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mayhemwrites · 1 year ago

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fucking perfect

Genya beams at her. Fucking perfect Genya, with her golden eyes that look like something out of a fucking book, and bright red hair -

Anyway.

Zoya thinks Genya is perfect, and she hates her for it, until she doesn't.

read it on ao3 here! written for the AU roulette challenge, with the prompt "your job"

full fic under the cut - one-sided pining, enemies to lovers, modern au, 2431 words

But no. Knowing Zoya's history of being notoriously bad with kids, her dad had decided to hire a babysitter instead of leaving her alone with her dozen younger cousins, but of course he'd said she had to stay. It was experience, or something. It would be good for her to learn to take care of little kids, and to get used to spending time with her cousins. He isn't wrong, exactly. After the divorce, now that her dad is moving in with the rest of his family, she's going to be living with her cousins until she goes off to college. If she can even afford tuition, let alone accommodation.

--------

Zoya's evening is fucking ruined. It's her own fault. If she hadn't bitched so much about having to babysit her cousins while her dad went out with his siblings, he wouldn't have found an actual babysitter, and she wouldn't have to spend an evening with Genya fucking Safin.

So he's right. But that doesn't make it any less annoying that not only is the babysitter he's found in Zoya's grade, she's also one of the few people Zoya absolutely can't stand. (Maybe 'few' is an exaggeration, but she and Genya have never gotten along. Ever since freshman year, when they met.)

Zoya's sitting on the couch in her new house, not sulking exactly, but strongly considering it, when the doorbell rings.

Her uncle goes to answer it, and she hears Genya's voice coming from the front hall. She asks all the right questions, judging by how impressed he sounds. Things about bedtimes and dinner and what are the kids allowed to do?

Then her uncle, the goddamn traitor, he knows she doesn't like Genya - he shows her through to the sitting room.

Genya beams at her. Fucking perfect Genya, with her golden eyes that look like something out of a fucking book, and bright red hair -

Anyway. Genya waves and says hi, still with that perfect smile plastered onto her face, and Zoya rolls her eyes and says hi back.

Her uncle leaves the room, and a minute later Zoya hears the door slam. So, she's stuck with Genya until her family comes back, which won't be til midnight, or something.

Genya sits down next to her. "Hey! How are you?”

Can Genya please stop pretending like they don't hate each other? It's not like this is some kind of one-sided rivalry. Every time Zoya wants something - every single time - Genya gets there first. Team captains, best grades - you name it, Genya beats Zoya for it. Genya hadn't even played soccer before Zoya decided she wanted to try out.

(And, okay, maybe Zoya's not wholly blameless here - she hadn't been interested in theater before she'd heard that Genya was auditioning for the lead role in the spring musical sophomore year, but Genya got the role anyway, so it doesn't count.)

"Fine, I guess," she says sullenly.

Genya sighs. "Do you have a problem with me, or something?"

"No." She stands up abruptly. "You should probably meet the kids."

"Yeah, good idea! Will you introduce me?"

And it's not like Zoya can say no, not without sounding like a complete asshole. So she introduces Genya to all her cousins, and entirely unsurprisingly, they all adore her. Every single one of them. How does Genya do it? They barely put up with Zoya, and now they're all over a complete stranger.

Fucking hell. Perfect, lovable Genya Safin. (And Zoya's still not over the unfairness of those eyes. Seriously, gold eyes? Should not exist.)

Of course as soon as the kids are done being enamoured with Genya, they start begging for dinner, so Zoya perches on the kitchen counter and lets Genya cook because yet again: obviously perfect Genya can cook.

The kids run off to watch TV, and Zoya's left watching Genya cook. It's almost mesmerizing, in a way, watching her make spaghetti sauce from scratch.

"You want some?" Genya asks after a while, snapping Zoya out of her daze. "There's enough pasta that I could make some for us as well, or if you want I could get us takeout after your cousins are in bed."

"Yeah, I don't know if I trust you enough to eat what you make," she says harshly. "Just because you're in my house, and my family seems to adore you, doesn't make us friends."

Genya shrugs. "Suit yourself. I'm assuming that means you also don't trust whatever I order from UberEats?"

"Pretty much. I'll get my own dinner."

God. Sometimes she makes herself sick with how bitchy she can be. There's no question that Genya deserves her enmity, but… does she always have to be so harsh?

She jumps down from the counter and stalks off to her room. Why couldn't Genya have been busy or something? And she's going to get paid for being here, antagonizing Zoya all night.

Over the sound of music in her headphones, she hears Genya call the kids for dinner. She doesn't move, though. Let Genya be the beloved babysitter, and Zoya the unwelcome interloper. She knows where she's not wanted.

Time passes. Zoya's not counting. From experience, if she counts down the hours until her dad gets home, it'll only go by slower.

She hears the sound of kids' feet on the stairs, and rolls over in bed to look at her alarm clock. Half past eight. Definitely bedtime.

Then nothing. No noise at all. Holy shit, is that even possible? She takes her headphones off to listen closer. Yep, somehow, perfect Genya has managed to get all Zoya's cousins in bed with no fuss. It's a goddamn miracle.

She waits a few minutes before settling down with a book, pyjamas on. But of course, because this night just had to get worse, the minute she gets comfortable, there's a knock on her bedroom door.

"What?" she demands.

The door opens slightly, and Zoya sits up to see Genya poking her head in. "I just wanted to say that I know you don’t trust me, or whatever, but there are some leftovers in the kitchen if you wanted some. Or I can order food. I don’t mind."

Goddamn. It would be so much easier to hate Genya if she wasn’t so nice all the time.

"How’d you get the kids in bed so quick?" she asks, avoiding the offer Genya had made.

She laughs. "Oh, I played a game with them. Kids tend to have a lot of energy at bedtime, but you can divert that by getting them ready for bed and doing something energetic at the same time."

"Shit. That’s smart. I’ll, uh, tell their parents, I guess. I won’t say it was your idea."

"Why not? Afraid they’ll ask me to come back and babysit again?" Genya says, raising one perfectly sculpted eyebrow.

Zoya flushes. "Yes, actually."

"Really?" Genya takes a step into Zoya’s room, closing the door behind her. "Has it been that bad?"

She takes another step in.

"I just - I don’t want you here!" she says, then winces. Shit. If she’d woken up the kids -

Genya freezes.

"Oh. Is that really how you feel?"

Zoya’s never seen Genya cry. She’s not sure anybody ever has. She wasn’t aware Genya could cry. Well, maybe that’s an exaggeration, but she’s never seen Genya express any kind of emotion at all. But she’s crying now.

Perfect Genya has tears running down her face from her perfect golden eyes.

Because of Zoya. Because of what Zoya said to her.

Shit.

She stands up and gets out of bed. Walks over to Genya.

What does she do now?

She tentatively rests a hand on Genya’s shoulder, but gets shrugged off immediately.

"If you don’t want me here, I won’t come back. Your family should be here in a few hours. We can stay out of each other’s way until then," Genya says, somehow holding it together enough to say all of that.

Zoya shakes her head. "That’s not what I meant - I mean, I did mean that, but I don’t think -"

What Genya’s suggesting is exactly what her plan had been up until that moment. But maybe that isn’t good enough. Maybe avoiding each other won’t fix this bitter hatred. Jealousy, Zoya supposes. She’s jealous of Genya.

"No, it’s fine. You hate me. I’m used to it," Genya says fiercely. "I just thought since I’m here, you could at least try to be civil and pretend like you don’t hate my guts for no good reason."

"No good reason?" Zoya spits incredulously. "Genya, I have every reason to hate you."

"Let’s hear them, then," Genya challenges. "Tell me why. I can handle it."

"You’re still fucking crying. I don’t think you can handle it."

"No, I want to know why you hate me when all I’ve done for the past three years is try to make you like me!" Genya blurts out, then claps a hand over her mouth.

What.

What the fuck.

"Huh."

"Nothing. Forget I said anything," Genya babbles, turning to leave. "This never happened."

Suddenly, things are starting to make a lot more sense.

Zoya walks out of her bedroom door. "Well, I’m going to go eat leftovers. If you want to stay there crying in my bedroom, go ahead. But if you want to actually talk about what you just said, you can come join me."

Genya follows her down the stairs, thank god. They walk in silence to the kitchen, where the bowl of pasta is still sitting on the countertop with a serving spoon in. Zoya grabs it and brings it over to the table, getting a couple of smaller spoons from the drawer as Genya sits down.

"So? Are we going to talk?"

"Uh. Do we have to?" Genya says nervously.

"Yeah, I think we’re long overdue for a talk."

"Then sure."

Zoya sighs. "Let’s start with what you said a minute ago. What do you mean that you’ve been trying to get me to like you?"

Genya blushes a deep crimson. "I mean that I’ve… been trying to impress you, I guess? This is awkward."

"Oh. Like. As in. Impress me how? And why?"

Maybe it says something that Zoya lost the ability to string a sentence together the moment Genya said that she wanted to impress her.

"Like, you liked soccer, so I signed up for soccer so I could be good at something you liked. Shit like that, I guess."

"Oh."

"I thought I was being so obvious that I liked you."

"Oh."

She laughs nervously. "Are you okay? You sound like you're having an existential crisis."

"I kind of am."

Genya rests one hand over Zoya's, and she almost jumps out of her skin.

Hm.

"I guess I wasn't as obvious as I thought?"

"No! I thought you were just trying to sabotage me with everything!" Zoya says wildly. "What do you mean you've liked me since freshman year?"

"I mean I've always liked you," Genya says with a shrug. "Your confidence. The way you don't take shit."

Is she dreaming? Did she fall asleep in bed or something?

"Hold on. Liked as in romantically?"

"Yes, Zoya," she sighs. "As in romantically. And I get it if that makes you hate me even more."

Zoya pauses. It would be so easy to break Genya's heart in this moment. She watches as she wipes a stray tear from her cheek.

But holy shit, Genya likes her.

When Zoya realized that the beautiful girl in her math class freshman year was actually a bitch, Genya liked her. When Zoya stormed out of soccer practice because Genya got picked as captain, Genya liked her - she'd been trying to impress her.

And, well, maybe when Zoya auditioned for Lydia in Beetlejuice in sophomore year because she knew Genya was, she'd been trying to impress her. Trying to somehow get closer to beautiful, perfect Genya.

Maybe it's not normal that she's always thinking about how unfairly gorgeous her supposed enemy is.

"It doesn't."

Genya looks up at Zoya, golden eyes brimming with tears. "You don't hate me more because of this?"

Zoya swallows her pride and meets Genya's eyes. She really is beautiful.

"Actually, I feel the same."

"You're lying to me," Genya says immediately. "This is some kind of revenge thing."

"No. Genya, I promise it isn't. I know I've given you no reason to trust me, but… I wouldn't say I liked you if I didn't. And I do. Like you, that is. The first thing I ever thought about you was that you were beautiful."

Genya frowns. "Just beautiful? Zoya, I don't want -"

"But you're more than beautiful. You're smart, you're bold and outspoken, you're talented, you're warm and friendly and just - you're fucking perfect, and I think I've been in love with you since the moment you walked into our math class freshman year." The words just spill out of her, and she can feel her cheeks getting redder as she goes on.

"Zoya."

"Yeah?"

"You're an idiot. You know that, right?"

She laughs. "Yeah, I know that now. Be my girlfriend anyway?"

Genya's breath catches. "Of course."

And so Zoya leans in to kiss her, but -

"Zoya? Miss Genya? I feel sick," comes a voice from down the hall, and they both spring back and jump up.

This time Zoya watches as Genya consoles her third-youngest cousin, Sumaiya, and gets her back to bed in record time. Genya might just be the best thing that ever happened to the whole Nabri family, and Zoya's definitely going to make sure she gets invited back as soon as possible.

When they've made sure all the kids are safely asleep, they go back downstairs to the sitting room and sit next to each other on the couch. It's been almost five hours since Genya got here - since Zoya was sat sulking on this exact couch.

"So where were we?" Zoya asks, keeping her voice low.

Genya smiles and blushes. "I don't know, why don't you show me?"

When Zoya leans forward and kisses Genya, this time there are no kids to interrupt. And when her family gets back, she's sorry to see Genya go. The only thing keeping her from clinging onto her and begging her not to leave is Genya's promise to plan a date.

A perfect first date for my perfect girlfriend, she'd said. And while Zoya doesn't necessarily agree that she's the perfect one in the relationship, she's definitely looking forward to seeing what kind of first date her perfect girlfriend is going to come up with.

#take a shot every time zoya calls genya perfect #(this fic isn't necessarily inspired by me having a crush on a pretty girl in my math class‚ but like...... maybe it is a little bit)#grishaverse #mayhem writes #zoya nazyalensky #genya safin #zoya x genya #is that a thing? is there a ship name?#auroulette2023 #shadow and bone

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clockwayswrites · 4 months ago

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5 Times the JL Learned Batman was Married and the 1 Time They Met the Spouse.

One. Two. Three. Four.

Four.

Clark stood up and positioned himself between the door and his injured teammate before it even opened, though not much before. His own delayed reaction made sense when it opened to show one of Batman’s teammates. While for the longest the League had thought Batman ‘worked alone’, they were now aware of there being a variety of heroes in Gotham, even if they were far from sure how many there might be or who those heroes were.

Nightingale was a notable exception what with his influence on the newest generation of heroes.

The young man flashed Clark a cheery smile and a little two finger wave. The motion almost distracting with the bright blue that marked the fingers.

“Hey Supes, I got notified that B was laid up.”

Clark paused. “You did?”

“Yep, I’m down as B’s emergency contact for Justice League matters. Feel free to confirm it if you want,” Nightingale said and leaned against the door frame with an easy shrug. “That’s exactly the sort of paranoia that B would approve of.”

It really was was, Clark thought. He grabbed the tablet that he had been using and pulled up Batman’s personnel file. It was a sparse file, of course, but clear as day Nightingale listed was next to ‘emergency contact’. Under his name as an alternative was ‘Condor’.

“Who’s Condor?”

“Me,” rumbled the man who stepped up behind Nightingale. He wasn’t as tall as the other hero, but he was broad. His lower face was covered in some sort of sleek gas mask, though Clark’s focus was pulled to the red lenses of the domino mask.

He certainly made for an intimidating figure.

Nightingale rolled his eyes. “Dramatic.”

Condor just shrugged. “I’m here to be the muscle.”

Clark’s brow furrowed. “For… what?”

“Oh, we’re taking B home!” Nightingale, well, chirped and pushed himself off the doorway.

Clark stepped in the way. “Batman needs to stay under medical supervision.”

“We know. We’re taking him to the Batcave. There’s a full medical set up there and we already have Batman’s personal doctor on hand to look him over,” Nightingale said as he smoothly edged his way around Clark. “Not that we don’t think you all have done your best! Just that way we’ll have his status for our files and he can recover at home.”

“Besides, you don’t want you-know-who to get wind that B is laid up like this and come storming the castle,” Condor said and came to take the other end of the medical bed.

Nightingale gave an over-the-top shudder. “Yeah, best to avoid that, he’s not having a good week already.”

“I, no, I don’t know who,” Clark said with a frown, though he did finally step out of their way. He couldn’t really tell them no, they did have control over Batman’s care. Still, he carefully watched them undo the clasps that would let them take off the top of the bed like a stretcher.

Condor lifted his end of the bed. “B’s husband, of course. Guy’s a little protective.”

“A little?” Nightingale asked as he pivoted with his end of the bed so they could start walking. “Calling him ‘a little’ protective is like calling what happened on Monday a ‘little’ multidimensional incident.”

Condor shrugged, the bed shifting a little with the motion, though it barely rocked Batman. “Okay, so maybe he’d rewrite the world for B if it came to it. That’s exactly why we’re getting B back to the Cave where he can be safe and settled before his paramour gets back from dealing with that ‘little’ multidimensional incident.”

“Right,” agreed Nightingale. “Thanks for looking after him, Supes!”

“You’re welcome?” Clark replied as the two heroes left the room, Batman carried between them.

#in case it's not clear #Jason is Condor #things took a different path what with Danny being around #and obv Dick is Nightingale #he got another family bird name to have #dp x dc #5 + 1 fic #spirit halloween ship

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