#let Dick Grayson be himself 2k21

[harpist-errant]

Dick and Dami Week 2021

Art Edition (goes along with anipologist/Riverdaughter’s a thing with feathers)

Both have the theme of “Did you really mean that?”

Re-draw of this....dreadful panel. I’m pretty happy with how it turned out, especially since this is my first shot at drawing Damian.

[fridayfirefly]

A New Start

Read A New Start on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 15 - New Start

At the age of twenty-three, Dick Grayson was used to being called names. Playboy, asshole, womanizer - people liked to make assumptions about him. The press only ever saw him as a reflection of his Bruce's public persona, another rich airhead who thought of nothing except sex and alcohol.

Dick tried to rise above it all. He graduated from Gotham University School of Business with a 4.0 GPA. He earned his job at Wayne Enterprises instead of letting it simply be given to him. He never went to parties, never went to nightclubs, never got caught doing anything unsavory by the press. Despite every reason that made him entirely unsuitable gossip material, Dick Grayson was still splashed across the front page of every Gotham Gossip Magazine. They created speculation over every little aspect of Dick's life. When he took a week off of school due to the flu, he was actually partying his way through Europe. When he ran to the campus convenience store at 2 am to buy a new phone charger, he was actually buying a pregnancy test for his one-night stand. When he went to his Bruce's Spring Gala alone, it was actually because he was having a secret affair with one of the married models. Dick knew that nothing he did would change the way the press viewed him.

Dick hated the press. He hated being seen as a rich, air-headed playboy who earned none of his success. He hated how so few people saw past the headlines to get to know the real him. It seemed like no one could see the Dick Grayson who made dumb jokes and loved his slightly dysfunctional family and fell in love with his whole heart unguarded. No one could see the Dick Grayson who just wanted to be loved back.

------

Dick was running late. Any other day, he would be perfectly prompt, but that morning, everything went wrong. The subway got delayed. The uber driver tried to take a shortcut down the wrong way of a one-way street, adding another twenty minutes to Dick’s commute. The barista at Starbucks messed up Dick’s americano not once but twice (Dick still tipped her, but he was still resentful about it). When Dick finally got to the office thirty minutes late, he found out that he had a meeting in twenty minutes all the way across town.

Overall, the whole morning seemed to be fated for disaster. Dick caught a taxi outside of Wayne Enterprises, chugging the last of his americano before he got in. On the drive to the Gabriel Fashion building, Dick got himself up to speed on the topic of his upcoming meeting. Ever since the arrest of Gabriel Agreste two years prior on charges of domestic terrorism, Gabriel Fashion had lost more and more money until it was simply impossible for the company to remain afloat. However, despite the catastrophic failure of the parent company, one branch of Gabriel Fashion was still doing incredibly well. Marinette Dupain-Cheng’s line of sustainable, environmentally friendly fashion, named Miraculous Fashion, was widely regarded as the best thing to come out of Gabriel Fashion in the last fifteen years. Wayne Enterprises wanted to use Miraculous Fashion to get into the fashion business. Bruce was willing to offer Adrien Agreste, CEO of Agreste Fashion (though not for much longer, as the company was on the verge of declaring bankruptcy), just about any amount of money Agreste could ask for in order to acquire Miraculous Fashion. However, that meant getting the approval of Ms. Dupain-Cheng first, which was the reason that Dick was meeting with Ms. Dupain-Cheng that morning.

Dick's horrible luck wasn't through with him yet, though. As his taxi pulled up in front of Gabriel Fashion, the vehicle drove through a huge puddle, splashing street water all of a young woman walking past. Dick could hear her surprised shriek even from inside the taxi.

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," Dick muttered as he shot out of the taxi. "I'm so sorry. Are you okay?"

The woman blinked up at him, wiping the icy water off of her face. "I'm fine. It was an accident."

"It's not fine." Dick's already foul mood even worse after seeing the state of the woman. Her coat (originally cream-colored, as Dick could tell from the dry spots) was now covered in wet, gray stains.  "I can pay any dry cleaning expenses."

The woman shook her head. "It's not a big deal."

"I'll pay for your cab ride if you'd like to go home and get changed," Dick offered. He knew better than to throw money at a problem, but he wanted the guilt he felt about ruining the woman's morning to go away.

She shook her head, wet strands of hair sticking to her face. "No, it's fine. I have a change of clothes in my office, and I can get cleaned up in the bathroom."

"Okay. Sorry again Miss..."

"Dupain-Cheng. Marinette Dupain-Cheng."

Dick winced. Of all the disastrous coincidences... "I'm Dick Grayson, your 9:30 meeting."

Marinette stared at him for a moment, before starting to laugh. "What a terrible first encounter we had. Why don't I walk you up to my office? My secretary can show you around while I get changed."

"Sounds great, Ms. Dupain-Cheng."

"Call me Marinette."

"Only if you call me Dick."

Marinette tried and failed to hold back a giggle. "Right this way then, Dick."

------

Dick had the sneaking suspicion that despite the fact that Marinette had lived in Gotham for the past six months, she had yet to encounter any of Gotham's many gossip magazines. When she looked at Dick, there was no judgment in her eyes. Dick was used to the underhanded insults, the subtle ways that people tried to undermine him because they didn't think he was qualified for his job. Marinette never acted like that. She was interested in everything he said, offering both praise and criticism to his ideas as they negotiated the terms for a potential merger.

"I want Miraculous Fashion to continue past the end of Gabriel Fashion, but to be honest I was hoping to be picked up by a company more experienced in the fashion world. Miraculous Fashion has a lot of potential, and I don't want to let that go to waste with a company that - no offense - might not know how to operate a clothing company."

"I understand your concern, but Wayne Enterprises is dedicated to expanding into the fashion world. I swear to you that Wayne Enterprises will do whatever it takes to ensure that Miraculous Fashion prospers. I can't promise that we won't make any mistakes or screw-ups, but I can promise that Miraculous Fashion won't be abandoned when times get tough."

Marinette nodded thoughtfully. "I'll think about it, but there's a pretty good chance that I'll agree to this. I've gotten a few other offers from different fashion companies, but none quite as enthusiastic as Wayne Enterprises."

"I hope to see you again soon," said Dick as he left her office.

Even though it was riddled with disaster, Dick couldn't help but feel good about his morning. His meeting with Marinette felt special. It felt like a new start.

@maribatmarch-2k21

[ur-favorite-queer-queen]

Warmth

For Maribat March day 3 theme warmth

Master List

Dick was excited, he found out that there was a carnival happening in Metropolis and to his delight everyone’s schedule was free. So, whether they wanted to or not, they were going! 

Unfortunately, because they can’t leave their city abandoned, Bruce, Duke, and Alfred would be staying. Damian had wanted to stay too, but he wasn’t going to let that happen, he wanted brother bonding. Which he had already gotten with Duke when he found out he couldn’t come. 

Everything was great, there wasn’t a lot of traffic and there were still a few empty parking spaces when they arrived. Now, there were quite a few activities he saw on the carnival’s website that he wanted to do. As he turned around to address his family he noticed someone missing. It wasn’t Damian or Jason like he had expected and it wasn’t Tim or Steph. No, this time it was Cass. 

He knew they hadn’t left her behind, which means she had ditched them, but why? 

“Have any of you seen Cass?” Dick asked, eyes darting around to see if he could spot her. 

“No we haven’t.” Steph responded, just as confused. 

“TT, if Cass can leave why can’t we?” Damian scoffed. 

“Cass didn’t leave, I’m sure she’s around here somewhere.” Dick responded, trying to convince everyone including himself. 

They started searching, when Jason called them all over to him. “I tried looking at the tracker we have on Cass’s phone but it’s turned off, and then she sent us this.” He turned his phone around to show them all the text she had sent, ‘I’m currently with a friend, I will meet up with you guys later. Enjoy yourselves.’ 

The message seemed like something Cass would say. Just as everyone finished reading the text they were sent another one, by Alfred. ‘Miss Cass is safe, you do not need to worry. She has already informed me of her plan. You will have to plan another bonding trip with Cass next time, Master Dick. Enjoy the carnival and I will alert you if Cass is in trouble.’ 

“Of course Alfred would know that she was going to ditch us and not tell us.” Damian remarked, he felt no ill will towards the butler/grandfather figure, however he wished Cass would’ve taken him with her. 

“Cass probably asked Alfred not to tell us,” Steph assured, “But while we’re here we should enjoy it. Alfred will tell us if anything is wrong with Cass and if we happen to spot her before we’re supposed to leave, maybe we can meet her friend.” 

Everyone agreed and Dick started to drag them all to the first activity. It was going to be a long afternoon. 

-

Cass didn’t want to ditch her family, but she was already planning on going to the carnival before Dick decided to drag them to it. Marinette had found out about the carnival a week before Dick. While she lived in New York she had planned for her and Cass to meet up at the carnival in Metropolis. 

Things had gotten pretty busy in her life, between maintaining her grades in college and getting ready to soon take over Style Queen. While her best friend Chloe would be taking over the business side, she would be taking over the fashion side and that was still a whole lot of responsibility. She was just happy she would get to spend time with her girlfriend. 

Did her family know about Marinette, no. Well, Alfred knew because she told him, he would’ve found out anyway. She was happy her honorary grandfather was helping her. She would love for Marinette to meet her family, one day. But right now her girlfriend was stressed enough as it is and her family would not help if they were to meet. They would add to her stress if anything. 

That’s why Cass had been making sure to steer clear of where her family was supposed to be. She had memorized Dick’s schedule of what they were going to be doing when, just to make sure that they didn’t catch her with her girlfriend. There was definitely going to be a talk interrogation later, but right now, staring at her girlfriend’s carefree smile, she would think about the consequences later. 

“What do you want to do next Cass?” Marinette asked, holding a stuffed animal that she was planning on giving away. Yet just as she said this her stomach grumbled.

Cass grinned at her girlfriend, signing, “Let’s eat food,” before grabbing Marinette and dragging her to a place she saw selling hot dogs earlier. 

They quickly ate their food, with Marinette making comments about how Cass could eat the monstrosity that was mustard and Cass making weird faces at the ketchup on Marinette’s hotdog. Both knew their chosen condiments were superior. 

By now it was starting to get dark, they had already played most of the games, with Marinette giving every single prize she won to a little kid she saw staring, and they were wondering what to do next. Cass knew that her family was planning on going on the ferris wheel a little later, so she figured that if she and Marinette went now they would be able to evade her family. Marinette had wanted to leave early and still go on the ferris wheel and this gave Cass enough time to turn her trackers back on at the entrance once Marinette had left. 

“Go to the ferris wheel?” Cass signed. Marinette nodded her head eagerly, quickly throwing away their trash before taking Cass’s hand and walking towards the ferris wheel. 

After a 10 minute wait Cass and Marinette were being loaded into their cart. Marinette was all smiles and Cass even let a small smile creep onto her face at the sight. However, out of the corner of her eye, she spotted her family getting in line for the ferris wheel. As they were making their way up, she turned her head slightly to face them and it was then that she made eye contact with Damian. She let a small smile show on her face before they were out of view and she turned back to her girlfriend. 

-

Damian was not happy with his current situation. Dick had been dragging them to all the different carnival games and food stands when he just wanted to go home. Was it satisfying when he beat one of the rigged games, yes, but that didn’t mean he wanted to be here. 

But at last they were doing the final thing on Dick’s list, the ferris wheel. Steph and Jason were arguing over something, Dick was trying to play peacekeeper, and Tim was on his phone. As Damian observed those already on the ferris wheel, he spotted a familiar girl being loaded in. His thoughts were confirmed when said girl turned and looked him in the eye and had the audacity to smirk at him. 

“Grayson, Todd, Drake, Brown.” Damian stated, when they turned to look at him he nodded his head in Cass’s direction. They all turned to see what he was motioning too and Dick gasped. 

“Is that Cass?” 

“Yeah it is, but who is that girl she’s with?” Steph asked the obvious question. 

“I just got a picture of her. It’s a little blurry but I think I’ll be able to do a facial recognition when we get back to the manor.” Tim added in. 

“How come Cass never told us about her friend?” Dick asked, a tiny bit of hurt could be heard in his voice. 

“Probably cause she knew we would scare her off.” Tim retorted, trying to clear up the picture as much as he could. 

“Or because she’s not just a friend.” Jason piped up, for the first time since the start of the conversation. 

“Todd what do you mean by that?” Damian sneered, but he was curious as to what Jason meant. 

Jason proceeded to snatch the phone from Tim’s hand and pointed to the picture. “For starters, they look much closer than ‘friends’ would be, Cass looks much more relaxed than she is with any of her other friends, and they’re holding hands.” 

Everyone took a closer look at the photo and sure enough Jason was right. 

“Wait, those are great points and all but what if…” Dick started but was interrupted by Jason. 

“They’re also making out right now.” 

Tim went to his camera app and zoomed onto the cart Cass and her ‘friend’ were in. Sure enough, they were kissing. Not full on making out like Jason had said, but still very intimate. 

“We are definitely questioning her later, right?” Steph asked, breaking the silence. 

She was met with 4 nods before they were being loaded into their own carts. 

-

“Thanks for coming with me Cass.” Marinette tells her girlfriend while they sit at the top of the ferris wheel. 

“Welcome.” Cass signs. However, Cass also notices how her girlfriend is shivering and signs, “You’re cold.” 

She proceeds to remove her jacket and place it on Marinette’s shoulders. 

“It’s fine Cass, really.” Marinette tries and fails to convince her. 

“Much better.” And Cass was right about that, Marinette had stopped shivering and was much more relaxed under the warmth of her jacket. 

“Yeah, yeah. So how is your family gonna react?” Marinette changes the subject. 

“Badly,” Cass signs, “But it’s okay. I have you.” Before wrapping her arms around her girlfriend.

“Yeah, I love you Cass.” Marinette whispers to her girlfriend giving her a soft kiss on her forehead. 

“I love you.” Cass simply states, returning the kiss with one of her own and cuddling with her girlfriend until their cart comes back down. With a couple more kisses and a plan to get together soon Marinette leaves for the bus to New York, while Cass waits at the entrance for her family. It’s when a chilly breeze blows that she realizes Marinette still has her jacket. One more thing to add to the interrogation that’s coming her way. 

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

I think the world would be a better place if we got more Cassinette! So I give you Cassinette! If Cass seems out of character I apologize, I have no prior experience writing her. 

@maribatmarch-2k21

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 14: Death

ao3

part 2, part 3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Marinette stands in the same spot Tim had probably been however long ago, and starts talking.

“I'm sorry I didn't come earlier, but I just heard.” She let out a bitter chuckle, “They called me halfway through my first class and said that my grandfather was on the phone and that there was a family emergency. It took me a second to realise they were talking about Alfred, even though we all think of him that way, he would never introduce himself as such. Not unless it meant they wouldn’t let him speak to me otherwise. That probably should have been the first of many indicators that something was wrong. And then I actually spoke to Alfred and I don't really think I registered what he said at first.” She smiled sadly, " how could I? I still don't know if it was that I didn't want to believe him or genuinely didn't think there was a possibility he was speaking the truth. "

She fell silent then, a lone tear slowly making its way down her cheek, “when I walked into the cave, I was expecting Cass, Dick and Tim to be preparing for patrol, not Dick lecturing a little kid in a Robin suit. Were you even planning on telling me I had a little brother or were you waiting for one of the others to tell me first?”

She's crying she realises dimly as tears trace their way down her face.

“Who’s apparently Talia al Ghul’s son. He launched himself at me with his katana, screaming, “there’s an intruder in the cave Grayson,” she makes a crying laughing sound, “under any other circumstances it would have probably been funny, but I just stared at Dick in horror and Dick had to grab Damian back by the cape. Said something to him and he stormed off. I just continued to stare. Dick in the Bat suit, was not something I thought I’d ever see again. He’s gonna break y’know, with you gone. The whole family has fallen apart, Cass left for Hong Kong, handing the mantle of Batgirl to Stephanie, I don’t even know what’s going on with Jay, Alfred’s keeping it together but that’s just Alfred, Babs is probably the most level headed right now and Tim-”

She broke off into a sigh, “well, I’m worried about him. Apparently, I witnessed the after effects of Dick giving the Robin mantle to Damian without telling him. That clearly didn’t go well. I have no idea what he was thinking doing that without talking to Tim beforehand, I get his reasoning, I really do but that was a shitty thing to do. I can’t even begin to imagine how he feels-”

She breaks off again a sob escaping her, “Dick sorta caught me up on the things I missed, and I looked through the cave footage, and I’m not the least shocked about Tim’s reaction. I had to call Cassie Sandsmark and Steph to have some idea of what happened, it’s still very vague but it’s all I know. But, the two of them were clear on one thing, he’s leaving to continue his search. Because Dick didn’t believe him, told him they’d put him in Arkham. Honestly, I’m not even sure how it devolved into this mess.”

She sits down facing the grave and after a considerable pause continues, “I’m staying. Mr. Bug can take care of Paris. Dick’s going to need help. They’ve moved out of the Manor, using the penthouse instead. Probably too many painful memories for Alfred and Dick. And I don’t know about Damian. Dick’s signed himself up for a lot with him. I can’t leave him to take care of both Damian and Gotham alone. You might’ve managed it but you’re not exactly a model of mental health either. Maybe me being here will help with Damian’s mindset of being the Batman’s sole heir since he’s the blood son. Doubt Talia told him about the biological daughter. Afterall he had no idea who I was.”

She curls in on herself, sobbing freely, “It isn’t fair. I know Death isn’t fair not that Life is either but I can’t help but feel angry by the unfairness of it all. We still need you. Every single one of us, even if we might never get the chance to tell it to your face.”

"I still need you," she whispers, her voice breaking.

She stops, perhaps her father’s allergy to processing emotions was genetic, “I read Tim’s research or whatever little he had. I think he’s right. I hope he’s right. However, I doubt that he knows for sure either. But I need him to be right. I need you to be back. I need whatever corpse that has been buried in the ground here to be a fake or a clone or, or something,” her voice getting more desperate as she continues, “You can’t be dead. I need my dad.”

She sits there for a little longer, letting out all the tears. Eventually she stands up, pulling herself together and wiping away her tears. Leaving the cemetery hoping her brother’s right and her father’s lost in time.

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 5: Last Time

ao3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Find myself at your door

Just like all those times before

I’m not sure how I got there

All roads, they lead me here

He’s standing outside her door yet again, with a hand raised to knock. He wants to knock so badly, let himself be swept up in Marinette’s arms. He wants nothing more. He had left the manor annoyed at Bruce and had just kept walking and somehow, he wound up here, outside her apartment door. He hadn’t even realized he was making his way towards her apartment until he was there. Both Babs and Alfred had told him that this wasn’t healthy. Being Nightwing drove a wedge between the two of them. She knew he was Nightwing just as he knew she was Ladybug. She still was Ladybug, still joined the Bats on patrol and everything but the two of them simply acted as if there was nothing between them, never was and never will be. Even though they know there once was and is yet to vanish completely. And the rest of the Bats know it too, but she worked well along with them, and as long as that continued Bruce would not interfere. The girls had dragged her into their group and even Damian liked her, she still continued to spend time with Tim and Jason and if they ever crossed paths, she never acted any different. Cass was probably the only one who could see through them, told him to his face that he was hurting both himself and her. But he couldn’t give up Nightwing nor did she want him to but she didn’t intend on having a boyfriend who left ever so often on missions, she knew what he did was important, she worked in the same field after all. But Dick was called upon constantly by League members and the younger heroes both, and Dick in his obligation to help had forgotten Marinette. That was why they had broken up the first time and after the third time, there wasn’t an official getting back together or a break up. It became an endless cycle of spending time together whenever they sought out the other and then leaving before it broke their hearts again but instead all it left were small cracks that would eventually break. Dick knew that, but he knocked on the door regardless.

I imagine you at home

In your room, all alone

And you open your eyes into mine

And everything feels better

She was probably in her room. She usually was this time of the night. Either finishing up some sketches or talking to Chloé who had moved to New York with her mother. The Kwamis tend to leave her alone this late in the night. Dick knows, however, that they’d be next to her the second she needed something. Which was exactly what he couldn’t do for her. She opens the door, looking the same as ever: tired from how many ever hours of working and simultaneously breathtakingly beautiful. Blue eyes meet. The moonlight reflects on her eyes, making them look bluer than ever. And Dick feels the calmness he has only ever felt in her presence.

And right before your eyes

I'm breaking, no past

No reasons why

Just you and me

She leads him in. He knows she’s just waiting for him to tell her what’s wrong. He knows his walls are crumbling and he’ll be talking to her to figure this out in the next few seconds. He knows that one of them is going to kiss the other before he finishes talking. He knows they’ll end up spending the night together. He knows he’ll leave in the morning and the two of them will act like nothing ever happened. He knows because they’ve done this before. And yet he ignores all that he knows and gets absorbed in the miracle that is Marinette.

This is the last time I'm asking you this

Put my name at the top of your list

This is the last time I'm asking you why

You break my heart in the blink of an eye

He tells himself that this is the last time. The last time he goes running to her. Wanting to be the one that she wants. His heart is breaking and is bound to shatter eventually, he knows it, she knows it but neither of them put an end to this.

You find yourself at my door

Just like all those times before

You wear your best apology

But I was there to watch you leave

She’s sitting in her room, sketching, when there’s a knock on the door. There’s only one possible person who’d be knocking on her door at this time of the night and a good part of her wants to ignore it. It’s not the first time he’s come back and every single time she wants it to be the last. He’s standing outside the door and he looks stunning in the moonlight. He’s clearly upset. That’s definitely what brought him here. She wonders if he knew where he was headed or if it was subconscious. And yet all she can see is him leaving like every other time before.

And all the times I let you in

Just for you to go again

Disappear when you come back

Everything is better

But she lets him in, she doesn’t know what else do know anymore. She knows he’ll leave. Hopes that maybe knowing and accepting it would make it easier. Though she knows that is just yet another lie she tells herself when it comes to Dick Grayson. But then he comes back, and Marinette lets all the doubts and worries disappear. She thinks that, that too might be a learned behaviour at this point. She pushes all logic to back of her mind and instead thinks with her heart. That’s always been his effect on her, not that he knows it.

And right before your eyes

I'm aching, no past

Nowhere to hide

Just you and me

And it hurts but they ignore their history. When it’s just the two of them it always devolves to just that. Nothing around them matters. Nothing that happened before matters. They live in the moment.

This is the last time I'm asking you this

Put my name at the top of your list

This is the last time I'm asking you why

You break my heart in the blink of an eye

But the moment ends. It always will. Marinette knows this. Tells herself it’ll be the last time. Tells herself this can’t happen another time. Because some part of her will always want more, an actual relationship, not whatever they have right now but she knows they can’t go back to when they were together the first time. When everything was sunshine and rainbows. What people forget is rainbows need rain. She remembered the first few months back then when she felt secure in knowing that he’d be there to support them no matter what. And Marinette hopes that this is the last time she needs to feel her heart break.

This is the last time you tell me I've got it wrong

This is the last time I say it's been you all along

This is the last time I let you in my door

This is the last time, I won't hurt you anymore

And as she falls asleep in his arms, she sets her mind that this is the last time. No more fights. No more letting him in and shutting him out. This chapter has to end today.

He holds Marinette as she falls asleep and silently promises, “I love you. But this has to be the last time, I can't hurt you anymore.”