#jon said 'no meet cute' but tim says 'YES meet cute THANK you'

[equalseleventhirds]

i’m still thinking so much abt tim’s first day in the archives. like ok, things are Complicated bcos of jon getting promoted over sasha, but tim is still going to the archives with his two friends/coworkers from research, it’s a mess down there but he knows the people and will, presumably, be doing research, and he’s gonna be Cheerful And Friendly bcos of course he is! of course. jon’s gonna be in his office and tim will hang out with sasha and it’ll be, ok not great, but it’ll be fine.

and then he walks in and jon’s not immediately visibile (he notices the closed office door, goes ‘oh okay’) so he’s gonna like, settle in at his desk, wait for sasha, whatever...

Suddenly Martin, running around the archives after a dog, definitely panicking bcos oh god he’s gonna get fired, and does tim like... recognize him? tim’s much more friendly than jon, did he get to know all the library staff? even if he did, one of them is randomly in the archives, and there’s a dog, and okay tim is gonna join in bcos there’s a dog!

do you think, while they were running between shelves and file cabinets and stacks of paper after this enthusiastic spaniel, tim managed to yell out ‘by the way, why are you here?’ and martin yelled back ‘i work here now--i mean, elias told me i do? he, uh, didn’t tell my new boss though--’ and tim has to stop chasing for a moment to just laugh bcos oh BOY that’s gonna be a DISASTER, how pissed is jon, no, please, martin, how pissed is he, and martin also stops to pout at him, and they are having a Moment...

and then one of them looks up and sees this friendly dog standing over a Mess of the Doggy Variety and staring at them with big puppy eyes, and martin looks at this and groans and then stares at tim with his big puppy eyes, please tim will you go tell jon, i can’t, tim please, and tim groans and laughs and goes to get jon

[liquid-luck-00]

Siblings

Bio!Dad Bruce

Day 3: Siblings

@biodad-bruce-month

First ~~~ Previous ~~~ Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Mari had agreed to go to Gotham after Gina, Tom, and Sabine's funeral. And now I am sweating bullets, not for how she will react, oh no I am far more worried about how the boys will. Maybe having a civilian in the manor will curb some of their unsavory habits.

When I asked Mari and she agreed I could tell this was going to be eventful. She asked if she had any siblings.

"Biologically, legally, or emotionally?" I responded completely serious, "There is a difference."

She thought for a moment before saying "Legally because I already know I have a biological brother" she stated with a smile.

"How did you know that?" he asked her.

"DNA testing project for an ethnicity and ancestor report." Marinette said casually, "So how many siblings legally?" she pushed.

He sighed "Seven but it might as well be eleven with how often Barbara, Stephanie, Jon, and Roy are at the mansion."

"Can you tell me a bit about them. Maybe even the measurements!"

After he had given enough information to spur her creativity, Mari could only be described as a tempest of creative energy.

By the time we were to board the jet to Gotham there was a suitcase filled with only gifts, he had lost count after the sixth gift, but she still added some more. By the time they landed she had a rough idea of what she was getting herself into.

To his shock the boys hadn't tried to figure out where he was and that in itself was a blessing. The boys knew that she existed but were never interested in finding her and to quote Jason 'Save her from the insanity that surrounds this family.' Yet he was about to change that.

He had told Alfred that someone would be staying in the manor but to only leave a car at the airport and he would drive them in. Thank god at least one person listens to him.

The ride to the manor was silent conversation wise. But the constant scratching of a pencil as Mari designed inspired by Gotham's architecture filled the quiet.

---

Before leaving Paris, Mari found out she has seven siblings, 1 biological and 6 adoptive and 4 practically siblings, she will have to figure that part out. Bruce told her all about them and got her their measurements and that includes the one of Bruce's butler/father figure and his fiancée Selina. So in one suitcase there were 13 individually wrapped gifts that even Bruce didn't know what they were. The Miracle box, disguised as a sewing caddy, was among her things, but the horse miraculous and Kaalki were in her purse along with Tikki.

Oh kwamii how am I going to keep this secret if I’m going to be in another country along with being in a house with more than a dozen other people.

Once touching down in Gotham she began sketching, one because she was nervous and two Gotham's architecture was gorgeous. She didn't even realize that they had arrived at the manor until the engine cut.

"Let's introduce you to everyone" Bruce stated with a sigh and a small smile. They left the bags in the car and walked up the steps. As they neared the door they heard it.

"Get back here Todd" one extremely angry voice sounded.

"Dick HELP ME" another voice yelled.

They opened the door and there was quite the scene. Who she believes is Damian is chasing, who she is mostly sure is Jason, with a... is that a katana? And who she is certain must be Dick is trying and failing to stop Damian. In fact he is now also being chased. She looks over and Bruce is sighing looking completely done and with someone next to him.

"Hello and welcome to Wayne Manor." the man states, Alfred if she had to guess.

"Hello Alfred I presume” Mari greets him.

“That would be correct Miss…” Alfred responds.

“Marinette. Um this normal?" Mari asks.

"Unfortunately” Bruce states in a resigned tone.

"Huh" is all she says as she formulates a plan. The boys haven't noticed them yet so that is a plus, but what to do. Then she got an idea so she sprang into action. She watched for any pattern in the chase and when she found one she hid. She was next to the stairs in the perfect position to pounce. By this time Bruce and Alfred were watching her curious to what she was planning. She never left her hiding spot, but when Damian paused to look for Dick and Jason near her she moved. She took the katana and replaced it with a bouquet of flowers and went back to standing between Bruce and Alfred still holding the blade.

"How did you?" Bruce questioned her but she just gave him a smirk and spoke loud enough to get not only Damian’s attention but Dick and Jason’s who were hiding behind the couch.

"I thought you didn't tell them I was coming and here is Damian with flowers. Or wait who is the lucky person?" This got everyone's attention in the manor, if it wasn’t already.

“What the?" Damian stared at the flowers in his hand, while Dick and Jason came out of hiding.

The three boys were looking between her, holding the katana Damian was previously chasing them with, and the flowers in Damians hand. Then they began to stare between her and Bruce before finally someone spoke, "Seriously Bruce another one" Jason, yup definitely Jason, was the first to respond.

"Nice to meet you too" Mari replied. When she looked at Bruce he was still in shock but was now sporting a smirk. "Jason right"

She was holding the katana in her left hand while pointing at Jason with her right hand, he was tall and his build was most like Bruce he had blue eyes and black hair but had a white streak in the front, he nodded acknowledging she was right.

She then continued "I'm going with Dick, right?" she moved on and the oldest, who again only nodded his head, he looked the most like Bruce with his black hair and blue eyes but he was leaner.

"And your Damian" she finished with those in the room, he had tanned skin and green eyes that were complemented by his black hair.

"Is that my katana?" Damian asked, his voice seemed to be a mixture of disbelief, anger, and dare she even say awe, and all eyes seemed to focus on the blade in her hand.

"Yes" She responds with a smile.

"Honestly Mari how did you do that?" Bruce asked her once again.

"You learn to take objects off of an Akuma if you get caught up in too many attacks." she shrugged. She moved towards Damian and handed back his sword. "I'm Marinette by the way."

"Seriously B your missing for two weeks with no notice and come back with your Daughter. Who I might add was able to take Demon spawns sword without him noticing. Why wouldn't you warn us you were coming back with her! Or I don’t know going to find her at all!” Another person walked out into the hallway. Honestly he seemed ready to fall asleep and was holding a huge cup of coffee, he then turned towards me. He also had blue eyes and black hair but it was the longest of the boys. "I'm Tim, nice to finally meet you" he stated with a smile before turning back to Bruce with a slight frown.

At Tim's appearance and statement Jason and Dick burst into confused screams and wild gestures in Dick’s case, while Damian stood there analyzing her before giving a nod of his head. Bruce looked done but it was Alfred who spoke. "Perhaps it would be best to discuss this over lunch along with everyone else?"

"That would be best. Thank you Alfred." Bruce responded. "In the meantime why don't we you get settled."

With that Bruce and her walked back to the car to get her bags. Jason and Dick followed them out, and helped to get her things. Alfred led the five to a room where she began to put things away, only Jason stayed to help her finish her task.

---

The day had started as normally as any other in Wayne Manor, but no one, and I mean no one was ready for this tiny little french teen with the biggest blue eyes to get the drop on any of them. Let alone be able to take Demon Spawns sword without him noticing.

To say Jason was intrigued was an understatement. Seriously how did she do that, because he sure as hell isn't believing that excuse, like what the hell is an akuma attack. Bruce, Dick, and I helped her bring her bags into the room Alfred prepared. He was the only one who stayed to help her. One because if she could get the drop on the Demon then he had to win her over as a pranking ally. Two she was his sister now and he isn't as bad as everyone makes him out to be.

While helping her set up her room he found it, it was a suitcase filled with wrapped boxes. Now if she is my sister then let the blackmail material begin, but not without some teasing thrown into the mix.

"What's with the presents in the case Bluebell," Jason asked, throwing in a nickname to see if Marinette would have any type of a reaction. Because who packs presents unless it was a distraction or trying to hide something.

"Wouldn't you like to know," she said with a smirk and heat tilt. Well not the reaction he had hoped for.

"So what was that thing you said archery attack was it?" this got a reaction, but not one he was expecting.

"You don't know about the akuma attacks?" she was a mix of fear and surprise and he was unsure how he was supposed to react to that. Lucky for him as he was about to speak Tim and Dick came in and told them lunch was ready.

---

Jason not knowing about akuma attacks was odd and she didn't know how to react to his question. He was about to respond but Dick and Tim came in, and told them lunch was ready. They walked into the dinning room and inside were too many faces. She recognized Bruce and Damian. Tim, Dick, and Jason walked in with her.

"We're here" Dick dramatically announced, and all of a sudden all eyes were on her.

"OMG she is so cute!" a blonde yelled "Are we sure she is yours Bruce."

"Yes Stephanie. I am sure" Bruce answered almost amused. "Why don't you introduce yourself before you suffocate her."

"Ya, Ya," she waved him off "I'm Stephanie Brown" she stated as she continued to hug her.

The introductions included Stephanie, Cassandra or she said Cass, Duke, Roy, Barbara, Selina, and Jon. During lunch they asked her about herself she stayed in the realm of civilian, but Jason again brought up the akuma attacks so she explained a bit about the Paris situation and referred to them to Aurore's blog 'BugOut'.

She figured out the meaning of her practically siblings

Jon was Damian's best friend as Roy was Jason's because of this they spent large amounts of time with the family . The blonde who tackled her, Stephanie, was dating Tim and Barbara was a close family friend to everyone.

Afterwards she ended up giving everyone their gifts and Damian challenged her to a spar. The fact that no one, except Bruce having a partial reason, had any idea why she could hold her own was priceless. Seriously everyone's jaw was on the floor and Bruce looked like he was plotting something but it seemed to quickly leave his thoughts. All in all it was a good first day with her new family.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Tag list:

@mochinek0 @justafanwarrior @abrx2002 @ranger-gothamite @fantasiame @moonystars14 @mochegato @bigbeautifulandfullofsugar @maribat-is-lifeblood @iglowinggemma28 @miraculous-ninja @talutah0 @vixen-uchiha @danielslilangel @witchsblackfox @pawsitivelymiraculous @lizziejay @marinettepotterandplagg @colorfulmongerpsychicranch @dast218 @sassakitty @miyla-lokidottir @lilkymilky

[batarangsoundsdumb]

yet another ask dump yeehaw!

do you ever think that jay's mother was one of those bitch who believes in horoscope and tarots and things like that and so he believes in these things too, or it is just me projecting?

sheila haywood took one look at jason's birthchart said 'nah this won't do' and left.

Wait, but what happens when the justice league does find out that Bruce and John fucked? Lmao it sounds like it would be hilarious, really, I don’t want a justice league that doesn’t make fun of Bruce for like his entire life.

barry runs out of the meeting immediately and comes back with an entire sti testing kit. diana fully seriously wants bruce to get tested while bruce is sitting there like 'come on guys, you're being ridiculous, i already checked twice'

john is standing in the corner clearly offended while bruce is just like 'don't even say anything, constantine, you fucked a shark'

tim was like "i'm drake now" and everyone was like ahh so your fursona is a dragon and tim was like pffffft no. ducks.

on the one hand, good for him, on the other hand, bro, how do you still have a secret identity when your superhero name is just your last name,,,,

Your fic on ao3 was GOLD PLEASE CONTINUE I loved Dinah's cameo btw ( @purple-vixen

thanks so much! i already continued but this ask is like 10 years old because i'm a notorious procrastinator (also yes! i love dinah so much aahhhhhhhhhhhh)

I've FINALLY been watching the Batman animated series and I gotta say, after watching "the gray ghost" I am CONVINCED that Batman is a closeted super hero geek who was 100% freaking out the first time he met Superman and is just REALLY good at hiding it.

bruce internally: holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit holy fuck holy shit bruce externally: get out of my city, alien

AHHH ur multimedia fic is the only thing that brings me happiness anymore continue it forever pls

uhh thanks, but can't continue it forever because my attention span is that of a toddler on crack on a good day and i can't function without at least 10 things going on at the same time and music in the background

Oi, so I'm getting into dc and watching batman the animated series, and they use fruitcake a lot. Which I thought was very funny and wanted to share w you - Denilla

wait like fruitcake (food) or fruitcake (derogatory) ?

young justice 🤝 teen titans slut shaming batman

tim drake and dick grayson to their respective teams 'you guys stop it, that's my dad'

Happyhoganon: If an eighty year old Batman had fought crime in Gotham City for decades and the only threats to him and the city lately are a wheel chair bounded Penguin, your usual purse snatchers and a few con artists popping up every now and then, how well could the Dark Knight do in maintaining the peace in Gotham despite him being just somewhat fit to do that as an elderly man (which says A LOT given how old he is)

uhh he'll probably do what my grandpa does and that is ruthlessly prank them until they die of shame.

in the death in the family interactive movie there's an ending where Jason is tasked with raising Damian and he decides he's gonna raise Damian to take down the waynes and al ghuls which uh maybe isn't great BUT the idea of Jason raising Damian... PRICELESS. CHAOTIC. I just need more people to know about this :)

yes i saw that wow holy shit but jason would accidentally drop damian on his head one (1) hour in and jason just yeets him into the lazarus pit.

Headcanon: The Penguin has a really hard time fighting any of the Robins because of his avian obsession means there's always a small part of his mind that's like "Birb. Child. Protect" ( @subspacecadet )

as soon as dick becomes nightwing the penguin is like 'you know what, fuck this dude' and shoots at him.

Y'all talking about King Shark dating Constantine, let's not forget about John literally hooking up with Satan

listen there's a clear difference between monsterfucker and satanfucker in that king shark is literally a shark and satan still looks like a normal dude

Does everyone in Gotham think Batman is a teen dad?

everyone in gotham thinks batman has been around since gotham was founded, but they do think that bruce wayne is actually a teen father and dick grayson's biological dad.

why. why would you do that fancast when you know it will only hurt people

what? i loved my fancast it was really well done. i did it with good representation in mind and i really managed that with alfred pennyworth being ✨italian✨

Seeing james charles a jason gave me psychic damage how dare you i need to wash my eyes

well that's a you problem isn't it?

do you think dick grayson thirst tweets about nightwing just to annoy his family/cause problems on purpose in general?

he thinks nightwing is hot, next question.

holy jiminy cricket batman, its as cold as the good lords ass crack in here!!

i- what? this is why i don't fuck with english expressions it's way too goddamn weird

Brooooooo, your teen dad!Bruce au is soooo good. I've got brainrot.

Honestly if you ever write anymore, I'd read that shit twice. Sign me the fuck up. Good stuff, Good Stuff.

uh yeah i'm thinking about writing a fic, but i have exams coming up and i don't wanna fail because that would suck. but after i'll certainly be writing more tho

your teen dad AU is so great! bruce acting like a big brother for all of like a week before he's telling everyone about his son. what if in the AU dick meets the JL because they need to rescue him? maybe he's in trouble/kidnapped at a gala and bruce starts calling for JL. clark finds him and has to fly with dick to bring him home - that's how dick and clark meet and superman becomes dick's fave hero. he goes around the manor thinking he can fly with a red blanket draped around him like a cape.

actually- if you want a young dad! bruce fic with like that kinda stuff(just with damian) go check uhh- in for a penny by cdelphiki. it's really good and bruce is like 24/25-ish. (and dick's there!!!)

This account has solely convinced me that Tim is a trash goblin ( @hamilcat-and-magic-turtle )

because he is. that boy has slept in dumpsters on multiple occasions even if he is the son of a billionaire.

Okay but when you said victory dance I did think of the whole justice league defeating the big bad and then they all start flossing

well that's exactly what hal jordan does and that's why batman uses a gun now. no but the victory dance in my opinion is like the 'we're all in this together' dance from high school musical.

The horrors in Invincible s1 was nothing compared to the comics, I cant wait for s2

oh well okay, i mean i personally react to horror and violence by laughing awkwardly so i can't wait to be called a monster for accidentally laughing at a mass murder.

I'm currently watching Batman: The Brave and The Bold and- Bruce is just talking about Oliver like he's an old love (@nightwings-kid)

okay im going to watch that lmao that's totally and completely in character for him tho.

The invincible comic is like super gratuitous with its violence so much so I'm shocked the show was able to adapt it in a faithful way! Anyway had the show been live action it absolutely wouldn't have the same impact as it does as an animated show and I'm so glad so many people agree with me on that

also because a live action casting would've been like uhh amanda stenberg for amber, the dude- the guy from the supernatural but with a mustache for omni-man, and scarlet johanssen for debbie grayson

Debbie grayson is a milf, yes. You're welcome for the invincible propoganda, now you can questions your life. Bruce def seems like the perfect father next to Omni-man. Like they really took a rip off justice league and I was like well, now I'm attached even tho I was like hah I know who they're supposed to be. And then bam- death gore death gore gore gore sad Mark grayson just had to have daddy issues. Why does every character have daddy issues. I'm sick of the attacks

because daddy issues make a person arguably funnier, that's why i'm not even remotely funny (haha good dad flex). i liked that it was dark contextually, but not in the colouring, bc i hate when it's like 'uh yeah graphic murder and now a shot so dark you have to sit in a dark room and squint at the screen to faintly see the characters. (like dcau ugh)

About the Wayne insurance, for a moment I thought you would put the video with moans over the waves.

i mean- i could've done that, but rick rolling seemed more family friendly.

Its the first time in forever that im surpise rickrolled, i usually expect it. Congratulations (i really should know better this is tumblr)

i get rickrolled so often but i actually like the song so i dont really give a fuck

Actually, my information about Damian and John's kids is outdated because it was revealed that the old men telling the kids stories about the Supersons were actually Jon and Damian the whole time. I was blinded by my thirst for Grandpa!Bruce Wayne but I was wrong... I liked my version better, tbh (@artemisa97)

fair enough. but i'd honestly like to see damian and jon getting together, just because it's a really fun dynamic and their friendship was really cute when they were kids. (also idk maybe it would be nice to have one (1) main batfam/superfam character that's not cishet)

How am i JUST finding your blog skdskfkd you're so fucking funny and ur takes are hot

i thought u were calling me hot :( but youre not :( crime detected (but lmao thanks)

So I have depression and I swear that your memes are one of the few things that have made me laugh so thank you 💛🥺 (@katekanebadass)

aw you're welcome, and i hope you're doing okay!

The metropolis memes are so funny, I love them 💀😌

i think metropolis is also so fucking funny it deserves more attention imagine having your entire police force being upstaged by an alien from kansas and his kids

as an american i feel your complete lack of knowledge of us geography is just so sexy (platonic) ❤️

thanks so much (i also don't know any other geography, i'm not kidding, like you can tell me you're from hungary and it will just blank, there will be nothing that comes to mind)

In the DC universe they don't say "Can't have shit in Detroit" they say "Can't have shit in Gotham"

this just reminds me of that guy whose porch got stolen like the steps to his door, and i'm thinking of people living in gotham and waking up without a front door and going "can't have shit in gotham"

honestly all i know about chicago is the bean, so. what would gotham's famous sculpture be?

gigantic gargoyle statue in front of one of the police precincts because a villain thought it was a smart way to keep the police inside, but it's too heavy to move.

why tf do people go on about how batman "works alone" or how he's the "lone wolf" when he like 38290202 members in his family

bc people think it's cool that a grown man in his 30s has no friends or family instead of calling it what it is (sad)

Bruce is gotham's sugar daddy

why would say something so controversial yet so brave.

my favorite batfamily fanfictions are the ones where they use their shitty codenames, unironically, in any context

dick: gerard way are you in position, gerard way are you in position

tim: for the last fucking time, my codename is 'totally not count olaf' this week, abbafan 3000

dick: shut up my codename isn't 'abbafan 3000'

dick: it's 'abbafan number 1' and you know it

I have a feeling Tim drake is ur favourite batfamily member but okay u don't have favs if u say so ok

i mean he is, i won't deny it. but i love each and every one of the batfam just the same, i just have a weak spot for short dumbass nerds, because i'm a short dumbass nerd.

Omg i fuckin love boy meets world too fam shsjkfk

bro boy meets world was the shit!!! it was just fire and awesome and so fucking great like bro. it was so good im not even going to be accepting criticism

you know I find the whole "joker completes batman" thing a bit disgusting considering the horrendous stuff the batfamily went through because of the joker and let's not get started on the "joker has a point" thing like yeah he's this cool complex villain but he's absolutely batshit crazy

like yes! i get what you mean the joker just fucking sucks man he doesn't do shit for batman's character or the batfam he's literally just annoying as fuck. like the joker has a point' shit is so stupid. i will accept 'magneto was right' because he fucking was and i think he didn't do anything wrong, but joker? he's just like that. he's not even cool and complex he's just a weirdo with a bleach kink at this point.

ALSO YOUR RACISM POST- SO TRUE BESTIE

thanks bestie, i'm glad you agree.

in today's essay of why I think cass should become batman- I was thinking Tim would probably be the most efficient batman in many ways but I also think he wouldn't want to be batman tbh none of the batfamily members would want to be batman because they're trying to outgrow him but cass is the one who wants to represent the symbol that is batman

absofuckinglutely i will say it again and again that cass represents the batsymbol more than anyone in the batfam, in batgirl (2000) she literally didn't care about anything else than bruce's oath to not kill, she thought the batsymbol was more important than anything in gotham. she's just an excellent character because her motivation to not kill is not 'i'm scared i can't come back from it' or 'well my dad says no murder so i'll go along with it' but that she's killed somebody as a young child and she never wants to kill a human ever again and that's so fucking beautiful for a new batman like yes.

need more cass, duke and tim inclusion in gothamite memes

yes yes, a tall order of cass, duke and tim coming up in 1-14 business days

oldest to youngest batfam members cus I'm confused as shit

okay order of being taken in: dick, jason, tim, cass, damian, duke order of age: alfred, bruce, dick, cass, jason, tim, duke, damian (though cass and jason are around the same age general consensus is that cass is a little older)

I'm so confused Steph is a redhead?? like how was it that hard to get this right? the source material is literally right there and free

cw is jared, 19

do you receive anon hate? if so, how do you deal with it

uh no, i'm not remotely popular enough to get anon hate and i also don't say a lot of things that would attract anon hate, but i do send anon hate to @the-real-peter-parker because he forgot about the specialists from winx club

Wait how many languages do you speak??

uhh- 5 if you include latin, but that's a dead language and i'm really bad at it. but english, my native language, german, and french also, tho german and french not fluently.

You can mix aguaepanela with aguardiente 😈 and is tasty

okay but now i'm curious if the liquor deserves the 😈 emoji or if that's a you problem. but i googled it and it looks like something you'd take one sip of and then not remember the rest of your evening.

[pl-panda]

To Marry a Vigilante: Part 3

MASTERLIST || First || Previous || Next

Disclaimer: Masterlist

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

The dinner was an interesting affair. Everyone was gathered around a large table that could easily fit several more people. Marinette was sitting between Damian and her mother; on the opposite, Tim, Stephanie, and Cass took the seats. She was glad that they were all people she knew well enough. It was overwhelming. Before, Christmas was always just her and her parents. Occasionally, Nona came too. And there was this one time when she was five when her great-uncle visited. This was much too crowded. 

Damian gently squeezed her hand, reassuring her that it was alright. She ate some, but the nerves made her lose appetite quickly. She was in Gotham. Celebrating Christmas with her husband’s family. Husband… She was going to have a panic attack. She wasn’t ready. 

“Habibti. It’s okay. Everyone here’s a friend.” Damian whispered into her ear, seeing she was spiraling. “Nobody is going to judge us on anything.”

“But I didn’t make any gifts for the Kents. And I didn’t know your eldest brother had a daughter! And I’m a total klutz. I will probably knock over the tree and it will fall and set the house on fire and you will end up homeless or someone will get hurt and then your family will hate me and the Kents will hate me and I…” she kept whispering faster and faster until she was finally starting to feel the need to breathe or pass out. The jury was still out. 

Seeing her daughter’s panic, Sabine also grabbed her hand and squeezed it lightly. “Honey, let’s go get some fresh air.” She said loud enough for people close to them to hear before leading Marinette outside. Nobody batted an eye when the pair passed them. 

Once the two were in the back garden, Mari felt her legs give up under her and if not for her mother, she would have probably collapsed. The woman held her tight and led the girl toward the bench, which was luckily not covered in snow. 

“I’m so sorry, Maman. I don’t know… I just felt so overwhelmed. There were all these people and I was really meeting my husband’s family and friends for the first time and I guess I was not prepared for all this…” She was speaking fast. 

“Don’t worry sweetie. I understand. Did I tell you how, when I met your Nona for the first time, I accidentally flipped her over my shoulder and pinned her to the ground?” Sabine asked, smiling understandingly at her daughter. 

“No! Really?”

“Yes. Well, in my defense, she surprised me with a gun that shot candies.” 

Marinette couldn’t help but giggle at that. It did seem like something her Mémé would do. 

“She was shocked at first and I was afraid I hurt her. Instead, after that, she decided that I was apparently worthy of dating her boy and gave us her approval.” 

“So… the moral of this story is that I should flip Talia over for them to accept me?” Mari asked with a cheeky grin. 

“That too, sweetie. I can even lend you something from my bag if you want a more… permanent effect.” 

“Maman!” 

“Fine…” Sabine grumbled goodheartedly. “You don’t need to worry about fitting in or how they will perceive you. I’ve seen how that boy looks at you and I approve.” She smiled. “That’s all that should matter.”

“Thank you maman. I’m glad you’re here.” She hugged her mother as the two sat together on the bench, enjoying the evening chill until the cold became irritating instead of refreshing.

-------

When the two returned, the dinner was nearing the end. Marinette noted seven burning holes on the ceiling but didn’t comment. There was also a plate on fire next to Jason that he seemed adamant not to acknowledge. Also, Mar’i and Jon were levitating above the table and playing rock paper scissors, except they used the props. Silently, Marinette walked to take a seat next to Damian. Her mother went over to talk a bit with Bruce about something.

“Um… Why is Jason’s plate on fire?” She asked, very much confused. 

“Tt. He wanted a souffle on fire.” 

“We’re already at desserts?” The girl asked, surprised. In the corner of her eye, she saw Cass staring at Tim and Stephanie with a strange gaze. It wasn’t hostile, but rather, she couldn’t really name the emotions present. 

“Yes. I saved you some maracons. You love the strawberry ones, right?”

“You made me prefer lemon ones.” She smiled. “The subtle sourness really brings out the sweetness.” 

“Of course it does Angel.” He smiled. “Sadly, we sit next to Brown, who will devour anything with sugar in it.”

A devious grin appeared on Mari’s face. “Really now?” She reached over into her purse to pull a small box where she kept the power-up cookies for her Kwami. “Tikki… will you mind if I give her a burnt-red one? You know which…”

For a moment, it looked like the Kwami wanted to protest, but then the small goddess noticed the plate of cookies was empty. “Go for it, Marinette. It won’t hurt her.”

“Stephanie! I’ve got a spare macaron I can share,” she smiled at the blonde girl. 

“Gimme!” She almost leaped like a gremlin, her eyes in a slight daze.

“Uh-oh. She is experiencing a sugar rush. I think she ate the whole plate herself,” Tim spoke from his seat, eyes slightly worried. 

Mari handed over the macaron and watched as Steph ate it. It took only a moment for her face to flush red and tears to appear in her eyes. “Water!” She said with a hoarse throat. Tim handed her a glass, but when she downed it, the burning only increased.

“Oh no! I forgot to warn you! It was made with ground hot pepper instead of flour… silly me!” Mari said, keeping the cute smile on. “I would advise milk.”

When Stephanie ran to the kitchen, followed by Tim laughing and Cass and Damian smiling, the older boy turned to Marinette. “You are devious.” 

“She shouldn’t have eaten so many cookies,” the girl shrugged. After that, she actually started to enjoy the evening. It might have started a prank war later on, but for now, she was safe. 

---------

After dinner, the crowd moved to a large living room where adults took seats on the couches or chairs while most kids and teens sat on the fluffy carpet. Alfred was walking around and handing the wine glasses to adults and hot chocolate to the youngsters. Clark opted for hot chocolate as well, which earned him a round of teasing. 

Since everyone was staying the night, there was no need for designated drivers. When Tim and Stephanie tried to get their hands on alcohol, Alfred slapped their hands. More laughter followed. 

Marinette sat there, cuddled into one armchair with Damian, observing everything and looking cute. 

“...I’m just saying, Bruce. You could smile a bit more in costume too. It wouldn’t kill you.” Clark finished a short speech.

“Work and homelife should stay separate,” Tim spoke up from his spot on the floor.

“Which doesn’t stop you from smiling. You’re not a Buckingham Palace guard.” Lois pointed out.

“To be frank, you could smile a bit more often, B.” Dick supported the enemy.

“It would be bad for the image,” Bruce mumbled. “If anyone saw Batman smile, it would ruin my years of hard work.”

“Diana disagrees.” Kor’i smiled. “She actually said once that ‘a smiling bat looks pretty handsome’.”

“I’ve seen a smiling bat!” Mar’i shouted from her spot on Jon’s knees, the two of them acting like nice siblings. It secretly irked Damian, but he wouldn’t ever voice that thought. “There was a cartoon!” 

“That’s nice, sweetie.” Sabine couldn’t help but rub it into Bruce some more. “Did he also have a cape, like Bruce?”

“Yes! And he walked on two legs!” 

“See? I think your image doesn’t need to suffer.” Tom joined his wife. His English wasn’t that good, but he could get by. “Maybe you could get a cartoon about Batman? Ladybug had her own movie and a song dedicated to her.” 

“Ladybug?” Jonathan asked. Marinette immediately tensed at the mention of her superhero name. She definitely did not want to reveal herself to everyone here. It’s not that she didn’t trust any of them, since all of them knew about Batman and co., but she felt uneasy. The fewer people knew, the better. 

“Parisian superheroine.” Sabine clarified.

“We sure didn’t hear about her back in Smallville.” Martha insisted, smiling. “Then again, we don’t really keep with the news from the old world.”

“There was this terrorist in Paris that used magic to turn people into temporary villains. He was finally defeated recently. I think you’ve seen all the ladybug decorations.” Tim explained in broad terms. 

“Ah! Right. I was wondering about the ladybugs…” 

Damian noted that his beloved was tense and decided that it was a moment good as any other to spring up the surprise. He shifted slightly, signaling that he wanted to get up. Marinette, who was still holding her cup, immediately sprung onto her feet. She thought he maybe wanted to leave somewhere or speak with his father alone. 

Instead, Damian hit the side of his hot chocolate cup with a spoon three times, gathering everyone’s attention. 

“Tt. I wanted to say a few words. This will be important so shut up you lot.” He cleared his throat before continuing in a mostly emotionless voice that most people associated with his ‘Ice Prince’ persona. “Marinette. When I first met you, it was not from our own free will. The bitch that is my mother forced our hand and tied us together. But we got to know each other out of our own free will. Nobody forced me…” His head snapped toward Dick. “Tt. Don’t you dare, Grayson.” Seeing his brother raise his hands in a surrender gesture, he carried on. “Nobody forced me to come to Paris. Definitely, nobody forced you to actually accept my courting. To this day, I am left wondering why an Angel as you would actually agree to go out with me, but here we are.”

The people watched with rapt attention. Marinette just stood there, unable to voice a coherent thought. She had no idea what was happening, but a deep red blush had made its way onto her face when he praised her. 

“You were so full of passion and joy and it reminded me a bit of Jon, but without the irritating factors.” 

“Hey!” The boy protested. A murderous glare from Damian shut him up quickly. 

“As I was saying, you were perfect in my eyes. I was taken away by your kindness. There are no words to describe my feelings.” His tone was still emotionless and monotonous, but Marinette could see that he was doing his best to actually see this through. “I can say without a doubt that I love you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng.” 

All air was suddenly sucked from Mari’s lungs when he fell on one knee and pulled out a small black box. Inside was probably the most beautiful ring she had ever seen. There were three flowers on a golden band. In the center of each, there was a shining diamond, surrounded by smaller stones. The petals were made from pink stones that she suspected were also diamonds. Were there even pink diamonds? All in all, it looked beyond words. 

“Will you do me that honor and become my wife?” When he finally asked, she could feel the world spinning. This was… this was better than in any of her daydreams. And not only because instead of Adrien there was Damian. 

The words died in her throat. She had to sit down to not faint. “Yes…” She whispered weakly, so only Damian could hear. The boy smiled brightly (a rare sight to be sure) and put the ring on her finger. 

Her gaze fell on the band he had on his own hand. It was silver with a large black stone in the center of the band, surrounded by eight diamonds. The Black Cat Miraculous she realized. 

An applaud arose from several places in the room, but some of the guests were confused. 

“Aren’t you two too young to get married?” Johnathan asked, scratching his head. 

“Tt. Technically, we are already married where I come from. This is for my wife’s content and nothing else.”

“Married?!” The old farmer asked, scandalized. 

“Tt. That’s what I said. Now can someone please get my Angel some water? I think she is about to faint.” 

“Um… I would also be very interested in the story…” Clark joined his father. He wasn’t exactly that much scandalized, but confusion was clear on his face. 

“I promise I will explain everything. I think we should give the two some breathing space…” Bruce proposed hesitantly. 

“I will help get Mari to her room. I think she has had enough excitement for today,” Tom offered.

“I am also turning in for the night, Father. I trust that between you and Miss Cheng they will get a full story. Sans the private parts of course.” He glared at him. 

“I will make sure of that.” Sabine quickly cut any protests.

“Good. Good night everyone. And Merry Christmas or whatever.” With that, he left, wanting to catch up with Tom and Marinette.

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

Masterlist // Next

[vgirl-10123]

Friendships Were Made to Change: Chapter Five

A/N: Hey guys how have you been? I haven’t been writing much lately but I’ve had these chapters written so I have no idea why i never let them out??? I think I’m just dumb tbh. Anyway, enjoy!

Chapter Four           Chapter Six

It was a few more days of the same thing: wake up, go to school, try to befriend Damian, leave for akuma attacks, play it off, go home, help her parents in the bakery, do some designs, go to sleep, rinse, repeat. It’s a vicious cycle, but better than back in Paris. At least here she has some friends.

“My usual.” Ah, yes. She almost forgot to mention how she has become sort of friends with a fellow coffee addict. He was a few years older than her, with black hair and blue eyes, with dark bags underneath them to complete the whole ensemble.

“One black coffee with 6 shots of expresso coming right up,” she said with a bright smile. The man just nodded and sat down at one of the booths while he waited. The man, well, Tim, actually, has been a regular here since the day they first opened. From what she gathered, he was sleep deprived and has a lot of siblings. Maybe that’s why he gets no sleep.

After his coffee was done, she set it down in front of him. He grabbed it and chugged half of it. He seemed to visibly brighten and seemed more at ease. “Thanks Marinette. I swear you sure are good at making coffee fit for us addicts.”

“Well Tim, I had to learn after my fair share of long nights. Can’t finish a design without some help from late night coffee.”

“Now that sounds like me. Can’t finish anything nowadays without at least 3 cups of coffee. It’s just not how it’s done.”

“Agreed. It’s an annoyance once you run out of coffee though.”

“Yeah. Speaking of annoyances, my brothers are going to be in here soon,” complained Tim. “Most of them aren’t bad, but man are they all handfuls.”

“I wish I could relate,” said Marinette,” I’ve never had any siblings before.”

“You can have mine,” Tim said with no hesitation whatsoever.

“How about I wait and see what’s in store,” Marinette said with a laugh in her voice. The bell chimed, signaling a new customer. In walked 3 people, the tallest who had a white stripe in his hair, the second tallest who seemed to give off a bubbly personality, and Damian?

“That would be my brothers,” Tim sighed, exasperated.

“Damian is your brother?”

“Wait, you know Damian?”

“Yeah, we have a few classes together and he’s Jon’s friend.” Marinette then went behind the counter to the cash register.

“Wait, your friends with Jon?”

“Hello, welcome to The Boulangerie Patisserie, how can I help you?” Marinette, asked the new group, completely ignoring Tim’s question. The group turned their attention to her from Tim, and they all had completely different reactions on their face.

First was the tall one, he looked like he didn’t give a shit about the current situation and seemed to be eyeing the pastries next to her. The bubbly one looked at her like she was the cutest thing in the world. Like an old grandma about to squish her cheeks. And then there was Damian. He looked at her with pure hatred. How rude. I didn’t do anything to you.

“Hey Pixie, I’ll have one of those cinnamon rolls you got there,”

“Hey, I’ll have the apple Danish and a latte. You are so cute by the way!”

“Tt. Cute isn’t the word I would use to describe Marinette, Dick.”

“Well, hello to you Damian. What are you doing here? I’d expect you to be doing something that doesn’t involve people.”

“Wait Damian, you know this girl?” asked the bubbly one.

“Yeah, she knows Jon.”

“Well aren’t you going to introduce us?”

“If I must. Marinette, meet Jason,” he gestured vaguely to the tall one with the stripe in his hair, “Dick,” he nodded towards the cheerful grandma, “and I’m sure you know Tim as he’s been here everyday since this place has opened.”

“Thank you, demon spawn, for that splendid introduction. Now, get your things and be on your way and leave me to drink my coffee in peace,” piped up Tim from the table he sat at. Ha, demon spawn. How fitting.

She rung up their orders and Dick paid her. They when to sit by Tim while they waited for his coffee. She looked over at the table and saw Dick, Jason, and Tim laughing at a pouting Damian. Looking closer, she could see how Damian actually looked a little upset. Maybe there’s a reason he acts like he’s better than everyone. The latte had just finished, and she called out to Dick.

“Thank you, Marinette. Have a wonderful day,” Dick said to her.

“Of course! You as well!” she said with a beaming smile. Just as all the boys were about to leave, she grabbed Damian’s arm. “Damian wait.”

“What?” he asked, seemingly uninterested.

“I just wanted to say sorry about earlier. You just irked me with how you acted at school. Truce?” She held out her hand once again, hoping for something this time around. Damian looked at her, then her hand, then finally gave her a handshake.

“Truce.” We’re finally getting somewhere. Her phone went off, jolting them from the handshake. Another akuma alert? What gives Hawkmoth?

“Well, I have to go, you know, water my cat. Here, take this muffin, free of charge!” she grabbed a banana muffin, shoved it in his hands, and high-tailed it to the back room. Now let’s take care of this so I can have time to work on the skirt I just started.

@abrx2002 @moonlightstar64 @justafanwarrior @sassakitty @miraculous-simmer7 @aestheticnpoetic @erick-rose99-stuff @mandy984 @mermaidreject @areshasissues @k-poplunardreams @zoerayne2426 @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @imanerddealwith @pawsitivelymiraculous @hot-neighbour-nextdoor @princessanimeangel11 @fidget-eep @iloveitwhen @bluesimani @ur-average-reader @how-to-fuction-properly @i-is-mysterious @tbehartoo @corabeth11 @dreamykitty25 @fc-studios @nathleigh @mochegato @t1dwarrior-of-earth @swiftie-miraculer13 @laurcad123 @i-wanna-be-a-ninja 

[dork-empress]

Singing in the Dead of Night Pt 3

Lucy and Damian visit Metropolis.

Past chapters are under my tag 'lucy quinzel' and the whole fic is on my AO3 (url in my description). Please reblog and leave comments.

Flock of Robins

Timtiminey:Guys. Guys. Guess what???

Jason: I thought I deleted this chat.

Timtiminey: Ha funny you think I’d allow you to do that

Timtiminey: And you didn’t guess.

Dickbutt: Tim I’m on a mission.

Dickbutt:.....

Dickbutt: TIM CHANGE MY NAME

Timtiminey: You’re still not guessing.

Dick Grayson’s name was changed to DickiestButtiest

Stephaluffagus: Whatever Is It, Tim?

Jason: Why is Stephanie even on here?

Stephaluffagus: I was a Robin!

Timtiminey: And she asks the questions. Well, you SEE

Timtiminey: DAMIAN GOT A GIRLFRIEND

Stephaluffagus: WHAAAA?!:?HSLHFADSKLJFKL?????

Dick Grayson’s name was changed to DatAssTho

DatAssTho: Awwwww, that’s so cute!!!

DatAssTho: Our little hellion is growing up

DatAssTho: It’s like it was just yesterday he was threatening to stab us all

Jason: That was last week at dinner.

Jason: Who the hell said yes to go out with him?

Timtiminey: That’s the best part! The old man set them up.

Stephaluffagus: ALKSDAN LFKSNDAFLKNDASKLF

DatAssTho: Well thats just not fair. He never set up me on a date.

Jason: He put you on the Titans.

DatAssTho: Watch it, Todd

DatAssTho: Also, you type like an old man

Jason: With proper punctuation?

Stephaluffagus: Guys, we’re straying from the topic: Who is it??

Timtiminey: Harley’s niece, she’s got some like, clown ballerina thing going

Jason: QUINN?!?!?!

Jason: LIKE JOKER’S GIRLFRIEND????

DatAssTho: Dude, they broke up ages ago

Stephaluffagus: Yeah, she’s basically more hero than you are

Jason: You really want to go down THAT route Brown?

Timtiminey: OOOOHKAYYY

Timtiminey: Rest assured, the old man vetted the girl. She’s…..unique? I’ve only seen her file, or part of it anyway

DatAssTho: Bruce has secret files doesn’t he

Timtiminey: I think I made it through the first encryption, but I’m working on the next between other cases.

Timtiminey: After all, we have to make sure she’s alright for our little Dami-kins

Stephaluffagus: Isn’t he on this chat?

Timtiminey: He’s had this muted for ages

Jason: YOU CAN DO THAT?!

Timtiminey: I mean, YOU can’t. I will turn it off for you

Jason: …….

Jason: Well you know it’d be a shame if I

Jason: @DamianWayne

Timtiminey: WHAT HAVE YOU DONE?!

Damian: You’re dead Drake

DatAssTho: RIP

Stephaluffagus: He will be remembered

Jason: Prick.

“Get on already,” Damian said, exuding as much disinterested and grumpy energy as his body could manage.

Lucy skipped over to him, and looked at the seating arrangement on the Robin Cycle. “Hmm”, she said, “I don’t know if I’ll fit.” She climbed up to the back of the cycle only for her tutu to spring her backwards.

“What the hell is in that thing?” Damian asked, scowling. whatever had hit him was way more solid than fabric.

“Oh all sorts of things!” she said, “It’s my utilitutu!”

Damian really should have been used to this by now. “Your what.”

“Utility Tutu. I’ve got my balloon animals, my gas bouquet, my tamborine…”

“Well get rid of it or something,” Damian said, and was somehow surprised she did as was asked. Left in just a leotard, she hooked the tutu around her arm and jumped up behind him, wrapping her arms around his waist.

Luckily, he was wearing his helmet, so no one could see him blush.

He revved up the motorcycle to try and drown out his thoughts. They’d been particularly loud ever since Tim said what he said...and, maybe since Lucy said what she said.

Were they dating? Is that what was happening? Lucy had called it a date, but Lucy was weird. It wasn’t like Damian understood how these things were supposed to work. This was super not in the training regime for the League of Assassins.

Did he...want it to be a date? He was even less sure. Lucy was...odd, but she had grown on him. She was the exact opposite of him, cheery where he was brooding, she was peaceful, he was violent. She was...kind and funny and playful. He was super not. they were both smart, but that seemed to be where the similarities ended.

And yet, it kinda worked. She was pretty, in a girly way, or at least thats what he could tell from under her makeup. He’d never been...really interested in girls or anyone. He didn’t know what it was supposed to feel like. If this was how it was supposed to feel like.

Well, he wasn’t going to be forced to be in a relationship with anyone. If she tried anything, he would tell her no, in no uncertain terms. Then he could get Tim and the others to shut up.

Once the decision was made, of course, he was left to ruminate for the remainder of the ride. He might have welcomed some of Lucy’s chatter, just to get his mind off things. Damn Bruce, not letting him use the batmobile…

Finally, a blur appeared beside him. “Need a lift?” Jon asked, rushing along beside him. Damian couldn’t help a smirk as he followed him through the city.

They came to a stop in an alleyway, though it didn’t hide much. “Whoa,” Jon said, eyebrows raised, “Hello, who’s this?”

Lucy stood on the top of the motorcycle, slipping her tutu back on and giving a deep curtsy, “Greetings! I am Commedia, The Dancing Delight, Columbina of Gotham and--”

“She’s Harley Quinn’s niece,” Damian said, cutting her off, “Lucy, Superboy, Superboy, Lucy.”

Lucy jumped down, eyebrow raised, “Now, come on. Surely you boys know how hard it is being defined by those who came before you.”

“Yeah, Robin,” Superboy said, holding out his hand for her to shake, “Honestly, no manners. Nice to meet you, Comme...Colum..um.”

“Lucy’s fine,” she said, “Aunt Harley said it’d be good for me to go and see some of Metropolis, maybe get some shopping done.”

Jon smiled, “Well, there’s plenty to do around here, and you picked the perfect tour guide! Come on, Mom and Dad are working today. I’ll show you around.”

Damian followed the pair of them around at a pace where you could just barely tell he was part of the same group. He was in his black outfit again, with sunglasses so that Lucy couldn’t tell who he was, and all of Metropolis wouldn’t know Robin wasn’t in Gotham.

Jon took them on the full tourist tour, going to see the many wonders of Metropolis. Though, a few stops Damian was pretty sure weren’t on the main route, like when they went to the top of the Daily Planet building. Other than that, though, it was a lot of pretty buildings, old buildings, the Superman memorial/dedication (they just left it up when Superman came back) and other sites that were considered important.

Damian sulked, having seen all these before and not finding them any more impressive than the first time or any time after that. What did surprise him was that Lucy didn’t seem any more impressed than him. He would have thought she’d go Gaga over the tourist trappings, considering she react to abandoned (allegedly) mines like a family at Disney World.

But she looked at each one, nodded in appreciation, and went onto the next thing.

Jon was kinda weirded out by it too, Damian could tell, not that Jon was ever subtle. He kept looking to Damian as if to try and explain her behavior, not that he was ever going to be doing that.

“Ok,” Jon said, as they sat outside the capitol, “Is there anything you WANT to see?”

Lucy shrugged, “To be honest, buildings don’t really interest me that much. But I’m glad to have gone with you, of course.”

“For fuck’s sake,” Damian said, “What’s the point of going around like this if you don’t even like it? We went around all damn day for YOU!”

Lucy tilted her head, “We went so that Superboy could show us things and we could get to know him.” She smiled at him, “You clearly admire Superman a lot, and you’re clearly like him. I’m glad you get along with your dad so well.”

Jon smiled, confused, but appreciative, “Thanks?” Damian grumbled. “But, I’d like to get to know YOU better as well. So if there’s something you like, the city has everything.”

Lucy hummed, “I honestly mostly just like to people watch in my free time.”

Jon beamed, “Oh man, I have the perfect place then.”

With a hop, skip, and a kryptonian-powered jump, the three of them were in the rafters of the Metropolis Subway station, looking down at everything and everyone as they went by. Damian was just glad they were inside, and being underground had him feeling a bit more at home.

Lucy practically sparkled, leaning way too far over to look at everyone. “What are they saying? Can you hear them?”

“Uh, which ones?” Jon said. She pointed aggressively. “Well, that one’s a family on vacation, the dad there is going over the itinerary, he’s got it printed out. The daughter there is trying to get him to skip the museums so they can get to the aquarium faster.”

“Ohh, what’s at the aquarium?” Lucy asked, kicking her feet like a child.

“Some fish, jelly fish are cool...Oh, they got a new shark there, I think.”

Damian groaned again, “Ugh, who CARES? If you wanted to go to the aquarium, then lets go to the aquarium! Instead of just watching someone TALK about it! These are all just normal people!”

“Robin, dude,” Jon said, “If it’s what she wants, why not? We are here for HER after all.”

That in of itself would have been enough to shame Damian, but Lucy was staring at him. She stared unblinking, and unsmiling. It was actually creepy. Like she was staring through him.

“Nobody’s normal.” She said, very seriously, her voice no longer taking on the cheery affectation. “Not a single one that I’ve ever met. Many of them TRY to be normal, but it is an illusion. A moving target, an ideal that doesn’t exist and people are shamed for not attempting to achieve.”

Damian could feel himself resist leaning away from her. “Uh, Lucy?” Jon said, “Something you want to talk about?”

Lucy blinked like she was remembering she was supposed to. “I suppose it is personal to me,” she said, “My…mother was always a little scared of Aunt Harley. First scared of her success, then scared of her villainous career. She always wanted to be normal. She wanted…me to be normal. She was scared of what I’d be. Who I’d be like.” She smiled, an echo of her previous smile, “It’s not quite the same as being a disciple for a great hero like Superman or Batman.”

Jon was suddenly looking very awkward. “Well,” He said, “I mean, having Harley Quinn as your aunt isn’t that bad. And you’re good anyway! So, no need to worry.”

“It doesn’t matter,” Lucy said, “It doesn’t matter if I was good or bad. It just matters that I was strange.” She tilts her head, looking down at the mass of people rushing back and forth. “Ever since I was little, people didn’t feel…real. They’re just. Stories. I couldn’t relate to my peers, as my teachers would say. I don’t know how to explain it. The only time I tried, my mom was so scared she sent me to a camp. One of those meant for bad kids to help them behave.” She tilted her head, “But they weren’t bad. They all had different stories. I realized there were no normal people. Just people with stories.”

Damian couldn’t have spoken if it was to yell for help. He stared at Lucy, trying to decide if he should be concerned or sympathetic.

Jon cleared his throat. “Well, I think you’re nice. And that’s what’s important. No problem with learning more about people and helping them.”

Lucy smiled, “Thank you.”

Jon’s head whipped to the side. “Ah, shoot, Dad’s calling me. I’ll be right back.” Lucy’s cheery attitude was back and she nodded, as Jon took off.

Lucy looked over at Damian for a moment. Damian felt he should say something. Apologize, maybe? He wasn’t sure what would be appropriate, and if it was appropriate, would Lucy want it. She worked on a whole other level, that was clear.

Lucy went back to watching people below her.

“My mom,” Damian started, not sure where he was going to end his sentence. Rule one of being in his family was to not reveal details about himself. But it was Lucy and she…she was his friend. “She was a…she’s a villain. I was supposed to be too. Maybe would have been if I didn’t go to live with Batman.”

Lucy nodded, “That sounds like a very interesting story,” Lucy said, “Thank you for telling me.” She tilted her head towards him. “Hey Robin, there’s this comedy place here in Metropolis I looked up. I was hoping maybe we could go tonight? I’m kind of a comedy nerd, and it’s always good to support people at an open mic. Maybe you’d even laugh once.”

Damian braced himself. This was a date. She was asking him on a date. He had prepared himself for this. “I can’t,” Damian said, the words practiced, “I don’t think of you that way. We can hang out and…be friends, but no.” There. No question about it.

Lucy looked at him, and tilted her head, thinking. “Ok,” She said, simply. Didn’t seem too heartbroken. It was a relief. “Hey Superboy,” She said, voice raise just slightly on the sounds of trains, “Do you want to go on a date to a comedy club tonight with me?”

There was a brief pause, then with a burst of wind, Jon jumped up back to the rafters. “Yeah, that sounds good,” and they shared smiles, “Robin, I can get her back to Gotham if you want to head home.”

Damian blinked, trying to process what exactly was happening. “I–,” technically, he wasn’t supposed to leave Lucy, for reasons Batman hadn’t been overly clear about. But if something was going to happen, she’d be plenty safe with Jon. Still, he wanted to argue this, even though he had nothing, and he knew he had nothing. “Sure, that sounds fine.”

Jon held out his hand to help him down, but he could easily get out by himself. And so, alone, he went home. And he didn’t understand the strange feeling in his gut.

Bruce stretched his neck coming down to the batcave, seeing Tim on the computer. “Commissioner Gordon has kindly invited Batman and Robin to the Wayne charity Christmas Party on my behalf,” he said, “I’ve got Dick coming down to wear the Batsuit for me. I’m going to work to have Damian as Robin, but would you and Steph take on patrols that night? At least some of us should actually be doing work.”

Tim didn’t answer. He stared blankly into the computer. Bruce sighed, most likely he didn’t hear him. “How long have you been down here? You’re going to ruin your–”

“Are you planning on telling Damian?” Tim asked.

Bruce paused and looked at what Tim was staring at. It was medical records of Delia Quinzel, specifically of her pregnancy.

Specifically the fake pregnancy records that Bruce had made. “What are you talking about?” Bruce asked.

“Please don’t insult me,” Tim said, face stoic, “You really think I can’t recognize your digital fingerprint all over these files?”

Bruce took a few deep breaths. “Have you told anyone?”

“Hell no,” Tim said, finally looking up, “And I cleaned up your mess. But I don’t know if anyone else has looked into this before now.” Tim glared at Bruce, “So I ask again, are you planning on telling Damian that you’ve put him in charge of protecting Joker’s biological daughter from her own father?”

Bruce came over and looked at the corrected records. They were, in fact, cleaner. Bruce’s were too normal. Tim added in complications that could have happened, just enough to make people think they’d already found what was wrong. “We don’t know what Joker knows.”

“Oh, and he just happened to escape Arkham and disappear at around the same time a teen starts hanging around his ex-girlfriend.” Tim said, dryly.

“If he does know,” Bruce said, “Then its our job to stop him. If he doesn’t, then we still stop him. But Lucy has a target on her back one way or another.”

“Which is why you put Damian in front of it?” Tim said.

“I trust Damien,” Bruce said, “To protect her. But I don’t want him to be biased against her because of her parents.”

“So, you’re putting him at risk, so that he can make friends?” Tim demanded, arms crossed.

Bruce took a deep sigh. “One day,” he said, “Lucy is going to have to confront where she’s come from. And the rest of us are too. I’m trying to give us all the best chance.” Bruce said, “Besides, Damian needs more friends other than Jon.”

Tim screwed up his face, then snorted. “Alright, old man,” he said, “I’ll go with your plan for now. But if something goes belly up, I reserve the right to at least one ‘I told you so.’”

“A fair compromise,” Bruce said, “What have you found about Joker’s movements?”

“He’s going quiet right now, which isn’t much like him,” Tim said, “But I think I’ve tied him to this fancy surgical robot that’s gone missing from Gotham Hospital.”

“Well, I’m sure there’s nothing mind-breakingly awful he can do with that,” Bruce said, sarcastically. “Let’s take it to the streets.”

Tim jumped up and followed him to the batmobile.

[thegoddamnfangirl]

Ditz

Pairings: Damian Wayne x Reader

 Requested by anon: Hello there! Could you do Damian Wayne x Reader where the reader is super sweet and cute and stuff but she's also really ditzy so everyone (including the rest of the Batfam) thinks she's dumb and it's weird, because Damian hates being around dumb people, but then they find out that she's actually like a genius and she just comes across as ditzy like that because she just really loves being around people. By the way, I love love LOVE your writing!! Every story of yours I read makes me so happy

Thank you so much, anon! I hope you’re safe and healthy, wherever you are. I’m sorry I’ve been inactive forever, and this fic isn’t my best work, I’ve gotten really rusty- but it was really a pleasure to write this for you, and I’m glad you enjoy my fics!

“Father, I’ll be having a friend over today,” said Damian, looking keenly at Bruce across the dinner table.

Bruce looked up from his food, a bit confused.

“A friend that isn’t Jon?” he asked.

“No, she’s a classmate, she- don’t look at me like that Father. Stop. Stop smiling, it’s uncomfortable!” said Damian, scowling.

“What? I’m not smiling!” said Bruce, with humor in his voice. “It’s just, it’s good, I’m glad you’re making friends. I’ll tell your brothers to not walk around in their uniforms.”

Damian shrugged in response, hoping his father hadn’t noticed the slight redness in his cheeks.

---

“WhoOP-“

“(Y/N)!” sighed Damian, grabbing her by the arm as she half-fell over the threshold.

“Sorry!” she laughed. “I’m hyper when I’m excited.”

Damian didn’t respond. Not letting go of her arm, he led her into the manor, towards one of the more favorably furnished drawing rooms (there had been several incidents some others, including someone absolutely ravaging one of the stiffly furnished ones, and one of the sitting rooms being converted into a slobby, messy, caffeine scented “family room”).

“I’d take you to my room but I’m afraid my father wouldn’t permit it,” he sighed.

“That’s alright, Dami,” she responded, smiling at him. “Is everything good with you and your dad?”

“As good as it ever was,” responded Damian, glancing quickly around the room as they entered it. Then he lowered his voice, and said-

“I’ve found that it makes him…warmer, somehow, if I engage in typical adolescent activities. It’s…nice, that way,” he said, his voice catching on the last part as if he wasn’t quite sure what he was saying.

She squeezed his arm, eyes bright.

“I’m glad. See, I told you- with family, all it takes is effort.”

“Yes, well-oh,” Damian stopped mid-sentence, his eyes on the door.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt,” said Bruce, with a small smile at (Y/n).

“Oh, that’s okay! I mean, hi- hello, Mr. Wayne-“ (Y/n) said, or rather jabbered, words tumbling one on top of another as she got up to shake his hand.

“It’s nice to meet you, (Y/n). Damian-“ said Bruce, looking towards his son, “I just wanted to tell you that I’ll be flying over to Metropolis tonight, but Dick-“ he was interrupted by a giggle from (Y/n), which he chose to ignore “-will be coming over to stay till I get back. No staying out too late, okay?”

“Yes, Father,” said Damian, shooting (y/n) as amused look.

“Anyway, (Y/n), it was great to meet you, I have to get going-“ Bruce began, just as (Y/n) backed up a little and rammed into a small side table.

“WeLP-oh my god, I’m sorry,” said (y/n) as the table fell over. Luckily, there was nothing breakable on it.

Bruce made sure, in a few short words, that (Y/n) was okay, and left the two to their own devices, wondering how it was that Damian had not uttered a single disparaging remark the whole time.

---

“Damiiiii I’m hoooome~” sang Dick, deliberately adopting the high, jaunty tone of voice he knew Damian hated so much.

The manor seemed pretty much empty, so Dick checked all the training rooms, and then he checked the Batcave. No sign of his little brother.

He was just about to call Damian when he heard a resounding thud from upstairs, followed almost immediately by a clang.

It sounded like it came from the little attic room that Damian would use as a studio, so Dick rushed directly upstairs, and shoved the door open to see-

A girl around Damian’s age, sprawled on the floor, her legs dripping with white paint. She was laughing, and a large can of paint was lying toppled on its side. Damian was looking at the girl with a mixture of exasperation and- amusement?

They both immediately looked up when Dick entered the room, and the girl hastily got to her feet.

“Hi!” she said, in an excited, chirpy tone. “I’m (Y/n), and you must be…Dick?” She extended her hand, which Dick took without thinking.

“Oh, shiz, sorry!” exclaimed (Y/n)- her hand was covered in paint, and now, so was Dick’s.

“Heh, that’s alright, kid,” said Dick, slowly processing the scene. Damian’s eyes were set intently on his face.

“Yeah, I’m Dick, you’re a…friend? Of Dami’s?” he asked.

“Yeah!” she nodded, previous embarrassment forgotten as she began to bounce a little on her heels. “Damian’s doing a portrait of me,” she added.

“That’s really nice of him,” Dick said, looking at Damian with incredulity. “I mean it, (y/n)…Damian isn’t nice at all, not ever!”

“Shut up, Richard,” growled Damian. “I need to get back to work.”

Dick laughed, with (Y/n) smiling as she assumed her position on a small stool in front of Damian’s easel, which faced away from the door.

---

Sometimes, when you really, really, like a person, you don’t want them to meet your family, or your family to meet them. The smaller your family, the larger the chances that this person will quickly be exposed to your entire family, but with a large family, you may hope to keep them hidden from some members, at least for a little while.

Damian hoped. He hoped in vain.

“She visited you? She visited you? Why?” hollered Damian.

“Relax, I liked your sister! She’s not a woman of many words, but she seems really nice,” said (Y/n), sincerely.

“Cassandra is not nice,” grimaced Damian. “She’s feral.”

“Damian, that’s not nice,” said (y/n), leaning forward in her armchair.

It was one of those really nice days when everyone was busy in their own thing, and Damian and (y/n) had a little privacy in a sitting room.

“Besides, Jason seems really funny,” (y/n) added.

Damian sat up straight in his chair, eyes flashing.

“Todd came to see you? WHY?”

“He was with Cass when she came over to give me the book I left at your place!” said (y/n). “I like your siblings, I really do.”

“That’s because you don’t know them,” whined Damian, knowing full well the real reason why Cassandra and Todd went to (y/n)’s.

Todd would call it reconnaissance. Damian called it being a busybody.

---

Within less than a month, through some excuse or the other, (Y/n) had been exposed to his whole family. The whole nuthouse. All Damian really needed at this point for his mother to go barging into her room at some ungodly hour and take her for blackmailing him or something, and the picture would be complete.

Damian’s real problem wasn’t what (y/n) thought of his family. It was more the way they had taken to teasing Damian, randomly whispering her name through the comms, asking him about his giiiiiirlfriiiend, someone (and he suspected either Stephanie or Todd) had even left an elaborately embroidered handkerchief with her initials on his bed. Even his father had joined in the joke, occasionally asking him if he needed any “tips” and whether he wanted to be taken to the jewelry store to scout for rings?

It was insufferable.

What bugged him the most, however, was the little talk he had had with Richard.

“Damian…listen. You really seem to like this girl,” Dick had said, making himself comfortable on the bed Damian had just made.

Damian had just shrugged.

“Look, I know what it’s like to really have a crush on someone, but she’s been coming over a lot, and before you start to get serious, I want you to think about how much you really like her. Do you think you’ll, erm, continue to like her?” Dick had asked, a little confused as to how to ask Damian the awkward question.

In spite of himself, Damian had asked what he meant.

“(Y/n) is very sweet,” Dick said, “but she’s a little, she doesn’t really seem your type.”

Damian had stared, as if waiting for him to continue, and he did.

“She’s adorable, Dami, but do you really have fun with her? I mean, not that kinda fun, just, I know if you’re going to seriously like someone they need to challenge you, they need to be sharp and-“

“Are you calling her dumb?” Damian had snapped, feeling his defensive hackles rising.

“No! It’s just, she seems a little scattered and, I dunno, ditzy? I know for a fact that you’re intolerant of anything but the very best in people, both intellect wise and strength wise.”

Damian had just sighed. “She’s much smarter than she looks.”

----

Tim and Bruce were staring.

(Y/n) was sitting cross legged on the carpet, flipping through a case file they had told her Richard was “going through for work, consulting a bit for the GCPD while he took some time off of his job”.

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure,” she said, a goofy smile on her face as she put the file back on the central table.

She had come over to see Damian, and had been talking to Tim and Bruce whilst she waited for him. She’d gotten curious about the case file lying on the table, looked through it, and-

“She might have solved it,” Tim murmured to Bruce, half wondering how he had missed the subtle details (y/n) had picked up.

Bruce looked thoughtful.

“You seem quite observant, (y/n),” he said. “Would you like to give your input on some of the other cases we have? It would be quite helpful for the, uh, the GCPD to gain some fresh perspective.”

“Oh, sure,” chirped (y/n), entirely oblivious to all the surprise she had occasioned. “Let me just-“

She stood up sharply, forgetting that she had sidled almost entirely underneath the extended arm of a hardwood chair.

“Ouch!” she exclaimed, rubbing her head where she’d hit it. “Damn, I need to stop being so hyper,” she grumbled, earning a look of amusement from Tim.

Damian was quite pleased to hear that all of Dick’s previous doubts had been removed, and that the GCPD has received a sudden influx of invaluable input helping them solve at least two cases gone cold.

------

Okay, so i got a little awkward at the end. I’ll get it with practice, though.

Requests are open! Give me something to do y’all I’ll be in complete lockdown for a few more weeks! 

Also, for Damian x reader fics, could you guys please specify in the request roughly what age you’d want him to be around?

[banashee]

It's midnight where I am, which means it's technically the 21st already 😁 Hi Folks, welcome to my fourth fic for the Archival Pride 2021 project! Look at their tumblr for more info :)

@archivalpride

   Archival Pride 2021, Week four (June 21-28) Prompts: comfort, childhood, research, missing scene, statement

   The key words I've used here are comfort, research (and arguably missing scene depending how you look at it)

So, this wasn't supposed to get nearly as long as it ended up being. But I enjoyed wirting this a ridiculous amount, and I hope you can find a bit of joy, comfort or anything else you're seeking as well.

-

Please mind the tags and content warnings for this one! It’s quite a bit heavier than my other entries for the Archival Pride 2021.

Content warnings: - Trauma, Grief - PTSD / Panic attacks - violent canon death of a sibling - coping - Nightmares - Canon-typical violence - Canon-typical Clowns / The Stranger - Death of a loved one - Canon-typical violence and thoughts of violence - Past underage kissing between consenting teenagers (nothing graphic and very PG) - breif internalized Bi-Phobia in the past - brief mention of past Ace-Phobia - strong language - TMA season 3 spoilers, even though this story is set pre-canon.

-

 Whispers in the Dark

 The first time Tim meets Jonathan Sims is when he sets down a small cardboard box and a stack of files onto a desk. More precisely, his own new place at the desk he just got assigned.

 Tim just started out with his new job and he smiles, even though he is barely holding himself together at this point. He hopes no one will ask too many questions - it’s not like he plans on telling anyone what made him seek out the institute in the first place. It’s way too personal, and way too much to handle.

 So he’d lied in the job interview, spun some story about wanting a new challenge. Mr. Bouchard didn’t question it, and Tim would like to think that is because his CV and education are rather high quality, which he isn’t shy about. Not at all - he is proud of his achievements, and rightfully so. But Tim can’t shake the feeling that his new employer had looked at him oddly, like he knows something that no one else does. It had been deeply unsettling, and if Tim thinks too much about it, it causes the hairs on the back of his neck to stand up straight.

 Despite his gut feeling telling him something else, Tim decides to chalk it up to nerves and his… Current situation, so to say. He is more jumpy, more paranoid than he used to be, which isn’t surprising. He has seen things, lived through things that he wouldn’t know how to explain if anyone asked. But overthinking it won’t get him anywhere.

 So, he puts on a bit of the show, something that looks like his usual happy-go-lucky personality. Loud, brash, flirty and wicked smart, just like he always has been. It feels incredibly fake to him, but then again, no one here knows him. No one has ever met him before… Before. They don’t know.      They don’t know    . None of them ever sees him when the mask falls, home alone, in a house that feels too big and too empty with Dany gone and - no.

     “Don’t go there, Stoker, just don’t. Get through the day, see what you can find out and go home. Get back tomorrow, rinse and repeat. You can do this.”     he tells himself and plasters on a smile that almost hurts.

 As he sets down the box and his files, he greets his new coworker and desk-neighbor.

 “Hi, I’m Tim, nice to meet you!” (      “be happy, sound happy, god dammit”     he thinks, then reminds himself that this guy won’t know the difference.)

 The man on the desk opposite of him looks up from his computer which he’d previously looked at with intense concentration. It seems to take him a moment to catch up, then he nods and there is the hint of a very small smile on his face.

 “Oh, erm, hi. Welcome.” he says, like someone who isn’t used to interacting with too many people. And maybe he isn’t - Tim wouldn’t know. He almost moves on and accepts that he won’t get a name from his new desk neighbor, but then he hears him say,

 “Jonathan. Jon is fine, too.”

 And then, as if he never said anything, he focuses back onto the screen in front of him and starts typing furiously.

 “Thanks!” Tim says, probably just a tad too loud and too enthusiastically, but he doesn’t get a response this time. Okay, awkward. He isn’t sure if Jon is ignoring him or if he just doesn’t realize that he is being talked to - judging from the very brief, first impression of him that Tim got, both options might be entirely possible.

 As the days go by, they don’t interact a lot besides basic politeness and the occasional question or comment about something work related.

 The first time Tim ever really talks to Jon, is when he witnesses the man climb a bookshelf in the library like a fucking tree. No kidding. Tim blinks, and for the first time in a long while, he feels a real, genuine laugh bubble up in his chest. What the hell? He steps closer, next to the large, antique bookshelf that his coworker is currently clinging to, pulling books from a shelf that is over his head still.

 “Jon, hi.” Tim says, watching the scene in front of him unfold. This is not something he expected, least of all from the coworker who never seems to say or do anything mildly interesting. So much for the first impression - the second impression is something entirely different, and it is this very moment that Tim decides that he likes the guy.

 The sound of Tim’s voice addressing him directly makes Jon turn his head.

 “Hi. Can I help you?” he asks, brusk and matter of fact, as if there wasn’t anything odd about this situation.

 “...I was going to ask you the same?” Tim offers, mildly amused as he finds himself kind of impressed when Jon manages to shrug with his hands full like that. While clinging to the shelf, because what even?

 “No. Why? I’ve already got what I need.” Jon jumps down from the wooden board he’d been standing on, and it is only now that Tim realizes they’d been on eye level before. Now… Not so much. They never stood next to each other up until this moment, he realizes.

 He’s only been here for about a week, but whenever Tim arrives at the office, Jon is already there, at his desk and working. He never gets up for lunch, only ever seems to leave the room to pick up or drop off books from the library, and by the time everyone else has left, Jon remains seated at his desk. If he wasn’t changing out his clothes, Tim would have been convinced that Jonatahn Sims simply plugs himself into a wall socket to recharge for the next day. Or maybe sleeps under his desk or something.

 “Just… You know what, nevermind.” Tim has come to the very correct conclusion that he better just accept this as it is. It seems easier. Much, much easier than arguing with someone over nothing, even though Tim feels like punching a wall or two some days. But that is not his coworkers fault, and he doesn’t want to mess up the chance to get to know him because he is cute.

 Tim doesn’t even question this train of thought anymore.

 At some point in between meeting the man for the very first time and… well, this, he must have filed away the odd combination of grandfather cardigans, chipped dark nailpolish and neatly tied up hair, combined with that deep warm voice and decided that yes, this person is attractive.

 To be fair, it doesn’t take Tim long to fall for people - it never has. He just didn’t expect to spend any time really      looking     at someone, now that his life has gone sideways in so many horrible ways.

 Turns out he’d been wrong.

 Finding something attractive about a person, no matter their gender or any physical attributes, is the easiest thing in the world to Tim. Ever since he can remember, he has enjoyed looking at people. Tim likes soft curves just as well as sharp angles, and has spent many many hours of his life getting lost in people's eyes. Sometimes, he’d caught himself staring when talking to a friend, losing himself in the depth of warm brown eyes with specks of gold, watery blue, light grey or green with specs of hazel and anything in between.

 Tim vividly remembers a game of spin the bottle when he was a teenager and sat on the floor with a group of friends and classmates. Of course, there had been many dares to kiss someone, and he had happily taken them whenever possible.

 At the time, Tim wasn’t sure about himself at all, because he’d only known that he finds people attractive, but all everyone around him had talked about was if you were gay or straight, if the question was even asked. Mostly, they just assumed whatever seemed convenient at the time.

 No one tells Tim about the meaning of the word “Bisexual”, or even about the word itself until he is in college. But he knows how he feels, even though he is lacking the word for it for many years

 Once he finds out, Danny is the first person he tells about it. Tim calls him that same night, sitting in a quiet corner of the dorm as he excitedly tells his little brother that he found a word to relate to himself and his feelings for other people.

 “There are other people who feel that way, Danny. There is nothing wrong with me and there is a word for it!” he tells him in a hushed but excited voice, fumbling on a loose thread in a hole of his jeans. Those trousers have long been frayed into shreds but Tim refuses to part with them.

 His voice is shaking with excitement, and he may or may not be holding back happy tears. This is a big moment for him, and because Danny is literally the best - not just because he answered his phone at fuck-o-clock in the morning when his brother called - he reacts with nothing but support.

 “I might have a few questions, but I love you. No matter what. I’m happy for you.” he tells him, and in that moment, Tim couldn’t be happier or prouder of his younger brother.

 The game of spin the bottle a few years earlier was the one of the first things that taught Tim that he finds many many things to be interested in and attracted to. It taught him that he is attracted to the many different ways people feel, and it hasn’t changed ever since.

 Over the years, Tim finds himself falling in love quick and hard with a number of people, and none of them are ever the same. Each and every person is unique, in their looks and size and voice and feelings - and every single one is loveable just as they are.

     “You        do         have a thing for certain types of voices though.”    Tim thinks, and maybe that is the culprit here, now that he is standing in the library of the Magnus Institute and faced with Jonathan Sims, who looks up at him with one raised eyebrow. Oh shit, has he been staring the entire time?

 Before Tim can think too much about it, or god forbid, overthink it, he hears his mouth blurt out without his brains permission,

 “So do you want to come to lunch later? There is a café not far from here that I’ve never been to.”

 Jon stares back for a moment, like this isn’t something he expected. Truth be told, he didn’t. But just when Tim starts thinking that he’ll decline, Jon nods slowly.

 “Yes, I suppose. Just… Let me know before you’re going. I tend to, well, I tend to get lost a bit when I’m working and chances are I won’t notice how much time has passed.” he explains, and this is probably the first time he said anything personal besides his name.

 “Sure, no problem. I’ll just put a giant sticky note on your monitor.” Tim offers him with a grin and wink, and as he turns around, he could swear that he catches a real smile on Jon’s face.

 Tim actually does put a note on Jon’s screen though. As he was warned, all attempts to verbally get his attention have failed, so Tim scribbles a quick note for Jon.

 The sticky piece of paper is bright pink and obnoxious, and all that Tim has written on it is “Lunch time!” in big bold letters, accompanied by a smiley face. He manages to walk up behind Jon, stick it right in the middle of his computer monitor and get back around to his own desk to gather his jacket and wallet before Jon squints at it through slim, rectangular glasses and blinks a few times before he remembers the conversation from earlier. Then, there is a small hint of a smile on his face, very similar to the one Tim caught in the library earlier.

 He gathers his things and leaves the office with Tim, and the two of them walk next to each other comfortably as they make their way to the café.

 Surprisingly, the lunch break together isn’t nearly as awkward as it could be, or should have been, really. Jon doesn’t talk much at first, and Tim has a feeling he himself is talking way too much without actually saying anything, just so his brain doesn’t drift off into the wrong direction. But then, it’s like the air has left his lungs and there is a minute or two of slightly awkward silence.

 Then, Jon clears his throat and asks,

 “So, did you know that snails can sleep for three years at a time?”

 When Tim, surprised by the question, shakes his head, Jon starts talking about the topic in great detail as he fiddles with the edge of his napkin the whole time. Somehow, this of all things breaks the ice, and Tim finds himself to be able to breathe a little bit easier.

 Even more so, he is enjoying this. He isn’t sure what he expected when he asked Jon to join him for lunch. Maybe it was just the urge for human interaction and to not be alone, which he supposes is fair enough. But he certainly didn’t expect random information about nature phenomenons. All Tim knows is that he feels better after their first break together, and after that, spending the break together becomes A Thing.

 What he learns pretty fast is this: Jon is an info dumper when he feels comfortable enough to do so. As it turns out, Jon isn’t very picky with his topics, either. They range from science phenomena to weird, interesting nature facts and anything else that catches his interest.

 Tim also learns that, if he is in the right company and being asked the right questions, he can hold monologues that could last for hours. He figures that one out when Jon drops a fun fact about 19th century architecture, and without thinking, picks up the loose end of the sentence and continues,

 “Oh, yes, did you know that…” and thus, without even realizing it, Tim spends the entire lunch break talking about it - he is passionate about the topic, but he leaves out the details about the Covent Garden Theatre. It just hurts too much to think about, but other than that, Tim is excited about the topic. He gets so carried away and rambles on and on and on, he only stops when Jon and him get back to the institute. It takes even longer for Tim to catch up and realize that Jon just paid for both lunches while he went off on a monologue about Robert Smirke architecture. But when he tries to pay him back, Jon just waves him off.

 “Don’t worry about it. Besides, your lecture was very interesting, I didn’t want to interrupt.”

 From anyone else, this might have been a dig - but coming from Jon, Tim knows by now, it is a genuine statement that makes him way happier than it should.

 So, their lunch breaks together quickly turn into a tradition,

 Tim isn’t entirely sure what is more surprising; the fact that he manages to get Jon to actually leave his desk for human needs like food and social interaction, or that the two of them are enjoying it so much.

 Sometimes, they go to cafés or restaurants, trying out places that neither of them has been to before. It turns into them picking favourites, and then they become regulars at a small handful of places. Sometimes they simply go on a quick walk to pick up some food, other times they sit down and enjoy being out of the office for a little bit.

  One day, Tim arrives in the office early, and he brings lunch from home for Jon and himself for the first time.

 Tim has spent the previous night wide awake, unable to rest after a nightmare startled him out of a deep sleep. It takes a long time to get his breathing back under control, and very late at night, or very early in the morning, depending how you look at it, Tim gives up on sleep. After hours of useless tossing and turning, he won’t be able to rest, he knows from experience.

 Cursing under his breath, he pulls aside the covers and takes a few deep, shuddering breaths. Exhausted, both in a physical and emotional sense, he scrubs a hand over his face.

 The memories linger, and Tim feels like his whole chest is pulled together with anxiety and grief. Seven months. That’s how long it has been since he found Danny sitting in his dark living room in the middle of the night, crying silent tears as he had no idea what to do besides be there for him and offer comfort. Seven months since he followed his younger brother to the Royal Opera House Covent Garden and had to watch him being torn apart.

 Carefully, Tim forces himself to keep breathing as evenly as possible. In - hold - out - hold - in - rinse and repeat. His hands are shaking, and he tries to force them into stillness as he grips hard at the rumpled bed sheets.

 Attempting to go back to sleep is useless, he knows from experience, and so he makes his way down into the kitchen.

 This house feels too big, too empty without the presence of his little brother. He left a hole in his life, and even though it’s been months since Danny died, Tim hasn’t moved a single one of his possessions. Not yet - it hurts too much.

 Despite having been alone for a while now, Tim is still careful to leave the lights  out in the hallway, walking as quietly as he can in the middle of the night as if there was still someone around he could wake up with his movements. It’s a long standing habit, and he isn’t sure he’ll ever shake it off.

 It’s only when he arrives in the kitchen that Tim switches on the overhead light. It flickers to life, slowly, and the small kitchen is tinted into a warm light. Warm and homely, like this house once was. Now, it just feels painfully empty.

 With a long sigh, Tim makes his way to the sink and fills up a glass with water - his hands are still shaking and he spills a bit onto himself, but he doesn’t care. Caring about it is too much right now, so he focuses on draining the glass empty before refilling it again. He feels dehydrated, but given the night he’s had so far, it isn’t surprising.

 “I need a distraction.” he mumbles, and soon enough, he’s raided the pantry and his refrigerator. Tim pulls  out some pots and pans from the cupboard, scattering everything throughout his kitchen where it’ll be most convenient. The repetitive tasks of cooking have always had a relaxing effect on him, and soon enough, the room is filled with scents and aromas that make his mouth water. Even now, while he is absolutely miserable.

 The casserole ends up being huge. It’s way too much for one person, even one with an appetite. But cooking for one after being used to there being someone else is hard - kind of useless, while you’re already at it.

 Tim has had that problem ever since he’s been cooking on his own, but knowing that Danny will be back to join him again, freshly back from some cave diving or urban exploration or whatever other strange new hobby he’d found at the time.

 Now, Tim is all on his own. He sighs unhappily. Cooking was a good distraction, up until he is painfully reminded that no one is there anymore to share it with. Not here, at least.

 He allows himself a few minutes of quiet greif, seated at the kitchen table with his head in his hands and a lukewarm cup of tea, sitting on the table by his side, almost forgotten.

 By the time the sun is starting to rise, Tim is up and moving again. He has put the casserole in several plastic boxes and packs two of them into his work bag.

 When he arrives at the office, way earlier than he usually does, because what is the point of staying home doing nothing, Tim places one of the boxes at the edge of Jon’s desk.

 Jon seems to be mildly surprised by the early company, and even more so by the plastic box.

 “Oh, Good morning... What is this?” he asks then, mildly curious.

 “Lunch. I was cooking last night and it was way too much. Thought I’d bring some in to share.” Tim forces a smile along with the half-lie, if only to cover how tired he is. He needs coffee.

 The “Thank you” Tim gets in response is equally surprised and genuine, and he tries very carefully to not interpret too much into it. Especially because their shared meal feels a lot more homely and strangely intimate that day. Getting takeout together or sitting somewhere is one thing, but sharing a home-cooked meal is something entirely different, he finds. He also finds that he doesn’t mind it.

 Only a few days later, conveniently when every last bit of the casserole is gone, Tim finds a plastic box that isn’t one of his own sitting on his desk. Curiously, he opens it and finds it filled to the brim with homemade curry, rice and veggies. Even cold, it smells heavenly and makes his mouth water. Tim looks over to the desk opposite of him, where Jon is already typing away like he usually does, but when he looks up and finds Tim smiling brightly at him, he smiles back.

 Something in his chest feels incredibly warm and fluttering.

 One evening, when the two of them get out of the office equally late - Jon because he always does, and Tim because he may or may not have waited for him - they walk to the tube together.

 In a spontanous fit of bravery and “Oh well, fuck it”, Tim carefully rechaes out until his own fingers gently brush against Jon’s as they walk. It’s dark outside, only illuminated by the countless lights that illuminate the shops and pubs and the sides of the street they’re walking along. Tim does so casually and carefully enough to be ignored or taken as a coincidence if needed be, just in case. But then his heart almost stops for a second when after a moment of stiffness, Jon accepts the offer and closes his own fingers around Tim’s.

 His touch is light at first, but then his grip tightens a bit, warm and comfortably so, and it is clear that his heart is in it. Of course it is - the two of them have gotten close in the last few weeks and months. There might have been some wishful thinking on Tim’s end involved - Jon is not always great at picking up social cues, especially romantic ones.

 “That’s fine though” he tells him later, “You’re a huge enough flirt to make it up for the both of us.”

 Jon squeezes his hand, and Tim happily squeezes back as he keeps walking beside him, just a little bit closer than before.

 He can’t help but smile. Something like happiness blooms in his chest, and even though they don’t talk about it the entire way, even though they keep holding hands when they sit next to each other in the tube, they remain this close all the way until their ways separate and they have to get onto a different line each. It feels right, and the sudden loss of touch as their ways separate makes Tim wish it could last - but turning back and running after the other train seems kind of silly now, especially since he’ll see Jon again the very next day.

 This becomes A Thing as well. Touching, that is.

 Holding hands, brushing along each other when they reach for folders or mugs or books in the library. Speaking of which, Tim has learned very quickly that there is      no     way to stop Jon from literally climbing high spaces to reach whatever he needs. As of now, he is long used to watching him scale a bookshelf or kitchen counter, much to his own amusement.

 “Hold on tight, little monkey.” he tells him as he walks past, grinning from ear to ear, knowing full well that he can’t expect more than a scoff and,

 “Oh, shut up.” as a response.

 Tim keeps it up though - because it’s fun and he knows he’s allowed to get away with it. Which can’t be said for anyone else in the institute, not like anyone would have tried as far as he knows. But he is ridiculously proud of it nonetheless. Tim is still cackling to himself when he wraps an arm around the other man’s shoulders and keeps chatting away to him all the way back into the research offices.

 He has always been very openly affectionate, with family, friends and romantic partners or those he’d fancied. It’s part of who he is, and if he is honest with himself, it feels good to have some part of him back that’s always been there. It helps a bit, and even more so since Jon not only happily lets him, he also leans back into the touch. Jon’s attempts at seeking out touch are a lot more subtle than Tim’s, at least at first, but he knows and recognizes it for the sign of trust and comfort that it is.

 That afternoon, there isn’t much time to chat at their desks, but about an hour before they’re supposed to get off, a balled up piece of paper hits Tim’s hand, clearly coming from Jon, but the sneaky bastard isn’t giving indication that he stopped reading at all.

 With a small smile, Tim opens the note. It’s not like Mr.   Workaholic to pass notes on the clock, but then again, he has to give Jon credit for loosening up significantly since the day they met. Or, maybe warmed up to human company is more like it. (He very carefully tries not to think, or more like hope, that it's him in particular Jon has warmed up to so much. But then again, Tim has heard some of their coworkers whisper in astonishment that it’s completely unheard of that Jonathan Sims leaves his desk for breaks or in time in the evenings, let alone interacting with other human beings more than absolutely necessary. Tim also caught the rumors about the two of them being a couple - he’d almost laughed then. He fucking      wishes    .)

 Tim unfolds the note and reads;

     “I have a lot of leftover curry I made last night. Would you like to come over for dinner after work? - J.”  

 This has become A Thing, too. Sharing meals after work and sometimes on the weekends. It alternates where they go, but especially lately, they have preferred to go to either Tim’s house or Jon’s apartment instead of a restaurant. For one, going out to eat on a regular basis is expensive, but also, cooking together or eating the leftovers from a late night cooking binge is a lot more comfortable and homely.

 Sharing a meal and oftentimes a couch with someone fills at least part of the void that Tim finds inside of himself. He is struggling still, but having another human being in his personal space, warm and alive and happy to be there, means the world to him. He’s feeling something again, something that isn’t constant fear or everlasting sadness.

 They watch movies sometimes - it’s not exactly easy to find something that both of them       like    . Their tastes in movies are widely different from each other, so instead, they opt to choose obscure sci-fi movies or anything they can pick apart and make fun of. No horror - they haven’t talked about it, but this is one of the few movie-related things they are in silent agreement over.

 Truth be told, poking fun at bad movies together is much more entertaining than watching anything the normal way.

 They are stuffing their faces with snacks and complain at the protagonists for making very unwise or straight up unrealistic decisions, even in-universe illogical ones. They pick apart plot-points and anything that doesn’t add up  while they share space on the couch, either holding hands or leaning against one another.

 “Oh, of course, give me a break!” Jon grouses as he shakes his hand that is currently holding a few crisps at the TV, annoyed to no end, it seems. In truth, he is      enjoying     this. He enjoys this an awful lot, and so does Tim.

 He laughs out loud and pulls Jon a little closer to his side.

 “Yes, you tell the creepy alien why it’s mere existence even in this fictional universe doesn’t make sense, Love!” He eggs him on, and only realizes the pet name has slipped out of his mouth by the time he notices the deep blush creeping on Jon’s face. Oh shit.

     “Now don’t say anything to fuck this up, for once in you life, just shut up!”    Tim thinks to himself, carefully trying to remain as calm as he can. They’ve been holding hands for ages and they keep cuddling up on the couch - this isn’t anything unexpected, for heaven’s sake. Hell, if Jon were anyone different, they might have ended up in bed already, but Tim is aware that this probably isn’t going to happen anytime soon - or at all, if he isn’t entirely mistaken, based on  the hints and observations. First and foremost the slow and careful way in which their relationship to each other is changing and developing, but then again, he knows what the simple black ring on the middle finger on a person’s right hand usually means.

 Tim doesn’t ask though - he figures that if Jon wants to talk about it, he will do so eventually and at his own pace.

 So, Tim doesn’t push anything and carefully waits for a response. But there isn’t one, or at least nothing verbal. Instead of saying anything, neither to Tim or about the movie, Jon simply scoots a little bit closer to him, leaning against him and doesn’t let go of his hand. Tim takes this as a win and leans his head against the tuft of long black hair that tickles his cheek.

 Both of them relax in an instant, and if they end up falling asleep on the couch, legs a tangled mess and with the TV still on, well, the next morning isn’t nearly as awkward as it might have been once upon a time.

 It takes Tim, way longer than it should to realize that, for the first time in a long while, he didn’t startle awake screaming that night. Company helps. It helps a lot. Just knowing that there is someone else, that he isn’t alone and doesn’t have to wake up to an eerily empty house anymore helps.

 Tim doesn’t fool himself into thinking that everything will magically resolve itself - he knows it won't, especially because his research about the circus isn’t going anywhere yet.

 Sometimes, he feels guilty. Guilty for not spending every waking minute searching for hints, searching for answers to the things that have taken his brother and traumatized him for life. The calmer, logical part of his brain is aware that it doesn’t work like that - he needs a break sometimes, needs the time to himself and spend it with other people…. And goddammit, he deserves to be happy.

 Danny would have kicked his arse if he could hear him think this, would have told him to get a grip and do something that makes him happy. Because this is what scares him sometimes - the happiness, the times where he doesn’t think of the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden or circuses and… Skin. Just the thought alone makes him shudder, but he can’t stop thinking about those memories sometimes.

 “...Are you alright?”

 Tim blinks, not having realized that he must have zoned out. He’s still on the couch, slowly waking up and with Jon tucked somewhere next to him. He doesn’t sound very awake yet, but there is concern in his voice as he fixes Tim with a very direct look.

 “I- yes, just. Zoned out a bit there.” Tim shoots him his best bright smile, hoping he’ll be able to chase away the ghosts. At least for now. He sighs, and happily leans into the touch and hugs back when he can feel a pair of slim arms snaking around his waist. Jon doesn’t say anything, but he seems to pick up that something is bothering Tim. And much like him in emotional situations, Jon doesn’t know what to say. So he remains close and thankfully, this is exactly what Tim needs right now. Just being close to someone he cares a whole lot about, feeling their heartbeat near his own. Being held for a bit. He squeezes Jon in silent gratitude for being there, and hopes he can get across what he can’t say.

 It is Saturday and they have a whole weekend in front of them. After they peel themselves off of the couch, they stumble off to the bathroom after one another and then to the kitchen in an attempt to fuel themselves with tea and breakfast. It’s painfully, beautifully domestic.

 While he is keeping an eye on several pans on the propane stove, Tim is chatting away about something - he isn’t exactly sure himself, except it is something pointless that distracts him from his earlier train of thought. Jon and him are laughing and joking while they drink tea and prepare breakfast together. But after a while it looks like Jon wants to say something, stops himself, and then more of the same all over again.

 Eventually, Tim can’t watch him struggle over it anymore and straight out asks,

 “Hey. What’s going on in that fuzzy head of your’s?”

 It’s true - both of them still have a severe case of bed-heads, and Jon huffs at the question and tries to smooth down a few of the stubborn flyaways around his face. Only very mildly successful.

 “I… Was going to ask something.”

 “Alright? Shoot.” Tim very, very carefully swallows the joke he was about to make in the end - if this is going where he hopes it might, he doesn’t want one god awful pun to be part of the memory of it. So he waits.  

 Jon seems to be bracing himself, and then he turns around to face Tim.

 “I would like to kiss you. Is that okay?” he asks. A simple question, and yet - it means so much. Tim smiles at him, heart beating out of his chest as he steps closer to Jon.

 “Yes, I’d love that.”

 There are only mere inches separating them. Both Jon and Tim cross the last of the distance at once, hands searching for each other. Their fingers are interlacing tightly as soon as they touch, and just a split second later, their lips meet for the first time. There is no rush, nothing in this world that would get them to hurry anything up at this moment. Slowly, they kiss again and again, tasting faintly of the tea they had earlier, but even more so, it feels like comfort. Maybe even a little bit like home.

 A quiet happiness settles deep into them, and something seems to click into place. They are happy, and there is nowhere they’d rather be than anywhere, as long as they can be together.

 After a little while, their hands let go of each other, but only so they can pull one another closer. One of Tim’s hands is cupped around Jon’s cheek, thumb gently stroking over the soft stubble while his other arm remains wrapped around him, hand resting at the small of his back. Jon on the other hand, has to angle his head up a bit due to their height difference, but he doesn’t mind that at all. Both of his arms are wrapped around Tim’s torso, and if it was possible, he would like to remain like this forever.

 Unfortunately for the two of them, life has other plans.

 When the smell of something burning registers with the two of them, they regretfully break apart cursing and laughing as they quickly remove the pans from the heat.

 “That was - good lord, why now of all times?” Breathlessly and more than a little high from happy brain chemicals, they try to get a grip on themselves and on the situation.

 “Just like our luck, isn’t it?” Tim is joking, of course, but still. The timing couldn’t have been worse.

 “This       better     not become a habit.” Jon glares at the charred eggs and smoking pans as if they personally insulted him. He’d been having a good time, but of course something had to happen. Oh well.

 “We’ll just have to make up for it.” Tim winks at him, grinning widely. He doesn’t mean much by it, and he only realizes how that might have come across when Jon awkwardly clears his throat and says,

 “The kissing? Yes, absolutely. Other things… Well, most other things, actually… Not so much. I erm, I should have said that before now, I suppose. But, I’m Asexual.” he chooses his words slowly and deliberately, like he is trying to say them exactly right.

 Tim looks into his eyes, bright green and shining with happiness, but now, there is something else creeping into them. Self-doubt, insecurities - Tim isn’t sure, but he wants to do his best to make the doubts disappear - and apologize for his big mouth.

 “That’s absolutely fine. I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that - I wasn’t implying anything else, I promise.”

 Slowly, Jon nods, visibly relaxed now. He asks,

 “So… We’re good?”

 “We are. More than good actually, if you ask me.” Tim finds himself smiling again, which is something he’s been doing so much more lately. Then he tucks away a strand of hair from Jon’s face and kisses him again, just as gentle as before. He is happy to find that he returns the kiss in an instant, pushing close until the two of them end up pressed up against the kitchen table. After they break apart again, they remain standing in an embrace.

 “I like you, Jon. I like you a lot. I love being around you and with you, just for who you are. Yes, I enjoy sex, but I don’t need it. So if you don’t want to, that is okay and it doesn’t make a difference to me. It doesn’t change how I feel about you.”

 He nearly says, “I love you” but that might be a little early - saying it too early has ruined his relationships in the past, and although what Jon and he have is something different, Tim doesn’t want to risk it.

 But as it turns out, he said the right thing. Jon looks a lot more relaxed than before, and he keeps a loose hold around Tim’s hips.

 “Thank you, Tim, that’s… Very reassuring actually. I’ve been with people who reacted quite a bit differently to this, so” Jon shrugs, but it is clear that this isn’t a happy memory.

 “I appreciate you.” He adds, and Tim pulls him a little bit closer.

 “I’m sorry. These people fucking suck.”

 “That’s one way to put it, yes.” Jon smiles, and pulls Tim down for another, longer kiss. It feels just as intoxicating as before. Then he tells him,

 “And, just for the record. I like you a lot, and spending time with you makes me very happy.

 The giddy happiness stays with them - being freshly in love and being freshly together is exciting. It is a feeling Tim will never get tired of. The thing is, being together with Jon doesn’t change a whole lot - they are still on opposite desks from each other at work, they still spend their lunch breaks together and Tim actually manages to get Jon to leave the office at 5pm these days,  instead of late at night like he did for the longest time. They still have dinner together most days and they often spend their weekends together. All of these are things they did before, but now, it still feels… Different.

 Then of course, there are the casually affectionate touches throughout the day. They’d like to think that they’re being more discreet here, but then again, at least Tim has never been shy about throwing arms around people or bumping shoulders or anything like that. In fact, people would probably get concerned and suspicious if he stopped doing any of it.

 The point is: they keep it down to normal levels at work, but they seem to be glued together whenever they’re off the clock. Whether they hold hands, hug, kiss, bump shoulders, hips, arms or hands, or sometimes simply nap stacked on top of each other, they are always touching in some way. Both of them soak up the contact like sponges, and they know without having even talked about it in detail that they spent quite a bit of time lonely and touch starved before… This. Their relationship.

 Waking up with one another in the mornings is probably Tim’s favourite part of all. Holding onto each other with their legs tangled together, hands searching for warm skin to rest on and heads pillowed on each other's shoulder or chest. Sharing breaths of air - all of this feels wonderful and intimate in it’s own way, and he can’t get enough of it.

 Waking up in the morning is a peaceful thing. But some nights, unfortunately, are not. Both of them have nightmares on a regular basis. They find that they generally sleep better when they are not alone, and having someone to hold close or bury into when the lingering horrors hit, helps significantly.

 Some nights, it’s Jon who startles awake in the middle of the night, eyes wide and chest heaving as he frantically looks around himself until he realizes where he is, or until Tim wakes up and mumbles quiet reassurances into his hair as he holds him close until the tremors have calmed down.

 If they’re lucky, they manage to fall back asleep after a while, but if not, they simply stay awake, cuddled up under soft blankets and they just talk. Their topics of conversation vary widely, ranging from silly, lighthearted distractions to things they did or experienced in their past, as well as heartfelt conversations that are about much more than just that.

 Tim himself has his fair share of nightmares as well, ever since he lost Danny. And even though having Jon close by and being held at night helps to keep them at bay sometimes, there are still nights where he startles awake either screaming or crying or both.

 The first time it happens, Tim wakes up terrified and tangled in the sheets. His shirt clings to the cold sweat that is running down his back and his breath comes out in irregular, shaky bursts.

     A dimly lit circus arena, old and dusty with centuries of dirt. Tim can’t move. It’s like he is rooted to the spot, and yet, his legs won’t stop shaking. He is shivering from the cold - no surprise, since he ran out in nothing but his pyjamas earlier, and this place is surprisingly freezing for a hot August night. Tim can feel the cold, but more so than anything, he is absolutely terrified.  

     He wants to scream, to run, do anything but stand here - but it’s impossible. The crumpled form of his brother - or the        Thing         that pretends to be Danny - sits motionless and hunched over, no matter how much Tim tries to call out for him. Not a single word leaves his throat, even though his vocal cords hurt from the strain he’s been putting on them. But Danny doesn’t hear him - can’t hear him.  

     From out of the shadows, Tim can see… Something. It looks like a clown, but it’s wrong. Too long, too folded up to be human. It drags itself across the floor slowly and grotesquely, like a creature from a horror movie, up until it stops. Unlike a movie creature though, this is very much reality.  

     Breathing is hard, and Tim wants to force his body to move, but still, there is nothing he can do. Part of him wants to believe that this… Place, this        Thing         is influencing his ability to move somehow, but then again, he might just as well be paralyzed by fear.  

     The clown moves forward, right towards Danny. As it unfurls itself, it is clear that there are smears of blood all over its face, red and bold and dripping wet.  

     “Shall I?” it asks, with a voice that is playful in the worst possible way. Too happy, and way too sinister. Tim can’t even answer, still unable to talk or move or do anything, but he can feel the bile rise in his throat. He wants to grab Danny and run, but knows he can’t. He wants to scream, cry or throw up, anything but watch the scene unfolding in front of him.  

     None of this happens though.  

     Instead, Tim is forced to stand motionless and helpless, watching in agony and horror as the clown moves much more quickly than he could have anticipated. It’s not as much that he can actually see the movement, but Tim can feel it. He can feel the breeze of air on his face, and just a split second later, it has removed the entirety of Danny’s skin. His limp, bloody and bare form slumps forward, and it is only then that Tim actually starts screaming.  

         He is screaming his head off,  loud, desperate and terrified. Tim is shaking like a leaf. Breathing is impossible, and it takes him way too long to realize that in order to breathe, he needs to calm down for just a second. It takes even longer for him to realize that he is at home, safely in bed and long out of this situation. But Danny… Danny is just as dead.

 Between ragged, forced breaths, Tim is curling in on himself, unable to register that Jon has woken up and is talking to him in a low, concerned voice. He tries to get his partner to calm down at least a bit, afraid he’ll end up hyperventilating from panic.

 Tim doesn’t register any of it. He can’t make out Jon’s gentle voice trying to bring him back, doesn’t register the light, careful touch on his arm in an attempt to soothe without scaring him further. Tim curls himself into a tight, shaking ball without noticing any of it.

 After the first initial panic, there is a brief moment of silence, but after that, he breaks. Ragged breath turns into uncontrollable, hiccuping sobs and it is only then that Tim realizes the familiar pair of arms slipping around him in a protective embrace. He uncurls just enough to be able to hug back and let Jon slip closer to him, which he does as soon as humanly possible. Tim clings onto him for dear life as Jon curls himself around him in what must be an uncomfortable or at least awkward position, but this is the last thing on his mind.  All Jon cares about right now is making sure that Tim is okay, or at least, as okay as he can be.

 Their bodies are pressed flush together, tightly enough for them to feel each other's rapidly beating hearts hammering out of their chests. Tim tries to focus on that, tries to focus on the carefully even rhythm of breath that Jon attempts to get him to follow.

 His presence is constant, warm and comforting. Tim can feel his weight on top of himself, the hold of his arms around him. Strands of hair and warm breath on his neck are a familiar sensation as well, something he’s been getting used to lately. Even more so, it is something that Tim loves and associates with home by now. And while the fear and pain caused by his nightmare are still very much lingering, he is able to relax in order to calm down eventually. Slowly but surely, a little bit over the course of - he doesn’t even know how long.

 Time has lost all meaning at this point. It might take him minutes or hours to breathe normally again, and at some point, Tim realizes that the steady stream of talking, besides the quiet attempts to comfort and assure him, are actually bits and pieces of random information. Anything to keep talking and keep up a steady presence, Tim supposes, but he is eternally grateful for it. He shifts a bit, arms still wrapped tightly around Jon, although he’s stopped clinging as much by now. He stretches out a little bit without letting go of their embrace - everything hurts from holding himself so tense for so long. Then Tim pulls the both of them onto their side so they can cuddle properly.

 Gentle hands keep running through his messy mop of purple hair, blunt nails scratching against his scalp. Tim leans into it, soaking up the touch like a sponge. He’s stopped shaking now, he notices, and he registers a lot more sensations than he did before.

 Little sounds around the house, wind outside, the occasional car. Most of all, he registers all the different little touches from Jon, and the way he keeps talking to him even now.

 After a while, he leans in to kiss Tim’s forehead, thumbs wiping away a few stray tears. It seems like the worst of the storm is over by now, but Jon stays close. He’s never seen Tim in such a state, and it worries him to no end. At least it looks like he isn’t in severe panic anymore.

 “Do you want to talk?” Jon asks quietly, but all Tim can manage is shake his head. It's not like he      could    talk right now if he tried. He doesn't trust his voice, knowing it will break, which is probably going to set him off again and he's not ready to face that.

 Maybe, a part of him wants to talk about what happened. Sure, it is going to hurt regardless, whenever he decides he is ready for it, but there is no doubt that it will help to get it off of his chest. But Tim doesn’t know how he is supposed to talk about the horrors he's witnessed. Where would he even start? How does he explain all of it without sounding - well.

 “That’s alright.” Jon tightens his hold around Tim as he shifts a little bit, without letting go, so he can rest his head on top of Tim’s. There is a quiet, almost suffocating sadness radiating off of him, and even though he doesn’t know what happened that got him into this state, Jon offers him all the support he can, in any way he knows how. Physical touch seems to help a lot, thankfully. That, he can do forever.

 “I’m here for you. Whatever it is you need, I’m here.”

 The sun is starting to rise on the horizon, but Tim and Jon remain in bed, wrapped up around each other just like before. Birds are starting to sing outside, even before the first rays of the morning sun tint the room into a low light.

 “I love you. I’m here for you, and I love you.”

                             Notes:

[spiralesbian]

ALRIGHT

here’s my full Stranger Avatar Sasha Archivist timeline:

(also, thanks to @artbyblastweave for being so interested in my lil au!)

SEASON ONE

sasha james is hired as the head archivist of the magnus institute!

her assistants are jon, tim, and martin

tim takes the thematic role of martin (aka getting tormented by my worm wife jane, and stays in the archives)

sasha reads thru statements and is a skeptic! she really does not believe it’s real until jane comes along.

“tim……………………..did you die here?”

“no, but every time i come to work i die a little more inside.”

cute timsha moment in the supply closet tho.

until martin kool-aid-mans through the door and gets them out of there

jon used to work in artefact storage so he hides in there. he’ll be fine

i actually can’t remember how they all get out but they do it KKJSDGFJHD

sasha takes everyone’s statements. tim is fucked up, martin is also fucked up, jon is actually fine though he seems pretty normal about this whole situation most definitely.

sasha realizes this is a bit more than a regular archivist job.

SEASON TWO

sasha gets paranoid of course. she learns more about gertrude because she never got the chance to meet her

she takes a statement from a guy named michael shelley. weird dude. then helen shows up :)

jon is most definitely himself he is just a normal regular grumpy jon i swear :)

sasha starts to manifest her powers a little bit. she doesn’t know it, but she is an avatar of the stranger, and a prisoner of the eye.

she starts to notice more things about jon? similar to this comic but with jon

eventually she + tim + martin help get jon out of the grip of the NotJon. this is my au and i get to choose who dies (it’s no one because i miss the s1 archival assistants too much).

jon is pretty fucked up from this though and at like a season-3-tim mindset already.

fucking goddamn leitner avatar of the fucking whore shows up to trap the NotJon in one of his shitty fucking novels. fuck this guy tho

he’s like Sasha We Must Talk and shes like okay but stay 8 ft away from me at all times you bitch

she leaves the room for 10 minutes and pipe murder occurs. good riddance

wait are the cops in the season i genuinely can’t remember. if they are, their roles don’t change very much. melanie and sasha feud, battle of the bi queens

SEASON THREE:

uh oh! girlie’s be framed for murder! she crashes at her ex gf georgie’s flat. also the admiral is there don’t think i would EVER cut him out of this story

(also jon is georgie’s ex too because i think that would be fun JDHBFHS)

sasha learns abt an upcoming web ritual (mirroring the unknowing), all that shit. gets kidnapped a ton of times, as usual.

helen is like “i am going to kill you because i hate gertrude <3 i was that dumb bitch’s assistant for too long” but michael busts out of the door like Hi Guys and traps her in the hallway.

sasha also gives her statement about a leitner she found as a child that marked her. its a stranger book and we learn her edgy orphan origin story how her parents were both murked by the stranger. fucked up if true!

back at the archives jon is like so fucking tired of this shit honestly and now martin is also pretty paranoid. also jm romance subplot is still very present!

tim is just trying to protect sasha at all times and he’s pissed she keeps leaving the country and getting fucking kidnapped

(remember when jon persuades the traffic cop?) sasha starts to fill her archivist role in a different way. she can shapeshift into the subject of a statement and uses her affiliation with the eye to coerce statements or info out of people. (example: if she needed a live statement from the guy in #90 Body Builder, she could temporarily make herself look like jared hopworth to the guy and ask “what happened to me?” or “what did i do?” and the guy would be like well he built some fucken bodies i guess let me tell you all about it) while reading the statements in america that refuel her, she fully shapeshifts into the statement giver while reading out loud.

once again i truly can’t remember daisy + basira’s roles until the end of the season. also melanie get shot by the ghost at some point

anyways sasha gets kidnapped by trevor and julia and they gerry lays out all the shit for her and she’s like ah! i’m fucked

tim offhand mentions the web ritual to martin and he loses his shit cause he’s marked by the web blah blah this isn’t a web!martin thing i swear i just need someone to fill tim’s role in the ritual and a lonely ritual would be fucking boring as hell as we learned from ass man peter lukas. i hate that man

so they make the plan to stop the web ritual (which is fucking hard when the offense knows your every move) so sasha, basira, daisy, jon, and martin go.

tim stays back at the institute to burn shit and distract elias. elias does some fucked up shit as usual and it makes me sad

the ritual starts! they have a plan to blow it up and run but like. u know how it goes

instead of the unknowing-stranger-dream-sequence, we get everyone kinda mixed up in a huge spider’s web on the big stage and its still quite confusing because this ritual not only manipulates the prey, but also the prey’s perceived reality. the web is also in current control of the buried coffin cause they think that shit is kinda fun. they yeet daisy into it.

hard to describe what happens, but basira keeps her cool, jon is a bit lost in his own mind, sasha tries to use her powers to escape but fails. she manages to get through to martin through the strings and mounds of spiders and she tosses him the detonator.

[squishing spider noises]

SEASON FOUR:

martin doesn't die, i told you i can't kill the og archival assistants! he does lose most of one leg though, he took the blunt of the explosion.

sasha in da hospital in da coma. tim is mad he can’t wake her up and then my man ollie says “ur fucked up mate” and she wakes up

(and because coma jon has such wild hair controversy, i’m establishing that her head was shaved when she was in the coma. it grows back thru s4. it she keeps one side shaved cause she’s cool)

meanwhile tim is recruited by that dumbass man you know who i don’t even wanna say his stupid fucking name

sasha gets daisy out of the buried. they become avatar pals!

(there is the biggest blank in my memory where all of season four should be. at this point i should just relisten to the entire fucking show but i would literally just forget it all again)

melanie says hm. fuck this! and blinds herself. she goes to live with georgie (and that’s the moment jon and sasha realize they are both georgie’s exes FHFHDJD)

tim continues to fight the lonely pull. he thinks that since p*ter l*kas is tied to the institute, he can blind himself out cause melanie was successful. he is wrong. he is also interrupted by elias midway, and only blinds one eye, and loses most of his sight in the other. elias’s hold on him is weak, but this just drives him way farther into the lonely.

gotta be honest i remember the end of season four but like i couldn’t visualize what was happening at the end so i like don’t understand what happened JGDKFJGD but sasha intervenes (???) and peter yeets tim into the lonely (???) and sasha jumps in (??????) after him. elias is just there i guess?

instead of “look at me martin,” sasha finds tim and at this point her form is warped and hard to recognize because of stranger powers, and tim is almost 100% blind, so she says “don’t look at me, see me. see me tim, it’s me.” and finally creates a clear image of herself. “it’s...it’s you. you’re my sasha.”

they break free and go to scotland i guess KHSDDKDSF

idk what happens with jon and martin im losing continuity at this point. fuck it, they smooch <3

“ah these are the statements.”

“yes. basira said last week she’d send some up as soon as the archives weren’t a crime scene. and she wasn’t sure which ones you’ve read already, so she, she just said she’d send a bunch.”

“.........Hello Sasha.”

(alternate ending: personally i think sasha would read through each statement before speaking them aloud cause that’s what i would fucking do, so she would get this statement and be like “lmao tim come look at this elias trying to prank me dumb bitch think i’ll start the apocalypse for him. fucking little puny bitch boy. anyways what do you want for dinner?”)

SEASON FIVE:

“just. listen.”

“...i’m dead. and you have been chosen to be my replacement as head archivist. hopefully, this means you, jon, but if someone else is hearing this, and elias has made a different choice for some reason, then these words are still very much intended for you.”

sasha in full stranger avatar mode and is like 8ft tall and her faces shift a lot as they go through the realms. except the stranger is the second to last one (the panopticon is last obviously).

helen and michael actually talk shit out in the spiral hallway and now they are mlm wlw solidarity and both like tim and sasha are such bi and trans icons <3 this is so fun don’t you love the fearpocalypse <3

oh daisy n basira trapped in the hunt, and jon and martin are trapped in the stranger. wtgfs + the admiral are like in space or some shit idk but they are ok :)

not much to report other than she is my monster wife <3

i really don’t have many theories to how everything in s5 is gonna pan out, and i would like to closely mirror the actual show, so maybe as we get closer to the end i’ll build more on to this! thanks a lot for all the notes on my first sarchivist post!! also if u wanna make art this specific au DEF tag me in it i’d love to see!!

[iamalivenow]

Martin: Hey don't mean to impose, could you pick up the creamer for the break room?

Tim: isn't this something that's supposed to be provided?

Martin: Oh- There's creamer- It's just. Very bad.

Tim: that cheap french vanilla shit?

Martin: Mmhm.

Tim: yeah sure.

Tim: wait, do you even drink coffee?

Martin: Well, no. But Sasha does. And Jon sometimes.

Tim: oh thank god.

Martin: What?

Tim: you went five minutes with out mentioning the boss.

Tim: i was sure prentiss got you again.

Martin: Oh fuck off Tim.

Tim: :p

------

🌩: Oh my god. Stop.

🍃: too good for Hand Written Invitations are we?

🌩: You send me one once a week. It's lost the pizzaz. It's lost the flavor.

🍃: you say this as if I have other people to go sky diving with

🌩: Of course you do! Everyone! Everyone is into free skydiving! Just don't bother asking first!

🍃: it's not the same with them

🍃: they just don't Get It

🌩: Oh my god.

🍃: you can even invite that cute Dead boy

🌩: Oh My God.

🍃: don't feel like you have to pretend for me

🌩: Stop. I'm begging you to stop.

🍃: all i'm saying is i Posed Nude for a lot of painters during the golden years

🌩: No one calls it that. Stop telling me about your childhood flings with Italians.

🍃: some of them were German.

🍃: and Flemish.

🍃: and there was this one Dutch boy.

🌩: Wait.

🍃: sure a bit Spiral for my taste but there's really nothing wrong with that either

🌩: Wait.

🍃: oh, Spiral's a sore spot for you huh

🍃: memory does Go first

🍃: something to look Forward too

🍃: well ignore that I Suppose but really, cross fear is totally acceptable.

🌩: You're exhausting.

🍃: i'm sure some people would argue but everyone does it Eventually

🍃: look at Peter Lukas.

🌩: They divorced like ten times.

🍃: but he keeps coming back to him, Doesn't He?

-------

Sasha: I might be a little late today.

Jonathan Sims: Don't worry about it.

Sasha: Cheers.

-------

👧: ლ(●ↀωↀ●)ლ so excited so excited so excited

🐛: HHHAAAHHHAAAHHHAAA WWWHHHYYY

🧒🏻: (ٛ⁎꒪̕ॢ ˙̫ ꒪ٛ̕ॢ⁎) why they say!!!

🐛: OOOHHH TTTHHHEEE RRRIIITTTUUUAAALLL

🧒🏾: (☞ ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°)☞ i'm so excited i can barely stand it!!!

🐛: BBBUUUTTT IIITTTSSS NNNOOOTTT EEEVVVEEENNN YYYOOOUUURRRSSS

👦🏾: i know!!! that's what makes it stressful. but if you need ANYTHING ᕕ༼✿•̀︿•́༽ᕗ

🐛: HHHAAAHHHAAA IIILLL AAASSSKKK YYYOOOUUU FFFIIIRRRSSSTTT

👧🏼: ♪～(◔◡◔ิ)人(╹◡╹๑)～♪

🐛: WWWHHHIIICCCHHH OOONNNEEE IIISSS MMMEEE

👦🏿: the cute one ♫ ┌༼ຈل͜ຈ༽┘ ♪

-------

Jonathan Sims: Hey.

🌀: hEy

Jonathan Sims: Are you-

Jonathan Sims: [Is Typing]

Jonathan Sims: You know what. Never mind. I was going to ask you something stupid. It doesn't matter.

🌀: lMaO sUrE

-------

🍃: anyway, Enough about me

🍃: invite the cute Dead boy

🍃: it's so Romantic

🍃: the view Alone

🌩: Okay, first of all, we're just friends. Second of all, even if we weren't, I don't need dating tips from you.

🍃: Debatable.

🌩: Third of all. Even if I was gay, and even if Oliver was interested, and even if I asked him out on a date.

🍃: phenomenal hypotheticals lad.

🌩: What on Earth makes you think I'd invite you along?

🍃: hmm.

🍃: if i was a Lesser man, i would say something like

🍃: how dare You

🍃: my Own son

🌩: We're not related.

🍃: but! instead!

🍃: i can just point out the Space station i own

🍃: and call it a Day

-------

Jonathan Sims: Elias, call an exterminator. This is getting ridiculous.

Elias Bouchard: Jon, don't be ridiculous. You want to involve more humans with Prentiss' worms?

Jonathan Sims: I'm not even talking about the worms, which I would argue proves my point beyond all reason.

Elias Bouchard: What are you talking about then?

Jonathan Sims: I had to kill three spiders today Elias. Three.

Elias Bouchard: Yes, you're very brave Jon. I'm very proud.

Jonathan Sims: Are you in your office?

Elias Bouchard: No where else in the world I'd rather be, Jon.

-------

🕸️: hey oli

🕸️: no hard feelings right?

🕸️: we're still buds?

🕸️: still friends?

🕸️: still tight?

⚰️: Was that a pun

🕸️: it's not fun if you point it out kid

🕸️: keep up

🕸️: anyway listen, friend

🕸️: buddy

🕸️: pal

⚰️: What do i have to do to make this stop

🕸️: lmao thats the spirit

🕸️: could you be a doll and swing by the watcher's place?

⚰️: I'm not even in London

🕸️: so cute, i swear

🕸️: yeah you are.

🕸️: turn around bff

⚰️: Is it poisonous?

🕸️: i want you to look at that question

🕸️: think about who you sent it to

⚰️: What do you want

🕸️: just bring a box of lovers over

⚰️: A box of what

🕸️: i picked some little buddies out special

🕸️: mated pairs

🕸️: to really make it last for like

🕸️: forever

🕸️: do you know how many eggs a cellar baby lays?

🕸️: like thirty

⚰️: You know you could higher literal delivery men right

🕸️: and if a box of lovers has like 100 of these bad boys

🕸️: you know my little dudes live pretty long?

⚰️: Fine

🕸️: fuck yeah

🕸️: you're so cool oli

⚰️: Delete my number

🕸️: already gone

-------

  : Are you concerned at all?

👁️: About what should I be concerned about? No please, tell me. God forbid there's a blind spot in my vision. Perish the thought.

  : So you're aware of the situation?

👁️: Go ahead, I'm listening.

  : ...I'm sure you're handling it.

👁️: Just like I handle everything else. By myself.

  : Where did this bad mood even come from?

👁️: Well this sanctimonious prick texted me.

  : You're allowed to pick your own Archivist.

👁️: If you were wondering what the divorce was about, it's this, we're here, we've arrived to the point.

  : I'm not trying to condescend to you.

👁️: Spoken like someone about to start condescending.

  : You're literally sitting on a nest, Elias.

👁️: Bold of you to assume I don't want it there.

-------

Tim: are you still mad?

Martin: ...No.

Tim: great uh, good.

Martin: I'm sorry for snapping.

Tim: no, it was a shitty joke. Sasha already told me off.

Martin: Oh thank god. I was sure Prentiss got you.

Tim: fair.

Martin: Apologizing on your own? Really had me worried.

Tim: alright alright, yes yes, get it out.

Martin: I already got it out.

Tim: you're better than all of us Martin.

-------

Sasha: Want to come over?

Tim: yeah sure.

Sasha: Bring some wine over, yeah?

Tim: long day?

Sasha: Oh, you wouldn't believe it.

Tim: try me.

Sasha: No, I mean, you literally wouldn't believe it.

Tim: really. try me. i'm down for anything.

Sasha: Yeah you are.

Tim: up top

Sasha: I'm already outside, Tim. I don't know how much higher you want me to get.

Tim: you have to come get me now actually i'm swooning too hard

Sasha: The things I do for casual work hookups.

-------

🐛: RRREEEAAADDDYYY???

👦: d(-_^)

🐛: CCCAAANNN YYYOOOUUU SSSEEEEEE IIITTT

🧒🏻: (๑´ڡ`๑三๑´ڡ`๑)

🐛: CCCUUUTTTEEE

👧🏻: i'm nothing if not (ฅ⁍̴̀◊⁍̴́)و ̑̑

🐛: JJJUUUSSSTTT WWWAAAIIITTTIIINNNGGG

🧑🏿: ʅ(｡Ő౪Ő｡)ʃ

🐛: :::)))

👰🏻: hey wait listen if you're just burning time...☆⌒ヽ(´ε｀ )

🐛: ???

👰: burn some time with me (((*☣ω☣(ε◕* )))

🐛: HHHAAAHHHAAA OOOKKKAAAYYY

👰🏿: ღ꒡ ᴈ꒡)♡⃛(꒡ε ꒡ღ

-------

Jonathan Sims: Stay away from any Michaels.

Martin: I don't think I know that many but I'll try my hardest too.

Jonathan Sims: Sasha had an experience earlier today.

Martin: Just one more thing to look out for.

Jonathan Sims: Stay safe tonight.

Martin: Will do. You too.

-------

Martin: [Screen Shot Sent]

Martin: Oh my god.

Tim: wow.

Tim: when's the wedding?

Sasha: Don't be a dick, Tim.

Tim: i'm being sincerely supportive of our coworker and his weird crush on the boss who lowest key hates him.

Tim: how am I being a dick?

Sasha: Tim.

Martin: I think that's the nicest thing he's ever said to me.

Tim: and you've even got it saved for posterity.

Sasha: Oh Martin.

-------

🍃: if you want to make it a double date, i've got Takers

🌩: I keep waiting for it to stop and it just doesn't.

🍃: you have to stay on “The Grind” as the kids Say

🌩: I can't believe I'm even entertaining this but who?

🍃: Peter's moping again.

🌩: No.

🍃: that's fine

🍃: didn't want to make out with him anyway

-------

⚰️: Done

🕸️: someone should promote you

⚰️: Can I ask why you call them that

🕸️: my chums?

⚰️: Yeah

🕸️: well

🕸️: The Mother spins her webs and her Children are all upon them

⚰️: and

🕸️: i guess

🕸️: in this analogy

🕸️: i'm a college drop out turned baby sitter

🕸️: just to make ends meet

🕸️: my life is so hard

🕸️: so trying

⚰️: So it's bitter

🕸️: huh?

🕸️: haven't you been paying attention oli?

🕸️: they're great kids

-------

🌀: yOu Up?

Jonathan Sims: Wholly and entirely against my will, but yes. Go ahead.

🌀: bOuGhT a FrIeNd A fIrE eXtInGuIsHeR. hE wAs De-LiGhTeD.

Jonathan Sims: [Is Typing]

Jonathan Sims: [Is Typing]

Jonathan Sims: [Is Typing]

Jonathan Sims: I don't know if I'm more mad about you kidnapping my employee or about that atrocity.

🌀: gotta love the hustle though

[fataldrum]

Ficlet: the doctor is in 

Fandom: The Magnus Archives

Pairing: Jonathan Sims/Martin Blackwood

Tags: veterinary hospital AU, appearance by the Admiral, pet sitter Jon

Part 2 of The Best of All Possible Martins, a series of Martin Blackwood AU ficlets

Available on AO3

If you'd like to see more Martin AUs, give me a shout!

----

Martin was tying off the last sutures for his rabbit spay when Basira popped her head into the operating theater.

“Warning, boss, we’ve got a live one,” she said, rolling her eyes.

“Beg your pardon?”

Then Martin heard it.

“What do you mean he’s busy?” someone was shouting, loudly enough to be heard in surgery. “My cat is sick now! What kind of bloody hospital is this?”

“I see,” Martin said, peeling off his gloves. “Tim, keep an eye on Princess Flufferbuns and give me a shout if her O2 sat’s gone down, alright?”

“In other words, do my fucking job?” Tim griped, adjusting the rabbit’s blood pressure cuff.

“Whatever you say, Tim.” Martin pulled the surgical gown over his head, setting it on the table as Basira handed him a chart.

“What seems to be the problem?” he asked her.

“Not a clue,” she said cheerfully. “This idiot won’t stop shouting or let go of the cat long enough for me to find out.”

Taking a deep breath, Martin opened the door to Consult Room Two.

The man inside looked to be about his age, though his hair was streaked with grey and pulled into a messy bun. He was clutching an extremely fat orange tabby like a teddy bear, which would have been cute if not for the worry creasing his brow.  

“Where’s the damned doctor?” he demanded. “I’m not risking the Admiral’s health on some intern!”

“Allow me to introduce myself,” Martin said, extending a hand. “I’m Martin Blackwood, and I’m the veterinary surgeon on duty.”

The man blinked in consternation. “Oh,” he said. He didn’t take Martin’s hand.

“And this is…?” Martin asked, gesturing to the cat, who mewed at him.

“The Admiral,” the man said, relaxing his death grip on the creature.

“What seems to be the problem, Mister…?”

“Sims. Jon Sims,” the man said stiffly. “And it’s his leg. It’s quite swollen.”

“Do you mind if I have a look, Mr. Sims?”

Jon deposited the Admiral on the table. The cat immediately walked up and butted his head against Martin’s hand, demanding scritches that Martin willingly gave. True to Jon’s word, there was a large swelling over his right shoulder. A pair of small scabs told Martin all he needed to know as he palpated the area.

“Does the Admiral like to get in fights with other kitties?” Martin asked.

“He’s a bit scrappy, yes,” Jon admitted. “Are you saying you know what’s wrong?”

“It seems like a pretty standard cat bite abscess. Once we drain it and get some antibiotics in him, he should be good as new.”

Jon sagged with relief. “Oh, thank god. Georgie would murder me if anything happened to the Admiral while she was gone.”

“Is Georgie your girlfriend, then?” Martin asked, finding himself just a bit disappointed.

“What? Oh, no. Ex girlfriend. We’re just good friends now.”

“I see,” Martin said, before forcing himself to focus. “Anyway. Let’s get the Admiral sorted, shall we?”

It didn’t take long to drain and flush the abscess, and the Admiral purred through all of it. Even Tim warmed to him, and he hated cats as a rule. Martin was almost sorry to see him go.

“Here you go, Mr. Sims,” Martin said, depositing the purring cat into Jon’s lap.

“Please, call me Jon,” he said. “And, er. I may have overreacted a bit earlier. Can you convey my apologies to the nurse?”

“Of course,” Martin said.

“And, er.” Jon flushed a bit, a charming look on his freckled face. “Perhaps I could make it up to you? Over dinner?”

Martin felt his ears grow hot. His pulse raced, and he found himself completely speechless.

“Or, uh,” Jon said. “If not, that’s fine. I’ll just, er...leave my card, and if you’d like to call me, you...can.”

Martin nodded quickly, still at a loss for words.

“Well, then. It’s been nice meeting you, Dr. Blackwood.”

“Call me Martin,” he blurted out.

Jon smiled, and Martin felt something melt in his chest.

“Nice meeting you, Martin.”

---

Disclaimer: I have no idea what vet offices are like outside the US and Brazil, so forgive my Americanisms. If you're curious, Tim and Basira are battle-hardened veterinary nurses; Basira's wife, Dr. Tonner, is on her lunch break; Sasha and Melanie are receptionists; and Elias and Peter frequently bring in their champion purebred angora rabbits.

[odilestory]

Two Years - Part Two

Just like I promised :)

--

Apparently, Jon hadn’t been sleeping. He was awake, waiting for me to come home. And he heard me talking to Dad. “You’ve been dating Tim for two years?!” He had that weird but cute face a kid gets when they’re really surprised. “Ugh!” I threw my head back. This was exactly why I didn’t want anyone to know. I didn’t like how everyone made such a big deal out of everything. Mom was just laughing. But not laughing like it was funny (well maybe that too), but she was laughing like she couldn’t believe it. Her little girl had been keeping a secret from her for two years.  Jon was now mumbling nonsense to himself. Dad had that thinking look. He spoke up, finally. “Does Bruce know?” He had his hand resting on his chin, his eyebrows furrowed. That’s how he looked when he interviewed people for the paper. Mom did the same thing too. They look serious. “…no.” I said quietly, as if he wouldn’t hear. HIs reaction was not what I expected. “Oh my God! You’ve managed to keep a secret from Bruce for two years!” He turned his gaze to Mom “Honey, that’s incredible!” “Clark,” She sighed “I don’t think that’s what’s important here-” “Oh come on, it’s Tim! We’ve known him since Bruce took him in, and I’ve seen him fight. He’s not bad. We can trust him. He’s a good kid. Besides, if he does do anything, (Y/N) can handle it.” Now everyone was looking at Mom. Dad made a convincing argument. She stood silently, thinking it over, making that “hmm” sound all the while. “Alright.” I was relieved. I didn’t even know I was worried in the first place! “But from now on just be honest about whether or not you’re going out. Did you even see Barbara earlier?” “Yeah, we met for dinner. I went to the manor after.” Now it was a casual conversation. I felt a lot better about it. “Has he ever come over here?” Dad asked. “Um, no. Mostly because Jon is here. But also ‘cause I think he’s scared of you.” I looked at him. He looked pleased with the fact my boyfriend was scared of him. Now it was Jon’s turn to ask. “Wait, Tim has, like, seventy siblings, how did me being here play a part in that?” “His house is wayyy bigger. It’s easier to keep away from them. And they’re in the cave most of the time. Damian is the only one we have to worry about, really.” “Has he ever caught you guys?” Mom asked. “Yeah, he did tonight. He just laughed and walked away! He’s definitely gonna tell Bruce though. He’s coming back,” I looked at the clock on the wall. It was 12:07. “Today.” “Does anyone else know?” “Babs, Alfred, obviously, and probably Dick. But none of them have told. I just don’t want my picture in the paper under some cheesy headline about dating Tim.” “Well, hate to break it to you, but that’s inevitable, and if it were me, I’d just go and get it over with now. Plus, you never know, you might like getting interviewed.” Mom sat on the couch too and put her ams around me shoulder. I laughed and Jon dropped onto my lap, giving me a tired hug. I could feel him falling asleep on me. “I don’t think I’ll like it.” “Well, since Jon’s falling asleep, I think it’s time we all do too.”  Dad stood up and put his arm around Mom and they headed up stairs. I picked up Jon and carried him to his room.  “Goodnight!” I yelled to them, loud enough so they heard, but quiet enough to not wake Jon. “Night!” They yelled from their bedroom. I went to bed a little less worried than I was before.

—

The next morning went as usual: wake up early for chores, and then eat and go on with the day. Powers made chores a lot easier. We could lift heavy stuff easily, and flying made feeding a lot easier too, albeit it may freak out some of the animals. After chores, Jon and I get breakfast. Usually I just make toast for both of us, but Mom made pancakes this morning, so we had those instead. Jon was telling me about his week at school when my phone rang. It was Tim. “Sorry Jon, gimme a minute-“ I picked it up “Hey, what’s up?” “Sorry if this is too short notice, but, wanna go somewhere today? Hello?” I honestly didn’t know what to say I looked at Jon, then my food, then around the room. He wanted to go out in public? So suddenly? I thought of what Mom said. About getting it over with. Maybe this was a good idea. “Yeah I’m here, uh, yeah. Sounds good, where do you wanna go?” Jon gave me a questioning look. I waved my hand for him to stop. “I don’t know, maybe just for lunch somewhere and then come back to my house. Not a whole day out or anything.” “Is Bruce home?” He stuttered on the next sentence. “Actually, heh, the whole family is home. And staring me down right now. So, is that a yes?” “Yeah! Just let me tell my parents. Hold on one sec-“ I put my phone down and ran outside where Dad was. “Hey, can I go to Gotham for the day?” “Um, sure. Tim?” I did that nervous giggle “Yeah. We’re going out. Like outside. In public.” He didn’t understand my emphasis at first, but soon he got it. He smiled. “‘Bout time. I’ll tell your mother. Have fun.” He gave me a hug and I ran back inside, picking the phone back up. “You there?” “Yep. What did Superdad say?” “I’ll be there, what time?” “Meet in the square at 12?” “Sounds good!” “Alright, see you then.” “See ya, bye.” “Bye.” I hung up, and put the phone down. Jon looked at me. “Date?” “Yup.” “Can I come?” “No! Jon, that’s not how a date works!” “Sorry! I don’t wanna be stuck at home all day, it’s boring!” I stood up and ruffled his hair, “Not this time, but maybe I’ll take you to Gotham tomorrow, ok?” “Mmm, ok…” He mumbled. I did feel bad, but I didn’t wanna bring my brother on a date.

—-

After changing back into civilian clothes, I walked around the square looking for Tim. It was Saturday, so It was quite busy, making it harder to find Tim. I tried to focus and listen for his voice or his heartbeat or something, but it was hard with all the people. Eventually, I found him, hands shoved in pockets, shifting weight back and forth from his heels to his toes. He was wearing sun glasses, a light blue shirt, dark cuffed pants, and dark unbuttoned sports jacket. He looked nice. I wore a black jumpsuit (spaghetti strap on top with a “v” shaped neckline, and loose pants attached), some jewelry (including a necklace and a ring he had gotten me) and a beige cardigan, also unbuttoned with the sleeves rolled up a little. I also wore my glasses. Like my father, I wore glasses in public. They were almost identical as his: basic sort of rectangular-square shape with black rims. I walked up beside him and tapped his shoulder, he turned quickly, startled. “Oh, hey!” “Hiya! How’re you?” “Good,” He put his arm around me and began walking towards, I assumed, the restaurant we would eat at “Bruce got back early this morning, and Damian told him as soon as he walked in the door. He said he had suspicion we were together, but said he would never have expected me to ask you out. He said he figured it was just two teens crushing on each other, oblivious.” I laughed, and he took off his glasses, folding them to hang on the collar of his shirt. “Yeah, when I came home, my dad asked me why I smelled like cologne. I kinda gave up before I even tried, figured it would be easier. He kinda freaked when I told him how long we’ve been dating, but he’s ok with it. The whole family is.” I smiled up at him. “That makes two of us then.” He looked down and smiled back at me. We were waiting to cross the street, waiting for the light to turn, when I heard the first camera flash. I listened in that direction, and heard people talking. “That’s one of the Wayne kids!” “Who’s he with? Are they together?” “Who’s the mystery girl?” The light turned and we got lost in the middle of the crowd of people crossing as well. “T, people are taking pictures. And talking.” “Seriously? I thought they’d at least wait ‘till we sat down and got food…” He started looking around him. “There! Got one! ‘Think they’ll follow us to the cafe?” Tim’s guilty pleasure was being stupid in front of paparazzi for fun. I’d seen pictures of him before. It was usually just stuff like winking at the camera or making a weird face, but he had something else planned today. “I don’t know, probably. Why, what’re you gonna do?” “Just wait.” The cafe was right on the corner. It was a nice, casual place, but Tim said they had really good food and even better coffee.  We got a table for two outside near the sidewalk. Service was quick to come. “Hi! What can I get you two to start?” The waitress came over with a pad of paper and pen. “Raspberry Italian soda,” “…Alright, and you, sir?” “I’ll have a coffee, and could you bring me a piece of paper, letter sized, and a pen?” “I’ll see what I can do. I’ll be right back with your drinks.” “Thanks.” We both said to her. Tim leaned closer to me over the table, and I heard more shutters go off. “Where are they?” He asked. “Across the street and at the corner. Seriously what are you planning?” “Just wait!” He smiled and the waitress came back with our drinks, along with a sharpie and a large piece of card stock paper, probably larger than letter size. “Here you are,” She set the drinks down and handed Tim the paper and pen. “Are you ready to order?” “A few more minutes, thanks.” Tim spoke up and waited until she walked away, then he started scribbling on the paper. “What are you doing?” I laughed at how ridiculous he looked. He bolded the letters and then held up the paper and showed it to me. “T! You cannot do that!” I started laughing and put my head in my hands. It said, in bold and capitals: “THIS IS MY GIRLFRIEND AND SHE IS THE BEST GIRLFRIEND AND I LOVE HER!!!” “Watch me,” he said and held up the paper over his head, smiling like an idiot and pointing to me. The shutters went *off* right then. People in the restaurant noticed too, and started to recognize us. Well, mostly Tim. I couldn’t stop laughing, but I tried taking a few sips of my drink to help stop it. During my break, Tim spoke up. “Hey, kiss me.” “In front of them? No!” “Come on! Please!” He leaned in still holding the sign. “Fine.” I kissed him quick, maybe one second or two, but if even possible, more shutters went off than before. Reading the paper was gonna be fun tomorrow.

—

“WAYNE WARD DATING JOURNALISTS’ DAUGHTER!” I threw the paper down on the kitchen table Sunday morning. “Just like I thought.”

[damijon-supersons]

So i've never prompted anyone before and I'm sorry if this is lame, but maybe one of those 5+1 things where it's 5 times a batfam member catches damijon kissing, and one time they get caught doing something that's definitely not kissing, up to you whether the last thing is something lewd or something funny/cute.

Whoo boy anon! You’re my first blood :p Honestly, I’m not sure what you meant by that 5+1 thing, but I did come up with this…

Bruce kind of regretted sending the drone after Damian that night.

Originally, he and Clark just wanted to check up on their sons’ progress as a team. Bruce had secretly sent out a cloaked drone to monitor the boys on their mission. He expected to see an improvement on cooperation, teamwork, coordination…he definitely did not expect to see Robin kissing Superboy on a rooftop.

Clark sat beside him, equally stunned. Bruce wished that his friend would say something, anything, just to lift the incredibly awkward silence. Finally, Clark cleared his throat.

“Did you know?” Superman asked with forced calmness. It was obvious he was still at a loss for words?

Bruce glanced at him awkwardly. “I’m the world’s greatest detective, but no I didn’t know.”

Clark stared at him for a few tense seconds, and then he grinned.  

“Bruce, that’s what you said last Christmas,” Clark chuckled.

“Every time I feel like I know Damian, he keeps proving me wrong,” Bruce said with amusement. He shook his head, and the tension evaporated.

“How to be a good father to our sons is the greatest mystery of all,” Clark said with a smile.

***

Dick listened to his little brother with rapt attention. He could have told Damian to stop, he could’ve asked Jon to sit down and relax, but he didn’t. Even though he knew about them already, he let Damian talk. They both needed to do this in their own way, without any interruptions.

Damian gulped as he finished, and then glanced at Jon. They both nodded with determination.

Dick watched as Damian closed his eyes and pressed his lips against Jon’s.

“Do you understand, Grayson?” Damian asked wearily. He was holding Jon’s hand tightly, the younger boy’s fingers laced through his own.

“I understand that I have a new brother now, I guess,” Dick shrugged comically. His humor had the intended effect. Jon started giggling and the edge of Damian’s mouth twitched, as if he almost wanted to laugh.

Dick wrapped both boys in a hug.

“Coming out takes a lot more courage than putting on tights every night to soak up bullets and knives,” Dick began. “I know how much this means to you, and really, thank you for trusting me.”

“Of course we’d trust you!” Jon chirped. “You’re the best big brother ever!”

“Watch it,” Damian pouted. “He was my brother first!”

Of course, Dick thought, bickering was part of the package.

“Don’t worry, Damian. You’re both equally brats,” he laughed.

***

Jason swore. He spent the last of his cash for the week on the magazine, and this was what he saw. To be fair, he’d expected Damian to get into kissing at this age. What he didn’t expect was that Damian would be kissing Jon.

When Damian had texted him for dating tips, Jason had told Daman to meet him in the arcade. Jason already knew what he had to as an older brother—he was going to buy Damian his first porn mag. Sure, he could’ve gone online for porn, but nothing beats the classic physical porn mag to give you that “naughty” frame of mind. He was going to take one for the team and tell Damian all the ways you could pleasure a girl in graphic detail. After all, what was an older brother for?

But then yeah, Damian had kissed a boy—a Superboy. It was just a quick peck on the cheek after Jon had beaten the high score on a ring toss. It was enough for Jason to know that his plan was ruined.

He’d gotten that magazine from one of his shadier contacts who swore on five different crosses that it wasn’t probably smuggled. The catch was, there were no refunds or exchanges. Jason sighed.

“Hey, kid,” Jason said to the boy nearest him. He was just another kid at the arcade holding one of those gun-shaped controllers. Jason handed him the magazine. “Here. From Santa Clause.”

The boy stared dumbfounded at the magazine, and then at Jason, who’d started to walk away.

“But…it’s August!” he called out in disbelief.

“I’m doing summer shifts,” Jason said without looking back.

He took out his phone a dialed his friend again.

“Emil, it’s me,” Jason said. “I need a new…book. My brother didn’t like the last one. Can you get me something with just guys in it? Yes, I said what you think I just said. And yeah, my brother found someone cute, don’t worry.”

***

Everyone considered Tim to be a genius. But in this case, he’d have agreed with anyone who’d wanted to call him an idiot.

“I’m sorry, okay?” Tim groaned.

“Sorry?” Damian chided. “What you did was reprehensible, Drake! A complete disregard for me and Jon’s privacy!”

Damian huffed with his arms crossed. His indignation was undercut by how disheveled he looked and the red mark on his neck. Jon sat awkwardly beside him, his hair a tangled mess and his vest halfway off his body. He was staring at the floor and fiddling with his thumbs.

“You guys were eating each other on the sofa. Which is in the living room. Which everyone walks past on the way to the kitchen.” Tim said dryly.

“It’s midnight!” Damian protested. “No one in their right mind would come through here!”

“So I drink an espresso every midnight, no big deal,” Tim said nonchalantly. “That’s not the issue here. It’s you two.”

“What do you mean?” Jon asked, his bright blue eyes sparkling with anxiety.

Tim sighed. “I mean get a room. We live in a mansion, Damian. We have five guest rooms for goodness’ sake. You have a 70 square meter bedroom! I know you guys are head over heels for each other, but how do you think it makes me feel when we walk in on you inhaling each other’s faces like that?”

“You?” Damian smirked. “Jealous.”

Jon burst out laughing.

Tim rolled his eyes at the young teen and walked away. He needed twice as much coffee now that Damian had Jon. A sullen Damian would often annoy Tim, but a happy Damian? He shuddered at the thought.

I’m totally not jealous.

***

Damian froze. His eyes flung open and he saw that Jon had done the same. It felt somewhat odd to pause just as their lips had begun their clandestine adventure, but fear and surprise interrupted their higher brain functions. They weren’t able to pull away from each other when they’d heard the door open.

It happened much too fast than was humanly possible. Alfred had opened the door, crossed the room, and set the gleaming silver tray down on the bedside table all in the span of three seconds. It took him half a second to arch his eyebrow at Jon, whose lips were still firmly locked with Damian’s as though in a paused recording. Another second later, Alfred had closed the door.

The boys had gotten over their trance and pulled themselves apart. Alfred didn’t know, of course. They’d only told Dick, and had made Tim swear to keep what he saw a secret or else Damian would throw out all the mansion’s coffee reserves. They didn’t know how Alfred would react, or if he’d tell, or if the old butler would get a heart attack. For a minute, they were silent, their eyes speaking volumes about what they’d feared.

Suddenly, the door opened once more. It was Alfred, carrying an identical silver tray as the one he’d placed before. Damian felt a sense of déjà vu as Alfred mechanically placed the tray in front of them in exactly the same way as he’d done earlier, as if repeating that instance in time. When he opened the tray, Damian saw that it was a sandwich exactly like his own.

But unlike before, there was a pastel-colored box on the tray—it was a box of Kleenex.

Damian and Jon’s eyes grew wide as the implication hit them. With a barely imperceptible wink, Alfred swept out of the room, leaving two very red-faced boys behind him.

[constelacionde-orion]

A push

Prompt: Just a little push for someone to confess their feelings. 

A/N : Grammar… yup.

Pairing : Jason Todd x Reader ft. Superboy

Warnings:  Swearing, fluff. 

-My name's Richard Grayson, but all the kids at the orphanage call me Dick. -Well, children can be cruel

Everyone burst in laughter at that quote. Really, this was the best idea ever, looking at lego Batman with all the family at the Manor, since the movie began everyone has been laughing for minutes, even Jason.

"Bruce, please tell us you thought that!" Tim said as he tried to control his laugh

"Right! Have fun with my nickname, I don't care... At least I'm cute" Dick said with a chuckle but with a frown as he heard his brother laughing.

"Awh, let it go...Dick" Steph said but when she said his name she lose control on her laughter again.

"Who had this idea?" Dick asked with a scoff.

"Me" you said with a bright smile, as you tried to hold back a chuckle.

"I hate you Y/N, you knew this was going to happen" he said with a smile as he returned his gaze to the big screen.

"That's not true! It didn't happen that way" Dick said when he saw the scene where his lego-Dick, had the list with attributes.

"Actually-"

"Don't you dare Bruce" Dick said with wide eyes.

"Ohhh!!! Bruce, Bruce, Bruce" everyone wanted to know if Dick actually made something similiar to his lego being.

"Well, Dick actually did something like that" Bruce said with a smirk as he looked at the first Robin.

"I hate you forever if you continue that story" Dick said with pleading eyes.

But, of course Bruce did, so everyone was laughing hard, really hard. You couldn't help your eyes but stare at Jason, he had tears of joy, his smile was big, really big, actually a toothy smile.

God, he was beautiful, he looked so handsome when he was all happy, you wish you could saw him everyday like that, he was gorgeous.

"Y/N" You escaped your own world when you felt a hand on your shoulder, you turned your head towards the person, Tim.

"Tell him" he told you in a whisper and your face turned red as a tomato

"Tim! not now!" you whisper-shouted at him and he chuckled.

"Y/N, you literally looked at him when the (I Just) Died in Your Arms played in the movie" Tim said with another chuckled as your cheeks turned more red.

"Shut up" You told him while biting your lower lip.

"Did time really froze when you look at him?" Tim asked you

"Did my fist leave a mark on your eye last time?" you asked him with a raised eyebrow.

"Woah, I get it, I'll leave you now" he said with another chuckle.

"Thank you very much" you said and you returned your gaze to the movie.

"She looks cute with red cheeks, right?" Dick told Jason as he stared at you and Tim

"Totally-wait what?" Jason turn to see Dick who has a smirk on his face.

"Jay, tell her, you are too obvious" Dick said with a chuckle.

"I'm not" Jason said with a scoff

"If you say so..." Dick said with a smirk as he returned his gaze to see the movie.

The movie ended, it was understandable seeing Damian fast asleep on your lap, everyone called the night and went to their bedrooms. Bruce wanted to take Damian to his bedroom, everyone was shocked when Jason told he wanted to do it, still you couldn't move, you wanted to wake him up. So everyone leaved the room, leaving you with Jason... great.

We kneel in front of you to look at a peaceful Damian sleeping, he smiled and then he chuckled.

"He will never say it out loud, but he really loves you" Jason told you, his eyes finding yours.

"It's because we are blood brothers, Jay" you told him with a smile

"Still, you know, he is weird and don't fight me on that" he told you with a chuckle.

"True" you tell him with another chuckle as you yawn.

"Right... I take Damian" he tells you and you nod with your head.

Jason takes Damian like if it was a Teddy Bear, your heart melt at the sight and you stare at them, until you see Jason's mouth moving, what he was saying????

"Sorry what?" you tell him as you rub your eyes with the back of your hands.

"You want to come with me? you know to leave Damian" he said and you saw a light shade of pink on his cheeks.

“Yeah sure" you told him as you stand up to walk beside him.

You two walked with a sleepy Damian to his bedroom, you couldn’t speak but you could totally hear your heart hammering inside your chest full speed, you were praying to anyone who could hear you to not say something stupid or that your cheeks turn red in any moment.

"So, did you liked the movie?" Jason asked you.

"Yeah, I mean, it's Lego after all, and it's funny to look at our Bruce that way" you said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, it was... I'm grateful that Superboy wasn't in the movie" he tells you with another chuckle.

"Come on Jay, why you hate him so much?" You asked him with a yawn.

"He is a brat" he tells you with a scoff.

"His not, his nice" you tell him without catching your words, fuck, you didn't mean like you like him! you liked Jason!

"You like Superboy?" he asked you as he stood in front of Damian's door.

"What? No, no! I don't! I like someone else!" you said once more, without catching your words. FUCK

"So, Y/N Wayne likes someone?" he told you, but you couldn't help to notice something, he had a smirk but it didn't reach his eyes, he was jealous? sad?-

"I don't know what I'm saying anymore Jay, I’m more asleep than alive" you tell him with a chuckle, trying to forget the topic.

"If you say so. Well, you should, go to sleep now, I have everything under control" Jason told you with a smile you nod your head.

"Okay, goodnight Jay" you tell him with a tired smile, which he returns and then he gives you his back.

You walk to your room and you wanted to slap your face after that. You go to your bed and in minutes you are fast asleep.

Next morning at 8 am you were already in the kitchen with Damian and Alfred for breakfast. How you managed to be up so early? one name. Damian.

You were sleeping when someone came to your room at evening, like 3:00 am, then you heard someone calling your name, and it was Damian, he will never say it out loud, but you knew him, he had a nightmare and he didn't want to sleep alone, that had happened a lot of times before, so he fell asleep by your side.

For a reason you still don't know why, your little brother enjoys mornings so he woke you up, at first you wanted to kick him out of your room but, one day couldn't hurt anyone, so you tried or managed to get out of bed, looking like a total zombie or after an entire apocalypse, but you were now in the kitchen, falling asleep in front of your breakfast.

Why this situation was a bad idea? well, when you are asleep, you take very bad decisions because you are not thinking at 100%, you are half dead hald alive, so, this was very, very bad idea when Bruce stepped in the kitchen

"Damian, are you going with Tim and Dick today?" you heard Bruce somewhere in the kitchen, you eyes still focused on the fruit Alfred chopped for you.

"Tt, father, Todd it's coming too, he wanted to know Dick's friend" Damian said with a scoff, it was obvious that he didn't enjoy so much Jason's presence.

"Did you know who carried you to your room last night, Damian?" Alfred said, his back facing everyone as he keep chopping food.

"Father" Damian said.

"Master Jason did" Alfred said with a chuckle

"What?! You let him touch me! I'll burn myself later!" Damian yelled as he looked at his arms with disgust, when he slammed his hands on the table, your milk somehow flew in the air, making you return to life for few minutes.

"Godamit Damian, be more careful" you told him as you tried to dry the table with a napkin.

"Y/N" Bruce said as he had a new idea.

You looked at thim with a raised eyebrow and you couldn't decode his face, I mean, have you looked at him? he had no emotions on his face, it's like a white wall.

"Yeeees, father?" you asked him with a tired voice.

"What are you doing today?" he asked you, but your mind was totally dead, if you had any appointments today, right now you couldn't remember them.

"Aaah, I don't know... why?" you asked him confused.

"Tt, you should said 'yes' " Damian told you in a whisper causing Bruce to give him a glare.

"I need you to come with me, be ready, we leave in two hours" he told you and then he leaved the kitchen.

"What the fucked happened?" you asked Damian, Alfred look at you with his famous 'language' glare and you smiled at him.

"Sister, never tell Bruce you had a free day" he told you with a smirk.

"What does that mean?" you asked to no one in particular.

"It means, Lady Y/N, that your father it's taking you with him to visit Master Kent" Alfred told you with a smirk

"Oh hell no! There's no way he is taking me with that family, haven't he learned about me and Kara?" you said with wide eyes.

"Lady Y/N, Mr. Kent told your father that Kara or Jon wasn't at home" Alfred said with half smile.

"Hm, so... it's going to be a boring meeting?" you asked him, it was getting worst.

"You can take a book from Jason" Damian told you.

"Next time I'm going with you to the Teen Titans Tower" you told Damian as you started eating your breakfast.

"Bruce! Y/N!, it's good to see you two" Clark said as he hugged you like a bear, fuck this man was going to kill your father and you just with a hug.

"Likewise, Clark" Bruce told him as he adjust his suit once more.

"Nice to see you too Clark" you tell him with a smile.

"Come on, he's waiting for you at the main room" Clark told you as you looked at him confused, Clark saw these as he looked at Bruce.

"You didn't told her, right?" Clark said with a sigh you looked at your father even more confused.

"I forgot" he said with a shrug.

"Who it's waiting for me?" you asked Clark.

"Y/N!!" Conner said as he made his way beside Clark at the door.

"Oh my God, Y/N, I haven't seen you since that day!" Superboy tells you as he hugged as hard as Clark.

"You are choking me" you tell him trying to breath.

"Oh, sorry, sorry, just that I'm happy to see you!" he said with a wide smile.

"Likewise" you tell him with another smile.

Someone kill me please, you thought as you entered the house with Bruce behind you.

Jason was having the most boring day of his life in the Tower, because Dick was a total boss here, so it's wasn't so much fun for him. He had already seen all the Tower three times, until he reached the sofa again.

He tooked out his phone, he looked at Tumblr for minutes and then he went to Instagram, the first photo nearly made him threw his phone.

'Long time no see this pretty Lady @Y/N !' said the photo from Superboy in which he was giving you kiss on your cheek, still the only visible from you was your lips and chin.

"This motherfucker" Jason said under his breath feeling his blood boil with every passing second, was he really jealous of Superboy kissing you cheek and spending his time with you?

"Everything alright Jay?" Dick said as he sit beside him on the couch.

"Look at these" Jason show him the photo and he started to laugh.

"What's so funny?" Jason said with a glare as he looked Dick still laughing, soon after Damian and Starfire appared on the room.

"Is Grayson finally dying?" Damian asked with a raised eyebrow

"I hope, i showed him these" Jason gave Damian his phone and Damian just looked at Jason with a 'really' - glare.

"Listen Todd. I hate you, but I hate more this guy, so fix these, now" Damian said and starfire chuckled.

"Let me see the photo" Damian gave Jason's phone to her.

"But they're so cute together, since that day-"

"No they don't look cute together!" Jason said with wide eyes and Starfire laughed too.

"I still don't know what's so funny!" Jason said with a scoff.

"You are jealous because you like her!" Dick and Starfire said in unison.

"No I don't" Jason said, but his cheeks were red by now.

"Tt, just go and fix these, Todd" Damian told him with a scoff and he returned his phone to him.

21:30 you read at your clock, how many hours does Bruce needs to stop talking with Clark?, you don't have any fucking idea, you have been here since morning, you had meal here, you are now at dinner and they haven't finish?!, what the heck.

You have done your best to keep it cool with the superboy, but it wasn't easy, he wanted to hold your hand every minute which you denied gently, he had hugged you all day, like if you were his favorite teddy bear, he had taken more than a hundred pictures with you or about you, he had talk enough to make a trilogy in books, you just wanted to leave right now.

You were looking at tumblr and instagram and you arrived at Damian's 24 hrs, story, you took a look, you would kill him when you arrived at the Manor, he took photographs of you asleep and when you were dying at breakfast. That little shit, the story kept moving with cute animal videos and then pranks with Tim, you laugh as you looked at your brothers yelling in the video.

"What are you watching?" Superboy asked you as he tooked your phone from your hands.

"Some videos my brother took this morning" you told him with a tired voice.

"Hm, which brother?" he asked you confused.

"Damian" you told him as you rubbed your eyes.

"Oh, that little guy, Jon and he are really close friends, like you and me" he told you as he keep looking at the videos.

"Yeah, exactly the same" you told him, trying to make clear that you were friends.

"Yeah, or it could totally change" he told without looking at you, but you were totally taken aback. What.the.heck.

"Right, like, super-friends" you told him as you looked at your nails.

"You know what I mean Y/N" he told you and his super cool-attitude changed as the story changed. 

Now it was Jason’s story, you and him the night before.

You looked at his hand, in a swift motion he closed it so hard that your phone broken inside his hand.

"What the fuck is wrong with you!?" you yelled at him as you picked the pieces of your phone

"Heck, sorry Y/N, I just, sorry, please forgive me" he told you as he helped you picking up the pieces.

"Fuck, don't. don't worry, maybe Tim can fix these" you told him trying to stay calm, which you clearly wasn't and he sense it.

"Y/N, really I'm sorry, I didn't mean to break you phone, it's just -"

“Y/N, we are leaving, say your goodbyes” Bruce told you and you looked at Conner, he was kind of sad for breaking your phone so you gave him a kiss on his cheek. 

“It’s okay Conner, really, don’t worry, Tim can fix it, but I gotta go, right now, take care“ you told him as you stood up to say Goodbye to Clark. 

You arrived at the Manor, and Bruce went straight to the Batcave, you went to the kitchen for a glass of water when you heard the famous song again. I just died in your arms tonight, you thought that maybe Damian was looking again the movie because he fell asleep last night.

You grabbed your glass as you made your way, when you arrived to looked at Damian, in fact, looking at the movie, but Jason was with him. They heard you and Jason stood up, you looked at him confused as he walked towards you.

"Having fun with Superboy today?" he told you with a raised eyebrow, he hadn't asked with anger, more like curious.

"His like a puppy you know? How was your Tour in the Tower?" you asked him as you looked at Damian in the distance.

"Go to another room!" Damian said as he get annoyed by your chat, you and Jason chuckled and made your way outside the Manor, to the big back yard.

"Well, you know, it was kind of boring, Dick it's really a bossy man back there, and it's like a kindergarten" he told you, and this made you chuckled.

"I promised Damian that next time I will go with him, but Bruce tooked me with him today" you told him with a chuckle.

"But everything...fine? you have some news for us?" he asked you, and for his tone of voice, you were confused, he wanted to know id something happened between you and Conner, and you knew what.

"Yeah, my phone paid the price tonight" you told him as you showed him a piece of your phone.

"What the heck happened?!" he looked at you with wide eyes.

"He got jealous" you told him with a smile.

"About what?" he asked you confused.

"You" you told him with a tender voice, at this point you just really wanted to kiss Jason on the lips, you couldn't help it anymore, being with Conner for hours really made you realize why you liked Jason so much.

"You're joking, why he will be jelous of me? a normal guy? he had superpowers and shit, I just know how to fight" he told and it broke your heart a little, he didn't knew how amazing he truly was.

"He's jealous because I don't want a guy with superpowers and shit" you told him with another smile as you touched his hand.

He looked at you with confusion in his eyes, but somehow, curiosity made their way to those sweet blue eyes.

"So, what are you looking for?" he asked you as he leaned a little.

"I had a thing for guys that are totally badass at fightning" you told him as you watched his lips getting closer to you.

"I may know someone that fits in that description, but he has much more things to show" he told you as he looked at your lips too.

"I take that as a bonus" you told him as you lean further.

Jason kissed you as if you were made of glass, it was tender, soft but full of love. His hands rested on your hips and yours went straight to his hair, caressing the soft raven hair. He hummed in the kiss and you felt him smile on in, you didn't want it to end, you wanted to kiss him every day now on. 

You broke apart after you felt like you were going to black out for lack of oxygen and you looked at his eyes. He was looking at you as if you were the most amazing thing on earth, so you blushed. 

"I wanted to do that long ago" he told you with a smile as he caressed your cheek. 

"Took you long enough, don't you think?" you said with a chuckle as you smiled at him. 

"Well, it was worth the waiting, it was even better than I imagined" he told you as he kissed your forehead. 

"Likewise, Jay" you told him as you buried your face on his chest. 

"We should get in, Bruce brought Dick a Lego pajama and I need to kill Damian" you told him with a chuckle, he chuckled too and you made your way inside the Manor, holding hands with Jason.

[sweetwriting]

Tim Drake Positivity Week -Day 4: Funny or Serious

Category: Gen

Genre: Humor/Fluff/Angst/Family

Fandoms: DC Comics, Batverse, Superverse

Continuity : Post-Crisis/Pre-Flashpoint referenced. Rebirth

Summary: Family is a tricky matter in those parts and it's especially true for people who were gone from the world for so long. (featuring Jon, Clark and Conner)

Word Count: 4 979

AN: I'm very late because while this piece has been finished for like a month, I didn't have time to write it on my computer so its posting has been delayed and I apologize (I was already late because it got away from me and started getting long. I had to cut some parts).  

This is part of my own version of Tim Drake's come back in the DC Rebirth Plot which I've been working on and planning for, for about a year and a half now. Since I kind of loath Tynion's take on his character...I mean people talk about Lobdell but Tynion worsened everything like 100 times and at least Lobdell admitted to his fault when he created his first Origin Story by saying it wasn't Tim Drake... they literally had everything on a silver platter and they decided to throw it out. It's ridiculous I'm telling you. I still haven't read A Lonely Place of Living, I'm waiting until next Thursday to read it all at once partially because Tynion's writing feels so bland -mostly bc his notion of character development is using timeskips and because he's told a fan he considered Rebirth!Tim to be the same as preboot!Tim and it scared me more than anything because he's exactly the same as N52!Tim- partially because I didn't want to have to wait for a story I had 99% chances of disliking because of the issues I mentioned in the tags and here (or as Shawn Spencer said in Psych, "Just 'cause you put syrup on somethin', don't make it pancakes").

ANYWAY, this happens during my AU which I promise I will start posting some time in November. It kind of gives away a part of it but at the same time, it's something that's so obvious it's not really given away (especially if you've read some of my Tumblr posts). The point of the other fic being "how does it get to this point?".

To read it on AO3

Finally! It was time. Jon had been waiting for this for months (well three months). Which was when Kon-El/Conner had come back to the land of livings...or Earth. True he hadn’t been thrilled to learn about Jon’s existence at first -more the opposite actually- apparently because he and his dad had had issues? And Jon being the new Superboy or something. On top of which there had been the Tim Drake and Bart Allen cases to deal with which prevent any of the older Super’s issues to be solved. But Conner had warmed up to him and now Jon was allowed to spend his Week-End at his place. In Ca.li.for.nia!

Now Jon had gotten used to Metropolis (his self from three months ago would have killed him for it) but the sun of Metropolis wasn’t as agreeable as the one of their old town? And definitely not as nice as the one in California!

He was also finally going to really meet Damian’s “lost” brother whom he had nicknamed the “real” Tim Drake (not to be mean to the other Tim but Witness Protection program and all that Jazz made it his fake name).

So Jon was really excited. His dad was coming down the stairs now, so he could fly him over (Jon still had trouble controlling his power of flight). Jon had just kissed his mom goodbye and was literally jumping to the ceiling in excitement.

“Conner, if you keep pacing like this you’re going to leave a trail on the ground.” Conner stopped. He turned to his right to look at Tim who was reading something on his tablet, comfortably settled on the couch, lounging in jeans and T-shirt, a look Conner was still trying to get used to. Not that Tim had never worn those before, it simply hadn’t been a common sight. He tried to glare at him but the panicked look in his eyes and seemingly emanating from every pore of his skin made him look more like a scared puppy than anything else.

“You don’t get it Tim. You didn’t completely mess up with your younger brother!”

Tim looked up from his Tablet, stared at Conner for a few seconds while raising his eyebrows. It was quite obviously meant to be taken as a “seriously?” and When had Tim learned to do that? And from who? Okay, that question was easily answered. It was probably Alfred.

“I meant as a first meeting! You tried to welcome Damian while I basically just had a small fit like a spoiled brat.”

Great. He was pouting now. Tim sighed and put his tablet on the coffee table next to him. Conner sighed as well and went to sit on it so he could face Tim.

“Look I understand you’re stressed out but it’s quite clear that the kid is ready to forgive you…Plus you had extenuating circumstances…you know with the “mixed memories” and the “having just woken up in a tube” things. And you’re great with kids. Remember Traya, she could make you do anything just by looking at you? You’ll be awkward at first and then you two will be planning my doom”. He paused, seemingly deep in thoughts. “Now that I think about it, I should probably be the one to worry. I mean your little brother or nephew or cousin or whatever is friends with Damian.”

Conner snorted and looked at Tim, now a lot calmer.

“Please. I’m pretty sure you’d be able to tell if he was planning something, he’s not very sneaky”. He paused, breathing deeply. ”Okay, I’m feeling a little better now. Thanks, Wonder Boy.”

He clapped him on the knee as Tim started to smile at him. Both started when the doorbell rang and Tim saw Conner stiffen. Seeing as the meta was starting to panic again, Tim got up first, quickly followed by Conner, and answered the door. He couldn’t help the smile that grew on his face as he saw the new Superboy bouncing on the ball of his feet. He would have smiled anyway (he wasn’t the social butterfly of the Batfam for no reason after all) but at least now it was completely genuine.

“Hey, Clark, Jon, welcome.”

Jon beamed up at him and bit his lower lip as Clark had settled his hands on his shoulders, probably to prevent his son from accidentally showing his powers to their neighbors. Tim moved to his right so they could come in, closed the door and turned to see Conner awkwardly trying to start a conversation. Jon looked at them, in boredom or disbelief, Tim wasn’t sure. So he walked toward him, leaving both “older” Kryptonians (and damn, Conner was younger than his younger brother) trying to avoid the elephant in the room as he addressed Jon.

“Hey, do you want me to show you your room while these two shuffle awkwardly?”

Jon looked at him with pure relief in his eyes and replied with said relief seeping through his words.

“Yes please” He paused “Wait.” He looked between Conner and Tim “I get my own room?”

Conner, who had been glaring at Tim along with Clark, nodded at slowly, taken aback by the kid’s excitement but a smile started to grow because of it. He was definitely a cute kid. Now the point of this Week-End was to find the personality hidden underneath all the cuteness and see if they had a chance of getting along even outside of the vigilante field. Tim had been right when he had told him, a few days after being back, that Conner needed a family outside of the Teen Titans. Something more stable that didn’t rely on a roster and Tim himself was looking for his own place within the Bats or…How had he said it again? “I’d help you by lending you mine but I’m not sure what it entails right now”. And of course they had each other but Conner was sure Tim meant “aside from each other”. He used to have Ma (and Pa for a short time) but he was barely starting acclimating to them when he died and he had finally (relatively) gotten used to it, having a stable family life when those world-changing event happened. There had been that first year in Hawaï with Roxy, Tana, Dubbilex and Rex but “stable” wasn’t the word he’d use to describe that time (still the closest he had for about two years)…And well he did miss Clark and Steel (and Kara and Matrix but…). And Okay, he had never really thought about having siblings. He already had Roxy and Bart and the kids from Cadmus but the idea was appealing even if, technically, Jon would be his nephew? What did you call the child of your cousin? Now that he thought about it was his cover still that of Clark’s cousin? Or was he his brother now? His son? No. He was brought back to that first time of awareness in this new world and shuddered so briefly that only Clark had noticed it. The fact that Tim had apparently lead Jon to his room and left them to their own devices while Conner was daydreaming might have helped in that. Clark who was now lifting an eyebrow, demanding an explanation for Conner’s mind’s wandering. Nice to know Clark was still the king of righteousness. Conner sighed and replied to Clark’s silent probing.

“It’s nothing, something just reminded me of the tube I woke up in. Which got me thinking, are we gonna use the same “I’m your cousin" I.D?”

Clark cleared his throat having been clearly hoping he’d be able to avoid the topic or maybe he was just that awkward with him.

“Actually, Lois and I were thinking that since, uh, you’re not 21 yet, and Ma’s not here anymore”, he paused. Both Kents feeling the weight of her loss in their heart, she was much better at dealing with these family matters than either of them. Conner should have stayed with her. He wanted nothing more than to have stayed with her –with Tim while he sorted through his own family matters of course. But she was gone. And he had to get used to that fact. Apparently, all his parental figures had died while he was “asleep” or whatever had happened to him. Clark’s voice broke him out of his thoughts. “We thought we could be your legal guardians with me being your big brother. It’d be a little hard to explain your existence any other way without making up a whole different family tree.” He paused again. He had started to gain a good rhythm but it seemed like it wasn't easy. Clark was more used to forcing his will on Conner (even if he had gotten better at talking to him over time…Clark still wasn’t Ma Kent and the thought almost had him panicking. He tried to control his breath again -his meeting with Parallax and Sinestro not yet forgotten- and continued. Conner’s little frown didn’t help). “I meant that we would have to create a new mother and where you’d have lived before coming to Smallville -you know how thorough Batman can be when he wants to- and I just thought that me becoming my younger brother’s legal guardian after the death of our Mother made more sense. It allows you to stay here and continue your studies, if you want to. But if you need anything you know my home is yours.” Clark stopped. He was starting to mumble. This situation, with Conner, had never been easy. He had barely started to hit his 30’s when Kon had first appeared. He was too young to have a teenage son (it didn’t help that the child in question was born because a creep stole his DNA to experiment on). Now he was hitting his 40’s and Conner had lost so many years, first with his own death then with the last world-altering nonsense (if only it was only those) and he hadn’t caught up, Conner was barely out of his teens and while Clark could now be a father. Their history got in the way and Conner had a confusing enough track record and putting a little “normalcy” and “stability” in his life had been one of his main reasons to have him live with Ma in the first place. And yet, things had gotten so messed up. He looked at the young man in front of him (because at virtually 19 that’s what he was now and if it that didn’t send a wave of regret…-for Conner’s missed childhood? For not helping him like he should have been helped in his first few years? For everything Conner missed while he was forced to not grow up (and there were too many times it had happened in his life)?- then what could?). Conner seemed startled. Clark didn’t know what exactly had startled him but then he grinned and held out his hand for Clark to shake and said:

“Deal.”

Of course, Clark wasn’t naïve enough to think Conner was perfectly okay with this but being given a chance was all he could ask for. And they smiled awkwardly at each other. Damn.

“Hey Tim, what’s the matter with dad and Conner?”

Jon had just finished putting his clothes in the dresser of his room under Tim’s watchful eyes –he felt lucky he had had to deal with Bart for years and learned to watch out for hyperactive-like kids. The question, while expected was not one Tim was keen on answering.

“It’s not really my place to say at this point. Maybe you try asking him tomorrow morning?”

That pout. Damn. Tim could definitely see the family traits. Though Conner’s always seemed a lot less innocent (to be fair he never looked like an 11 years old and he almost always had terrible ideas fueling them). On a side note, what were the chances Jon had listened in on the other two? Tim didn’t know him enough to actually utter a guess.

“Anyway, due to various time issues we weren’t sure what kids your age like but we thought Video Games was kind of a timeless thing and we’ve got tons of them. Cass has been filling our living room with books if it’s more your thing but Conner and I are more comic books people…There’s also my own training gear in my version of the “Batcave” if you want.”

Apparently, those were the right things to say to divert the child’s attention because he seemed ready to start jumping again (it was probably the mention of video games).

“You’ve got video games? Are they old? ‘Cause you’re old, you’re even older than Conner and you guys haven’t had a lot of time to adjust right?”

Tim felt the urge to cry in protest but had to remind himself of the kid’s age and managed to avoid snapping at him.

“We’ve got all kinds, remember one of us is a speedster so even if Conner and I hadn’t yet, he’s had the time to catch up”

“Cool! By the way, did you mean it when you said I could train in your…what did you call it again? Nest?”

Once again Tim was glad he had had to deal with Bart for a long while otherwise, he’s not sure he could have followed Jon’s babbling. He wondered vaguely if Conner would have acted in a similar way had he been given a chance to be 11. And the bad jokes…Was Superman as bad? He seemed to be from the little times they had interacted and from what Conner had told him (though that one seemed more like unreliable narration).

“I don’t call it anything other than HQ. Conner calls it a nest too though so you can do it.” He paused. “Just please don’t use it outside of this apartment”.

Jon tried to hold in a laugh (and quite obviously failed) before Tim ushered him back downstairs.

“C’mon let’s save those two from an awkwardness overload.”

As Conner closed the door behind his cousin. Wait. Brother. It felt weird. He turned to his best friend and to the kid who apparently was his nephew now.

“So…This is finally over.”

He felt his phone vibrate in his back pocket and he felt his cheeks heat up as he read the message he had just received: “I heard that you know.” Tim and Jon looked at each other questioningly but seemed to decide not to pry (if only because they had already guessed what had happened, Jon himself having been on the receiving hand of his father’s hearing quite a few times). Conner tried to ignore them as he started walking to the kitchen.

“Alright, it’s time to eat!”

Tim’s deadpan voice came from where he and Jon and stayed, making him stop in his track:

“Conner it’s barely 6. How about we spend some downtime together”

Conner’s cheeks turned pink. in his hurry to forget what had happened with Clark he had forgotten pretty much everything else that was going on. He took a sudden turn to the right, toward the living room as he exclaimed:

“Video Games it is.”

Tim sighed and mumbled something about how it was lucky Jon was part of a video games generation and they had already decided it was going to be their next activity or the night would have started badly.

“Right, turn on the Switch, we still have the last sonic game to play and it’s ideal when we have guests”.

Tim snorted as he approached his best friend who had paused in the doorway, patting him on the back as he took his wrist to lead him toward the various video game stations they had. He turned to John.

“C’mon, want to help me destroy his sorry ass?”

“Tim! Don’t talk like that! Clark’s never gonna forgive me if we talk that way in front of his kid!”

Conner was starting to panic, and Tim felt sorry for him. That he was so stressed out about something as simple as…What was wrong exactly with what he had said? He looked at Conner Questioningly.

“You realize you’re not supposed to use words like “ass” in front of a kid, right?”

Tim’s eyes turned slightly vacant. He had, in fact, not known that.

“Oh.”

He turned toward Jon who, annoyed, was grumbling about not being a kid.

“Sorry Jon, I had no idea Conner had become a proper adult. You shall now only refer to him for adult matters. He’s the responsible one”.

Tim had left Conner’s side to set up the console with Jon while his friend was still shell-shocked. Conner was fuming, and he started to raise his arms in frustration.

“It’s not funny Tim! You know how much is riding on this!”

Tim stopped for a second and signed for Jon to keep taking out the console. He got up and walked toward Conner setting his hands gently on his right shoulder and forearm so Conner would drop his arms. He did, forcing Tim to drop his hands and turned to face Tim whose left hand had replaced his right one on Conner’s right shoulder as the other settled on the left side of his neck, hoping he could get his best friend to look him in the eye so he could try to ground him and avoid what he knew was going to turn into a sour mood.

“Hey, it’s okay Conner. Jon’s 11 so I doubt he’s never heard the word before that and he probably knows not to use this kind of language in front of his parents. And you’re stressing yourself too much this is just a mise-en-bouche.”

He stopped for a second, making sure Conner was looking into his eyes “But I promise I’ll make an effort” He patted his friend’s neck and put his hands back to his side and started to walk back toward the consoles. “C’mon let’s get defeated by your brother…Nephew...whichever.”

Conner caught up to him in a few tranquil strokes (being taller than Tim had its advantages and reminding him of the fact was one of them).

“Apparently, it’s Nephew, I’m Clark’s little brother now. Also you might get defeated but that’s because you su- I mean you’re awful at those kinds of Video Games.”

Tim was smiling. He knew it. He may not have been able to see it but he could feel Tim’s wry smile. It was there. Because not two minutes ago he had been pani- no he had been lecturing Tim about his language and he almost had a slip up himself. But Tim seemed to feel magnanimous enough not to mention it…yet.

They had been playing for about an hour and Jon had, in fact, kicked their asses. Conner would probably feel less sulky if Tim hadn’t gotten the best of him too.

He was starting to pout (glare. He was glaring at them) when Tim interrupted the game to say they should prepare their snacks-dinner and to join him once he was done taking the ingredients out. Conner wondered what it could be since they didn’t have much more than pasta ingredients and it wasn’t really “snack-dinner” worthy…Unless…Nah Tim wouldn’t show this side of them to a new guest…Would he?

Anyway, Tim had been in the middle of the couch, between the two Supers and feeling him slip away had Conner almost latching onto his arm and beg him to stay with them when the older teen threw him a look that meant “He’s here so you guys could bond, I’ve been playing the mediator for the past hour and a half, it’s time to deal with your shit”. Okay, so maybe Conner was reading a little more into this and the look just meant “grow a pair”, or “grow up”. The point of the message was still the same.

And damn, it was probably gonna be awkward. What if it was as awkward as when he talked to Clark but this time he would be in Clark’s shoes? This is a terrible ending. What if…

“Tim’s really cool! You’re lucky he was your Robin. I have to deal with Damian. I mean, we get along better (way better) than we did months ago but he’s still a pain. Tim was probably a thousand time more fun to deal with! I mean he’s already much more fun to deal with than most of the other bats even if he’s old.”

Conner looked at the new Superboy, mouth slightly open at having been interrupted in his internal freakout. He couldn’t help but laugh, both at Jon’s conclusion and in relief, startling the kid.

“Oh, Believe me, Tim wasn’t fun or even funny back then. Well…He still isn’t funny. His jokes are awful. He was our leader you know, so he felt responsible for our lives. Plus back then there was the secret identity issue. It frustrated me a lot. Back then we…We didn’t get along actually. In a different way from you and Damian because we wanted to be friends but the circumstances got in the way and pushed us apart. It was quite complicated if I’m being honest. Way more than I realized back then”.

He paused looking at his hands. He had loved that time; when they were all pretty innocent even if some of the most tragic moments of their lives happened during that very period of time : Tana’s death, Guardian’s, Gotham turning into a No Man’s Land, Bruce being accused of murder and going awry, the first time the gap between Tim and Steph really made itself known, Cissie almost killing someone, one of Bart’s clones dying…Apokolips in general…, among others. He really missed the innocence they had before all those events started accumulating. On the other hand, and he knew it was selfish of him considering all the hurt that was needed to get there and how much it caused afterwards, he wouldn’t give up the depth it had given to his and Tim’s friendship for anything in the world, with maybe the exception of Tim having a happy life. He looked up at the kid beside him, hoping he wouldn’t have to go through half as much as he did (but he had Clark and Lois and there was a better support system for young Heroes so he was already off to a better start than Kon had been, and he’d make sure to help keep it that way). He had to take a deep breath as nostalgia took hold of his heart. Because despite everything he had just thought, he wished the evolution of his and Tim’s relationship hadn’t happened at the expense of their innocence and he felt terrible at being responsible for such a big part of Tim’s own. Whether during the war or when he died. He was brought back to reality by Jon hovering next to his arm, looking slightly worried. Conner tried to recompose himself as he continued:

“What I mean is that we had to go through many trials for Tim –and the rest of us really- to learn, and re-learn to have fun and stop being so serious all the time. Now that Tim’s not needed in Gotham, he’s free to be more…at ease I guess…That and he’s trying to make us more...content I guess, so we would have less of a chance to end up like his family.”

He watched Jon grimace and mutter a small “yeah no kidding” and he winked at the kid. He was starting to truly like him. But he felt it was time to join Tim, after all –and despite what Tim himself might think- he needed to bond with Jon almost as much as Conner did.

They both got up as Conner ushered the young hero toward the kitchen which they found filled with recipients and when Conner started smelling it, all he could do was stop abruptly and say:

“Wait a second. Cheese? Potatoes. More cheese?” He paused, his voice going lower as if he had found the answer to the universe because he realized Tim had actually decided on what he had hoped they would be eating. “A deep fryer.”

He shared a look with Tim who smiled at him and they both exclaimed at the same time:

“Cuatro Quesos Dos Fritos!”

Jon started, surprised at their exclamation, staring at them as if they were aliens. Okay, wrong choice of word. Not alien, but something he hadn’t expected. Wondering if they weren’t lunatics –or if they really were adults. He asked in a small voice:

“What’s Quatro Quesos Dos Fritos?”

Tim seemed to remember they had a novice in the delicious art of cheesy food with them and started explaining as he got close to the oven.

“Only the most delicious snack of all time. It’s potatoes filled with a cheese mixture. And when they’re finished, they look a little something like this.”

While he had been distracting both Supers with his little explanation, Tim had taken a plate from within the oven and showed it to them. Conner looked at him, half amazed, half laughing.

“Dude, how did you just fabricate Cuatro Quesos Dos Fritos out of thin air?”

Tim smiled as Jon looked like a fish out of water. Luckily Conner had decided to humor him in his little game.

“C’mon Conner this is how all successful TV chefs do it.” He turned to Jon, his smile threatening to break his face as he took in Jon’s amazed look. “Try one of those, kid, because here’s the best part, they’re very healthy for us."

Jon snorted as he tried one of the Cuatro Quesos dos Fritos then stopped as he was hit by the amazing flavor of the treat, ready to complain to his father for hiding such marvelous food from him all his life. Conner, for his part, rolled his eyes and chose to focus on the delicious taste of the potatoes as he replied:

“I don’t even care that’s not true”

Tim looked affronted as if Conner had said the worse possible thing.

“Are you kidding? All major cheese groups are represented, you’ve got yellow, orange and white!”

Jon grinned as the two almost adults started arguing on the benefits of cheese.

They spent their night making Cuatro Quesos Dos Fritos and playing video Games. Jon complained about Damian (fully supported by Tim) and talked about his adventures in Super Hero-ing while Conner traded him for some of his own. Mostly those back in Hawai (no need for the kid to know about those times he was left to his own device or his Luthor Paranoia) with Roxy, Tana, Dubbilex, Rex and Sam. And while his heart squeezed when he thought about them (Dubbilex was dead and there was nothing he could do about it), they remained at the back of his thoughts. He was starting to truly move on from that part of his life and the various circumstances that had caused him so much grief. He was happy. His relationship with Jon was merely in its early stages, they were merely acquaintances at this point, but he could actually say “early” and believe there would be a follow-up.

He was happily settled against Tim, sharing his family with him because that’s how far they had gotten and he now had a nephew who looked up to him and it both scared him and left him elated (it almost reminded him of Bart when he was Impulse but he had known Kon’s issues better than Jon did and was much less star struck by him).

The best part though was that they were here making jokes and smiling and being happy without thinking about what could go wrong and, really, he couldn’t think of anything he would want more at this point (except having Bart and even Cassie with them).

Bonus:

“Can you believe it Robin? They had so many video games it was amazing! And Cuatro Quesos Dos Fritos had to be made in heaven, it’s hard to believe they exist!”

It was Sunday night and Jon and Damian had gone out for “Patrol” as Damian called it, and Jon had started rambling about his week-end in California the second Damian showed up. He snorted. His relationship with this Drake was more vitriolic than with the other one. Some details were confusing. The merging of the worlds meant that some things didn’t make complete sense as their different sets of memories adjusted to each other and some were just lost. In any case, it didn’t mean he had to be happy to hear about Drake’s “amazingness”.

“I’ve got to say though, I didn’t know what to expect when I got there but they’re so cool. Conner’s so lucky to have a boyfriend as cool as Tim!” He paused. “Wait, does that mean that we’re…kinda officially a family and…”

“They’re not dating”.

The voice cut right through Jon’s monologue like a cold shower would a heat streak gotten on a beach near Ajaccio. Jon was dumbstruck.

“What?”

Damian tried to level his eyes with Jon.

“I said that they’re not dating. As in they’re not together, not in a relationship”

Jon froze and Damian started waving his right hand in front of the younger boy’s eyes until he started blinking again. It was as if his stress levels had risen all at once and so had the pitch of his voice.

“How the hell is that possible ! ? “

Jon was now reviewing his whole Week-End, completely lost and looked at Damian when the boy, coming out of his own shock at Jon’s vocabulary, cleared his throat, trying to regain his snark.

“Now do you understand why I call Drake an idiot?”

AEN: First thing firsts, Conner actually knows what happened to him he just doesn’t want to think about it more than he has to. It was also a fairly important plot point in the real fic so when I thought about it later on I was fairly relieved :p

2nd, in my mind, Tim is about 6-10 months older than Conner. Because Conner was 16 for like a year and a half but when he started aging Tim was 15. So he died when he was 17 and Tim had turned 16 like 3 months before (Tim’s 16th Birthday issue happened around the beginning of Teen Titans). Then Kon was dead for a year and a half going on two years, Tim was 17 almost 18 at the end of Red Robin (we know that if N52 hadn’t happened we would have an issue about Tim’s 18th Birthday fairly soon after) so he was about 17 and a half (probably a little more) when Conner came back to life. Hence Tim being between 6 and 10 months older than Conner.

3. they need hugs. They all do.

4.  the Cuatro Quesos Dos Fritos was shamelessly stolen from the Psych Slumber Party bit on USA today for a Psych Marathon a few years ago. Because Half the time I see Shawn and Gus I can't help but think of Tim and Kon (except I reverse the roles often). I just slightly modified it to fit the story. (but seriously if you haven't, go watch the first four seasons of Psych).

[ari-zonia]

Momocon Recap and Thoughts

I’m sticking this in a read-more cause it’s gonna get lengthy.

So, I should mention this was my first ever Momocon, so there was that! First of all, I finally got to meet some friends that I've had for a pretty good while now. Like, I had stayed in a hotel room with my friends Dharc, Trevor, MattTetska, and a friend of his. I also hung around Nixcan and her crew for a good portion of the con, which was awesome because I tend to wander aimlessly anyway :P

Other than that I got to meet TRG + Masae, and by Meyneth that was the highlight of the con. On Thursday, Nixxie and I had been just sitting at a table when, I think it was HP mentioned Jon was walking up. So, I got to formally introduce myself to him, which was astounding, especially since I managed to remain so damn calm. Literally, I had walked up to him and just casually shook his hand and said hi. Of course, Jon said hi back. The next thing I said was that I was Ari Zonia, I kid you not he jumped in surprise and went "Oh shit!", which got a good laugh out of me. Like, it was genuine surprise (I knew he was kind of excited to learn I was going to the con in the first place but this took the cake).

If you saw the TRG Q&A panel you probably saw Emile's reaction to who I was as well (me being the cute little idiot asking what the strangest fanart was that the guys have ever seen of themselves), Jon only pointed it out because he had met me earlier in the day (before that started I also snagged a picture with RabbidLuigi who was just confused for a second since we were both waiting for a TRG panel to start and random small girl is like "can I have a picture?"). But after that was when I finally got to just talk with Emile himself, mostly about games and such but he also asked my about Bran which was nice. Also got him and Masae to sign my copy of Xenoblade.

During all the chaos that followed leaving that panel I also handed off all the pictures I made specifically for this. I had tried giving Jon his and Lucah's earlier, but his bag was such a mess he was worried messing them up (poor guy). But after giving Masae hers, and the one for her mom (I swear she was about to cry because 1, she liked them that much, and 2, because I made one for her MOTHER), as well as Tim getting his, and Emile's too, I finally walked up to Jon and offered the pictures again. I tried not to laugh though when his first reaction was to worriedly glance at his bag again, but I had a plan. I literally gave Jon the clipboard I had kept the pictures in (it flips open to store papers in), I didn't need it since I bought it specifically FOR Momocon (I have another exactly like it here at home). But, being the nice guy he is, he didn't want to take it from me. He asked, like, five times if I was ABSOLUTELY sure I was willing to part with it, and he kept trying to hand it back. Eventually I convinced him to keep it and we double checked I didn’t stick anything else in there so he didn’t take them on accident. And then, with what I think is the softest smile I have ever seen on Jon’s face, he thanked me for that. I managed to have a little laugh with him though as I also asked if he wanted the ribbon I had around it, his response was “Well, I’ve GOT to accessorize.”, which was funny for him to say as he took it, but he had another “oh shit” reaction when I mentioned the clipboard was broken (bought it like that). I also got to hug Emile during this time, and by Meyneth he is soft. Friday and Saturday were also pretty neat since I did a lot of wandering around, playing games in the game area (finally tried Taiko Drum Master which is AWESOME, but I’m still learning the timing), but I had also gotten to be part of a couple Persona cosplay Photoshoots! (There was a lot of P5, but I was Yosuke and Naoto, more on the latter soon). Other than that, Trevor and I also had run into Masae and Emile on Friday and Emile and I just proceeded to nerd out (mostly about Xenoblade of course), but I also told Emile that I was kind of upset I couldn’t Streetpass with him because my damn Streepass doesn’t work, and the guy looked actually upset about that. That, and he was really confused (like, gears turning in head confused) when I said I didn’t use to like RPGs and actually didn’t CARE about Xenoblade before he played it. Now, to that Naoto cosplay thing. I’m sure if any of you saw the Thrown Controllers livestream (BTW, Thrown Controllers is AWESOME to be at live) , you heard Emile talking to someone off camera about being Minato (or, as he said the “Protagonist from Persona 3″). Now, the entire context of that, before that Emile was saying something about Jon’s shirt. Well, let it be known that I just cheekily said to Emile “Hey Emile! Did you know with your blue shirt, and Masae’s yellow Tim’s hair turned green?”, because I’m just a dork like that. Now, what prompted the P3 comment was, like I said, I was dressed as Naoto Shirogane (specifically DAN but that’s besides the point), and when he asked that I just went, as I stood up, “I am Naoto Shirogane! Detective Prince! At your service.” as I did a bow, and just sat back down. I had also met MomAnela during this time, both before and after the panel and it was fun to chat with her a little bit. She was surprised we knew Dennis (she plays against him a lot in Splatoon). Then again, I had posted the picture I took with her before Thrown Controllers and then she motioned to get my attention (we were sitting right behind her really) and said “I didn’t know that was you!”, which was awesome to hear. After that was the TRG signing, which in of itself was fun because I got TRG + Masae to sign my 3DS, and Jon signed my copy of the 6th Scott Pilgrim book (I got into the series ‘cause of him). During that I had wanted a picture with Emile, and I swear this next part was totally awesome. Since I was Naoto, I had a little toy gun with me, and I just stared Emile dead in the eyes, drug out the gun as smoothly as I had done all day and said “I want a picture.” Now, Emile, being the punster he is said “I thought you were going to say “I want to take a shot”.“ and he just had this cocky grin on his face. Of course that just made the picture funnier because I circled next to him and said “You are under arrest for your crimes against humanity in the form of wordplay.” But, truly it was just awesome to meet them. While I waited for Trevor to get his stuff signed I also talked with Masae for a bit, and she’s just so sweet. Like, I had mentioned to her it was my first Momocon and that I’ve been having so much fun, and she nearly made me cry when she asked “First of many?” with this look that I could only say is, like “Please say yes!”, and I couldn’t give a straight answer because I obviously didn’t know. But, based on how this year went, I may be able to go again. Hopefully. Anyway, Trevor and I chatted with her for a little bit, which was neat because we got to talking about art, and she was really surprised to hear I’ve never had any lessons and that I’m self taught. Only attributing my constant drawing of her and the guys is the reason I’ve gotten to where I am. Now, Sunday was probably the coolest because I spent basically the entire day with Nixxie and her crew, but also did stuff I hadn’t planned on doing. First of all, I got a picture signed by the voice actress for Pearl (who is my favorite Gem, fight me), and also get a couple other small things to take home (I bought a lot of cool stuff, like pins, a little card for my gender identity, a sealed copy of World Ends With You, a Squid pillow, and a deck of cards). What was awesome though was that I was waiting for Nixxie to get something signed by Lucio’s voice actor and I went to sat down when, guess who, Masae and Emile started walking by. I tried not to lose my composure too much and struck up a conversation with them (after Masae complimented my Female Ness cosplay, and Emile complimented my shoes, the poor oblivious man). To which I then basically was there for the next hour to hour and a half or so just talking with them. Again, mostly me with Emile discussing stuff like Xenocross and some other stuff like DanganRonpa (still surprised he likes DR and Byakuya, not saying that’s bad just surprising). He also asked how I pronounce my name since “Ari” is a real name ‘n’ all, and was surprised when I said it’s a masculine name (He then saw the thing on my lanyard saying “agender” and then something finally clicked in his head)

Also, I should mention that somehow all the guys (and Masae) had come to this really funny conclusion that I’m MUCH taller than I am. Like, around 5′10 or something because they thought I was Bran’s height, and even then they thought he was TALLER. Like, Jon was laughing when we tried to get that picture of him resting his arms on my head saying “I don’t want to crush her!” Other than that there was also me, Trev, and Dharc recording a board of Mario Party 3, and I swear that game is meant to induce rage. Like, Dharc was having horrible luck in general and I basically turned into Jon in terms of pure anger (and I try not to get mad at games). Overall, Momocon was the BEST con I’ve been to, got to meet some awesome people, get some awesome reactions from TRG, and I really hope I get to go back!