#tim drake nation RAISE

[giotanner]

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 Yet another night patrol, yet another Two-Face coin toss: Red Hood, Nightwing and Robin are not on the same page.

The tension is palpable, but then again, if there isn't some animated disagreement, they wouldn't be the Batfamily (Batman teaches!)

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[ew-selfish-art]

DP x DC AU: Tim had heard the phrase 'The wrong twin made it home' a number of times in his life, his parents were always very upfront about how the felt towards him. But... 'made it home' doesn't indicate death, does it? ...Tim ends up taking Danny's place by Sam's side in front of Congress to lobby the end of the Anti-Ecto Acts.

...

Tim has been up for hours passed when he told Alfred he would be resting and he's wrapped up his case files into neat little bows to deliver to Babs and the GCPD/Lawyers to do their jobs. Damian had made a comment earlier in their patrol that night about Tim being the wrong sibling to make it to his rescue and... and it got him thinking about that phrase. His parents were negligent with him, certainly, but they were always very clear about how he stood in their eyes. Praise and criticism were the two options, and very strictly limited passes of 'I love yous' that faded as he got older.

He's run his DNA before in the national databases- it was critical for maintaining his Alias' that multiple people didn't flag- but he's never searched in records before. About his twin. About the one who didn't make it home.

And its definitely the lack of sleep, and definitely the lack of brotherly affection he feels these days, but Tim just can't close the door until he's seen a death certificate. He's hacked Gotham General Hospital a million times for work, but doing it for his own gain feels wrong some how and he works with extreme caution. He finds his own birth certificate and... One Theodore Daniel Drake.

Tim snorts with a short ha, pretentious name alert and goes on to find not a single certificate of death or medical record of atypia. Oh no, what he finds is adoption paperwork meant to be closed to all wondering eyes and one Daniel James Fenton leaving the hospital instead. Tim blinks a few times, retraces his steps and then sure enough, learns for a second time that his TWIN was still alive.

Finding the Fentons was easy enough, their Lab address on all of their patents was seemingly also their home address. Danny had a much better hidden internet presence, it was good cybersecurity he'd have to praise him, but Tim had been trained better. Getting into his brother's files... Raised a number of new questions. Why was he compiling evidence against the government? What the fuck was he doing analyzing policy? Why did he have 'rogue' files???

Then Tim hacks into Danny's phone (he's learned at this point that Daniel was a no-go) and sees the conversations between his twin and his twin's best friends.

Sam Manson has an appointment with a Senator to Lobby for the end of the Anti-Ecto Acts. She wants Danny to join her, demonstrate something Tim can't determine, but he's refusing to leave and let his adoptive parents have even a moment to develop a new weapon without him there to destroy it. Someone called CW warned him about changes coming his way or something cryptic. Tim learns a lot from their back and forth, but stops reading once it gets to their personal squabbles.

Tim gets the meeting details and forwards it to Tam- If Danny can't make it... Tim will. And if Tim can't demonstrate whatever Danny was going to, it would at least help to throw around his name.

Tim writes an email to Danny- It's meant to go out after the lobbying appointment- and it explains that Tim found out about him and wants to connect if Danny does, and if Danny doesn't he at least wants to get him set up with his half of the Drake family inheritance. He includes a few personal facts, including that he too ended up adopted in life and had siblings, that he helped run a company and took on the world too soon. It takes a lot out of Tim to be so candid- but he doesn't want Danny to be too blindsided by the Waynes. He attaches a family photo with the label "you'll be able to tell which one is me'.

...

Sam is tapping her stupid, uncomfortable heels waiting for these dumbass, elderly politicians to get their shit together so she can speak. Sam was resourceful and surprisingly, the second she took on politics as a way to waste the family money, her mother Pamela was all for it. She's wanting Sam to run for president now... At least she doesn't complain when Sam organizes protests.

The door behind her opens, and while she knows its not going to be Danny behind her, a girl can feel a bit crushed. She really thought he would be behind her today, but Danny was being weird about this whole thing. Clockwork had him spooked about something changing today, and Danny wanted to be in Amity Park in case it was another Pariah situation or something. His parents had been on edge lately too...

"Sorry, I'm not late am I?" A voice asks and it's just so close but not- Sam turns her head to see Danny in a nice suit with long hair and eyebags way darker than she'd seen on him in a while. This... Wasn't Danny. She blinks, and then something in her anxiously decides that the universe is fucking with her and she will be fighting back.

"Everyone is late." She glares at him, appraising his every move. The woman behind him is typing dedicatedly on her tablet and the man himself looks like he might fall over while he shuffles his files in hand.

"Well, then I'm on time. My name is Tim Drake, I'm here to help your cause in getting the Anti-Ecto acts repealed and the parties responsible for it apprehended."

"Tim Drake? As in-"

"As in Co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises. And I've done a lot of research, so I hope you'll let me play a supportive role while you speak."

"There's no way you've been able to research if you've been out of Amity, The whole city is under a media blackout." Sam's glare looks like it could cut him.

"Not to brag, but that sort of thing doesn't slow me down these days. I've made physical copies of the things they're most likely to delete and I've sent everything to the Justice League, who in turn are sending it to the Lantern Corps." He states matter-of-factly and Sam finally stops being angry at the world to just be... stumped. What the hell was going on?

"How did you... Why?"

"Tam, tell Ms. Manson how passionate I am about human rights?" The guy sounds anxious, the woman rolls her eyes and says "Very." without stopping her typing.

The doors open and Sam has only a moment to decide that Tim can join her... He proves himself to be an asset, and his name alone gets them further than she had anticipated getting today.

....

Danny is watching Sam walk into the space via C-span, gasping when his own likeness follows behind her. What the fuck???

He can barely drag his eyes away as the clone (?) introduces himself as Tim Drake and proceeds to rip them into shreds for delaying Sam Manson of all people. Danny is transfixed and Tucker is blowing up his phone.

"DUDE ARE YOU SEEING THIS?" Tucker's voice loudly calls out the second danny blindly answers.

"Dude, I just, I don't even know? He cant be a clone right? But he's gotta be?" Danny hypothesizes.

"Nah dude, there's like, a whole lifetime of media presence for Tim Drake since he was like, tiny. This is so weird he looks just like you..."

"This is so weird." Danny dumbly agrees because he can't think of anything else to say.

Sam finishes her points, Tim submits the evidence to the court and they leave. Danny's phone pings with an email notification.

"Danny my guy, you should check that, Sam isn't responding yet. Her phone is probably still off."

He follows Tucker's advise and opening his email... Is a new message from Tim Drake.

"...I don't know what the fuck is going on?" Danny continues to say, and Tucker asks him just to read it out loud, "It's just... Apparently I am both adopted and a twin?"

"...My guy." Tucker sounds just as much at a loss.

...

Sam calls them both after Tim Drake is rushed away by his PA Tam (who she found herself admiring more and more), and is relieved when they dont immediately answer by screaming.

"So Danny, Tucker, you guys are traveling with me next weekend." Sam deadpans.

"Apparently shit gets twilight-zone level weird anytime you leave Amity!" Tucker exclaims.

"...What's next weekend?" Danny asks, hesitation in his voice.

"Your twin invited us, well, mostly you, to a Wayne Family Brunch. We're going cause those assholes have money and political influence, you're going because we all probably need to know what the fuck is going on with that guy."

[zylev-blog]

Masterpost

This is the masterpost for everything that I have posted, not reblogged or added on from someone else.

DCU Only

The Batkids hide in Batman's cloak: here

DP Only

Ghosts as a separate species: here

DpxDc

Danny-centric

Young Danny: here

Danny really hates Christmas: here

Failed Ghost Danny: here

The Purge: here

Secret Arms dealer: here

Danny is Jon Kent: here

Martian Danny: here

Danny's being followed: here

Danny is Bruce Wayne: here

Danny is the clone of Barry and Hal: here AO3 link: here

Danny is Ace the bathound: here @bloggerspam wrote a beautiful fic for this!

Danny goes back in time to kill villain Tim: here

Danny is Diana's daughter: here

Danny arrives during DCeased: here

Danny is Alfred's son: here

Danny is centries old: here

"My name is Danny Fenton, and this is Jackass.": here

Danny is the son of Clark Kent and Lana Lang: here

Danny is convinced Batman is a vampire: here

Danny is Deadshot: here

Danny infiltrates the Light: here

Danny is Jason Todd: here

Danny pays Diana a visit: here

Dan-centric

Dan meets Jason Todd: here

Red Lantern Dan: here

Dan raises Kal-El: here

Jazz-centric

Jazz gets drunk: here

Halfa Jazz: here

Jazz is Lex Luthor's daughter: here

Tucker-centric

Tucker is Amity Park's protector: here

Dani-centric

Dani wants to get arrested: here

Dani is from the future: here

Dani is the clone of Bruce and Danny: here

When Dani destabilizes, Superman stabilizes her dna. She doesn't appreciate this: here

Danny is Clockwork's assistant

Clockwork's assistant au: here

Apprentice of time au: here

Green Lantern Danny

Adult GL Danny: here

GL Danny in Justice League: here

GL Danny helps arrest his parents: here

Danny and others:

Danny and Jazz go to a gala: here

Danny and Dick talk during a stakeout: here

Damian's rant: here

Cujo steals Jason's gun: here

Danny haunts Batman: here

Wally crosses into the DP universe: here

Bruce trains with Phantom: here

The Phantom siblings like to throw things: here

Gotham is on fire: here

Danny and Sam make a bet: here

Flash, Batman, and Joker accidentally cross into the DP universe: here

Danny and Bart are from the future: here

Dani and Dani decide to crash Bruce's interview: here

Mind-controlled Superman crashes Danny and Sam's date: here

Damian and Danny are best friends: here

Danny haunts Batman: here

Dick and Danny talk: here

Dick and Danny are childhood friends: here

Danny rescues Bruce in 1732: here

Jason and Danny kill the Joker: here

Deaged Danny

Danny escapes CADMUS: here

Danny and Dani are adopted by Aquaman: here

Oliver adopts Danny: here

Clark adopts Danny: here

Barry adopts Danny: here

Teen/Adult dad Danny

Ellie and Damian's forced friendship: here

Single Dad and toddler Ellie meet Single mom Kara and baby Kal: here AO3 link: here

Danny is Klarion and Nabu's Dad: here

Danny is Zeus, and Diana's father: here

Other:

Dick throws a party for his 30th birthday: here

The Batfam discover the GIW's warehouse by accident: here

Freakshow and Joker are brothers: here

Tim accidentally creates a portal to Amity Park: here

Dick accidentally saves Danny instead of Tim: here

Danny becomes backup Red Robin: here

Deaged Dick: here

Jazz, Harley, and Bruce are in medschool together: here

Halfa Tim Drake: here

Villain Fentons au: here

Valerie doesn't want to be on a hero team: here

Dick and Damian are ducks: here

Kryptonian Jack Fenton: here

Amity Park is its own nation: here

Villian Fentons: here

A Turkey ghost sends the Fentons on a country-wide chase: here

Little Baby Man Danny: here

Conner is Phantom and Superman's clone: here

Kryptonian Danny: here

Ships:

Dash/Danny: here

Tim/Danny: here

Tim/Danny gods of Krypton: here

Damian is Jazz and Bruce's son: here

Valerie/Danny raise Dani: here

GL Jazz/Bruce: here

FBI Agent Jazz Fenton(Nightingale): here AO3 link: here

Stephanie/Danny: here

[thealtoduck]

Graveyard

Tim Drake x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader (Indirect)

Batfam x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader

Warnings: none…

Tim Drake x Riddler Sidekick!Male Reader: Masterlist

Summary: You’re back in arkham and get a unexpected visit…

——

Arkham wasn’t that bad… Sure the food was shit… the bathrooms were shit… the people were also kind off shit… nevermind Arkham is shit. But you managed to make it work for you, somehow…

Your bedroom was kind of cool, you had decorated it using a green sharpie, it was now very much giving ”insane-person-core”. Question marks, riddles, clues, semi-threatening messages to the staff were spread all over the walls. It was cozy.

You had also made friends with Waylon Jones aka Killer Croc, your ”next bedroom neighbour”, meaning that most inmates weren’t dumb enough to mess with you knowing it could lead to them getting their skull cracked open like an egg.

You and Croc spent most days in front of the tv watching whatever crap was on. Until one day your routine was broken, one evening when the two of you were watching some dumb reality show a guard came up to you saying ”You have visitors”.

”Tell them to go fuck themselves” you told him knowing it wasn’t anyone you wanted to see. But the guard just grabbed you roughly by the arm pulling you up from the couch, making Croc growl at him. ”Don’t worry Croc, i’ll be back” you said unenthusiatically and was led away by the guard.

You were taken in to an interrogation room, where you sat down at the table as they locked you in. Then the visitors door opened and in stepped a familiar caped crusader also followed by one of his sidekicks. It was Batman and the Red Hood.

Looks like Tim didn’t want to come and see you.

Batman came and sat down by table right across from you and Red Hood leaned against the wall behind him. ”We need your help” Batman said in his deep voice. You raised your eye brows curiously.

”The Riddler has taken a hostage” he told you. ”So… what does that have to do with me? I haven’t spoken to him since i was locked up in here” you said truthfully. ”We need to know where he might have taken the hostage, do you know any more of Riddler’s secret hideouts?” Batman questioned.

You stayed silent for a while. ”Why should i help you? What do i get?” you asked. Batman then said irritated ”Clue, this isn’t a game!”. ”To me it is” you stated with a devilish smirk. Red Hood walked over and leaned against the table and spoke up saying threatiningly ”How about you answer our questions and we don’t let the name ”Y/n L/n” slip to the GCPD?”.

”Oh i think it’s in your best interest not to do that, wouldn’t you agree, Mr Wayne?” you said sneakily giving Batman a look, he was doing his best to hide his shock but you could tell he was pissed. ”Relax, i won’t tell if you don’t” you informed him, feeling satisfied with yourself.

”We’re through here” Batman said annoyed as he stood up and walked towards the door followed by Red Hood. ”Tell Tim i said ”hi”” you said teasingly after them. You expected them to keep walking but Batman turned back around and said ”Tim is the one Riddler has taken”.

This made your smirk falter and you looked up at the two vigilantes, they turned to walk away but you stopped them saying loudly ”I might have a guess where Eddie has taken him”. The two turned back around and re-entered the interrogation room. ”Where?” Batman questioned.

”Got a pen and paper?” you asked. Red Hood brought in a piece of paper and a pen and you scribbled down an adress on it. ”Don’t let Eddie know i gave this to you” you instructed them. ”Alright” Batman agreed. ”And… make sure Tim is safe… okay?” you said softly. ”We will” Batman said and he and Red Hood left.

You were then escorted back to Arkham’s common area where you re-joined Killer Croc at the tv, he was now watching a national geographic special on crocodiles. You sat down beside him on the couch and he asked ”Who was the visitor?”.

”Some true crime weirdo” you lied. Croc let out a low growl in disgust. As you both watched the documentary a thought struck you, ”Croc, can i ask you something?”. ”Yeah” Croc said in his deep raspy voice.

”How do you know you’re a crocodile and not an alligator?”

[errorryx]

shitty batman fanfiction

So AO3 went down last night, and my friend @armyanimal156 was in the middle of a fanfiction and couldn’t finish it, so I offered to finish it for him. I used my vague understanding of comic book storytelling from my brief Marvel comics phase in 2019, plus the very minimal knowledge i picked up from some of my mutuals' posts, to assemble this nonsense. This is Damian What’s-his-face’s Journey of Self-Discovery, originally typed out stream-of-consciousness into Discord and then edited into a more digestible format.

Please for the love of god understand that this is not my usual writing style and also I'm not in this fandom and don't know shit about fuck. This is just a very long shitpost. ok enjoy

—

Damian, the newest Robin who was raised by assassins, was about to go on a journey to atone for his sins. He used Batman’s credit card to buy himself plane tickets to Eurasia and Africa, because there was a package deal he saw online or whatever. He decided to fly economy because he had self-esteem issues and thought he didn’t deserve first class.

He arrived in Eurasia, which in DC comics universe is the name of a small country in the continent of Syrup. Unfortunately, when he saw who was waiting for him at the airport, he was shocked.

“Mom?” Damian said. “Dad? Other Mom? That one guy?”

That’s right, it was the four assassins that raised him. The comics didn’t mention the other two assassins, Dad and Other Mom, because they weren’t relevant to the other stories being told. He calls his grandpa “that one guy.” This definitely isn’t someone poorly retconning comic canon into the fic after being told new information or anything like that.

“Yes, Damian, it’s us,” said Other Mom (that’s her legal government name). “We need your help. We’re going to assassinate the President of the United States.”

“No way,” Damian said. “I’ve changed. I fight for justice now.”

“Is that so?” that one guy said. “Then you should know that the President of the United States is actually evil and deserves to die.”

Damian wasn’t sure if he could believe that one guy, because he was a supervillain. But he decided to trust him just this once. He went and found the President of the United States, who was on a diplomatic mission to the small Syrupean nation of Eurasia, and shot him point blank on live television, Joker-movie-style.

Thankfully for Damian, that one guy was telling the truth: the president was evil and everyone had been secretly hoping for someone to assassinate him. People celebrated in the streets, and Batman and Tim and Drake and whoever else called and told him he did a good job. Even better, his mom patted him on the back and told Damian she was proud of him, which made him feel somewhat better about his childhood trauma.

Then, the president came back as a zombie who was impervious to bullets and wanted to eat everyone’s brains. Everyone was very upset about this, including all four of his assassin parents, and Batman, and Drake and Josh. Damian decided his best bet was to run away from his problems instead of facing them like a man, so he used his plane ticket to Africa and escaped.

—

The plane landed in Africa, which in DC comics universe is a small island nation in the Specific Ocean. Damian had never been to Africa before, but it was a popular tourist destination for its pristine beaches and overpriced coconut cocktails. However, after arriving on the island, he quickly learned that everything was owned by a mysterious billionaire known as Bruce Wane, Bruce Wayne’s twin brother who has never been mentioned in the comics before because he wasn’t relevant to any of the stories being told.

After some investigating, Damian learned that Bruce Wane was secretly a supervillain who terrorized the island, who went by the name of Badman (like Batman, but bad). Badman had a sidekick named Robbin. When Damian went up against this pair, Robbin pickpocketed him.

“Hey!” Damian complained. “I saw that! Don’t steal my stuff!”

“Damian,” Badman said in a fake deep voice, Dark Knight-movie-style. “If you want your wallet back, you have to join me. You can be Robbin 2.” Robbin looked upset about this, but didn’t say anything.

“No way, bitch,” Damian said (he gets to say swear words because of his childhood trauma). “Batman is way cooler than you.”

Badman took a few steps back and did a triple backflip. “Bet your stupid Batman can’t do that.”

Damian had to admit that Batman could not do that. “Fine, you win. I’ll join you.”

He followed Badman and Robbin to the Badcave (like the Batcave, but bad). Badman began explaining his plan to take over the world by dropping a bunch of badbombs (like batbombs, but bad) on top of the small island nation of Africa and then the rest of the world.

“That’s a really cool plan,” Damian said. “Can I have the password to your computer? I want to play Roblox.” BECAUSE AS IT TURNS OUT THIS KID IS LIKE TWELVE YEARS OLD HOLY SHIT WHY IS HE FIGHTING CRIME. WHY IS HE ASSASSINATING PEOPLE. WHAT THE FUCK MAN???

So Badman gave Damian the password to the badcomputer (like the batcomputer, but bad), which was, of course, “nanananananananabadman” and gave him unsupervised internet access.

Of course, Damian immediately hacked into the mainframe and set off every badbomb in the badwarehouse (like the batwarehouse, but bad). The Badcave exploded and everything was ruined. Then, Damian revealed that when Robbin was busy pickpocketing him, he was actually pickpocketing Robbin at the same time! He opened Robbin’s wallet and looked through his stuff.

As it turned out, Robbin’s ID picture looked the same as Damian’s, because they were secret TWINS and CLONES and TWIN CLONES. Robbin’s real name was Damien with an E. 

Robbin looked very sad, and he asked Damian if there was a way he could learn to be good instead of bad. “I could take you back to Batman,” Damian suggested. “You could be Robin 2. Actually, more like Robin 27 at this point.”

“That sounds great,” Robbin agreed, and they flew back to Gotham City together.

—

“Jesus Christ, not another one,” Alfred said when they got back.

Batman just shrugged and said, “This might as well happen.”

“It’s going to be really confusing around here if there’s two Damians,” Cass (one of them is named Cass right? or Cath? idfk) said. Everyone decided to call Damian with an e “Dame” and Damian with an a “Ian.” This detail was included despite the fact that it never came up again.

They turned on the news, which was conveniently at the beginning of a report about Badman, who had miraculously survived the explosions. He had now teamed up with the zombie president and vowed to destroy Batman and his league of child soldiers.

The zombie president staged a hostile takeover of the American troops, which was easy because the guy who replaced him was a wimpy loser. Soon the entire US Marines were outside Batman’s house, which apparently isn’t the first time this has happened, but this time they had all been turned into zombies. Which also isn’t the first time that’s happened. Writing an original plotline in DC comics is probably impossible.

So began the epic battle between Batman’s orphanage and the zombie marine corps.

Everything was going well for the good guys, but then Damian got into trouble. It looked like he was about to get seriously injured, until Damien jumped in front of him at the last second to save him, only to get bit by one of the zombies and become infected.

Soon enough all the zombies were defeated, but it didn’t feel like a victory, not when the twinclone kid they met ten minutes ago was dying in front of them.

“Listen, everyone,” Damien said, while slowly turning green (the color of zombies). “I know we just met each other, but the ten seconds of kindness I got from you were better than the entire rest of my incredibly traumatic life. So please, don’t mourn me. Put me out of my misery, and go save the world in my honor.”

Damian nodded and lifted his gun. “I was raised by assassins, in case anyone forgot,” he said. “I can do what needs to be done.” He proceeded to shoot Damien in the head.

But it didn’t do any damage at all, because as previously stated, zombies are impervious to bullets. So Damien finished turning green and stood up. “Please don’t eat our brains!” one of those other batkids said.

“Huh,” Damien said. “I don’t really want to eat anyone’s brains. I think I’m fine, actually.”

As it turned out, the zombie virus didn’t induce the desire to eat brains. The president and the entire US marines were just like that.

So the entire group hunted down Badman and the President and dropped batbombs (like badbombs, but not bad) on top of their heads, and they both exploded into one zombillion pieces.

Everyone lived happily ever after, and Damian now had a twinclone zombie brother and felt a lot better about his childhood trauma.

The end

—

bonus: more discord screenshots from last night for additional context, featuring my other friends @diligently-metastasizing (dyke lego homer) and @avloki-pal (wet ghost cat)

[mind0zone]

Evangeline Keys

And a series of MariBat related quotes!

Eva: A list of people getting therapy the moment I get rich; Everyone.

Dick: I think that’s an exaggeration?

Eva: it’s not, you’re after Jason.

🕸️

Mari: So now that I found out he’s my dad I’m heading to Gotham

Felix and Eva (whose both been to Gotham, met Bruce Wayne, saw his chaotic children): why do you carry this luck around you?

Mari: Pardon? 😃

🕸️

Eva: I hate people who go “I wouldn’t wish that on my worse enemy!” I would, and I’d double the prayer as well.

Jason: are you sure we can’t adopt you too?

Dick: Jason, No!

Jason: Jason, Yes!

🕸️

Eva: Luka has every right to be the villain, I’m sorry Mari, you fucking failed.

Luka: Eva-

Mari: END THIS, THIS IS THE THIRTEENTH TIME!

🕸️

Eva: I used to think I like children, and would restrain from ever feeling like hitting them…and then you happened.

Damian: I was raised by assassins, you wouldn’t be the first to hit me.

Eva (who now feels bad and slightly mothering instinct): no, but I’m going to be the first to give you a hug and say it’s okay…

Damian(has been here before):BACK YOU DEMON!”

🕸️

Eva: Out of all your newfound Siblings who is the favorite?

Batboys (listening in):…

Mari(without missing a beat): Cass.

Eva (nodding in approval): right answer

Cass (smiles):

🕸️

Eva (after Damian got benched): free my boy, he did all of that, but it don’t matter!

Damian: I’ll excuse you purposefully horrible grammar, in turns of thanking you for your agreement.

Tim: ten people got injured horribly, and three are yet to be found.

Eva: and? Sounds like a them problem.

Damian: As, Miss. Keys, says.

Eva: Damian we talked about this, it’s Eva, Hun. 😕

🕸️

Eva: listen I’m not an orphan, but my dad and mama has been going on business trips without me lately, and I’m close to just coming to the conclusion they up and died.

Bruce: your adoptions papers are already filled out, nothing to worry about

Eva: MY WHAT NOW? 😟

🕸️

Eva: Not going to lie, Timothy Jackson is Drake-Wayne, spectacular name, your parents may have failed at parenting you, but name making they got 10/10

Tim: please go back to London

Mari: She stays.

Felix (missing their alone time and peaceful nation): No, she needs to go home!

Mari (without missing a beat): I will FIGHT you Felix!

🕸️

Eva and Felix (discussing the shared obviousness of Bruce Wayne’s identity): 🗣️🗣️

Tim (joining in cause he found out at nine):🗣️🗣️

Bruce (standing there blankly after asking a simple question): 🧍

🕸️

[captainkirkk]

✩ WEEKLY FIC ROUND-UP ✩

All the fics I’ve read and really enjoyed in the past week-ish. Reminder: This list features any and all ratings and themes. Please look at tags and warnings on ao3 before reading.

DC

what goes around by Goldmonger

A civilian accidentally kills the Joker. It’s a confusing time for everybody.

Never Meet Your Heroes by 12pt_timesnewromanfont

Tim’s not snooping, not really. Or, he doesn’t mean to be snooping. But then he hears Superman say the words 'Experiment 13' and he's out of the Cave like a bat out of hell. He has just enough time to tell Kon to get the hell out of dodge before Batman finds him, and a furious Batman is not something he wants to face alone.

Meanwhile, Kon is totally panicking. He, Cassie, and Bart have lost contact with Robin, have cut themselves off from their mentors, and have absolutely no idea what to do. Superman has turned his back on Kon, and the League will always stand with Big Bastard Blue. He's desperate, and Kon only knows of one other person who might give a damn about him.

He'll take what he can get, even if the man is a supervillain on occasion.

let me help you fly this nest by carolinaa

Out causing havoc on date night, Harley notices something's seriously wrong with the new Robin. She's not about to sit idly by and let anyone hurt that tiny kid.

Not even the big, bad Batman.

From Riches to Rags by Vamillepudding

(If Bruce wasn't so busy investigating the Red Hood, he might have realised that, while Jack Drake is in a coma and Tim is grounded from patrol, Drake Industries goes broke. Overnight, the Drakes lose everything, leaving Tim without a cent to his name.

Jason, meanwhile, cannot believe that the Bats haven't noticed yet that something is obviously wrong with the Replacement.)

It’s weird, being poor. At the moment, Tim has precisely eleven dollars to his name. Drake Industries, gone. Their assets, gone. His trust fund, being used to pay for his father’s hospital bills. The house is gone, too. That's okay. Tim is okay. Sometimes, though, he lies awake at night, and he can’t help but wonder. Does Bruce know? He definitely doesn’t, obviously. But, does he?

Just a Moment in Time by Just_A_Poor_Boy

"I am… appreciative.” Damian says slowly. His hand discreetly fists itself in Timothy’s hoodie. Timothy is prone to bolting at the sight of emotional expression and Damian… is grounding himself as best as he can in this moment.

(Just a little glimpse of a moment between Damian and Tim. A bit of drabble to get my writing muscles back in shape.)

ATLA

surrender to the sheer force of the sky by achievingelysium

Half-turned from the door, Zuko looks up. A scarred eye widens, and Zuko reaches for his shirt, pulling it up across his chest.

“Uncle—” he gasps. “You’re here.”

It’s too late. As Zuko draws thin fabric over his chest, Iroh catches a glimpse of what he’s trying to hide. A set of bandages—and a healing wound in the shape of lightning.

(When the war ends, Iroh has only one concern—to see his nephew. Or: Iroh finds out Zuko was hit with lightning in the last Agni Kai.)

eternal and artificial by delectum

Part 1 of Rebel Zuko

After the fateful Agni Kai that changed Zuko’s life, Ozai never gives his son the quest to find the Avatar, banishing him from the Fire Nation with no hope of return. Without a purpose to life, Zuko takes revenge against his father the most spiteful way that he knows how: treason.

The Magnus Archives

Surrender by BeneathSilverStars

Jon doesn’t want to trust his coworkers. He can’t. But after being cursed by a Leitner to obey any command given to him, he might have to.

Clone Wars

Plan Besh by BitterChocolateStars

Dooku Falls too soon. Sidious is there to tempt him away earlier in the timeline. Jango is contracted for the Clone Army ahead of schedule. There is no plan to trick the Jedi into taking command of the Clone army. No trap for them to spring. Sidious steals Force sensitive children to raise along side the clones. When the time comes he will unleash them upon the galaxy. No need to waste time crafting an intricate plot from the heart of the Republic.

The Clones and the people who care for them disagree with Plan Aurek. (See Notes for Plan Besh)

[thrushforreal]

What benders would the batfam be??

So, here we go with another one of my au thingies for my own au thingie. This time its Atla Themed! (Avatar: The last Airbender for those who don't know)

So when picking a time period of when this would happen, I thought about this quite a bit, I think it would be a couple of avatar cycles after Korra. Technology has progressed to the point where Bruce still does his dark Knight routine.

Okay, here we goooooo!

Alfred: He was a special operative in the Fire Nations army. He is a Fire Bender, and also knows chi blocking. After he retired from the army he was employed by the late Waynes as a butler and bodyguard where they lived in Republic City.

Bruce: Bruce is actually a Non-bender, although this does not mean he is less of a fighter against any bender. He's traveled all over the world and nations learning different styles of fighting. After returning back to his home in Republic City he started going out at knight as a masked vigilante based off of a bat spirit. He uses all the fighting techniques he learned while traveling as well as chi blocking, and technology.

Barbara: She's like Asami in the way that she is very tech savvy. Although she is an Earth Bender, who can use the subskill of Metal Bending. She moved to republic city with her father when he got a job on the police force there. They moved from a village on the edge of the Earth Kingdom, close to the Northern Water Tribe.

Dick: He is an Air Bender and is actually the person who taught Duck the subskill of Flight. His parents were Non-Bending Air Nomads and found their place in Haly's Traveling Circus. The circus was attacked while in Republic City, and not long after Dick was taken under Bruces wing and later adopted. He never got his arrow tattoos.

Jason: Before he died, he was sure that he was a Non-Bender, so he was trained in chi blocking. He was killed and was brought back by the healing waters of Lazarus, brought back as an Earth Bender with use of the subskill Lava Bending. His biological mother was and Earth Bender like him, and his father is from Fire Bender descent. There's the reason he can Lava Bend.

Cass: She is a Water Bender and uses a technique to use water to muffle her footsteps. She was trained in the subskill of Blood Bending while with the League. After joining Bruce, she was taught how to incorporate chi blocking into her fighting style instead of killing people. Her mother, Lady Shiva, is an Air Bender, and this allows her to bend the clouds (yes, they are made of water but also made of air. Only really talented benders or those that have Air Bending ancestry are able to do so. I'll explain more later if ya'll want.) and use them to shroud her presence.

Steph: She is a Non-Bender, this was something her father Cluemaster was not happy about. She took to the streets to fight him and learned chi blocking on her own, and later learned under Barbara and Bruce.

Duke: The Avatar of this time, born in the Earth kingdom. He is able to bend all four elements and also utilizes the subskills of flight and Spiritual projection from Airbending.

Tim: He is a Fire Bender, one of the few things he gets from his father. Along with his intelligence he also uses the subskill Lightning Bending, which he uses through his bo staff when fighting with it. he also learned chi blocking. As a result of his mothers Water Bending heritage he is able to make cold flames that people can walk through.

Trace: They are a Water Bender, from their mother's side of their family. Janet Drake wasn't a Water Bender like Jack Drake was a Fire Bender though. She discovered her ability for the subskill of healing after a nasty fight with a Non-Bender called the Joker landed some really bad hits on the people involved. They are able to heat their water to unbearable degrees because of their fathers Fire Bending. They are also trained in chi blocking

Damian: He is a Fire Bender, from his mother as Bruce is a Non-Bender. While raised in the League he was taught chi blocking as well as Lightning Bending. He was forced to try and learn the subskills of Lava Bending and Metal Bending. He was unable to Lava Bend but showed an ability for Metal Bending. He hasn't been able to hone his Metal Bending as of late, and is reluctantly learning more about Lightning Bending from Tim.

[smittywing]

FicBit: Jason Todd/Tim Drake

Here we go again. Jason would really like people to stop caring about him.

~

They were good.  That was the end of it.

Except, of course, it wasn’t.

Jason’s brain continued to ask him questions about Tim, Cannon Fodder, their relationship, and his own lack of such.  Artemis was keeping her distance these days, Isabel had noped out after the body-snatching incident (after Essence had fucked back off to the All) and Jason himself was at something of a loose end.  

Which is probably why it was so easy for Bruce to find him on a rooftop.

“It has occurred to me,” Bruce said stiffly, “that we never had much of a talk about growing up.”

“Oh my God,” Jason said. “We are *not* doing this.”

Bruce braced himself against the edge of an air conditioning unit and templed his fingers. “I wasn't there when you went through puberty.”

“I can guarantee that you missed nothing good,” Jason assured him. 

“I don't doubt it,” Bruce said wryly. “But I want to tell you the same thing I told Dick and Tim. And. God. I'm going to have to give some version of this speech to Damian.”

They both took a moment to consider that, and Jason promised himself that he would absolutely not be in Gotham when the demon child started dating. 

“You can skip this one,” Jason offered. “Seeing as that time pretty much came and went.”

“Nice try,” Bruce said and crossed his arms. “So, look, you probably know much of this now but crime fighting involves a lot of adrenaline and heightened - “

“Sunday brunch,” Jason throws out in desperation. “I will come to Sunday brunch if you just. Stop. Talking.”

Bruce raised an eyebrow. “The whole afternoon?”

“C’mon, it's not like I'm gonna leave before Alfred’s dessert.” Jason might wish at times that he was stronger but Alfred’s desserts sugar-bombed all his worst feelings. 

“What if I just said that I don't care the gender or nationality or alien…status…of who you sleep with? Will you still come to brunch?”

“As long as this conversation is over,” Jason said fervently. 

“Deal.” Bruce held out his hand and Jason took it and let himself be hauled in for a half-hug. Jason rested his forehead briefly on that wide shoulder and let himself enjoy the rough embrace. Bruce was so much better with words these days, all these other kids breaking him in (or down, Jason had a firm belief that Bruce was hella tired and had learned to parent his brood out of self-defense.)

Jason pulled back awkwardly and said, “So I guess I’ll see you Sunday.”

Bruce looked like he wanted to say something but clearly decided this was not a battle he was going to wage. “Sunday, then.”

~

[ali-annals]

Here, go stalk (aka the Coffee Phenomenon)

Pairing: Tim Drake x Marinette Dupain-Cheng

WC: 1.8k | Ao3 | TW: blood | A/N: for @/the-coffee-fandom for National Coffee Day 2023

Nightwing knocked on Red Robin’s mysterious rescuer’s window. She opened it with a stern look. “Really? And a blue and black vigilante outside my window isn’t as obvious as simply knocking on my door?” He shrugged, entering when she stepped back for him.

Thump .

The sound of light feet hitting the roof made the girl turn slightly.

All she saw was a black blob weaving around, making her dizzy.

With a put-upon sigh, she heaved herself up from her perch hundreds of feet above the ground and dusted herself off.

“Hey, are you okay?”

The blob collapsed.

The girl rushed over, the scent of blood hitting her nose as she got closer.

The blob was revealed to be one of the vigilantes of the city she was in, clearly badly hurt.

The girl quickly rolled up her sleeves and checked for the vigilante’s pulse and breathing.

Carefully, she rolled them over into the first-aid recovery position and inspected them for their injuries.

With a tsk and muttered reproofs, she yanked her shirt over her head and tore it at the seams into long, makeshift bandages. The vigilante was suffering from multiple knife wounds; some shallow, a couple quite deep.

Shaking her head as she realized her meagre first-aid equipment was useless, she raised her hand to her head. “Jument, voyage!”

~~~

“Robin, report.”

Robin raised a hand to his earpiece. “There is a small puddle of blood on the roof of Killinger’s Department Store. One of Red Robin’s Batarangs is a little ways from it. There is a ripped black shirt by the blood. It appears to have been used as a makeshift bandage, then discarded. No signs of a struggle or foul play.”

In the Batcave, Batman growled at the lack of clues. Nightwing’s name popped up on the Batcomputer.

[Incoming Call: Titan’s Tower: Nightwing]

[ACCEPT]

“Hey, B. O told me Red Robin went missing. Raven is in Gotham incognito. I can ask her if she’d try to track him down.”

“Hnn.” Batman considered. “Okay.”

Fifteen minutes later, Raven entered the cave in her Titans uniform.

Batman explained the finer details of Red Robin’s disappearance, then Raven opened a portal to the roof where he had been last identified.

“There was definitely magical interference of some kind,” Raven decided. “Someone opened a portal. It’s unlike any portal magic I’ve seen, though. This might take some time.”

Batman & Co. waited on tenterhooks for Raven to finish her…whatever she did. Finally, she turned back to them. “I can trace the portal’s energy and hopefully follow RR.”

The Bats breathed a sigh of relief and waited even longer as Raven opened a portal and disappeared.

~~~

Raven blinked at the scene before her.

Red Robin was lying on a couch, unconscious.

A petite dark-haired young woman was sitting in the chair beside him, bent over him as she…sewed his suit up? At least, that was what Raven thought was happening.

“Excuse me? Who are you, and what are you doing?” The woman looked up, flashing a smile before she returned to her stitching. “Oh, you work fast. I’m a friend, and I’m sewing up Red Robin’s suit. It got badly cut up in some spots, so I’m fixing it till he can get a replacement.”

Raven wondered at the woman’s word choice, but didn’t say anything.

“Is he alright?”

“Oh, yes. He’s just asleep. I healed him from his wounds, but natural healing and rest is best.”

“You seem familiar,” murmured Raven. “Have we met somewhere before?”

She shook her head. “I don’t recall meeting you. Raven, from the Titans, right?”

“That’s me. What is your magic from? I can’t recall coming across a signature like yours before.”

“I don’t exactly flaunt my skills,” laughed the girl, snipping a thread. “There, you can take him home. I assume he won’t remember any of this at all, since he collapsed before I got to him.” 

“How did you find him?” Raven tilted her head curiously. “He was on a roof. That’s not exactly a common hangout spot.”

The woman laughed. “I’m not exactly common. I was on the roof to think. There’s nothing like a quiet nightscape to think over.”

Raven silently agreed. “Thank you for taking care of Red Robin.”

“Of course; I couldn’t just leave him there. He was bleeding out too fast and I didn’t know how to contact Batman.”

“I’ll leave you my number and Nightwing’s in case you come across something like this again. One of us should be available.”

“Thanks, Raven. Can I give you mine as well? Save Batman the trouble of stalking me?”

Raven’s lips quirked up at the edges. “Sure.”

Raven placed her and Nightwing’s business cards on the table by the woman’s sewing stuff, freeing her hands to pick up Red Robin, a card tucked into his belt by his rescuer.

With him slung over her shoulder, she opened a new portal and popped back into the Batcave.

“He’s been healed, courtesy of his rescuer. He’s currently unconscious so he can rest and naturally heal. I gave his rescuer my and ‘Wing’s cards in case she needs to contact one of us again, and I got hers.” Raven fished the card out of RR’s belt and handed it to Batman. “Here, go stalk.”

~~~

Nightwing knocked on Red Robin’s mysterious rescuer’s window.

She opened it with a stern look. “Really? And a blue and black vigilante outside my window isn’t as obvious as simply knocking on my door?”

He shrugged, entering when she stepped back for him.

“I wanted to say thank you for rescuing Red Robin and healing him. He’s the most energetic he’s been in ages. Probably because he actually had a good sleep. How did you do it?”

“Magic,” she winked. 

“The Teen Titans wanted to extend an invitation for you to partner with or join us, at your convenience.”

The young woman blinked back at him. “How much did Batman find on me that you want me to join your team?”

“Er…Raven vouched for you. Empath, you know? She could tell you’re inherently good.”

“Ah. I’d like some time to think about it, please.”

“Of course. You have my number, feel free to contact me whenever.”

~~~

“How is it going?” Raven stopped by the new recruit Marie’s room.

She looked up from her unpacking, a large red box in her hands. “It’s going well. I’m glad I accepted the invitation. I’m excited to work with a team!”

“We’re glad to have you.”

“So, Red Robin is also part of the Titans?”

“Yes, though he works under the moniker Robin, here.”

“Oh, that’s not confusing at all,” joked Marie.

Raven rolled her eyes in sympathy. “I know. That’s the Bats for you, and RR in particular.”

~~~

“So, you found your soulmate.”

Nightwing’s face appeared upside down in Marie’s vision, from where she was hanging upside down on the couch in the Titans’ den.

“Huh?”

“Robin and you. You keep the exact same hours, drink the same unholy amounts of coffee, espresso, and energy drinks, and are both paranoid about your rooms and confidential information. You’re practically the same person in two bodies.”

“Huh.” Marie mulled that over for a bit, the increased blood flow fueling her brain, or so she claimed. “I wonder if we became that way because of heroing or if we became heroes because it fit our lifestyle like that. I should do a study on that.”

Marie flipped over the arm of the couch and headed down the hallway to Robin’s room, ready to get a partner to study the phenomena.

Nightwing sank onto the vacated couch and groaned, his head in his hands.

~~~

It came as no surprise when Robin and Epiphany revealed they were dating. Their strange living habits practically threw the two together. Luckily for everyone, they got along instead of clashing over their similarities.

The longer Marie spent around the Titans and assimilated to their family, the more she opened up. She used to be the leader of a small team of heroes in her city, but once their villain was finally defeated, almost all of her team members had chosen to give up their loaned powers and erase their memories of heroing.

Alone and tired, Marie had moved, changed almost everything about her, and kept a quiet profile. She had missed heroing, though, and when Nightwing approached her with the opportunity to join a team and not be the leader, she accepted. 

Her fellow members welcomed her with open arms, and she was filled with warm fuzzy feelings of belonging and love.

~~~

Raven gently placed her hand on Marie’s knee, exerting pressure until she stopped bouncing it rapidly up and down. 

Marie turned to her, only realizing she’d been literally vibrating in her seat as she met Raven’s eyes. “Okay, I might be a bit nervous meeting Batman and Oracle and Red Hood and Robin and Spoiler and Alfred,” Marie answered the unspoken question, her voice becoming higher pitched as she listed each member of the BatClan

“It will be okay,” soothed Raven, surrounding Marie with calming emotions. “Batman will like you because you saved RR, and everyone else will like you too. It’s going to go fine.”

“If you say so,” she muttered, only half-believing her best friend.

The zeta tube announced the BatClan’s arrival, and Marie stood nervously, though less uptight than when Raven first saw her. 

Red Robin was the first through, followed by Batman and the rest.

He immediately headed to her, presenting her proudly to the Dark Knight. “This is my Marie, Epiphany.”

Marie melted at his possessive use of her name, and the remaining nerves went with it. “It’s nice to meet you all, I’m Marie.”

“We’re happy to meet you, finally,” said Spoiler, bouncing out from behind Robin. “Nightwing and Red Robin said we’d love you, and they were right!”

The visit went very well.

Marie was surprised by Batman’s non-Batman-ness, but Spoiler leaned over to tell her he was on strict instructions from Nightwing, Raven, and herself not to blow this.

The BatClan eventually left, having collected the information Batman came to receive (and thus required everyone else to tag along and get a glimpse of Marie), and Marie and Tim curled up on the couch, mugs of Marie’s Special Brew in hand.

“That went better than I expected,” commented Tim, pressing a kiss to Marie’s head.

“Everyone was perfectly nice,” said Marie. “I feel like you were exaggerating your stories now.”

He snorted. “Trust me, I was not . Once they know for sure they’re not going to scare you off, then they’ll show you their true forms. It will be nothing but chaos and glitter from here out.”

Marie giggled. “You say that as if you don’t encourage chaos. But, speaking of chaos, I may have some outsourced help to make a splash worth remembering when I enter the world of Bat shenanigans.”

Their evil chuckles filled the den, and Raven retreated to her room. She wasn't getting involved when a Bat laughed like that .

[eyes-of-mischief]

weekly fic recs | 39

fandoms: atla, dc, descendants

atla

save some face (you know you've only got one) by the_cloud_whisperer

Eighty years after Roku's death, the Avatar returns to the Fire Nation, born to Prince Ozai. Everything seems poised for the Fire Nation to take over the world, except for a few minor details, namely: Ozai unknowingly banishes and alienates his son, the Avatar. A retelling of the events of A:tLA, in which Zuko is the Avatar, Azula is his twin, and Aang is still the last Airbender.

In this AU, Air comes directly before Fire instead of the other way around.

Book 1 focuses on Zuko's childhood and adolescence, up until his banishment from the Fire Nation. Featuring Lu Ten, Master Piandao, turtleducks, and too many POV changes to count.

Part 1 of Avatar Zuko

Anchor Point by 00AwkwardPenguin00

Zuko is so freaking hungry, and the Pouhai Stronghold is the only sign of civilization he's seen in six months. Sneaking inside is hilariously simple, until it's not. At least he's not a pincushion (yet), but it'd be really nice if he could understand what the bow-toting security guards were saying.

In which Zuko is adopted by a troop of silent ninja-archers.

Inspired by MuffinLance's #Yuyan Raise Zuko.

dc

The Longer You Stay by emiv

Bruce Wayne was never meant to be part of Selina’s clean slate. Then again, neither were a circus boy, a street rat or a rich kid.

For a girl who didn’t like strings, Selina found herself getting attached.

1-800-ROBIN by spqr

“Gotham Youth Mental Health Hotline, this is Jason speaking. Can I ask who I’m talking to?”

There’s a long silence on the other end of the line, and then a small voice says, “I, um. Sorry, I don’t know why I called. This was a mistake. I’ll just hang up now.”

“Hey, wait.” Jason drops his feet to the floor, sitting forward in his shitty cubicle. Suddenly his heart is racing and he’s not sure why, but he can’t let this kid hang up. “You don’t have to tell me your name. That’s okay. Just – why don’t you tell me why you’re calling?”

In this Town We Call Home by Vamillepudding

Instead of threatening her infant son with the boogeyman, Janet Drake tells Tim that Batman is going to come for him if he doesn't behave. Years later, Tim realises that if he wants a fast way to get adopted, all he has to do is commit a crime so that Batman will take him away.

Years later still, Tim knows that no one is coming for him, but that doesn't make him any less scared. It also doesn't make him any less interested in Batman and his Robins.

I’m Pretty Sure Tim Steals Clothes: An Elaboration In The Form Of A Long Fic by PrinceJakeFireCake

Basically what it says on the tin.

““How many shirts do you have of Superboy’s, again?” Jason asked, his brows furrowed.

“I stole fifteen before Clark told me to stop,” Tim said. “I did not stop. Those aren’t even all of them, I have more upstairs.”

“How many Superboy shirts is too many Superboy shirts?” Jason pondered.

“I’m approaching the thousands,” Tim admitted. “I’m admittedly not the best person to pose such a question to.””

descendants

Once Upon A Time by hara_leah

(mature) (graphic depictions of violence, underage, major character death)

Once upon a time, they were fearsome. Once upon a time, they were beautiful and strong. Once upon a time, they were cunning. Once upon a time, they were the villains, the evil-doers, the malicious ones. Once upon a time, they were magnificent. Once upon a time, it wasn't once upon a time. Once upon a time, they didn't need their children to be beautiful and cunning and powerful for them. Once upon a time, they didn't need their kids to rule the world for them, because they were already doing it themselves.

Grin and Bear It by taytayloulou

“Wow,” Jay breathes, “you really meant…everybody is coming to this party.”

The VKs finally meet the heroes of their parents' stories. It all goes to hell.

Jam and Bread by HashtagLEH

“Well, I’m hoping for electronic parts, Jay is hoping for jam – what do you want, Mal?” Carlos asked the girl beside him.

Mal raised an eyebrow. “You’re asking me to hope for something?”

“Sure, where’s the harm?” Jay cajoled. “Just one thing.”

Mal folded her arms across her chest. “This is childish.”

“You’re not getting out of this one,” Evie said, and then leaned forward so that she was right in front of Mal’s face, breath ghosting across her lips. “Come on,” she said softly, “What do you want?”

Part 1 of Tactics From the Isle (And How They Carry Over Into Auradon)

Moonshot by lawsofchaos

“You made me promise to steal the wand, mother, but you never made me Promise to give it to you,” Mal snarls in mingled defiance and fury. She is fae and she is free and that means no one can make her do what she did not Promise.

[xaracosmia]

ꕥ — WELCOME TO EXO COSMIA, ROY HARPER. 🌑

ꕥ  — OOC INFORMATION;

name / alias: lyss age: 27 pronouns: he/him ooc contact: phantomthieves on twit other characters in xc: Tim Drake

ꕥ  — IC INFORMATION;

name: Roy Harper age: 29 pronouns: he/him series: DC Comics canon point: Post Titans Convergence

app triggers: hard drug addiction, underage substance abuse, death by fire, (violent) amputation, child death, paternal death, general violence

personality: 

“Roy never was one for using proper code names. Maybe because his was Speedy. Too much insecurity and self-doubt. He tries to cover it up with flippant remarks, but it’s not enough.”

“Roy wants to be Dick’s equal, but doesn’t have a prayer. Not that that’s a sin, but Harper’s a reactionary, always competing with someone… Ollie, Dick, even himself… and coming up short.”

“Roy Harper was a scared, lonely boy. Speedy was an over-anxious sidekick. I’m Arsenal, human weapon, super-hero, father, and my own man.” 

“Speedy. Red Arrow. Arsenal. What does it @#$%ing matter? They're just different masks covering the same lying face. They're not who I am. Neither was the other name they used to call me. “Hero.” That was the biggest lie of all.”

Roy is a bundle of nerves. Even if his laissez-faire attitude may lead those who don’t know him very well to think otherwise, it’s not hard to see once you’ve been around him long enough. This isn’t to say he’s shy or anxious in the typical sense—though, sure, he has his days—but that he’s constantly on edge in some way, shape, or form. He combats this well enough by being… well, Roy (see: a jokester, womanizer, etc), and that works for him most of the time. 

He knows how to be the comedy relief—the leader—the father—the asshole—the love interest. He’s a social chameleon, taking on the role that’s best suited for the current scenario. 

At his core, beyond those roles, Roy is a good person who wants the world to be good, even if he’s exhausted by the process. 

something your muse struggles with: 

Roy can be extremely headstrong. He has good intentions most of the time, but once he has his mind set on doing something—whether that means saving someone else or sabotaging himself—it’s hard to distract him from that goal. He’s also insecure and full of self-hatred. Fun!

your muse’s greatest strength: 

He’s caring, occasionally to the point of detriment, but even still, that’s a good thing. He knows how to put others before himself.

history / background: 

Roy’s father was a forest ranger. His mother—who knows? Roy certainly doesn’t. He always wondered, yeah, but wondering never brought him any answers, and, though he sometimes gave his father shit about her absence, the death of his father—in a forest fire while saving a local man—cut that short quickly.

The man—a member of the Navajo Nation—he saved ended up taking Roy in, raising him on the reservation. He learned many things from him and the members of the tribe, including archery, which he was extremely good at. When Roy got older, Green Arrow, a hero known for his renowned archery, was visiting nearby the reservation, and after many, many attempts at getting his attention, Green Arrow—Oliver Queen—ended up taking him in as his ward.

He moved to the City with Oliver, learning much more about the world at large as he did so. Unfortunately, though Oliver was his mentor and guardian, he often wasn’t around, leaving Roy to his own devices. During this time, Roy became a member of the original Teen Titans along with Robin, Kid Flash, Aqualad, and Wonder Girl. He was a later addition to the team, initially rejecting the offer during the team’s creation, but became just as close to the rest despite his occasionally standoffish attitude. They grew up together.

As Roy entered his teenage years, without anyone there to guide him, he ended up getting involved in the darker side of the city, taking up drug usage—specifically, Roy became addicted to heroin. When Oliver found out, he didn’t support Roy on his path to recovery. No, instead, disappointed in his ward, he kicked Roy out onto the streets. Luckily, Hal Jordan—Oliver’s best friend—and Dinah Lance—Oliver’s future wife—ended up taking him in. It was rough, but eventually Roy was able to overcome his addiction.

The Teen Titans had started go lead separate lives by then and Roy was no exception. He was invited to join the Central Bureau of Investigations and accepted, becoming a drug enforcement agent for them. There, he often went undercover. During one undercover mission, he met Cheshire—an assassin—and fell in love with her. Knowing they were never meant to be, what with her being a villain and him a hero, Roy ended up ghosting her… which meant he never found out that Cheshire had actually gotten pregnant with their daughter until later.

Through a series of trials and tribulations, their daughter, Lian, eventually came under Roy’s custody. He did his best to raise her as a new father, bouncing around cities and jobs to do so. He ended up joining an extension of the CBI, Checkmate, though his relationship with them ended up rocky at best. Still, because of his connections with them, when he began working with the Titans again, the government eventually coerced him into forcibly becoming the leader of the Titans, much to his dismay.

His new life with the Titans lasted a long time, rotating through its existence and new members often. Eventually, Dick Grayson would return, becoming the leader of the Titans once more after a long talk with the original Titans, but this didn’t last, either.

Roy ended up forming the Outsiders with outside influence, forming a group of vigilantes who operated “outside the law.” He almost died during his missions with them, but this didn’t stop him from continuing, and he…

oh my goodness. He eventually stopped being a part of the Outsiders, too, because he wasn’t meant for their line of work. He instead became a member of the new JLA, taking on the name “Red Arrow” instead of “Arsenal,” but after a series of events that led to the loss of his arm and the loss of his daughter, he would return to the “Arsenal” name, leave the JLA, and relapse.

During this time of grief in his life, he made many bad decisions. He joined up with a new “Titans” team by Cheshire’s suggestion, one led by Deathstroke that was poopoo peepee. He became more cruel in enacting justice on others, not caring who died in the process. Eventually, though, he came to his senses (IRT his new attitude) and once again overcame his addiction, agreeing with an old friend to reform the Titans naturally and as they remembered it.

His daughter, Lian, has since been brought back to life.

powers / abilities: n/a

inherent abilities:

He can pretty much turn anything at his disposal into a weapon. He’s the best marksman in-universe (or up there). His specialty is archery, but he’s just as good with firearms. He can fight hand-to-hand if he needs to. HE CAN PLAY DRUMS!

items / weapons:

Arsenal costume

Roy collects weaponry, so I’ve bunched them below.

Bow & quiver collection—Roy has a favored bow above the rest, but he keeps all of them in a good state. He has normal arrows in his quiver, but he also keeps a variety of trick arrows. Please check here for the trick arrows… there’s too many to list.

Gun collection

Knife collection

Miscellaneous weapons—blunt objects, kunai, polearms, nunchaku

starting ability: n/a starting item: Bow & quiver collection

extra: 

He’s ¼ Navajo (specifically Táchii'nii clan) because I like that better than the canon. I also gave him brown eyes instead of green or blue (DC can’t decide anyway).

Roy has a prosthetic arm in the form of a cybernetic enhancement.

His birthday’s November 1st… He’s the baby of the original Titans yay…

discord id: roywazhere passcode: GRRRRRRR

[glorified-red]

Hi! I'd like to request a fic where Y/n and Tim are good friends and everyone knows she has a crush on him, even Tim knows, and she's always trying to woo him and flirts with him frequently (but not to the point where he's uncomfortable) but Tim politely refuses every time because he doesn't like her in that way and Y/n respects it but keeps trying, saying to herself that she'll stop if Tim ever falls in love with someone else.

Then, Stephanie shows up and she and Tim bond together and basically act really close and Y/n's a bit jealous but she brushes it off, slightly upset that she hasn't had much time to spend with Tim anymore. Y/n then visits the Wayne manor because everyone's hanging out there and she tries to get Tim's attention and she sees him kiss Steph's cheek (-platonically, and it could be because she's leaving or something), but it looked like they were kissing from her view, and immediately assumes that they are together. One of the Batboys (you can pick who) who is Y/n's best friend drags her out of the room before anyone else notices her crying and explains to her that Steph is Tim's ex and says that "Steph has always been Tim's one and only" before Y/n even met them and he comforts her while she cries.

Y/n avoids Tim and their friend group for a few days and during that time the Batboy who is her best friend gets mad at Tim because Y/n obviously loves him and he keeps taking her for granted and Tim realizes he likes her as well and comes up with a plan to get her back.

When Y/n joins in hanging out with Tim and the others again, she's surprised because this time Tim is the one who is complimenting her and giving all his attention on her. One time when they're hanging out alone together she finally confronts Tim about his behavior and asks if he's just doing this out of pity on her. Tim instantly denies that and confesses that he likes her as well and apologizes that he took her for granted, saying that it's been hell being without Y/n. After some reasurance from Tim that he isn't messing around with her (and maybe some crying-), they finally get together.

Hey love! Thank you so much for the request! I took some creative liberties with this request to fit it more into Tim's character, hope you don't mind ;)

Miscommunications and Jealousy

summary: You fell in love with your best friend, Tim Drake. After several failed flirting attempts, Tim rejects you. From the looks of things, it seems like Tim has rekindled his bond with Steph and left you in the dust. Who would've thought this was all one big misunderstanding? Damian, Damian did.

word count: 4,340~ warnings: none This fic almost stole the crown for being my longest fic here on Tumblr, I did not expect this to be so long but I don't regret it. This fic was honestly just an excuse to write body language & flirting. Special thanks to @uni-magi-nation for teaching me how to play footsies properly so I could write about it. And @offendedfishnoises for brainstorming the plot to this ages ago.

Vibrant smiles and booming laughter shot through the Manor as you led Tim through the long hallways. Socked feet slid into walls and bumped into furniture edges, chasing each other in tandem. Soft squeals left your lips as Tim caught up to you, your game of tag coming to an end as he cornered you up against a wall. 

“Caught you,” he said, breathlessly in front of you, his hands on either side of your body, effectively caging you in. 

You met his eyes, a fast breath being shared between you. Your eyes wandered to his lips and back up to his eyes once more. 

You spoke softly, no need to raise your voice when he was a breath away. “Are you always this fun and exciting?” 

The moment you shared was sparking at the edges, the butterflies in your stomach fluttered against the electricity. Your words were laced with hidden desire, hoping Tim caught your eyes wandering and the double meaning in your words. 

But of course, when he pushed off the wall and awkwardly shoved his hands into his pockets, the butterflies withered inside your stomach, the buzz frying their wings. Tim laughed, taking your words as a compliment. 

“I try to be.” He bounced as he spoke, his feet turning outwards away from you, “Now, let’s see if you can catch me.” 

An opportunity arose, you couldn’t help but follow it. So you chased Tim all through the night, even when you tagged him, the chase for his love still ensued. 

⋘⋙

You handed your laptop over to Tim, huffing as you sat down next to him. 

“What's wrong with it now?” he asked, opening the laptop up and signing in, already knowing your password from the countless times you two have worked silently beside each other, doing work on your laptops in silent company. 

Resting your cheek against your hand, you grumbled, “It won’t let me open my internet browsers anymore, every time I try to it completely shuts down the browser.”

Tim hummed, clicking on the browser in curiosity only for the laptop screen to freeze. He leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms to think. “Did you try restarting it?”

You glared into the side of his skull, rolling your eyes. “Yes, obviously.” 

He smiled and you felt the fluttering in your lungs again. “Just checking.”

He made quick work of opening up the settings of the laptop and finding his way into the browser files. You watched him work silently, admiring the concentration that set into his eyes and the way his hands typed lines of code effortlessly into the backbone of your laptop. 

Your eyes scanned his features, your own softening in adoration. Tim felt the prickle of your eyes watching him, he caught your gaze and smiled sheepishly. 

“Sorry it’s taking so long, I'll be done soon.” 

You stuttered, head falling out of your hand to wave your hands repeatedly. “You’re fine! Take your time.” 

You promptly turned your head away from him to hide your flush from being caught staring.

⋘⋙

Another pesky deadline and you found yourself at another cafe with Tim, laptops filling the space between you two. The white noise of steamers and names being called out filled your ears, a steady stream of stimulation to keep yourself focused on your work. 

His shoe bumped against yours under the table, tucking itself under yours to bounce your foot with his. A small gesture, a small breach of contact, yet you felt the flitter of wings under your skin arise. You looked over at him through your eyelashes. 

Tim was as concentrated as ever, almost as if touching you was an absent-minded comfort, his body reaching out for yours without much thought. A few bounces and you slipped your other foot under his to trap his shoe between yours. 

The change in speed made him look up at you. He missed your eyes by a second as you looked back down at your laptop, face blank but your nerves ablaze. Tim met your challenge, shifting in his seat and looking back down at his laptop. 

A second later and you felt his second shoe fall on top of the pile of feet, claiming his win from being at the top. You wiggled your feet out of the tower but he quickly pinned yours down on either side of the table. 

Moments passed and you continued the work as his shoes gave playful pressure on top of yours. Deep into your work, your toes lifted up and down slowly, adding onto the silent game you two played. The encore to the tapdance continued until the barista called Tim’s name. 

The absence of his warmth was striking, but the electricity humming under your skin kept you warm. You watched as he graciously took the drinks from the barista. She smiled and said something to him, eyes flickering between you and him. You saw him decline easily, his gala smile stunning as always. He looked back at you, allowing you to read his lips.

The butterflies decayed for the first time, burying themselves far away to never take flight again. 

“We’re just friends.” 

⋘⋙

Weeks passed and you pushed your feelings down, distracting yourself in work and miscellaneous hobbies—anything to avoid Tim. You couldn’t stop the way your heart would leap with hope when you heard his voice or see his face, only to fall miserably in remembrance of his rejection. 

Tim got caught up in his work too, assuming the distance between you two was nothing more than life getting in the way. So when he invited you over to the Manor, he was excited to hear your acceptance. 

You wanted to decline, you really did. The hollow feeling in your chest was slowly filling with disappointment and it was hard to ignore the passive resentment that festered. But Tim was your best friend, he’d immediately know something was wrong if you shut him down so upfront. As much as you wanted to stay home, he would probably check up on you and you couldn’t imagine having to lie to him face-to-face. 

You steeled your nerves and met up with him, retracing the path to his room that your body memorized years ago. Your mind settled into the familiar pattern of hanging out with him: lounging on his bed that smelled just like his soft hugs, a blend of coffee and parchment, a bit of lavender coating the edges. You let yourself hear the excitement in his voice as he talked about his newest endeavor and fiddled with the knick knacks in his room. 

He plopped himself onto the bed next to you, brushing against you by accident. You slipped off the bed in favor of sitting on the couch, preoccupying yourself with something new. Your words slipped into a colder tone, quieting yourself down instead of trying new flirty one-liners in hopes of giving him enough hints. Your body language shifted towards the bedroom door more than towards him, your body catching onto your reserved attitude for today. 

If Tim noticed the change in your behavior, he didn’t say anything. 

In fact, he was as dense as ever.

“What do you think a good date would look like?” he asked, scrolling through his phone trying to find something, you had no clue what he was searching for so passionately but you couldn’t find it in you to care. 

You fidgeted with the Rubix Cube that Tim kept by his desk while sitting at the very edge of the couch closest to the exit. Your attention was on the toy, allowing yourself to find comfort in the repetitive nature of it. 

You shrugged, the pit in your stomach growing larger by the second. “I don’t know, I’ve never been on one.” 

Tim set his phone down, adjusting his position on the bed to be closer to you. “Yea, but if you were to go on one, what would be enjoyable?”

You breathed out through your nose, flicking the rows away from each other until colors collided. “Amusement parks, I guess? The docks by the harbor have some fun stuff to do, too.”

Tim hummed. “So something to do together?”

“I mean, yea. That’s the whole point of a date.” 

Tim’s shoulders slouched, a quiver in his brow caught your eye. Your brain provided reasoning for this topic, knowing he was looking into taking another person on a date and consulting you, his best friend, for advice. It left you upset and even more disappointed. 

The snap in your tone shut Tim’s next few questions down.

He dropped the subject. 

⋘⋙

“I just don’t want to mess this up.”

“You won’t, you obviously like them and they obviously like you, you’re panicking for nothing.”

“But what if they don't actually like me? What if I say the wrong thing at the wrong time or try to take things too fast and they—I don’t know? End up hating the day?” 

Steph looked at Tim with a deadpan expression. “You have got to be the most dense idiot on the planet.” 

Tim consulted his notepad, clutching it with two hands. He read over the scribble of words again and again. It was a list of things to do on a date, advice, and one liners he found while scouring the internet. 

“I’m not dense.”

Steph scoffed, a playful laugh crossing her lips. “You two have been best friends for how long now? Oh yea, since highschool. And who had to point out to you that they've been flirting with you for years? Oh yea, me.”

Tim huffed, forgoing the notepad for the familiar sense of dread and anxiety. “I just have no clue what I’m doing. The last time I went on a date with someone to an amusement park I fell asleep on a roller coaster. That date ended horribly, I don’t want this one to.”

“Wasn’t that your first time at an amusement park?” 

Tim shifted on his feet, “Yea?”

Steph shrugged, a half smile on her lips. “Then practice. Can’t get something wrong if you rehearse it enough times.”

Tim quirked an eyebrow. “You want me to go to an amusement park to practice? Who am I going to practice with?” 

“Take me first," she said nonchalantly, "That way you’ll know what to expect and I get to stop hearing about this. It’s a win-win.” 

He contemplated for a second, taking one last glance at his notepad before accepting the offer. “Fine, but you’re buying your own ticket.”

⋘⋙

You finished packing your bag before heading over to the Manor. You and Tim had today planned out for months in advance ever since Tim found out your favorite game series was dropping a new release. He preordered the game and it was set to come in the mail this morning so you could play it together all day. 

Your feelings had stalled, excitement covering any semblance of resentment. You cherished your friendship and were happy to finally play a video game you both enjoyed. Knocking on the large oak door, you awaited to be greeted at the entrance. 

Tim always waited at the front of the Manor so he could greet you himself, his excitement tackling his patience. But this time, you were greeted by Alfred. Formalities aside, you figured Tim was just setting up the game console in the gaming room. 

“Good morning. Please, come in.” 

You stepped into the Manor, Alfred not even questioning your presence. “I just finished preparing breakfast, would you care for some?”

You eagerly nodded, happy to have any of Alfred’s famous cooking. He guided you to the kitchen where he finished making portable breakfasts for the household, knowing everyone was on a different schedule this morning. Damian stood in the kitchen, leaning against the counter and watching you as you happily took one of the portions left. 

“Thank you, Alfred!” you said while settling onto a barstool. 

“Of course. Don’t hesitate to let me know if there’s anything I can do for you.” He bowed his head slightly and took his leave, brushing the crinkles off his suit as he walked. 

You munched on the breakfast themed parfait, the fruits blending magically on your tongue. 

Damian's presence was something you could never quite get used to, it was tense yet calming, a constant contradiction. He picked at one of the fruits at the edge of his bowl. “What are you doing here?” 

He stated the question in such a way that the words seemed to run into one another, an accusation forming from the harsh tone. 

“Tim invited me over,” you said in between bites. “We’re gonna play the new video game he ordered.” 

Damian never looked up at you, priorities laying elsewhere than with you. “You must have the wrong day. Tim’s not at the Manor today.” 

You choked on the food, tripping over yourself to swallow properly before answering. Damian mixed his food calmly, barely paying you any mind.

“What do you mean he’s not here, we’ve had today planned for months?” You set your fork down, shooting a confused glare towards Damian. 

“He left an hour ago,” he responded shortly, always one to condense responses into something brief.

You waved your hand in confusion. “Where did he go?”

“Somewhere with Brown. He briefly mentioned Amusement Mile, he probably took her there.” 

Your heart sunk, feeling Damian’s words shoot through your chest, the pain spreading across your body until your fingertips numbed. Distantly, you were aware Tim probably asked you about a date idea to take someone out, you just hadn’t expected it to be this soon. Not to mention, for him to completely forget about his plans with you. 

Your breath stuttered, a wheeze coming out of your mouth instead of words. You shouldn’t be surprised, Tim had history with Steph back when you two first met—such good chemistry is hard to forget. You didn't expect for old insecurities to resurface so easily.

Damian continued, failing to notice your reaction yet. “Todd believes they won’t get back together, I disagree. They were together once before, it can happen again. She has always been his one and only, it is just a matter of time before the idiot can figure it out.” 

Your chest caved in, breaths coming out in short bursts. You tried so hard to be silent, to keep yourself from breaking down. You looked down at your half-eaten breakfast in despair, sadness weighing your body down in your seat. 

A poorly contained sob caught Damian’s attention. He side-eyed you, his stirring stopped when he noticed the heartbreak you failed to hide. His feet stood frozen to the floor, his muscles tensing in confusion. Each tear that fell onto your plate left Damian even more tense, having no clue what to do with a crying human being in front of him.

He itched to grab Grayson or even Father to help, they are much better suited for this than him. You scrubbed at your face, a hiccup wracking your lungs. Hands pushed against the counter and you shook your head sharply. “I'm just—I’m…I’m gonna go.”

You stumbled off the barstool, landing against the counter firmly. Watching this struck Damian out of his stupar. 

“Stay,” he demanded, food placed down on the counter. 

You sniffled in confusion, tears sticking to your face. 

“Pennyworth would be disappointed in such a waste of food.” Damian's attempts at comfort always came out unintentionally harsh, but the hidden meaning was always something he wished he could speak with ease: “Let me keep you company.”

Damian listened to the entire story, letting you rant to him with all your will power until you were shaking with sadness. He sat you down on the comfiest couch he could find and let you sob until your lungs gave out. He sat still the entire time, listening intently and offering his best try at being a comforting presence. 

About an hour in he left and came back with Alfred the cat curled up in his arms. He placed the yawning cat on your stomach as you laid down, quoting a random fact about the pressure of cats on someone's chest easing anxiety. 

He didn't know what else to do to help you, this whole situation completely foreign to him.

It wasn’t long until you nodded off, the exhaustion of so much pent up sadness coming out at once. Your eyes burned from the salt and your head throbbed with a powerful headache, throat sore from sharp breaths. Alfred purred, the vibrations calming you down instantly. 

When you fell asleep fully, you didn’t even notice Damian stepping out into the next room. 

⋘⋙

Tim’s phone buzzed insistently inside his pocket. “Hold on,” he told Steph, pulling aside from a booth to fish out his phone. 

“Hello?” Tim picked up.

“You absolute idiotic moron. Somehow you manage to astound me from your lack of brain cells every day.” 

Tim glanced at Steph who could hear Damian seething from the other end of the phone. Steph winced, quickly turning back to the booth in favor of staying as far away from the problem as possible (that wasn’t going to stop her from asking Tim about it later). 

“I’m kind of busy, Damian, can this wait—”

“Let me tell that to Y/n. Perhaps they can save their tears for when you get back from whatever you believe is more important than your planned date with them.” 

Tim stilled, ice running down his back. He looked back at Steph with enough fear in his eyes for her to step out of line and meet up with him. 

“Shit.”

“Indeed. Now get your mediocre self over here before they leave for good.”

“Can you tell them I’m sorr—”

The phone clicked as Damian hung up. Tim stared at the phone in shock, shifting his eyes back to Steph who munched on a half eaten churro she made Tim buy for her as payment among many other things. 

“What's his deal?”

“We have to go, now.”

⋘⋙

Tim burst through the Manor doors, Steph offering to handle the car while Tim went in. Damian stood near the entryway with his arms crossed, a scowl frustratingly covering his face. 

“You truly messed up this time, Drake.” 

Tim let out an impatient sigh. “Spare me. Just tell me where they are.”

With a tsk, Damian walked away. Tim knew better than to waste time standing around, he followed quickly. Damian led Tim through the manor until he stopped in front of the Library. Tim peered in, opting to scope out the damage from afar. 

Damian, frustratingly low on patience for his idiotic brother for having hurt a family friend, he shoved Tim in fully. He smirked happily when Tim stumbled until he caught himself. 

“Fix them” was the last thing Damian said before shutting the library door with a ‘click’. Tim grumbled, surprised Damian didn’t go as far as to lock the door. 

There you were, sleeping on the couch with Alfred curled up on your chest. Upon his entrance, Alfred’s eyes blinked open into a glare he probably learned from Damian. The cat shook its head, stretching out to protect your torso. The cat bumped its forehead against your chin with a chuff. 

Tim slowly walked up to you, kneeling down beside the couch so he was level with you. He still faced the glare of Alfred the cat, the ferocious protector of your puffy eyed self. A hesitant hand landed on your shoulder, a whisper of a name later and nothing changed. Tim shifted, anxiety clinging to his chest. 

He softly shook your shoulder, effectively pissing the cat off enough to stand up and stretch it's back before jumping off your chest. The power of the jump was enough for you to snap awake, startled by the action. Even moreso, seeing Tim in your peripheral was enough for you to jump. 

Your eyes met his remorseful ones. Your heart sunk, not wanting to face the disappointment of today's reality. Without a second to talk yourself out of it, you rolled over, facing the back of the couch instead of him. 

“Leave me alone,” you mumbled, your words coming out in short croaks from your sore throat. 

“Just let me explain, I promise it’s not what it looks like.” 

You laughed miserably. “Sure,” you said sarcastically, “ ‘It's not what it looks like’. You already told me you don’t like me, I don’t need to hear it again. Just leave me be, Tim.”

“Woah woah woah,” Tim placed his hand on your shoulder in a poor attempt to get you to face him. “What are you talking about?” 

Anger boiled up inside you to protect the sadness you felt in your heart. Jealousy and disappointment merged into a deafening cocktail of pissed off. 

You quickly rolled around to face Tim’s confused face head on. 

“ ‘We’re just friends’, do you have any idea how much hearing that hurt? I spent months trying to drop hints to you that I loved you and you even reciprocated half the time so I thought, hell, maybe I have a chance. Maybe the boy I’ve been in love with since high school loves me back. But no, I’m nothing but a friend to you. I shouldn’t have been surprised when you got back together with your ex and prioritized her over me.” 

You spoke until you were breathless, plopping back against the couch to glare at the ceiling. 

Tim opened and closed his mouth, brain trying to unpack everything wrong in that sentence one at a time so he could solve this. 

“Y/n look at me,” Tim said softly, hands wanting to push back your bangs so he could guide your eyes to his. You glared up at him. 

“I didn’t prioritize her over you, I didn’t even realize I mixed up the dates until Damian called me. I am so sorry about that, I didn’t mean to at all.” 

Your eyes left his, tears pricking your eyes as your body struggled to figure out how to respond to the overwhelming emotions your brain filtered through your body. 

Tim squeezed your shoulder gently. “Steph and I are not getting back together.”

You scoffed in disbelief. “You expect me to believe that? Why else would you take her out on the date I suggested?”

Tim slumped sheepishly, not wanting to explain the next part of this story for fear of embarrassment. “She was helping me—training me actually—so I could take the person I really love on a date and not mess it up.” 

Your brain stuttered to a stop, short circuiting on the explanation and struggling to comprehend what he was trying to say. Your eyes widened, a tear slipping out from the shift in movement.

Tim scrambled to explain, noticing your tear and immediately feeling his anxiety tighten its grip. 

"I'm not very…good? At this kind of thing? I really wanted to impress you so I asked you where you wanted to go and spent hours researching how to talk to you so I could finally tell you how I feel." Tim leaned forward as he talked, shifting his weight onto his knees. 

He continued, fingers fidgeted against each other. "I was so nervous," he wrung his hands out, "I didn't know what to do, to say, to bring—and then Steph offered to help me by pretending to be you and I…I just wanted your first date to go perfectly." 

His words sank into you, each one attacking your skin with the fast pace he was talking. The second the weight of the words registered, you snapped your head to face him. You lifted yourself up, propping your body up with your elbow.

"Wait, you," you pointed at him as you spoke, "wanted to take me on a date? A real date?"

Tim relaxed minutely, half his body still tense. 

"Yea? I mean, I'd still like to…" he trailed off, bright blue bells looking up at you expectantly. 

"I thought I was just a friend to you?" You spoke softly, hesitant to let your hopes climb too high as pretty colored wings started to flap again. 

"You are! You've been my best friend for years and I've enjoyed every second of it. I didn't want to ruin what we had because I enjoyed it so much." His hands moved as he talked, the more nervous he got the more sharp the gestures were. You watched him as the butterflies flew closer to your heart, making your head dizzy with the excitement filtering through you.

Wings beat against your lungs, wearing your patience down with each breath.

Tim continued: "I ended up falling in love with my best friend. It was new, and nerve-wracking, so I didn't want to ask you out until I knew for sure that you liked me because I really like you. But I'd understand if today kind of ruined everyth—"

Your patience disappeared as he backtracked, you didn’t want this moment to slip through your fingers. You gripped the front of his shirt and yanked him forward, his face a moment away from yours. His lips could almost feel yours, it made his eyes tilt downwards as the butterflies in his stomach flew with yours, a dance of colors surrounding you two.

"Just shut up and kiss me already."

Taglist ♡

@anothertimdrakestan

@sunhats-and-candycorn

@missredrobin

[legends-live-in-memories]

Business (Mis)Management

AYO you know the drill. MGI Trope Tussle! 

Fics Masterlist

Timari Oneshot 2.3K words

Summary: 

"Right before her, where her professor usually stood every Tuesday and Thursday, stood a surprise guest lecturer. One problem, though. Marinette hates the guy. She hates him and his stupid well-fitting suit that she dedicated actual blood sweat and tears into making. "

One shot using two prompts for this server event: Day 3:College AU Day 5: "Why'd you do that?" "I- I don't know..."

without further ado: 

It was Tuesday, bright and early at 9:30 am, and Marinette was ready to commit murder. She was sitting in her Intro to Business Management course with her cup of coffee and notepad ready and pencil about to snap in her grip. Right before her, where her professor usually stood every Tuesday and Thursday, stood a surprise guest lecturer. One problem, though. Marinette hates the guy. She hates him and his stupid well-fitting suit that she dedicated actual blood sweat and tears into making. 

Right there, on this awful Tuesday morning, stood one Timothy Jackson Drake Wayne looking all the world like he would rather be anywhere else; stupid rich people were all the same, thinking the world was doing them a favour by letting them grace everyone else with their presence. Marinette also wishes he was anywhere else but life doesn’t work that way. Her actual professor stood off to the side, waxing sonnets about how accomplished the young CEO was and Marinette listened to none of it. Rather, she was silently stewing in her thoughts, lost in how this man became the particularly large thorn in her side.

It was six months ago when she got an email asking for a commission. A commission for the exact three piece suit he was wearing today. He had gotten her contact from another client and his emailed request was perfect and professional. He had asked for the suit, listed all the required measurements and requested any personalizations he wanted. They couldn’t meet for any in-person fittings so it was currently both aggravating and satisfying to see it fit his lean figure so perfectly. The drama didn’t start, however, until two weeks after, when Marinette had sent the finished product to the designated address. While Marinette isn’t one for showboating and bragging about her capabilities, it grinds her teeth when others try to talk down on her skills. 

When Marinette had sent off the suit, and emailed the man that the package was to be expected within three business days, she got a rather crude email in response, labeling her work as ‘tacky’ and a ‘pathetic attempt at wiggling her way into his family’s pockets.’ That had her doubletaking at the sender, making sure it wasn’t some spam mail that she was reading. Nope, that’s his email right there. Marinette remembered a particular twitch she had in her eye the first time she read that email. It was one thing to be ungrateful of a finished product, Marinette was no stranger to harsh critiques and pieces that worked better on paper than as actualized designs, but the accusation of being a gold-digger set off warning bells that threw her back into the tenth grade where she had battles with a rich blonde with daddy issues. At least he had paid her in advance for the suit. Marinette would have been perfectly fine with silently cutting all ties with Mr. Wayne right then and there, and putting the whole ordeal behind her, until he decided that a crassly worded email wasn’t enough. No. He felt compelled to go on national television and insult her suit for everyone to hear. Marinette remembers his words perfectly, as if they were ingrained in her memory forever.

“You’ve seen the suits I’ve worn, I look like I escaped my own funeral. I’ve tried local, and outsourcing designers and tailors and nothing matches my taste. I’m only twenty-three and I dress like I’ve gone through my third divorce—”Marinette had turned off the television to shamelessly cry into her pillow. She couldn’t bear to hear him insult her design over the poorly timed laughs of the ‘live-studio audience’ that particular interview was filmed in front of. 

After that, Marinette had reaffirmed her conclusion that all rich people were assholes best left to their own privileged bubble. 

A solid clap snapped her attention back to the front of the lecture hall, eyes narrowing at the man by the podium. The presentation pulled up on the smart board indicated that he was going to be speaking to them about professionalism and how to engage in buyer-seller conversations. Oh that was bloody perfect. What did this guy know about any of those things? 

The time was 9:45 exactly when the guy decided to start his presentation. 

“Hello, everyone,” his voice was smooth and firm, not wavering while speaking before a hall filled with two hundred students. “My name is Timothy Drake-Wayne but you all can just call me Tim. It’s lovely to meet all of you and I’m honoured to be here speaking for you today.” 

Cue a very predictable, very standard, very boring introduction. Marinette was beginning to tune out at this point.

“To start off this presentation, I would like to talk about misunderstandings in professional conversations.” He started walking across the front of the room. Slow and methodical; he knew he had all eyes on him and he was taking full advantage of it. Marinette wanted to gag. “Additionally, I want to discuss how to avoid them, and what to do if miscommunication occurs.”

Blah, blah blahblah. Marinette didn’t trust him as far as she could throw him.

“To start off, I’m going to talk about a situation I found myself in not too long ago.” That caught her attention. “It’s funny now and makes for great dinner conversation but not so much when it had happened. How many of you siblings?”

He paused and surveyed the room. His eyes passed over Marinette and for a brief second she thought he focused on her for a blink longer than necessary. She banished the thought from her mind; she didn’t have siblings so he had no reason to notice her.  

“Now,” he continued, “how many of you have siblings who aren’t afraid to sabotage your work when they’re mad at you?” 

Another pause as some of the students lowered their hands. Some were unsure and Marinette had a weird feeling in her gut. Her instincts were screaming at her but she couldn’t figure out why.

“Don’t feel shy,” the guy raised his hand to join the students, “my younger brother is a menace who can and has attempted to sabotage my business. Just recently in fact.”

Marinette looked around the room to see quite a few surprised faces. She was vaguely familiar with the Wayne family and remembered a few details about the youngest child. He was a menace, that’s for sure. As egotistical as any thirteen year old can be. That feeling in her gut returned with vigor. She was suddenly very alert and eager, almost desperate, to figure out how the ankle biter had sabotaged this man.

“About six months ago my brothers and I were butting heads as usual. My sister was enjoying everything while shit hit the fan from a safe distance. I’m not going to go into much details.” He’s arms were waving animatedly as he spoke. It was quite endearing. NO. Bad thoughts, Marinette. “The point of all this is that I pissed my younger brother off somehow. I don’t know, maybe I breathed too hard on his cat or something.” That got a laugh out of the students except Marinette. Six months. He said his brother had sabotaged him around six months ago. That gut feeling had turned her stomach into a pit, eating away at her nerves.

“My brother had hacked into my email and sent absolutely horrible replies to everyone that was marked as important in my contacts in a poor attempt at pretending to be me. Of course, most of those contacts work at Wayne Enterprises. It took a courtesy email explaining the mishap and a personal visit with an apology gift to clear the air. Now for the contacts who don’t work at Wayne E, that’s where it gets tricky.”

Marinette was holding her breath, wishing for this day to already be over and for the ground to open and swallow her whole. She both hoped she was and wasn’t wrong. On the one hand, it meant that he was truly that harsh in replying to her and she wasn’t among the contacts his brother emailed, justifying her slowly dwindling fury. On the other more plausible hand, it meant that he wasn’t responsible for the crude email. It still didn’t explain the interview he did but…but she never did watch the entire thing. She had started watching the interview already expecting him to tear her down. He never referenced her suit by any specifics before she had changed the channel. That probably meant that she had poorly misjudged him. But she would have been contacted in some way if she was among those people and she hadn’t. So he was still an ass to her. Right? 

“For those who I couldn’t visit in person,” Oh god, he was still speaking. “I sent them more personal emails compared to what I sent the employees. That was really the most I could do and I hoped for the best. I got a reply from most; they were rather understanding, actually, some even claiming that their own siblings would do something like that. It went over pretty well.” He suddenly had this forlorn look as he rubbed his hands absentmindedly against the suit. 

“While I was lucky that most of my contacts were understanding, one important thing to be prepared for is people who won’t be that forgiving. Do you see this suit I’m wearing? I love this suit. I will absolutely get buried in this suit. I had commissioned and received it just before the email fiasco and I, regrettably, never got a response when I tried to both thank and apologize to them. My brother had used my email to accuse them of being a gold-digger of all things. I would have loved to commission them again but it looks like my brother burned that bridge permanently.”

What? No. That’s not true and Marinette felt hot rage flare up in her. Was he really lying to try and save face right now? She felt the strong urge to interrupt him. To march down those steps and let him know exactly how she felt about him lying about emailing her to apologize. But, a treacherous hopeful part of herself whispered to her, she had to be sure. She had to have irrefutable proof that she wasn’t one of the victims to his rabid brother and he was just an ass. 

She couldn’t get to her phone fast enough. She searched for all the emails the two had exchanged, finding the most recent to be his harsh email. She had another niggling feeling, however, and decided to check her spam mail. 

Marinette has most definitely stopped breathing. 

Right there, in bold letters sat a Wayne Enterprises email waiting to be opened and read. She couldn’t bring herself to click it open, ice flooding her veins, freezing her in her seat. She actually misread the situation. She wanted to scream. She wanted to cry. She wanted to bash her head on the table and grovel for forgiveness from this very handsome man. She didn’t do any of this, however, managing some degree of composure and sat through the remainder of his presentation. She would bet her left leg it was the best presentation she would have ever heard but she couldn’t recall a single word of it from that point on; too busy digging her own grave and writing her own eulogy. She could never show her face around Gotham again. Her life was ruined.

The sounds of people packing up had her crawling herself out of her own head. She mechanically packed her things up, gazing pathetically at her blank notebook. She made her way down the steps, eyeing the gaggle of students surrounding Marinette’s biggest missed opportunity to date. She was just about to walk straight out the door, resigning herself to her fate when she made a hasty decision. She turned to the dwindling crowd and marched like a woman on a mission. She wormed her away to stand directly in Tim’s line of sight and she braced herself for possibly her dumbest idea yet. She listened to the conversation going on and as soon as it appeared she was not going to interrupt anyone, she shot her hand out and grabbed him by his suit. The act caught everyone’s attention but before she could chicken out, she turned to leave and pulled the businessman along with her, leaving stunned silence behind. 

They didn’t get far out the door when he yanked her arm off him, stopping them in their tracks. He looked angry, confused but also very put out at her. Fair. 

“Why’d you do that?” 

“I— I don’t know.” His glare was intense. Marinette felt her face flush and her knees weaken. She wanted to make things right but it seemed she was only making things worse. She took a breath. Focus, she reminded herself. She just needed to address one problem at a time. “I mean, I do know why but I wasn’t supposed to do it like that. I just needed your attention.”

“Well now you have it. So what do you want?”

“I wanted to apologize. Not about dragging you out here. Yet. But for accidentally ignoring your apology email.” One of his eyebrows rose incredulously as she kept talking, but she ignored it and powered on. “It was, for some reason, in my spam mail and I didn’t see it. But if it’s any consolation, I would love it if you commissioned me for another suit. Or anything else really.” 

“Pardon?” He didn’t believe her, or was at least confused by her, that much she could tell.

“You suit. I made it. Here, look.” She turned her phone screen, showing him their conversations in her emails. At his slightly more relaxed posture she continued speaking. “I’m glad you like the suit.”

“Huh.”

“Also I’m sorry for dragging you out here.” She had curled her shoulders into her ears, still holding her phone out like an idiot. His chuckle in response eased her nerves only slightly. He had a cute laugh. And he was cute too. Bad thoughts! Stop getting distracted!

“Okay, I’ll accept your apology if you accept mine.” The carefree smile he threw at her was disarming. “And I would love to talk more about working with you, Ms. Cheng.”

“Marinette, please, Mr. Wayne.” She could breathe easier now, no longer on the verge of catastrophizing. “If you want to get started as early as possible, I’m free for an early lunch right now.”

“Only if you call me Tim. And lunch sounds great actually. I know a great bistro off campus if you will let me escort you.” He really needed to stop smiling at her like that. Her heart couldn’t take it.

“Sounds wonderful. Lead the way.” He turned and offered her his arm. She was slow to move, still faintly caught in the emotional whiplash of the morning. Her gentle grip on his bicep was enough for her to feel the muscle definition under the suit. It pleasantly surprised her but not nearly as much as his next words.

“Perfect. It’s a date.”

What?

[firewvlker]

BASIC INFO

NAME: jason peter todd

NICKNAMES: jay, jaybird

ALIASES: red hood, robin, wingman, outlaw, nightwing, red robin, batman, arkham knight

AGE: 30

BIRTHDAY: august 16th

GENDER: cismale

SEXUAL ORIENTATION: heterosexual

ROMANTIC ORIENTATION: heteroromantic

PRONOUNS: he/him

RELIGION: agnostic

SPECIES: mild metahuman

MARITAL STATUS: in a relationship with love quinn

LANGUAGE(S) SPOKEN: english, portuguese, french, german, chinese, italian, russian

ACCENT: american

FAMILY TIES

MOTHER: catherine todd

FATHER: willis todd, bruce wayne (adoptive)

SIBLINGS: damian wayne (adoptive), dick grayson (adoptive), tim drake (adoptive), cassandra cain (adoptive)

CHILDREN: tba w/ love quinn

FINANCIAL STATUS: upper class

PHYSICAL ATTRIBUTES

FACE CLAIM: matthew daddario

RACE / ETHNICITY: white / italian, irish, english

NATIONALITY: american

HEIGHT: 6′ 4″

WEIGHT: 225 lbs.

BUILD: athletic

HAIR COLOR: black with a white streak

EYE COLOR: blue with a tint of lazarus green (from the pit)

DOMINANT HAND: ambidextrous

TATTOOS: tba

PIERCINGS: n/a

DISTINGUISHING CHARACTERISTICS: height, numerous scars (including an autopsy one), a “j” on his left cheek

LIFESTYLE

RESIDES: gotham city

BORN: gotham city

RAISED: gotham city

VEHICLE: red batcycle, black & red 2022 dodge challenger

PHONE: red iphone 13

LAPTOP/COMPUTER: acer nitro 5

PETS: german shepherd named gunnar

OCCUPATION: vigilante, businessman, amateur chef

LIVING ARRANGEMENTS: huge luxury penthouse apartment he shares with love

FAVORITES

LOCATION: anywhere that isn’t gotham

SPORT: hockey

SHOW: n/a

MOVIES: action

BAND: queen

ARTIST: johnny cash

FOOD: chili dogs

BEVERAGE: whiskey

COLOR: red

HEALTH

PHYSICAL AILMENTS: n/a

NEUROLOGICAL CONDITIONS: suicidal depression, bipolar disorder, borderline personality disorder, ptsd

ALLERGIES: n/a

SLEEPING HABITS: awful, he has a very hard time sleeping and only gets a minimum amount

EATING HABITS: also awful, he’s hungry like 24/7

EXERCISE HABITS: he runs or hits the gym daily also has an insatiable gf so he gets plenty

EMOTIONAL STABILITY: 6ish

SOCIABILITY: introvert

BODY TEMPERATURE: cold-natured he died my dudes

ADDICTIONS: smoking but not really

DRUG USE: n/a

ALCOHOL USE: socially

PERSONALITY

LABEL: batman’s greatest failure

POSITIVE TRAITS: loyal, determined, clever, protective, strong-willed, pragmatic, witty, empathetic 

NEGATIVE TRAITS: emotional/unstable, cynical, sarcastic, insecure, temperamental, ruthless, possessive, arrogant

FEARS: the joker, death, letting bruce down, not being good enough, being forgotten, being a bad dad, never living up to dick, nothing.

HOBBIES: guns, reading, acting, fighting, paintball, smoking, cars/bikes, messing with his brothers (damian esp)

HABITS/QUIRKS: speaks with his hands, very neat – keeps everything clean, tba

LIKES: guns, his girlfriend, neapolitan ice cream, redheads, cars, motorcycles, music

DISLIKES: clowns, crowbars, criminals, being told what to do

EXTRA

ZODIAC SIGN: leo

MBTI: istp

ENNEAGRAM: 8w7 – the nonconformist

TEMPERAMENT: melancholic-choleric

HOGWARTS HOUSE: gryffindor 

MORAL ALIGNMENT: chaotic neutral

PRIMARY VICE: wrath/anger

PRIMARY VIRTUE: justice

ELEMENT: fire

[fridayfirefly]

Virtual Sleepover

Read Virtual Sleepover on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 4 - Internet Friends

Quarantine had been rough at Wayne Manor, but for Tim Drake, Marinette Dupain-Cheng was a bright light through it all. Tim was getting ahead of himself, though. The story of Marinette Dupain-Cheng started on March 20th, 2020. Panic over coronavirus was sweeping the nation. Bruce had gathered all of the members of the Wayne family into the dining room to explain the new rules of the house. No one was to go in or out. Groceries would be delivered to the house. There would be no superhero outings for at least two weeks. Tim didn't think his family would be able to survive, trapped in a house together.

So to preserve his sanity, Tim turned to the internet. There were hundreds of cold cases that he had put on the backburner and hundreds of forums and websites dedicated to solving cold cases. Tim turned to the most popular website and started dumping information, hoping for someone to show up and work through it with him. That's how Tim met Marinette. @MarinetteDC showed up on his page with a friend request, a wide range of technical knowledge about textiles and designs, and about seven different theories on a murder case Tim considered all but unsolvable. Her sleep schedule was just as chaotic as Tim's and she also drank a near-inhuman amount of coffee. Marinette Dupain-Cheng enthralled Tim. And when the chaos of his house threatened to make Tim lose his mind, Marinette became his lifeline.

"Can you hear me?"

Tim nodded. "Yep!"

"Nice!" cheered Marinette. Tim relished the opportunity to see her face, even if it was through a zoom call. "So what do we want to do first? I don't have class until Monday, so we have the whole weekend ahead of us."

"I think we should start with the iconic sleepover classic: truth or dare," suggested Tim.

"Alright. Truth or dare, Tim?"

"Dare." Tim was confident in his abilities to pull off any stunt she might come up with. However, his confidence started to fade as he watched a devious look grow on her face.

"I dare you to bake a batch of cookies - any kind of cookies you want - without using a recipe."

Tim blinked, trying to recall the last time he had baked. Besides a few times helping Alfred out in the kitchen, Tim wasn't certain that he had ever used the Wayne Manor kitchen for anything other than brewing coffee and heating frozen pizzas. "Could I have a new dare?"

Marinette shook her head, the grin on her face demonstrating exactly how much fun she was having, watching the panic in Tim's eyes. "I'll give you one hint on how to make them, but only one, so use it wisely."

Tim groaned, unplugging his laptop from its charger so he could move it to the kitchen. "I'm not actually certain I know all of the ingredients in cookies. Or how long you bake them for. I feel like an hour is probably too long, but I feel like half an hour might not be enough time."

On the other side of the screen, Marinette tried to stifle her giggles but was unable to keep them all in. "No offense Tim, but this is going to be a disaster. I can't wait."

Tim let out another groan. "Must you torture me?"

"How about you keep the laptop camera pointed towards the oven, that way I can tell you once something starts to burn?" Marinette joked.

Tim knew that she was teasing, but honestly, he knew he could use all the help he could get. Still, he wanted to preserve at least a little of his dignity. "Very funny," Tim said sarcastically, setting the laptop down on the kitchen counter.

"Start with ingredients," Marinette advised.

"What all goes into a chocolate chip cookie..?" mused Tim. He got out the flour, white and brown sugar, eggs, butter, vanilla extract, and three different types of chocolate chips that Alfred kept stocked.

Marinette raised an eyebrow. "Is that all?"

Tim cast a wary gaze upon his ingredients. It didn't seem like enough, but at the same time he couldn't figure out what he was missing. Tim sighed. "I'm ready to use my hint. Tell me what I forgot."

"You forgot to get out the salt, and more importantly, the baking soda," advised Marinette.

"Can I have a second hint?" asked Tim as he gathered his two missing ingredients.

"That depends on what you're asking," teased Marinette.

"I'm going to start listing measurements, and you tell me if it's too much or not enough."

Marinette pretended to think it over before replying, "I'll do it, but only because I want the cookies to come out edible, not because we're friends or anything like that. There are no friends in the Dupain-Cheng kitchen," said Marinette, her voice filled with faux seriousness.

"Lucky for me, these cookies are being made in the Wayne kitchen, and we're all very nice here, and we don't let Tim burn his cookies."

Marinette giggled. "You have a point there," she acquiesced. "Start listing your measurements."

Tim grabbed the measuring cup and starting approximating. "Two cups flour?"

"That will make about five dozen cookies."

"One cup of each type of sugar?"

Marinette shook her head. "You'll want a 3/4 cup of each."

The rest of the measuring process proceeded smoothly, with Tim guessing measurements of fluctuating accuracy (he correctly guessed that he would need two eggs, but his guess of a half-cup of baking soda led to Marinette questioning whether he had ever been in a kitchen before).  Once Tim got the cookie dough mixed, spooned out onto a tray, and put in the oven, they resumed their game of truth-or-dare.

"Your turn, Marinette. Truth or dare?"

"Truth."

Tim tried to think of a good question to ask. "Since you've now seen how abysmal I am in the kitchen, I want to know one thing that you're terrible at."

Marinette scrunched up her brow. "It's nowhere near as bad as you're inability to crack an egg-"

Tim winced a little, remembering the painstaking process of digging out fragments of eggshell after he completely shattered it in his attempts to crack it.

"-But I have really bad depth perception. I trip over every little crack in the sidewalk. I'm probably the clumsiest person you'll ever meet."

Tim chuckled. "And here I thought you were perfect."

Marinette grinned. "Almost perfect. Truth or dare?"

"I'll pick truth this time, and hopefully avoid being humiliated again."

"I'll go easy on you this round. When was the last time you lied, and what was it about?"

Tim combed back through his memory of the past week, trying to pick out the last time he lied. "I think it was yesterday morning. Dick asked me if the coffee I was drinking was my first coffee of the day. I said yes, but really I hadn't slept that night so I just decided to arbitrarily count my start of the day at the time I would have woken up had I actually gone to sleep."

"So how many coffee's had you had yesterday?"

Tim shrugged. "Since midnight? Probably three or four. I've gotten away with a lot more coffee since I modified the Keurig in my room to stop making so much noise."

"I'm lucky," said Marinette. "My parents sleep so far away from me that they can't hear my Keurig."

"Truth or dare?" asked Tim, continuing the game.

"Truth."

"What's the most embarrassing thing you've ever done because you had a crush on someone?"

Marinette flushed red, and Tim immediately knew that this was going to be a good story. "Once I accidentally sent a text to my crush so I stolehisphoneanddeletedthetext." Marinette rushed the last few words, so fast that Tim couldn't quite make them out.

"What was that?"

"I stole his phone and deleted the text before he could read it. In my defense, I made a lot of questionable decisions at that age."

Tim burst out laughing. "How old were you?"

"I was thirteen," admitted Marinette.

Tim couldn't stop laughing at the absurdity of her claims. "You couldn't have asked him to borrow his phone and deleted it then?"

"I was in panic mode. It was between steal his phone or destroy his phone."

"Those were your two options?!" exclaimed Tim.

Marinette blushed even more furiously. "It's your turn. Don't expect me to go easy on you this round. Truth or dare?"

Tim kept up the trend. "Truth."

"What was the worst thing you did at thirteen?"

Tim thought back to his days as Robin, and the many, many stories he could tell. In the end, he settled on one that Jason still brought up when he needed leverage over Tim. "It's not as bad as phone thievery, but it's still a pretty funny story, looking back on it. You know how I have two older brothers, right?"

"Dick and Jason," Marinette confirmed.

"Well, one night I managed to convince Dick to let me drive Bruce's favorite car. Now, keep in mind, I had never actually driven a car before. Surprisingly, I wasn't that bad at driving. I made it home without incident - that is, until I tried to park the car back in the garage and accidentally crashed into Jason's motorcycle. For years after that, Jason used the threat of telling Bruce about my little car crash to keep me in line."

Marinette snorted. "You think that borrowing a phone to delete a text message is worse than borrowing and crashing a car?"

Tim shrugged. "It's a matter of opinion. Truth or dare?"

With a roll of her eyes, Marinette said, "Truth."

"What's one thing you would never tell me?" It was the sort of question that could only be asked during a game of truth or dare. In Tim's opinion, it was this sort of question that made the game worth playing.

Marinette pouted. "I don't like that question."

"Too bad. The rules of truth or dare state that you have to answer it."

"Fine." Marinette looked up at the ceiling, deep in thought. Just as she turned back to face her laptop, her face lit up. It was evident that she had an answer. "Usually I let people learn from their mistakes in the kitchen. However, I will now tell you - because I have to - that your cookies have been in the oven for too long. They're going to start burning if you don't take them out soon."

Tim jumped up to get his cookies out of the oven. They looked a little burnt, brown rather than the golden-brown that Alfred would make, but they still looked edible. "I'll accept your answer, but only because you saved my cookies."

"Now that your cookies are done, do you want to finish up our game of truth or dare?"

"One last question," decided Tim. "And I'll pick truth, to make it easy for you."

"What's the biggest secret that you've currently keeping from your family?"

After Tim's last question, he had expected Marinette to follow it up with an invasive question. Luckily, her question had a very simple answer.

"Easy question - my friendship with you."

Marinette looked confused. "What do you mean?"

"Most of my friendships begin through the connections they have to my family. Because of that, I've never really had serious friendships that my family wasn't actively involved in."

"It's not because you're ashamed of me, right?" Marinette sounded unsure of herself. Insecurity was a side of her that Tim had never seen before.

"Of course not," Tim assured her. "You're the best friend I could have ever asked for, Marinette."

"Good, because you're not getting rid of me that easy. I still have a lot to teach you about baking. I think we might try cupcakes at our next sleepover."

Tim laughed. "We'll see about that." He had no doubts that there would be sleepovers to come, and shenanigans involving baked goods to go along with them.

@maribatmarch-2k21