, but I certainly enjoy hearing them. It fills me with a strange feeling that twists in my stomachs and makes my heart work a little faster.

Thinking about it now, I realize accepting his offer may have been too bold of a move. I do not know where we will meet or what we will do or how we will dress. I have no alibi prepared, though I am sure Raven will allow me to use her as an excuse. I doubt Red X will tell me anything of true value. He may choose to use this date as an excuse to ‘put the moves on’ as Cyborg would say. It could very well be a wasted evening.  

But, if anything, I do think it will be fun.

[end of part 1]

[vizkopa]

Smoke and Mirrors (Detective!Smoker x Reader) PART 2

Fem!Reader

~

Smoker looked out onto The Strip from the penthouse suite of the Rain Dinners Hotel and Casino. A mirage hung heavy in the air, a blanket of heat beating down on the city from the midday sun far above. There was nothing Smoker hated more that Vegas in July and, though he never showed it, he was eternally grateful to be inside on a day such as this.

Behind him, he could hear Tashigi speaking but it was if he was hearing her from very far away. For some reason, he couldn’t stop replaying their encounter with the magician’s assistant over and over in his mind. There was something about her that kept bringing his thoughts back to the subtle curve of her lips and the delicate skin of her throat. He snapped himself out of it quickly. A suspect—no matter how pleasing to the eye—was not an appropriate recipient for his impure thoughts. He turned from the window to face the room.

“Mr. Crocodile, did you know the victim?” Tashigi was perched in a plush armchair before the large black and gold desk, looking rather small in comparison to the man seated behind it.

Smoker had seen his type before—hotel business tycoons that have too much money to know what to do with. There was no shortage of men like him in a city like Las Vegas. He had no doubt this man could pay Smoker’s rent for an entire year with only the cost of the rings on his right hand.

The voice that answered Tashigi was gruff, but strangely smooth. For some reason it brought to mind sand trickling through an hourglass. “We were never formally introduced. My assistant handles the hiring of most of the entertainment.”

Tashigi jotted a few words down on her notepad and Smoker’s lips twitched in an almost-smile. Always by the book.

“I see. Were you present when the accident occurred?”

“I was not.”

“Can you account for where you were between 9 and 10pm last night?”

“Entertaining a guest. In my private suite.” He leaned back in his chair, observing the two detectives with a wary expression.

“Can your… guest corroborate on that?”

“Yes. As can the waiter who served us.”

Either the man was telling the truth, or he was an exceptional liar. Tashigi always gave suspects the benefit of the doubt, but Smoker had been at this far longer than her. He knew it never did well to trust the word of anyone. Especially a man with money.

Smoker sat down in the seat beside Tashigi, but remained silent, observing the man across the desk from him. Crocodile pulled a silver case from his coat pocket and pulled out a cigar. Well… Smoker couldn’t doubt the man had good taste in tobacco. Noticing the way Smoker was eyeing the cigars, Crocodile smirked and offered him the case.

“A man of good taste, I see.”

Smoker shook his head minutely. He hadn’t had a smoke all morning and he could feel the addiction demon clawing at its cage to get to the offered cigar. But he refused to break.

Crocodile tucked the case back into his coat with a shrug and lit the cigar, taking a long drag. As hardened as Smoker liked to think he was, he couldn’t help but inhale, the weak, second-hand smoke a poor substitute for the real thing. It only mode the cravings worse. He gritted his teeth and willed this interview to be over soon.

“We’re going to need the name of the waiter,” Tashigi said, oblivious to the exchange between the two men. “And we’d like to talk to your assistant. In fact, we’re going to need a list of all guests and employees that were present in the hotel on the day of the mur—accident. Even those who checked out before the performance.”

Smoker cringed. It wasn’t supposed to be public knowledge that it was a suspected murder just yet. But if Crocodile noticed her slip up, he didn’t let on.

Crocodile waved his hand dismissively, and for the first time Smoker noticed the left hand was strangely rigid, sheathed in a black leather glove. “Do what you will. The sooner all this bad press surrounding my casino is dispelled, the better. Robin!”

The door opened, and a tall, dark-haired woman entered and bowed to room. “Yes, Mr. Crocodile?”

“Please compile a list of all employees and guests that visited the hotel over the last two days. And send it to the LVMPD when you’re done.”

“Of course, sir.” The assistant bowed again and left as swiftly as she came.

“I believe that’s all we need from you for now,” Tashigi said. “Thank you for your time. We’ll be in touch.”

The detectives stood in unison and made to leave, but before they could reach the door, Crocodile called them back.

“Detective Smoker,” he said, rising from his chair. He outstretched his hand, a single cigar clutched in bejewelled fingers. “For the road.”

Smoker hesitated, but his cravings got the better of him. He took the cigar and tucked it in the breast pocket of his jacket. He nodded his thanks, to which Crocodile only smiled, and followed Tashigi out.

As the door swung shut behind them, Smoker growled:

“I don’t trust him.”

“You don’t trust anyone, sir.”

Smoker let out a grunt that was almost a laugh. “I don’t think he’s directly involved. But I highly doubt anything happens in this hotel without him knowing about it.”

“You might be right.”

“When am I ever wrong?”

“What’s our next course of action?”

Smoker thought for a moment. “Let’s take a look in the vic’s room. Have forensics been through yet?”

“Yes, earlier today. They didn’t find anything.”

“That because they didn’t look hard enough. Let’s go.”

Smoker started off down the hallways and Tashigi hurried to keep up.

“What do you think you’re going to find?”

“Something. Anything. This case is dirty all over and someone has to have tracked that dirt somewhere. There’s no such thing as a perfect crime.”

“And if it really was just an accident?”

“One thing I’ve learned from this job over the years, is if there’s money or fame involved, it’s never an accident.”

Tashigi looked troubled. “For the record, I hope you’re wrong.”

“When am I ever wrong?”

[ellana-ravenwood]

Fate is a bitch - Bruce Wayne x Reader

Warning : I was drunk when I wrote this, just coming back from a friend place...I drunk two beers, and that’s enough for me to get drunk, how weak am I right ? It’s because I never drink...Anyway, that’s why this fic is shittier than usually blahblahblah it’s all fun and game until blahblahblah I thought about not writing this and posting it, but then I promised two stories for tonight so still did it and I’m an idiot yes thank you very much. Look how great Bruce looks down there. Damn hottie. DAAAAAAMN HOTTIE. 

Decided to group two requests, because the two together inspired me. So here for a shy reader, newly a Justice League member, intimidated by the Bat. As usual, feedbacks are very welcome, hope you’ll like it :

PART TWO  

My master list blog : @ella-ravenwood-archives

________________________________________________ 

Destiny. 

You strongly believed in Destiny. 

No matter what people could say, how many arguments against it they had, and how much they were sceptic about it...it wouldn’t change your mind. You strongly believed in Destiny.

Because it was impossible only coincidences brought you were you were now...in the Justice League’s headquarters ! 

It wasn’t a coincidence that your path crossed Billy Batson’s, aka Shazam, one of the most powerful superhero in the World (though he was barely ten years old), and that you ended up adopting him.

It wasn’t a coincidence that you so happen to be a meta-human too, being able to manipulate the four elements. 

It wasn’t a coincidence that your son got noticed by the Justice League, nor was it a coincidence either that soon, the leaguers discovered he was only a ten year old boy in the body of a grown ass man (when he used his powers) and therefor, discovered that he had a mom...you. Who almost grilled Superman because you thought he wanted to hurt your boy. 

You believe strongly in Destiny, because hell, if all those chain of events were just coincidental, then wow...It just didn’t make sense. It was just too good to be true you know ? From your first meeting with four years old Billy to now, sitting in the League’s headquarter, in fucking Space ! 

The first one you met was Batman, and damn that guy was intimidating...But when he spoke to you, and when he congratulated you to have raised such a good boy as Billy, something weird happened in your heart. 

At first, you pegged it for a stupid teenage like crush. Like the slight infatuation you’d have on the most popular boy in school, or on a teacher, knowing damn well you’d never have a chance with them. But then...Then it was more than that. The more you saw and talked to him, the more you had...feelings stirring in your belly and such. 

Destiny. You strongly believed in it. 

So, when you started to fall for the Bat, you decided it was also Destiny...Only, sometimes fate could be a bitch, and would destin you to be a sad miserable human being. Because there was absolutely NO chance that you’d ever get with a guy like Batman, he was way out of your league. 

****************

The first thing that made you like him, was the way he defended your son against the other Leaguers. They wanted him out of the league because he was but a ten year old child but...He already proved he was capable of handling himself, and even more importantly, of saving a lot of lives ! So what was the big deal ? 

Batman was the only one defending your son, and he was also the only one that needed to, as he convinced everyone. When you thanked him, he just told you it was normal, there wasn’t anything to thank him for. 

The second thing that made you slowly fall in love with him, was the way he seemed genuinely worried about everyone’s well being. Some of the Leaguers thought he was an emotionless man, but they couldn’t be more wrong. Whenever someone was hurt, he took it as a personal mistake. He threw himself in front of people to save them more times than you could count. He always made sure everyone was alright, even if it meant him not being ok...He was the most compassionate man you ever met. And he was really only a man. No powers. How impressive was that ? 

The third thing that drove you crazy, and you felt a bit vain for that but, oh well, whatever...was his body. His body was ridiculous. The dude worked out a lot. And his voice, oh god his voice (when he didn’t have the modulator on), it was amazing. Deep and soft at the same time. 

The fourth thing that made you want to crash your lips on his was...as oddly as it sounded, his conversation. He was the first one to talk to you when you arrived in the League, and he made sure you felt comfortable. He made sure the look other leaguers gave you (after all, you were letting your ten year old child roamed Earth and Space freely...but Hell, that kid was one of the most powerful being in the universe, if he could save life, shouldn’t he do it ?!) didn’t make you feel bad...Besides, he too let his children, quite young, out int he street to fight crime. He understood. The conversation always flooded so well between the two of you, it was almost crazy. You knew it was in your head, but you felt like a special connection was being webbed between the two of you...After all, it seemed you were the only one he really talked to like that. But no. That was probably in your head.

The fifth...Oh forget it. There was so many reasons you slowly started to fall for the Batman, that listing them all would take ages. He was everything you liked in a guy. Even his broody and aloof side was appealing to you. Because just like him, you were highly introverted, and sometimes, you just needed to be alone...so far, everyone you ever dated did not understand that, and whenever you asked for some “alone time”, they took it the wrong way and ended up resenting you, and therefor, breaking up with you...

Besides, it wasn’t easy to find someone as a single mother...But; didn’t Batman had like, ten children or something ? Maybe he’d understand...You shook your head. You needed to STOP thinking about him. You had absolutely no chance. It was quite clear that he did not want a relationship. 

Still, sometimes, you found yourself just staring at him when you knew he wasn’t looking, and thinking about how it could be, to date him...Billy was getting along pretty well with Damian...

But there was no way in hell that you'd ever be brave enough to make a move, the man was too damn intimidating. Even sometimes when you two spoke, even if the subject was light or silly, he would still keep his composure and his stoic tone and...Well. Yes. Intimidating was a great word to describe his overall behavior. 

*******************

-Say, mom. You have a thing for older guys, right ?

-I totally have a thing for older guys. And it’s not an appropriate subject to talk with my ten year old son. 

-No but, hear me out ok ? Besides, I’m in my adult form right now, which makes it ok right ? 

You had to give it to your boy, his logic was flawless. Well, almost flawless, because even if he looked like he was in his thirties, you knew he was way younger...But you’d hear him out, because it was always interesting to hear him talk about what he was thinking and all. He always had rather...interesting and special inputs on life. So you turned to him, and, going on your tip-toes to ruffle his hair (seriously, you hated his adult form), you nodded for him to continue. 

-Well, Damian...you know Damian, Robin. Batman’s son. Yeah you know right ? Ok cool. Well Damian and I were talking about how you and his dad were getting along so well ok ?

You blushed. What ? If ten year old boys picked up on it then...You shook your head. No. Batman wouldn’t waste his time on this kind of thoughts. 

-Where are you going with this Billy ? 

-Well, Batman is quite older than you. From what Damian said, he’s about twelve years older so...You dig him right ? 

-...This isn’t how it works my boy. 

-But, you like older guys ? 

-I do. 

-So you like Batman ! 

-I don’t like every men that are older than me !

-Oh ? 

-No Billy. What the Hell ? 

-So...You don’t like Batman. 

-No, I do like him. 

-Really ! That’s great because...

-...As a friend ! I like him as a Friend ! Hell, I don’t even know who he is in real life. 

-Yes you do, I bet you figured it out. 

-Maybe. 

-You know it’s Bruce Wayne don’t you ? 

-What if I do ?

-Mom, you can fool a lot of people but not me. I know you’re smarter than you let people think, because you love when people underestimate you and all of a sudden they’re impressed because you’re way better than they thought you were. 

-...What are you, my shrink or something ? 

-My point is. You know who he is, he’s older, you think he’s hot...

-Wow wow wow, I never said I thought he was hot ! 

-Mom, I heard you whispering it to yourself that time he came back wounded and had to take his chest armor off. 

-Oh...You sneaky bastard.

-I’m pretty sure that’s not how you’re suppose to speak to your own son...

-It’s how I’m suppose to speak to my snake of a son who always get up in my business ! Curiosity killed he cat Billy ! 

-Well I’m not a cat so it doesn’t matter ! 

-I don’t even understand where you wanna go with all this ! 

-I was just wondering if you liked Batman ! 

-I do ! As a friend. And...? 

-You do ? 

-I do ! 

-Great, because him and Damian invited us over for dinner tomorrow night !

-WHAT ?! 

-I already said yes. Now we have to go. We’re totally going to try to set you two up with Dams by the way, so be ready. Don’t blush too much alright ? 

-....You little...

-I’m recording you right now mom, if you insult me I’ll call social services. 

-You think you’re funny don’t you ? 

-DAMN HILARIOUS ! 

Ignoring your heart racing like crazy just at the thought of going to have dinner at Bruce Wayne’s house, you grab your son (still in his grown ass man form) and tackle him down, tickling him mercilessly...Of course, because he’s so much bigger than you, it ends with a bloody nose for you, and a very sorry kiddo that order take out from your favorite restaurant, and puts on your favorite film. 

Oh that kid knew you too well. 

******************

Destiny. 

You strongly believed in Destiny. 

But sometimes, fate could be a bitch, and right now, your son’s hand (a child once again) in yours, you could have punch it if it was a person. 

Oh god, you’d punch fate in the face so much. 

Fuck you fate, why did you have to be such a bitch ? Why did you have to drag (Y/N) all the way in front of the house of the guy she had a massive crush on but knew she’d never have a chance with ? WHY ?

You were pondering all of that yourself, when an older man open the door of the massive Wayne Manor (you felt so ridiculous, coming here with your old shitty cars that was such a wreck that most of it was held by duck tape). 

-Good evening, I am Alfred Pennyworth, Mr. Wayne’s butler. I suppose you are Lady (Y/L/N), young mister Billy’s mother ? 

-Yes. Hum...Nice to...meet you...Sorry I don’t know the protocol to...

-Oh do not worry Lady (Y/L/N), no protocol between us. You can call me Alfred, they all do. Now if you would please follow me. Oh by the way young mister Billy, thank you for the birthday card, Master Damian gave it to me, it was very...inventive. 

-Thanks ! I knew you’d like the dragons ! 

You took a look at your son, and how excited he was (lately, he spent A LOT of times in the Wayne Manor, with Damian and Jon, Superman’s son), and at Alfred, who smiled warmly to himself...You were so proud to have a kid as nice as your Billy. Wherever he went, you always had compliment about his behavior...You had absolutely no idea how he became such a respectable young boy, when you spent most of your time swearing like a sailor and all...But it was great. 

***********************

You rarely saw the bat without his cowl, but hot damn. You recognized his square jaw and lips that looked so damn kissable and...his eyes were wonderful. So blue. And he had amazing jet black hair, combed thoroughly. 

He was waiting with his sons in the dining room, and jumped up his chair (while his sons were snickering at him) when you and Billy came in. 

-(Y/N) ! Hi. I...I...What are you doing here ? 

Oh God. That was awkward. 

-Hum...My son he...Said...your son and you invited us for dinner ? 

-Oh...yeah...We did...I just thought...I just thought only Billy would come, for some reasons. 

-I’m sorry. If I’m intruding I can go, I...

-Oh no no no. Sorry to be so rude, it’s just ...A surprised. A pleasant one. 

He smiles at you, and it seems like a genuine smile, not the fake one he sometimes give his fellow leaguers, or the half-smirk he has often. It troubles you...because damn why do you like that guy so much ? 

He smiles at you but...Oh the entire dinner is awkward. Fortunately, Bruce’s older sons ask you a lot of questions, and talk to you, because Bruce do not utter another word  after he said it was pleasant for you to be here. What the hell right ? But what did you expect ? He was always like that. He rarely made connection, and wasn’t even expecting you to be here. It’s not because he talks to you when you’re on a job that he’d want to see you in his every day life...

He just doesn’t speak. Sometimes, he stares at you for a while, or peaks up from his plate when he thinks you’re not looking. He keeps glaring at his youngest son, and the way Dick, Jason and Tim look at him curiously is...Weird. Damian keeps making innuendos about how you and Bruce are very much like each other and...

He leaves before dessert, and the sorry look your son gives you is enough for you to elect yourself as the “biggest looser of the year”. If even a ten year old boy pitted you, well hell, that was something...

You knew it anyway. You didn’t expect much of the dinner (that was a lie, you had an entire scenario ready in your life, ending up with you and Bruce sneaking out in the garden to make out...). Batman was...a colleague. That was nice enough to let you into his own personal home. Granted, it was because your son was a very good friend of his but...Yeah. You don’t know what you were expecting really. 

Bruce Wayne was way out of your league.

********************

You don’t go up in the Justice League headquarters for the next two months. You don’t want to see Batman, not before you’re over him. Not before you stop crushing on him...And you realize that it’s not just a crush. You’re in love. Fuck. 

********************

Your son tells you Batman is asking after you, but you can’t trust the boy. Him and Damian are getting so well along, that they both decided to set you up together...but so far, their attempt was a big failure. It ended up with either Bruce just leaving without a word, off to go things that were actually important, or you making a fool out of yourself. 

*********************

As you’re saving the World with the League for the hundredth time, Clark corners you to ask you what was going on, why you weren’t coming up anymore...and if it was Bruce’s fault. 

You tell him you’re fine, you’re just not a fan of space. And it’s not Bruce’s fault, why would it be ? You don’t like the look Superman is giving you, and you remind yourself of talking to Billy when getting home, because you’re pretty sure your son is spreading some rumors about you and the Bat. 

*******************

You don’t make it home that day. Distracted by thoughts of Bruce and your unexplainable strong attraction to him, even though you know you have no chance, you don’t notice the enemy...You hear your son’s manly voice (powered up, adult form) as you feel an unbearable pain in your chest. What is that thing sticking out of between your boobs ? Did...Did something just pierced your body ? You feel someone’s strong arms catching you before you fall to the floor, and everything goes dark. 

*******************

When you wake up, your boy is sleeping in your bed, next to you, curled up against your side...and it looks kinda weird because he’s in his adult form.

But he’s not alone in the room. In a chair at the foot of your bed, Damian is sleeping tightly too, a blanket with batman symbols on it over him. 

And...Next to you, on a hospital chair, is Bruce. 

What...What was he doing here ? 

You stir in your bed, trying to sit up. It doesn’t even wake Billy up, damn your boy must be exhausted. Damian doesn’t budge either...It wakes Bruce up however, and when his eyes meet yours, his harsh features soften, his creased eye brows rise in relief, and a small smile tug at his lips. 

-You’re awake. 

He says weakly, clearly lacking sleep too. 

-I am. 

Your voice is hoarse, and dry, and it hurts when you speak. 

-What...What happened ? 

-You got stabbed. By a sword. A very big sword. You’re lucky to be alive. 

-...When ?

-You don’t remember ? 

-I’m not sure...

-Almost three months ago. 

-I’ve been out for three months ?!

You try not to raise your voice, as to not wake the kids but...three months ? 

-Yes. You scared your boy. 

You look at Billy tenderly, and push away some strand of his hair out of his face.

-Poor kid...He already went through a lot...I take it, if you’re here, it’s because you took care of him ? 

-Yes. He’s...him and Jon are Damian’s best friends. I couldn’t leave him alone. 

-Thank you. Really Bru...Batman, thank you. 

-We might be in the hospital wing of the League’s headquarter, but as you can see, i’m not wearing my costume. So please, call me Bruce. 

-Thanks Bruce. 

-You’re very welcome. You’d do the same for me. 

-Of course. 

An awkward silence ensue...It’s nice that he took care of your son, but you kinda want him to leave, because it’s...it’s just too painful. Seeing him here makes you hope he’s not there just because of your son, and hoping is bad. You learned that the hard way. 

None of your relationship ever ended well. You were unlucky in love. Fate was a bitch on the matter, you learned to accept it...but if Bruce was there...You just wished he’d leave. 

He was looking at you intensely, and it made you shiver. He probably didn’t mean it, but right now, you found him more intimidating than ever. 

-Well...You...You can go now. I’m ok. A bit groggy but, ok. I can take care of him. 

-I’m sure you can but...If you don’t mind, I’ll stay. 

-I do mind actually. 

You speak before you can think, and immediately regret it. Especially since Bruce, for a fraction of second, looked hurt by your reaction. 

-I mean...I’m ok. You can just...Go on with your activities. 

-It’s the middle of the day. I often work just at nights. 

-I bet you have plenty of things to do though. 

-But this is more important. 

-Stop it please. Just stop it. 

-What ? What did I do ? 

-You...you...Just go. 

-Why ?

-Leave.

-I won’t go until you tell me why. 

It was weird, having an argument with someone while you could only whisper (again, not wanting to wake up the boys). And...What was he doing ? Why wouldn’t he just leave ? 

-I don’t have to tell you why. 

-Then I won’t go.

-You’re infuriating Bruce. 

-Does it have something to do with you not coming up the space station those last six months ?

-What ?

-I couldn’t help but notice your absence. Usually, like me, you’d be up there almost every day. 

-Well, sorry to have a life...Wait, no, that sounded rude...Please just leave. 

-Again, not until you tell me why. 

-Stubborn bastard. 

-You couldn’t be more correct my dear. 

The way he calls you “dear” makes your heart flutter...but you know it doesn’t mean anything. It’s just a way of speaking. You make one last attempt at driving him away, because you’re not sure you can handle much more of this : 

-Bruce. I beg you. Just leave me alone. 

-I will, promise. I’d even never cross your pass ever again if you wish, and apparently, you wish to...Like, I can't help but think I’m the reason you don’t come up here anymore. So please, tell me what I did wrong. 

-You didn’t do anything wrong. 

-Then why do you want me to leave ?

-Alright ! Fine. You wanna know why ? Here’s why : For some reason, I’m attracted to you. I don’t know why I instantly felt drawn to you, but I did. I’m attracted to you in so many ways. And yes, I didn’t come up in the space station for a while because I was avoiding you, because I know you’re not interested, it’s not your thing, and especially not with me. So please, leave, because...because I’m...I’m in love with you. And seeing you here gives me false hope. Please. Just go. Because I know there’s no way you love me, or even like me...Right ?

You hate the fact that there’s hints of hope in your voice...You feel pathetic.

Especially since Bruce looks at you, his face emotionless...Or almost. Because, aren’t the corner of his mouth trying not to twitch up right now ? 

-I’m sorry to tell you that but...

Your heart stop. Of course. Of course you’d have no chance. He was about to break your heart, right there, right now. 

-You are extremely dense.

You’re stunned. Dense ? That’s...That’s not what you were expecting.

“Dense”. How rude.

-What a...shitty way of rejecting someone.

-Who says I’m rejecting you ?

-..You’re not ? 

-I’m not. 

-...Why ?

-Because for some reason, I’m attracted to you too. Except that I know why. It’s because you’re passionate, compassionate, the way you raise your son is amazing and impressive, he’s really a nice young man. You’re beautiful too, hope it doesn’t sound too vain of me to say so. When you’re around, my..uh..I’m not good with words, but basically, my heart races, and I can’t stop it. I tried. But I can’t. And it’s not that relationship do not interest me, it’s just...I don’t always have time for them, and I never met anyone who understood that. But you do. We often talked about that. The truth is, I’m tired of being alone. Of having no one to understand me, confort me...To listen to my cheesy declaration of love. Sorry for the cheesiness by the way. And besides, Damian...Damian actually convinced me to confront you about all of this, he’s the reason I’ve been pushing you right now to tell me why you wanted me to leave. He thinks...He thinks we’d be a good match.

-Smart boy. 

-I thought so too.

Natural. That’s how it feels between the two of you. Just...natural. As if you were handmade for each others. It’s very weird and confusing. But sometimes, weird and confusing is good.

-After, I’ll tell you why I fell in love with you. But right now, I’m just gonna kiss you alright ? 

-I’m good with that. Just...I love you too (Y/N). 

It was all so casual. All so normal. As if you two told each other a million times before that you loved each other, as if you were already an old couple. As if...As if it was Destiny for the two of you to end up together. As if from the moment you found a four year old Billy down the metro station, it was all written somewhere that you’d end up here. In Bruce Wayne’s arms. With his tongue in your mouth and your arms around his neck. 

You always strongly believed in destiny...There was just no way all the things that happened in your life to lead you here were just coincidences, you...A very manly and excited voice suddenly yelled, from the corner of the room : 

-YES ! NOW I’M REALLY A BAT-SON ! Haha, get it, cause my last name is Batson ? 

-It’s not funny if you explain it Billy...

You and Bruce turned around to be faced by both your young sons (one of whom was in his adult form, and was...dancing a happiness dance ?) The fit of laughter that took over you two was legendary. 

PS : Next time I write something drunk, please, tell me to fuck off. BECAUSE THIS IS TERRIBLE ! Tomorrow, I’m gonna read it and be like : “Wow what, why did I write that ?” and erase everything. Maybe rewriting it someday. OH MY GOD SHIT.

[chromemuffin]

Shoukoku no Altair Liveblog (Chapter 8)

As for this chapter’s art, just when you thought this series couldn’t get anymore detailed, it goes and does just that! I am consistently floored by the patterns Kato puts in these designs. The circles along the hem of Mahmut’s red outer clothes make for a simple design, but are made a little more complex by including three circles inscribed in each other. And that is just scraping the surface. I also love the poses haha. Anyway, let’s move on.

Chapter 8: The Thief in the Slum

I really liked the swirls of smoke in this panel, reminds me of the otherworldly atmosphere of series like xxxholic. And the hexagon pattern on the windows is a nice touch. But look at Mahmut go! He’s supposed to be on vacation, but he couldn’t hold back from jumping right into this thing last chapter.

Of course Mahmut is sitting far away from everyone else. I have no clue how this seating area is arranged though?? Looks like a couch...but it’s not...there is a rise in the floor that goes across the room, and it looks like the rugs were arranged to make a seating area out of it.

lol throwing shade at Mahmut there. Shara finally gets her smug moment instead of constantly being D:< or –.– 

Koko seems to have a nervous eating habit (she makes some adorable expressions too).

When I said I was going to catalogue his expressions, I meant it. Not sure what this one is, though...in the panel before he had a normal serious/concentrating expression, and this time it’s a little drawn, perhaps a small grimace of “I can’t possibly find this guy fascinating” when his goal is murder.

Very nice detailing on the comb here, instead of defaulting to a plain design. It certainly is...different from anything I’ve seen before.

Shara is quite the go-getter. Now you can see why she went ahead and accompanied Mahmut to go save Ibrahim. She certainly is quite tough in her own right.

Um, excuse me. Is. Is every person pictured here unique?? I mean, there are no repeats of patterns, except perhaps the two women in the middle to the right, they do have different expressions though. Notice that everyone is wearing something different, even though they are clearly from the same town. Some have scarves, others have patterns on their shirts/jackets. They also seem pretty excited for the show.

And of course there are those two ominous guys walking towards the front...

Good composition of this panel, as far as I can tell. The screentone for the sky gives it a nice depth.

And lol Mahmut you’re losing ground, maybe because your legs are so short. Mahmut is apparently only 5′4″ (forgot what that is in cm sorry).

Anyway, Iskander is on it. (though golden eagles don’t really fly around at night lol most birds are ‘blind as a bat’ at night)

Knew it wouldn’t be that easy. The uh black sludge water (?) looks very ominous.

Those are glorious wings. And you can see that nice teardrop shape on his forehead.

lol they are still calling him Mahmut Pasha.

o.O expression, maybe? He looks younger when he’s surprised.

Waaait, so the story ended up being true. xD

btw I like the official on the far left.

O-oh. That does not look like a happy thief.

And are you related to Zaganos. You both have that sort of medusa/my hair is going to eat my face if not for my hat or turban look.

lol she keeps giving him these looks and he just ignores it.

Mahmut really is all business, unless you drag him into having a good time (something I relate to). Plus, this is coming on the heels of his demotion, subconsciously he’s focusing on doing his best to grow to be worthy of his former title. He doesn’t actually know how to go about that, probably, but this is a good start. A pasha’s duty is to protect the nation, after all.

UH, way to look like the emissaries of darkness guys. They even made it a point of walking in a triangle formation! Who does that!

I was wondering why they had some pots and plates on the rooftop. Make for great weapons.

lol poor thing. Even her arms are noodly. Love how everyone else is all into it and she’s the only one with a semi-normal reaction: terrified.

This is why you should have kept your identity a secret, Mahmut.

This guy’s voice ought to be cool in the anime, I’d imagine.

Ok, I noticed that he hung the lamp on the wall and there’s a little hook there so it doesn’t look like it just disappeared or is floating.

Also, thanks to the anime I now can confirm this thing is a whistle! Sorta. It doesn’t require the user to blow into it, but it is meant to call Iskander to him.

Also, smug faced Mahmut is back. Slightly subdued though. Maybe wry?

This is also kinda interesting. He doesn’t strike me as the Robin Hood type. It’s a good thing he has that menacing face though, it makes it easier to tell that he’s being sarcastic, and I can even imagine how he’s speaking in my head.

Once again, very interesting life philosophy here. Doesn’t seem like he’s being sarcastic about this part...? I wonder if he had that ‘pride’ Mahmut is saying he must have thrown away by now. Did he actually have a sense of honor, or was it just an image that fit well with his thieving, and now that he’s lost face, he just gave it up? I’d bet on that last one, haha.

Very nice angle on the latticework there, but what are you–

OH MY GOD.

Dude, where do you keep getting all these eagles?? Once again, this is probably terrifying, especially at night when the shadows are long and dark, and you can’t see the birds clearly and they just all SWOOP IN AT YOUR FACE.

I always love the swirls and lines on Mahmut’s clothing, btw. The billowy shape of this type of clothing is different from what you normally see in manga.

*trying desperately not to curse*

WHAT THE HELL. I’m telling you, Mahmut is a bird whisperer. How much meat did you need to bribe these birds with to get them to all perch in this room to interrogate this guy.

The contrast of light and dark spots is very nice here, especially in a higher res image.

Once again, this guy’s life philosophy is interesting. Guess this is how it ties into the realization Mahmut came to in the last chapter.

That there are ways of life out there, in the country he was supposed to be protecting, that he knew nothing of. Because he never stopped to think how other people lived.

I think the word introspection suits Mahmut well. He seems to do a lot of it, in the quiet panels in which you get a glimpse of his eye or part of his face as he is thinking.

First of all: I forgot how bloody laws used to be in this part of the world’s history it’s been a while since I took history as a subject.

Second: The thief telling Mahmut to kill him there was probably to avoid a torturous death. The thief is honestly hard to pinpoint. I can’t tell if he’s being sincere about certain parts of the last few panels, or if they were part of an act, and if so for what purpose.

Then, this line of Mahmut’s is very interesting: “I, too, obey the rules of the world I live in.”

In a subtle way, this is the answer to the thief’s earlier statement explaining why he would go as far as kill over the uncovered treasure: “To us, our treasure is worth more than our lives. I don’t expect you people to get it.”

Typically, people in authority take the high road, and whether or not it is true, take themselves to be the moral good. They don’t understand the people who live at the bottom of society, and have no desire to.

That is why Mahmut’s statement is so intriguing. He is telling this man that he acknowledges his ‘world’ by comparing his own world and that of the thieves, something a person in authority wouldn’t normally do. He’s telling him that he does “get it”. But because he understands that the rules are different for different ways of life, he can’t accept the man’s request/command to kill him. Then Mahmut would be breaking the rules of his own ‘world’ (and, of course, his morals).

AND THEN, the narrative throws the bloody execution at you in technical terms, very little to misunderstand about the brutality of laws in the past.

It also throws this little gem at you:

Koko, who has generally acted like a normal person today would to these situations (like being terrified when armed men are attacking you!)...

...is actually saying “So mean” because the thief violated her expectations of who Fakir Hirsiz is in her imagination. Sliiight values dissonance there, yeah? On our part, of course. We don’t think the cutting off of limbs is an appropriate punishment for stealing (i hope), but the people in this world aren’t bothered.

OH, so it’s highly implied that the treasure’s location in the play was no coincidence. As they showed in chapter 7, the plays often took inspiration from current events, and the thieves and their treasure were just one of them.

Mahmut has a disapproving expression here, as she says. He figured it out at some point. Because the theatre troupe directly and probably deliberately benefitted from the misfortune of others, and caused the whole thing, including the murders by proxy.

But, to the very end, she claims it was all a “wonderful, fictional world”.

Very sneaky. And, perhaps, like with the punishments for theft and murder (well, the murder/execution thing is up for debate, but cutting off limbs for stealing I HOPE not), it is meant to leave you with a sort of hanging feeling. Everything is resolved as well as it could be, but...? That kind of feeling lol. Can’t explain it well.

ANYWAY, Mahmut is off! Feeding Iskander again :3 

He looks, well, a little sad. That isn’t a frown, but he also isn’t happy.

Ah, yes, some much needed light-heartedness.

lol his expressions. I happen to like his startled expressions, they are always amusing. And then he’s pissed in that third panel. xD

LOL he’s the subject of the next musical.

And that’s a wrap! I actually wrote quite a bit for this one.

It was a tiny arc, but jam-packed with the very start of Mahmut’s long journey to meet his goal of becoming worthy of the title of Pasha.

← back・onward →

[ruffoverthinksthings]

Can you do JayxJordan for the ship meme?

1.Whois the most affectionate?:

Jay.Jordan is reluctant to show affection most days due to having beenburned by failed relationships and “falling in love with people toofast;” being new to physical affection and how great it feels togenuinely love someone and be loved back, Jay has no problem“binging” on hugs, kisses, and hand-holding.

2.Bigspoon/Little spoon?:

Jayis big spoon, Jordan is little spoon, always. “He’s got muscles,he uses them.”

3.Mostcommon argument?:

Playfullyspeaking, it’s whether or not Jordan can use her minor, non-wishmagic to solve a small inconvenience for Jay, like a loose thread.

Seriouslyspeaking, there’s Jay’s antics as he grows up, because it takeshim a while to get out of his “reckless teenager with nothing tolose” phase, and Jordan is getting spotlight with the scandals allthe while, getting the bad sort of attention to her channel.

“Idon’t know what you’ve been told, but here, bad news is stillbad news.”

4.Favoritenon-sexual activity?:

Workingout together.

Jaygets a spotter who can easily handle whatever weight he’sattempting, and someone who can easily match him or up the pace forhis training regime without need for complex machines, Jordan gets toenjoy seeing her man sweat and show off those muscles of his, and heher in form-fitting yoga pants.

Really,no one loses!

5.Whois most likely to carry the other?:

Jaywith Jordan.

WhileJordan is more than capable of carrying Jay by virtue of Faestrength, “there is no way I’m hauling your unconscious, drunk,and/or lazy ass down the street, to bed, or across the room, unlessyou’ve broken one or both your legs, or are bleeding out—and asfar as I can see, you’re neither.”

6.Whatis their favorite feature of their partner’s?:

Jay’shands for Jordan. “It’s all the care and attention of Royal, withthe strength and texture of a Greenback, with all the tricks andspeed of a VK—what’s not to love?”

WithJordan, it’s her eyes, no contest. “Prettier, shinier, and deeperthan any jewels I could steal in the whole wide world.”

7.What’sthe first thing that changes when they realize they have feelings forthe other?:

Jaygets even more flirtatious than usual with Jordan, being morespecific and direct about his compliments and suggestions to her,along with making concrete suggestions for dates and hanging out,rather than vague promises.

Jordan,meanwhile, gets evasive and paranoid with him, as oh goodness, it’shappening all over again, will Jay just dump her eventually like allthe VKs do with their relationships, or will it just be for thewishes, or will it be a happily ever after?

Doesshe even want to find out…?

8.Nicknames?& if so, how did they originate?:

ForJay, there’s “JJ” as Jordan’s personal nickname for him, tobe different from the rest; “Red Robin,” a pun, and a referenceto one of the future teams he signs up for, the Avalor Jaquins;“Sly Guy,” used insultingly, when Jordan has figured out whatmischief he’s gotten up to this time; or “Jasim” if shewants to use his real name.

ForJordan, there’s “Jean,” a play on “Djinn,” “Mistress”whenever she’s ordering his lazy ass around to go and do somethinghe’d rather not, “(My Most Beloved) Treasure” when he’s beingparticularly affectionate or alternatively, he KNOWS he has fuckedup—using it like that issupposed to keep Jordan onher toes, but she knows.

Shealways does.

9.Whoworries the most?:

Jordan.

Jayhas a very laissez-faire view of the world because of how out ofcontrol of anything he’s been all his life, but Jordan has both thecapability of understanding all the many forces at work that makelife as it is, and the infinite energy stores and lack of mortallimitations that let her worry basically whenever, wherever, forever,if she wanted to.

10.Whoremembers what the other one always orders at a restaurant?:

Jordan,thanks to her infallible Fae memory. Jay makes it a point to try andremember or guess what Jordan would order as a matter of pride,though.

11.Whotops?:

Jay.“Just keep in mind that who I am in the bedroom isn’t who I amelsewhere, alright?”

“Butwhat about when we do it in an empty supply closet somewhere?”

“JAY,I SWEAR…!”

12.Whoinitiates kisses?:

Jay.

Again,more affectionate, he comes from a very “love-starved”background, and Jordan takes a LONG while to get used to the factthat someone CAN in fact love her for her, the wishes are WAY loweron the perks list.

13.Whoreaches for the other’s hand first?:

Jay.Is it really a surprise at this point?

14.Whokisses the hardest?:

Jay.Man’s a demon, a devil, a doll, and the both of them know it.It also helped that he has had a lot of experience making good,delirious kisses to rob people discretely.

15.Whowakes up first?:

Jordandoesn’t really sleep, but when they do, it’s always Jay. “Gottaget picking when the picking’s good.”

16.Whowants to stay in bed just a little longer?:

Jordan.“Jay, this is not the Isle, you can probably get that shiton A-bay, or wait and grab it before they recycle or throw-away allthe excess stock!”

“ButI wouldn’t have it NOW!”

17.Whosays I love you first?:

Jay.

Hesays it casually and early as a manipulation tactic, as part of hisvery Spanish inspired “hot and fast” methodology, but changes hismind when Jordan has an incredibly negative, distressed reaction toit.

18.Wholeaves little notes in the other’s one lunch? (Bonus: what does itusually say?):

AsJordan doesn’t really need to eat, Jay usually gets coffeeand other snacks for her from time to time. She has no use forcaffeine nor sugar because of her unique, magical physiology, but shecan derive pleasure from eating, and she likes the notes Jayscribbles on the back of receipts or containers.

“It’slegally bought with my own money, I promise.” - J

19.Whotells their family/friends about their relationship first?:

Seeingas it’s much more convenient, Jordan does, with the caveat thatit’s with Jasmine and over Skype, because she is still one heavilyactive and involved Royal Consort. (Aladdin is no slouch himself, butlet’s face it: the man wasn’t made for sitting in for long,expansive meetings, nor ferocious verbal debate where you can’t infact challenge your opponent to a duel with swords and slander.)

20.Whatdo their family/friends think of their relationship?:

Jasmineand Aladdin raise eyebrows—they’re well aware of Jordan’s lessthan ideal experiences with romance, and even though they do trustJay as their honorary son, they’re well aware that monogamous,loyal “street urchins” like Aladdin were the exception ratherthan the rule.

Genieand Eden are highly supportive of Jay and keep teasing them aboutwhen they’re going to be able to call him “son” for real,something Jordan does not appreciate, as they had done thisbefore with relationships that didn’t work out, and Jay is thefirst real boyfriend she’s had in a LONG while.

Azizsays, “Jay, I respect you as a teammate [later on, “as a man”],and I will support you and help you be the best boyfriend you can beto Jordan. But I swear to Goodness, if you break her heart, I willfucking end you.

“… Also,for the love of all that is Good and Holy, try not to fuck while I’mat risk of discovering you two, please...?”

TheVKs are very nonplussed about it. “So what, Jay’s had dozensof girlfriends, that it’s Jordan just adds a new square to thebingo card.”

TheAKs are much more concerned, especially Ben as they’re all raisedwith the idea of monogamy and long-term relationships as thestandard, with casual, short-term relationships as the outlier, andare aware of how ugly break-ups with Jordan can be.

21.Whois more likely to start dancing with the other?:

Jordan,because she dances with everyone, and “there’s something in myessence that makes me want to show everyone these hips don’t liewhen the music really gets going.” It doesn’t really get overtlyaffectionate until she starts getting MUCH more comfortable beingaround Jay, and gets over her paranoia.

Afterthat, you start to wonder why Jay’s pants never catch fire from allthat friction. (They’re proofed and insulated, after the firstincident with a leather pair Jay is never wearing again.)

22.Whocooks more/who is better at cooking?:

Jordan,by virtue of having a cooking instruction series to her channelwhenever she’s feeling bored; cooking is one of those creative,endlessly novel, and time-consuming hobbies that are a great way topass the time when you’ve got all of eternity to spend, and yourperception of it is at a constant speed.

23.Whocomes up with cheesy pick up lines?:

Jay.“Someone call the museums and the art galleries, we’ve got apriceless treasure just out here in the open...”

24.Whowhispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear duringinappropriate times?:

Jay.

Jordandoes this for the people she has “Dangerous Liaisons” games withsuch as her other full-Fae friends and other immortal Fae (“age ofconsent” doesn’t really MEAN anything when you live forever, andare fully matured mentally at time of creation), but with mortals,she’s learned to tone down the sexiness and the seduction by a goodbit, as it’s more temporary and fleeting than they might think itwill be.

Aftershe accepts Jay will be her “Ever After,” the tables turn, andyou better BELIEVE that Jay has mastered the art of casually,discretely hiding inappropriate erections from said inappropriatethings whispered in his ear during inappropriate times.

25.Whoneeds more assurance?:

Jordan.

She’sgot serious self-esteem issues from all the time she’s been burned,along with the capacity to process paranoid thoughts faster than thespeed of light; meanwhile, Jay has long learned how to stop worrying,but Jordan is still at that phase where she hasn’t lost anyone dueto old age, or seen civilization completely change around her, so shedoesn’t really understand how little all of this means in the grandscheme of things.

26.Whatwould be their theme song?:

“Nobody’sBetter” by Z (feat. Fetty Wap)

Jordan’shad more than her fair share of guys who have been incredibly simpleand upfront about their feelings like Jay, but she finds she can’treally trust him as a mix of her own personal issues, and the factthat Jay’s being serious with Jordan does not preclude him “windowshopping” and playfully flirting with others.

27.Whowould sing to their child back to sleep?:

Jordan.She has the better singing voice, and Jay keeps filling them up withballads of his daring adventures.

“ButI cut out all the bad parts!”

“You’restill teaching our damn kids that it’s GOOD to be a thief stealingfor personal profit!”

28.Whatdo they do when they’re away from each other?:

Jordanworks on her videos, as usual, but she also spends a lot more timereflecting and thinking over things with how incredibly SIMPLE and tothe point Jay is. It’s the classic Philosophical issue of “Maybethat’s all that there is,” and unlike my blog’s point, it’sbest not to overthink it and just accept that the simple solutionreally is all there is to it.

29.oneheadcanon about this OTP that breaks your heart:

WhenJay proposes, it’s not a happy moment for Jordan—up untilthat point, it’s just been them dating exclusively, having anofficial status, and defenses on social media, but there’s neverreally been anything so concrete and legally binding as an actualring on her finger.

“I’mscared, alright?! What if things just go downhill from here? What ifwe end up getting divorced, and we have to fight over who gets thatring back?! What if…” she starts tearing up. “What if we’renot really an Ever After…?”

30.oneheadcanon about this OTP that mends it:

Jaywipes the tears from her eyes, kisses her, and gently says, “Jordan,I’m going to be honest: I don’t know the answer to any ofthose questions. But I what do know, I was willing to spend a stupidamount of cash, set up this whole date, and work up the courage toactually show this ring, than keep thinking to myself, ‘Next time,when there’s a better opportunity.’

“Ilove you, and I want to find out if we’ll work out. Do you?”

Jordansniffs. “… I love you too, Jay, but I don’t know…. I needsome time to think… a LOT of it.”

Jaynods, and puts the box safely back in his pocket. “Go ahead, I’llbe waiting—besides, the store had a no return policy, so it’s notlike I can do anything with this thing, anyway.”

Jordanpunches him, before she pulls him in and kisses him.

Yearslater, she gets back to him:

“Yes.”

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[noraarchontis]

Don’t Fall

Chapter 2: Ticking Time

Link: AO3 | FF

A.N: Please enjoy!

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He would never have thought that Damian would eventually return the mantle of Robin back to its previous owner, back to Timmy. Jason never really expected Damian to do such a thing since he was the one who fought his way through for the Robin’s mantel. The thought of him returning it was crazy by nature itself since Damian tried and almost killed him and Tim just for that. Yet, when he heard the news; Jason was filled with nothing but strangeness - confusion - weirdness.

Yes, Damian Wayne was weird. He was weird from the very first time they met him. Then, again, everyone were weird in their own ways and he couldn't be excluded from it too. Being brought from life to death then back to life again had totally changed his perspective on everything. Jason was weird, or maybe more toward mad.

Jason turned his head, facing toward the Pennyworth's garden with a cigarette between his fingers and smoke decorating his surroundings. He didn't want to think about anything. Nothing, there was nothing to think about for Damian's decision. Jason found no reason for his withdrawal, both physically and mentally.

Damian was fine in his eyes; there was nothing wrong with him beside his attitude was a little less annoying now, for some reason. His smirks, grin, annoying voice were still the same. But, Jason realized that Damian was much slower than he usually was. Damian never walked that slow before, not if there was some sort of victory that he won against anyone, but still... Damian was fast. He was faster and sneakier than anyone else in the family because of his physical attributes and trained body. Yet, all of that suddenly dropped when he quit Robin and stopped being sneaky to everyone, especially to him and Timmy.

Jason could recite the whole scenario of how Damian secretly attacked him in his own safe house where no one was supposed to know it. He still remembered it clearly when Damian suddenly shown up inside his safe house by the moment he greeted all his safe house beddings. Yes, Damian was weird but Jason was probably weird too, if anyone really seen what Damian had seen on that day. He greeted his pillow, bed, the house; he would probably greeted his whole stuffs inside his house if Damian did not, all of a sudden, gave him a surprise visit and stole his helmet.

Ah, Jason sighed at the thought of his encounter with the little assassin. He never thought that little demon would ever give up on the thought of being a Robin. After all the fight he went through with him, all the Robins went through with him; Damian just returned the mantel without any explanations.

No nothing.

No reasons.

Another smoke was blown by him, decorating his surrounding again as he thought very deeply about everything that happened, or suddenly happened.

"I suggest you quit smoking, Master Jason," an old and familiar voice greeted Jason from his side. "It is not a good habit and hobby to be further explored."

He inhaled further and blew out the remaining of what was left inside of his lungs. Old man, he thought. Alfred just stood there, looking at the direction of his garden, perhaps admiring his work.

"So, you know anything about the little demon?" He asked. Eyes not moving to see the other.

Alfred did not answer right away; instead he waited a little longer to answer the curious man to see his reaction. The butler knew all the Robins, especially the first two since they were the first to be adopted to the Wayne family, and he knew their personalities very well including the smallest details possible. But for Jason, the aged man also knew his rage towards the father and that time's current Robin after he came back from death to life. Impulsive, impatient, harsh, and many more... Alfred could name it all but he could never hated the boy; in fact, he actually loved him.

Alfred knew Jason well enough though Jason may not know it.

"Speak up, Alfred. Anything about the demon spawn?" Another question asked.

Alfred smiled, a smile that could be identified as ‘I know something but I can't tell you’. There was such a smile. But he promised, and he had always kept his promise, to his young master that he would not tell anything until it was clear to the young boy - perhaps teenager - as what really happened to his own body.

"No, Master Jason," Alfred spoke. "I know nothing of our young master's sudden decision."

Liar, Jason thought. He knew Alfred was lying because he had promised Damian not to tell anyone. He knew; he knew it because he had done the same to Alfred as well. Jason had told him something and Alfred had always kept his mouth shut unless Bruce told him to speak up; sometimes even Bruce himself couldn't get Alfred to talk too.

Jason knew the butler knew something, anything, about Damian. The closest person Damian could ever told anything about himself was Alfred, Titus the dog, and the other Alfred, the cat. Those were the ones the little brat could open himself up to; sometimes he also opened up to his previous mentor, but it didn't seem to be in that way since Dick had no idea what had happened to his precious little brother until this happened.

"Do you think Damian is happy for Tim to be Robin again?"

A sudden question went out from Jason's mouth as he inhaled the smoke for a few moments before letting it go in the air again. Alfred was still there with him, doing absolutely nothing but looking at the garden and enjoying the presence of the second Robin. It was a hot day but he still wore his best as if it was nothing at all even Jason looked at him with a weird gaze because of that.

"I think Master Damian is happy with Master Tim, Master Richard or even you, Master Jason, for being Robin," Alfred paused as if to appear dramatic, but it was surprising even for the former Robin and rebeller too. "Master Damian never thought of himself as highly as you might think he does."

He couldn't reply him. Jason just stood there with his almost-done-cigarette burning away; his gaze didn't meet the older man as he just stood there in the shade, leaning on the wall while standing still. Alfred might try to ask him to join his little tea party anytime soon but for now, the silence was perfect. It was perfect for him to think, perhaps rethink, of everything the youngest member of the Wayne family's action and harsh words he had given to him. Maybe those words actually meant nothing but words to cover the vulnerability of their little brother and with this decision, maybe Damian was ready tell them everything.

Tch, a quick smirk appeared on his face. Like hell that little demon would tell us what's wrong with him, Jason believed that. Believed that Damian would never tell anyone about his situations, hardships, or even small problems of his. He was always a person who handled his problems in his own way even though he knew others would have helped him willingly.

Yes, willingly...even himself.

Yeah, even Jason too...

It was eleven o'clock when Dick Grayson, the eldest of the brothers, came back home to pick Damian up. He knew their appointment was not until twelve o'clock, but since he had finished his work earlier than usual and thought about how Damian would probably appreciate his extra time and would just spend it together with him. Maybe going to a park nearby after eating lunch, or maybe, just maybe, Damian would talk to him about what really happened about his decision. But, it was just a maybe.

Dick knew how Damian was when he returned the uniform to Tim. Damian's face was conflicted but his voice was so calm and content as if he really just gave up on it and that was it. That was it. Damian didn't look at Tim in the eyes at all; his head was straight up facing Tim but his eyes were not. Dick could feel that Damian still wanted to be a Robin but something had happened, and he had no other choice but to take that action.

He shook his head slightly, trying to clear his head from everything that had happened. He went down to the basement, or what they all called it as Bat Cave, to retrieve some information about a certain criminal that had been running around Blüdhaven and Gotham for the past few months. Dick didn't plan to take too long down in the cave as he wanted to meet Damian as soon as possible and take him out for lunch as well as other things else. But, Dick didn't see Alfred coming into the cave as well with both hands full of boxes as well as a cart full of boxes of bandages and other supplies. Dick smiled to the old man's back as he knew Alfred was unaware of his presence.

"Would you mind to help me, Master Dick?" The butler had spoken, and maybe Dick had spoken too soon about not being noticed by him. "Have my hands full at a moment. I would appreciate some help, if you like to."

Another smile formed on Dick's face as he walks toward Alfred to help him.

"I was just thinking of getting some information from the bat-computer, not helping you with restocking, Alfred." Dick teased the butler with his smile.

"Well then, I will tell Master Damian that Master Dick has suddenly changed the plan and decided not to take him for lunch," Alfred replied.

Dick looked at him in shock.

"Young Master has faith in my words as I am a man of my words, Master Dick." Alfred smiled while turning his back toward Dick to see his master’s appearance.

Dick looked at him for a moment before finally smiling again. Alfred should have known that Dick would, for sure, help him with anything since the old butler was like his own grandfather. There was no such need for Alfred to even ask him for help as he would willingly help him right away.

Dick took the boxes from Alfred’s hands and placed it on his own as the butler put some more to Dick’s stack of boxes. Alfred pushed the cart towards the elevator with Dick inside it also. It didn’t take a long time for the elevator to reach where it should be. They went out from the elevator with nothing accompanying them but silence, silence that was probably too loud for Dick to keep on having.

“So, how’s Damian doing?” Dick asked. “Is he home?”

He put down the stack of boxes on the ground slowly with the help of Alfred as he waited for Alfred to answer his question about his little brother.

“Master Damian is doing well, Sir. However, I believe he will not be home until noon,” Alfred explained Damian’s lack of presence in the manor to Dick. “Young Master should be home just right before his appointment with you, Master Richard.”

There was no fear in Alfred’s words but Dick could feel something hidden inside the words. Something in the words that were well hidden inside it; something about his little brother.

“So, do you know where is he now?” Dick asked while opening the boxes and giving the content of the boxes to Alfred one by one.

Alfred received the bandages given to him by Dick with his hands as well as the question that was asked by Dick. And no… There was no way for Alfred to honestly tell him that Damian had gone to Gotham City Hospital to check up on his condition. No, he was sure of it that his Young Master did not even go to doctor Leslie Thompkins’ clinic for his check up because he was afraid she would tell the whole bat-family about what really happened to him.

Damian never wanted everyone else to think of him as weak or in need of protection from anything. It was a total no and never for Damian, but he did know that sooner or later, his whole family would know about it and would have to protect him from all the harm from all the enemies of their family.

Alfred sighed quietly as Dick’s question still lingered in the air; haunting the butler for answer to the seemingly simple question.

“He is in Gotham City Hospital, Sir,” Alfred quietly replied. “Seeing a friend of his who has gotten a surgery lately.”

Of course Alfred would lie for Damian. Everyone always believed in the old man’s word for he had always been telling the truth. So did Dick Grayson too. He trusted him with all his heart and genuinely care for the aged butler.

“I see,” Dick replied. “I’ll go pick him up there. Tell Damian that his eldest brother is coming for him in no time.” Dick said with a smile on his face.

Alfred nodded his head as he sent Dick away to the bat-computer to get the datas he needed. He looked at Dick’s back turning from him as he walked toward the big screen computers inside the cave, and Alfred could only look at Dick’s back silently while finishing off the current box before calling Damian to inform him about Dick’s decision.

It took Damian sometimes to actually accept the fact that his older brother was going to come for him in the hospital. He had no idea what Alfred might have said to Dick about him being in the hospital or whatever else but he had to face it because he knew Dick was already here, just waiting for him to come out from whatever excuses Alfred had told him.

The clock was still ticking loudly, but it was not as loud as how it was before since Damian was already over with all the examinations and tests he had to go through inside this hospital building. He was sweating and his muscles began to wear him out, and all he wanted to do was sleeping on his bed. But sleeping itself might be hard and dangerous for him as the doctor had already warned him about possibility of sudden death during sleeping. So, all Damian had to do was keeping himself wide awake and rest as much as he could without falling asleep.

No sleeping until he didn’t feel as tired as he was right now.

As Damian was about to sit down on the hallway to rest up for a moment, his phone vibrated multiple times with all the sudden text messages, emails, and a lot of missed calls from Dick Grayson especially. By the time he wanted to swipe one of the text to reply it, his phone vibrated again saying “Dick Grayson” in the middle and as big as it could be.

He picked it up and without saying anything Dick already went ahead of himself.

“I’m in front of the hospital. Where are you, Dami?” Dick asked while holding his helmet and placing it on his thigh.

“Coming out now,” Damian replied simple and clear.

“Okay. See you soon, lil' bro!" With that Damian ended the call as he inhaled the oxygen deeply to calm himself down.

You can do this. Just go out there and pretend like nothing happened. Don't speak until Grayson asks anything about it. Damian had to reassure himself that everything would be alright. That nothing would be noticeable at all. He would be fine. Totally fine and there would be no problem at all.

Damian sat down for a few minutes to rest in the hallway. Many people pass by and some noticed that he was, in fact, Damian Wayne. He knew he had to leave right away but his body just wouldn't obey him. He needed to move so badly, walked away from the crowd and escaped with Dick who promised him lunch. Yes, Damian told himself again. I need to do it now, he reminded himself as he began moving forward again toward the exit of the long white hallway.

No one suspected anything from Damian's behavior as he tried really hard to act like everything was alright and there was nothing to worry about him. But the moment Dick saw his precious little brother coming out from the hospital's main entrance with a different shirt and another baggage on his hand, his suspicions grew a little of what really Damian was doing in the hospital. He didn't say anything about the extra bag Damian brought with him as he just parked his motorcycle and opened the trunk for the teenager to put his bag in.

"So, are you hungry?" Dick asked, masking his suspicion with that happy voice. "What do you want to eat?"

Damian didn't look at Dick right away as he wanted to place the extra unusual baggage inside the trunk first before talking to his older brother. Dick didn't say anything further than his questions that didn't get answered. He just quietly looked at Damian who was putting his extra bag on his trunk and secured it with a lock. After he finished watching his little brother doing whatever he was doing, he asked the same questions again as if to annoy him.

"So, Dami... Anything to eat?" Another question launched at Damian to answer.

Dick wore his helmet back as he waited for the reply he deserved from the ex-Robin. Nothing really came out from Damian's mouth but when Dick sat back on his bike and was about start the engine, Damian finally replied him with something that was slightly confusing.

"Iamfinewithanything," was what Damian replied him with, and the words was either too fast for him to catch on, or slurred together as if his little brother was drunk with something.

"What did you say again, Dami?" Dick asked just for a confirmation.

Damian climbed the motorbike and clutched on Dick's jacket as if his life depended on it. But Damian never said a word to reply Dick's questions. Damian just simply didn't want Dick to hear him slurring over his words anymore and had any suspicions over what really happened to him. It was a total no and no for him.

Dick waited for a few minutes to allow Damian repeat whatever he was saying before. He was sure that Damian was not drunk or at least, there was no sign of him being drugged to slur his words. Or maybe, he was just talking as fast as he could to just get out from the hospital... Dick wasn't sure which one it was but there should be a reason for him to talk that way, especially since it was not his personality to talk that way.

"Okay," Dick finally said something after a few minutes of silence. "Since you're not suggesting anything for our lunch, I guess you are fine with whatever I choose then. Let's go to my favorite place then, Sepi's."

Damian could only nod his head against Dick's back in agreement to the choice of restaurant. No words came out from Damian's mouth afterward as they just pulled off from the hospital with eldest Robin's directing the way.

"So, what do you want to eat?" Dick asked the same old question again and again. "They have the best grilled chicken and barbecue chicken. Their caesar salad and chinese chicken salad are also good."

Dick was looking at Damian's silence, trying to see and understand what the younger man was thinking at the moment since he had been staring at the menu for a while without saying anything or responding to his suggestion.

"Damian?" He called as his right hand was slowly gripping the younger man's to snap him out of his imagination. "Are you alright? Why are you not saying anything?"

"I'm alright, Grayson. Don't worry about me."

"No, Damian. You are not alright," Dick's voice was getting serious as he stared at Damian's eyes. "You suddenly becoming so quiet about everything. This is not like you, Dami."

"Then, what is like me?"

Dick was surprised by the question his little brother suddenly asked him. To him, Damian was supposed to still be selfish, pouty like he used to when he was a kid, and Robin... He was supposed to be Robin. Damian fought for that role and tried his best to be the ideal, the good Robin that his Father wanted him to be. That he, Damian himself, wanted to be. They were great together, even during Dick's time as Batman and Damian as his Robin.

They were awesome, and Dick knew that they would always be.

You were supposed to be Robin was the only thing Dick could say to himself as the answer of the question.

"Damian, why do you suddenly quit? It's not like you to suddenly quit whatever you've been doing for so long."

Dick was in pain. Damian knew it; he realized it from the very beginning of the talk. But, Dick was also in denial about everything - about his current reality. The reality where Damian was no longer a Robin, and he didn’t even want to be Robin anymore. Damian was no longer suitable for Batman to be his sidekick, helpers, even partner.

"Grayson, please. Can we just have a normal lunch like normal people do?" The younger man asked - pleaded him for them to be just like a normal people. "Just this once, Grayson."

Dick closed his eyes in frustration of not knowing anything, everything that Damian hid from him. His hands were covering his eyes, closing his eyes from seeing Damian’s tired face, and his begging face. He didn’t want to see Damian’s face like that as he could still remember how happy and energetic his little brother like it was yesterday.

Damian sighed as he looked at Dick’s action right in front of him. He had no idea what to say to him about anything since he was trying to get everything straight himself before telling anyone what really happened. All he needed was time. Yet, time itself was the enemy of him too. No one in the family was patient, except for Alfred, especially his Father, the oldest brother, and the current Robin. Jason was not necessarily patient but he knew how to wait while the others really demanded answer for anything they wanted to know or else, research.

“Damian...” Dick called but was quickly cut off by Damian.

“Can we go home now?” He asked. “I feel like eating at home more than outside.”

Dick could only look at the person in front of him as he slowly placed the menu down on the table and sliding it to the other side of the table, losing interest in it.

“Sure,” he replied as he saw him moving slowly away from the sofa, escaping it. “Sure, let’s eat at home.”

Damian walked away from the table, leaving Dick alone with his heart full of regrets and pain before calling the manor to inform Alfred that they were going home for lunch. He called the waitress and gave enough money for the drinks they had as well as for the tip, and he followed Damian from far back, walking slowly with his black leather jacket on his hand.

He threw the black jacket to Damian and landed right on the teen’s head, covering his whole face with the darkness of jacket. Damian took the jacket off his face and wore it as he knew his older brother never wanted him to get sick or such. But, as he slipped the jacket on to his right arm, a sudden guilt slowly came to greet him. A guilt for hiding everything toward his family, especially to Dick since he cared a lot about his well-being and Damian himself.

Dick was already on the motorcycle, engine had already been turned on, and just waiting for Damian to hop on, so they could go to their destination. He turned toward Damian as the teen was still struggling with the jacket.

“Hey, maybe we could-” Dick’s words were cut off again by Damian as he was now looking at him with such a sad face that even Dick could not named the emotion itself.

“I’m sorry, Grayson.” Words came out from Damian’s mouth while Dick just sat there, waiting for the next sentence to come out. “I truly apologize but please, give me time until I can tell everything to you.”

Damian finally looked up to him; his eyes filled with glass that were ready to be broken down to tears. No, Dick had never seen him this way before. Although he had seen him crying a number of times in rare occasion, this was his first time not knowing the reason behind his tears yet he could feel how gentle and honest those words were.

Dick turned off the engine, took the key out, and placed his helmet on the seat as he got up to be where Damian was standing still. There was nothing he could do besides hugging him gently, and patted Damian’s back while gently stroking the soft dark hair.

They stayed that way for a few minutes before Dick looked properly at Damian with a smile on his face. He wiped the falling tears off Damian’s face and pressed his lips on the forehead, giving a protecting and reassuring kiss to teen.

“Let’s get ice cream sandwich before going back home, okay?” Dick planned on cheering him up before going for their “real” lunch at home. “I know one place that you’ll like.” He finished off with a smile and another kiss on Damian’s forehead before pulling off to turn on the engine back to get ready.

Dick handed the other helmet to Damian, waiting for him to receive it from his hand.

“Let’s go, Dames,” another nickname Dick had for him. “And zipped up the jacket, will ya? It’ll be cold in no time even though it’s still summer.”

Damian properly zipped up the jacket after he got the helmet on his hand and wore it.

“Don’t treat me like a kid, Grayson,” was the last sentence Damian told him after hopping on to the bike, and both of them were gone from the parking lot.