#my timezone is weird and I had work today haha

[causenessus]

good morning, evening or afternoon my loveliness!! how’s your day been? have you eaten? MAKE SURE U EAT !! today i just had pasta in the morning like i literally JUST got off work and i was like okay okay time to reply to my dearest ness(ill probably have pasta again)(like ill be eating in between writing this LOL) but OH MY GOD MY JAW DROPPED WHEN I SAW HOW LONG MY LAST ASK WAS LIKE IM LITERALLY I YAPPED SO MUCH IM SO SO SORRY LOL i was like i genuinely went😧(AND THATS EVEN IN THE SMALL FONT!!)(deepest apologies to anyone who had to scroll pass that)

OFC I NOTICE THINGS ABOUT U !! i think it’s like a like my mind mentally notes the things you say and i kind of catch onto your mannerisms?(IS THAT WEIRD??)(like in a GOOD WAY ofc) and i just kind of recognize the way you write !! like i feel like if the roles were reversed i would 100% be able to tell who you are by the way you write(IN A GOOD WAY ALWAYS IN A GOOD WAY)(all love for my one and only always always) also yeah! i don’t live in the states but i think our timezones are the same or like one hour apart so I TOTALLY GET IT the assumption is valid! DONT APOLOGIZE AT ALL i would’ve done the exact same thing or honestly if someone said “i have the same time zone as you” i would probably be like omg stop they’re my neighbour LMAOO

THE RESTAURANT CHAOS SEEMS SO REAL like i’ve never worked in a restaurant so i can’t really imagine the environment but hearing the experience from you and my friend who works at olive garden i’m like… maybe i SHOULDNT complain about my retail job LOL LIKE IT SEEMS SO CHAOTIC? but that’s so true!!(sorry you probably have no idea what i’m talking about) LIKE I HAVE BETTER THINGS TO DO THAN MAKING SURE THE CUSTOMER IS OKAY like ill be running around the store holding like pounds of clothing and ill have a customer come up to me like “erm do you have this in the back?” LIKE MA’AM RESPECTFULLY NO IM SORRY CAN YOU TALK TO ME WHEN IM NOT BUSY but i CANT say that so i just end up saying “im sorry whatever we have out here is all we have :)” then i scurry away like IM JUST A GIRL?? also also idk if this is a common thing too but lets talk about some of the WEIRDOS at work right so i know im 18 now but when i was a minor i had some weird interactions with MEN(let me just give you a little description of mango anon right so im like 5’1 and i have a baby face like “going into places saying i’m 13 for it to be cheaper” type of baby face)(but this is when i was like 16 i don’t think that trick will work anymore LOL) but tell me why i had GROWN MEN come up to me USING MY NAME(curse name tags) be weird? like i had this one guy literally tell ME(I WAS 16 OR 17 DURING THIS) “you’d make a good housewife!” when i was folding his clothes and at first i was like yo okay that’s a bit weird but then he was like “how old do you have to be to work here?” THEN i was like okay okay that’s personal information! so i was just like “oh haha idk” like awkwardly and he’s like “so do you have to be over 18 to work here” and i was like SIR okay your total is $18.67 how would you like to pay today! anyways it was weird, my other coworkers also had a lot of weird interactions so like one of my coworkers who was older than me just told me to not wear my name tag like our managers won’t make a huge deal out of it and whatever so yeah that was that, lesson of the day! don’t be a weirdo!

also i swear run and props is like favourite for tech theatre WHICH I GET like when i was in high school a lot of people liked being in run and prop because idk they like the big role or something?? i think also costumes and makeup was also pretty popular but like i remember one time the director flipped a switch on us because like the makeup crew was actually people from our cosmetology class and they would like fool around A LOT like they did the makeup but they would be like yapping a lot so one day my director was like IF UR NOT GONNA DO UR JOB THEN WE’LL HAVE SOMEONE ELSE DO IT !! and then everyone was like oohh okayyy(we got yelled at A LOT tbh for little silly things)(tech theatre ptsd ill tell u) and omg the kid who wanted your light job like CALM DOWN(i am now too spiteful against them)(i will hire the etsy witch to curse them for you) like i swear i’ve met some of the worse people in tech and its CRAZY like the ratio of normal people to absolute arrogant weirdos is CRAZY(ill be generous and say 1:3)and literally yeah like i didn’t want to continue with tech because of the toxic environment like i literally CAN NOT, i know people in uni would be a little more mature and like take tech more seriously but i STILL CANT LIKE there will always be that one person that will ruin it for everyone so i had to blow out the torch and unfortunately say goodbye to theatre </3 UNLESS ONE DAY IN THE FUTURE I HEAR YOU DROP THAT YOURE GONNA BE WORKING AT A THEATRE i’ll literally buy my plane tickets and sign up to be sounds and go be with you like YOU WILL MAKE IT BEARABLE and we’ll literally be the ultimate lights and sound duo like no one can compete idc if the other person has more years of experience than me I WILL STILL SQUEEZE MYSELF IN !! ALSO OMG IN MY THEATRE DAYS (in my good old days) literally most of the people who did take it serious were WOMEN like we are tech mothers!! we are women in STEM!! the majority of people who got on my nerves were men(i apologize to any men reading this)(but unfortunately it is the truth for me </3) ALSO PLS ITS SO FUNNY HOW YOU HAVE AN ICK FOR EVERY GUY YOU USED TO LIKE (i 100% get it) i love hearing about it too LOL ALSO THAT DYNAMIC OF STAGE MANAGER READER AND LIGHTS HEAD SUNA?? i can literally imagine suna being so silly and teasing while the reader has to take it seriously since yk.. it’s her job LIKE ITS LITERALLY LIKE MANAGER READER X SUNA BUT THEATRE-IZED (if that makes sense) also PLS DONT WORRY!! u have so much stuff lined up like take your time and don’t worry! at the end of the day everyone should be thankful that you’re even here sharing your amazing talents with everyone <33

also oh. my. god. if i heard someone say “ITS UP TO ME TO SAVE THE SHOW” i think i would die on spot like id stare at them in genuine disbelief and be like.. alright… alright everyone pack it up our HERO is here to save us like ?? omg and i literally had the same experience right so we were doing the shirley holmes play right and our lead just would not SPEAK UP LIKE ill admit. their acting was pretty good and stage presence was good but WHY CANT YOU SPEAK UP??? like literally so many times i had to like try to read her lips because i literally could not like it was so frustrating, and i couldn’t even be mad at her because she was good EXCEPT FOR THE FACT THAT SHE COULDNT PROJECT and yk why yk why she was like “im saving my voice for show night” like… excuse me… EXCUSE ME?? (anyways i have a lot of old rage from tech)(this is why i quit!!!)

ONLINE GROUPS ARE SO FUNNY LIKE I SWEAR ITS THE SAME LINEUP LIKE the oldest which formed the group, we have the middle area then the random minors who are like 10 years younger than everyone LOL but socks if you read this im so sorry </333 idk if i liked you back i was like 15 at the time but i promise you i wasn’t ghosting you </333 i was just trying to see what you said I DIDN’T MEAN IT !! ALSO DONT WORRY ABT UR TANGENTS BCUZ ME TOO i literally ramble and yap so much sometimes im ASTONISHED LMAOO

ALSO IM GONNA GO BACK MEMORY LANE FOR A SECOND BCUZ THAT ANON THAT ASKED YOU ABT THE ORIGINAL LOVENOTES STORY AWAKENED SOMETHING IN ME so i remember the first ever ask i sent in was when you were first making love notes like the intros were out already and everything and you were talking about how like having suga in the storyline was kinda messing you up a little bit and you were saying how you were second guessing yourself on it so i sent in a little anon ask(I CANT REMEMBER PROPERLY BUT) saying basically “hey !! you can still change the storyline because it is ur story !! just write what you’re comfortable with” SOMETHING LIKE THAT and u were literally so sweet and then that’s when you changed it and i was like omg ness is literally so sweet what then a few days later i sent in just a small like “hi ness how are you ! did you eat yet?” (i think those were my exact words i actually don’t remember) AND YOU WERE LITERALLY SO SWEET?? LIKE I ALMOST CRIED BCUZ LIKE you were like “tell me what you ate and how you are!” and i thought it was literally the sweetest thing ever so i made it my life obligation and role to make sure you were always taking care of yourself from now on like even if im busy i will always send a little “make sure to eat!! take care of urself!!” (i’ll literally be ur guardian angel from now on) i also think you put it in ur favourites and i literally MY HEART MELTED I WAS LIKE HHHHHH BUT YEAH anyways that’s the origins of mango anon LOL but anyways omg i yapped so much this took an hour to write (IM NOT COMPLAINING I JUST THINK ITS FUNNY)(but to be fair i ate between writing these) it’s so funny bcuz an hour passes by but i don’t feel like it’s an hour like i swear i black out and i just type type type and im like omg im done!!

ANYWAYS i hope you’ve had a good day today and that you’ve eaten well!! U DESERVE NOTHING BUT THE BEST make sure to take care of urself I APPRECIATE AND LOVE YOU VERY MUCH SO MAKE SURE YOU TAKE CARE OF URSELF!! always and always <333 xoxoxo

MY LOVELY MANGO ANON I MISSED U SM <3 HELLO I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MANGO ANON HELLO CAN U TELL I MISSED U (like it wasn't my own fault i haven't been able to open my inbox until just not BUT NONETHELESS I MISSED YOU </33 LIKE I WAS WORKING AND I WAS LIKE "i haven't seen anything from mango anon yet </3" BUT THAT'S NO PRESSURE ON YOU!! IK YOU WERE BUSY AND ALSO HAD THAT 9-5:30 SO I TOTALLY GET IT OKAY NOW I'M GOING TO GO BACK AND READ YOUR ASK!!!)

I HOPE YOU ATE AS WELL!! dw i've once again been eating my depression meal staple BUT TODAY my toast had almond butter on it bc i'm just really obsessed with almond butter <3 SO I THINK I ATE GOOD TODAY!! AND I HOPE YOUR PASTA WAS GOOD I LOVE YOU SO MUCH MANGO ANON AAA I MISSED U 😭 AND IT HASN'T EVEN BEEN A DAY OR ANYTHING SINCE WE TALKED BUT I JUST MISSED U PLEASE DON'T WORRY ABOUT LONG ASKS AT ALL!!! PEOPLE CAN DEAL WITH IT AND SCROLL PAST YOU ARE MY ONLY PRIORITY <3

and i totally get what you mean!! i catch onto a lot of people's mannerisms/habits as well and always remember like super small details they'll tell me about but i feel like i've never met anyone else who does that 😭 YOU AND ME BEING TWIN FLAMES AGAIN MANGO ANON I'M IN LOVE WITH U <3

AND PLEASE AS SOMEONE WHOSE WORKING IN THE RETAIL AND FOOD INDUSTRIES RN </3 THEY BOTH HAVE THEIR OWN PROBLEMS like yes men are weird 😔 i can't tell if i appreciate the fact that like 50% of the sushi chefs i work with have/have had a crush on me and the way they all stare 😭 or find it uncomfortable BC LIKE on one hand they are very nice!! and it hypes me up!! like most of them are just "aw you look like ur mother <3" since i work at that job with my mom (unfortunately) but then the one's who like me are like "do u want me to cut watermelon for u 👴" LIKE NO BRO GET AWAY 😭😭 AND LIKE FRFR THE TERRIFYING INTERACTIONS I HAVE WITH OLD MEN ESPECIALLY WHEN I WAS A MINOR???? THAT WAS NOT GOOD AND THE WAY MY JAW DROPPED READING YOU TALK ABOUT THE MAN THAT SAID YOU'D MAKE A GOOD HOUSEWIFE LIKE??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????? LITERALLY WHO SAYS THAT TO ANYONE AND EVEN MORE TO LIKE SOMEONE YOUNG WORKING A RETAIL JOB AND LIKE 50K MORE REASONS WHAT IN THE WORLD 🤮🤮🤮 it is literally horrible that like you have to not wear a nametag just to prevent those interactions 😭 but at the same time nametags suck!! and i never wear mine bc i just don't care LMAO

TECH THEATRE PTSD </33 IMO I ALWAYS THOUGHT RUN/PROPS WAS SUPER POPULAR JUST BC IT SEEMED LIKE THE EASIEST THING TO START IN IF THAT MAKES SENSE?? LIKE LIGHTS/SOUND ALWAYS SOUNDS INTIMIDATING AND FOR MY SCHOOL (going to stop talking in caps bc idk why i'm screaming all the time like for what?? calm down ness it's ok) we had like a SINGLE person on makeup (and so our tech director would do specials) and like just a few people for costumes. sound was usually like two people, lights was a bit bigger (unfortunately)(i HATE working with people)(except if i worked with u <3 i would be jumping for joy and my life would be sunshine and rainbows <3), but run and props was always the biggest. like i started there bc it seemed the least scary!! so i think that's a lot of other people's thought process too 😭 WE ALSO GOT YELLED AT A LOT FOR STUPID THINGS or i mean idk if it was stupid we kind of deserved it bc like theatre kids yap SO much but like my director during tech week would always be like "we must preach patience and kindness guys!! everyone is stressed during this week so please be patient with each other ❤" and then HE'D be the one to blow up like my freshman year when i got thrown into ASMing for our spring play backstage like someone on my side was talking and my director like LOST IT and came into the wing from behind me and started yelling at us and literally gave me a panic attack 😭😭 like i had to leave bc i could NOT breathe and luckily someone found me bc i was fully about to pass out LMAOAOAO AND THEN my junior year is when i started lights and so u probably get this but like yk lights and sound is always in a booth (which i think are always behind all the seats, right? or at least that's how it's been for every theatre i've gone to) and so our director lost it again bc someone was talking i think but since i'm in the booth we watch this middle aged bald man get up and go behind stage and we're all like "oh no."

like that rehearsal full on stopped everyone started hiding LMAO OUR PEOPLE WITH HEADSETS BACKSTAGE PUT DOWN THEIR MICS SO WE COULD HEAR WHO HE WAS YELLING AT but everyone in the booth went on lockdown like our spot op ran up to hide in the booth and then we locked the door and i hid on a speaker bc i was NOT getting yelled at again but then we resumed rehearsal and our director never came up so my stage manager next to me and me were like "oh thank goodness he didn't come yell at us" AND THEN HE POPPOED UP RIGHT OUTSIDE OUR BOOTH WINDOW AND I SCREAMED 😭😭😭 AND HE CAME IN AND THEN JUST WENT

"okay how's it going? what do you need from me?" i need you to LEAVE SIR MY SOUL JUST LEFT MY BODY

ANYWAY THE 1:3 RATIO IS SO GENEROUS LMAOOO there is so much toxicity there 😭😭 so i totally get it. when the theatre world comes crashing down u and i will make our comeback mango anon!! we'll go in as a fire lights and sound duo together and beat all the professionals despite only having high school experience LMAO

I ALSO HAVE A LOT OF OLD RAGE FROM TECH THAT'S WHY I'M STILL MAD AT THE KID WHO TRIED TO STEAL MY JOB 😭 i will never get over the "it's up to me" quote like literally i remember that and the RAGE THAT FILLS MY VEINS OMG anyway 🌸 "i'm saving my voice for show night" HELLO??? I BET SHE DIDN'T EVEN SPEAK UP DURING THE ACTUAL PERFORMANCES OR NOT THAT MUCH LOUDER AND LITERALLY LIKE IF UR VOICE IS THAT SENSITIVE GET OUT OR FIX IT OR SOMETHING IDK BUT LIKE U CANNOT DO THAT (i am with u completely on the still having old pent up rage as u can see)

ONLINE GROUPS ARE DEF FUNNY AND THE RANDOM MINORS BEING 10 YEARS YOUNGER THAN EVERYONE ELSE IS SO REAL 😭😭 pov 2020 when i was on a shifting discord server.....and there were people of all ages....what a time that was....i don't want to think about it anymore....

AND AAAA MEMORY LANE <333 I REMEMBER EACH AND EVERY SINGLE ONE OF THOSE ASKS BECAUSE I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE SWEETEST!!! like i could not tell you how much it meant to me to have someone checking in to make sure i ate bc that's just something super like ??????? sweet to me <3 like i felt so loved reading your asks AND I STILL DO!!!! TIME FLIES WHEN UR HAVING FUN!! (barf. never saying that agian. way too cliche. BUT YKWIM) I LOVE LOVE LOVE THESE LONG YAP SESSIONS!! THEY ARE MY FAVORITE THING EVER <3 I'M SO GLAD YOU DECIDED TO START SENDING IN MORE ASKS BC YOU HAVE LITERALLY CHANGED MY LIFE AND MADE ME SO HAPPY MANGO ANON I'M SO THANKFUL FOR YOU AND I LOVE YOU SO MUCH IF YOU COULDN'T TELL <333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333333 (that's a lot of threes but i just spam threes as a way to get out pent up love/energy. it's like my way of stimming through the screen LMAO)

I HOPE YOU HAD A GOOD DAY!!! TODAY HAS BEEN AMAZING NOW THAT I'VE HEARD FROM YOU MANGO ANON MY LOVE MY FAVORITE PERSON EVER MY SOULMATE LOVE OF MY LIFE <33333333 you deserve the entire universe and more!!! you deserve a sky full of shooting stars and thousands of wishes and for all of them to come true <3 i love you sm mango anon!! please make sure to take care of yourself too or i'll simply have to book a ticket and fly to you and take care of you bc i'll gladly be ur housewife <3 🥰 IT WAS SO GOOD TO HEAR FROM U!! AND HAVE A LOVELY DAY TOMORROW AS WELL <3333

[sudden-memory-loss]

Hi rhys! new mutual matthew here, I am going to go absolute ballistic in your inbox ^_^

please tell me about the subtle yet meaningful character development, please tell me how much the characters changed yet feel the same - from the start of the show through their powerful journeys. i NEED to know how much love they share, i need to know when or how they realize how much they care for one another, i need to know when the characters finally see the love between all of them and realize that they'll be alright.

i need to know about the dynamic of rodney and his sister, and i especially need to know literally everything about this show, enlighten me because i am putting stargate atlantis on my watchlist

okay okay I'm gonna be honest I was half asleep and emotional and had just spent a couple of hours reading sga fanfiction when I wrote all that but yes. yes. I can tell you more. by which I mean I am actually going to go on about rodney mckay for longer than would be socially appropriate for any other setting. thank you. (I do touch on everyone else and the show as a whole but I will be honest, most of this is about rodney skfjsh)

so the thing about rodney mckay (my favourite character in the show) is that he's an asshole. bear with me here. he's an asshole in a way that's actually so amusing and so clearly a (poor) cover up for how he's a mess of neuroses and not used to caring about other people or having them care about him.

he first shows up in the original stargate show (stargate sg-1) and lets say his performance is. poor. he basically suggested the team break the cardinal rule of stargate: don't leave anyone behind. certainly don't leave your teammember to be erased in the buffer of the stargate, but anyway. sg-1 is also a good show but that's another ramble.

the other thing about rodney mckay is that he's a genius. two phds: astrophysics and engineering. smartest person in two galaxies if he's to be believed (and quite honestly, he is). he's got an ego the size of a small planet, but he can back it up. he is absolutely as smart as he claims. he's usually the one pulling miracles out of his ass as sheppard yells at him to do it faster.

the other other thing about rodney mckay (oooh, look, complexities), is that he's a huge fucking wimp. absolute baby when it comes to any sort of physical danger. he has a deadly citrus allergy that he goes on about at every given chance and will absolutely run away if he thinks he can get away with it.

so that's baseline rodney mckay. possibly the most high strung person in the known universe with a genius level brain going a mile a minute at all times.

I don't know how to explain it succinctly. but the biggest change in rodney is about bravery and belonging.

in sg-1, rodney would have happily (well maybe not happily but certainly without question) had someone give up their life for his own. he hadn't yet gotten to the point of understanding how bonds like that are important.

by the end of the show, if it came down to it, rodney would die for atlantis. he would die for his team. but he also gained the trust that maybe, just maybe, they can get him out of the dangerous situations that he occasionally gets himself into in an effort to keep the rest of the team safe (or pure bad luck).

but believe me, he'll absolutely still bitch about it. he doesn't lose that annoying charm--and trust me, it is kind of charming. there are real assholes in sga (e.g. kavanaugh, ugh) and rodney is not that. rodney will call you an idiot while saving your life and kavanaugh will tell you that it's hopeless and you should give up. and also bullheadly tell you he's right even as he's oh so terribly wrong. rodney isn't wrong. well, rarely. he did blow up a solar system that one time but, you know, it was uninhabited.

that's one of my favourite things about rodney honestly. not the blowing up a solar system thing, but the fact that he never stops being a blustering asshole for all his moments of sincerity; he's still a coward for all his occasional moments of bravery. he thinks he's better than you but he'll save your life, he'll just call you an idiot while he does it. he becomes a better person without changing who he is.

also he doesn't think biology is a real science which is so funny to me. yes, you're right, mckay, clearly medicine is vodoo djgdk.

jeannie miller (rodney's sister) is first brought up in letters from pegasus, if I remember correctly. during which, to give some minor spoilers, they think they're all gonna die and they're each sending messages back to earth for the people they left behind.

rodney actually spends most of his talking in circles about "leadership" and also absolute nonsense, but of course he has to have his one moment of sincerity, where he addresses jeannie. it's also, I think, the first episode where it's acknowledged how they are a kind of family now, these people in atlantis (”family is... important. I’ve come to realise that, because the people here have become sort of a surrogate family to me.”). those videos are never sent and turns out they don't die (surprisingly /s) but we saw it, even if jeannie didn't. yet.

jeannie is also a genius, of course, except that she isn't an asshole and also at one point decided to make a family and give up all the long nights and hard work that comes with being a genius. she married an english major and had a daughter, madison. rodney did not take this decision particularly well and then they didn't talk for 4 years. whoops.

eventually their relationship heals, with work from both sides, the start of which leads to one of my favourite exchanges in the whole show that makes me wanna cry and hyperventilate whenever I think about it.

and their whole relationship is so delightful. the actors are real life siblings so they know how to act like siblings. there's no 'bro' or 'sis' (does anyone actually talk to their siblings like that???) but jeannie is the only one to call rodney by his real name (much to rodney's everlasting despair) she tells embarrassing stories to his friends (as is her right as a little sister), she berrates him and they whine at each other. but they love each other, even for all the years they were estranged.

but, god, yeah, that’s just rodney. and obviously I have the most to say about him because he’s my favourite character, but there’s so many good characters in this show.

there’s elizabeth weir, lawful good leader of the atlantis expedition, who cares so much about every person there. there’s john sheppard, cocky flyboy allergic to talking about his feelings but regularly willing to blow himself up to save other people (who’s way smarter than he lets people think). there’s carson beckett, scottish doctor who puts up with so much bullshit from rodney but is good natured and endlessly kind and also kind of a bit of a coward too sometimes (there’s a reason those two are friends). there’s teyla emmagan, leader of her people and full of such incredible strength and grace. there’s ronon dex, warrior with a tragic backstory and dry wit and hidden affection.

there’s radek zelenka, basically the only scientist rodney actually considers capable, and aiden ford, an absolute puppy dog of a marine, and peter grodin, possibly the only other scientist rodney would consider capable. you have laura cadman, a marine/explosives expert who rodney can’t stand because she loves to tease him, and peter kavanaugh, a scientist rodney can’t stand because he’s terrible. and eventually there’s evan lorne and jennifer keller and richard woolsey and even sam carter (a main character from sg-1, along with col. jack o’neill and dr. daniel jackson, who also both turn up every so often), and they all have a place in this strange and wonderful city.

and there’s the intricacies between the relationships where you have teyla and ronon as the aliens on the team not comprehending the shit rodney and john say about earth or their pop culture references, and you have john and elizabeth starting out clashing but eventually melding together as a command team really well, and you have woolsey trying to integrate into a group of people who are already so close knit, and you have rodney’s really ridiculous crush on sam that’s mellowed out enough she can actually stand to work with him, and the way that everybody fucking hates kavanaugh because he’s totally insufferable skjfd.

and it’s the way that once they’re all settled in, they just trust each other (except maybe rodney, who trusts most of the scientists in his lab as far as he can throw them off a balcony into the ocean). there’s no question about it, it’s just there. there’s an episode where a virus causes everyone to lose their memories, and sheppard has a picture of teyla on a tablet and despite knowing nothing, searches for her because he knows she can help. there’s countless episodes where john throws himself into dangerous situations with full belief in his team’s ability to bring him out again (much to rodney’s constant stress: “you see, the thing is, colonel sheppard and I have sort of gotten into this habit of saving each other's lives, and it's my turn.”).

honestly, the plots range from borderline ridiculous to actual emotional shit and I couldn’t tell you which I prefer.

there’s an episode with this guy who has a “potion” that makes everyone adore him despite the fact that he is more insufferable than kavanaugh (I hate this guy <3). but there’s also an episode where rodney is slowly losing all his memories and they bring jeannie in to say goodbye and it’s. so much. and then again there’s an episode where rodney and cadman are trapped in the same body. so the mood is. variable. it’s great though, because sometimes you need shit that doesn’t matter. and sometimes you do.

anyway that’s my ramble I think skfjsd. thank you very much for reading and if you decide to watch it, I hope you enjoy it as much as I do <33333

[baticorngirl]

Title: Stares, Gazes, and Peers

Rating: K+/PG Fandom: Batman/DC Relationship(s): Bruce Wayne/Talia al Ghul, Bruce Wayne & Clark Kent, (Minor) Bruce Wayne & Diana Prince, Justice League & Bruce Wayne, General Justice League Friendships, Brief mention of past Bruce Wayne/Diana Prince, Characters: Bruce Wayne, Talia al Ghul, Clark Kent, Diana Prince, Arthur Curry, Barry Allen, J'onn J'onnzz, Oliver Queen, (Minor) Dinah Lance,

Summary:

In an alternate earth where Ra's and Bruce's allyship (as appearing in Batman: Son of the Demon) works out, Bruce is currently at a Justice League meeting. Everything is normal enough, until, of course, he gets invited to their Justice League Valentine's Day Event, or the "Double Double Date" as Clark likes to playfully call it. When speaking about it, Bruce accidentally slips up and mentions being married. Now, his friends (who he'd avoiding this conversation with for so long) are making a huge deal about it, until in the end he has no choice but to give in and attend the Dinner so they can meet Talia and possibly forgive him for keeping the information from them for so long.

Maybe he can get through this without any hiccups or information-spills, he tried to reassure himself before the event. But god was he wrong.

(For @brutalia-week Day 1: Justice League Finds out)

A/N:

12:54 AM on Day 2.... basically still Day 1, right? Timezones exist haha.

In my defense, I had to spend a ton of today just finishing the writing for it (look, I wasn't accounting for it to be this long, okay?) and then I definitely wasn't expecting the editing and summary-writing to take so many hours, either. Anyway, I shouldn't write much here even though I wanna give a ton of unnecessary disclaimers, but I have no time! I would like to mention, though, that it's definitely less thoroughly edited than ideal because of I was trying to get it in before midnight so, sorry for that.

I tried. It's 36k words. I'm overwhelmed. Help. I have no fics for any of the other days because I spent so long on this. I'm screwed in every possible way.

Anyway, enjoy!

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

Everyone was looking at Bruce.

Not just peering slightly, but outright staring. It couldn't have been more than two minutes since the Justice League meeting started, yet at least ten other members already had their eyes glued to him. Granted, they always seemed to look at him a bit funnier than everyone else. But they were used to those odd behaviors at this point. This time, however, the expressions were not quite weird out— simply puzzled.

Funnily enough, Bruce was quite confident he was acting much, much more 'normal' than he even usually did. He acted like them, almost. When people got side-tracked by anecdotes about their families and whatnot, instead of lecturing on focus during meetings, he kept to himself. They should've been happy.

But instead, they stared. He was just about ready to go straight back to the scolding if they kept this up.

As Bruce huffed at the main lookers, he heard his name loudly called to by a fellow Justice League member, and with almost uncomfortably-perfect posture, his head popped up at the first syllable. His eyes immediately clicked on to the person responsible, watching them give their contrastingly-casual instructions.

Clark vaguely gestured a finger towards him. "Batman over here missed our last meeting, so he's going to be giving slightly longer updates than the rest of us. We also need to make sure that he's caught up, so would anyone like to show him our notes from the meeting he missed after this?"

"Don't worry about it. I'm pretty sure I can find them on my own." Bruce swiftly replied, waving his hand to the side in a declining gesture.

"We know, Bruce. You're not incompetent, you work best alone, you're way too stubborn to let anyone help you…." Barry rolled his eyes. Even if he refrained from speaking it, Bruce could see him mouthing "blah"s to himself. "I hope you realize it actually wouldn't be a problem if you weren't constantly grumpy."

"I'm not grumpy," Bruce stated, "I'm simply, as you said, competent."

"Sure you aren't," Barry rolled his eyes again. Bruce crossed his arms in return, but neglected to answer the petty sarcasm. In the long run, he really didn't care in the slightest how grumpy Barry thought of him. He also didn't care that the rest of the Justice League, with their staring in mind, had likely sided with Barry in their minds.

Regardless, Diana was quick to attempt to cut off the argument before it started. She leapt up from her seat with her arms planted firmly on her hips, and pointed very directly at Bruce, as if waving words right out of him with her fingers. As she made the odd gesture, she spoke quickly.

"Come on, Batman. How are things going with Gotham? It's been a while since we've heard. Have you had any new full villain-takeovers lately? If so, how many and who was the culprit?" She questioned. But her questions were packed together so tightly that even as he opened his mouth to answer, Bruce didn't have a mere second. "If not, has Gotham's crime rate been getting any better?"

Gotham. The city he'd only stopped by once in the last three weeks. Bruce gulped. He could feel stutters itch at his throat, nearly coming out in chaotic little sounds, but he forced them down. What he couldn't control, however, was his face— which was unfortunately turning bright red right in front of his team mates.

"Oh, Gotham's…. Fine." He answered.

"Can you elaborate on that?" Diana's eyebrows furrowed. In fact, several other members gave him just as puzzled looks. She was still standing, and even scooted her chair backwards slightly with the back of her foot. "I asked you a lot of questions, and I don't recall any of them being whether Gotham is 'fine'. I mean, Gotham's obviously not 'fine'. It's never fine. Don't lie to us, Batman. We're not trying to start small talk over here."

It felt as if the staring, which was already very persistent, had gotten a million times worse. As if that weren't bad enough, with each growing moment of silence, everyone's eyes got wider, as well. Returning the uncomfortable eye contact, Bruce glared back at all the wide eyes on his back.

"I'm aware," Bruce nodded along slowly, "You're right, Gotham's not fine, exactly. But, for Gotham, it's doing fairly average. It's…. Not getting that much worse, I believe? As I already said, it's doing fine."

He was frantically trying to think back to his one visit back, even if he was also frantically trying to hide that fact. But with a hundred millions eyes continuing to stare, it was very hard to hide. So, with the feeling of everyone knowing of his fibs, he started to get defensive. His head cocked back and forth in aggravated agitation.

"Are you sure you don't have anything more to add?" Diana asked, still clearly very skeptical of the entire ordeal. "That's still incredibly vague. Especially considering this isn't just for one meeting, but making up for two ones. I'd expect it to be quite detailed…. Well, knowing you, at least."

Bruce nodded again and again to each of her words, "That update was fine."

Slowly, and still extremely uncertain, Diana tugged her chair into place and sat back down on it. Batman breathed a harsh sigh of relief, glancing downward as he did so. He hardly even noticed as they moved to the next person, and he was hardly listening to what that person was saying, either.

The next person was Aquaman, who had quite the endearing story to tell along with his update. It wasn't particularly important. It was quite unimportant, even, but most of them seemed quite captured by his descriptions of it nonetheless. Most of the time, this was yet another thing Bruce would've tried to hurry them through, but right now, he simply let the relief from his last turn wash over his body until he was relaxed. Relaxed for him, at least.

In fact, once he had gone back to listening normally, Bruce's own eyes were just as deeply fixated on Arthur.

"...So then the fish got back to the school it was with before, but the dolphin was still all alone. You'll never guess what happened next, though. We see this kind of little splash in the water, and then there's a bit of a figure in the distance. Except guess what?" Several of their heads bobbed up and down, signaling for him to continue the story. Many were grinning, but none as much as Arthur himself.

Bruce didn't bob his own head around, as he was still figuring out exactly what was going on, but this picture of such a small, sweet baby dolphin was forming in his mind. It was something that they needed to be sophisticated to handle, yet it made Bruce feel a burst of unnecessary warmth. It was a good feeling, he reluctantly admitted to himself, albeit a technically unhelpful one. At least they weren't on any kind of important, life-threatening missions at the moment, so with that in mind, he let the emotional thought stay strong in his mind. Now, as it lingered, he slowly started picturing him and Talia's future baby instead. With this thought getting bigger and bigger in his head, he let a slight smile peak out.

Everyone should've been too focused on the story to notice. Yet, judging by the array of cocked eyebrows, squinting and even shaking heads, they most certainly were not.

Arthur continued his story without so much as a pause, though, "That figure was really, really near dolphin shape. We headed in that direction to check out the scene, and we found another dolphin. This definitely wasn't her mother, but they were communicating quite positively, and as I investigated closer, I pretty quickly discovered that this other dolphin was going way out of his way to help the baby! Isn't that endearing?"

Everyone nodded profusely. Several others were smiling much more obviously than Bruce. He also noticed that, unlike him, nobody was staring at their expression at all. Finally getting rid of the smile, he frowned.

"It really just goes to show why we're doing so much to protect the world from threats. We need to protect not just that innocent baby, but the kind yet less powerful helpers, too. We need to protect that good in the world, if you get what I'm saying." Arthur explained. His smile had faded slightly at the end of his story, but he was certainly still happy. Just perhaps in a quieter, more serious way.

"Oh, exactly," Black Canary agreed. She was on the other side of Aquaman, but had her chair turned to face him fully due to the interesting tale.

"There's so much good in not just dolphins, but mankind, as well. Man's world is flawed, of course it is, but…. Now that I've lived here for so long, I truly understand how much more there is to it than that. How much everyone is so willing to assist, for one." Diana added. She was leaning into the table, as was Dinah, in pure intrigue.

"Definitely," Aquaman nodded, "Anyhow, with the help of that other dolphin, we managed to find another one. I didn't recognize this one either, but with a bit more communication, it turned out this dolphin wasn't her mother, but her father! The point is, they got reunited and I'm quite certain that the baby's doing well now, safe with both her parents."

Bruce still had his own unborn child on his mind, quite strongly. His imagination wasn't making thoughts of dolphins at all at this point, but was simply clustered with thoughts of the cutest baby possible. This baby, just like the story he was hearing, was safely returned to the arms of its loving father— him.

He was smiling about it again. Not just subtly either. This time, the smile was wide, and gradually grew wider by the second.

So wide, in fact, that he hardly even noticed all of those crooked looks popping back on his teammate's faces. At the very least, he certainly didn't care what they thought of it. For, with this smile still showing clearly on the lower half of his face, and his body filled with excitement, he responded to the story.

"That's the sweetest story in existence," he commented. "Has anything else like that happened lately? You should share more of those baby animal stories."

It just came out. Like a wild river, the words uncontrollably gushed from his mouth.

He tried to get their stares away, he tried to get his smile to hide, and he tried to correct himself. Focusing on his face muscles, he pushed the corners of his lips downwards abruptly, but the movement was uncomfortable. Therefore, he blushed. Needless to say, that was not about to help his situation. He pushed himself to the back of his chair, as if hiding from embarrassment.

Which, yet again, did not help.

Instead, he decided to fix it verbally, "—But not during our important meetings. Keep them in mind for one of our annual potlucks, not this. Some of us have more important things than to hear about some random absolutely adorable little baby dolphin successfully finding its way back to its alive, loving parents."

Unfortunately, instead of getting the usual groans and complaints of him being a 'party pooper', everyone just continued staring. Everyone except Arthur who, of course, was looking to the side as he visibly held back laughter. Bruce tried to force out a glare, but it didn't feel nearly as natural as usual.

"Well, that was quite a quick turn of emotions. Glad to see you're not actually going to stop being unreasonably serious from now on, Batman." Arthur stated. He'd managed to keep the laughter in, but just barely. "But not to worry, I'll be sure to tell more stories of babies with 'alive, loving parents' at our next potluck, if that's what you so wish. I have plenty more, not to worry, I'm sure I can entertain you."

"I don't want to hear them," Bruce corrected, "I want you to get them out of you at a place where I can leave whenever I want without missing anything actually important."

"Why are you so defensive?" Plasticman chimed in, "Don't worry about it, Batman. We know you, and we know how much you hate socializing. Just because today you've smiled a few times over things you usually hate doesn't mean we're completely going to think you've changed as a person. We get it, Bats, people go through phases and it doesn't necessarily mean they're being posed by imposters… Unless–" His eyes got larger. Literally.

"Wait, Aquaman. Batman may be acting extremely weird today, but he's got a point. You should think of some more stories like that." Clark interrupted. His chin was held high, as if bouncing from the ground with this sudden remembrance. "We have a pretty long break between our start of dinner and bowling on Saturday, so we'll be definitely doing plenty of talking while we eat, and saving dolphins would definitely be an entertaining conversation."

"Oh, that's a good idea," Arthur nodded back, "I have plenty more of them, you'll be happy to know. In fact, there was this one seahorse the other day that—"

Suddenly, Bruce shot up from his seat and turned to Aquaman. Before another word of his story got out, he loudly shushed him. His hand even swatted towards Arthur's mouth, nearly covering it. Arthur's jaw dropped in surprise, but fortunately, it did work to cut off his story. Many people were visibly judging Bruce. Bothersome enough, though, there was somehow still less staring than at the previous smiling.

"You need to wait. We still have more updates to get through, and don't you think one useless story was enough for today?" he snapped. "Or if you seriously can't wait until….whatever you're doing with Superman on Saturday, just post it in the group chat that I definitely won't read."

If he was going to be completely and utterly honest with himself, Bruce may have wanted to read just a little bit of it. But it did not mean that he didn't want to get out of there, and all the unpleasant staring, as quickly as possible. Back with Talia, where he could at least show a single smile without getting imposter accusations thrown his way.

"I admit you're probably right, Batman. Thank you for catching that for me," Aquaman replied. "I can get excited about my animals, sorry. I'm perfectly capable of waiting until Saturday. Pretty much everyone who's most invested in my stories is already planning on coming, anyway. I'm sure they'll be appreciated then, and I wouldn't want to run out or anything." He smirked slightly at the thought.

"Really?" Bruce scanned over the room, noticing all the many members who were more than ready to spend forever and more hearing a second story of his. He didn't need to count them to be surprised by just the thought. "This is quite the get-together you're having this weekend."

"Clark's the one planning it, not me. But yes," Arthur nodded. "Did no one tell you?"

"Tell me what?" Bruce clarified. His white-covered eye holes slanted as he quickly thought back to any invitations he'd reluctantly received from other league members. Despite having an extraordinary memory (even for unimportant things like these), he couldn't think of a single thing about bowling or dinners this Saturday.

"The double-double-double date," Clark answered. He was smiling as he said the words, but half out of mere nerves at how Batman would react. "It's for Valentine's Day. You know how people go on double dates with their friends and their significant others? That's the idea, except everyone in the entire team who's interested, going on a giant date. It could be even more doubles than that, for all we know."

Bruce instantly shook his head, "That's ridiculous. Assuming you even get that number, it would be a sextuple or octuple date, depending on what you mean by double double."

"That's… really not the point. I actually just call it the group date most of the time. I was just trying to make a kind of joke on it." Clark sighed. The previous excitement in his eyes had quickly drained, and so had his smile. "The point is that we discussed it last meeting, so I guess you weren't told. But you can still definitely come if you want! I'd appreciate it if you let me know by tomorrow evening, though…. So I can plan correctly…"

Bruce slowly and carefully nodded. His vision was pointed at Clark, but aside from that, the focus of his eyes went visibly beyond him, to nothing but a wall. He looked intently at it, but also intently evaded looking at Clark. Wheels were turning in his head. He thought of Talia, again— his significant other, of course. If he were to go, she'd obviously be his date, and the two of them would enjoy the night together.

He had nothing wrong with that.

In fact, it sounded kind of fun. Previous to their marriage, he may have had different feelings, but now that he was getting used to having a loving wife who he really couldn't avoid spending time with even if he tried, it was appealing. The only issue was one thing— they would be together, but this was a double-double-double date, not just a date. It would not only be them. He'd also be spending time with his friends.

He also had nothing wrong with that. On its own, at least.

But mashed together, with his abundance of secrets about Talia and her large kill count in consideration, it sounded much less fun. He most certainly did have something wrong with that. In fact, just the thought of such a horribly awkward situation made him begin to feel dizzy. His focus started to shift from Clark even more, so much that everyone else even began to notice.

"Batman, are you okay?" He heard someone ask, "There isn't anything wrong, is there?"

Bruce blinked rapidly and shuffled his neck around, quickly shaking off the uncomfortable daze. He calmly nodded, as certain in the movement as he could get himself to be, but everyone was still a bit concerned on the matter nonetheless. Silence took over the room for a solid five seconds before another question, this time much more specific and thus more sensitive, came out.

"Oh….Are you upset because… Do you…" Martian Manhunter quickly trailed off. He glanced downward as he spoke, with his voice no higher than a whisper. "Bruce, do you not have a date?" Both the stuttering and the whispering was quickly replaced by a much bolder tone.

Bruce neglected to answer, with his eyes growing wide at the accusing question.

Unsurprisingly, everyone took this much differently than he meant it. The silence nearly took over again, but instead of a complete lack of noise, there was nothing but a few whispered choruses of 'oh's throughout the rest of the room. Dismayed by the response, Bruce's mouth now dropped open— not out of embarrassment, but out of mere surprise and disappointment. Not that the rest of the league knew the difference.

"You are a mind-reader," He stated dryly, "Yet you can't seem to realize that not only I am not upset in the slightest, but even if I were, it would have absolutely nothing to do with my romantic life. I don't mean to be rude, J'onn, but that's a bit pathetic." He rolled his eyes.

"It's…It's alright, Bruce. We're your friends. You can be honest with us." Clark's voice was soft and completely light in tone. He gave Bruce a look that nearly resembled pity at this small –or really non-existent– problem. "In fact, if you're feeling lonely, we can even try to help you find someone! Probably not by Valentine's Day, but we can still—"

Bruce let out a loud, exasperated huff of air, "Clark. I am not looking to cheat."

"Oh," Clark's eyebrows furrowed, considering this answer. "I just… didn't quite realize…. Well, considering your whole reaction, I thought there was… something wrong, as far as that. Something you were upset about." He trailed off, glancing towards a random wall to the left of him nonchalantly.

"My reaction?" Bruce stared, in almost disbelief. His jaw was dropped open as well, making it more than clear to the rest of the league how he felt on this entire matter. "I didn't even have a reaction. You've known me long enough to know that I sincerely do not care whether or not you have some fancy double date."

"I know, but you've been acting very odd today." Clark remarked. He was still glancing at the random wall every few seconds as he spoke, pausing for that time as he got lost in thought. "Between your reaction to Aquaman's story, your short reports, the smiling but also the slight defensiveness…. And then the look you got on your face about the date, looking almost nauseous…. Is everything going alright with you, Bruce?"

Bruce nodded, "I smiled. Last I checked, that's generally considered a good sign."

"Good," Clark nodded in return, signaling an acceptance of the answer. "I just wanted to be sure. Smiling can mean a lot of different things than just happiness, especially when it's uncommon for the person doing it. Joker is one of your villains, after all." He stopped looking at the wall and made direct eye contact with Bruce.

"I understand," Bruce replied, but his tense expression said otherwise. It almost always said otherwise, though, so Clark shrugged it off.

"So… who's the lucky lady?" Oliver asked curiously. He was seated quite far from Bruce –nearly exactly the other side of the table— but he still looked over with great intrigue. His eyebrows were raised, and his eyes were wide as they peered at Bruce. "You're usually so secretive about your love life, asiding from dating other members, so it's hard to guess."

"Oh, it's…" Bruce's head was quick to cock over to look at Green Arrow, but once it got there, his eye contact was much less strong. Like bouncy balls or even race cars, his eyes kept looking at different things around the room to avoid any uncomfortable staring sessions with Oliver. "She's…"

"Go on,"

Bruce took a deep breath, and forced his eyes to align with Oliver's as he answered. He also forcefully held his face muscles in the most default expression he could manage, as well as making sure the rest of his body was still and not twitching with discomfort. Lying to his friends, especially considering some of their powers, was not a fun nor easy task. He had to keep everything he'd learned over the years in check, criminals or not.

"You… You wouldn't know her. No one here would. It doesn't matter."

It didn't seem like it worked.

Bruce was starting to realize he might be a bit out of practice with this whole 'hiding his feelings' thing. Everyone in the room was staring at him for what must have been at least the third time that day. Their sight felt like it was going right through his body, and not just as a matter of X-ray vision, but in a way that pierced through him and all of the secrets hiding in his brain and heart. It wasn't a good feeling, to say the least.

"What was Superman saying about your defensiveness again?" Oliver rolled his eyes, but let out a slight chuckle to himself. "Obviously we don't know her. We would probably know you two were a couple if we knew her. But that doesn't mean you can't at least give us her name…." He pointed out, shrugging. Bruce gulped.

"Do you… usually judge someone by their name?" Bruce quickly countered. Yet his voice was wavery, mostly uncertain with just the slightest tint of forced confidence that everyone in the room could easily detect. "That seems a bit presumptuous of you." Oliver was not the only one rolling his eyes this time.

"I'm sure none of us do… but you could tell us about her personality, too." Diana chimed in. She pushed her arm outward, with her palm up, gesturing the idea towards him.

Bruce side-eyed her, watching closely. His mouth was not just tense anymore, but almost scrunched up; his lips resembled a pout and his eyes were narrowed in a way that wasn't anywhere near as sophisticated as his usual bat-glare. They really were trying to wear him out today, it seemed. Or perhaps Clark was right. Perhaps Bruce was really acting this weird, considering he was usually monotone for almost every sentence through these things, and that certainly wasn't the case anymore.

"She's hard to explain. She's unique like that." Bruce managed to come up with. With his mind still racing, he sucked air in through his mouth and pushed himself upright. His expression faded back to the neutral monotone he'd previously mastered, and fortunately, that did finally seem to help slightly with the huge amount of suspicions and skepticism filling the room.

Still not enough, though. At this point, nothing would be enough.

"Ah, so we need to meet her to understand her?" Martian Manhunter clarified. J'onn had his hands intertwined together formally, and to Bruce's relief, the current tone seemed far from accusing. Simply curious— genuinely.

Bruce swiftly nodded, "She's a great woman, of course. But I wouldn't want to describe her incorrectly…. So I believe it best if we move off this topic and focus on more—"

"Well, that's completely understandable, but the good news is that we won't have to wait long either way." Martian Manhunter cut him off just as swiftly as the nod. He wasn't completely smiling, but seemed happy enough with this idea. Too happy, in Bruce's mind. "After all, won't you two be wanting to go to Clark's giant double date plans?"

"No, we won't." Bruce immediately shook his head profusely.

His eyelids were fluttering wider and wider, just as his pupils seemed to do the exact opposite. Although he wasn't moving much in the first place, this assumption made him stop in every one of his tracks. In fact, he was hardly breathing; even the breaths that did come out were uncomfortably short and harsh, leaving him nearly gasping for air.

"Why?"

"Be— Because…." Bruce stuttered. Although he now realized it was foolish, part of him sincerely expected them to just take no as an answer. He hoped they would just assume he had plans, or that he simply didn't feel like going. His hands were now clenched tightly, and his eyes nearly shut due to his tense emotions, but he kept thinking and thinking until eventually, after what felt like an eternity to him, but merely a couple seconds to the rest of them, he thought of something.

"Tal– I mean, my wife hates bowling."

Silence took over the room. Uncomfortable, awkward silence. Shocked, speechless silence. Breathtaking silence. Painful silence, even.

Bruce let go of his fists. He let go of the harsh breathing, and his tense eyes. It would be considered relaxation, on the surface –or at least, he hoped it did– but it was not. His shoulders and back not only stopped tensing but fully started slouching; in all reality, it was not relaxation, but defeat.

"Your… your wife?" Clark spoke slowly, letting the words that everyone was thinking hang in the air.

"Sorry, I meant girlfriend," Bruce answered as quickly as he possibly could. His brain and tongue scrambled together to come up with the perfect excuse. "I don't know what I was thinking, we're not even that serious yet. It was just… a slip of the tongue, that's all. I'm not marr—"

"I'm… not sure I believe you about that." Clark's words got faster, but only slightly. The deep eye contact he was sharing with Bruce still felt quiet, in its own way. Connected, but perhaps too connected, at least from Bruce's perspective. "Unless you're at least engaged, it seems a bit hard to believe you'd slip up on that. Bruce, please, why didn't you invite any of us to the wedding? I just…. Thought… I thought since we were your friends… and I'm your best friend ..."

Bruce quickly cut off the eye contact. He crossed his arms and peered downward. Each breath had become slow, yet in a way that bothered him even more than the fast ones. His elbows rested on the edge of the clear, glossy table, with the glass feeling cold under his skin. He certainly wasn't sad, but simply very, very exhausted.

Clark paused before he finished, "I was hoping I could've been your best man."

Bruce rolled his eyes, "Clark. Please. I didn't even have a wedding to invite you to."

"Oh," Superman quickly relaxed. His emotions quickly transformed from sad to neutral to annoyed until eventually, all these upset, negative emotions gave way and shifted into mere amusement. His laugh wasn't loud, but it was audible and more than obviously from his mouth with the cheerful expression that suddenly took over his face. "Do you mean that you eloped, or are you still denying that you even have a wife?"

"Neither,"

"Neither?" Clark's amusement grew even more. He let out another small chuckle at the thought. To his dismay, Bruce stayed serious, and silent, as well, leaving the answer where it was. Clark's eyebrows furrowed. "What is that even supposed to mean? Do you have another ridiculous explanation?"

"Well, you see," Bruce began, "There was definitely some kind of wedding. It was a small one, though. Nobody even invited any friends. But I would've at least invited you, Clark, except it also wasn't really my wedding. In fact, I didn't even know I was invited until the last second! I got married at that wedding, though. I just didn't have anything to do with the planning, and considering the entire situation, I didn't even consider it real. It was a joke to me, at most. But I changed my mind later on, and now we're married."

"Wow," Diana stared at him blankly before dramatically rolling her eyes in a mix of sarcasm and simple disbelief. "This all makes so much more sense now that you spoke gibberish for a minute straight."

"No, you don't understand. It wasn't my choice to go to the wedding. As I already said, I have nothing to do with the planning and…" Bruce leaned into the table, throwing his arms up in chaotic motions as if it could possibly help his overcomplicated story make any more sense. "Well really, it was my wedding in the way that it was about my wife and I getting married, but it also wasn't mine because I didn't—"

Eventually, he sighed and let his arms drop.

"Nevermind. We basically just got eloped."

"O…kay," Diana slowly nodded, even though her eyebrows were furrowed in lasting confusion. "How long have you two been dating? This just seems very sudden. I could've sworn you mentioned going through a mild breakup with someone else only maybe five months ago? Your love life is almost never empty –we all know that, Bruce– but getting married? That's a big decision. You can't just get married to anyone who you experience feelings for."

"I've known her for several years now, and we've been dating for a lot of it. Well, loosely dating, at least. We had some kind of romance going on, is what I mean." Bruce explained. He had to take a deep breath every few seconds to keep him from chickening out on telling them. "But the romance was on-off. It was difficult to stay together for so long and honestly, I figured it would never work out. Once things started going the right direction, though, we had no hesitation to get married."

"Oh, that's sweet," Diana replied, "But why haven't we heard anything about her if you loved her so much?"

"While I loved her, there was no hope of it ever working out –until now, I mean– even at the very beginning, so why would I have told you? It didn't make any difference." Bruce stated matter-of-factly. He shrugged. "You don't need to know every detail of my life just because we're friendly to each other."

"I… suppose that makes sense?"

"Sure, but that still doesn't explain why he didn't tell us even once the two of them got engaged. If you've had enough time to get married, then I think you've had enough time to mention the woman of your dreams to us." Oliver pointed out. He was laying back, almost lounging on the back of his chair. Despite this relaxed position, though, he was crossing his arms at Bruce. "How recently did you two even get engaged?"

"We–" Bruce flopped over, letting his neck droop so far that his head nearly touched the table. Slow in each movement, he rubbed his temple. "Look, Green Arrow. I have tried to explain what happened with the wedding once before, and based on everyone's complete lack of comprehension over the completely basic situation, I will not be trying again."

"Alright then, Batman," Oliver shrugged, somehow managing to lean back even farther than he was already. "But don't expect us to forgive us for something you haven't even fully apologized for."

Bruce grimaced, but reluctantly nodded along.

"Perhaps meeting this wife of yours might ease our anger at you," J'onn suggested. His voice didn't get higher in any kind of specific excitement about the idea, but he was smirking enough to make it clear that he was hoping Bruce would agree. "So far, all we know about her is that you love her, and she… hates bowling? This all might make more sense if we got a chance to actually meet her."

"Yes, she hates bowling," Bruce replied in nearly a monotone, with just the slightest hint of irritation. "That's why you're not meeting her. I'm not going to make her do something she hates just so you get a chance to interrogate her."

"That's only one activity. Superman has at least one more scheduled, expecting that for reasons like these, not everyone will go to both. One is still better than none, Bruce." Although still completely calm, J'onn was certainly persistent. "What do you have against it? The other one is simply dancing, I believe. It seems like with all your galas, you should be good enough at that."

"My wife isn't good, though." His voice croaked with a tint of guilt at this lie.

Before J'onn could even open his mouth, Clark himself responded, "If she… really doesn't enjoy dancing either, regardless of skill, I still have the basic dinner scheduled. That, in itself, should be plenty of time to get to know her." He raised a single eyebrow. "Don't tell me she hates eating, too."

"Of course she doesn't hate going out for dinner. You say that as if the rest of what I've been saying are some kind of ridiculous lies, as well." Bruce rolled his eyes not once, but two times to get his point fully across. But to be extra safe, he added, "Which they most certainly are not."

"Oh, so you two can come for the dinner portion? That's great, I'm sure we'll all be looking forward to meeting her. Based on what you've said so far –aside from her hatred of bowling– she sounds like a wonderful woman." Clark gave almost no space between each sentence, even flashing a quick thumbs-up at the end of his full statement just to press the assumptions in place.

"That's not what I said. We… we actually… um, we're meeting someone else for dinner that day. I'm sure she'd love to come, but there's simply no way we could fit it."

"Are you sure that's the truth? You've been speaking a lot of suspicious nonsense today, Batman, so I think you might want to think it over for another second before you leave us with another complete and utter lie." Diana warned, "If you had plans, why didn't you start with that? It's a much easier explanation than this whole 'she hates bowling' excuse."

"It's not a lie," Bruce argued. He'd finally managed to get the hang of his batglare again, which he used strongly on Diana, on top of tightly crossing his arms. "We have plans for dinner, but not the bowling time."

"If that's the truth, who is it you're even getting dinner with? Do we know the person? If not, what relationship do you have with them? Friend, family member, co-worker…" Diana asked. Her eyes were direct and determined in expression. "All I ask is a quick, but decent description."

"I– Errm– Um–" Bruce let out an embarrassing amount of croaking, fumbles, and stutters before he realized that there was nothing they would truly accept as an explanation besides merely an unchangeable kind of stubbornness. "That's not your business. I'm allowed to have my own life outside of the League, and you're just going to need to accept that. I'm not canceling my other plans for this one double-date event."

This stubbornness was unfortunately also met with more stubbornness from the other side. In fact, everyone began to come up with so many arguments and questions that they not only stopped giving Bruce time to answer, but they stopped giving each other chances to talk, either. The words overlapped and interrupted one another, getting louder by the second.

"These excuses are getting embarrassing, Batman. Superman wasn't kidding about your defensive attitude…"

"...know, we'll stop being nosy if you stop being suspicious with every…."

"...just answer the question, Bruce…"

"...guessing you don't even have a wife, or a girlfriend. This is quite the hoax you've come up with. Next thing we know, you'll start saying she lives in Canada and doesn't like to travel, and that's why you can't take…"

"...seems above all this, with all his training in mind. But that just makes this even more suspicious. If this is what he'll slip up on and let us know, who knows what he's focusing his actual energy on keeping secret. It's getting on my nerves to just think about what he might be…"

"...wondering why the two of them didn't work out in the first place, if he loves her so much. It's quite concerning, especially since Bruce seems like he could be prone to…"

"...who is this woman and why does she hate bowling? Who hates bowling? If that really is true, it's a huge red flag about her as a person. I'd assume she's probably going to make Batman's life terrible and then try to keep him from getting a…"

"...could even have some kind of child together that he's keeping secret because it's part vampire, just like his wife…."

"...frankly, I'm really disappointed in you, Bruce…"

"...Bruce has enough issues as it is, he doesn't need any kind of abusive wife in his life, too. I just hope that everything really is as innocent as he claims, and that there isn't anything he's hiding for self-protective reasons, like perhaps…"

"...probably have a quite ugly baby that he wants to keep hidden, too…"

The noise had gotten very, very bad. Bruce's head hurt from all the complicated, sometimes-even-upsetting words coming through his ears, and this headache kept getting worse and worse with every moment more that he let this mess go on. Exhaustion, almost like a large weight, pushed down on his muscles. As if things weren't bad enough, the slightest bit of nausea then started coursing through his stomach. He couldn't take it anymore.

"FINE!" He yelled into the large room. A similarly loud, long echo followed.

Every single train of aloud thought instantly stopped in its tracks. Aside from the dwindling echo, the entire room fell completely and utterly silent in a matter of milliseconds. Everyone looked to Bruce, waiting impatiently for him to elaborate on his sudden, loud, but still undeniably cooperative scream. Their eyes were still, but their bodies were not– some tapped the table anxiously, while others almost vibrated in place (mostly Barry for the last one).

"Perhaps…. Perhaps we can reschedule with the other person and go, just for… part of the dinner, at least. Perhaps we can make it work if it means that much to all of you to meet her." Bruce gave in. His face lacked any kind of emotion at all, with his mouth lips straight and his eyebrows relaxed. "But, that is only if you all promise to quiet down and keep going with the important parts of the meeting, aside from asking me meaningless questions."

He gently shut his eyes, closing off this worrisome world out of his view, but he could still hear the other Justice League members thrilled cheering. His frown, which was already exaggerated beyond belief, deepened even further.

Needless to say, he was not looking forward to that Saturday.

On the way home, as he silently steered the batplane around the skies, he considered how he was going to pull this off. Talia generally acted normal enough, he figured, but she was still not on the same page as him with all the many, many lies he'd told in the last hour, and he would rather avoid having a conversation about those lies, either. He rubbed his chin, considering which would be more awkward– having his lies revealed, or telling Talia just how much he lied to his friends about her. At least his friends were already used to it.

That was only one of his many worries, though, and the most insignificant if anything. Talia hopefully wouldn't speak about her job as an assassin, but even if she was trying to keep it a secret, occupations were quite a common conversation starter, especially when they were only just now meeting her at a very long dinner gathering.

He made another swerve, heading closer to the League of Assassins hideout, until he could nearly see it out of the bottom edge of his window. He began to head downward.

Bruce knew Talia could lie, and most likely quite well, but these were not average civilians. In fact, even though Martian Manhunter was usually quite considerate about privacy concerning the whole mind-reading situation, he could technically rat out any lie in a matter of seconds. In that circumstance, Bruce sincerely doubted Talia knew any of the same mind-blocking techniques that Bruce would use.

A gulp formed in his throat. If only he'd been a little more honest at the beginning about the less important matters, Martian Manhunter would have much less reason to attempt to read Talia's mind. As much as he'd tried to evade everything successfully, all he'd ended up achieving was a worse situation.

At this point, he was almost to the landing area of their hideout, but still very lost in thought. Nonetheless, Bruce carefully maneuvered himself downward and landed.

The more he thought about it, he realized that he should've told them he'd gotten married –eloped, specifically– immediately to make them believe it had been so recent that he simply hadn't had any kind of chance to tell them. That way, everything would've started on good, non-suspicious terms. But it was too late to change anything now, he knew, so his mind trailed off to what times he might be able to teach Talia mind-blocking methods. They still had four days until Saturday, which was time, but not nearly enough to have her master it. If she hadn't mastered it, her attempts could even make it worse, and they had way too much suspicion on them as it was.

Bruce continued rubbing his chin with these bothersome thoughts, even as he exited the plane and strolled right into the door. His feet plotted along heavily, growing more heavy with each and every new concern that popped into his head. The headache from before was still there, and it was getting worse.

But fortunately, when he finally got to his and Talia's room, he forgot nearly all those previous concerns.

This was not because he'd found any kind of solution, though– quite the opposite, as a matter of fact. For, the second his eyes met Talia, he realized those issues, though prevalent, were not nearly as bad as what he was currently looking at. Bruce had been so eager for developments in Talia's pregnancy before that everything seemed to come so slow, so Bruce figured it was still slow. But now, with a different perspective, this was clearly not the case.

Although only three months in, Talia was very, very visibly pregnant.

Bruce put a hand to his forehead, wiping away sweat. This Saturday would not just be awkward with how many secrets would no doubt be revealed to his lovingly-concerned friends, but at this point, he was starting to wonder whether he'd have any friends at all by the end of it. Even Talia might be angry at him. Like some kind of bad cramp, he felt overwhelming pangs of dread push against his heart.

"Hello, Beloved," Talia greeted. Unlike his solemn, deep frown, she was widely grinning.

"H….ello," Bruce slowly replied. He glanced around himself and the rest of the room, clearly distracted. Talia took a few steps toward him and furrowed her eyebrows at his odd behavior. Seeing this, Bruce quickly shrugged. "The Justice League meeting went fine, plenty of other members' cities have been improving. It reminded me, though— I should really be keeping a closer eye on Gotham. It made sense to be taking a break back when we were dealing with Qayin, but the fact that I still haven't moved back after defeating him a few weeks ago isn't doing well for the city's already terrible crime rate, I'm sure."

"Oh yes. Of course…" Talia nodded, but her voice was uncertain, and even slightly timid. She loosely wrapped her arms around herself. "What does that mean for you and my father's allyship? It'll continue regardless, I presume? …But more importantly, what about…. Our… oh, you know what I'm saying here. We're married, and that's why I figured you were still living here."

"We'll figure something out," Bruce answered. He bit his lip, now changing his thought train to figuring out this problem instead. It was easier to think about than the others, at least. "Just on a theoretical level, how do you feel about moving to Gotham yourself? Obviously we're going to continue living together no matter what happens, especially for our future child, but I can't let the city down…"

Talia bit her lip, as well, "I guess I don't exactly have anything against moving to Gotham. It could be nice, but I'm not sure how my father would feel about it."

"...Right," Bruce blinked at the mention of Ra's. He tapped the back of his cheek in some futile attempt to spark more ideas that wouldn't cause such a problem with Talia's work life. "I forgot about your League of Assassins duties for a second there. But I'm sure we can figure out something…"

With both still biting their lips and tapping different body parts to stir more thoughts, the room fell silent. Both were undeniably anxious about every word, and thus, the words ceased. Bruce was much more anxious overall than Talia, though, still almost shaky from the whole situation with the Justice League's group date, and the growing necessity to inform Talia of that situation.

Even through the silence, Bruce opened his mouth a few times and clicked his tongue. He'd sincerely tried to get the words to come out, but they were difficult, to say the least.

Eventually, he managed at least part of it, "Talia. To be completely frank with you, not everything at the Justice League went well. Or even decent. Some of it was quite bad, as a matter of fact, and quite worrisome, and…." he trailed off.

"And?" Talia looked up from her thoughts, a concerning expression on her face.

"Well… Look… See, they were starting to—" Bruce stumbled over each and every one of his words, until eventually he sighed. With this breath, the situation came spilling out. "Talia, we have a problem. I forgot to tell them we were getting married, and I ended up accidentally mentioning it, so now they're suspicious of why they weren't informed sooner. In fact, they're doubting whether I even have a wife or partner at all. Basically, they wouldn't leave me alone about it, especially since one of the members has some kind of… double-date event scheduled for this weekend, on Valentine's Day. They wanted me –and more importantly, you– to come."

Her eyes opened wide at the abrupt information. "Well….other than the fact that your friends are most likely going to be berating me with suspicious questions, that sounds…. pleasant enough? Where would we be going for dinner?" She asked. Lingering unevenness from their previous topic still held in her voice, on top of the extra worry of this new information.

"I don't even know," He frowned. Pivoting on his heel, he hurried out of the room to find his communicators.

Talia waited patiently and silently as Bruce got the communicator. Her eyes were still wide open, staring at the door in front of her. Near her hips, she started to tap her fingers in some quiet attempt to pass the time. During this entire period, her eyes stared at the door, and they continued to even as he walked in.

Once he'd sprinted back through the wide, fancy, grand doorway, he was quick to answer.

"Some place in Star City. They're doing this to make it easier for Green Arrow, apparently, since the rest of them have super powers to aid their arrival," he informed her of this information calmly, but then rolled his eyes and got frustrated in tone. "But of course, since they forgot to tell me until now, they made the decision before we were even part of it, and then they forced us to go, too…. Ugh."

"At least we have planes. Does Green Arrow even have planes? I don't know a ton about him, but I've never exactly heard of an 'Arrow Wing'." Talia pointed out in response.

"I… don't think he does," Bruce admitted, but he quickly rolled his eyes again. "In fact, I've been telling him constantly, over and over again, that he really needs to get one if he wants to be a helpful member of the Justice League. But every time, he rejects it! I probably shouldn't be telling you this, for his identity's sake, but he's just as much of a billionaire as I am, so there's no excuse there."

"But we already have them. It's fine, Beloved. I don't think either of us have anything planned that day. We'll have plenty of time to fly over and fly back." Talia shrugged. She paused for a second, before narrowing her eyes. "But next time, you should really consult me beforehand. I could've had something, for all you knew."

"I know!" he sighed. "I didn't have a choice, I'm sorry."

Talia nodded, "Well, either way, we'll make the most of it. I am… ashamed to admit I don't have a ton of friends of my own, courtesy of my… constricting life-style as a League of Assassins member. It might be nice to at least become friendly with yours." A small smile flashed onto her face.

"I… guess so," Bruce nodded, but his eyes directly stared at his floor. His pupils seemed to almost waver in place, completely unsure in every regard.

Talia, on the other hand, was staring at him. She observed his entire expression and position— his forced composure, mixed with his undeniable uncertainty and clear anxiety. The more he thought and dreamt about what might happen when they arrived at the dinner, the more it made him dizzy. For the second time that day, he completely lost focus and fumbled backwards.

"Are you alright?" Talia grabbed his arm, helping him stabilize himself. Her jaw was wide open, as were her bright eyes.

"Yes, yes. I'm… fine. Only a bit overwhelmed, at most. I simply got a bit too lost in thought and lost track of what was going on around me, including… standing, I suppose." He glanced around himself, quickly grounding not just his body, but his mind, as well. His eyes blinked, over and over again, until he was fully back into his conscience. "Anyhow, I should let them know that we really will be coming, for certain…"

"Well, you have the communicator right there," Talia nodded and jolted her head towards Bruce, specifically towards his hands, which grasped his walkie-talkie firmly. Her mouth now resembled an eerily straight line, but her eyes were dilated with eagerness. "Go ahead, Beloved."

Bruce lifted his arm upwards, bringing his communicator up to his chest simultaneously. His eyes didn't close or blink in the slightest as he did this movement, staying right on the bright blue object. The overall focus of his expression made it look, from Talia's perspective, like he was trying to initiate some kind of deep staring contest with his communicator. The staring contest lasted long, too— bothersomely long. His arm was steady, but very, very slow.

It eventually got up there nonetheless. But only for his finger, right next to the on button, to take even longer.

Talia's head leaned towards it again, desperately urging him to get over this worthless behavior and simply let his friends know, so they could inevitably move on with their lives. She tapped her foot against the wood floors, getting more and more impatient. After another couple seconds, she couldn't help but roll her eyes.

At the same time, Bruce's mouth popped open, "...Unless you might have some kind of good, solid excuse we can use instead."

Talia let out a loud, impatient, exasperated, and even outright aggravated breath, edging between a loose huff and a very harsh sigh.

"Didn't you already try that when you were there?" she pointed out. "At this point, at least, I'm guessing they're not exactly about to accept excuses, no matter how well-made and plausible they are. Besides, frankly, I don't see what's so bad about spending a few hours with them. As I already said, it sounds pleasant enough."

"Of course you would think that," Bruce muttered to himself, low enough to hope she wouldn't hear. He clenched his hands around the communicator even tighter, nearly into a fist-like shape. "You're not the ones who has any friends at stake here. Especially not any important ones, who you need to keep to save the worl–"

"What was that?" Talia raised any eyebrow, making it more than clear she'd heard.

With this remark resting deeply in his ears, and more importantly, his mind, Bruce felt his face turn bright red in sudden embarrassment. His body froze otherwise, with even his eyes not daring to shift from position. But slowly, in some attempt to ease the embarrassment, he put his finger back on top of the ON button.

"Oh, erm…. Nothing, Talia. You're right, they're most certainly not going to take any more excuses. I should just speak to them right now and let them know."

Talia nodded, but even as she went back to her previous impatient urges, Bruce still hadn't moved an inch, or even so much as a centimeter. There he was, hesitating and avoiding the situation yet again. From Talia's perspective, it hurt to watch so much that she shut her eyes tightly in annoyance. The lack of pressure from her staring did the opposite of hurrying him along, though.

"Hmmmm. We're sure there isn't some way I can explain everything I said earlier, on top of a current excuse, right?" he considered, still clearing stalling. "Something they'd believe?"

With her eyes now closed even tighter, squeezing so much they ached, Talia firmly nodded. She pulled her arms into a frustrated cross over her chest— which did no more than make Bruce's face fade into a bright blush again. Eventually, as she could still hear absolutely no movement on Bruce's part, she opened her eyes again.

"Go ahead, Beloved," Talia spoke in a less than friendly tone. Bruce nodded.

But then he went back to staring, and staring, and staring. It was getting a bit ridiculous, as he fumbled around with the communicator, in some quite futile attempt to make it seem like he simply hadn't good grip and thus had no choice but to stall as he got it back in position. Talia sighed, over and over again at each of these attempts.

"If you can't do it, give it to me. They wanted to meet me, no? Well, if I speak for you, that's simply a head start." she suggested. Her arm was extended out in front of her, a mere few inches away from stealing it right out of his hands. "Come on. No point in stalling even longer, Beloved."

"Oh?" Bruce's eyes finally looked up from their nearly unbreakable gaze. He blinked at her, as if the chance in focus somehow startled him. "Well…. Doesn't it seem like they might benefit from a surprise? As long as they'll be meeting you anyhow, I don't see any reason it needs to happen sooner… Spoilers do nothing but disappoint people, of course…."

"I would agree with you," Talia commented dryly, "but it's pretty obvious that it's either coming out of my mouth, or not at all."

Bruce's face somehow managed to turn even more red this time, almost the shade of a tomato. For a moment, his fingers shook in place.

"I was just about to, if you'd given me a second longer to come up with my exact wording, Talia." He explained, still visibly nervous even as he tried so incredibly hard to act completely calm. "But if you insist on being the one to inform them, I really couldn't care less. Here you go. Just press the big red button when you're saying something, and stop holding it when finished."

He slowly reached over and placed it in the middle of Talia's palm.

Within a millisecond of getting it into her hands, she'd already pressed the button and started talking. "Hello, this is Batman's wife. I'm contacting his league to let you know that he told me about the whole double-date event, and it sounds very fun. We'll be coming along, not just because of your insistence, but out of our desires…."

Bruce gulped at her words, "Don't… don't overplay it, Talia. Then they might think we'll be coming to all the events, and… Well, even aside from the general displeasures of that scenario, I already got an imposter accusation today. I'd rather not get another."

She paused, suddenly pulling the communicator away from her mouth to fully look at him. "You've changed lately, though. They should be able to understand that."

"Except they won't! At least not this suddenly, anyways…. And I have absolutely no issues keeping up my previous behaviors. In fact, it's probably for the best." Bruce countered. His eyebrows were tense and stern. "We have plenty of other things we could attend, especially considering my alias as Bruce Wayne… not that you should probably show up for those, either…"

"You're overthinking this," she insisted, upturning her chin in a slightly stubborn manner. "Just let me finish."

They heard some staticky, but undeniably positive responses from the other team members, many of which joyfully commenting on an eagerness to meet this new wife of his. It made Bruce's stomach twist into a strict, uncomfortable knot. But he held back those emotions and simply kept quiet as Talia responded.

"That's very nice of you all. Thank you for the invitation, and I'm sure we'll all have a great time. That is all, Goodbye."

As that topic's chatter quickly died down, she swiftly handed the communicator back to Bruce. He grasped it back again quickly and tightly. The second it was resting between his fingers, was the same second in which he spun around and tried to hurry out of the room, in hopes of getting it put back in its place before he forgot. But as his side of his foot nearly brushed against the door frame, he felt a hand grab his arm.

Talia nudged him back over to her. She placed her hands on both sides of his neck, with her fingers reaching back around his ears in a firm but gentle manner. Her thumbs, which titled the opposite of the rest of her fingers, softly massaged his lower cheeks. She held him there with this hold, in utter silence, for several seconds before she spoke.

"Listen to me, Beloved," Talia whispered. She pulled him closer, leaving his lips less than a millimeter from her own. "You need to take a deep breath. You need to remember that these are your friends, not any kind of enemies with invisible traps laid in front of you. Just relax, please. It's going to be fun."

Then, with her comforting words still hanging in the air, she kissed him.

"You don't know what happened there, Talia…." Once her lips were off of his, he instantly shook his head. Bruce's eyes softened slightly, but only out of more worry, certainly not a lack of thereof. He'd hardly even noticed her physical attempts to sooth him. "Trust me, I have many reasons to be concerned on how this will end."

"To be fair, I'm quite confident you, out of all people, could find reason anywhere if you put your mind to it." Talia went back to massaging his cheeks. Her eyes were wide, peering into his in a way that almost made him uncomfortable. "As I already said, you need to relax. Stressing won't help either way."

"If I can use my stress to come up with a solution, it will, actually," Bruce pointed out.

Talia was quick to open her mouth, nearly beginning to argue back, but Bruce was even quicker. He spun right back around, smooth on the ball of his foot, and jogged out the door. Talia's arms reached out —or more accurately, were already extended in his direction, which she continued— but he ignored her. In fact, Bruce didn't even do so much as glance backwards before he'd completely left the room, and likewise, abandoned Talia.

Now alone with nothing but her frustrated thoughts, she sighed.

Until Saturday, neither of them spoke of the double-date again. From Talia's perspective, this evasion was due to a constant desire to keep Bruce from stressing out over it again. But unsurprisingly, he was still stressing over it plenty— only managing to do a better job being silent about it than before. He was still avoiding the verbal topic altogether himself, though, out of some kind of attempt to at least forget about it part of the time.

That morning, on the other hand, the double-date was the only thing they would speak of at all. At lunch, Bruce simply would not shut up about what they would do for certain questions, or suspicions, or just any kind of bizarre situation that he'd worried into existence. Talia listened along, half humoring him, and half genuinely starting to join him in worry. Spending an hour listening to a frantic man's ramblings wasn't calming, to say the least.

"Beloved, please," she reasoned. Her hand reached over to touch his, in some futile attempt to provide him with some mild physical comfort. "Don't you think your friends grabbing me and locking me up in order to spend hours reading my mind in order to find out all our secrets is a bit… unlikely?"

Bruce sighed, "...You're right, they wouldn't do that."

He sat still, staring down into the reflective center of his plate, as he thought more potentially detrimental situations over. The white dish was smeared in green vegetable juice, as well as the slightest bit of red meat residue, but aside from that, he could see his own face clearly enough inside it. It distorted Bruce's features, of course, but one thing was obvious— he looked very, very pale from the lost sleep of the night before.

Talia was sitting slightly less still, a few feet away; her hands gently tapped her fork to her dish every few seconds in a slow-but-nervous kind of fidget. On the glamorously large table, Ra's' spot was usually on the other end as Bruce, so she always took a spot not too far from the middle of the sides, but still leaning significantly closer to the latter. It was just the two of them at the moment, though.

"Unless…" Bruce's head suddenly popped back up, losing sight of the plate. His voice was loud and almost excited, echoing around the large dining room. "Unless there was some mind-control involved. They did seem like they were a little bit off last meeting, now that I think about it… Perhaps I shouldn't be so quick to assume that they were just–"

"Are you sure? Or are you just searching for things wrong or suspicious again?" Talia asked. She side-eyed him, with one eyebrow raised in subtle amusement. "This is not the first time we've ever met. I know you, and I know the way you act about these things. I've said it a million times just today I'm sure, but you need to relax."

"Relaxation never did anyone any good when their lives were in potential danger," he stated matter-of-factly. "You need to work hard, get to the bottom of it, and defeat the threat at hand, not just 'relax'."

"Except we're not in danger," Talia's head already hung low, but it was getting lower by the second.

"You don't know that for sure," Bruce countered, sticking his finger into the air with his point. His eyebrows furrowed, still lost in thought (or worry, specifically) about that evening. "As I already said, there's a good chance we're dealing with mind-controlled super-powered heroes, which is extremely dangerous, on the contrary."

"That is a theory… and one that you only came up with when specifically searching for the worst possible outcome, may I add." At this point, her head wasn't just drooping, but had fully dropped onto her hand in a momentary facepalm. "By that logic, we're always 'in danger' to you. You'd have to spend your entire life worrying! Constantly!" She picked her head back up to look him in the eyes as she exclaimed the last couple sentences.

"Exactly," he nodded confidently, with his arms crossed in an almost smug gesture. "I thought you said you knew me. If you knew me, you'd know that ever since I was 8-years-old and my parents were gunned down in an alleyway, I have spent my entire life worrying… constantly."

Talia stared at him in response, but slowly nodded, "I… can't even argue."

He stared back at her after this, until eventually, it became nothing but awkward. The silence was even worse, though, as Bruce's worrying kept him stuck in his head, and Talia's exhaustion from his overwhelming worrying kept her from bothering to open her mouth another time. Until, of course, she did. This time, her voice was in nothing but an almost meek kind of whisper.

"I…. suppose I just kind of thought you were feeling better about that now. Between our marriage, you and my father's allyship, and of course, our precious baby on the way, I figured maybe you were beginning to feel…. Happier." Talia admitted. Her shoulders were tense and shrugged upward in an uncomfortably strict way. "In my mind, that included less worry."

As these quiet, almost depressing words filled Bruce's mind enough to even start pushing out his previous worries, he reached over and grabbed hold of her hand.

"I was feeling happier, I promise," he stated. A small smile began to peak out from the corners of his lips, quickly contrasting the previous mess of emotions. Simultaneously, he gently squeezed her hand. "And overall, I still am. This thing with my friends has just… gotten me in a bad state, I guess. Once I fully make up with them, I'll be happy again."

Talia began to smile back at him, "Good, because this has been giving me a headache."

With the mention of her experiencing any kind of pain at all, Bruce's jaw dropped wide open. He got up from his chair, nearly flinging it backwards with his speed, and rushed over to Talia's direct side. He looked over her, inspecting every little red spot or mild bruise, especially near her head and face. But even as he did this, Bruce continued holding her hand, although admittedly, the action had become more of an attempt at comforting her or soothing her out of her headache than just a general affection.

"I'm so sorry!" he exclaimed. There was clear worry in his voice, with it low and wavery, nearly sounding like he was about to cry. The worry was quickly escalating into full on panic as he gently touched her forehead, hoping to not feel any kind of fever. "I didn't mean to make you stressed with all my fretting. I was just trying to sort it out for myself… I'm so, so sorry. Are you alright? Is the baby alright? I didn't hurt it, did I? Or you?"

His hand now quickly changed to touching her belly, yet again hoping to not feel anything wrong.

Talia stared at him blankly, "You're doing it again."

"What?" Bruce didn't even bother to look up from his fretful little inspection as he said the word, clearly already much too occupied to listen to her exasperated, but truly more and more accurate complaints.

"Worrying so much that you give me a headache," she swiftly specified, "Or, since I already had one, this change of worries certainly doesn't change the fact that it's getting progressively worse with each of your ridiculous questions." Her smile had disappeared just as quickly as his, replaced with a very annoyed expression directed at the top of Bruce's rapidly-moving head.

"I'm— I'm sorry…" he fumbled with his words. With every last second of Talia not answering those 'ridiculous questions,' he was losing his cool even more. "But please, is the baby okay? I promise I'll stop soon, but if the baby feels even the tiniest bit wrong, we should get you rushed to a doctor, and then get—"

"Beloved," Talia facepalmed again, "As soon as you stop freaking out, both the baby and I will be completely and utterly fine. It's just one mild headache. Please calm down– if not for the headache, then for the bare bones of my sanity."

His overprotectiveness had gotten to the point that he was no longer holding her hand or gently touching her belly. He'd determined those small actions completely futile against this growing, although completely imaginationary, sickness that was in the process of destroying every organ inside her body. Instead, he was outright hugging her; he held her against him in a way that was half endearing, and half just plain overdone.

"But don't you think, just to be safe, the doctor should know about this? You never know what a headache could mean," Bruce insisted. He used his hold on her to start to nudge her out of her chair to do just that. "The head is a very important part of the body! What if you have a brain tumor? Not only would that quite possibly mean the baby was doomed, but if we don't get it diagnosed, you could be, too!"

"As the one with a medical license here…" Talia stated firmly, "No."

"Why?" he argued. The hugging was getting tighter and tighter, making it more than clear just how genuinely scared he was from these made-up worries. "Is there some reason it could do the opposite of helping? Oh no… has your doctor been hurting you? Is she secretly a sadist who uses her patiences as test for her mad scientist–"

"I need you to listen to yourself for a moment, Beloved," she said, reaching her arm around Bruce's to pat him on the back.

"I need you to listen to yourself, too, Talia!" Bruce frantically exclaimed. Fortunately, he loosened his grip slightly, but only so he was far enough away to push her face over to look at him, directly in the eyes. "If you or the baby gets hurt, well…. I don't know what I'd do with myself. I don't think I could live with myself knowing I let that happen, frankly."

"I know…." Talia let out a loud sigh, but a mere second later, let a smile drift onto her face. For the third time, they joined hands, after she slowly shifted her own hand back to the top of his. "And that's really, really, sweet of you. But it's also unnecessary, and way too much. We already talked about this around a month ago, remember?"

Bruce squeezed her hand again, tight in ways that gave Talia the urge to squirm away, but he eventually nodded. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Thank you," Talia squeezed back, although a much more reasonable amount. "As much as I love you, I can handle both myself and the baby I'm carrying on my own, and your overprotective behaviors often create more problems than solutions."

Bruce cocked his chin up and down in a small, but accepting nod.

"Why don't we get up either way, though?" he suggested. This time, he refrained from anything other than lending out a single one of his hands to help escort her up from her seat. "We've —or really, I should say I've— spent so long talking over the dinner tonight that we have less than three hours left until it starts."

Talia kept quiet, but showed clear agreement by instantly taking his hand and waltzing out by his side. Her face continued displaying a complete and full smile, seeing as Bruce had managed to not come up with any more reasons to ruin it. The couple strolled back up to their bedroom, where they had more discussions about it, but fortunately more relaxed ones, and ones that did get side-tracked to more pleasant topics plenty. These only lasted just over an hour, though, before they got up once again.

"Oh," Bruce glanced at the clock on the wall. It had a lavender rim, matching the room's general pastel aesthetic. He popped up from the light yellow chair he'd been sitting in, and quickly hopped a few feet towards the door. "With time for the plane ride, we should be going soon. The Bat-Plane may be fast, but Star City is pretty far."

While he was still in the middle of making this remark, Talia got up from her own seat. She did the action slower than him, but still at a decent pace. By the time he'd finished explaining, she was standing right next to him in front of the door. Now, Bruce opened the door, only to take a step to the side while using his foot to prop it open. He gestured Talia forward with a soft smile, which she returned.

He did the same thing with the next door, and the next one. Talia was starting to wonder whether this was another protective situation; perhaps he really thought the door would hurt the baby, with the way he'd been acting lately.

But it didn't exactly matter, and either way, they eventually found themselves both standing in front of his plane, still with time to waste. For the millionth time, Bruce hurried up to the door and swung it open. It was a bit more awkward this time, considering it was a plane door and not just a house one, but through every discouraged grunt, he stubbornly persevered. It would've been much easier for him to just let her do it normally, but it seemed there was no end to his old-fashioned chivalry.

Nonetheless, once it was time for them to start flying, everything was situated and ready.

They took off into the sky, leaving a big black blur in their trail. It was a boring, mostly silent plane ride, with Bruce busy driving as well as just much too lost in his anxious thoughts to speak, and Talia simply not feeling like starting a conversation at the moment. It went quickly, though. As it would turn out, dreading something did very little to make the time beforehand last longer. But what did last long, however, was Bruce's slow, hesitant steps into the restaurant.

He was still quick to open the door for Talia, though. He couldn't possibly let her be forced to do it herself, no matter how nervous he was. Then, behind her, he carefully tip-toed inside.

A few of his fellow Justice League members had already arrived and were currently sitting on a bench, patiently waiting for the rest. Many had their eyes softly drifting downward, but all of them popped back up at the sight of another member's arrival. Yet, as this happened, their eyes opened wide not in excitement, but in astonishment. In the same moment, shock took over his own face.

There had definitely been some miscommunication– he knew that much.

In front of him, the fellow Justice League members he was staring at were not in their uniforms at all; they were unmasked, normally clothed, and in Superman's case, had the secret identity glasses on. Batman, on the other hand, was very much not normally clothed, or unmasked. He looked so very wrong compared to them, and everyone was staring at him very, very peculiarly.

With this revelation, he ran out of the restaurant as quickly as his feet would carry him, grabbing Talia and pulling her alongside.

"I apologize, this is the wrong place!" He loudly remarked, looking much more at the host and other guests than the partner he'd realistically be speaking to. Talia was squinting, completely unaware of what he was trying to achieve or say with this, considering someone of her profession could more than tell it was performative. Nonetheless, Bruce continued, "We should go find the right place!"

Once they were outside, he took her over to the side and spoke to her in a swift, hushed whisper. His hands grasped both of her arms tightly, holding her in place right in front of him. In fact, as much as he tried to refrain from it, he slightly shook her in his panic.

"Did you see them? They weren't wearing suits! Just normal civilian clothes!" he stressed, glancing downward to his own unfitting, elaborate costume. It was bad enough to be wearing it at all, but the fact that he'd already entered, too, made him worry for his own secret identity when he would inevitably have to re-enter dressed like Bruce Wayne. "I… I don't even know whether I have any change of clothes with me…"

"Why didn't you ask them about that before? With all due respect, that seems like quite the thing to assume, Beloved…." Talia was looking right at his Bat costume as well, with her eyes wide.

"I know," Bruce's head leaned slightly to the side, but even more drastically, leaned directly downward in regret. Only a second later, though, he started to make his way back to the batplane at a swift sprinting pace. He continued looking and speaking to Talia as he did so, raising his voice to let the words travel. "I was just so focused on making sure things didn't go wrong with you that I forgot other things could go wrong, as well!"

"Well, I must say," she commented sarcastically, subtly rolling her eyes. "If this was secretly your elaborate plan of an excuse to get out of going, then it's certainly an impressive one, albeit quite amoral. They saw it themselves, after all."

"It's not, I promise. I may not be the… most honest person in the world, but that's just plainly too much, even for me." Bruce's eyes opened wide at even the suggestion of such a secretive, complex plan all to avoid this one dinner gathering. He may be stressed, and maybe a little bit desperate to keep his marriage to an assassin from destroying all his friendships, but not that desperate.

"Fine, fine," Talia sighed. "Just go search for the change of clothes, and if we don't have it, well… we'll deal with it then."

Bruce nodded, but the second he was done, twirled his head back around and ran off. His feet took the swift sprinting pace back up, and he was certainly quick as he jumped from one foot to the other, and then to the first one again. Even though the Bat-plane was in a hidden spot, fairly far away from the restaurant, he'd arrived at it in no time.

But when he was on his way, his mind was, of course, bustling with thoughts, worries, connections, and most of all, solutions. Talia had a point– if they really couldn't find a change of clothes, it would be the perfect excuse, as well as completely truthful. With this thought, nearly all his previous worries were quickly diminishing. No questions, all proof, and even with a slight bonus of them already having seen Talia, which may help them be more patient as far as her appearance to future gatherings. In the meantime, perhaps he could even sort out more plans.

The more he thought about it, the more he realized that this was not the panic-worthy mess he'd originally thought, but rather, a glorious opportunity. To procrastinate, that was, but an opportunity nonetheless.

At this point, he was standing in front of the Bat-plane, hesitating to take even a single step forward. If he had the outfit, his opportunity was gone. On a technical level, he could always lie to everyone else that it hadn't been there, but at this point, he'd told enough lies that his guilty complex would certainly benefit from avoiding that. Besides, as he'd said before, it was simply another level of trickery than the white lies he'd sputtered out at the meeting; it wasn't something he was going to get into, for the moral element if nothing else. Hence, he really, really wished it could be nothing more than the truth.

With his hopes getting higher and higher, the prospect of this opportunity disappearing was starting to make him outright nervous. Bruce gulped.

He still forced himself to find out soon enough, though, as his hands quickly fiddled around with the luggage compartment door until it was wide open. Now, with that previous nervousness and reluctance sucked up in a big, loud breath, he threw his hands into the trunk and began to search through all his many kits and pieces of gear for the dreaded outfit. Eventually, to his dismay, his fingers felt the gentle texture of a cotton shirt. Just underneath, was the texture of a slightly stiffer type of fabric in the form of pants.

Bruce groaned, but pulled it out.

Now, the only thing getting in between his complete lack of an excuse was a private place to change into this outfit. This was a populated city, after all, not some kind of hiding-spot-ridden forest. Even a public bathroom would be difficult, seeing as his secret identity was such delicate information.

But, at the end of the day, having to change secretly like this was a dilemma he faced daily, if not hourly. Normally, he might try to have one piece of clothing underneath the other, for easiness purposes, but seeing as sometimes that wasn't an option anyway, he'd still had more than enough experiences to know that this wasn't going to end up being a valid excuse. Not towards the Justice League, and certainly not to himself.

Around twenty minutes later, he was standing in front of Talia, in civilian clothes and with his perfect excuse completely out of the realm of possibility. Yet again, he was quietly groaning to himself about it, but Talia, on the other hand, was quite pleased that things had worked themselves out. She held a small smile on her face –although one that was barely even visible– and, as if contrasting him, was nearly relaxed in posture. Not hunching, but not straight-spined, either.

Talia quickly took Bruce's hand, and together, they entered for the second time. By now, they were definitely late, which Bruce felt his hand clench at the thought of. Even if he did have a valid excuse for that, it bothered him to think that they might believe it was a purposeful delay in their meeting of Talia for even a brief second. For what must've been the millionth time that day, a gulp coursed through his itchy throat.

Nonetheless, once they found their way to the Justice League's table, he was quick to greet his friends, "Hello, Clark. Hello, Diana. Hello, Oliver, and Barry, and ..." Unfortunately, he was also quick to give up on greeting every single one, with his worrying having resulted in a slight fatigue.

"Hello, Bruce. Come sit next to me, we saved you and your wife spots." Clark greeted him back, instantly pointing to a couple chairs near him and Diana's. He patted the one closest to him with a quite eager kind of firmness. "We've been waiting for you, but Arthur already told the rest of us of your little… issue before, so it's fine. I'm the one that should've clarified."

Bruce slowly sat down, as did Talia.

Everyone's eyes were on her— despite there being less people than at the Justice League meeting, the staring on her was even more prominent now than the staring on him had been back there. Each eyeball looked like a marble, swelled and dilated with undying interest in every single word or movement or hers, which at that point, had been nearly none. They didn't even know her name or anything.

"Hello," Talia finally spoke. The eyes, already so captivated, widened with the greeting. With this movement, she was clearly starting to notice their overwhelming stares. Her eyebrows were furrowed, extremely unnerved by this strong behavior. She quickly turned to Bruce. "Beloved, can you introduce me to all your friends? I'm afraid it's difficult to speak to them when I don't know any of their names."

"Of course," Bruce nodded without hesitation, but was just as unnerved by their stares as she was. His eyes were wide and antsy, flickering open and closed just as quickly as they bounced around, changing what they were looking at constantly. "This is Clark. He's my…. My, eerm, closest…. Well, in basic terms, I generally spend the most time with him here. That's Arthur, Oliver, Barry, Dinah…Oh, and that's not to be confused with Diana, who's right over there and near Clark in the time I spend with her, and…"

Talia leaned her ear towards Bruce, listening carefully to every single one of the names. He leaned his mouth closer, as well, in a way that made their actions resemble a kind of distanced whispering, except with a completely normal speaking-level despite it. The restaurant was loud, bustling with activity at every corner, so it did well to make sure no names were misheard.

Once he'd finished, Talia nodded in return, "Thank you. It's nice to meet you all. Bruce has told me about, erm… some of you, so it's… nice to put a face to the name."

Bruce watched her say these words with his eyes now frozen in place. Deep inside the tissues of his chest, he could hear his heart beating faster and faster with each word, for seemingly no reason at all. But Bruce was certain that, with seemingly no warning, Talia could say something that ruined all his friendships in a matter of seconds. It wasn't her fault. It was his, truly, but it didn't mean he wasn't feeling a slight level of distrust in her at this moment.

This unfortunately continued for nearly every single sentence of hers throughout the conversation. Even a few words could destroy his friendships, too, if it was bad enough.

Fortunately for him, most of the conversations began with nothing but mere small talk, speaking of the weather in Star City, and what food they were thinking of ordering. Tones as dry as Bruce's thought, entwined in words and phrases as bland and meaningless as the glasses of water in front of them. Despite being an introvert, in this anxious situation, Bruce found himself comforted by these discussions; with every new relaxed, bland word, his body relaxed more. His heart almost calmed down for a second.

But they only lasted so long. They were anxious to learn more about Talia, of course— almost as anxious as he was about them doing so. Thus, his relaxation lasted about three calm minutes before his relaxing heartbeat suddenly sky-rocketed. Someone, from the other side of the table, asked her a question.

"Hey, um… you, over there. I don't think you ever told us your name."

An outstretched finger directly pointing to her was stuck up in the middle of the table, unwavering in its stance. Barry was the one holding it, looking at Talia in a way that was nothing but light-hearted. He was smiling in genuine curiosity. Bruce certainly didn't notice, though. Although merely a meaningless question in the grand scheme of things, it made his stomach knot up.

"Talia," she answered nonchalantly.

"Hello, Talia," A chorus of un-coordinated greetings filled the air, building off one another in a growingly loud volume. Nonetheless, these voices were accompanied by harmless grins and timid waves, all of which cleared out in a quick matter of time anyways. Talia smiled back, completely content with everything, as a matter of fact.

Then, just as Bruce was blowing out a gigantic, frantic gust of air in some attempt to collect his cool, they returned to the small talk. Now that she herself was here, Bruce found they were much more reserved– an observation that he was more than pleased by. No offensively overwhelming interrogations at all. He took another deep breath, this time succeeding in partially calming himself. Perhaps they truly would get through the evening without any catastrophe.

But, yet again, it was only a few minutes before there was another question about Talia hanging in the still air. Fortunately, it was also another fairly easy-to-answer one, with little to no secrets hiding in the shadowy details.

"Bruce. Talia," Diana abruptly cocked her head towards their direction, calling out their names to get them to lock eyes with her. "How did you two even meet? I've heard it was a while ago, but none of us know almost any of the details about how you two got… here. Married. I believe I'm probably not the only one who's a bit curious how you two originally found each other."

Before Talia could even open her mouth, Bruce answered for them, "Several years back, I was tracking down a criminal in another country, and I got knocked out and captured. When I awoke, Talia was in the same cell as me. She had apparently been abducted by the criminal as well, and was being held hostage at the time, so through a variety of fights, I saved her."

"I… I helped too," she frowned, crossing his arms in mild but obvious annoyance. "It was a team effort if I remember correctly, Beloved. You make me out like a damsel in distress."

Now, as he could feel these words and the implications held within them, was the moment when his heart truly went out of control. His chest, controlled by a rapid diaphragm, went up and down, up and down in a pattern so fast it hardly appeared to have any kind rhythm at all. On its own, they could know she was an excellent fighter, but they could not know the answers to the questions that would come alongside that knowledge.

Regardless, he let himself nod slightly, "Of course, Talia. You were very resourceful, which was certainly helpful to our escape. I apologize for minimizing that effort, considering you are completely and utterly right. The help you gave was extraordinarily impressive for an amateur such as yourself."

"Amateur?" Talia's jaw dropped in pure shock, clearly offended by the statement. "Amateur?"

"Yes. Compared to all the complex training I've had, at least," he forced himself to continue. Each blunt lie made his stomach twist tighter into its aching knot, but not nearly as much as Talia's own body winced at the words. It made her angry– clenching her fists, gritting her teeth– to an extent that left her almost fuming.

It made Bruce wince at his own words, in return, "You're, erm…. You're still excellent…You just–"

Talia whipped her body around, and in the same speedy movement, put a single finger to Bruce's lips. Although on a logical level, he knew she'd never dare do a thing to hurt him, Bruce had to admit the expression on her lips was certainly intimidating. It was a scowl, deepening with every seething breath.

"Sssh," she whispered in a purposefully raspy tone, eyes narrowed. "I shall show you, whether you like it or not, just how professional I am if you don't care to believe me. But I think we both know how that would end, so I would hush if I were you, Beloved… Although this'd be in sparring of course, so I wouldn't hurt you physically, please… Spare your ego."

Bruce's eyes did the opposite of hers, widening and raising in position. The pupils inside seemed to compress as well, thinning into just a small, oval-shaped dot right in the middle of his iris. Simultaneously, he pulled his neck backwards in a slightly cowardly manner, with his entire body shifted to face further away from her. Needless to say, her response was a little startling, especially when he was already filled with nerves.

But, only a second later, he pulled back against his original instincts; his neck straightened, eyes relaxed, and his body returned to the previous default. In fact, he now leaned into her, instead.

Bruce's body continued coming closer, until eventually, his hands softly cupped around her ear. A frantic, swift whisper tumbled from his mouth, with his lips nearly touching her ear the entire time. Gradually, his hands pulled even closer together in their cupping. Despite Talia not even trying to pull away, he held her head in place.

"They shouldn't— You can't—" Bruce stuttered, until eventually he sighed, letting that breath flow uncomfortably close to the inside of her ear. "We need to talk. Privately."

Without a single movement from her mouth or lips, Talia nodded to this request. She finally let her face loose its menacing expression, partially from a mere lay of tiredness of having to hold it up so long, but also partially from a slight assumption that her Beloved surely had to have some kind of explanation for this nonsense. He'd gotten protective of her due to the pregnancy, of course, but beside that, he knew full-well of her outstanding capabilities– or so she hoped, at least.

Thus, she followed him out and over to the bathroom.

"Beloved, what was that?" Talia questioned. Just because her scowl had dropped, did not mean she wasn't still very, very angry and endlessly offended. "I'm as professional as it gets, frankly."

"I know," Bruce nodded over and over and over again, as if it might make her forgive him for the entirety of his condescending and outright dishonest words. He grabbed her hand, squeezing it in a desperate attempt to soothe her anger. "I'm so, so sorry. You're completely right, and you can beat me in sparring as much as you want later for this…. Or, you can just beat me up because I'm obviously not about to lay a hand on a pregnant woman, but–"

Talia pulled her hand away from his, only to rest it on his mouth in a shushing gesture, "I know you wouldn't, and I understand why, but in this situation… you're not helping yourself by saying so, Beloved. Please." Bruce continued nodding, somehow getting even more extreme with them, to which Talia lowered her hand.

"I'm sorry," he was now bobbing his chin nearly high enough to point to the ceiling. "The point is, you can do whatever you wish to prove yourself a better fighter later, but right now, you need to pretend to be an amateur. I know that your dignity is at stake here, but there's a lot more than that on the table if you don't. You do realize what could happen if they find out you're an assassin, right?"

"Oh," Talia's eyes widened for a moment, but then shifted focus to the calming pattern of the bathroom floors. The white and grey tiles presented a blank canvas around her feet— the complete opposite of what he mind had become as she thought over Bruce's words. He had a point, as much as the self-righteous, hard-working martial artist and swordsman inside her hated to even consider it.

Bruce placed his hand loosely on the left side of her shoulder, "They… could arrest you. Especially if all they understood was your assassin career, not your specific morals."

She was still deeply frowning. Small pieces of evidence of her previous harsh scowl remained visible, but to Bruce's delight, at this point, her frown had mostly transformed from angry to disappointed and even mere thoughtful. He patted her shoulder a couple more times before she nudged his grip off and finally replied. Unlike before, her voice was completely and utterly calm.

"We all only do what we must then, I suppose," she shrugged. Her hand swiftly took Bruce's and the two went back to holding hands, with Talia securely twisting his fingers around her own. "Come along, Beloved."

Bruce sighed, "Thank you for understanding."

She nodded, and they exited the bathroom hand-in-reluctantly-loving-hand. It looked picture perfect (or so Bruce hoped) to the Justice League, relentlessly affectionate and gloriously, undeniably normal. The first was completely true, of course, even if they currently weren't in the best mood with each other, but the latter was the real struggle. All the recent staring had made him self-conscious of it, which only made him nervous and fidgety in ways that were yet again not normal.

At the current moment, that was exactly what he was doing; itching at his arms, twirling his fingers, and tugging at the cuffs of his shirt.

Meanwhile, Talia had forced even the slightest bit of resentment from the earlier condescending remarks to disappear like they'd never existed in the first place. To emphasize it even more, she made her smile bright, displaying her teeth like trophies in the flickering artificial light. It made the corners of her lips feel sore, ever so slightly, but that certainly didn't stop her.

"I'm sorry. I believe there was just some… miscommunication," she explained cheerfully, saying the words with minimal hesitation. Bruce appeared to have forgotten that when she was trying, Talia wasn't exactly a bad liar.

"Yes," he instantly agreed with her. Smiling wouldn't work on him, though, so he kept blank to hold up his grumpy reputation. "Talia and I talked, and we've still come to the consensus that she is still an amateur, but not to worry— a very, very good amateur at that, of course. She's just not, you know…" He held back from finishing the sentence in such a public environment.

Talia's smile was starting to fade with the unfounded statements, but nonetheless, she forced her chin into a tense, unnatural nod.

"O….kay," Diana slowly processed the vague conclusions and the suspicious journey to get to them. It was more than clear how skeptical it made her, with one eyebrow raised significantly higher than the other one. "That's… good. That you two are finally agreeing about her skill level now."

In unison, both of them nodded. From each of their peripheral vision, they eyed each other, not in a way of glaring, but in the complete opposite. They looked to each other unsurely, as if signaling for some kind of psychic communication to discuss and answer those large, overbearing uncertainties pondering both of their minds. But this staring was quickly interrupted by another Justice League member's quick, curious question– to which they searched for a quick, curious answer for.

"If she's not a… well, you know, then what is it that she does? Even if she's a civilian, like it sounds like she is, then surely she must have some kind of job. What do you do for a living, Talia?" was the question. It came from the left of them, spouting out of Clark's frowning mouth.

"Oh, I…." Talia stuttered. It was the same dilemma as before, it became clear. Talia could not get arrested, and so, could most definitely not afford to give even a mildly truthful answer. It was imagination against the passing time at this point.

Bruce also had wheels turning in his head, just in case he could interrupt and answer for her— not only out of practicality, but to swipe the stress off of her and their unborn child as quickly as possible. Underneath the table, where no one could see or judge, he tapped his fingers together in a thoughtful gesture. Speaking of their unborn child, he was also just waiting for them to bring her visibly-dilated belly up, although hoping they could possibly be too polite for those accusations. Not that he was counting on it, at all. The wheels in his brain turned just as fast with possible answers to that situation.

Eventually, he came up with something, "She's a… doctor. She works at Gotham General Hospital most of the time, but sometimes also works with just simple out-clinics." It wasn't a complete lie, after all, but simple and easy enough for them to fully believe.

Unfortunately for him, even though a perfectly good answer in and of itself, Talia just so happened to come up with something at the exact same time. Their mouths both opened and spoke at the same time right down to the nanosecond, copying over one another's words in a manner that was not just confusing from the overlapping, but from the contradicting answers, as well. Everyone at the table's eyebrows immediately rose.

"I work as an animal-trainer and scientist at an animal rescue research-zoo combo center, sometimes also working as a martial arts teacher in my free time. That's why I thought myself to be at least somewhat professional, even if as my Beloved explained, I don't specifically have the experience of using my martial arts skills in… that kind of way." Talia had said.

"Okay," Clark looked from Bruce to Talia, back and forth. Slowly, he found himself nodding to both of their statements. "I take it that Talia, here, works part-time at a zoo, part-time as a doctor, and also part-time as a martial arts teacher…" From the uncertainty in his words, though, he clearly did not believe a word that came out of his mouth.

Bruce and Talia, on the other hand, both nodded with forced confidence. Talia pushed her previous large grin back on to her face. Neither action seemed to help in the slightest, though, with Clark still giving them a puzzled look in return.

"Great Scott, your life must be unimaginably hectic and busy! I'm sincerely surprised you had time to come visit us. Or even get married, for that matter."

Talia continued nodding, "It is. But I happened to have a break just at this right time, just like the fates wanted this to all work out. It's really wonderful to think about it– the fact that it all just wildly happened to work out. I'm incredibly happy it did, though. This has already been wonderful." The smile kept growing until the soreness came back.

"Good," Clark let out a smile, too, and luckily, his skepticism was beginning to fade.

Their food arrived after only a moment longer, breaking up any lingering awkwardness. Everyone was quickly swept up in trying the dishes, completely focused on that instead of bothering to question Talia and Bruce's ridiculous answers or ask them another difficult-to-answer question. Talia was quick to relax due to this, focusing her own attention to the food, as well. Bruce, on the other hand, with his general nature, was not.

"Mmmm," Talia slid the spoon into her mouth, instantly pleased. Bruce did so, as well, but was silent in reaction. The food was good, but not good enough to force him to express any kind of joy in this solemn, constantly-worrisome moment. Nonetheless, tons of the other people were repeating Talia's delighted sounds and exclamations, leaving Bruce alone in his frown, but as per usual, they hardly noticed the stark contrast at all.

For a good few minutes, everyone simply kept slurping up their food with great-but-bland excitement. These kinds of things made Bruce roll his eyes, which he was not about to hold back, but either way, they were a distraction. That, on the other hand, helped him relax, if only slightly. Eventually, they even made it back to the small talk, giving him even more time to relax. Overall, he got nearly a full fifteen minutes of a mix of small talk and simply unrelated discussion and topics before anything else nerve-wrecking happened.

But when it happened, it certainly happened significantly.

Yet, the discussion started off just as normally and dully as any of the other ones, if not more. The server had come around, asking if any of them wished to have a little something to drink— one member, most likely Clark, had generously bought the group a bottle of wine to share, and thus, it was being offered around to each and every person at the table.

That included Talia. Normally, it would mean nothing at all. Normally, she'd say yes most likely, or even if she said no, it still wouldn't have meant anything, either. But, as Bruce peered down at her belly nervously, he knew this would not be that time. It wasn't about her being an assassin, of course, but that did not mean it couldn't possibly destroy his friendships in a matter of seconds.

Unsurprisingly, when the server swiveled his head around to look directly at Talia in an offering gesture, she shook her head immediately. Then, just as unsurprisingly, her eyes glanced downward, vaguely close to where the baby's womb sat within her. A joyful, soft expression took over her face as she spoke her yet again expected, delicate answer— and from Bruce's perspective, quite a painful one.

"No thank you," she said. Her words were not loud, but they were certainly not quiet, either; everyone in remotely close vicinity could hear every single revealing, shocking word, even through the quite calm tone. "I'm pregnant."

Bruce buried his head in his hands, feeling not just his face, but his entire body become hot and bright red in overwhelming embarrassment.

Talia shifted herself to face him in response to the large movement, but her gaze was nothing compared to everyone else's speechlessly surprised stares at her, and even more boldly, the swelled belly below her. Her hands were softly wrapped around it protectively, quickly noticing the looks. Her own expression was starting to turn just as embarrassed as Bruce's, although not as extreme movement-wise.

"You're…. Pregnant?" At least four different people asked at the exact same time. Clark was definitely one of them, as was Diana, but Bruce was far too upset to even bother sorting out the other speakers.

Talia kept her eyes and head downward in a self-conscious manner, but slowly and uncertainly nodded. Every few seconds, she glanced upwards, though, just to give Bruce a frustrated, confused, and even slightly angry expression. He evaded looking back, though, already able to sense those strong, piercing emotions on the back of his neck. Even when he started forcing his body to pull itself up from the hunch, he kept his eyes from shifting to that dreaded corner.

"Privacy," Bruce spoke the word as if it was new and fresh to the listeners' ears, but in a condescending way, as if it was still old as any other to his own. His previous forced confidence was quickly flooding back into every element of his position. "I, as do the rest of you, and even more than that, Talia, deserve privacy. Friends, best friends, or even family are all well and good, but no matter who you are, privacy is a, erm… constitutional right."

Clark shook his head nonetheless, "That doesn't mean we're not allowed to be a little hurt that, on top of the whole getting married situation, you also didn't mention a single thing about how you're expecting a little baby. Even after we expressed our feelings about the first thing! It's not that– I mean– Bruce, my friend, please–"

There he was, getting emotional again. Bruce's eyes softened for a second, only to later become annoyed. He rolled them.

"Talia's the one that's pregnant." Bruce explained, sighing in a purposefully loud volume. He leaned into the table to look at Clark more directly, forcing them to make an eye contact so strong that both of them felt silently uncomfortable. "She doesn't know any of you. It would be rude of me to give out her health information without consent, after all."

"Then," Diana pointed out calmly, "Ask her for that consent."

"That would be rude, too." Bruce replied, quickly crossing his arms. He held his chin high in a way that was growing less and less confident and more and more stuck-up, with his frown also growing more and more into a pout. "She still doesn't know you. Why should she let strangers know of her intricate health information? And you want me to pressure her, too? Shameful."

A very similarly exasperated expression took over nearly every single person's face, other than Bruce's, including Talia's own. Bruce kept his own the same, pretending to not notice or care, but inside, he timidly gulped.

"That's a very unfair way of describing the very insignificant thing we're asking. We're not strangers to you, and you trust us, even if she doesn't necessarily." Diana reasoned, gesturing around with her palms facing the ceiling openly. "It's not like we're asking to know the details, either. We'd just be interested to know –Clark and I specifically, not even the less familiar members of course– when you're having giant, life-altering events in your life. Like, say, getting married… or having a baby…"

Talia sighed, "Beloved. I literally wouldn't have had a single issue with you telling them if you'd just, as they suggested, asked."

Meanwhile, the server was still there, standing right in front of Talia, watching the entire conversation go down awkwardly. His body was completely frozen in place, too unsure to make another move or go, but also too unsure to try to continue what his job from before. His arm was starting to get exhausted from holding up the order writing-pad and bottle of wine for so long. With this getting worse and worse, he eventually came up with the courage to interrupt.

"Hi, um…. I'm sorry, but could I possibly ask you whether you'd like any wine?" He was looking at J'onn now, who nonverbally signaled a gentle rejection of the offer.

Despite the fact that on a technical level, Bruce had been next, it seemed that was a person the waiter was purposely avoiding. This just made Bruce more annoyed, while also much, much more self-conscious. He finally took a deep breath and let the overdone confidence and stubbornness slip into neutral expressions, although still not loosening his body position otherwise.

"F…ine," he let out with that slow, calming breath. "I'm sorry."

Fortunately, this seemed to work well enough to calm the other member's nerves and frustrations, as well as Talia's. Their expressions softened slightly, as did their crisply tense muscles and clenched fists. They still weren't happy at all, but they were beginning to forgive and forget, it seemed.

Thus, he forced his mouth to continue, "If it means that much to you all, and if I'm upsetting you so much, I guess I can… try to get a little better about communicating and sharing important moments in my life." But suddenly, he started to pout again, changing the tone in a second. "Only you two, though. Not the entire league. I still need some boundaries and privacy, after all."

Clark nodded, "Thanks for at least making an effort now, Bruce."

Then, the cheerful, comfortingly bland tone took back up. Even if the lack of information was certainly an annoyance to Clark and Diana, beneath, they were overjoyed to hear that Bruce was going to have a baby. In fact, everyone there was quick and content with their 'congratulations'. Overall, everything was quite happy again. Everyone was happy again, specifically.

Including the waiter. He was finally able to comfortably ask the rest of the group, including Bruce, and swiftly move on to his next table.

"When's the due date?" Oliver asked, with his eyebrows raised curiously. He looked very directly at Talia, eyes locked with hers as he spoke the small, casual question. "Or, what month will it probably be in, if you don't know or don't want to give the specifics yet. Or even if that is too much for Bruce privacy-crazy Wayne, do you have any name ideas?"

Talia answered quickly but calmly, "The baby is going to be born around July or possibly late June, depending on how early or late the baby decides to start fighting its way out. But personally, I haven't given much of a thought to baby names yet. We still have plenty of time to decide at this point, of course. I'm only, I believe now around…. Four months in? We definitely have time."

"I've been thinking about it," Bruce stated the second she finished. "Even if we haven't really discussed it yet, I have plenty of ideas, Talia…. Or, well, I have one for male and one for female. Good ones, though. In fact, you don't really need to bother thinking it over yourself, Talia, because I'm sure we'll both agree to these." His tone was nearly monotonous through every word and sentence, but well-dictated nonetheless.

"What… are they?" Talia tilted her body in his direction, looking towards him in half curiosity, and half mild confusion. She waited patiently for his answer, which he hesitated no more than a second before saying.

"Martha," he answered, still in a strong monotone, "or Thomas."

"Oh," Talia's eyes widened at the quite familiar names, which he already talked about constantly without them even needing to have a baby named such things. She considered the concept of them, biting her lip as she did so. Her necklace, which strung low on her neck, felt cold against her fingers as she fiddled around with it aimlessly.

"Of course," Oliver mumbled from the other side of the table. His eyes widened slightly as well, although not nearly to the same extent as Talia's did. Clark and Diana's eyes did the same as his, while everyone at the table processed the obvious meaning behind those names— the very depressing, but also undeniably endearing, meaning.

As this was happening Talia slowly gave Bruce her hand. She gently slid it underneath his, wrapping her fingers around the middle of his palm. Then, she began to squeeze it; her grip was secure, and very heavy, but careful to still leave his hand enough space to rest comfortably. At this point, everyone had nearly completely forgotten about his previous actions and secret-keeping, replacing any annoyed expressions with looks of pure sympathy. Pity, Bruce worried some were.

"Beloved, I….Well…. that's a good idea. Those are good names," Talia reassured, squeezing his hand another time, but a kind of heistance was still more than clear. "We should probably look into more names than just that, though, of course. We can… think about it more, over these next few months. Maybe look through some baby names, to see one that has a good meaning, or a good ring to it. Something the baby will enjoy carrying with them. Which… your parents names could already serve as, of course, if that's… well…" Talia had begun to stutter.

"Hmmm?" Bruce quietly hummed a questioning sound.

"Oh, nothing. They're perfectly good names, and they mean a lot to you, and that's… sweet." Talia shrugged, "But I just think that, perhaps, once we get home we should talk about whether or not that's maybe… too much. For you." For the third time, her grip on his hand strictly tightened.

"What do you mean?" Bruce asked, finally opening his mouth again to verbally express his questioning emotions. He considered pulling his hand away from hers dramatically, but eventually found it pointless to do so, seeing as she still hadn't even answered. "That's not too much. Nothing with the memory of my wonderful parents could be 'too much'."

"Of course not," Talia smiled and nodded, only to then shake her head, "But this is… our baby's permanent name. Forever. That you'll be calling them. Forever."

Now was the moment that Bruce went through with his original idea of dramatically pulling his hand away. He crossed his arms and tucked it between them firmly, away from where Talia could reach or grab or futilely attempt to comfort. Despite this, though, he stayed fairly calm in tone when he replied. A little annoyed, sure, but still calm enough to not spark any concerns on Talia's side.

"No, they're the perfect names and there's no question about it. I don't know what you're thinking anymore, Talia. What could you possibly have against it?"

"Beloved, I…." she stuttered, feeling itches creep at the back of her neck. Talia now went straight back to fiddling around with her smooth, cold necklace pendants. "I just think that maybe dedicating your entire life to two people is maybe…. Enough? Forever? Even if they're your parents? It's not that the names are out of the—"

"Um, excuse me," Bruce interrupted. He somehow crossed his arms even tighter, huffing at her as he did so. "But my parents' names are literally the best names in the world. Did you even hear me? Thomas? Martha? Aren't they just beautiful? Don't they just fit our beautiful perfect endlessly happy future baby perfectly? As I already said before, Talia, you must be out of your mind if you think otherwise. Have you been feeling okay?" His expression quickly transformed into genuine worry with this last question. He not only let her take his hand again, but nudged her over to do so.

"Yes, I've… been feeling very good lately, actually. Very minimal morning sickness."

"Hmm," Bruce considered. His eyebrows instantly furrowed severely, and in the same motion, he leaned towards her protectively. "Could that be a bad sign somehow? Isn't a certain degree of those side effects normal and expected? I don't know about this. It really seems like maybe—"

"As the one with the medical license here," she repeated from their previous conversation. "No."

But fortunately for Bruce, that firm statement was quickly accompanied by a developing smile on Talia's face. As if she didn't quite think it was funny, and certainly not enough to laugh, but amusing enough to give her a light-hearted smile. Seeing this, Bruce started to feel it rub off on him; a developing smile was creeping onto his own face, as well, although much slower and more reserved than Talia's. Instead of continuing to argue, he planted a small kiss on her right cheek.

"Sorry. I need to stop worrying so much about it, I know. I just don't want anything bad happening to you… or the baby… you know that," he whispered. It was a loud whisper, granted, but still low enough to keep anyone too far away from processing any of his words. "But I'm working on it. I promise, and… well, it's probably best that I wait to convince you to officially go with Martha and Thomas until we're home, in better privacy.

"Of course," she replied happily, and his exaggerated confidence only made her amusement grow. Thus, her smile widened, and likewise, so did her husband's. They looked into each other's eyes lovingly, with their hands still firmly locked together in affection. It was a wonderfully positive, light-hearted sight, with all evidence of the previous argument disappearing.

Unfortunately, just like at the Justice League meeting, Bruce's smile was met with many less than content looks from his teammates.

Regardless, they went on with the dinner as usual. The topic quickly steered away from Talia and her relationship with Bruce now that they'd begun to get to know her, and instead, Arthur finally got to share his fish stories. Talia was a little confused, to say the least, but she kept quiet despite the many questions about how and why he was communicating with fish pondering her mind

Eventually, they also strayed from that topic, and the topic after that. Everyone had a good time, and a quite talkative time, but even more importantly than that, Bruce was starting to relax again. He'd gotten over the worst of it with Talia, it seemed. His friends had forgiven him. With every breath, this knowledge got lodged deeper and deeper into his brain, letting them get slower and smoother through his lungs. His guard was starting to fall, as well, if only a little. Then, he started to genuinely enjoy himself just the slightest bit. Not much, but even a slight bit was a surprise in this situation.

Until another lie came up, that was. Then, his breathing outright stopped, and his heart rate got faster and faster with every single one of the doomed words. It was casual, though. Bothersomely casual.

"Wow, time flies when you're having fun, right?" Clark peered through his dark brown-rimmed glasses at his watch, strapped on the end of his left wrist. "It's almost time for the bowling already. I guess we should probably start working on our last bites of dessert and get a move on. We don't want to run out of time there. It only stays open so long after dinner time, after all."

Talia's reaction, though discrete, was certainly there. She opened her mouth to speak, of course, but then opened it even wider than necessary to display a bit of surprise. Her eyes fluttered wide, as well, only to then squint in mild confusion. Bruce was staring at her this entire time, noticing every one of these quiet movements, and his own expression mimicked it. In fact, it was possibly even more surprised than hers.

"Oh," she commented. Her tone did not sound upset, fortunately, but Bruce found his body shaky from even the first word regardless. "I didn't realize there was anything other than this dinner. That's all Bruce mentioned. But, I suppose we didn't talk about it too much, so I can't really blame him for the lack of a warning. Besides, going bowling doesn't sound like a bad thing…"

For a moment, she considered these words. Her eyes squinted even more.

"Actually, I don't think I've ever been bowling," she admitted. Her pupils drifted to the side of her eyes, spontaneously peering to a wall. "It should be an interesting enough experience."

On its own, that reaction was fine, Bruce knew. Better than expected, if anything. But now it was the Justice League, especially Clark, who had to react to these statements— the ones that he had very bluntly, explicitly contradicted only a few days earlier. Needless to say, their expressions resembled more than just confusion. Any suppressed lingering frustration from the other secrets revealed earlier that conversation was spilling back out like an over-filled drink, filling the room with a kind of thick tension.

Clark's eyebrows furrowed, "Bruce."

It was said loudly and firmly, as if a signal of attention, yet even before it, Bruce had already had his eyes silently locked on Clark's. It carried much more than a call, of course, especially as their eye contact stayed so strong. Bruce kept rolling his eyes, over and over again, to distract Clark. Nonetheless, Clark's eyes narrowed in deep frustration, not at all taken back.

"Hmph," was the only verbal answer it seemed Clark would get from Bruce, and even it was barely audible above the restaurant's bustling noise.

After a few more seconds, Clark repeated himself, this time even louder, "Bruce. I think we both, as well as everyone else sitting at this table, know what's going on here. Especially you, actually. I think, probably, that's why you're rolling your eyes right now. You know what I'm talking about." Then, he leaned slightly closer to his friend. "You know exactly what I'm talking about."

"Alright, fine," Bruce grumbled. It was still barely audible, but at least fuller than his previous nonsensical noises. "Maybe, just maybe, I exaggerated the situation between Talia and bowling. She doesn't… actively dislike bowling, but she also doesn't like it, of course. Hardly a lie, if you ask me."

"That's… because I've never actually tried it… Beloved," Talia intersected. She crossed her arms, though very loosely– too tired to be overly firm with these constant frustrations. "I haven't exactly been given the chance to like it or dislike it, have I?"

"I… suppose if you try to look at it in a way that is biased against me, you could argue such a thing. If you thought about it too hard," he said, still grumbly in tone.

"I am saying this as the person you were… erm, fibbing about. What you said wasn't true. I wouldn't ever say that I disliked bowling, just that I had absolutely no experience… Which I've also never even told you. We've never talked about bowling with each other in our lives!" She exclaimed, letting her voice quickly rise in volume. "That was just a lie… to get out of going to this in the first place, I assume."

Abruptly, Bruce grabbed her hand out of its crossing, and held it tightly. So tightly, in fact, that it was obviously out of very little affection and more out of the mere desire to hold, in general. With his other hand, he reached behind one of Talia's ears. Simultaneously, he quickly leaned over mouth-first to whisper several rapidly-spoken, frantic sentences into the middle of her ear.

"Talia, Love, can you calm down and stop treating this like it was morally incorrect of me to do? I understand you have to make yourself seem as least suspicious as possible, but the way you're talking is only going to encourage their suspicions on me." he asked. "I obviously had no choice but to tell them those lies, considering at the time, the goal was for none of this to happen."

"But I want to go bowling," she complained in return, "and you're taking away this opportunity." They'd switched roles now, with her gently cupping her hands around his ear and talking into it, instead.

"That is not worth making me out to be worse than I am, Talia." His already-stark frown was deepening by every millisecond. "To put together a proper lie, especially when you're doing it with a companion like in this scenario, it's absolutely vital that you encourage them to think as lowly of everyone involved's suspicion as possible. What you're doing here is taking away from our entire plan, as well as making the–"

"I was… also genuinely upset with you, Beloved."

"Why?" One of Bruce's eyebrows immediately stuck up in a mix of confusion and a slightly offended expression. They were still holding hands, so he decided to discreetly pull his own hand away, if only a couple centimeters. "I was just trying to help keep everything at peace here, and that would generally mean desperately avoiding confrontations at all costs. Do you want them finding out that you're one of the FBI's most wanted, or not?"

"I'm actually not very high on the list," she corrected. The switching was getting a little bizarre now, with their swiftly-swiveling heads and necks, as well as the rapidly-dropping arms and uncurling fingers. It was getting tiring, as well, but still certainly not tiring enough for them to suddenly stop. Thus, Talia curled her fingers over his outer ear even more. "My father simply is, and I suppose I could be considered guilty by association."

"That's not very fair," Bruce quickly changed the conversation– a conscious, purposeful choice of his, even. Talking about his little whites lies was certainly not a very pleasant conversation for him, and this was definitely a good way to avoid it (just like he'd very unsuccessfully avoided this whole dinner). "You didn't choose to be his daughter, after all."

"Well, from the FBI's perspective, even if I didn't choose my blood relation to such a criminal, I did 'choose to work for him'." Talia explained, "But even that, considering what a young age I started working for him, and just the… general situation, is arguably still untrue."

"Plenty of people choose to work for him. Thousands, I'm guessing." Bruce pointed out, still persistent in both changing the topic, and genuinely defending Talia against the law enforcement's extreme views. "But you, I'm sure, are singled out merely for that blood relation. The majority of his other employee's have no-doubt committed worse, or at least more frequent, crimes than you have."

Clark, Diana, and the rest of the Justice League members surrounding them had already been suspicious enough from the lying, and to Bruce's dismay, him and Talia's constant whispering was doing very little to help the matter at hand. Although much too invested in the conversation to notice too many of them, Bruce was getting tons of increasingly-upset expressions from his teammates.

They continued anyway.

Talia nodded, "It's my power in the League, I'm guessing. I may have less blood on my hands than many of them, but I also know a lot more intricate details about my father and his plans than they would." Bruce nodded, but still didn't have them switch again, so she continued. "Knowledge is power, of course, regarding both my status and the FBI's own abilities. If they were to capture me, like they want to so badly, they could possibly wreck the entire organization– provided that they somehow managed to get me to crack and spill the information they would need. And, they can of course justify this under the premise that 'murder is murder' even if the amount and type of victims vary."

Bruce kept listening and listening, until she eventually temporarily ran out of thoughts on the topic and naturally came to a bit of a pause. Now, he ceased in his own nodding, and turned to face her. His eyes met hers, and with this clear cue, she let her cupped-hands instantly drop. Then, just like every other time, he swiftly responded.

"They do have a point," Bruce stated, "Killing is always very wrong, even if the focus is a bit arbitrary considering you're definitely not one of the worst killers out there."

Despite some possible bit of offense on Talia's side, that statement itself was all well and good. His wording was fine, the topic was related, and it made his point quick and clear to his one listener. Except, of course, that it was not one listener he had anymore– in fact, he had at least eight. Everyone at the table, to be exact.

Somehow, in their grand scheme of whispering and swiveling heads, Bruce had gotten just a little too tired of it, and somehow, as he listened to Talia's long answer, he'd completely forgotten about it altogether. Therefore, somehow, he'd ended up announcing Talia to be a 'killer' in front of every single one of his friends.

At this point, the Justice League giving him weird looks would be a gross understatement. They sat in rageful awe.

"Wow, that sounded terrible out of context," he quickly remarked, in some desperate attempt to soften the blow. Talia put on a small nervous smile, as well, but less to agree with him and more out of sincerely timid emotions. Bruce, on the other hand, simply forced himself to keep calm. "I'm sorry, we were just talking about the edicate of a certain… What do the children call it? Niche video game? Indie?"

"Whatever the word is," she instantly agreed, though still keeping her awkward expression. "It's a game where you can kill people, but just like in real life, if they are your allies or friends, it's considered quite... dishonorable. Although, unlike real life, where killing is very, very morally incorrect and none of us would ever do it…. Especially me, may I add… killing your enemies is a simple, necessary aspect of the game. My Beloved was simply stating that, regarding your own allies, killing is always very wrong. You'd need the context."

Diana facepalmed, "And some people say Clark's methods of secret-keeping are absolutely ridiculous."

"At least they work," Clark muttered to himself, but the second he'd finished speaking those first few words, he abruptly heightened his voice to directly speak to Bruce and Talia. "This, on the other hand, is never going to work. I know you think we're gullible, Bruce, but this? Really? You think we're not a little suspicious of the fact that you've been coming up with half-baked lies this entire dinner, and then, when you explicitly describe your wife as a murderer, you come up with an even less-baked lie."

"Are we really going to do this?" Bruce asked, forcing exaggerated frustration and annoyance into his voice. "Frankly, I'm offended that you assume everything I say is a lie. That's much worse than whatever 'suspicious' behaviors you think I'm exhibiting. People say that I'm the one that's distrustful, but it seems like it's pretty obviously you."

"Bruce, please. Video games? You?"

"My wife got me into them. I'm just trying to make her happy, alright? It's a multiplayer game and she didn't have anyone to play with. What was I supposed to do? Just leave her hanging?" Bruce swiftly fibbed. Fortunately, his lies finally started to get a bit more smooth– or the defensive excuses for them, at least. "Besides, Dick also likes to play it, so I already knew some about it from him."

Unfortunately for him, from the other side of the table, a deep voice spoke. As if things weren't bad enough, as he spoke, J'onn slowly began to raise his fingers to the sides of his temples and firmly tapped.

"I'm getting tired of this," he loudly announced, tapping his forehead a couple more times. "Normally, I would refrain from breaking anyone's privacy who wasn't a supervillain, but… I believe we're all starting to doubt that second part already." Then, with those last words haunting Bruce's mind, he shut his eyes.

"Go ahead," Bruce quickly suggested, "read… my mind. I have nothing to hide." In a completely opposite action, he instantly began to mediate himself into putting up a blank mind trick for Martian Manhunter to see instead. At the same time, he still watched J'onn carefully, begging him to follow his words.

"Alright,"

For a second, Bruce sighed. For no more than that second, though. The next, he found himself struggling to make even the shakiest of breaths. J'onn was not finished agreeing— not at all.

"But, since I assume then neither of you have anything to hide, I'm going to stick to just reading your wife's direct mind. She's the one we're most suspicious of, after all." he said, with his eyes still tightly shut and his mind still deeply focused. "Which I'm sure will not be a problem, since according to you, there's nothing sinister, secretive, or otherwise suspicious going on here at all."

Talia immediately spun her head around to look at Bruce. Her eyes were wide but still, staring at him in petrified worry. As much as he tried not to, seeing as it would only hurt them, Bruce found himself returning that terrified look back at her. Surely she knew some kinds of meditation that she could use to slightly clear her mind, but specific mind-blocking ones he doubted, especially considering that reaction. The League of Assassins rarely fought any kind of meta-humans at all, and certainly not telepaths.

Bruce was really starting to regret pushing away the idea of even attempting to teach her a simple mind-trick of two.

Talia was instinctively trying the meditation, though. It was better than nothing, after all. Each breath going in and out was slow and calculated, and internally, she frantically attempted to use that calmness to think about nothing but those breaths. Unfortunately, with the worries still escalating by the second, all it achieved was her thinking about why she was doing this meditation in the first place.

Martian Manhunter got his answer almost instantaneously upon entering her mind, and he was not pleased.

He opened his eyes, and dropped his arms and tapping fingers, as well as his entire focused state. As he spoke his next sentence, he barely managed to stay calm; the anger, shock, and overwhelming disappointment in his voice battled against each other to make a perfectly default volume, though. Similarly, it came out as an almost bland, dull monotone from that same overwhelming mix of emotions.

"From what I can see, your wife," he declared, "is a professional assassin."

"—In the video game? Of course I am. But fiction is very, very different from reality. Surely none of you are foolish enough to genuinely believe otherwise." Talia corrected, frowning. "I'm sorry for any of the miscommunication that has gone down tonight, but that doesn't mean you can accuse me of murder over it. It's not my fault I happened to be thinking a lot about the video game when you decided to read my mind."

But the entire Justice League was already staring (and glaring) at her, absolutely speechless.

"I'm not that bad of a mind-reader, Miss." J'onn sighed, before quickly hardening his expression at her into much more clear, obvious anger. His voice rose. "You are Talia al Ghul, daughter, employee, and second-in-command to the international mass-murdering supervillain by the name Ra's al Ghul. It's quite difficult for you to hide your entire life, isn't it?"

She sighed in defeat, "...yes,"

Clark got up, and then Diana got up, and then everyone began to get up, still glaring harshly at Talia. She took several deep breaths, but was clearly struggling to stay calm with this entire Superhero team suddenly on her back, without the least warning or time for preparation. She now got up herself, only to take a few fumbling steps backwards, so distracted that she nearly tripped on her chair.

Talia opened her mouth again nervously, half just stalling, "You might be surprised to learn, considering how confident you are of your telepathic skills, that what you just said is partially untrue, though. You described me as his second in command, which I am certainly not, despite my familial connection to him."

"I… don't think that, on its own, is really going to help with—" Bruce started to whisper, only to be swiftly interrupted.

"Actually, now I'm curious," J'onn's eyes narrowed and squinted slightly in reserved but distinct curiosity. Now, he was standing, with his arms crossed firmly over his chest, but his voice and tone had become surprisingly normal despite it. "If not you, who possibly would be the second-in-command? Does he have some kind of friend, or just a fellow highly-skilled assassin?"

"My husband," Talia pointed to Bruce, who was already bright red in embarrassment.

"WHAT?!" Clark, without missing a beat, exclaimed. He stomped right over to look Bruce directly in the eyes. "Let me get this straight— You, my closest friend in the entire world and solar system, are working for and with Ra's 'murder all humanity' al Ghul, as his second-in-command of all things?!"

He spoke these extremely concerning words loud. Very loud, in fact. Bruce had already been worried enough when he realized that everyone at that table was going to learn about Talia's criminal deeds, but the second he'd realized that would likely expand to the entire restaurant, his fear was unimaginable. Though the expressions were mixed (fear, confusion and anger being the main three), everyone in that room was eyeing them.

"I can explain—"

"Can you?" Clark countered. He kept getting angrier and angrier by the second, with his eyebrows slanted downward at Bruce, and his fists tense. "This is a serious betrayal! He's not just any old enemy, he's a full-fledge, world-threatening, extremely murderous and absolutely pure evil supervillain! You can't just come up–"

"Excuse me," Talia poked her finger upwards as she interrupted his angry words. Then, as everyone finally looked at her, she tightly crossed her arms and stuck her chin up high. "My father is not world-threatening. He is humanity-threatening. Technically, he's never tried to hurt the earth itself, and in fact, quite loves the planet and everything on it… except humans. But even then, he's not 'murder all humanity', he's 'murder nine-tenths of–"

"Talia, please," Bruce reached around the right side of Clark, weaving his hands until they gently touched the tip of Talia's. With this touch, he attempted to calm her. "You're really, really not helping."

"Is this your type, Batman?! People who defend not just murder, but near omnicide?" Clark asked accusingly. "Because if so, you have a very bad type, and I know I said before that I'd help you find a new date if you ever ended up lonely and single, but honestly? This…. I don't think I can work with whatever this is."

"That's alright, I'm already married without any help needed." Bruce shrugged, only to then tense up again. "But you know what it isn't alright?"

"What? The fact that you willingly joined a supervillain just because you thought his daughter was very attractive?!" Clark boomed. His face was scrunched up in a way that was half intimidating, and half just looked like he was about to start tearing up. "You're right, it's not alright. We thought you were a genuinely good person, Bruce, but now… I'm really starting to doubt that, okay? Was your non-killing rule even a real thing?"

"I… was actually more thinking the fact that you're spilling everyone's secret identities, but sure."

"Oh," Clark finally looked around himself. His cheeks began to heavily blush until, with the more he observed, his entire face had the heavy red tint covering it. Everyone was still very much staring and many were even slightly listening. They were already completely and utterly screwed, far before Bruce got the slightest chance to make a comment on it. The same extreme look of worry that had been often plaguing Bruce and Talia's faces quickly came over his own.

The poor waiter had come back to check on them again, hoping they were still calm like when he'd left, but now, he stood in even more shock and discomfort than with the previous argument. The situation between Superman and Batman was clearly bothering him, but nowhere near the fact that he'd also overheard their conversations on Talia— he stared at her, but once she'd returned the glare, he immediately twisted his head back to completely miss her. The server was absolutely terrified.

"Beloved, I, erm… think we should probably get going?" Talia suggested, glancing around herself anxiously. Her arms were wrapped around her body, squeezing the other side's shoulders and rubbing up and down the opposing forearms. "I'd rather avoid dealing with… any of this. At all. Your quite angry friends, the confused crowds, the… just everything."

"So would I," Bruce agreed, but he neglected to nod or move an inch towards the door. His eyes were glued on the people around them, now tilting away from Clark. A few of those people were starting to look a little bit angry, as well. "But… I think we have to. They heard us, and I'm certain even when I walked in, plenty of them recognized me as the celebrity I am."

Clark took several feet away from Bruce. He was doing the same as Talia; glancing around, scanning the other tables for hints and social cues, and doing so in swift nerves. His face was still very, very red, but as their fates settled deeper and deeper into his thoughts, it began to fade. Hopelessness at its finest, no doubt. Yet, on the other hand, his redness did nothing to spark hope either– it just emphasized the suspicions for the spectators. This in mind, Clark took his eyes off those spectators, and looked to Bruce. He put a firm, grasping hand on the man's lower left shoulder.

"I'm sorry," Clark gulped, hardly noticing the movement. "As much as I think your wife needs her crimes revealed and to be punished so she won't take any more lives, I guess I got a little too caught up in being angry. I forgot we were in public, and I definitely, definitely forgot to control my voice and words accordingly."

"It doesn't matter now— apologies aren't going to clean this up for us."

"I'm not sure there is any hope of cleaning this up!" Clark said it in an exclamation as far as expressional tone, but still made sure to limit his true volume this time. He glanced downwards shamefully, biting his tongue so hard it began to sincerely feel sore from it. "If we could just erase little bits of people's memories, or if I could try flying backwards around the earth super fast, or… just, anything, but I'm not sure those would work or are really possible at the moment."

"Perhaps we don't need magic, then." Talia pointed out. She rubbed the bottom of her chin in deep thought. "Hmm… over the many years of my father's life, he has kept many secrets from the entirety of society, and I'm sure has had many slip-ups similar to these, but he always figured them out, despite his lack of powers. I wonder what worked so well for him. Surely, there's—"

"Murder," Both Bruce and Clark answered in unison.

"—Which we're definitely not even considering doing, especially not on this many people. Innocent people, may I add." Bruce finished, profusely shaking his head at the mere concept of such a terrible crime. He began to rub his chin, as well. "Hmmm…"

"Obviously not," Talia slowly nodded, "But that wasn't what I was thinking of. I'd expect Clark to think that lowly of me, considering our lack of familiarity, but Beloved, please. I'm not that murderous— and you're right, this is a very large crowd. That means we've got to make an excuse that every single one of the people will fully believe, which obviously will not be easy."

Oliver took several steps towards them, nodding along to Talia's words, "There's plenty of amnesia methods out there, that technically we could widely disperse, though. The main issue there is that it could most likely be dangerous or overactive to some of the people we'd have to give it ..."

"Or even deadly," Dinah, right behind him, added.

"Although you're right on that, we're starting to run out of choices." J'onn stated, pointing to the many puzzled, scared, intrigued and even shaky observers. He vaguely scanned his finger over the whole area to illustrate just how many there were. "Took a small peak into just a couple of the civilians' minds, and let me just say that it appears they're definitely not about to immediately accept some half-baked excuses."

"But their lives are a million times more important than our secret identities, frankly. It's not their fault that they ended up in the wrong place at the wrong time, and it's certainly not their fault that Clark got so emotionally reckless." Bruce gave Clark a quite unpleasant look from the corner of his eye. "We're not going to endanger anyone's safety— at all, and that's the end of that. Whatever that means for us, we're just going to have to deal with."

"I'm still confused about your non-killing rule…" Clark gave the exact look directly back. His hopeless remorse was starting to wear off, perhaps a little too much. "You're a member of the League of Assassins, an organization full of, as the name suggests, assassins and not really anything else, yet you claim to be completely against murder. Probably the most of all of us, if anything. It makes no sense. How have you managed to keep up your duties as Ra's' second in command without—"

Bruce interrupted him, intensifying his own glaring, "Oh, shush. I'm not the one that may or may not have just destroyed almost all of our lives."

"Well, I can try the whole unwinding the Earth idea to fix it. I promise, I'll do whatever it takes, and that idea has got to at least be worth a try, even if it doesn't end up working." Clark thought aloud. He quickly became the third person to start rubbing his chin. "If turning one way goes forward, turning another way goes backwards."

"I'm… pretty sure that's not how that works." Diana squinted her eyes, frantically attempting to grasp where Clark had even come up with such a bizarrely unscientific conclusion. "Considering it's definitely not going to work, and the civilians are already waiting for some kind of answer, I believe it's best if you don't fly off to do it. The more we wait, the more everything gets very, very suspicious."

"Perhaps we can just come up with an excuse, though. If we pull it off well enough, that is. Which is unlikely, but we're desperate enough that it's probably worth a try… more tries than Clark's spinning-earth-back idea, at least." Bruce muttered. Clark pouted at the last part.

Then, just as he was finished suggesting the extremely vague, half-baked idea, they all heard a voice, audible yet meek, coming from just to the left of their large table. At the exact same time, everyone turned over to look at the speaker. Matching the small voice, he was quite short, as well. Not extremely short per se, but a tad off average, and certainly small compared to Superman and Batman's tall, dynamic figures.

The waiter, it seemed, had finally worked up the courage to say something.

"We all… We all heard you guys when you mention that, um… she, over there," he stated, pointing directly at the middle of Talia's torso, "Is an, um, killer. Brutal Murderer. Professional assassin, whatever you called it. And, erm… I think I might call the police." He took a few steps back at the last sentence, still looking fearfully at Talia, silently begging for her not to kill him.

"Please," Talia instantly pulled herself together, letting the anxiety drain from her face and general stance. Now, her body tensed with a quite different kind of emotion, directed right at the poor server. "Listen to me— I only mean this as a simple warning. If I were you, I wouldn't be calling anyone. Not on me." Slowly and methodically, she took a step towards him.

With these words, the waiter's expression somehow got even more absolutely terrified, nearly reaching the limit of eye-widening that his face could even go.

Seeing this, Talia turned back to the group, her own eyes widened, "Whatever it is we're going to do, we need to do it fast. The longer we wait, the worse it gets, and the more stressed and ill-headed we become, as well. We need to think of something now, especially considering I would be very, very surprised if that poor boy was the only one scared enough to call the police."

"Yes, obviously," Bruce and many of the other Justice League members were still tapping their chins, forehead and whatnot, while silence suddenly took over. They needed a solution now, but the pressure did no more than make them fidget, shake, and vibrate with nerves, instead of making them think harder at all. The amount of upsetting, noisy exclamations from the on-lookers getting louder and louder by the second didn't help the situation, either. Thus, this lasted much, much too long. The exclamations were absolutely booming by the time anyone spoke again.

"I have an idea," Talia said.

"Do you?" Clark raised an eyebrow in disbelieving amusement, but a moment later, went back to deeply frowning. "Does it involve a lie as ridiculous and dumb as the one you are your husband just told a few minutes ago, or is it a genuinely good plan that won't get us in even more trouble."

"Well…" she stuttered, glancing side to side nervously. "It's still an idea."

"At this point, any idea at all is good… or at least, more than worth a try. We're running out of options here, Clark." Bruce reminded him. He then turned to Talia and firmly nodded his head in encouragement. He softly smiled at her. "Go on, Talia. Show us your plan, and even though he's a bit grumpy, I'll make sure Clark follows your every word, alright? Just go ahead and I'll—"

The minute the smile had started coming on, everyone was already getting bothered by Bruce's emotions enough, but when he started accusing Clark of being the grumpy, pessimistic one, their stares turned into mildly astounded expressions. Nonetheless, seeing as no one else had ideas than Talia, none of them bothers to comment on it— except Clark, of course.

"Hey, Bats," he whispered, "for the record, I am not grumpy. I am simply rightfully suspicious and skeptical of her, the murderous criminal you call your wife… And by the way, if any idea at all is good, why was my idea about turning the world backwards so quickly shut down? That idea was as good if not better than hers is, I'm sure."

"You're right," Bruce rolled his eyes. "I mean to say, 'any idea within reason'."

Clark's jaw dropped open at the insulting words, clearly resisting the urge to argue back. But, unfortunately for him, before he got so much as a word out, Talia had already started running up to the front of the restaurant. Standing tall and projecting her voice to the fullest extent, she began to go through with her spur-of-the-moment plan, and aside from Clark, all of the Justice League was following her.

"It is very clear that many of you, ease-dropping or not, heard the commotion that my table and I were making. I'm very, very sorry for the inconveniences that may have caused any of you. I'm also aware that some things were said that may come off as odd or even disturbing to those who heard it without context, but I assure you, there is nothing sinister going on her at all– and I'm definitely not a murderer… in real life, at least. I'm not some kind of… crazy person. I promise," she began.

The rest of them timidly nodded along to her words, now standing just to the stage-left of her. At the same time, they all watched her, impatiently waiting for whatever it was she had up her sleeve.

"The real situation, and what we were talking about with those bizarre remarks, was simply us being a bit rude to each other at most. A bit too sensitive on one side, but a bit too offensive on one. Not murderous or criminal, though." Then, she took a deep breath, before finally starting to state her explanation.

"We were just talking about video games."

Many audience-members let exhausted, frustrated, or even scared expressions take over their faces at the ridiculous claim. Many of the people beside her, in fact, did the same. But no one, in the entire humongous room, had quite as upset of an expression as Clark did. It half resembled a scowl, and half just a look of complete and utter disbelief. He leaned over and stuck his mouth near Bruce's ear.

"You have got to be kidding me," he whispered, still scowling harshly at Talia from the side. "You can say whatever you want about my quite complex, well-thought-out idea, but this? Do you really think this is an improvement? The same excuse that already didn't work and, for all we know, someone could've already heard get debunked."

"Oh shush, at least it has a chance of working."

Right on time to prove him completely and utterly wrong, a quite vocal spectator suddenly jumped up from her chair and responded to Talia, in a completely and utterly frustrated, angry tone. The person was crossing her arms as tight as they would go, and same as Clark, was scowling at Talia.

"Miss, are you joking?" she exclaimed. "We heard the conversations between you. We heard the talk of murderers and criminals in a terribly realistic light. We heard the genuine anger in your friends' voices. The betrayal. People don't act like that over simple, fictional video games. It'd be ridiculous if they did— those things are just for fun. But the taking of a real person's life? That's not fun, is it?"

"I–" Talia was quickly caught off-guard by the argument. An uncomfortable blush took over her face. "Well, obviously, someone does. They're just very invested, that's all… Just, as I already said, quite sensitive."

"See?" From the side, Clark quietly whispered to Bruce in an annoyed tone yet again.

Meanwhile, Talia continued talking, as well. With each word, she began to grow confidence. Forced confidence, somewhat, but visible confidence nonetheless. Her blush was beginning to fade, fortunately, and her arguments were coming together a little bit, though admittedly not a huge amount, or enough that Clark wasn't still rolling eyes at every single turn.

"Are you shaming them for that?" she asked the woman, eyes narrowing accusingly. "Are you shaming them for having fun with a harmless video game? For getting interested in it? For their emotional attachments to it? Because even that seems a bit ageist, don't you think? Everyone should be allowed to have fun with fiction…. Or honestly, are you really shaming them for their emotions overall, not even just the attachments to this game? They're mostly men, too. Do you believe men should not express emotions, lest they are 'ridiculous'?"

"That's clearly not what I'm saying," The woman replied. Exasperation taking over her voice, she quickly and dramatically facepalmed at Talia's points.

But surprisingly, especially to Clark (who had rolled his eyes at least three times in the last ten seconds), not everyone had that same reaction. Some of them, in fact, had the opposite look— slowly, a small table from the book, filled entirely with men, nodded along righteously. One of them, who was even wearing a video-game-themed shirt, steadily pushed himself off of his chair and opened his mouth wide, preparing to yell out his own words.

"She's right," he agreed. "Who are you to tell these people how they can and can't interact with the things they enjoy? Who are you to call them 'too old' or 'too sensitive' or 'too ridiculous' or 'too genuine' or even 'too much'? Who are you to shame or criticize them for anything at all?" He crossed his arms.

"I never shamed them for any of that, I simply explained that it seems unrealistic that it's what's going on here. I don't think I used a single one of those words, as a matter of fact. I was just talking about the way they put the specific things which are being questioned here, such as her being a murderer, and how they seemed very serious on it."

"Oh, so now you think they're 'too serious' about their interests? You think they should put the parts of the game in a different way just so they adhere to your own preferences?" he argued, before Talia even had the chance to get her own thoughts on the matter. She blinked as she watched him just keep fighting this argument for her. "You shame others for so many things but you know what? I think that's the most shameful thing of all."

The poor woman facepalmed again, but fortunately for Talia, many other people were nodding to the man's loud, accusing questions and bold statements. Without her needing to do a single thing more, most started to believe her– or at the very least, were too focused on the argument going on to pay attention or remember the fact that there was still a murderer standing right in front of them.

"You really shouldn't celebrate before you've even won, Clark." Bruce eyed Clark, mumbling the words just loud enough for him to hear.

"There was—" Clark's eyes were wide, still only beginning to process the scene in front of him. He could barely get a word out of his mouth, absolutely astonished that they weren't still getting screamed at. He looked back and forth from Bruce to the crowd, faster and faster each turn. "That… How did that work?"

"Talia's just that good, apparently," Bruce shrugged. A strong, wide smirk covered his face, directed precisely towards Talia's direction, although even she had an expression extremely similar to Clark's at this point. "You shouldn't judge a book from the cover. Just because she's a little… morally ambiguous, so to speak, does not mean she's not a lovely, intelligent woman."

"But how?!" Clark whined. Bruce neglected to respond, though, simply turning around and following the rest of the League towards the door.

But of course, before they left, they made sure to come by their table not just to pay the check adequately, but also leave the waiter a very, very big tip. Fortunately, the look on his face upon seeing it almost completely covered the previous terror in his eyes. To say he was overjoyed would've been a huge understatement; his excitement was unbelievable.

Once they were outside, everyone immediately began to discuss the bizarre situation. Clark and Talia had much to discuss, mostly. Clark was still very, very bitter over her ridiculous win, and Talia was still a bit nervous about the murderer reveal. Thus, both had their heads low, and their voices even lower. Eye contact, likewise, was absolutely non-existent. Bruce, though, was in a surprisingly good mood after Talia had somehow fixed Clark's petty mistake.

Bruce tapped Clark on the shoulder, and then pointed to Talia, "You should thank her. You could've doomed us there but she, being the gloriously intelligent woman I chose to marry, managed to clean up your mess. Wasn't that nice of her? To use her smarts to pick up the downfall of you, the person who was so rude to her before, of all people?"

"That was… That was luck, Bruce. She's clearly not that smart if she thought there was even a good chance of that working– if she even had the confidence to do it." Clark argued, but he still kept the arguments to a volume that only Bruce could hear, clearly avoiding Talia for either reaction.

"Fine then," Bruce shrugged, letting his smirk grow even more, pure amusement plaguing his every move. "If you want such an intelligent assassin on your back."

"I'm Superman," Clark muttered, very very low this time to be sure they didn't have a repeat of what happened last time they were having this kind of conversation. "I can defeat her— easily, probably. Whatever happened here has nothing to do with her assassin skills, or her intelligence. Luck, Bruce. Luck."

"Sounds like somebody's in denial. Seriously, Clark. Grow up. Talk to her. She's not that bad of a person once you get to know her. Not as murderous as it sounds like she'd be, given her quite… dubious ancestry." Bruce turned his head to look at Talia, subtly narrowing his eyes at her with that last thought. "Although granted, even Ra's isn't quite as bad as you'd think he'd be based on some of the descriptions people like us throw on him."

"Okay. Maybe you could be slightly right about your wife, since this is the first time we've met, although I wouldn't be surprised if you're just biased, but him? I've met him. I know from personal experience that he is that bad." Clark crossed his arms, and with that movement, let his voice rise, growing in confidence. "Sure, it was a very brief meeting, but you could just tell. He's got evilry in his eyes. You can tell by just a glance, and I'm betting that some of that evilry has spread to the woman you call your 'beloved'."

"Wow," Bruce rolled his eyes. His smirk quickly transformed into a deep, frustrated frown, while his eyes quickly turned back to Clark to direct it right at him. "You're just making less and less scientific sense by the moment, aren't you, Clark?"

"She's just… bad. Alright? And I'm not going to let my conscience surrounding that be diminished by some lucky 'intelligence'." Clark deeply frowned back at Bruce. "It's really, really unfair to the other villains. The way you're acting is even more unfair, though. You're suddenly alright with murderers if they're pretty and smart enough to marry? Is that how this works now? You know, we never actually discussed the whole 'Ra's' second in command' situation. I thought you had a no-killing rule! Are you just saying this because you're just as much of–"

"No. Of course not, Clark. You can't seriously think that low of me." Bruce shook his head over and over again, quicker each time. "I, as a matter of fact, have been in the process of teaching his 'assassins' not to kill. It's actually working quite well for some of them, aside from the really dedicated killers, and Ra's himself doesn't seem to mind. I'm not sure he actually knows I'm doing it, though, and I'm not exactly about to bring it up. I've still got to keep my marriage intact."

"Yes, yes," Clark nodded along sarcastically, "Because your marriage to this murderous assassin is more important that your morals."

"Are you implying that my keeping this from her father to stay married to Talia is a matter of morals? You did realize the person I'm… sort of lying to is even more of a murderer than the person I'm married to, right?" Bruce cocked an eyebrow, amused by these thoughts. Clark, on the other hand, was less than pleased.

"That's not what I mean. You know that's not what I meant."

"How would I? That's what it sounded like you were saying. What other morals am I breaking by reforming brainwashed assassins? Or former assassins, I should say, for the cooperative ones. Some of them are really working out, I'm telling you! Believe it or not, Talia's definitely not one of the uncooperative ones, either, although I don't really even have the power in the League to boss her around. She's just not that bad in the first place— That's what I've been trying so hard to tell you."

"I have a hard time believing that. Are you sure you're not just biased, or even lying to my face just to get me to be kind to your terrible wife?" Clark's voice was starting to raise even more, to the extent that Talia could make out some of the things. She tried to hold back a bitter glare.

Bruce's voice was raising, as well, "She's not terrible, if you'd only listen to me. She's just complicated."

"That sounds like quite the avoiding excuse. She's a murderer, Bruce! A murderer! She's as bad as the villains get! She's working with someone who has committed genocide, even. For all we know, she could've committed genocide before! What is wrong with you, thinking that kind of person is just 'complicated'?"

"I'm quite confident she's never committed genocide before. That seems like something I would've figured out by this point in her relationship, being the world's greatest detective and all. Honestly, that's ridiculous. I've seen her cry over killing people so many times, and you think she has the guts to commit genocide? Really?"

"Yes yes, of course she would force tears on to her face when committing murder in front of her anti-killing beloved."

Fortunately, there wasn't anyone around other than their one group, and as Clark noticed that, he'd started completely disregarding any attempt to not scream out each word. It was more than clear that, despite his momentary change of focus, he was still just as angry at both Bruce and Talia as he'd been earlier. His arms were crossed, his face was tense, and every so often he would even stomp or loudly tap his feet in anger.

"She wasn't faking it," Bruce argued. Now, he felt his own feet stomp down in return. "As I already said, I'm the world's greatest detective, and I also know her exceptionally well. She's not nearly as bad as you think she is. I don't like her murderous tendencies any more than you do, trust me, but she still still deserves credit where it's due— the only reason she's a murderer is because her father is, not because she is naturally sadistic." He could feel low, grumbly huffs of air escape from his lips the second he was done talking.

Talia, on the other hand, had managed to hold in any arguments with Clark, or huffs of air at the insults he'd persistently thrown at her. She was unhappy, of course, and barely resisting, but her visible expression was fairly calm despite it. However, she eventually grabbed Bruce's arm and tugged him over to where they could have a conversation in slightly more privacy. Once there, her eyes lit up with a mix of anger and just general upsetness.

"Beloved, I—" She took a big deep breath. "I really, really think we should start heading home now."

Bruce paused before answering, simply looking at her blankly for a moment. His mouth lay in a fairly neutral position, or at the very least, did not move much from where it had been before. Nonetheless, after that moment began to stretch in a minute, he took a deep breath himself. "I…. suppose you're probably right. This has definitely gone on too long."

They stood together, still listening to the Justice League's loud arguments in the background. Some of their poor civilian dates had finally begun to say their own opinions on the matter, with the previous shock, startle and discomfort starting to wear off and escape from their frazzled minds. The arguments were heated to say the least, with everyone's voices even higher than their stress levels, but they seemed to be coming to a consensus.

"Talia al Ghul is a murderer. A dangerous criminal. Whether she's Batman's wife or not, we can't just let her go." Diana was currently pointing out, with her hand stretched out in a suggesting gesture. "It could cost people's lives. People with loved ones devastated, even innocent people. People who we'd be letting down. Especially by letting her go for such an insignificant, meaningless reason."

Many of the others were quick to nod along to this statement, with some even adding on to it with their own, only to be agreed with just as thoroughly.

"Will Clark… Will any of your friends, actually…" Talia spoke the words slowly, as if the wrong one next could shatter both of them like fragile glass. "Will they even let us go? We talked so much about the prospect of my arestment if we messed up, and clearly we did mess up. How powerful are your friends? Do you think we could defeat them? Do you think they're alright with angering my father, on top of me and my own power?"

"Frankly, I wouldn't be surprised if plenty of them had already angered your father. By existing, even. By being a superhero, or perhaps, by even being a human." Bruce's words had slowly as well, though not nearly as much as hers. "Obviously, not as much as they would be by capturing you, but they're not exactly about to care about what danger they're getting in with a supervillain. They find it routine, same as I do."

"But are they powerful enough to even do it in the first place?" she asked. Her right arm was wrapped around her shoulder, slung over it in a manner that was half aimless and half very carefully nervous.

Bruce glanced backwards. He looked at the many members, and he thought of their powers— especially Wonder Woman's, and her pure lack of a kryptonite. He internally calculated the elements, until eventually, he looked back to Talia. Her unsure, careful eyes were nothing compared to the left hand, so tightly clenched in a strong fist. But nonetheless, he was not happy with what he found when computing her own abilities with theirs.

"...Most certainly," he answered, with his own expression already saddened by his own words.

"Do you think we could just sneak out now?" Talia was quick to absorb the words, letting questions fall out of her mouth the second they'd come into her ears. "If not, can we at least fend them off for a bit while we come up with a plan? How much better are they than us, really? Do you think we can outsmart them, if we're good about it?"

"Unsure about the first one, maybe, a lot, and possibly but probably not," Bruce was careful to answer every one, but his answers were more than vague. Similarly, his voice wavered in tone every millisecond, and the tone was completely and utterly unsure.

Another pause in speaking took over their conversation. The Justice League was getting more and more sure that arresting Talia was the correct solution, leaving them with less and less time to sort all of it out. Their feet tapped against the ground lightly through the thoughtful but undeniably unpeaceful silence. They both gulped, over and over again, the more they thought.

"Maybe we can convince them you're not as bad or dangerous as they believe? That you're not a bad person, deep inside. That you're often a hero, on top of the less… morally-correct areas of your brain." Bruce eventually suggested. He was still much less than certain, though. His voice was still wavery.

"Well, that's a bit insulting," Talia remarked. Her frown hardened at him.

"You know I still love you. I wouldn't have married a murderer if I didn't really, really love you. We'll always have our differences though, of course. I can't pretend to love the fact that you have blood on your hands, Talia." he nonchalantly explained, unfazed by her reaction. "Surely you can't expect me to love you for the worst part of you, simply love you unconditionally despite it."

"There were maybe one or two sweet statements in there, but for the most part?" Talia's frown managed to harden even more, turning into an almost grimace. "You're really, really not helping yourself. I know you love me, but it's still insulting and kind of offensive to talk to me that way."

"Talia, calm down. I'm just saying that everyone knows that murder is wrong but you… don't seem to? Not entirely, at least."

"I know some kinds of murder are wrong. I know genocide is wrong," she stated. She crossed her arms and took a step towards Bruce, but in a much less than loving nature. Her feet were loud as they hit the ground. "I know murder without reason, or of complete utter innocents, is wrong. I know you committing any kind of murder would be wrong, because you're so strongly against it. But… wait, haven't you murdered my father before?"

"That was…" Bruce stuttered, caught off guard by the point, "Is murdering your father really murder, though? It's hardly worse than putting him unconscious. All it does is give him a… little break from life?" Even once he'd calmed the stuttering, he found himself saying every sentence like an unsure question, to which Talia seemed to answer 'no' to without saying a single word.

She was quite clearly not pleased. In fact, her eyes looked at him in a slight glare.

"I'm… sorry about saying it in that way, though, Talia. Also sorry about killing your father. It was just that in the moment, it seemed like that was the only way to save everyone from him." Bruce put a gentle hand on her shoulder, carefully rubbing it. "I don't think he deserves to die, because I don't think anyone deserves to die. I just thought the innocent people he threatened deserved to die less, if you get what I'm saying."

He now lifted his other hand, as well, and rubbed both shoulders. Every ounce of his expression was quick to soften the more he spoke, and the tone in his voice followed. His eyes were deeply relaxed, though still saddened emotionally. A pause in his voice crept in. Talia was still visibly upset, though, so he continued only a bit later.

"You… You don't deserve the pain of losing him, though. I know that much. No one deserves the pain of losing a loved one, especially someone as close as a parent." The last word tightened his jaw, making a small cracking sound. His head lowered at the mere thought. "But Talia, you… You, with your soft smiles and your strong determination and your brilliant thoughts. You, with your tender love and your loyalty to that love no matter what…."

Talia began to slowly nod, still a little frustrated, but beginning to let the actual anger diminish. Her glare lifted, and she finally let her arm loosely drop to her sides.

"You, with your stunning beauty but most of all, your strength in fighting to do what is right despite your, erm, questionable raising, and your willingness to go against that murderous life, which I hope you know, though I failed to say it, was what I truly meant with my… less than happy thoughts on your previous murders…You, my beloved wife…"

Then, he took a step towards her, letting his arms bend further as they stayed on her shoulders. But only a second later, moved them; now, instead of only touching her shoulders, they touched her back. His arms, on the other hand, were wrapped around her entire body in a soft, affectionate embrace. Fortunately for him, even Talia's mild frustration was beginning to fade at this point.

"The only thing you deserve is the world."

Talia, still fully leaning into his hug, kissed him. She strung her own arms over his, hugging him back closer to his shoulders and neck, while he ended up merely touching her lower back. They held this position for a good minute or two, just enjoying the entire emotion of holding one another enough to not bother moving another muscle. The soft glow of moonlight spilled over their backs, casting shadows on one another. Still, they did not move, until eventually Talia shifted herself just a couple inches back to open her mouth and reply to his love-filled statement.

"And you, My Beloved," she said, "when you're not being rude… deserve the entire solar system."

Bruce smiled, fully and unrestrained. His back was turned to his friends at the moment, and besides, he didn't exactly care if they saw, or gave him odd looks, or even began to outright judge him for the expression right now. Not anymore, not when everything had already fallen to pieces until all that was left was Talia, safe in his arms; perhaps for the moment at most, but for now, she was there, and he was in front of her. For now, their perfect happily after seemed just within the arm's reach, and the light of their life, their unborn baby, was right beneath Talia's own smile.

They kissed again, this time with Bruce being the initiator. He rubbed her back, gently, and now, they were seemingly planning on keeping this going for even longer. Perhaps, every few seconds, taking a short break from the actual kiss, but with their minds finally distracted and hence at some momentary peace, they weren't about to break out of the general embrace. Even as the winter chill crept down their spines, and the moon got higher in the sky, they stayed— in fact, it only brought them closer, with each other's touches only warming them from the chills.

It amounted to only a few minutes at most in reality, but the feeling in their soul lasted a million years. It was perfect, relaxed, content, and even more than that, happy. Uninterrupted, quiet joy….

Until, of course, it was interrupted. Quite loudly, in fact.

"Talia al Ghul," Diana called, her voice booming with a strict, harsh tone. She stood behind the couple, specifically on Talia's side. In those few minutes, she'd already completely changed uniforms, just to be safe with the secret identity situation; her bright red shirt nearly luminated against the dark nightscape surrounding. "We are hereby apprehending you and will furthermore be handing you over to the authorities unless anything changes, for your many, many crimes of first-degree murder, most likely kidnapping, and I'm sure tons and tons of breaking and entering. Not to mention just general trespassing."

Talia's eyes were wide, glossy with overwhelming startle. Her head turned around in under a nanosecond, instinctively looking at Diana. But Diana, also without missing a beat, grabbed her arm before she could do a thing. Then, she tugged it backwards, away from Bruce. His expression was just as shocked as Talia's; the second Diana's had started to speak, his shoulders had abruptly tensed up. Now, he quickly grabbed Talia's other arm in some desperate hope to at least force Diana to pause in her movements.

"Diana, please," he pleaded, "just listen to me. Give me a second to talk to you, to explain this whole situation better, and before I do, please, please don't do anything with her. She's… she's not… doesn't deserve to… She's still a good person, Diana. A hero, even. I stand by that she is a big dubious in the moral area at most, not a terrible, evil person like you seem to think. As I already said, just listen to me."

"It's hard to listen to you when I have much more reasons to believe what you're saying are lies than the truth, Bruce," she sighed, but tightened her grip on Talia. "Not even just because it contradicts what I've heard, believe, and even know to be true, but you've also… not exactly been acting like the most trust-worthy person lately, have you?"

"I know," Bruce admitted, "but she shouldn't have to pay the consequences for my mistakes. I'm the one that lied, not her."

"As endearing and romantic as that sounds…" Diana rolled her eyes. Twice, even. "She did lie, actually. Several times, as a matter of fact. Sure, you were probably the one that told her to lie, but that doesn't change the fact that what you just stated is literally not true, Bruce." With her other hand, she pulled Talia's opposite shoulder backwards.

Bruce could feel Talia get farther out of his grip. Now, all he held onto was the end of her palm, rather than her actual arm. It made him frown– pout, even. Despite it being at an awkward place now, he curled his fingers further, until he could see Talia visibly bothered by both of their strong grips. She shuddered, which inevitably forced him to loosen. Only as much as was necessary, though; he still held on undeniably tightly.

"But– but as you just said, it was still only because of me…" he argued, his voice getting quieter and more unsure with every word, or even syllable. "For me, I should say. Talia only lied out of love for me and I wish for the best, which surely you can respect, can't you? It's Valentine's Day, for goodness sake."

Diana shook her head without even a bit of hesitation, "That's a pathetic excuse, Bruce. Especially coming from you. I thought you, being, well… you know what I'm taking about, would be able to come with a better excuse than 'it's Valentine's Day,' as if that arbitrary holiday means a single thing compared to first-degree murder."

"I just think he's saying that we'd rather not have our love, and more importantly our lives ruined," Talia protested, "on Valentine's Day of all days, that's all."

Diana shrugged, "Then I'm afraid you shouldn't have committed murder, or any of the other crimes I listed before. It's not that hard to just not be awful and villainous, and generally works out better for you, too. Have you ever heard of the saying 'the good guys always win'? It could apply here." Then, she turned back to Bruce. "And you shouldn't have married a bad guy, because 'guilty by association' is also an applicable phrase."

"But you don't even know the specifics! You've never even seen her commit a crime before! You can't arrest her just because you don't like her." Bruce argued. "That'd be almost just as morally incorrect as committing murder itself."

"Not…. not really, though?" Diana gave him an odd, confused look. She squinted her eyes as she considered his claims. "Imprisoning someone and taking away their freedom unrightfully is one thing, but taking away their entire life? That's a completely different level of morally incorrect. That's evil, in its purest of forms. Besides, I'm not imprisoning her unrightfully either way– I don't need to have seen her commit murder to know she's a murderer. You, yourself, mentioned having seen her do it. Witnesses are fairly solid evidence, especially considering it's not exactly like your wife has been trying to deny a single part of this."

"As much as I hate to say it, Beloved, she does have a point. I don't really think pleading innocent to my very clear, well-known crimes is going to work for me in this case." Talia said. "But you have a point about her, specifically, not being a witness or knowing any of the specifics to the situation. That could still work…"

"Well, the few times I've been a witness to your murderers…" Bruce began, first looking and directing his words to Talia, but then quickly changing to Diana's direction mid-sentence. "Here's the thing, Wonder Woman. The first one I ever saw her do was in complete and utter self-defense… Or just defense, at least. It was either us or the man she killed, and so, she chose the villain, only to immediately after break down crying about it. Frankly, at the time, I had no reason to believe she had any connection to murderers and I hope you can see why I felt that way. Anyone can end up with blood on their hands through self-defense, civilians included."

"You basically just gave yourself the answer to what my reaction to that is going to be," Diana argued. "You said that you didn't know she wasn't a civilian, and therefore I'm sure she wanted, due to her situation regarding the authorities, for you to continue to believe that as long as possible. So she put up an act, and still couldn't resist a well-excused killing. It doesn't mean a thing."

"It was genuine, I promise," Talia quickly said. "Not that you'll believe me on that or any of this, but I really don't enjoy killing. Not even to people like that man, truly. I'm not a sadist… to most people, at least." She nervously thought back to her killing just a few weeks ago, of Qayin of all people.

"The bare minimum," Diana remarked coldly. "Murder is still murder, no matter what you were feeling at the time, how many tears you wept, or… Well okay, fine, if it really was in self-defense, I suppose that's a valid excuse. But I have reason to believe that's not the case for many of your murder cases."

Now, she grabbed Talia's forearm above the arm that Bruce was still firmly holding, and shoved it backwards until it was completely out of his grip. But in response, Bruce jumped forward and grabbed it again. Unfortunately for him, this led to Diana simply stomping over and prying his fingers off of it. Then, before Bruce had the chance to try again, she quickly pulled Talia several feet away from Bruce. She paused there, yet that still only lasted a few seconds— Bruce ran over to Talia again, causing her to suddenly spring up into flight, holding Talia ten feet in the sky where Bruce had no way of reaching.

"Diana, I just ask you to listen to me!" Bruce yelled upwards.

"I did listen to you," she countered, "but I quite quickly found that you had nothing worthwhile to say, other than things that were clearly biased for your wife. I'm not going to listen to biases. It's my job as a superhero and warrior not to, and to simply protect those who deserve protection, which unfortunately is not her."

"How would you know that?"

Although each and every attempt was futile and as good as failed the moment he started, Bruce jumped up and down, pushing against the ground ever so slightly closer to Talia and Wonder Woman. The black, dark pavement and pebbles laying on top of it skidded roughly against his shoes. Each and every jump ended with a loud thump, as well, right in correspondence with his feet feeling that rough surface underneath, only to shove them against it once again.

"Because I have common sense," Diana replied, still watching him hop around like a tiny rabbit. She sighed, purposefully loud in order for Bruce to fully hear the reaction. "You look so foolish down there, Bruce, and you're going to tire yourself out like that. You and I both know that it doesn't do a thing. Please, it hurts to watch."

"...I guess you're right," he begrudgingly admitted. Finally, he ceased the jumping, and accordingly, the loud, annoying thumping ceased, as well. Now, he stood still and silent, with his arms crossed and his eyes staring up at Wonder Woman, filled to the corners with anger.

"If you want to fly up with the two of us, Bruce, you need only say so." Diana offered, sighing loudly again. "I'm perfectly capable of holding the two of you, and besides, there's plenty of other Justice League members that could help if I wasn't. I know you don't usually enjoy being carried by the rest of us, but clearly, you're currently much more upset than you would be at that. I can see that look on your face, Bruce."

"Really?" Bruce's eyes lit up at the thought, nearly glowing bright blue in the nighttime lights. "You'd do that? You'll let me come help deal with the entire situation? You're not going to lock her up all alone and break us up permanently, not to mention take away my dear Talia's entire life?"

"Well," Diana shrugged. "I'd be happy to apprehend you for the moment too, seeing as you're currently a fellow accomplice to one of the worst criminals on the planet."

"Oh," his eyes faded back to normal, and now even tilted towards the ground beneath him. It was still so black, especially in the shadowy night, almost like a blackhole that his black shoes were escaping into. But then his eyes abruptly shifted back up, positioned right back to look at Talia. More importantly, she was truly escaping into the sky.

"I take it that you've changed your mind on my offer?" Diana asked, quickly picking up on his change in expression. While still in the midst of speaking to him, she was already starting to lift higher and higher into the sky, Talia pulled along through every jump or turn. Though he was getting smaller in her vision, Bruce nodded, to which Diana kept her face neutral. "Well, that's fine. If we really need to apprehend you as well, I'm sure we'll have no trouble with it, whether you're cooperating or not."

"I… can't argue with that." Bruce admitted.

"Yes, and I'm quite confident your wife won't be a problem, either." Diana stated. She continued lifting Talia up into the air, but at a reduced rate, just to be able to successfully multitask in both flying and keeping an eye on Bruce to make sure he didn't try anything. "I really am sorry for having to do this, but as I already said, you really need to get a better taste in women if you want these kinds of situations not to arise."

"First of all, you're my ex! That's insulting yourself almost as much as Talia," Bruce called. He'd gotten desperate now, and even though he'd already fully comprehended jumping's pointlessness, he was not above the task of climbing a tree. It was a grand maple, with thick, climbable branches easily twisting out of every corner. He swiftly jumped from one to the next. "Besides, my taste in women is exquisite. Perfect. You've met my wife once, and you already dare to question that?"

"Considering what I've just learned about her, yes, I do." Diana confidently replied. She'd momentarily paused to speak to him, but even from there, the tippity top of the tree was several feet too short to reach her, or more importantly, Talia. Therefore, her posture was completely calm and relaxed. "I can't even believe you anymore, Bruce. She's a villain. Why are you dating people like her? You're too good for her… Or at least, I would've thought you were before this entire mess."

As Bruce realized his drastic miscalculations regarding the height of the tree, he spun himself around and began to climb down. Nonetheless, he snarled at Diana's words; anger swelled up in his mind and body, making his eyebrows slant immensely. He'd get to Talia somehow– he knew that much. Regardless of skill, superpowers, or experience, there was no way he was going to let this truly happen.

Meanwhile, Talia was peering at Diana with the same angry expression. Unfortunately, this was certainly not pleasing Diana. The more they looked at each other, the more both of them frowned and grunted in heated, fuming rage.

"I hope you realize the only reason I'm not fighting you right now is because we're at least fifty feet off the ground and I don't think I can survive that drop." Talia informed her, with the tone loud and harsh. "I'm not still simply trying to convince you to stop trying to arrest me, because clearly, you're much too stubborn to listen to a single word my husband or I say. The moment I get the chance, we're going down."

"I hope not literally," Diana commented. "Because unlike you, I'm not a murderer. Just because I'm trying to get you away from here, back where you can't hurt anyone, doesn't mean that I want you to have to experience that kind of painful drop, villain or not." Circling the topic of conversation, both of them briefly glanced towards the long space between them and the ground.

"Hmm," Talia considered. "I take it that you, being a non-murderer, would not let me splat out in a million pieces? You would catch me?"

Diana looked at the drop again, Talia's words forming a quite graphic image in her mind. Splat. She gulped at even the thought of such a horribly cruel fate— not just killing Talia, but handing her an incredibly painful death, as well. But she could also see the look forming on Talia's face. It was thoughtful, intrigued, and even more than that, suddenly extremely confident. It made Diana uncomfortable, to say the least. Nonetheless, she slowly nodded.

"Well… I'm a hero. I'm focused on saving lives, not just vengeance or punishment." Diana carefully said, still avoiding the slightest bit of certainty and purposely keeping the answer as vague as possible. "Even when it's the life of someone who isn't necessarily a good or loving person, I will make the choice to save the most lives possible, generally. The same as I at least thought your husband to be."

Talia's eyebrows furrowed. "So you would save me?"

"I…wouldn't not save you,"

These words, cryptic but truthfully definite, hung in the air around them. A silence took over, and a very awkward silence at that. Talia still instinctively squirmed and struggled in Diana's horridly tight grip, and Diana just held on even more painfully hard. Talia winced, before going straight back to glaring the woman down.

But even as this was happening, Talia was still eagerly pondering this new-found information. Her eyes dilated with pure, overwhelming intrigue, and her mind was swarmed with the tons of possible solutions all of this opened up. Her number of them went from about zero to at least five, most of which seemed worth a try, at the very least. So, quickly breaking the silence, she tried.

Talia struggled much, much harder. She fought Diana, as hard, fast, and fierce as she could manage. Diana grunted as she desperately tried to keep Talia securely in her arms this entire time, rolling her eyes at the attempt to escape.

"The reason you weren't fighting me hasn't changed, Talia. I'd advise you to stop right now if you don't want that concern of yours to become a reality." She warned, scrambling around with Talia's punching hands and swiftly kicking legs. "That's all you're ever going to achieve with this– your own death. Or even if you did survive, you'd achieve nothing good, that's all I know."

"Really?" Talia sighed. "You're going to expect me not to call the bluff you just admitted to? Sure, the situation has remained constant, but my knowledge on the situation has not. I'm not stupid enough to be inable to figure out what 'I wouldn't not save you' means. It means there's no danger in doing this. At all. It means you won't let me go 'splat'."

"Not– Not necessarily–" Diana stuttered, quickly trying to sort out her own words. Her throat felt slippery, like all that would come out was everything she was trying to push away from her ideas and improvisation. "I…. Well, either way it's not going to achieve anything good, alright? It's still worthless and a waste of time. When I catch you, you'll be right back here."

But, just as Diana was finishing making her point, Talia fully managed to push herself away and went falling through the cold, chilly air.

In the three seconds that it lasted, Talia felt her heart jump in her chest at the vast, though calculated danger. Even stronger than that, though, she felt her skin pressed against the fabrics of air; the speed she moved at made everything around her feel like the strongest of winds, throwing at her constantly. These winds were freezing, as well, leaving her to barely resist letting out a small scream.

Fortunately, Diana caught her quite quickly. She shoved Talia's frazzled body onto her shoulder, grunting even more than before. But, mostly unfazed, she quickly started to rise back into the sky, this time significantly faster than earlier.

"See?" Diana pointed out. "Nothing achieved. We're back where we started."

"Yes, that attempt was not successful, but perhaps the next one will achieve something. You never know, and it's not exactly like I've got much of a better escape as of the moment." Talia countered, shrugging as much as she could in the current constricted position her body was in. "I'll figure out how to escape at some point regardless, I hope you know that, but it's best to not let your kidnappers move you to a separate location, so I've heard."

"What attempt?" she cocked an eyebrow in amusement. "A suicide attempt?"

But, yet again before she'd even finished speaking, Talia had doven back downward. Diana let out a large, exasperated sigh, but going along with her word, she dove downward herself, speeding until she was right below her. Just like last time, she grabbed Talia and threw her back into her arms, but now, the movement had gotten even more aggressive.

"Alas, you attempt suicide again, to no avail." Diana narrated sarcastically. She flew back up even faster this time, gritting her teeth as she clung to Talia as tightly as possible the entire journey. "When will you ever learn? I've said it a million times now, but I'll say it again– it is completely and utterly pointless. You're just being an annoyance for the sake of it, and even more than that, a moronic fool."

Talia fought her way out again, though.

Then, as expected, Diana caught her and brought her back up, only for Talia to try again. Diana did the same again, but so did Talia. Over and over again, this cycle repeated; Talia refused to not persist in escaping Diana's grip, and Diana refused to let Talia fall to her death, whether it was practically her own fault or not.

"Isn't there a saying about this? 'Insanity is trying the same thing over and over again and expecting a different result'?" Diana remarked. Her tone was dull, too exhausted to have a real, strong reaction to what had become nearly routine.

Her expression didn't even change in the slightest when Talia, while she was still triedly saying this, pushed herself out of her hands again.

Diana grabbed her, of course, but this time, she did not just keep flying up in hopes Talia would eventually give up. At this point, she had accepted the fact that this would never happen, and Diana herself was beginning to adhere to the saying. Talia was getting the same response from Diana every time of course, but on the contrary, it could be considered that Diana was doing and getting the same, as well, and so she stopped.

Instead, she swiftly flew back to Bruce, who was now frantically trying to start the Bat-plane and go after her. With a large, reluctant sigh, Diana threw Talia down right next to the vehicle, who fortunately used her assassin instincts to effortlessly land on her feet. Diana followed down only a moment after, as well, then putting a hand back on Talia. But other than that, Talia was completely free. Her eyes were wide, startled by the sudden cooperation, but for the most part, her expression was very, very relieved.

"Bruce, get out of that plane. I am… willing to talk, now. Compromise, or whatnot." Diana gave in. She took several feet towards him, tugging Talia along in the process. Suddenly, she turned to Talia and glared, even harder than she'd done before. "Assuming your wife stops trying to fall to her death constantly."

Bruce rushed outside and ran to Talia, a concerned look on his face. "Are you alright? That kind of flying doesn't hurt pregnancies, does it? The elevation was changing so quickly there, I hope that it's not dangerous for the—"

"Yes, yes, I'm fine," Talia nodded profusely, but then quickly turned back to her captor with a large frown on her face. The arm that Diana held began to tense and clench in frustration, and her breaths were getting sharper by the second out of the same strong emotion. "I believe we have much bigger concerns to deal with at the moment, Beloved."

Bruce nodded, "Diana…. Thank you for reconsidering compromise, I'm sure we can figure something out. The only reason she does any criminal activities at all is pretty much just out of love and duty to her family, and surely can understand how important duty can be to some people, even if that still doesn't excuse–"

"Look, here's the thing, Bruce. The only reason I'm doing this is because the bowling place closes in much, much too little time from now, and the rest of them are waiting." Diana explained. She crossed her arms, finally letting go of Talia– but her eyes, so deeply focused, said everything about what would happen if Talia did try something while she had the opportunity. "Your wife sky-diving and my being forced to save her was a huge time-waster, and Clark was really excited about the bowling. He'd hate to have less than an hour there, and pretty soon, that'll end up the case."

"Ah, so it did work?" Talia's eyes curled up at the corners in subtle pleasure.

"Well… In a way, yes, but I want to remind you that I can still just miss the bowling and lock you up if I decide it's completely necessary, so you still very much need to watch yourself." Diana replied. Her foot tapped at Talia in order to lock those words in. She turned to Bruce, eyeing him in an equally strict, but slightly less hostile manner. "You mentioned that you've been reforming Ra's al Ghul's assassins behind his back, yes? So your no-killing rule is still very much a prominent part of your lifestyle?"

"Yes, of course," Bruce nodded. "I've even been hoping that perhaps I'm making a good influence on Talia's own habits, on top of the basic assassins, or even Ra's al Ghul himself's killling frequency."

"Good," She nodded back firmly, and then pushed Talia towards Bruce, coincidently ending up just putting the two of them in each other's arms, hugging similarly to how they'd been when she'd grabbed Talia in the first place. "Then here's what we'll compromise on– If Talia doesn't kill anyone, and I expected you to be watching this, Bruce, we'll let her go… temporarily. More thorough discussions of how to handle this entire situation will have to go down later, when we have the entire League here and aren't so low on time."

"Thank you, Wonder Woman." Talia begrudgingly said, glancing back at her in a way that had at least lessened into apathy. "I'm perfectly capable of going along with that, at least for the moment, although… I can't say what my father will make of it. I'll do everything I can to follow it, though, and I'm sure wherever I would fall out, my husband would pick up."

"Great, now if you'll excuse me…" Diana began to walk several steps backwards, pulling herself farther and farther away from the couple with each large stride. "I have some bowling to do. Which you two, as I'm sure have already figured out, have been uninvited to. Talia's uninvited to all our plus-one events, as a matter of fact. Not that you shouldn't have already been able to assume."

"Fine with me," Bruce shrugged. "Less events that I'll be forced to, I presume."

Talia nodded as well, and the two watched nervously as Diana made her way back to the group. Now that they were all reunited, Clark was quick to hurry them along towards the direction of the bowling alley, with a brisk speed-walking pace. Bruce and Talia, still holding on to one another, watched the crowd disappear onto another street and right out of their view. Now alone, they finally turned to look at one another.

"Considering I've gotten Qayin dead already, I sincerely don't hate this. Not much, at least," Talia began. But the moment she was saying the first part, her eyes bounced to the ground. "My father, on the other hand.. Well, that's quite a concern. I'm one of his best assassins after all, not to mention the one he holds closest to his heart. The one he cares the most about not betraying him, in any way."

"He's alright with the fact that I work for him and still don't kill. I'm sure we can figure something out with him, and once we do? Could… Couldn't this be for the best?" Bruce pointed out, raising his hand palm-up in an offered thought. "You don't enjoy killing. We both already know that, so wouldn't the complete lack of it in your life be a nice change to you?"

"It… could," Talia admitted, "but the complete inability to do so if necessary could cause many problems. Frankly, I'm just glad I can't think of anyone off the top of my head right now that I have strong reason to want and need dead which I haven't already made dead. That could change, though. Especially with the baby so close in the future, and I… I can't fail to protect our child."

"You can protect without killing," Bruce reminded her, frowning.

"Of course, but there's a certain lack of intimidation in that method. The lack of intimidation could lead to more people having the guts to lay a hand on our child in the first place, and… Well, that's even worse than the culprits not getting their proper punishment." Talia was now frowning, as well. "Much worse."

"...If you insist," he slowly, hesitantly replied. "It's worked okay for me, though. I'm sure the baby will be fine either way, so with that out of the picture, can't it be for the best? Just look at it this way– we'll have our beautiful, murder-free family, leaving us all much happier and the world a much better place, and…."

"And either way, she said she was going to reconsider with the full Justice League, which could very, very likely lead to them trying to hunt me down again, and my connection to you could put me in direct danger as far as that goes." Talia gently pulled herself out of the embrace, only to stare out into the distance from just a foot out of his touch.

"That's… definitely something we need to look out for," he agreed, taking a step towards her, while still not pulling her back into the hug out of fear there was some reason to her sudden movement. "They probably won't give us any heads-up when they've decided, either. No doubt won't invite me to the meeting where they discuss it or anything. An ambush, even, probably."

Talia nodded, taking a few steps towards the plane until she was right outside the door.

Bruce followed, "I– They can't— Well, we're not going to–" he stuttered, feeling gulps, nerves and phlegm stick around in the back of his throat, pushing him out of every single possible sentence. "We need to go over every possible place they could ambush you, don't we? Come up with plans? Brainstorm? You'll need to constantly have some way to contact the rest of us, too, so there's backup at any given–"

"Beloved, let's just figure it out once we're home, okay?" Talia cut him off. Her tone was just as nervous as his, but also eager to evade and procrastinate. She grabbed the door in front of her, swinging it open, and then swiftly hopped in.

Once seated, she looked back at Bruce, who still hadn't moved a muscle, impatiently. His mind was still coming up with those possible situations and possible solutions, making him space out for a moment instead of even beginning to get in beside her. Fortunately, once he noticed the look she was giving him, he ran around the plane and hopped in himself. But, to Talia's surprise, he still hesitated before inserting the key and turning it on.

"Am I giving you a headache again?" Bruce asked slowly.

"You were about to, with all that worrying," she answered, "if I hadn't cut you off where I did. But you… you shouldn't worry about it. You're right, some worrying is necessary, and I don't blame you for doing it. I ask you to just accept things as they are, but sometimes they simply are worrisome. I just….get tired of it sometimes, I suppose." Her eyes drifted into staring into the abyss again.

"Yes, well, I'm sorry for it anyway," Bruce said. He leaned towards her, slowly resting a hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry about this situation even being worrisome in the first place, too. I'm sorry about my colleagues, and the way they treated you. I'm sorry you even had to meet them in the first place, even. I should've been able to lie better, being the dark knight and all."

"Their actions aren't really your fault, although… I'd like you to consider, instead of whether or not you did a good job lying, whether or not you should've lied in the first place." Talia criticized. She tightly bit her tongue as she paused in her speech. "...I… I, erm, believe you understand that some of those things were not necessary to say, or helpful, for that matter."

"I also told them you were a bad dancer, and that's why we couldn't come to the earlier activity." Bruce blurted out, feeling his mouth and throat become bothersome dry at the words. From this view, he could hardly see Talia's face at all, leaving him to only wonder her reaction. "I'm sorry."

"How dare you," Talia threatened.

Bruce's mouth dropped open, but fortunately for him, she instantly turned her head around to look at him; on her face, it was quickly revealed that her anger was quite minimal. Instead, she looked nearly happy. A playful smile began to grow on her previously-solemn lips, and her eyes, dilating with joy, looked directly at Bruce in a pleasant spirit.

"I'll have to show you when we get home," she warned light-heartedly, letting her voice dip into a purposefully fake low voice, "just how 'bad' at dancing I am."

"You're welcome to," Bruce replied, almost just as cheerfully. He felt a small smile take over his face, and with that joy filling his heart, he leaned over and grabbed her hand. He brought it up to his lips, gently pecking the top of it with a small kiss. "I'll have to see if I can dance well, too."

Talia nodded, but almost as quickly as it had come on, her smile was fading. The same solemn look flooded back in, and the skin around her eyes wrinkled slightly in deep worry and concern. After Bruce had kissed it, he'd continued holding her hand, leaving her with the perfect opportunity to squeeze his own sadly. She watched, with her eyes half-closed, as he immediately squeezed back.

"Beloved, seriously, what are we going to do about all this?" she questioned. "I know I said we should wait until we got home, and that we should keep level-headed and not get into a mess of worry like you always do, but I see why you're doing it this time– I really do."

Bruce gulped, "Well, as I already said, we can come up with situation-specific solutions, as well as just general precautions to take in the meantime. Or we can train the assassins harder, or you harder… no, not the latter, we don't want you overworking with the baby. We could also get you bodyguards constantly, but… oh this is useless, this is Justice League we're talking about. Besides, you're a better fighter on your own than those bodyguards would probably be combined. But as a precaution, just in case it could help, it could be worth a try… Although really, when you think about it, none of this…"

But, before saying another frantic word of his, he cut himself off. He was looking at her. Gazing at her, truly, not exactly any kind of strong stare, but peering and observing her every move and expression. The latter was already so hopeless-looking, so exhausted, overwhelmed, and upset. But most of all, what he noticed was that it mimicked all the ones from these rants of his before, except this time, all the negative emotions had built up; they'd seeped into her every move, leaving her more than exhausted. The sight made him frown, even more than Bruce was already.

With this in mind, he changed tone, forcing a happier spirit all the way. A smile, although at first clearly fake, was slapped on his face as he tried to carefully calm his heartbeat. Bruce tried to, at the very least, be emotionless if not genuinely happy. Even at the first peek of a smile, Talia's eyes opened wider with light-hearted curiosity.

"But, actually," he quickly switched paths at the same time as the tone, "I'm sure we'll figure it out, together. After all, we figured out this dinner, even when it seemed ridiculous. Your father has plenty of power, you yourself are an excellent fighter, everyone we know is incredibly intelligent with many likely to give good ideas, and I, well…"

Talia wasn't smiling. She most certainly wasn't smiling, or anywhere near it. But her mood and expression still vastly changed at these words; the worried wrinkles were disappearing, her mouth had relaxed, and her general movements were much less frazzled. Seeing this, Bruce's own smile became much more genuine. He squeezed her hand again, only to then take the other one, on top of it, and squeeze them both at the same time.

"No matter what, I will never ever let this family be destroyed. Understand?"

She nodded. Just the slightest bit of a smile, thought still hardly visible, was forming. Bruce squeezed her hands again, but then sighed. He slowly placed one of her hands down again, before swiftly turning back to the front of the jet. Bruce placed his one unoccupied hand on the steering wheel. Now, he grabbed the keys from his pocket and jabbed them into the lock, before turning the vehicle on and lifting off.

With that, they soared off into the night sky, still holding hands in silent love.

[soundofseventeen]

Worldwide (Joshua Hong)

Hello! This is one that was requested by our lovely haley!! Mild throwback to our rusher days!! Have a lovely day everyone!! 💛💚

You sat on your couch, knees pulled up to your chest, staring at the package. You shouldn’t have this. You knew you should just put it back and then forget about it until Joshua got back again. But, your eyes kept staring at it, expecting it to burst into flames or open itself or do something. 

Things with Joshua lately had been… rough. You knew you loved him, and you knew he loved you, but it had been a rough patch for you two. You both knew this relationship wouldn’t be easy. When was dating an idol an easy thing to do? You got to watch him flirt with fans and say sweet things to them, but you always reminded yourself that at the end of the day, he was looking at you. He came back to you. 

But you also knew that he was tired, trying to juggle a growing career and a getting serious relationship. You knew the guilt he felt at not always being able to be there for you, no matter how much you reassured him that you understood he couldn’t always physically be there. 

While you understood, you still couldn’t help the hurt that you felt. You always saw your friends out with their partners, giggling and swinging their hands, smiles on both of their faces. You couldn’t really do that either, even when Joshua was around. He kept the skinship to an extreme minimum when you two were out, not wanting to expose anything about you two. 

You really loved Joshua, and he really loved you, but you knew you were both tired. You had this rock in the pit of your stomach, wrapped in fear that the end may be soon. 

He had just gotten back from tour, one that had been really long for both of you. You two had a weird air, Joshua giving you a tight hug before leaving and promising to be back soon. Once he got home, he basically dropped off his stuff, and then immediately had to go back to Pledis for some work emergency. He gave you a quick kiss, saying he needed to talk to you when he got back. 

You made it through most of the tour okay, but Joshua saying he needed to talk to you now? Terrified you. Considering he barely contacted you during the tour? You kept telling yourself he was busy, he had a lot to focus on while on tour. But now you were wondering if that was intentional? Did Joshua not need you? Was this tour a test to see if your relationship was something worth fighting for? Did he determine that he had to make your worst fear come true? 

So you distracted yourself until he came home. You cleaned your kitchen. You vacuumed. You read a couple webtoons online. You then decided to start unpacking his stuff, something you debated for a while. Because if he was going to break up with you, he would want to take his stuff with him, right? But why would he bring his stuff here if he was planning that? 

You had just started unpacking when you found the package. It was a simple brown package, with twine holding it together. As you picked it up, you saw your initials on the tag, causing you to furrow your eyebrows at it. 

And now you were in your living room. Staring at the package. Wondering what it was. 

If Joshua wanted to give it to you, he probably wanted to be here to give it to you. But man, your curiosity was killing you. Was it a good thing? Or was it a goodbye thing?

You jumped as your phone rang, seeing Joshua was calling you. 

“Hey.” You answered, hearing Joshua sigh. 

“Listen, I’m so sorry. I might be a little later than I planned…” 

“Really?” You asked, pouting. 

“I’m so sorry. Please go to sleep, we can talk in the morning, okay? Just get some good rest.” 

“Joshua…”

“Hey, I am coming home tonight. I promise.” He said, you letting out a sigh. “I love you.” 

“I love you too.” You muttered, Joshua sighing himself again. 

“Get some rest.” You both hung up the phone, your eyes going back to the package. You shook your head, reasoning that you would have to wait until the morning to find out. You got up, changed into pajamas and got ready for bed. You sat in bed for about 10 minutes, before you got back up, walking towards the living room. You sat on the couch, pulling the package onto your lap. You took a deep breath, opening the side of the package and pulling the contents out. 

It was… letters. A bunch of letters. A small stack of letters. Each one with your name on it. There was nothing else on any of the envelopes, just your name. 

You made a quick decision, making yourself some tea and grabbing a blanket, settling into the couch, picking up the top letter, slowly opening the envelope. 

*

Dear Y/N, 

Hey uh. How’s it going? How was your day? I’m not really sure why I’m doing this. I could just call you right now, but I thought I would try this? I don’t know, this is probably silly. But I guess it’s romantic, huh? Anyway, we just took off this morning. I always hate the look on your face when we have to leave for tour, but today it seemed so much worse. I guess that’s part of the reason I’m doing this. I really hope you have so much fun until we get back. So much fun that you have more stories to tell than I do. 

God, this was a dumb idea. xJoshua

*

Hey Y/N, 

It’s been a few days since we left now, and I just found the first letter in my bag. I still feel silly doing this, but oh well. Maybe you’ll think it’s cute or something. I’ve been thinking about you a lot the last few days. We found this dog while going to get coffee yesterday morning and I took a picture with him to show you later. I almost sent it to you, but then I remembered the time difference and didn’t want to chance waking you up. I did get the picture of you at our favorite restaurant. It made me smile from ear to ear that you ordered my favorite dish there instead of yours although your friend ratted you out and told me you also ordered your favorite to take home haha. At least you’re eating well while I’m gone! We have our first concert tonight, don’t worry, I’ll take your necklace on stage with me. It is my lucky charm, after all. 

This is still dumb. xJoshua. I’m not writing another one.

*

Y/N my own true love who I love more than Jeonghan Hello Y/N, 

So Jeonghan found my other letters. He is now making me write more of these because HE thought it was adorable. Also, excuse the crossed out part. I only have so much paper and I refuse to let Jeonghan win like this. We’re in another new town this morning, some of the guys want to go to a carnival later. I’m still debating on going or not. We don’t have the concert until tomorrow night, but traveling is tiring and I kind of want to sit by the pool for a while (yes, I’m at a pool, are you jealous? ;) ) I know if you were here, you would tell me to go with them. Just to get your voice out of my head for a bit I might go. Remember when we went to that fair? You were so cute trying to win me that stuffed tiger. I kept telling you that I was supposed to win you something since I took you on the date, but you just stuck your tongue out at me and told me to shut up. I’m pretty sure that was the day I knew I loved you. 

Ugh, I can’t show you these ever. xJoshua

PS. I went to the fair. I won you a tiger. Suck it. <3 (It’s pink) 

*

Dear Y/N, 

I’m sorry I called so late last night. I guess my timezone math was still a little off. I just needed to hear the sound of your voice for a bit. At least I got to kind of tuck you in, right? Even if it was on the phone. I’m starting to get into a habit of doing this. I still feel silly, but it’s getting easier, I think? Hosh hasn’t come back from DK and Jeonghan’s room yet, so I’m just in our room by myself right now. The moon is huge tonight. You would probably spend an hour trying to get a picture of it. I just tried, it’s not great but it’s a decent picture? No it’s bad never mind I even cracked the window open in your honor. It’s so weird. Remember how I always complained about you wanting to have the window open at night? I never understood how you slept with the cold air and the traffic noise, but it’s actually helping now. It’s not great since you’re not here to cuddle with, but it makes me think of you. Hosh usually shuts the window at some point in the night though. I promise when I come back, I’ll let you keep the window open every night if you want. 

Of course, I’m never actually showing you this, so we shall see. xJoshua

*

Hey Y/N, 

You are not going to believe this! You remember that old hand lotion you used to have? The one that smelled like honey? The one that when you ran out and we went to the store to get more and they told you it was seasonal and you cried? I FOUND IT. We were in a shop and I smelled it, so I asked the girl working about it and she showed it to me. It was a different little tube than the one you had, but I swear it’s the exact same scent. I can already picture how excited you’ll be when I give it to you. I’m half tempted to just mail that to you, but I also want to keep it with me until I get back. Then I can see your face when you smell it. I miss you a lot. More than you think. 

Only a couple more weeks. Then I’ll be home. xJoshua 

*

Y/N, 

A carat asked about you today. I was not prepared at all for that. I mean, yeah, they know about you and everything, but I was not prepared to be asked about you. They didn’t ask anything bad, just that they wanted to know how you were and if I missed you while on tour. Kind of a weird question to ask at a fanmeet but whatever I guess? I told them you were doing well and that I was looking forward to being able to see you in 2 weeks. I at least hope you’re doing well. I’m sorry we keep missing each other this week. Between my schedule and yours… We just can’t line up at all, huh? God, this almost feels worse now that I’m almost home, you know? Like, we’re so, so close but still so far away. I can’t believe I didn’t notice how distanced we’ve been. I don’t know how. You were always there for me when I needed you and now that I can’t come see you after a long day… I don’t know. You know I’m yours, right? No matter where I go or who I meet even the fans you constantly point out as pretty, which I don’t know why you keep doing that to yourself because I still stop breathing when I see you or what happens, you’re my one and only. If anything this tour just made me realize that whether it’s Paris or London or Tokyo all places I want to take you, by the way, I’m going to think about you worldwide. 

I can’t wait to see you. I can’t wait to catch you and never let go. xJoshua

P.S. That carat earlier also told me about this candy store and I may have bought you different flavors of that one candy bar you like. I hope they taste good. 

*

Y/N! 

I’m home now well, at Pledis but I felt like these needed a conclusion. Not sure why, because I’m still not sure you’re ever going to get them. But it felt weird to just… end? So I gotta write this I guess. I managed to get the next few days off because some guys are going home for family and such, and I intend to annoy the living hell out of you. I gotta make up for lost time, right? Hopefully we can pick up right where we left off. I plan to get those spicy noodles you love on the way home. That will be a good start to our days together. I can’t wait to remind you just how much I love you. I’ll even listen to you read those gross cheesy books you like to read I don’t know if you know this but you make the cutest face when you find something cute you read and it makes my heart just U W U We’re getting called into a meeting now, but I’ll be home in a few hours. I love you. 

Maybe these letters weren’t a terrible idea. You still might not get them. xJoshua

*

Joshua smiled to himself, picking up the envelopes with folded paper inside. He glanced at you, sound asleep on the couch, the last letter barely hanging from your hand. He looked over your face, examining softly. You looked tired. He wished you had just gone to bed, but he also knew that he probably gave you reason to be afraid of him wanting to have a discussion with you. 

He carefully took the letter out of your hand, chuckling a bit as you kept a hold on it. He got it eventually, shaking his head and he put it back in its envelope and tossing it on the table with the others. Joshua then stood up, stretching his arms over his head a bit before reaching down to pick you up. He was going to let you keep sleeping, but he might as well move you to your bed so you wouldn’t hurt in the morning. 

As he was part way down the hall, he heard you start to mumble. He stopped walking, looking at you with your eyes still closed. 

“..Shua?” You mumbled, Joshua chuckling again. 

“I’m here.” He whispered, not sure if you had actually woken up or if you were talking in your sleep. 

“Is it morning?” You mumbled, Joshua smiling at you. 

“Not quite, but almost.” He said, finally getting to your room. He carefully opened the door, leaving it open as he walked in. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked, eyes starting to blink open a bit. 

“I’m done with work for the day.” He said, pulling back the covers and laying you down, pulling the covers back and tucking you in. He sighed, thinking about how he had waited to do that for so long. 

“Mhm.” You said, your eyes falling again. Joshua just smirked, brushing some of the hair from your face before getting up to get ready for bed himself. Once he was ready, he walked to the other side of the bed, crawling in himself and letting himself relax. He felt you poke his arm, causing him to turn his head. You were looking at him, eyebrows slightly together. 

“How was the tour?” You asked, Joshua just smiling at you. 

“It was great, but we can talk about it in the morning, okay?” He said, turning to face you. “Get some sleep.” 

“What time do you go in tomorrow?” You mumbled. 

“Didn’t you read the last letter?” He asked, you shrugging. 

“I fell asleep at the start of it.” You said, snuggling a bit into your pillow. 

“I have off the next couple days.” He grinned as your eyes widened, head picking up a bit. “Yeah, you’re stuck with me now.” He laughed, you letting your head rest again. 

“Oh my.” You said, a slight smile on your face. You snuggled into Joshua a bit, which he happily accepted. “So, did you miss me?” Joshua placed a kiss on your head, holding onto you. 

“You know I thought about you worldwide.”

[battle-of-alberta]

OCtober: Cal and Ed

It’s finally over. I’m sorry for the delay but stuff has been Happening. If there’s a tourism site that attracts you more to one city or the other, let me know.

Calgary | Edmonton

Below is some meta stuff about the ‘research’ (if you can even call it   that, it was more of a vibe check) I did for re-doing the profiles. Read  on, if it intrigues you. And I gotta mention there’s a bonus rabbit hole I went down for Calgary’s self-image that is. Well. A Lot.

Major Cities: Calgary and Edmonton

We made it team, the heart of the Battle of Alberta, the major city rivalry that defined generations. Calgary is the largest city in the province and the centre of southern Alberta, a young, fast-paced major city that oscillates wildly between boom and bust and is attracting both attention and employees from the traditional major cities in Canada. Edmonton is the capital of the province and the the most northern major city with a metro population of over one million on the continent, a little older and more blue collar, somewhat more stable economically, and quickly rising to meet the challenges presented by open data and sustainable urban planning. And, as we know, they've been antagonizing each other since the 19th century, but collaborating as well.

Website Round Up Premise

While I was revisiting these character profiles, I took a look at how cities represented themselves on their municipal sites and tourism sites rather than how cities were represented in the news or in stereotypes, as the latter already tend to live in the back of my head. I was interested to see who the target audiences for each city were, what they considered their strengths, and how much effort each city put into putting its own identity on display. I was also interested into what ideas sort of fed into any pre-existing confirmation bias I had about each city's personality as well as interested in what narratives might be used to counteract negative stereotypes.The first thing I tended to notice was the overall information architecture of each city's website. How easy were they to navigate? What kinds of information did they have? How did they organize it? How did they communicate that information?

Out and About

There's a sharp difference between the websites of major cities from other cities. They are very careful to separate the corporation of 'The City of' from the cities we might know, and therefore both websites have a much more business-like tone and more distance from their civic identities. This means no traditional "About" pages as other cities might have.

At the time I'm visiting, Edmonton's page has some ADORABLE art of a nuthatch that's making me very homesick. Calgary has a seasonally appropriate snowy skyline.

Calgary does have an "Our Organization" tab which describes the City as a corporation, and likewise Edmonton has a "City Government" tab that performs a similar function. Edmonton's is in alphabetical order which is only a little annoying and Calgary's reads like a very perfectly chunked business portfolio that doesn't... really say as much as it looks like it does, but it does get bonus points for vision/organization/accessibility.

I have never seen a more concise history of Calgary in my life. It's literally three bullet points and a couple of bracketing sentences, but it does do the job. Calgary is, more or less, what it says it is (although I do take slight issue with its self identification as a trading post - it may have functioned that way but that was not what it was founded for and in fact the trading companies gtfo'd asap in those early days). It goes on to paint a very good sketch of the city in as few lines as possible in the text, and there's a little video at the end that feels like it was voiced over in 1988 even though it's clearly not.

Edmonton's City government page is even vaguer. Let's make a more dynamic and resilient Edmonton shall we, the page suggests. Resilient against What Exactly, I wonder. Winter? The boom-bust? Calgary? who knows. The majority of the sub pages are even more mysterious and essentially paint the picture of a city. It's a normal city. Trust us. We do city things. Here is exactly how government works and how to raise and lower a flag. In Edmonton, which is, in fact, a city.

I'm begging you if you think Calvin is hokey and annoying please read the Our Culture page and see it's EXACTLY how I intended to portray him because it's eXACTLY what it's already like. "The Four C's of Our Culture" give me a break.

Edmonton offers me a picture of the skyline and says "City of Opportunity: City of You". I suppose this is true. I don't know what it means. I fear slightly for its intentions.

I keep seeing "Calgary: A great place to make a living, a great place to make a life" and it's like. Stop! I won't go! You can't make me! (and again the Strong and Resilient Calgary. these kids are always catching colds because they don't eat properly.)

Although Edmonton makes literally zero attempt to define itself (outside perhaps the official symbols page hidden under Facts and Figures), what strikes me is that it is portraying itself as a very future-oriented city, which, when I was growing up we really never were. We were an inward city constantly wishing we were somewhere else which is partially still true, and we were a city with such an intense nostalgia (that unlike Calgary we failed to really capitalize on) that grated roughly against a complete failure to preserve history. It does kind of make me glad that the city is looking towards the future and just like, acknowledging basic realities (like snow) and trying to involve people in urban planning more (and throughout the website the city LOOOOVES to share data which I also called, haha). There's also an adorable animation of the city road map in its strategic planning pages. It's interesting that for a city that leaves itself up to your own interpretation, it does have a LOT of information about itself collected and available.

Tourism

Oddly enough, neither city has substantially changed their tourism homepage to accommodate COVID-related staycation plans, although each does mention that many things may be closed or unavailable as a result of the pandemic.

CaLGARy, Be PaRT of THe EnERGy!!

I like how Edmonton's self-presentation is "original" and "we do things differently". It's like a Keep ___ Weird thing but in an understated self-assured way that makes me laugh a little. Like yeah, I guess we are kind of different, I guess we're just not used to seeing that as a good thing.

In the tourism guides there isn't much to say about Calgary's that isn't just "oh, classic Calgary" but I do think the fact that they have "quick facts" to explain what timezone it's in and what currency they use is adorable to say the least. also the title of the guide is CALGARY (and the canadian rockies) and that sums up Calgary pretty well, which I'll elaborate on more.

I actually can't find Edmonton's guide, if it has one, but that's ok. The website hits all the buttons that I would and I actually use exploreedmonton quite frequently because it has a nicer event calendar than the city website does, which is important in a place nicknamed Festival City. I really appreciate how things are organized by month/season and even down to "what's happening today/tomorrow/this week" because it makes planning trips for my visitors easy, so now you know my secret : ) I wish I could just beam this site directly into people's brains when they mention "oh yeah thats where the mall is" when I say I'm from Edmonton.

Interestingly enough it's Calgary's turn to be vague, which I can only assume is part of its "exactly what it says it is" charm. This desperation to find a shred of self-description outside of things to do and places to stay led me down a rabbit hole I will elaborate on in a moment that truly showed me I Knew Nothing about how deep Calgary's branding goes. Otherwise, the website is very practical and functions more like an answer to questions you had about the what and the how and less so the why.

Also, the "Locals" page on Calgary's site has tips on hosting friends and family from around the province safely during the pandemic which is kind of cute. Edmonton doesn't really have a local page (i guess because if we had a hashtag like #loveyyc we'd ruin it)

Bonus: The Rabbit Hole

I wondered why Calgary's tourism page, which I expected to be the most in your face description of the city possible, fell kind of flat. I learned this seems to be because tourists are not the target audience that Calgary wants to attract. It's companies and corporations, and they get their own page.

Boy oh boy do they get their own page

This led me down this frightening path of getting validation like being repeatedly punched in the face by what On Brand Calgary truly means and I'm frankly quite speechless about it - all I can say is that you need to see it for yourself.

The tourism site gestures to a Billion reasons why you should hold your next meeting in Calgary and here is where the self definition as Big City Energy and Western Hospitality starts kicking the tires and lighting the fires. Likewise with the media-oriented page. Suddenly stuff like the Calgary Bucket List starts popping up and I can't help but go hang on, why not suggest this to tourists?

"It's cowboy spirit, but also refined and cosmopolitan" [sighs into hands]

Suddenly all the "Calgarians love visitors! Calgarians love the outdoors!" stuff is spilling out like water from a dam here. "Where's Calgary?" [Link that reads FIND US].

Like i literally feel like the tourism side on the left is the Kids Menu, it's the corporate stuff on the right that I'm actually finding the type of information I want on. Eventually, I somehow make my way to Calgary's Destination Strategy which is trying to make Calgary a place that... well, people go. Like, internationally. Like the Olympics but MORE of that.

Then I find the Brand Evolution. Then I find Calgary's Economic Development site. The poetry about rocky mountain prairie skies and "where a handshake still means something" starts to reach its peak.

Then back through the tourism site I find the video. And the video makes me shake because it suggests the premise of The Powerpoint.

The Powerpoint. I cannot summarize the powerpoint in any meaningful way or how my emotions were a rollercoaster further and further up and down the longer i scrolled. Everything I know and suggest about Calgary seems to be unequivocally true, including the sense that Calgary as a person is the sort of person who makes powerpoints about his own identity crisis because that's precisely what this is.

And then I get to the part of the powerpoint that suggests I imagine what kind of person the city of Calgary might be (and implied: does that person think about anything other than the mountains???) THEY EVEN DID AN OCEAN PERSONALITY TEST FOR THE CITY I KID YOU NOT

Hi, City of Edmonton, hire me to take an OCEAN test for our fair city. I'm begging you.

[btsbaereacts]

Namjoon Soulmate AU: Dreams

Namjoon Soulmate AU: The man you’ve been dreaming of is the kindest person you’ve ever met. When you realize who he is, you start to lose hope that you’ll ever meet him.

. Master List . Synopsis Page . Jin . Yoongi . Jungkook . J-Hope . Taehyung . Jimin .

Soulmate Link: Dreams

Word count: 1.6k

A/N: Honestly, this was a weird one for me to write. Not that I don’t love it, I just struggled with getting it going I think. I’m in grad school, and I have a ton to do today, but I really wanted to get this out to you. LMK if you want a part 2, because I feel like it’s really unfinished....

*not my gif*

The night of your 17th birthday, you were too excited to fall asleep. You couldn’t wait to meet your soulmate. Finally, at 2am you managed to fall asleep. 

Soon enough, you woke up. Instantly disapointed that nothing had happened in your sleep, you started getting ready for school. 

“Here’s your breakfast,” you mom said pushing a bowl of oatmeal towards you. You mumbled a ‘thank you’ before digging in. “How did you sleep?” 

You knew what she meant. On your 17th birthday, you and your soulmate were officially linked. You would be able to talk to them in your dreams, and as you got closer to meeting them, the connection would grow stronger and stronger. Eventually, you would be able to see them, then finally be able to touch them. “Nothing happened,” you didn’t want to cry, but you couldn’t believe it.

“Oh, honey,” your mom touched your shoulder softly, “this happens sometimes.” 

She explained that in cases where you were older than your soulmate, that you wouldn’t be able to hear them until they also turned 17. She also mentioned that your soulmate needed to be asleep too for the link to work. 

The first 6 months after you turned 17 were extremely disapointing. You still hadn’t heard your soulmate, and it was miserable. Not only did you feel bad for yourself, but all of your friends and teachers had also heard. 

~~ 

“Hello?” You heard someone ask softly.

“Yes? Yes! Wait can you hear me?” You walked around the dream, praying it was real.

“Yeah, hi. Are you my soulmate?” The voice asked. It sounded hopeful and calm.

“I guess so,” you smiled to yourself, knowing they wouldn’t be able to see you.

“Wow, did you just turn 17 then? I’ve been waiting for so long.” 

“No,” you replied, a bit confused, “I’m nearly 18 now.”

“Oh,” the voice mumbled, “why couldn’t I hear your before?” 

“I’m not sure…” 

After a few months of occasionally being able to talk to your soulmate, you had figured out that it was not a connection problem, but a timezone problem. You weren’t close enough to them yet to be able to talk about yourselves personally, but you had guessed that they must live somewhere where your sleeping and theirs almost never matched. You had begun napping more often just to talk to them.

~~

You were nearly 23 years old, and you could clearly hear your soulmate's voice. His voice, and especially his laugh, made you smile as soon as you heard him in each dream. As time went on, you started to be able to make out an outline of him. 

The first day you saw him, and really saw him, you were shocked at how handsome he was. He was tall, with light hair, and dimples that you couldn’t stop looking at. Instantly though, you knew you had seen him before. Maybe he just looked familiar, but deep down, you knew him. 

“Lila,” you asked your younger sister, “what’s that band you’re always listening to? The Korean one?”

“Oh, BTS!” She smiled.

“Do you have pictures of them?” 

“Obviously, let me show you,” she said, pulling out her phone and scrolling through what looked like hundreds of pictures of the boys. You gasped, seeing his face again. 

“Lila, you’re like my best friend. And I don’t want you to freak out, but I have to tell someone.”

“What, Y/N, you’re scaring me?” You knew you shouldn’t tell her, but she was only 3 years younger than you and basically your favorite person in the world.

“He’s my soulmate. I finally saw him last night.” You pointed at Namjoon.

“Namjoon is your soulmate? WHAT!” She tackled you. “Oh my god, this is so cool, I’m so excited!”

“I don’t think it’s going to work out.” You said. 

“Y/N, don’t think like that. Does he want it to work? Talk to him, I’m sure you guys will be able to figure it out.”

~~ 

“Y/N,” Namjoon called to you.

“Hi,” you smiled. You wanted to bring this up with him, but you didn’t know how. “I know who you are.”

“Oh, you figured it out,” he said, bringing his hand to the back of his neck.

“My younger sister is obsessed with you guys, and I knew I recognized you.” 

“And you?” He looked at you hopefully.

“I’ve only really listened to your music when I’m with her honestly.” You mentally facepalmed, thinking you should have at least listened to 1 of his songs.

“Oh yeah,” he laughed awkwardly, “that’s fine. Don’t worry about it.”

 “So, I don’t know how this is going to work.” You didn’t want to sound so pessimistic, but honestly, he was a superstar.

“If we can see each other, it means we’re closer to meeting. Don’t give up yet; not before we get to meet.” You couldn’t bear to look at him, but you could hear the sadness in his voice. 

“How can we meet? We live so far apart.”

“We’re going on a world tour in a few weeks, come to a show?”

“I didn’t get tickets.”

“I can get you tickets.” He reassured you. You felt yourself stir, and quickly said goodbye before waking up.

~~

Waking up one morning, you received an email. Inside, were two tickets to the BTS concert. You and Namjoon were finally able to exchange contact information in your dreams. It definitely meant that you would end up going to his concert and meeting him. 

The day of the concert came quickly, and you and Lila were ready. You had picked out your outfits, your hairstyles, makeup, and you had rehearsed meeting Namjoon in person in your head hundreds of times. He had explained in a dream that you would go to the fanmeet after the concert to meet him. He told you to go last in line, so that you could have more time to talk to him. He wasn’t the first in the group to find his soulmate, but he was the only one who had a foreign soulmate. The other boys could just find their soulmates in Korea without creating all of these plans to meet. 

~~

The concert was amazing. You knew it would be, but you couldn’t help but marvel at all of the talent. Namjoon was especially talented, you thought. The way he smiled and laughed at the other boys while they ran around the stage made you smile. You couldn’t help but wonder if he was thinking about you in the audience. You knew that he was busy, so there was no way. The boys were clearly joking about something, but without knowing any Korean, you didn’t think anything of it.

“Sorry ARMY, Namjoon is afraid to look at the left side of the stage,” Jungkook laughed into his microphone. 

Instantly everyone began screaming, asking him why. “Oh haha,” Namjoon laughed awkwardly. “I have a friend watching.”

You felt your cheeks heat up. “That’s you,” Lila shoved against you. You couldn’t look at the stage. You didn’t want this to be the first time you really saw each other. 

After the concert, you dragged Lila to the back of the fanmeet line. She whined a little bit about having to wait so long, but she understood. After over an hour of waiting, you could start to see the boys. Your heart sped up. There he was, looking as perfect as ever.

“Hi, I’m Lila!” She nearly yelled at V and Jungkook, the first boys at the table. They smiled, quickly autographing her album, sighing that you were the last ones in line. 

“Hi, I’m Y/N.” You didn’t have a copy of their album to sign, so you just sort of awkwardly nodded at them.

“Oh. OH.” V’s eyes went wide looking at you. “Namjoon!” 

Namjoon slowly looked over from the album he was signing to see you standing at the end of the table. You saw his face light up, and you couldn’t help but blush. The other boys hurried the last of the fans out of the room, and before you could say anything, Namjoon was running around the table and throwing himself into you. 

“Aw, I got a picture!” Lila squealed in the background.

“Wow, you’re so beautiful.” Namjoon said, looking deep into your eyes. 

“I can’t believe this,” you whispered to him. You were afraid to let go of his hands, like he might walk away and never come back. 

“Let me introduce you,” he said, pulling you towards the other boys. Lila had clearly already found a new group of friends in them as they talked animatedly. “This is Y/N, my soulmate.” Namjoon said with the biggest smile on his face. 

~~

After the world tour was finished, you couldn’t wait to be able to have more time to Facetime your boyfriend. You still lived at home, while he would be going back to Korea. You hadn’t talked much about the future, but you knew it needed to come up eventually. 

“Y/N, I miss you so much.” He breathed into the phone. You could hear how exhausted he was, but knew that he couldn’t go a day without talking to you, even just for 5 minutes. 

“I miss you, too. You know, now that the tour is ending, we should probably figure out what we’re going to do.” 

“Yeah, do you want to come to Korea? I know you can’t just move here, but just for a vacation? We can talk in person and figure it out. I can get you and Lila airfare.” He mentioned. You loved how understanding he was. You didn’t not want to be with him, but you knew that picking up and moving to Korea was a huge change. You didn’t speak any Korean, you wouldn’t be able to get a job there, and you didn’t know anyone else. 

“Yeah, that would be fun. Obviously, Lila will be excited.” You laughed. You hoped that you could figure everything out in person once you landed.

Tag list (open): @mizz-kraziii @cmxo03 @kaepjjang365

[spnfanficpond]

April 2019 Pond LiveChat Recap

We had a great time chatting with @deanscarlett today! Thank you so much, Scar, for joining us!!

We had a bunch of non-native English-speakers in the room today, and we all discussed the challenges of writing in a language that is not your first. A rundown of the chat, as well as general Pond news, is below the cut!

People attending: @deanscarlett @katehuntington @emilyshurley @focusonspn @mrswhozeewhatsis 

Q: What is everyone’s first language?

Scar: Spanish Kate: Dutch Emily: Hindi Sol: Spanish

Q: You all are so fluent, did you grow up speaking English?

Scar: My mom sent me to learn English when I was 6 or 7. I’m almost 41 lol Emily: I did, grand dad is a retired professor of English so like almost the second language kinda thing Kate: My mom grew up on Australia and she thought it was important for me to learn English from a very early age. 

Q: What do you guys think is the hardest part of English?

Emily: Grammar. I can speak fluently, but for me, it’s grammar and punctuation. Speaking is easier because I grew up talking to my dad in English on occasions. Scar: The listening and pronunciation part. Grammar comes easy to me because of the way it was taught to me. Spanish has waaaay too many verb tenses that makes English a joke in that sense. Kate: I personally sometimes struggle when I wanna use a Dutch way of saying things. I translate too literally.

We then discussed how even English is very different depending on what country you’re from. US vs. UK vs. Australian, for example. The same words mean different hings, different countries have different words. Sometimes, the differences can seem like it’s a whole different language.

Q: Is there anything about English that constantly trips you up, even though you know better?

Kate: Times. I mean, tenses. Scar: I got it, tenses in Spanish are called “tiempos”, which in EN is “times” 😀 For me, phrasal verbs, certain rules when it comes to prepositions. Those are my bane. Emily: Tenses. I mess those up a lot. Michelle: Well, it’s not like there’s not 2983625 tenses or anything. Native speakers screw them up, too. Apparently, we’re all REALLY invested in knowing exactly when things happened!

Q: Which brings up a side thought. I know that language informs thought. Like, some languages have no words for things, or special words for things. How often do you run into that?

Kate: A lot. I’ve looked so long for a translation to the word ‘gezellig’. It doesn’t exist. Scar. Yup. We don’t have a word for toes, for example. Kate & Michelle: Toes? How can you not have a word for toes??? Scar: Yup, it’s “fingers of the foot/feet”. There isn’t a word for it. Emily: Same. Michelle: I was thinking about those cultures that don't have words for stealing because they believe everything belongs to everyone, and here Scar is telling me the South Americans don't have toes!

Emily then turned us onto a discussion about how English steals from other languages.

Emily: Speaking of word stealing "jungle" is a Hindi word. Michelle: Oh, English is a great thief. English steals from EVERYONE indiscriminately. Kate: Oh now I wanna know what they stole from the Dutch. Emily: *cough* colonialism *cough* Kate: We were just as bad. England owned half and the Dutch the other half. Scar: Spanish stole terms, too, but they evolved in time. Emily: Jungle is straight up Hindi word with same meaning. The only English words we use in Hindi are for the things British introduced to India. Even then we came up with word for them eventually. Michelle: Quick Google search for English words with Dutch origin: Coleslaw (from the Dutch word meaning cabbage salad), boss (from baas, which means master), stove (from the Dutch word for heated room), and booze (from a Dutch word "busen" meaning to drink in excess). Kate: Koolsla! Haha! Of course we inspired a word for alcohol. Busen is old old Dutch, though. Stoven is a Dutch word for cooking. But what the English speakers call a stove, we call a gasfornuis, now. Language is weird, man.

Q: One of the facets of English that I don't know if other languages do, is how it constantly changes. I took a history of the English language course in college, and if you read Old English, like Chaucer's Canterbury Tales was originally written in, it's a completely different language. For example, the verb to starve, came from a word steorfan (not the correct spelling), which simply meant to die. Over the centuries, the meaning changed to die specifically from hunger.

Emily: Most languages evolve with time.  Scar: Latin American Spanish and Spaniard Spanish have different tenses for 2nd person plural. Even a different pronoun.

Q: Someone once told me that English is more malleable than other languages. What do you think of that?

Scar: It’s true. Spanish is hard to evolve.You cannot transform a word in a verb as easily as with EN. Emily: I’ll speak for Hindi. It’s a constantly evolving language that’s super malleable.

Q: When you look for a beta, do you look for someone who speaks your first language, or just for a native English speaker? If you don't look for someone who speaks your language, do you think finding a beta who did would make things easier or harder?

Scar: Always a native speaker. For one, not many Spanish speakers around, and 2nd, they are bound to make the same mistakes I do. Emily: It’s hard finding Indian betas, so mostly they are native English speakers. Kate: I look for a native English speaker in a beta, at least one of them (I usually get my stories checked by 2 or 3 betas). Scar: Though I notice that EN speakers tend to not notice stuff like they’re/there/their and the like. I don’t have issues with those when I write, but I notice it a lot in other writers (native EN) who were betaed by other native EN, and you see tons of those mistakes.

Q: Is there anything that has tripped up your betas in the past, or anything that you wish betas would focus on more often?

Kate: Repeating a certain word. I use a certain verb or emotion too much. Synonym would be better, not everyone picks up on that Scar: I tend to go a little too happy with passive voice. I usually do 10 reads before giving it to the beta. Usually they find wrong prepositions.  Emily: For me, it's common English saying and day to day slang. A beta once said my dialogue sounds formal. Michelle: I can understand the formal thing. One ESL writer I beta for never uses contractions. Emily: That's because I learnt the "proper" way of speaking English in school. Scar: That’s another issue, too. I was taught the posh English, so when I went to England last year, it was hard af to understand the cockney English. Emily:  Then there is the whole cultural divide situation. For example, I have a really difficult time writing anything remotely NSFW because sex and PDA are kinda taboo in India. Any advice? Michelle: Only write what you're comfortable writing. If you REALLY feel that your story needs something you don't feel comfortable writing, then collaborate with someone. Scar: Don’t force yourself to write something you are not comfortable with. Because in some cases, you don’t enjoy it and in the end that shows in the writing. Emily: It isn't that I'm not comfortable, I don't have an issue I just have no idea what I'm doing. Michelle: Whenever you're writing something that you don't know much about, find someone who writes that or knows about that, and work with them. For example, @manawhaat is my weapons expert. When I wrote a fic about Dean and the First Blade, comparing it to his other weapons, I practically had her on speed dial. I wrote what I was thinking, and asked her if any of it sounded plausible, and she corrected what I had wrong, and gave suggestions for things I didn't know about. Another suggestions is to read TONS of other fics that have what you want to write. Kate: But if you wanna learn, read and practice, though. You don’t even have to publish it.  Emily: That makes sense but I'm to scared to reach out to people. I follow some people who are really amazing, but when they post stuff like, “No, I won't read your fics unless I offer myself,” I get scared thinking I'm bothering others as well. Michelle: That’s when the Pond’s Beta list comes in handy! Sol: I'm too scared to bother someone for beta my work. Michelle: That’s what the list is there for. These are people who want to beta read. If they’re busy, they’ll tell you. But they want to be on the list and welcome people asking them.

We ended with some advice on picking a beta, and complaints about Tumblr eating asks. REMINDER: IF YOU SEND AN ASK TO THE POND AND DON’T GET A RESPONSE IN TWO DAYS, SEND A MESSAGE TO ONE OF OUR ADMINS!!

Great talk, guys! Can’t wait for next month!!

General Pond Updates and Reminders

Angel Fish Award nominations are accepted all month long! No need to wait to tell us how much you liked a fellow Fish’s work!  IF YOU HAVE SENT IN A NOMINATION, BUT HAVE NOT RECEIVED A PRIVATE MESSAGE CONFIRMING WE RECEIVED IT, WE DIDN’T GET IT. Be sure to use Submit instead of Ask!

Don’t forget to submit your stories to be posted to the blog! When your stories are on the blog, then they are easier to nominate for Angel Fish Awards!

SPNFanFicPond Season 14 Weekly Episode Challenge - Now that the season is over, we will be reposting each prompt list through the summer months! Remember, there’s no deadline for submissions! 

Say hi to April’s New Members!

Check the Pond CALENDAR to see when Big Fish will be in the chat room and other Pond and SPN events are happening! Know of something that’s not on the calendar, send us an ask or submission with the deets info details!  The calendar offers a lot of features, such as showing you when things are in your own timezone! Since we’re an international group, that’s a definite plus!!

We don’t have a topic or speaker set up for May’s event, yet, so if there’s something you want to talk about, or someone you want to talk to, LET US KNOW!

[purplesurveys]

459

Ok I’m sorry but these name surveys have turned out to be loadsa fun for me so let me just take another one lmaooooo. 

I honestly find it therapeutic since it allows me to reflect and look back on all of the people I’ve crossed paths with before, whether for better or for worse :) Sorry if I’ll repeat names/explanations, I’ll do my best to remember more stuff about them!

aaron: Already mentioned this in the last survey, but he’s a part of my high school friend group. He was one of my first guy friends ever and he was very nice to me from the very beginning; always made sure I felt like I belonged in a crowd. Also studies in UP and I think he is taking up sports science because he wants to go on to med school. abby/abbey: This is my mom’s name. She goes by the first spelling. I know an Abby from high school; she studies in La Salle now. adam: I don’t know him personally but there used to be a dude from WhatCulture Wrestling (a popular YouTube channel) named Adam – he was my favorite to watch until he got caught in a major fuck-up and was booted from the group. adel adrienne ajee

ajla alan: I have an uncle named Allan. He was part of my dad’s friend group in college; they met each other in their org. He was in every birthday party when I was a kid, but I don’t see him anymore now because his family already migrated somewhere else. alex: Broad comm student who plays the guitar and sings well; I haven’t talked to her. I also knew an Alex from 6th grade and she was just...not a very bright student. She had to move because I don’t think her grades reached the standard in my school, and now I think she lives in California. If not there, then somewhere else in the States. Alex is a fairly common name here, though, and I know I’ve missed out on a bunch of other Alexes.

alexa: Again, another girl from high school. Was a cool girl and a party girl from the very start. Like I said in my past survey, she lives in Australia now. alexis alexzandria alicia: My friend Alliyah’s boss, who she has a huge crush on, is named Alicia but she goes by Alice. alisa allie/ally: Gossiping fake loser from our rival journ org who does nothing but spread black propaganda about our org to keep people from joining ours – when she talks to us, though, she’s super nice. I’m so fucking happy she’s graduating because she has such a toxic personality :(  allison: Former prof in Comm 100. Wasn’t very good but I had a crush on her from the very first lecture. She had a serious car accident in the middle of the sem and had to wear like a nose brace thing for the rest of the sem. alycea/alycia alyssa: I rode the school bus with a girl named Alyssa but I was much closer to her older sister Alex. There’s also an Alyssa from broad comm and I was classmates with her in my political science, history, and broad comm classes for this semester. She’s the niiiiiiiicest girl and would always help me out if I have missing notes or whatever. amanda: Girl from my org who’s taking up engineering. I was her VP last semester, but she had personal problems and so she wasn’t able to work much under me. Whenever she did, though, she was always reliable. Quiet girl, a little socially awkward. amari amber andrew: I first met him at a rally/protest I attended in 2017. Hit it off well right from the start because I saw that he was wearing a wrestling shirt, so we bonded over WWE that day. He plays the guitar and has released his own EP, is a junior DJ at one of the hip radio stations in Manila, and has done his fair share of hosting gigs. He used to take up engineering but shifted to journalism as he likes it better. Is very adventurous and amiable but tends to get too friendly; some might find it tiring but I honestly think it’s just his personality. He was my groupmate in communication research and I thought he was decent. angela: My best friend’s name is Angela. We first met each other in Grade 1 when we were 7, and we became friends after I stabbed her palm with a newly-sharpened pencil. She still has the pencil mark today. anna: Anna is a popular secondary name in the Philippines, but no one actually uses it as their main name. anne: Same with Anne. annie: My grandma’s best friend who used to come over the house every Sunday. Like I said in the past survey, I’m honestly not sure if she’s still alive lol. She was already pretty old when I was still very young. anthony aasad ashley: I *think* I have a distant cousin named Ashley that I first met at a family reunion last year. But let’s be real, Filipino families are huge and I don’t even know if I remember her name correctly, if she’s even an Ashley. aubri: One of my closest friends in high school was Aubrey. We were very, very close in junior year until she dropped a bomb on me that her family was migrating to California by the time we start senior year. We don’t talk anymore because of the distance and the timezones, but I’ll always be there for her no matter what. Incredibly talented dancer and figure skater. She’s in UCLA right now and as far as I know she is killing it over there. austin autumn: I know an Autumn from my wrestling fandom days. I think she was a redhead, but I don’t remember anything else. barbara becca: A girl from broad comm. She was one of the principal actors in one of the productions we did for BC and she has a really cute laugh. Super elegant; she reminded me a little bit of Audrey Hepburn because she was really graceful. She’s the older sister of my orgmate Rita, who’s from psych. ben beth bethany betty: I have a friend-ish named Bettina. Betty’s kind of like a goofy nickname; she actually doesn’t use it but I think it still counts. I’ve known her since first grade; she peed her skirt in our first day of Grade 1 and I remember her crying a lot. She had a wild TV show phase starting from Grade 5 and she was into Nicole Kidman, Paula Abdul, Kara DioGuardi, Shania Twain, Celine Dion, Stana Katic, Kate Walsh, etc etc etc and a bunch of shows like Private Practice, Grey’s Anatomy, Castle, Suits etc etc etc. She was super shy, very awkward in person so I’m glad her love of TV shows and actresses sprung her into life for the most part. She’s in UP Manila and I think too busy to get into fandoms now. bijan bobby bram brandon brandy breanna/brianna: Brianna is my friend Pat’s middle name. I honestly used to be so envious of this name of hers because I thought it sounded really nice, but now I think it kinda sounds like a bratty name hahaha. brendan brian: I have an uncle named Bryan, but we aren’t related. He’s my mom’s cousin’s husband. He’s VERY shy and likes to keep to himself or his kids at family gatherings but turns really cool when he’s had a little to drink. brittany/brittney/brittni brock brooke bruce buck cameron camille: Nice girl from my childhood school bus. There’s an unofficial norm in private schools in that when you’re older, you get to be mean to the younger kids. Not her. She was always nice and include us second graders in her antics in the bus, even though she was several years older. I was bummed when I found out they moved to the States. candy carina: I used to ride the school bus with a Carina but she was much younger. I was already in high school when she was in kindergarten. She’s the younger sister of Carissa, who I always found to be pretty weird. Anyway, these girls were clearly rich and pampered; they had a nanny ride with us in the bus. carly: I had an Internet friend named Carley; she was my first online best friend. We met here on Tumblr in like 2012 and got close because we were both huge fans of Stephanie McMahon at the time haha. We would video-call EVERY afternoon when I would come home from school while she would get ready for school (she’s from Pennsylvania). Eventually she’d disappear off the face of the earth and stopped talking to me but resurfaced a few months later. She’d continue to do this like 10 other times until I got tired of getting my hopes up of having her back. She’s tried reconnecting with me again on DMs but I just ignored it cos I knew there was a good chance she’d just cut off our communication again. We’re still Facebook friends and she’d pop up on my news feed from time to time, but that’s it. carol: I have a great-aunt named Carol. But my grandma has so many sisters that I honestly do not remember which one she is. carrie cassandra: I had a batchmate named Kassandra, who went by Kasey. Really bright, sweet, intelligent girl. She moved to Singapore in 7th grade. She was very, very simple and very kind to everyone and you wouldn’t be able to tell that she’s crazy rich. Her dad’s a top exec for a famous food and drink company and she lives in the same village I do–their house is guarded 24/7. cassidy chantel charlotta chelsie: Chelsea’s part of our high school friend group and is also crazy rich. We always hung out at her place because her house is huge. She’s very maarte, which I cannot really translate to English...the closest term is probably high maintenance hahaha; but she’s very sweet and generous and kind too. cheryl chris: One of Gabie’s best friend is a Kris. Other than liking outdoorsy stuff like going to the beach and hiking which is all I know about her, I think she’s also half-American. christopher: I have an uncle with this name but like I said his nickname is Perry. He works abroad like my dad (his brother-in-law) and my dad’s sister (his sister-in-law). cienna clare: Guidance counselor for several grade school levels. Understandably, she is very maternal. I once had a nasty fight with another girl and we had to be sent to her office. clarissa: Went to school with a Clarisa. We first met in Grade 4 because she rode my school bus, and instantly clicked. She was very nice, very sweet; she was simple to the point that, like Kasey, you’d have no clue how rich she was. She lives in a huge mansion now but she lived in a huge house before that as well, it’s crazy. Really, really sweet and she would give the best hugs. I played table tennis a lot with her in high school too. She studies in Miriam now but I’m not so sure about her course. claudia: Already said a lot about her in the last survey. Popular girl her whole life. She still goes to a bunch of parties but she is so much nicer now than she was when we were younger. cody cole collin corey corinne: One of my former teachers named her daughter Corinne. I think she’s 8 this year. courtney crissy: Chrissy was one of my very best friends in preschool and grade school. She looked Chinese even though she had a Filipino-sounding surname, and I was never sure if she had Chinese blood or not. She was boyish so she was very rowdy, liked to play rough, and punched other girls if she got pissed; but other than that she was very quiet and shy. She was constantly on the basketball team too. Eventually her family moved to Canada. crystal dallas dan danielle danika: An orgmate that worked under my committee two semesters ago. She’s from business ad and was juggling another org so she wasn’t very active at all to begin with. Her performance just plummeted every month and she ended up ghosting my org last semester–never replied to anyone when we tried to check up on her. I was very mad at her until she restarted contact with us recently and explained how tumultuous stuff suddenly got in her personal life and mental health that she had to take care of herself for a while, which we all understood immediately. She’s coming back to the org this year and we’re more than ready to welcome her. She’s very charming, goofy, and kind. She has a very life-of-the-party personality haha. danny: I have a friend-ish named Dani that I met through Angela. We all sat at the same table during the senior ball at Ateneo in 2016 so we got to talk then. She played volleyball in high school and she studies in San Beda now. She wants to take up law school so I think her course is in political science.  darious david: Pat’s boyfriend from Serbia and Patrice’s boyfriend from economics HAHAHAHA. Also a sucky groupmate from my comm res class who did absolutely nothing to contribute in the final paper that Hannah and I worked our asses so hard for. dean deanglo derrick destiny devin dillon donna dwayne [Random survey-taker note: these are all very Western names...] emie emily eric: My godfather is an Eric. Like my Tito Allan, he also met my dad through their college org. He’s an exec in a bank now and is suuuuuuper rich. Has a daughter named Arya which he could’ve named after the GoT character but am not really sure about that. everette felicia gabby: Wildly popular name. 1) My girlfriend’s name is Gabie; 2) there was another Gaby in my high school batch. 3) I have a friend from the Tumblr wrestling fandom named Gabbie who was really good in Photoshop – we study in the same school but have never met each other. 4) I have a high school batchmate whose little sister is a Gaby, annnnnddd I also just remembered that 5) there was another Gabbi in the wrestling fandom who also made good edits at the time. gerald gina guliana gloria: Do last names count? Hahaha. Gloria is the surname of my instructor in my class in international relations just this past sem. He’s a new faculty member but is craaaazy good at teaching; clearly knows what he’s talking about. He was passionate about his subject and I always admired that about him. I was really sad when class had to end. grace: I have a great-aunt named Grace; he’s my late grandpa’s sister. She’s really...quite fabulous; she has connections with super prestigious people and has a fancy wardrobe. She’s the only Filipino grandmother I know who goes by ‘Nana’ to her grandkids, which I note because Nana is like a super Western thing afaik. She has drama queen tendencies though and can be sensitive to a lot of things lmao. gracie hannah: One of the close friends I’ve made in college so far! Our first meeting was when she and Macy moved from UP Los Banos to the Diliman campus (where I study) and the three of us enrolled in our classes together. I was closer to Macy first, but eventually me and Hannah got a stronger friendship. Best groupmate, workmate, and David Archuleta fan I know. Sings great and plays the piano great. An absolute angel. hasan hawa hayley: I only know a dog named Hailey lol. heather: Someone from my high school batch is a Heather! We were never in the same cliques but she is one of the friendliest people I know. She knows how to talk to anyone which I appreciated. We bonded over One Direction in high school and she also confided in me a few times about her relationship and how her parents forbade her from seeing her boyfriend because he was trans. She also studies in my school now, taking up business economics. We barely see each other but say hi whenever we do. holly hunter ibro isaac isaiah jack jackie: One of my aunts has a relative named Jackie and I literally only found this out earlier when we met up and caught up with each other. jacob jacquelin jaden: A kid of my mom’s best friend is a Jaden. He was named after Jaden Smith because he was born during the time the Karate Kid remake made big waves. jake: HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA I had a garbage instructor with this name. This dude was in charge of my weekly crying binges and panic attacks because I was never sure if I was gonna pass his class. He seemed to enjoy giving all of us failing marks too which made me hate his piece of shit ass more. He’s supposed to be really good at what he does but I guess knowledge just does not always translate well in the classroom. Ended up passing his class, but now I’m cursing his ass forever. james: I have a younger cousin named James. I’ve only met him twice; once when he was a newborn, and then when he celebrated Christmas 2018 with us. His family’s lived in New Zealand and Vietnam since 2008, which is why we never get to see him, and why he does not remember me at all. janai janveia jared jason jay: My uncle is a Jay; he’s my mom’s brother. I disowned him as my uncle many years ago. He’s a terrible drunk, a disgusting smoker, and an annoying freeloader. I tried giving him a chance before, but after I found out that he drunkenly punched a cat once, I ignored him forever. Sometimes my mom and grandmother would ask me to acknowledge him at family gatherings, so I’d have to begrudingly do so; but other than that he’s out of my life. jazmine: There was a Jasmin from my old school. She’d always been very artistic and she was into K-Pop very early on. She’s taking up linguistics in my school now. jeana jeanette jen: Girl from the now-ancient Tumblr wrestling fandom. She’s probably the biggest and most passionate wrestling fan I know as she would follow both the mainstream and indie promotions the last time I checked up on her. She was kinda vain and kept on taking selfies while captioning each one as ‘ugly.’ I remember that she has a dog she really loves, and that she lives in Boston. jeralyn jerry jesse jessica: Meh, annoying girl from high school. I’m sure she’s nice(?) but her personality just didn’t click with me. She was too vibrant and too friendly that it almost seemed fake; but what do I know, I never really made the effort to know her better other than bonding over 1D here and there. jim jocelyn jodi: I know a Jodee from my old school. Spoke straight English, is intelligent, but is a huge goofball and very mischievous/rebellious. She was a smartass and liked testing the teachers’ patience whenever she can, but she always did it in a very funny way I think. She was often called to the guidance counselor’s office for having relationships with other students (I went to a Catholic all-girls’ private school, so this was obviously not allowed) but she always stood her ground about it and was never afraid to fight back. She had a phase of unhooking our bras in like 5th grade. joey: My blockmate has a younger sister named Joey. I think she is also studying in UP. john: The cousin I’m closest to is named John, but it’s not his preferred name. jonathan jordan josh: I know two Joshes, but only because they are boyfriends of a couple of acquaintances. jossie julia julie junior justin: I went to school with a girl who initially went by Justinn, but like she all wanted to start calling her by her other name, Ria, as we grew older. I also briefly rode the school bus with a girl named Justine, but we didn’t talk much. kailyn kaitlyn kaleb: Chelsea’s brother is named Caleb. kali karrie karli kasey: Oh, I guess Kasey (under Cassandra) falls under this too lmao. kasahwn katarina: Not exact, but Katrina’s a fairly popular name where I live. My cousin’s boyfriend is named Katrina, my aunt is a Katrina (but she goes by Bianca), and I also went to school with a Katrina even though her nickname is Cheenie. kate: Already talked about this in the last name survey. I met Kate through my org; she’s a huge joker/goofball, is naturally very friendly, and has an awesome wardrobe. When she’s bored and we both aren’t doing anything, she puts makeup on me. Works very well but is also a huge partier HAHAHAHA. katie: This is my nickname for Kate, if that counts. kayla: There’s a Kayla in my college, but her course is in broad(cast) comm(unication). I remember her very well because she is the first person I EVER talked to when we had our freshman orientation in UP. We didn’t become close after that. She’s pretty, has nice clothes and hair, is part of the popular circle, and she’s part of streetdance which is like one of the cooler orgs on campus. kelli kent: I have a younger cousin who’s a Kent. We used to be close when we were both kids, but now we’re shy towards each other. He was obsessed with dinosaurs when he was younger, like 5 or 6. kerna kevin kiana: I have an orgmate named Kiana! SOOOOO pretty and has like the clearest skin. Very simple and down-to-earth. Is nice but can kick your ass because she has a black belt in taekwondo. She’s smart as hell and I’m pretty sure she’s graduating as magna cum laude, besides the fact that she’s going to UP Law right after. kiley kim: I also have an orgmate named Kim :) He’s the sweetest guy ever, and is just so easy to talk to. He has a really cute relationship with one of the org’s alumni. I didn’t get to bond with him much but am sad all the same that he’s graduating this year :( kimberly: Went to my old school with a Kimberly but she went by Kim. Was one of the rougher, lesser-behaved kids. She was a demon in grade school. Not quite sure how she’s doing now. She’s my friend on Facebook but can’t really care less about her life updates. kirsten kristy kyle: Kyelle is a kinda good friend of mine. He’s from the same circle, but we aren’t close in particular. He’s very nice though, very silly and likes to goof around. laila lain: I used to have an orgmate named Laine. She was our VP for External Affairs two years ago. She’s now in law school. leah: Cheenie’s mom is a Lea. She’s probably the best mom friend my mom made from my school hahaha; she’s known me since I was 4. lexi: I have a high school batchmate named Alexa but I think she goes by Lexi, judging from her Twitter name. Is naturally quiet but gets very friendly when you get her to open up. Easy to talk to. liam: Liam is my youngest cousin, I think. He was born in 2014 or 2015. I’ve never seen him, because he and his family lives in New York. I’ve only ever met his big sister. :( lilly: This girl I was classmates with for a journ elective. I found her to be verrrrry pretty and she had the biggest, most piercing eyes; until I found out that she was one of those die-hard Catholics who are vehemently pro-life. She once defended a fraternity whose members were confirmed to be misogynist, sexist, racist, homophobic and transphobic pieces of shit in a leaked groupchat simply because she believes in ‘forgiveness.’ She caused another ruckus two weeks ago when she made known her pro-life views well known. I wanna unfriend her ass so bad but she just keeps making all the wrong opinions that I just wanna stay and watch her get schooled by my less-than-thrilled college mates hahaha. lina liz: If I remember correctly, there was an Elizabeth from my wrestling fandom who went by Liz. She lives somewhere in the UK, had reddish hair, and was in love with John Cena lmao. She would sometimes make edits too. loren: Other than the Lauren I mentioned in the previous survey, I also had a friend named Lauren from the Tumblr wrestling community too. She was one of the first friends I made. She was two years older than me, fancied Andy Samberg earlier than anyone else, had a cool room, was obsessed with cats, and loved tie-dye stuff. lydia lyndsey lynnette macaila mack: JM’s dad goes by Mackey, if that counts hahahaha. He’s a lawyer and a college professor. mckenzi macey: I went to high school with a Macy and now she’s in college with me too. She used to study in UPLB but moved to Diliman after a year, since she always planned to take up journalism (she didn’t pass the cutoff initially, so she had to stay in LB for a year before she moved). I was very close with her throughout high school, but idk, she’s just never been in a good place mentally so our friendship is very up-down-up-down. I tried to reconnect when we were reunited in college, but she’s found her crowd now so I’m happy for her nonetheless.

There’s also a Macy in my org who worked under my committee for a year before she moved to finance. Quiet girl but was always nice to everyone. She’s also graduating this semester :( maddie madison margo: Went to elementary school with a Margo but she preferred to spell it as Margauxe lmao. We became close for a while because we rode the school bus together and she would lend me the other half of her earbuds so we can listen to Ashley Tisdale’s Headstong and Vanessa Hudgens’ V every day (this was when High School Musical was peak popular). She sort of had a tumultuous family life here until she moved to Hawaii a few years ago. I think she may have moved to California now too. maria: Again, this is like the base name for like half of all Filipina girls. It’s so common that it’s just simply shortened to ‘Ma.’ because everyone knows what it stands for. marina marisa: Kayla’s middle name is Marissa. marquis mary: Macy’s first name is Mary. mathew: I know a bunch of Matthews from both high school and college but they all go by Matt. The one I remember the most is Matthew from another high school friend group who was close with my group. Our group was invited to their Christmas party, and they had a gimmick that each member of their group was gonna be paired with someone from ours, and it was gonna be a costume party. I was paired up with Matthew (but they called him Cho), but I never went to the party so I never got to meet him. I’m sure he’s nice, though. matt: See Mathew. maura mechelle: I have an orgmate named Michelle. She’s clumsy, kinda awkward, but she does it in a very cute way and we all love her because she’s so funny haha. She passed the toughest med school program in the COUNTRY but chose journ in the end. Is the most Chinese Chinese-Filipino girl I know. megan: I know someone whose middle name is Megan but she goes by a different name. melissa: Hahahahaha. I knew a Melissa all right. Freeloader. meredith mersadies micah: I was classmates and friends with a Micah in grade school. My parents and hers were close, so we became close too. She was very smart but I remember her to be deathly afraid of walking on beams when we had to do it in PE. She moved schools in the fifth grade, and she studies in UST now. michael: His full name is Michael, but Mike is a guy I almost went out with in high school. Wasn’t really attracted to him, but he’s like super smart so it was a huge plus point for me lol. I also have an orgmate named Michael but we all call him Elis. He’s unreliable. miranda: If surnames count, Gabie’s best friend’s last name is this haha. molly monica: Some girl who went to my old school but transferred schools early on, like in 2nd or 3rd grade. She was Gabie’s childhood friend though so I still hear from her from time to time. She’s in UP now too, but I don’t know what course she’s taking. morgan nashid natasha: I went to high school with a girl named Natasha, but she goes by Tashie. Huge girl and a beast at softball. Can be a big softie but she has weird mood swings too (and when she’s mad, she’s quite violent) so I just tried not to piss her off while we were still in school together lol. nate: Yeah he’s in the same college as me but I know zilch about him other than he’s supposed to be really good in making films. nathan neema nichole: Annoying younger busmate who graduated high school this year. nick: Nick is the codename I gave to one of my first crushes. Obviously not his legit name so I don’t think this counts. nicholas olivia paige preasia preme prisilla: When I was still applying for AIESEC, Priscilla was assigned as one of my groupmates. I was originally iffy because she didn’t get online to work until like 11 PM, but when I did see her start working, she was a GODDAMN BEAST. Amazing. Did everything I assigned to her. When I met her in person the next day, she spoke very well and was very put-together. My respect for her soared even more after that. I dropped my application soon after for unrelated reasons but it was a pleasure working with her. Last I heard, she’s a councilor-elect in her local college’s student council. rachel: My math teacher in Grade 1 was a Rachel. I don’t remember her at all, except for the fact that when she found our class noisy one day, she completely stopped talking and mimed everything for the rest of the 45-minute period. raheim raven: Creepy, weird dude from my org who’s always looking for a dick to suck. I’m not even trying to insult him, he’s just perpetually thirsty and makes sure the whole world knows it for some reason. ray renee: Sweet, intelligent, hilarious girl from my high school. She’s very makwela, which in English means zany/funny. Her dad is a national basketball coach so it’s no surprise she followed in his footsteps. richard riley rita: Sweet, sweet girl from my org. We all just kinda naturally flock to protect her from bad influences or creepy people because she just has such a sweet soul. She’s my successor VP in my committee. robby: I have an Uncle Rob, but he doesn’t go by Robby. He’s the husband of my aunt (my mom’s cousin). He’s from New Zealand and has a Masters or a PhD in film theory, I don’t actually remember which. ryan: I used to see him a lot at a relative’s house until I was like 8. I’ve never seen him since and don’t actually know how he’s related to us or me lmfao. sabrina samantha: I have a younger cousin named Samantha. Sam was born and raised in New York but visited the Philippines last year and I was primarily in charge of taking care of her. She’s just the cutest darling I’ve seen and has the most perfect accent ahuhuhuhuhuhu. She likes My Little Pony. sara sarica sean: Someone from a lower batch in high school has this name. I never knew her but we follow each other on Twitter loooooool. secilia seliena: My older cousin’s first name is Selina but she goes by her second name, Bianca or Bia for short. We were inseperable as kids but we grew shyer as we grew older :( shannon shauna: Gabie’s orgmate. That’s all I know. She liked my tweets in the past but that’s the most contact we’ve made. shayna shelby sherry seirra skylar spencer steven stevey susan: I have an Aunt Susan. She took care of me my whole childhood; fed me, gave me baths, all that stuff when my mom was too busy with work. She got run over by a hit-and-run motorcycle when I was 9 and she was never the same after. She was crankier and had violent outbursts. tamara: I went to school with a Tamara; her nickname was Tammy. She was a gentle giant; like she was a naturally big girl but was very soft-spoken and SUPER shy. We got close for a while in 4th grade but her paths differed not long after. tashryha taylor tayshaun terrell tiffany: I had a batchmate named Tiffany. She was kinda mean in grade school but got nicer as we got older. I never really got the chance to know her well. tori trevor trisha: Another high school batchmate. All I remember was that she would cheat on tests by changing her wrong answers when the teachers would give our results back so they could correct it for her. Also a big Justin Bieber fan lol. trista tylik vanessa: There was a Vanessa in an older HS batch but she went by Via; she just graduated college yesterday but that’s all I know. There’s also a Vanessa in my sister’s HS batch; she’s half-German and that’s also all I know. victoria: Some girl I had a class with was named Victoria but it’s her middle name; we all called her Kristine. wally will wyatt zach: Another guy from the wrestling group I was in. He was one of the older dudes so I was more scared of him than the rest. zachary: Same answer as Zach. I think this was his whole name. zoey

[undersummerskyy]

Hey! I love what/how you write! So here is one: After USO, Beca and Chloe are separated by distance (you can choose if they are together or not) and they try really hard to get together during the year, but every time that they manage, they just fall asleep together 'cause they're so tired (obs they can't sleep without each other so they haven't been sleeping well for long periods of time). Basically, fluffy-tired-fustrated Bechloe until one of them just decides to move.

This was fun to write, although it took me a while haha. I tried to stay as close to the original prompt as I could, but some things are a bit different. I still hope you enjoy! 

AO3 LINK

Yesterday it was 5 hours.

Today and tomorrow are 6.

The day after it will be 4 hours.

She can do 4. 

Beca’s been traveling around the country, on a tour with DJ Khaled. They started their tour only two months after the end of the USO tour, and it’s been crazy ever since. They barely had enough time to come up with new and original content. But they did it. Days and weeks without sleep paid of and Beca was proud of the material they had come up with. She was proud to present it to the rest of the world. No matter how scary. In some songs she sang, in other, she was just the producer. It worked.

She figured that once they would get on the road she would be so exhausted that all she would (or well.. could) do at nights was sleep.

Sadly though, the opposite had been true.

Because Beca didn’t sleep. She never slept.

That was, until she had decided to FaceTime Chloe one night.

“Becs?” Chloe had answered, blinking hard and then squinting her eyes at the harsh light of her phone. “Is everything okay?” Her voice sounded hoarse and low.

“Yeah. I’m okay. Are you alone?” She wasn’t sure what the deal with Chloe and Chicago was, but she did know that she didn’t want to do this if he was there.

“Yes, what’s wrong?”

She shrugged, not quite sure if Chloe could tell from the angle. “I can’t sleep.”

Chloe rolled over on her side, then put her phone up against something on the pillow next to her, and for a second it felt like she was really there. She mimicked Chloe’s position, putting her own phone up on the other pillow as well, then tucking her hands under her face and smiling softly at the redhead.

“I miss you.” Chloe said.

“I miss you too.” She responded honestly. Maybe she wouldn’t have admitted it if she wasn’t so tired, but there was no stopping her now.

“Do you want to talk?” The redhead then asked, before yawning.

A part of her did, because they hadn’t really talked much over the last two months, hadn’t had the time to, and she wondered what was going on with vet school, the Bellas, their apartment.. and Chicago. She wanted to tell Chloe all about her new music and her first ‘fans’ and everything that was happening. But she was also tired, so tired. She hadn’t felt this comfortable and safe in a bed ever since she left New York.

“Not right now.” Beca answered instead, letting her eyes fall closed. “Can you stay for a little while?”

Chloe smiled. “Of course. I’ll wait until you’ve fallen asleep.”

And Chloe didn’t have to wait long, because not five minutes later, Beca Mitchell had fallen into a deep sleep for the first time in two months, a small smile still on her face while she dreamed of her best friend, the woman who she loved most in the world.

After that, their FaceTime goodnight sessions became more frequent. They didn’t always have the time for it, with Chloe’s busy schedule and timezones. Beca was usually up late, working on music or still performing, and sometimes Chloe was already asleep. She felt bad for waking up the other woman just so she could see her, but she also knew that Chloe would get mad at her if she missed three nights of sleep just because Beca didn’t want to bother her.

But sometimes she fought her sleep, wanting to keep staring at Chloe, keep listening to her voice. She wanted to reach out and tuck a stray strand of hair behind her ear, cuddle into her like they’d done in New York when it was cold and they didn’t have heating. But she couldn’t do that.

Then, 4 months into the tour and 6 months since they had last seen each other, an opportunity presented itself.

Beca was performing in Philadelphia.

Philadelphia was only a two-hour drive away from their small apartment in Brooklyn.

And she still had a key.

After her performance ended that night, at 9:30pm, she made a rash decision and got in her car. She had her suitcase packed and with her, even though she knew she wasn’t in that much of a rush. Her plane wasn’t leaving until 2 in the afternoon tomorrow, giving her plenty of time to sleep in and get back to Philadelphia.

She’d texted Amy, who confirmed that Chloe was indeed home tonight, and she also said that she would make sure the two of them could have the apartment to themselves, as long as she promised they could all go out for breakfast together the next day. Which was an easy promise to make, of course.

So finally, exhausted and anxious and tired, she climbed the stairs of her old apartment building and turned the lock at precisely 12:00am and entered the dark apartment. She’d forgotten how small it was, surprised when she bumped into their - or well.. now just Chloe’s - bed. She looked down, the light of the streets of New York illuminating the bed and Chloe just right, making her look even more beautiful than she normally already looked. Or maybe it was the fact that Beca hadn’t seen her in such a long time.

She knew now. She knew that she wasn’t together with Chicago. And she knew that Chloe liked her. It was weird, finding out about that when she wasn’t actually there to do something or say something. They’d been face-timing when Chloe had suddenly revealed her feeling to her, after Beca kept pushing her to tell her why it hadn’t worked out with Chicago.

Finally, the redhead had just yelled: “Because I’m in love with you, you idiot.”

That had shut her up for sure.

Beca had just stared at her for a little bit, trying to come up with a good answer. She knew what she felt, she was certain of it and she’d been trying to find a way to tell Chloe for a while now. But, just when she was about to respond, the redhead had interrupted her.

“Chloe I-“

“I know. But not right now. It’s too much.”

She’d understood. It was too much. They weren’t in the same place, and Chloe’s relationship had just ended. She needed to focus on school.

The timing couldn’t be worse.

Still, she couldn’t stop herself from reaching out and finally tucking that stray strand of hair behind Chloe’s ear, like she’d been wanting to do for the last couple of months, her finger lingering longer than necessary.

She quickly undressed herself and changed into an old Bella shirt that she still had at her old apartment before slipping under the covers to face Chloe, who was still breathing deeply and calmly.

“Chlo.” She said, reaching out to stroke soft patterns on the woman’s hand that was laying on top off the covers.

“Chloe.” Beca tried again, a little louder this time.

It finally worked. Chloe stirred in her sleep.

“Becs, did I forget to turn my phone off again?” She asked, still not opening her eyes. 


Beca smiled, but didn’t say anything. She couldn’t believe Chloe still didn’t realize this was actually happening.

The redhead started patting the pillow where Beca was currently laying, clearly looking for her phone, until her hand suddenly found Beca’s, making her squeal and almost fall out of the bed.

“What the-“

“Chloe, it’s me.” Beca said, reaching out for the other woman.

Chloe’s eyes widened instantly. “What are you doing here?”

Before Beca even had time to answer, the redhead wrapped her arms tightly around her, hugging her like she hadn’t seen her in years. Although, Beca had to admit, that’s what it felt like.

“I was in Philadelphia today.” Beca explained, her arms still wound tightly around the other girl’s neck.

“So you-“

“I drove her after my performance. I just- I had to see you.”

Chloe pulled back then, Beca now noticing the tears on her face. She reached out and wiped them away, making Chloe smile softly at her.

“I can’t believe you’re here. I’ve missed you so much.”

“I’ve missed you too, Chlo.”

The redhead nodded and smiled once more, before gesturing to Beca to turn around while she slid back under the covers herself. The brunette immediately did as she was told, chuckling when Chloe pulled her flush against her, Beca’s back now pressed up against the redhead’s front.

“I thought we agreed that if we ever did this I would be the big spoon.”

Chloe laughed softly, pressing a small kiss to Beca’s neck. It was daring, but they both didn’t care right now. “I never agreed to such a thing; we both know you’re definitely the little spoon.”

She rolled her eyes, even though she knew Chloe couldn’t see it. “Fine, but only for tonight.”

“Do you want to talk?” Chloe asked, but once again, she was too tired.

“Sleep now. Talk tomorrow.”

Chloe nodded, Beca feeling the movement behind her. “That sounds good. Goodnight Beca.”

“Goodnight Chloe.”

The next time it happened she was in Boston.

Boston was a four-hour drive and probably too long but her show had ended early that day, plus it was a Saturday so Chloe had the next day off. She also wouldn’t have to travel again until Monday, meaning they would actually get to spend some time together, which was more than she could ever hope for.

This time, she did text her.

I’m in Boston tomorrow


I know. I looked up your schedule

It’s only four hours

Yeah

Do you want me to come?

Do you want to?

Yes

Good. Me too

I won’t have to be back until Monday.. would you like to spend Sunday together as well??

Beca.. there’s nothing I want more. (well, unless it’s an unlimited amount of days, but I’ll take what I can get)

One day, Chloe.

They had spent two nights and one entire day together, and it was more than enough to convince Beca that once this tour was over, she was going to have to do everything to make sure that they would never have to spend another night apart.

“I want to kiss you.” Chloe had said to her on the second night, laying face to face and staring at each other, tired but not wanting to go to sleep. Because sleeping meant that it would be Monday and Beca would have to catch a flight to Austin and then they wouldn’t see each other again for at least a few months, as she was going to be touring in the south and then back to the west coast for a little bit.

“Me too.” Beca responded, smiling for a second but then letting it fade just as fast. “But we can’t.”

“Why?” Chloe asked, her fingers stroking Beca’s face and hair.

“Because then I’ll never be able to leave.”

“Then don’t.”

“Chloe.” She warned.

“I know. I’m sorry. I know that’s selfish of me.. I just- I feel like timing is never on our side. There was Tom and then Jesse and Chicago and now that we’re both single you’re not even here and I just.. it’s hard.”

“I know. It’s hard for me too. Which is exactly why I want to wait. I don’t want to make this harder for us. In a few months this will all be over and then I’ll have a steady job and can work on my music without having to travel much and then I’ll come home to you every night.”

Chloe smiled softly, a small tear rolling down her cheek. “You promise?”

“I promise.”

Just like Beca had thought, they didn’t see each other until three months later.

They’d taken a small break from their tour in L.A after traveling through the South and West before making their final couple of stops in the East coast before finishing.

They were in Washington DC, and Beca was finally going to be able to see Chloe again. They would FaceTime at least three days a week, Chloe knowing all too well Beca barely slept without her, but it wasn’t the same as actually being with each other. Now that Beca knew how good it felt to have Chloe wrapped around her, she never wanted anything else.

She was exhausted. Today was a long day, and she knew she wouldn’t make it to their apartment until 2am. She probably shouldn’t even go, because her flight was leaving at noon, meaning she would have to get up again around 6 and leave right away, but there was no way she was backing out now. Someone else was driving her (she had those things now, drivers and stuff) so hopefully, she could get some sleep on the way there.

“Chloe.” She said quietly, dropping her coat and clothes on the floor, not even bothering to properly clean up the mess she’d already made before stumbling over to the bed. She couldn’t even make it to the other side, instead opting to slide in behind her, spooning the other woman for once. Chloe stirred in her arms.

“You’re cold.”

“Sorry.”

“What time is it?”

“Late. You should go back to sleep.”

“Then why did you come at all?” Chloe asked, as if that wasn’t clear.

“I told you. I needed to see you.”

Something was wrong. She could tell by the way Chloe was tense in her arms, and refused to turn around to look at her.

“What’s wrong?” She asked, but the other woman just shook her head.

“Nothing. Just go to sleep Beca.”

She didn’t want to. She wanted to talk. She wanted to ask Chloe what was really wrong. She wanted to ask her why she could feel her softly crying and shaking in her arms. But she couldn’t. She was tired, too tired, and her body betrayed her and dragged her into a deep sleep.

Things were different after that night.

They were losing patience, feeling as if they were standing still too long; two strangers on different platforms trying to get on the same train.

She wasn’t sure when she’d be home. Their tour had already been extended, and she didn’t want to make Chloe promises she couldn’t keep.

It was different for her, she was doing all these things and seeing all these parts of the country she’d never seen before. Time went by fast for her, living her life while she slowly made her way back to the other woman. But Chloe was still stuck in that same apartment doing the same things every day and having to stare at an empty pillow - Beca’s empty pillow - every night.

It made it harder, and she knew that.

Chloe was just waiting for her.

And she was getting tired of it. 


One month and 10 days later

She can’t believe it.

She’s performing in New York tonight. Her last performance. Her last day of the tour.

She’s exactly 25 minutes from Chloe’s apartment.

But that’s not where she’s sleeping tonight, and neither is Chloe, although she doesn’t know that yet.

In fact, she doesn’t know about a lot of things that are happening tonight.

Beca has been planning this for a little over a month, ever since she realized that she was going to have her final performance on this day, in this venue. She’s been planning the other stuff for much longer, basically ever since Boston.

Chloe is going to be picked up from work by Amy and Aubrey tonight, who will be taking her to a pre-party with all the other Bellas, who will then have their own little reunion party before they make their way over towards the venue, where they will watch Beca perform with DJ Khaled, as well as a dozen other performers, who have all come out to celebrate this last evening with them.

Beca will even be singing a duet with Justin Timberlake, something she just heard about not two weeks ago. How crazy is that?

Their tour was a huge success, bigger than they had ever thought it would be, and Beca had her friends to thank for this. So inviting them as VIP guests was really the least she could go.

And then, after the show, Beca was going to take Chloe somewhere else, as a special surprise.

As nervous as she was about the show, she was definitely more nervous about that. Although she was pretty sure Chloe was going to take it well.

She has had eyes on her friends - or well.. mostly Chloe - during the entirety of her performance. She just can’t believe they’re all here. She knows she doesn’t tell them often enough but she really does love these girls. She would have never gotten where she is without them.

She hugged them all after, happy to see them and unable to stop the small tears from forming in her eyes, something Amy and Aubrey definitely teased her with way too many times.

Beca hugged Chloe the longest of all, pulling the redhead flush against her. “Did you like it?”

“Beca, I loved it! You’re amazing!”

She beamed at her as she pulled back, then turned around to face her other friends. It was weird, them all being here, about a year and a half after the end of the USO tour. It felt like nothing and everything had changed at the same time.

Maybe it was because they would always be the same people to each other. They would always be there, right by each other’s side no matter which direction they went in. Beca was famous now, yet her friends still treated her the same and made sure not to make too big of a deal out of this. She found comfort in this, them being the same old predictable friends. She was sure they’d tease her later about something, and she hoped they would too. It was part of what they did.

“Thanks for coming, guys.” She said honestly, earning her a smile from Aubrey. Those were still rare too.

“You’re welcome, Beca.”

“Yeah, we wouldn’t have missed it for the world short stack.” Amy agreed, punching her shoulder playfully.

“Are we all still on for..?” She asked, immediately interrupted by CR.

“Hell yes, we are. You know I need a break from my job.” Cynthia Rose said, and Flo nodded as well.

“What’s happening?” Chloe asked, and Beca’s heart skipped a beat. She’d forgotten that Chloe wasn’t aware of what was happening tomorrow, or the couple of days after that.

“Nothing. Just dinner tomorrow.” She tried to play it off, although she was pretty sure the other woman could tell something was off.

“Well,” Emily said, “I’d love to stay and talk a bit more, but I’m sure we’ll all catch up at … dinner tomorrow.”

The others nodded as well, quickly saying their goodbye’s before leaving Chloe and Beca alone.

“Are you going to tell me what’s happening?” The redhead asked as Beca reached for her hand, not wanting to waste another second without touching the other woman.

“Not yet.” Beca said, a soft smile tugging on her lips.

“I thought your publicist told you to be careful with this stuff.” Chloe held up their joined hands, causing Beca to shrug as she just squeezed the older girl’s hand.

“I also told him I don’t really care. Come on, let’s get out of here before they make me give interviews.”

The redhead nodded, following Beca outside to where a car was already waiting for them.

“You ready to go home?”

“I’ve never been more ready.” Chloe said, leaning her head on Beca’s shoulder and letting her eyes fall closed.

“Chlo. Chloe, we’re here.” Beca whispered, her hand softly stroking the tired girl’s hair as she tried to wake her.

“Sorry.” Chloe mumbled in response, “I guess I was tired.”

“It’s okay.”

Beca got out the car first, then held out her hand for Chloe to take as she helped her out as well. As soon as they were on the sidewalk, the redhead frowned. “We’re not in Brooklyn.”

Beca laughed, then shook her head. “No, we’re not. We’re still in Manhattan.”

“Why?” The redhead asked and she frowned slightly, clearly confused.

“Just.. come with me, okay?”

Beca reached for her hand again as she made her way over towards a large building.

“Bec,” Chloe tried, pulling on her hand as she tried to stop her, “I don’t think we can just walk in there.”

“Chloe. Trust me, please.”

The redhead finally stopped arguing and let herself be guided over towards the building. She looked around herself, feeling out of place even in her beautiful dress. This place was high end for sure, and she wondered what they were doing here.

“Ms. Mitchell?” She was snapped out of her thoughts as she watched Beca interact with an employee of the building, talking to him in a hushed tone before he handed something over and mentioned something about everything being in place, as far as she could tell. Beca then turned back towards her, and for the first time, Chloe noticed that she looked nervous. How could she have been calm the entire evening, even when performing with Justin Timberlake, but now she was nervous? What was going on? She decided not to ask, knowing Beca didn’t want her to right now.

“You ready?” The brunette asked as they made their way over towards an elevator, swiping a card before pressing one of the numbers.

“Uh.. yes?” She answered, although not sounding totally convinced. “This is a really nice hotel Beca.  It uh- it looks expensive.”

The brunette turned to her and smiled, but didn’t answer until the elevator door binged and opened up to reveal a beautiful penthouse, with open windows overlooking most of Manhattan, including Central park.

“It’s not a hotel, Chlo.” 

Instantly, Chloe froze, turning around to face Beca who was still standing close to the elevator.

“I’m sorry, what?”

The brunette smiled once more, clearly finding Chloe’s confusion amusing, before pointing at a wall, as well as a small dresser next to the large couch.

“Oh my god. Beca- what is going on?” Chloe walked closer to the wall, her eyes now landing on the pictures that were framed on it. Pictures she knew all to well.There was her and Aubrey, from when they had first became friends in their freshman year of college, all the Bellas, Chloe with her family, Beca on tour, as well as a few cute pictures of Beca and Chloe together.

Beca watched, crossing her arms as she let Chloe discover the place.

“I’m serious Bec,” Chloe said, now staring at the cabinet that held their Bella prizes. “What is this?”

The brunette let out a deep breath, before grabbing Chloe’s hand and guiding her further into the apartment, towards what Chloe soon realized was the bedroom. There, on top of the luxurious king-sized bed were their old pillowcases as well as Chloe’s favorite stuffed animal that she’d had ever since she was a baby.

Beca leaned against the door, watching as Chloe lowered herself down onto the comfortable bed and grabbed the animal.

“This is ours.” Is all she explained then. “I mean, if you like it. Because I’m sure I can get another one I just- this one is close to the park and your school so I thought it’d be best and I already made sure everything is safe and stuff so we-“

“Beca!” Chloe interrupted, her eyes wide as she quickly walked back over towards the brunette, grabbing her hands and forcing her to focus on her. “You need to tell me what’s going on now! Seriously.”

“Right.” She finally seemed to understand that she wasn’t making a lot of sense right now. “So.. a while ago I realized that once this tour was over I wanted something else, something steady. Preferably with you there. I also knew that going back to that Brooklyn apartment wasn’t going to be ideal, but I wasn’t sure what else to do. So, when Theo offered me a job as a producer at their New York location, alongside with a great deal for a place like this, I just couldn’t say no. So, I’ve been arranging this for the last two months probably, and while you were out today Emily and Jessica helped move some of your stuff, to make it look homier to you. I’m not- you know, you don’t have to say yes. But I want to do this. You and me, I mean.”

Chloe’s vision was clouded by tears, but that didn’t stop her from smiling widely. “Are you asking me to be your girlfriend, Beca?”

She grinned back at her. “I’m asking you to move in with me, and yeah, I uh- I mean, you being my girlfriend would probably come with that, unless you just want to be friends first, which I would understand-“

Beca was cut off by Chloe’s lips against hers. The redhead deepened the kiss almost instantly, letting her tongue stroke against Beca’s for a few minutes before she pulled back.

There was time for that later. Right now, they needed to talk. And she needed more information about all of this.

“So.. you like it?”

“Beca, this is- I mean, I don’t even know what to say. Are you sure you want this?”

“Me?”

“Yeah. I mean, I don’t want you to do this just for me, I know L.A has always been your dream and stuff.”

Beca quickly leaned forward and pressed a soft kiss to Chloe’s lips.

“Chlo, while I love you for saying that, I need you to know that I really do want this. Being in L.A meant that I’d have to do more singing and performing, and that’s not where my heart is. I want to produce, make my own mixes. And I want you to be there when I get home. I want to walk in and make dinner for you and cuddle with you while we talk about our day and then I want to go to sleep and wake up to you and do it again and again and again.”

Chloe smiled, then ducked her head down, blushing slightly. “I can’t believe you just said all of that.”

“I know, me either. But I’ve been practicing for a while.”

They stared at each other for a minute, before Chloe finally got up and started to walk out of the bedroom. “So, is it okay if I check out our new place?”

Beca nodded. “Yeah, definitely. Also, I have one final surprise, if that’s okay.”

“There’s more?”

“Just this one last thing.”

Chloe nodded enthusiastically, clearly excited to hear the last part of her surprise.

“So, remember when me and the other Bellas were talking about dinner tomorrow?”

“Mmm-hmm.” Chloe said, remembering the confusing conversation from before.

“Well, actually, I arranged for us all to go to a private beach house in the Hamptons for a week. I booked it and everything. Everyone got off of work, and I knew you’d have time off from school so… you wanna go?”

Chloe didn’t even answer, she just jumped into Beca’s arms and hugged her as tight as possible. “I don’t deserve any of this.” She said, pressing a kiss to her girlfriend’s neck.

“You do though, Chlo. You’ve been so patient with me, throughout all these years, and I cannot thank you enough for always being there for me, even when you thought it was hopeless. I want to give you everything you deserve. I know you’ve missed your friends, and they’ve missed you too. This was really the least I could do.”

Another tear rolled down Chloe’s cheeks as she opened her eyes to look at her new - extremely large - apartment. She couldn’t believe this was all happening. Beca was here, in her arms, and she as going to stay with her. They had a place of their own, and not just any. It was the most beautiful apartment she had ever seen, and she would get to share it with the most beautiful girl she knows.

“When are we leaving?” She decided to ask, not quite sure what else to say.

“Tomorrow around noon. I wanted us both to sleep in a bit. I think we deserve a break.”

Chloe smiled. “I know sleep is important and all, but are you still going to allow me to thank you for all of this tonight?” She winked at the other woman then, slowly letting her fingers fall from Beca’s face down to her collarbone and to the top of her shirt. “I’ve been thinking about this for a while.”

Beca swallowed hard, and then started to push on Chloe’s waist, slowly guiding her back to their bedroom. “I mean, I suppose that would be okay. After all, we’ve been doing too much actual sleeping around each other lately. It might be time for something else.”

“I couldn’t agree more.”

[mythoughtdumpanddiary]

I texted logesh yesterday saying that im changing my whatsapp pfp that we were matching. She said she was okay with it. After i changed it, she changed her profile pic to a selfie and her bio to “generic whatsapp bios? nah im probably binging netflix rn or staring at john or some girl so byebye”. She’s such a whore (disrespectfully), boasting about “staring at some girl” just one week after our break. i still hadnt changed our matching bio so i texted her saying that she changed hers, and she apologized and said that she shouldnt have assumed that i changed mine. She said she’ll change it back, but I didn’t want to anymore, ao i told her not to. She then texted me saying that she needed to talk to me about something in person. I could tell it was about what aruna had told her, about breaking up, so i said is ”is it about what aruna said? I agree anyways”. Yeah then she just talked about how we’re better as friends. She makes it sound like she’s friendzoning me when IM the one who doesn’t like her lmao and not the other way round. She’s so dumb. I know how her mind works, she’s trying to break up w me first simply to avoid being dumped by me. She is doing it as a way to seek control. I don’t care much anyways. I’ve lost feelings since months.

Anyways omg today i met this rlly nice guy. They needed manpower at the compass one outlet so two days ago, my manager asked in the city square timezone gc whether anyone could work there today, and i said i could. So today i went there. And there was alrd a guy there. And sunce it’s a rlly small outlet, rhere were significantly lesser customers than city square. So i was talking to the other guy like 98% of the time. He was so nice. Yk those kinda people who are funny but in a sarcastic subtle way?? Yeah he was like that. Whenever i was talking to him, i kept noticing i automatically kept smiling under my mask, and i felt like a fool because my eyes were probably showing me smiling 24/7 infront of him.

Anyways he was rlly nice. And i kept like making fun of little things he did. At the start, he was trying to tie a balloon and he instead got it stuck around his finger and the balloon broke, and i teased him abt not being able to tie a balloon. And then i offered to tie the balloons, but when i was tying them, they kept slipping away and blowing away so all the air would come out. And then he made fun of me for that, cause it happened like 2-3 times.

Then he made a human balloon figure and i made a animal shaped balloon. And previously he had told me that he had a cat, so i told him that the human was him and the animal was hit cat. Then i used a marker to write their names on the balloons. He then was doing some weird thing idk what it was but he was putting one of the human’s legs in the space between the animal’s head. It kinda reminded me of heterosexual copulation? So anyways then i took it from him and instead made the human sit on top of animal. Kinda like how humans sit on horses. Then he made a balloon sword and i put it beside the human. And he said “that looks very wrong”. And i said “how does that look wrong?? You literally were putting the human inside the cat”. Then he casually goes “so you _do_ have a dirty mind”. Needless to say i was extremely flustered and said “you were the one who did that 🙄”

Then we were just talking abt random things like movies, and etc.

Thennnn, at 4.55pm, he was about to leave and told me “haha im leaving in five minutes. Have fun being alone witj no customers” and i said “you’re leaving already??” And he said “yeah. You sound upset (he said this in a teasing mocking way)” and then i said “yeah, you’re fun to talk to”. Then he said “what, sorry i didnt hear you?” (Again in that teasing sarcastic voice yk that ppl use to make u repeat something u said even tho they heard u). And then i had to repeat it, simply bc he wanted to hear himself being complimented again 😭

This took me a whole ten minutes to type and it doesnt even type as exciting when i narrate it, but i swear, it felt so fun in first person.

And yk how sometimes ppl laugh silently behind their masks? He did that alot and it was so nice/cute. And yk how sometimes certain ppl are looking at u with a certain specific look in their eye and it makes u feel self conscious (but in w good way cause they’re not staring at u in a judgy way yk?) but u stare back anyway. So it’s like a lowkey staring competition except he simply wasnt looking away???? And then i had to keep look away

Yeah anyways that’s the end of today’s episode of “do i like him or am I simply over romanticizing every actuon bc of the attention i need from a man?” 😩

Bye 😝😝😝

[lagroupie]

Interview: The Velveteers

The Velveteers after their show at The Shacklewell Arms in London in September 2019, through my Olympus Trip.

Last year when visiting my friends from Something Leather in Brighton, they took me out for a concert in London. The Pearl Harts and the Velveteers were playing at the Shacklewell Arms. I was blown away, and although we had to leave shortly after the concert I managed to quickly snap a portrait of the Velveteers, who were very friendly. I really wanted to interview them and I always kept the idea at the back of my mind. Months later, we had a little video chat over Instagram with Demi and Adrian. I am very happy we managed to schedule it despite an 8-hour timezone difference!

Join us as we talk about their lives in Colorado, squatting in a flat in Shoreditch, making music when you’re an introvert, being a Bad Seed, and a lot more.

Many thanks to Demi and Adrian for virtually hanging out with me!

Can you tell me more about your life in Colorado when you’re not touring?

Demi Demitro: Well, our life in Colorado is pretty calm. Usually, we wake up and just make music and art. I wake up and listen to some records. I’m really into collaging and making artwork in general. Today, Adrian and I both made a collage which was fun. (ndlr: they show it to me)

Nice!! Looks like the next album cover!

Adrian Pottersmith: We wanted to use that one for a poster, for some DIY shows that we’re playing in Colorado this month.

Demi: So we usually wake up and do some sort of artwork while listening to music. That’s like our meditation to get the day started. And after that we get to writing, practicing and making demos. I think that’s the majority of what we do!

Adrian: Yeah, we don’t go out that much. And when we do, we instantly regret it! I think we’re too introverted in a weird way, even though we play shows for a living (laughs).

It’s interesting that you say that! Sometimes when I find myself going out to a concert and not taking pictures for example, I feel a bit frustrated. As if I had wasted that evening not doing anything.

Adrian: I totally feel that! I feel so strange when I go to a concert that I’m not playing. But when I’m playing a show and I’m having something to do I feel really good, like I’m in the right place.

Demi: When you want to do something – regardless if you are scared or if you have social anxiety – you just go into it because you know it’s important to you. That’s how it is for me, because I’m a very shy and introverted person, and I spend a lot of time by myself making art. So when I’m at a show, it’s a completely different environment. In order for me to do that, I have to have the space to prepare to be with a bunch of other people.

When we met in England, you were doing a UK tour. I did a bit of research, and it seems that you stayed in England for a while?

Demi: Yeah, let’s see… I think that on this tour we maybe had a week where we weren’t touring and could relax, and then we flew back to America. This was a two-and-a-half-week tour. But last year we did a tour to the UK and we were there for a month. We toured for two-and-a-half weeks, and then we had two weeks where we were just hanging out in London!

Adrian: We were using our minds for being there for two weeks, because it’s a cool place but we didn’t really have that much to do once the tour was over.

Demi: And we didn’t really have that much money, and everything in the UK is expensive. But we were squatting in this flat in Shoreditch for two weeks, just going insane! It was very interesting, because the flat was in the heart of Shoreditch and there was this famous bagel shop just outside our window. People would be up all night long, and it was like watching a reality TV show. Drug deals going on constantly… it was an interesting two weeks.

Adrian: We don’t want to assume anything, but from many hours looking out at the people, there was this one person who seemed to be homeless and asking for change. After a while, we started noticing that there would be people coming and giving them this bag… so the homeless person would take the bag, go into the bagel shop and exchange it for something. And then they would come back out and give the person who gave the bag another bag. It was probably a harmless thing, but…

Demi: No, it seemed like a drug deal! (laughs)

Oh my God! (laughs) I also wanted to talk about the fact that you chose to play as a two-drummers, one-guitarist band. How did it happen?

Demi: We started off as a two-piece, and over the years we would get a lot of comments that would compare us to other two-piece bands like the Black Keys or the White Stripes. It was something that we were thinking about for a while. The idea of the two-piece band felt like a loophole, except taking that loophole and extending it, making it something that hasn’t fully been done before with just a person on guitar and two drummers. And then we had the opportunity to try it out, and it was something that just felt like the thing we were looking for all along. It added lots of new elements to expand our music.

Adrian: The funny thing is, before we even go on and our instruments are just on the stage, we can see that the people in the crowd are just so perplexed by our setup! Because it’s very strange, it looks like one drum kit but it doesn’t, and there’s just one guitar with two amps… It doesn’t make any sense until we get up there. And it still doesn’t make completely sense until the end of the show!

Demi: To me, the way the drum kit is set up looks like a spaceship! I like the idea of people thinking “What is that? Are they really sharing a drumkit?” (laughs)

Could you tell me more about your song Bad Seed? What does Bad Seed mean exactly? I’m also asking as a non-native English speaker haha.

Demi: For me, Bad Seed means someone who is like a rebel, but also someone you would consider as a bad person. Most seeds sprout, grow into flowers and bloom. And then, some seeds grow into something else, a little more dark. So I would think a bad seed is someone out of the ordinary, like a black sheep.

Let’s imagine you find a magic box with three super-powers in it: super speed, super strength and flying. You can only choose one. Which band member has which?

Adrian: I would say super strength for you, I want the flying one for me, and the speed one for John.

Demi: For me, I would do super flying, you would do super strength, and John would do super speed!

What can we expect from the Velveteers in the future?

Demi: Well, I think 2020 is going to be a really exciting year. We’re excited to get more music out into the world. We have a lot of stuff that we’ve been working on. Lots of new music coming!

https://www.facebook.com/TheVelveteers/