#Although on the one hand I would love for Cass or Steph to be the student

[lar-mx]

writing prompt #7

A new enemy has appeared, nothing they try works. No magic swords, no sacred weapons, no cursed weapons, divine objects. The only way to defeat this new enemy is to challenge him to a duel and whoever challenges him has to use a weapon made "by hand" by the challenger and made of a very specific material. The problem does not "exist"; no one alive knows how to work with said material "manually", only a few with technology. Well, John knows someone not so alive but he only accepts a disciple every so often which is bad, although that moment is in a week which is good. The question is…who would be qualified to be his student?

#dp x dc #dc x dp #dpxdc #dc x dp crossover #By the way #the blacksmith is Danny and he has super wild hair with a physique very similar to Dan. #Although on the one hand I would love for Cass or Steph to be the student #because a teacher student romance would be fun #but it would also be interesting if it was wonder woman or zatana #on one side of the equation but on the other side having dick or jason has a good hit #It would also be interesting if it were flash or martian manhunter #mala escritura #When someone questions why the chosen person was selected #he only responds “things are as they should be” and does not say anything else. #Metal also works best if it is worked by hand and is infused with the desires and emotions of its creator.

[brucewaynehater101]

I want Duke included in batfam family fics. being the older sibling Damian needs, relatable yet guiding. Tim being ‘Dukes robin’ and having lots of respect for Tim yet he’d also steal his slice of pie. Duke and Jason hanging out, and Jason appreciating how he never tries to lecture him. Duke and dick matching vibes (or as much as they can) when on patrol and somewhat in the family, and both trying to make their brothers calm tf down. Bruce trying desperately to not fuck up with Duke like he did his other sons, only serving to confuse and slightly alarm Duke. Alfred and duke being the only ones with more then *1* braincell.

he also has so much potential for angst of being a meta in a family everyone thinks hates metas, and people somehow forget him???

(I have more just don’t have the energy to write it all down)

Heck yes! I agree that Duke needs to be included in more batfam fics (and especially as a more pivotal role). I personally try to add him a bit, but I fear I do not include him enough as a key member of the batfam.

Duke is hella important and should be treated as such. I'd love to see more fics with him pissing off GCPD for fun. Just chaos and pranks against GCPD, rogues, Batman, and the Batkids. Also, he should he allowed to punch (or kick) as many JL members as he pleases (Hal was just the first).

Duke and Dick having similar fashion ideas is a cute idea I've seen in the fandom. I would also just love to see more fanart of Duke rocking some fun outfits for galas (especially if the galas follow the AU of Gotham being super weird with their social norms). Duke being featured on magazine covers, being asked to model, and being interviewed would be cool fanwork ideas to play around with. I've seen so many of the other batboys and none with Duke as a magazine cover.

Here's my ideas on how Duke could interact with different batfam members. Feel free to reblog if you have ideas yourself or think the dynamic should be different.

I feel like Duke and Cass would get along really well as chaos gremlins who get away with their shenanigans. Messing with Commissioner Gordon is a favorite pass time of theirs. For some reason, even when presented with evidence, Bruce doesn't believe that Duke and Cass would do the things they get away with. It's both impressive and annoying to the other batkids.

Duke could have a weird relationship with Tim. On one hand, Tim is Duke's Robin. The cases he's solved, feats he's accomplished, and respect Gotham has for Tim's Robin in general (for being Batman's therapy kid) are unfathomable. On the other hand, he's seen Tim walk into the same wall four times within three minutes. They both share a love for riddles, but Tim can be an idiot at interpersonal relationships.

For Damian, Duke has seen how the world picks up kids and spits them out. He's seen kids lashing out, how they merely want to defend themselves, and how fantastic they are once you get to know them. He's been angry and spiteful at the world too. For Damian, Duke's hella impressed at the kid's heart despite all the shit he's been dealt. Duke would encourage chaos, talk with the kid about how different emotions have impacted Duke's actions and life, and is an overall supportive figure. They can often be seen doing both wild stunts and "common for their age group" activities for fun (although the game Sorry is banned because of them).

Jason and Duke would probably have a complicated relationship due to Red Hood's actions. Their similar childhoods (as far as economically and location based) would lead to jokes and shared customs that they chat with Steph about (such as Creepy Toe Joe or that specific gas station or the phrase they say as they passed that one pothole). Despite that, they have different viewpoints on Bruce and murder.

Duke is probably one of the more emotionally intelligent and communicative batfam members. If Alfred is the sassy version, Duke would get a good laugh out of those remarks and the astute observations.

Bruce and Duke angst could go hard. Bruce is trying so hard not to make his past mistakes. Duke and his perception of Bruce (he holds Bruce in high regard) and how that affects their relationship.

As far as Duke being in a "perceived to hate metas" family, that could either be hilarious or angst. I imagine people trying to intervene or "save" Duke from the Bats would be infuriating and sad to see.

Duke could also laugh at the batkids' superhero friends and how they, even as adults, are banned from entering Gotham. Duke is free to live in the manor and come and go as he pleases. Any of the batkid's meta friends have to be snuck into Gotham.

#dc comics #dc universe #duke thomas #thank you for the ask!!!!

[spite-and-waffles]

Someone explain to me why Jason feels more Bruce's son than any of the others. Especially considering Jason would have lived and thrived with any parent except Bruce.

Maybe because Bruce is only a father figure to Dick and Tim‚ who loved and preferred their own fathers. Damian's Dad is Dick (I will not be taking questions). Cass wanted Bruce to be her father so bad but he just wouldn't. Even the belated adoption was mere formality. But Jason? He probably did love Willis but he adored Bruce, and Bruce adored him back. I don't think he loved him more than Dick, who will always be his favourite because he was his first partner and child, and because of all the ways he isn't like Bruce. But Bruce and Jason were always father and son without any of the complexity between Bruce and the others.

And Jason is so like Bruce. Everyone says Tim is most like him because of the way their brains work, but it's Dick who actually has been moulded into Batman-lite. Damian is his mother's child; always craving connection and acceptance to anchor him within his inner tempest. He'd die in the kind of darkness Bruce enshrouds himself in. Cassandra has Bruce's drive and focus and inability to conceive of herself as person outside of the mission (although lbr they're all like that. Sigh) But her open compassion, unguarded empathy and playfulness characterizes her more than even Dick.

Jason, otoh, is a thing that will grab a sword by the blade and cut himself to the bone forcing it back. His light and darkness are one and the same. He's the one who can match Bruce's fear and fury and hubris that tries to bend the world into the shape of his choosing with his bare hands.

Idk why I hate Bruce and love Jason. They're both equally myopic and hypocritical and selfish‚ as unable to see past their own trauma, as lacking in self-awareness. Maybe because Jason's just a boy who needs someone on his side while Bruce has too many on his. Maybe because he was born and raised among the people he wants to protect, unlike Bruce, and has so much more excuse for being the way he is. Maybe because he never takes himself so seriously, and uses his sense of humour just like Dick and Steph do, just in an entertainingly assholish fashion.

But if any child could have been biologically Bruce's it would be Jason. Which probably lies at the heart of their eternal conflict. Neither of them will give, neither will blink first. Two men made to forever burn alive.

#bruce and jason #bat meta #jason todd meta #bruce wayne meta #relationship study #jason todd #spite waffle #anti bruce wayne

[dairy-farmer]

I am someone who absolutely believes in the shortest family member Tim Drake

Even Cass and Steph are taller than Tim, at least close to 5 centimeters in length

And the girls often use this advantage by putting their chin or their heads between Tim's hair

Of course, since the height difference between them is not so much, they need to stand slightly on tiptoe while doing this, but this is not something that stops either of them

Tim's hair always smells with a different aroma. Since he doesn't go to the grocery store to buy shampoo for himself, he usually uses anyone's belongings that are in the bathroom at that moment. And since everyone likes Tim to smell like them, if they're acting by watching his bathroom hours, it's not a very important information

Bruce uses his tall stature advantage mostly to stroke Tim's slightly wavy hair when he comes out of the bathroom. He chooses the shortest but still effective way because of his structure, which still cannot decide what he should do about physical contact

Of course, there are also cases when he holds the boy when he is very tired, but this is more related to the fact that Tim is a very thin person

He has strong muscles under his weak-looking body, but it's never noticeable in the moments when he's standing next to Bruce

Dick is very fond of burying Tim in his chest. It gives a separate happiness to watch the stress in his body gradually disappear as a result of the boy hearing his own heartbeat

When Tim absolutely refuses to get up from the computer and blackness forms under his bloodshot eyes from insomnia, Dick takes the little body in his arms, puts Tim's head on the point of his neck and begins to sing a lullaby. Just like when a mother puts her baby to sleep on her bosom, Tim begins to sleep soundly after a certain period of time

Of course, it should not be forgotten that if Dick tries to leave Tim on his bed, the boy will wake up, so Dick sits in the rocking chair that used to be left in the house, and in that position they both share each other's body temperature until morning, having a peaceful sleep

Jason especially likes to move by throwing Tim on his shoulder. Tim has normal feet for his height, so trying to run away from someone means equivalent to Jason staying too far ahead, so if you see an angry Tim swinging on Jason's shoulder, you need to stop them

Jason also likes to shake Tim from side to side by grabbing him by the armpits

Although he knows that Tim can get into a scratching cat mode when he's angry, the momentary look of surprise on his face is worth the nail marks that will form on his arms later

And although he will definitely be much taller than Tim, Damian has no right to make such moves

Because if he did it Tim's pride can't take that...

Since their relationship has improved over the years, it's not a strange image that Tim is touching Damian

So if Damian made a move that made Tim proud, Tim would go up to the nearest chair and stroke the hair of his younger brother, who was much taller than him

Or if he suddenly becomes full of love for him for no reason he pinches his cheeks

Or jumps off from the chair onto Damian's shoulders when he wants to pick up an item that has been left too high, or when he gets angry, he gets on the nearest climbing material again, hitting the book he picked up very lightly on Damian's head

Although it was a very funny sight for the others, Damian got so used to this situation after a while that he started lowering his body to certain levels depending on Tim's body movements

If he was sulking by looking up at a point, he was preparing himself to hold Tim's ankles or bringing his head below Tim's hand level at the moment of frowning for a hit that never hurt

Or if the fingers of both hands were swinging quickly, he was waiting for his cheeks to be pinched, and when one hand was raised in the air, he brought his head to full hand level

And although everyone loves the fact that being taller and older than Tim gives them the opportunity to embrace his small body, it is inevitable that they will be jealous of the gestures that only belong to Damian

And Damian doesn't hesitate to slap it in their faces whenever he wants to annoy the other family members

Big little brother advantages you know...

🥺🥺🥺🥺🥺tim being the smallest of all the bats and picked up like a little kitty, moved around and adjust, kissed, and rocked to sleep. he's treated so tender and lovingly by his family and then damian!!!! their relationship coming so far that tim shows damian loving affection and kisses his little brother whose grown so much bigger and so tim needs to use step stoos in order to kiss his forehead and pat his head 🥺🥺🥺 and the the imagery of time hopping on damian's back!!!!! this is just so sweet and cute!!! all of them doting on their smallest member including damian who is the youngest but of course he keeps an eye out for his little big brother!!! 🥺🥺🥺

#answered asks #asks #anonymous

[britcision]

Happy WIP Wednesday everyone! And no, no I’m not giving you Constantine early, because I think it’s funny to make you all wait 😈

How about a little Danny instead to get y’all ready for chapter 12 (which is just over half done, so we’re moving along swimmingly!)?

————————

Never Make A Promise You Can’t Keep

Harley had gotten back just before Sam had to leave, with perfect timing to see her to the door actually.

The look on Pamela Manson’s face when Harley kissed Sam on each cheek and waved her off would keep Danny warm on cold nights.

A quick check of flight times back to Massachusetts (like Danny wasn’t going to take shortcuts) confirmed that Tucker could have one more night in Gotham.

Tim immediately offered to put him up in Wayne Manor again, clearly not allowing the chance to slip by him two nights in a row. Tucker was only too happy to accept, although Steph and Cass begged off.

Probably for their hero patrols. Danny wasn’t exactly sure how many vigilantes Gotham had, there seemed to be a new one every few months, but having six of them at the gala last night probably meant all the rest had been out.

Obviously Red Robin wouldn’t be out tonight either, but there were enough of them to cover for each other.

Danny was kinda jealous of that. It had been just him for so long, and then him and Valerie, which hadn’t been better until she stopped hunting him too. He’d have loved a night off.

Still, their numbers meant that Jason probably wouldn’t need to go back to the night life unless he actually wanted to. He was definitely still built for it, but Danny couldn’t imagine anyone wanted to ask him to.

Most of the bats had clearly had their own run ins with death, but Jason’s had stuck in ways even Danny knew he didn’t quite get.

Jason had been so tense at just the thought of Danny being a teen hero. It wasn’t like that’d get easier when it was his little siblings swinging from rooftops.

Danny’s hero career might have started with his own death, but he personally was of the opinion that that’d be a perfectly fine reason to end one too.

So Dick, Steph, and Cass headed out not too long after Sam, and Danny wasn’t exactly surprised when Jason’s background angst jumped.

He’d stayed on edge since Danny and Bruce got back, even when Harley told them Bruce was off dealing with his own shit and probably wouldn’t be out of his room all night.

Danny’d bet fifty bucks that the arrival of Constantine actually meant Bruce was in the Bat Cave being suspicious, but he wasn’t gonna say it.

Tim had shown them to a games room, for all that he’d apparently also moved out. He still knew where everything was, and soon had them hooked up for Mariokart on the biggest TV Danny ever saw.

They’d played a couple rounds (Harley was expectedly devastating with red shells) and while Danny and Tucker were having fun, he could feel Jason stressing.

Like, even if he stuck his fingers in his ears and ignored the aura. The guy was tensed so tight his shoulders strained at his shirt, which woulda been visually interesting if Danny didn’t know why.

Cass was one near death experience from slipping back across the boundary for good.

Cass was off punching criminals with rocket launchers in body armour and spandex.

Duke was probably actually in bed, Signal did morning patrols, and Damian was obstinately refusing to play video games with them perched on the back of the couch, but still.

Dick and Steph had both given one life to the cause too, and for all Dick was a cop and in danger on his day job too, cops pretty famously showed up after the vigilantes ended the party.

More than half Jason’s immediate family were back in the line of fire and Danny could practically taste Jason’s Obsession eating away at him.

As much as he tried to pretend he was playing along and gave a shit about winning, the controller creaked in his hands more than a couple casual races should allow.

So, yeah, if he couldn’t get Jason to crack a smile with this one, he was gonna gently bow them both the fuck outta the manor.

He kept half an eye on Tim, who had a glass of water.

“Hey, you guys heard the theory about Batman?” He asked casually, just as another round of Mariokart started.

Jason kicked him in the ankle but otherwise ignored him, which was fair. He’d been exposed to Danny’s bullshit.

Tim stiffened and then forced himself to relax, Tucker rolled his eyes and jostled Danny from his other side, but it was Harley who answered.

Innocent as the day she was born.

“Oh? What? Is it that he’s a lizardman? Cuz I got right up on that cowl and he’s definitely a mammal,” she said casually, not even looking away from the screen.

Danny was pretty sure he heard Damian almost slip off his perch.

He was a little bit in love with Harley Quinn. He should get her number for Jazz, maybe his big sister would learn to have a little fun.

Grinning broad and only half fake, he drifted a turn to pick up a double item from under Tucker’s nose.

“Shit, yeah, you might actually know! It’s his secret identity!” He exclaimed cheerfully, and felt the tension in the room ratchet up.

From Tim and Damian. Jason… still wasn’t paying attention.

Not like he was deeply immersed in the game, for all he kept up he was nowhere near the speed demon that handed Danny his ass the night before.

Hmm. Better get his attention.

Tim and Damian had already settled again, probably remembering he was already In The Know even if Tucker wasn’t, and Harley had given him a very knowing look right before she fire flowered him.

Almost ready.

He waited until Tim had taken a hasty sip of water on a calm stretch, nudged Jason in the shins, and made sure he was louder than the music.

“So d’you think it’s possible that Markiplier’s Batman?”

Tim sprayed water across the couch, Harley fucking cackled, and Jason snapped his head around to stare at Danny so hard he cricked his neck.

Danny red shelled him for good measure, just so he wasn’t missing anything on screen.

Tucker rolled his eyes, also deeply deeply used to Danny’s bullshit and much more interested in gaming revenge.

“Fuck off Danny, Markiplier isn’t even a Gothamite,” he said disdainfully and Danny shook his head, grinning.

“That’s why it’s the perfect cover. I mean, Batman wants to keep his secret identity a secret, right? So having an identity that very publicly “isn’t in Gotham” makes perfect sense!” He argued cheerfully.

Jason half snorted a laugh beside him, picking back up and speeding his way back into the race. Across the couch Tim wiped his face, still catching his breath.

“I fucking hate that that made sense,” he moaned, and Harley cackled again.

“Nah, he’s got a point! How does anyone know where a youtuber lives? We only see one room!” She agreed cheerfully, clearly leaning in.

It was so nice to have a true showwoman in the crowd.

Damian looked angry in the confused way now, and Danny would hazard a guess he didn’t watch youtube at all, let alone a lets player. That might have made it funnier, had there been no other concerns.

Beside him Jason huffed out another dry chuckle, shaking his head with the barest hint of a smile.

“I can’t believe Batman has an OnlyFans,” he said in a solemn, almost sorrowful voice… and dropped a blue shell.

Tim groaned like his soul had gone with it, clinging desperately to his first place lead. Harley cackled and added her own green shells to the mix, dropping all three as they came to the home stretch.

“Don’t forget the calendar of tasteful nudes! All for charity, just what Batsy would like,” she crowed with evident glee, and Tucker snorted a laugh.

“It’d explain all the surgeries,” he agreed reluctantly, and Danny had a sudden, utterly wicked idea.

“Hey… now that Batman’s on OnlyFans, d’you think he’ll convince the whole Justice League to do a pinup calendar, or just the other bats?” He asked innocently, watching said bats from the corner of his eye.

Well, Robins technically, but since only Tim was of age birds didn’t seem appropriate.

Tim himself threw his controller to the ground, abandoning the game and throwing himself over the back of the couch and almost hitting Damian on the way.

Damian definitely hissed at him like a startled cat.

No way Danny imagined that this close to the finish.

Tucker hesitated for a long moment, clearly considering his odds of winning, but when Harley blasted past Tim’s spun out corpse and across the finish line he abandoned his controller too to check on Tim.

Harley was surprisingly good at the game when flopped sideways on her chosen couch, laughing too hard to breathe. Danny breezed into an easy third behind her and Jason, giving the other man an assessing look.

A little wary of reaching out with his aura, especially when Jason was on edge. He didn’t want to make him uncomfortable.

Didn’t want to be too invasive, if he was honest. Danny had… kinda always been the one who was new to aura stuff before. And he’d gotten used to it, in the Ghost Zone.

He’d never spent this much time with another halfa before. Especially not without a single trace of punching or stabbing.

Except in Mariokart, where the Geneva Convention held no sway.

He’d have to get Ellie to give it a shot the next time she came by, she could join them remotely from an internet cafe anywhere on Earth.

Jason had clearly noticed him looking though, and read the concern even without Danny pushing. He gave Danny’s shoulder a gentle bump, a nudge of fine-stop worrying alongside.

Danny nudged back, his own disbelief tinged with understanding-empathy-worried too.

But, that was kinda the other thing… the thing he didn’t really want to bring up around the other bats just yet.

And while Jason had smiled, Danny didn’t think he’d mind them dipping out.

Faking a yawn, he stretched, cracked his back, and looked over to where Tim had rejoined the couch.

“Honestly, I’m beat. I gotta try and get back into a better sleep schedule before classes start,” he said, pulling a face at the self-reminder.

Their break was coming to its end, and then he’d be back into university. His class schedule was flexible, more afternoons than early mornings, but he’d… miss this.

Free time to just spend the whole day hanging out with friends and catching up. Meeting Jason’s family, Jason meeting his.

Danny didn’t actually know what Jason did, whether he was working or going back to school, but it was gonna come up soon.

They had a trip to Frostbite to plan, some ecto shots from Danny’s fridge, and at some point he still had to introduce Jason to Frighty… and probably ask the guy if he wanted to be called that still.

It’d be a little weird to start calling him Halloween or whatever, but frankly him obeying Danny’s orders and calling him “my liege” was way fucking weirder so it’d be fine.

And about four more days before half of Danny’s time would be eaten by lectures, study halls, and projects. Fuck, maybe Jason would give him a hand with those too.

So long as he wasn’t sick of Danny by then.

Another quick glance showed that Jason’s face had reset into that tense almost-scowl again, staring past the TV.

At the other end of the couch, Tim gave a disgruntled huff.

“I’m gonna make you pay for that next time,” he grumbled, shifting to Tucker with an adorable moment of sudden concern. “Do you need me to show you to a room too, or…”

Tucker shook his head with a snicker, giving Danny a side eye.

“Nah, unlike that weakling I got used to the vigilante sleep schedule back in high school. I’m good for a couple more hours at least,” he bragged.

Danny flipped him off, hauling himself to his feet and giving Jason a nudge.

“Yeah, well, this weakling fought a croc last night and needs his sleep. Mind giving me a ride back?” He asked when Jason looked up at him.

Gently offered a touch of easy out-reassurance-trust me.

The deep furrows in Jason’s brows twitched until he caught on and his expression cleared. He nodded quickly and pulled himself to his feet.

“Yeah, we can take my bike.” Then he hesitated and looked a little uncertain. “You never told me where you live.”

It took Danny a moment to realise that… no, he really hadn’t, because that just plain didn’t feel right. But no, he’d met Jason again in that coffee shop, then come to the gala with Sam.

Hadn’t gone home last night, just stopped at one of Jason’s apparently multiple places; at least he was doing better than Danny had thought from the first apartment.

He found himself chuckling at the thought, shaking his head.

“Oh yeah, we’ve only been to your place… I’m at the south dorm at Gotham U, I can give you directions as we get closer,” he offered and Jason nodded.

He felt… weird? Like he was surprised Danny had told him where he lived, and ashamed of being surprised.

Danny decided not to dig into it, offering Jason his arm and bowing like all those Shakespeare plays he knew Jason loved.

“Shall we?”

Jason’s moment of surprise was quickly swallowed by delight and he bowed back, then tucked his hand into Danny’s elbow. Almost definitely knew etiquette better than Danny did, so Danny wasn’t gonna doubt him.

“We shall. I’ll drop you off and head home,” he agreed, then paused and glanced back at Harley.

Whose giggling had completely ended and was now watching them like her favourite sitcom. Chin in hands and all.

“Did you wanna meet up here tomorrow, or…” Jason trailed off, obviously also a little put off by her intensity.

She perked up when addressed, giving him a cheery grin and a double thumbs up.

“Here or th’ station, I don’t mind! Hey, did ya wanna come too, Danny boy?” She asked sweetly, head cocked to the side and just waaaay too innocent.

Not that Danny could work out what she was up to.

“Uh… to do what?” He asked carefully, head cocking to match hers before he noticed and straightened up.

Her grin widened, so she noticed.

“Oh, Jason an’ I are gonna go check on my buddy Waylon, see if we can’t work out what he was doin’ at the gala. If y’ouse threw down he might like ta see ya there?”

Which honestly left Danny at a loss, until Tim explained.

“Killer Croc. His actual name’s Waylon Jones, and he was Harley’s tenant in Coney Island before coming back to Gotham,” he said casually, and Danny stilled.

Felt something cold and all too familiar at the back of his neck. And felt Harley notice it, suddenly predator sharp in a way he hadn’t felt since Skulker was a serious threat.

For the life of him though, he couldn’t put his finger on what he felt, since she didn’t move. Just grinned like she had been all along.

“People called him Killer Croc cuz of his skin condition. He gave up tryin’ ta change their minds,” she said with a light shrug, completely belied by the intensity of her stare.

Danny couldn’t look away until she released him, something satisfied in the quirk of her lip. Like she could feel the sudden well of tension in his chest.

He’d never actually given in to all the things his parents had called Phantom. They’d been ashamed of all of them when the truth came out, and he’d only had to put up with them for a few years.

He tried to imagine decades of it, being called a monster for things he couldn’t control. For nothing more than a weird scaly skin condition.

He couldn’t imagine going full bomb vest over it, but Danny was man enough to admit he might just be a little touchy because of Jason’s death.

Which Waylon might not even know about.

Suddenly he actually did want to know why they’d attacked the gala.

Until now it had just been inevitable, someone was going to so why not them, but… well. He’d felt it under the whole plan, every stupid step.

Jason had trusted Waylon, not Danny, to keep things from getting out of hand. To know that a tussle was part of the fun.

Danny hadn’t planned on asking, but. Yeah.

“I’d like that,” he agreed quickly, nodding, at about the same time as Tucker found his own voice.

“Wait, that’s a skin condition? He’s just like that?” The techie asked sharply, staring around at Tim and Damian to confirm.

And got a disdainful look from Damian back.

“Tt, what else would it be? Do you know many scaled people?” He asked archly.

Danny’s mind snapped directly to Dora and her asshole brother. Knew Tucker’s had gone to the same place a second later.

“More than you’d think,” he and Tucker said in unison, and they shared a grin. If there was one benefit to their fucked up ghost hunting years, it was shutting down smart ass remarks.

Damian only looked more annoyed at being corrected, and Tucker shrugged.

“I thought he mighta been a scientist and tried to fuse himself with a lizard or something, like in Spider-Man,” he elaborated, and Danny kinda hated how much their lives resembled superhero movies.

Not that he’d say that in a room full of bats.

Damian’s brows drew down even further and he sneered, displeasure evident, but Jason cut him off before he could speak.

“Before you make a comment about mad scientists I’m gonna remind you we live in a city with Viktor Fries,” he said dryly and Damian’s mouth snapped shut.

Big brother privileges.

Wouldn’t it be nice if Ellie had given Danny those?

Tucker gave Danny a confused look, and Danny just shrugged back. He didn’t pay much attention to Gotham’s various rogues; he didn’t want to tempt his Obsession.

Tim chimed in again, without actually looking at Tucker which was kinda impressive.

“Dr Freeze. He uses a lot of liquid nitrogen and freeze rays, he’s usually after money or diamonds to try and cure his wife,” he explained with a slight shrug.

Tucker made a confused noise.

“So… couldn’t Bruce just pay him off and keep him from bothering the city?” He asked carefully, glancing around the room.

Jason actually snorted a laugh at that, shaking his head.

“If he could, he would have. What Fries wants isn’t possible yet.”

Not possible for humans. Part of Danny perked up, wondering if Frostbite might have the answers… but no. It wasn’t his job to solve every problem in the world.

Bringing healthy humans to the Zone was iffy. An already sick woman… well, she might get hastened along her journey to the afterlife.

And this was a conversation he really wanted to keep away from, honestly. Gotham’s rogues weren’t his problem. Couldn’t be his problem.

Danny fought ghosts, unkillable entities who enjoyed missile attacks as sport. He wasn’t interested in learning how squishy human rogues were; it had been bad enough with his friends in the line of fire.

Mega pass on being the firing squad.

He almost reconsidered the trip tomorrow, but… he trusted Jason. Trusted Jason knew where he was coming from, and that neither of them wanted to trip Danny’s Obsession.

So he gave the big guy a smile and an elbow nudge, nodding for the door.

“Not that rogue chat isn’t fascinating, but you were taking me to bed?” He asked hopefully, and only realised what he’d said when Harley stuffed half her fist in her mouth to laugh.

—————

Tag List: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikkobara @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @perfectwastelandcreation @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan @rootsmudge @ravenshadow17 @cankoking @phantom-dc @mentalcarebear @magic-pincushion @redamancyardor

#danny fenton dead and loving it #wip wednesday #chapter 12 #dp x dc #dead on main #never make a promise you can’t keep #lots to talk about here #funny and serious

[puppiesandnightlock]

Link: A Robin's Song (Chapter 3)

Summary and age information found here

Two years ago, July.

“DAMIAN!!” Jon pounced on him the moment he opened the door, shoving a little plastic card in his face. 

“Jon-” He shoved the taller boy off of him, snatching the card and reading it over. “Holy shit, you actually did it!” 

“SWEAR JAR!” a little voice came from inside the house.

Both ignored it in favor of the growing excitement between the boys, Damian feeding off of Jon’s hyper attitude. 

“WE'RE GOING TO MALIBU!” Jon shrieked. “I told your dad yesterday and my parents said yes a while ago cause they thought i wouldnt get it but guess what i did and SUCK IT MOM AND  DAD CAUSE I HAVE A DRIVER’S LICENSE !”

“To be fair, you did crash a few cars. And failed your learner’s permit test, like five times.”

“Shut up, you promised not to bring that up.”

“I didn’t promise .”

“Whatever, D, nothing is bringing my mood down, so get your butt in gear and pack your stuff cause we’re heading for Cal-i-fornia tomorrow!!”

“We’re literally going to be there for like five hours, Jon.”

“Literally nothing you say is making me less excited!” He beamed at him, making Damian's stomach flip pleasantly. 

That had been happening much too often lately for his liking. 

“Alright, alright.” Damian huffed, but not before turning a genuine smile, soft and sweet towards Jon.

“Seriously, though. Congratulations, I’m proud of you. I know you worked hard.” 

Jon flushed, Damian assuming it was from the praise.

“T-Thanks, D. See you tomorrow?”

“See ya, J.”

Damian shoved his backpack into the Kent’s car, Jon grinning like a maniac as both of their families surrounded them.

“Riding the waves up in Malibu!” Kon sang, bouncing around with Cass and Steph.

“They really get, get to you!” Tim joined in, the four of them singing loudly and off key.

“So let's give it up for those L.A. boys!” They finished off, laughing with each other. Damian turned to Jon, whispering.

“How long is this phase going to last?”

“Excuse me, Damian, the Victorious soundtrack is iconic.” Jon gasped, the perfect portrayal of offense.

“Iconically stupid.” 

Insulted gasps sounded from all around him.

Dammit, he forgot he was surrounded by preteens.

After much bedraggling and hugs and kisses for their parents, (“We are merely driving two hours away, we will return alive, I promise.”) the two set out on the drive, turning up the radio and singing even louder.

They spent the whole day on the beach, wandering the shops beachside, sharing a better version of the strawberry ice cream they’d get at school. Both had even gotten hit on, and offered a few numbers to each other's amusement. 

As they drove into their small town and pulled up into Damian’s driveway, unlocking the car.

“Had a lot of fun today.” Damian smiled, letting his hand rest on top of the other’s. “Thanks, J.”

“N-Not a problem, D. Thanks for coming.” Jon stumbled over his words, the tips of Damian’s fingers brushing over his.

Damian ran inside, blushing red. He didn't dare look back, although, if he had, he would have seen the blue eyes he’d loved so much staring back at him, lovesick grin and flushed red face to complete the deal.

                                                     Present day

The raven-haired teen watched his friend worriedly. “Are you okay? You look sick.”

“I’m…I’m so happy for you!” He croaked, throat dry. His face had drained of blood, a woozy feeling coming over him. Putting up a brave face, he bumped his shoulder with Jon’s, forcing the smile so wide it hurt physically.

“You can tell me all the details later, I don't want to be late for class.” He moved his backpack so that it hung on one shoulder, quickly speed walking towards the hallways. Jon trailed after him, chattering excitedly per usual. 

“It was so romantic, Dami, just like I planned! We’re going out for almost three weekends straight!”

Damian felt his heart drop, and as it hit the bottom it cracked in half, pouring out all the memories and weekend plans they’d had together.

“You’ll be free for the new movie coming out in a few months, right?”

This franchise was the most important thing to them, something they bonded over as children and even now knew every bit of lore it offered, and as preteens even collaborated on a fanfic, although their current persons have burned it from their minds. To miss even the latest picture between the two of them was a travesty.

“Course! I would never dare miss it, D, I'm sure Haisley will understand when I tell her!” Jon chirped. 

The bell rang, and Jon’s joy filled eyes were all he saw as he turned and ran towards his classroom, the knowledge that that emotion would never be because of him burning in the back of his mind.

 A few weeks after that, Damian had been finding new ways to avoid not just Haisley, but the couple as well. He could only be with Jon for a bit every day before the conversation turned to Haisley, which both pained and irritated the pining boy to no end.

For the first time, Damian had felt a surge of unpleasant emotions towards the girl, sometimes so strong he nearly classified it as hate. 

The thing that kept him from doing that was coincidentally the same thing that brought him back towards Jon.

He was sneaking out of the library, unceremoniously shoving his sketching pad inside his backpack when a flash of deep brown caught him and he was met with Haisley’s dashing blue eyes.

“Hello, Damian.”

“H-hi?” He stuttered, surprise and confusion clouding him.

“Can we talk?” She asked innocently, although to anyone else it would have sounded dangerous.

“Make it quick, Parker, I have things to do.” He muttered, having regained his senses. The challenging air surrounded them, and Damian deflected, presenting his confident, nearly arrogant air, his head filled with snappy comments and snarky responses, ready to fire on command. 

She had her own way of doing this, seeing as she seemed to be the challenger. Poised and ready like a snake, with all the grace and intimidation of a lioness. 

“It’s about Jon.” She said after a moment, surrendering first. 

He dropped his quickly after, turning defensive. “What about him? I won’t have you hurting him, and if you do I most certainly will not have a hand in it.”

Her eyes widened, and she was quick to steer him away from the negative. “No, no, it’s not what you think!”

She looked down rather bashfully, Damian contemplating whether or not this was genuine or a manipulative tactic.  

“You’re his best friend and he trusts you and your judgment over anyone’s, more than mine or even his parents. You’re super important to him, and that means your words carry a lot of weight. You are said to be a good judge of character, and I just wanted to ask…if you approved? I know it's not like the olden days where you ask for things like that but-”

He let her ramble on as he mulled over her words. What she had asked was kind, considerate and only would have been thought of by someone completely genuine.

Goddammit.

“Haisley!” He cut her off. “Yes. yes, i’m okay with it, you’ll be...a very good match for him.” 

The last few words were spit out like gravel in his mouth, somehow gone unnoticed by the girl as she smiled brightly and leaped up to hug him, before letting go quickly and scurrying off, but not before calling “Thank you so much!” 

That would be that, he assumed, after screwing his whole love life over. There was no possible way he could hate Haisley, no matter how much he wished to despise her, due to one simple little question asked with all the innocence of a puppy. 

It would have all been easier if he only had to talk to her every now and then, only for formalities and necessity, but she persisted, and he was weak to the joyful looks Jon would give when he saw the two getting along.

Haisley would start conversations and he would mostly tune them out, adding a ‘mhm’ and ‘yeah wow’ every few minutes. He only started paying attention after she said something that caught him off guard.

“Repeat that, sorry?” It was about the latest date she and Jon had gone on, and under normal circumstances, he would never listen to this.

“Oh, we went for ice cream, and shared a strawberry one! Watching the sunset and everything, it was so romantic.” the girl gushed. 

His throat felt like sandpaper as he swallowed, painful sparks of some emotion starting to sprout.

“Ah...sounds amazing..” 

That was HIS thing to do with Jon, something they did less of now but used to when they were younger. 

He began paying more attention to her talks, spotting more and more similarities.

“He took me to a beach in Malibu!”

“We just stayed inside that day, watched Glee!”

“I forgot my jacket and we couldn't go out that first date. He gave me his, and I knew he was a keeper!”

These, all of these things, were Jon-and-Damian things, not Haisley-and-Jon things. These were their things to do, their pastimes, their comfort late at night, their history…all of it was being taken and twisted into stupid, STUPID , dates.

(And maybe, throughout this bout of anger, the thoughts that it could have been him in Haisley’s place, could have been him laughing at the stupid jokes and the ice cream on the tip of his nose and the jacket that was too big for him.)

The entirety of this time, after such talks like these with her, he would take out a writing pad and scribble on it, the hurt overwhelming the anger. 

Towards the last talk, he’d formulated them into lyrics, his brothers reading it over with worry on their faces.

“This…seems a little vindictive, Dami.” Tim said, holding the piece of paper between his forefingers. 

“It’s not even based on them this time!” He defended himself with lies. “Could be about anyone, really.”

“ Car rides to malibu?” Duke read out loud, incredulous tones to his voice. “That alone is a giveaway.”

“Shut up, no, it’s not!” He sputtered. “Besides, even if it was, which it's NOT, get that smirk off your face this instant Timothy, this sounds more like they actually dated and the person singing is angry over the reuse of the things they used to do. And ‘Damian’ does not sound like ‘Haisley’. I could defend this for hours.”

“Whatever makes you feel better, Dames.” Tim handed back the paper, shaking his head.

Duke hung back a bit longer, going through the rhythm and lyrics with him again.

When they’d finished, he turned to his older brother and asked again. “Are you positive you wanna do this one, Dami? This one…seems kinda vengeful. And when it comes to Jon, I know you're anything but. Plus, don't deny it, I know you've been getting along well with Haisley too, so...”

“My coping method, my life, not yours, Duke.” Damian reminded him a bit sarcastically. He softened a bit after saying it, replacing it with “Thank you for this though.”

“I know you are worried but I'm fine, this is fine, honestly. And besides, only the beginning would ever align with me anyways.”

Duke sighed, a tiny smile appearing. “Okay, Dami. Just let us know when you want to record, i guess.”

Damian sat back on the couch, posting an update on the song that would be uploaded tomorrow. 

In a way, his brothers were right. This one was different from the first two, not much pining and more anger. He’d written when emotions were high, and when he sang it, it was less fire and more of an ‘I miss you’. 

This whole mess couldn’t be put on anyone but him, after all, it was his dumbass who encouraged Jon to ask her out, and himself who didn’t tell him earlier. 

His phone lit up with a text notification from Jon, attached was a screenshot of the post he’d just made and an all caps key smash.

It was selfish, but for a moment he pretended that it was really him that Jon was excited about, not Robin.

He wondered for a bit, if Jon would react the same way if he really knew it was him.

This was how a double life worked, he supposed.

His condolences to the vigilantes in the fictional world.

#damian wayne #jondami #jon kent #damijon #tim drake #duke thomas #dick grayson #jason todd #bruce wayne #stephanie brown #cassandra cain #batfamily #batkids age reversal #my fanfic #my writing #A Robin's Song #deja vu olivia rodrigo #unrequited love #angst #hurt/comfort #jon x damian #damian x jon #idkkk i hate this chapter but whatever #finals week writing im sorry #no capes #reverse robins au #no capes au #modern au #kinda broke au #muscian au

[soleminisanction]

If you ever have the time/interest, would you break down the canon surrounding Stephanie’s economic circumstances/home life? It seems like a lot of people have chosen to take it a specific way so I’d love to see your reasoning

Sure. Thanks for asking, it's honestly a fun topic.

Y’know it’s funny—I actually happen to own something that I think most people, even most Steph fans, haven’t seen: Steph’s first appearance. Not her Robin first appearance, her Detective Comics first appearance, her actual introduction. I happened to pick them up by accident at a con a few years ago because they’re also some of Tim’s first cover appearances. 

Other people might disagree with me on this, but I like to go back to the characters’ origins whenever I can to find the baseline of what they were originally intended to be and try to bring later interpretations in line with that. I like to think of retcons as new revelations, new plot twists in an ongoing story, and not a way to reset aspects of the past just to fit your story. It works especially well for this because Steph’s socio-economic status doesn’t actually change, there’s just kind of a game of telephone that happens across the decades that leads people to misunderstand. 

One thing worth noting in these early issues is just how much Steph, a 16-year-old girl, has at her disposal before she ever even glimpses Batman and Robin. Literally the first shot we ever see of the Spoiler is this: 

And because I am, in fact, that kind of nerd, I have gone in a couple of times and dug out old era-appropriate electronics magazines to figure out what that piece of equipment would cost you in 1992. Baseline for a parabolic microphone is $600, and that price is for much larger, more delicate pieces of equipment meant to be used for like, outdoor nature shoots, which wouldn’t be able to hear through glass. Steph probably dropped $1,000 on that microphone alone. 

Remember also that her costume is homemade—she doesn’t have any other way of getting it. She’s also shown using some pretty elaborate climbing and painting gear, with no indication that they were stolen or borrowed or anything, and you can see that she’s got a pretty well-stocked utility belt there.

Again, for some reason people tend to forget or overlook this but, right up until she demanded Bruce make her Robin, Steph operated as Spoiler with zero Bat support. She got some hand-to-hand training from Cass late in the game and tagged along on some of Tim’s assignments, but was otherwise being actively discouraged from vigilantism for most of her career. She made her own costume, bought her own equipment, and maintained her own motorcycle, all without the financial support of either Batman or her parents. 

So right off the bat we know she’s a teenage girl with a not-insignificant amount of personal disposable income, the only hinted source of which is the implication she works a part-time job somewhere—which I don’t think is ever brought up again when she reappears in Robin. 

We all know minimum wage went further in 1992 than it does now, but it didn’t go that much further. So it’s reasonable to assume that Steph has access to at least some money from her parents to support her vigilante habit, whether that’s in the form of an allowance, gifts that she carefully manages between Christmas and birthdays, or money that she’s able to just, take from Crystal without her noticing. 

But this page is more important to our current interests because it’s also when we see Steph’s neighborhood for the first time. We’re told here that Steph and her mother (who is called Mrs. Agnes Bellinger in this comic, although it’s possible she was using a fake name to visit her ex in prison) live in what is described as “115 South Holden Street, in Manchester.” 

Now keep in mind, the Gotham City map can be extremely fluid and tends to change depending on the needs of the story. But there have been attempts to map it, and “Manchester” has never been on any of those maps, so we have to do some extrapolation. At the very least, we can tell the neighborhood is clearly not in the city, given the very deliberate angle there in the first panel to show that they’re well away from the crowded downtown Gotham skyline.

This implies that Manchester is intended to be one of the mainland suburbs that feeds the island city of Gotham, similar to Bristol Township where the Wayne and Drake Manors are located. It’s not nearly as nice a neighborhood as Bristol—note the fenced-in front lawns, the broken shutters on the neighboring houses, and the vaguely racist lawn ornament on the Brown’s property—but it’s also not some rundown slum. People aren’t afraid to let kids play in their front yards or leave their garage doors standing open. And you'll note those aren't trailers, either, they're decently-sized suburban homes.

Also worth noting: Crystal seems to keep this house perfectly fine on her own as a single mother. Arthur doesn’t live with them; when he’s shown having residences it tends to be apartments in the city by himself, and it’s not like he could support them from prison or with his ill-gotten criminal gains. And yet, we don’t see Steph or Crystal worrying at all about bills or mortgages or anything like that throughout any of their appearances. We see the interior of their house on several occasions and, while it’s often messy, it’s not in disrepair or neglect.

This is a constant portrayal throughout all of Steph's appearances, from Robin through even her run as Batgirl. So, with that in mind, where does the idea that Steph is poor come from? Well, I’ve got a couple of theories.

One is the usual comics fandom problem: canon is huge, nobody can keep up with all of it, and some people go out of their way to be assholes about it, so misinformation gets spread like wildfire, in no small part because Steph is a character that a lot of people use as a self-insert and therefore she must be the misunderstood underdog in all things.

But on the more-interesting-to-talk-about front… I don’t think it’s controversial to say that Steph’s first big storyline was her pregnancy. Yeah? Like, it’s the first story involving her that really started getting critical attention. Whether it deserves that attention is more open to debate—personally, since reading Icon & Rocket for the first time, I’ve come to view it as Dixon pulling the comic book equivalent of white guys repackaging black music and watering it down—but the important thing right now is that it’s the first time people would’ve been specifically reading the Robin comics for Stephanie Brown. And in those comics, Steph’s house is shown as visibly run-down, covered in cracks and disrepair.

Thing is, there’s a context that people miss if you’re reading for the baby storyline and nothing else: this storyline plays out over the last days of “Aftershock” and early months of “No Man’s Land,” the storyline where Gotham is racked by a destructive earthquake that nearly levels the city and is abandoned by the federal government.

Again, we get the reinforced confirmation that Steph’s house isn’t actually in Gotham because it’s not destroyed in the quake—the neighborhood is damaged and briefly evacuated due to a gas line rupture in the immediate aftermath, but once that’s cleared up they’re free to return home, and their suburb is not part of the federal government's evacuation. Nearly every building in Gotham is shown with similar damage during this time, including Drake Manor. 

This storyline also plays into, I think, the stereotypes that people jump on when it comes to Steph’s socioeconomic status. Like I’ve mentioned before: Arthur is a criminal, Crystal is a drug addict, and Steph is a teen mom. Therefore, they must be poor, right? Because good middle class families supposedly don’t have those kinds of problems.

But, as I’ve mentioned before, that’s an inaccurate stereotype that ignores reality: plenty of drug addicts, criminals and teen moms live in the suburbs. And the Browns’ specific circumstances are distinctly atypical of the stereotype—Arthur’s not some down-on-his-luck thief pushed to crime by economic hardship, he’s an arrogant former gameshow host who thinks he’s smarter than everyone else and resents the world for not handing him the success he feels entitled to. Crystal’s not some crack addict, she’s a working nurse who used to get her doctor friends to write her scripts for prescription painkillers. And Steph is just a teenage girl who slept with a boy and got pregnant, with the costs of prenatal care and/or childrearing never seeming to be a factor in her decision to bring the child to term and give it up for adoption. 

I could go on but that’s pretty much the long and short of it: Steph is simply not shown as being poor in the comics. Ever. She’s not rich, she does clearly rely on her fists much more than any gadgets or fancy gear and lives with her mother rather than moving out on her own for college, but she’s also never shown worrying about student loans and can apparently pay for all her classes with some government assistance and a part-time job alone.

People just assume that she’s poor because they’re misinformed, or they’re projecting, or they’ve got biases they haven’t examined, or they need her to be an underdog to justify their argument against one of the other characters, or they really want her to be buddy-buds with Jason for some reason. 

Or, y’know, they just don’t want to acknowledge that they’re rooting for a middle-class white girl from the suburbs who commutes into the inner city to pick fights for fun. 

#stephanie brown #is this critical? I honestly can't tell I don't think it's criticism to point out that she's not poor #dc comics #batgirls #robin #detective comics #meta #ask me stuff #anon ask #crystal brown #dc #arthur brown #the cluemaster

[incorrectbatfam]

no bond is stronger than the one between a batkid and his corresponding speedster

Literally, there's a speedster to compliment every bat

Dick and Wally have the classic brolationship—they have their own partners but that won't stop them from sleeping in the same bed, ordering one milkshake, or sharing custody of Zitka. They have the comfort of knowing that in every life, they have each other. Plus, Babs and Linda already have their bredding (bro wedding) planned out.

Hear me out: Jason's speedster is Owen Mercer. Owen, who's the second Captain Boomerang with short bursts of speed, can act as both the hero and the villain in different narratives. Unlike his predecessor, his alignment shifts to suit his needs but he's more good than bad, which makes him a prime Outlaw candidate. Also Jason wants to set the record for most redheads collected.

Tim has Bart. A lot of fan portrayals have Bart as tertiary to Tim and Kon (it's even a point of contention in canon). However, I think of Bart's mentality as the antithesis to Tim's. Tim mulls over strategy while Bart chooses to act first. They both have a stubborn righteousness, but Tim is jaded with experience compared to Bart, who maintains a youthful sense of optimism and ambition. They're both geniuses, but Bart is far more in touch with emotions and can call out when something isn't right in a relationship.

Damian has Wallace II. Canonically, they butt heads before coming to the realization they have to team up. Rather than being the opposite, I think Wallace's defiant attitude mirrors Damian's. They've both been let down by the adults in their lives and prefer to take things into their own hands. They both have childish egos that have been subdued over time, which can be both a common ground and a clashing point that keeps their relationship interesting.

I was initially gonna pair Jesse with Babs, but I think there's more growth potential with Steph. They're fast learners who aren't afraid to let themselves feel, and sometimes they're in over their heads. Jesse feels like a future snapshot of Steph. I can see Jesse showing Steph how to channel her passion and energy not just in being hero, but also becoming a better version of herself.

Duke and Cass share Avery. Compared to Duke, Cass and Avery have been around more. I can picture them taking him around the world on new adventures and teaching him tricks that Bruce wouldn't have. Avery switches between places pretty often, which makes her a reliable point of contact outside of Gotham. Also I wanna see Duke and Avery combine their powers.

Babs and Danica are the "let people underestimate us because of our disabilities" duo. While Babs is on the home front as Oracle, Danica is the speedster no one expects because her inhaler throws off all suspicions about her identity. While Danica doesn't quite fit with the Birds of Prey, she still makes a valuable ally.

Thaddeus possesses a cynicism akin to Cullen Row, although Thad is more unhinged. I can see them connecting over their resentment and without anyone to keep them in check, that can be dangerous. However, Harper is more grounded and draws clear moral boundaries, so she acts as a counterbalance that turns a destructive relationship into a productive one.

Jess and Carrie's nonbinary asses would definitely get along. They both have fun personalities and creative ways to navigate situations where not many tools are provided. They can be loud and attention grabbing when they want, but they also know the advantages of being in the background.

Kate and Max are similar in that they're mentors, but they're also not. They're the ones who step in when the usual mentor figures (Bruce and Barry) fall short. They have a distant exterior but provide lots of love and support once someone gets through to them, and they're not afraid to call out their counterparts.

Alfred and Jay have plenty of experience under their belts and don't let their age keep them from the action. It's abundantly clear that they care about their families, and it hurts when they can't protect them from everything. Jay has a more American Grandpa sense of humor while Alfred has the dry British wit, so together they're unstoppable.

John Fox barely shows up in the comics, but when he does he's doing what he thinks is best only to land in trouble. Selina would relate to the messy history and moral ambiguity where actions don't match intentions. They also both have a knack for disguises and can exchange tips.

Bruce has Barry, obviously. Their relationship is similar to Tim and Bart's. Bruce definitely lets the grimdarkness seep into how he sees the world, whereas Barry can step back and look at things from an objective lens. Not everything need a complicated plans with a thousand contingencies, so Barry is like the common sense/Occam's Razor. Plus, we all love how he and the team mess with Bruce—it's what Bruce needs.

#ask #anonymous #batfamily #batfam #batkids #batsiblings #batman family #flash family #justice league #dc comics #headcanon

[hellishattempt]

surprise !

so because i'm the best i've decided to write for steph, cass and babs with the leftover angst songs i have from superache. i also just really love the girlies and want to write for them.

this is the last part in my four part series of angst superache songs as relationships with the batfam. part one ( dick + jason ); part two ( tim + dami ); part three ( bruce + duke ); and now part four!

as always, no pronouns used / gender neutral reader.

( art is from wayne family adventures on webtoon, which you should totally check out because it is the fluff batfans need )

astronomy - stephanie brown. before stephanie became robin, the two of you were as close as siblings. you would drive through the woods of rich neighborhoods, where the waynes lived, just to watch them. you joked as you looked that they were too good for you and stephanie. socially speaking, you were the same, with deceptive fathers and mothers who drank. you found your comfort in each other. you could escape your lives with each other. it got worse when stephanie woke up one night, only to find batman's hands around her father's neck. it was then that stephanie realized what her father was. a villain. stephanie ran from her home that night, seeking comfort in you. she stayed with you for a while, and your love for each other grew, blossoming into something deeper. but it's a tale old as time, young love doesn't last for life. things started to change when stephanie became batman's newest robin. it was obvious, steph was never able to keep any secrets from you. you just knew her too well. these changes weren't good for your relationship with the blonde. these changes weren't good for you. trying to stay with her, adapting to her insane hours, while trying to juggle your school and job, it was taking too much out of you. you still look back on the day you had to break things off with her. every night, before she was a vigilante, you two would go lie out on your roofs and watch the stars. astrology was your thing, and your thing only. you tried to explain things in a soft way, so you tied astrology and astronomy into it. "we've traveled the sea, we've ridden the stars," you were holding her hands in yours. tears were kissing her eyelashes, but stephanie was desperately trying to push them back. "we've seen everything from saturn to mars, and as much as it seems like you own my heart, it's astronomy: we're two worlds apart." those words still haunt you to this day. from far away, you wish you'd stayed with her. stephanie was the best thing in your life, and you hate that the two of you couldn't make it work. but, sitting there, in that memory, you were face to face with a stranger you once knew. old you thought that you'd fall back in love if you wanted. stephanie tried to preserve the relationship, saying "distance brings fondness." but not with you two. you were so hopelessly in love with each other, steph was saying anything and everything to keep you. "i'll change. i'll stop being robin. i'll leave it all for you. we can change. we can be what we once were. please. i'll do anything." you just shook your head. "stop trying to keep us alive. you're pointing to stars that have already died. you can't force the stars to align when they've already died, annie." annie. that was your nickname for her. only you used it.

summer child - cassandra cain. the mesmerizing, ruined cassandra cain was the subject of your bountiful, pure love. you knew everything about her. although the two of you are just friends, you want so much more with the silent girl. her inability to speak well means nothing to you. cassie has a language of her own. she speaks it when she sees all the flowers in the weeds. the way that she's scared of the dark when she sleeps communicates her trauma. she covers up her arms with sleeves so she can hide her scars, even in a hundred degree heat. her small, stuttering voice carries the weight of the world. a single whisper could part waters. cassie doesn't have to tell you anything. you've sat in silence many times before. it's not uncomfortable to you. these moments help you learn her language better. her father was awfully mean, he's the one who did this to her. but you know she still has some happy memories from her childhood. for instance, her favorite color is green. it reminds cassandra of the summer she turned three, running through the sprinkles in the street. cass tries to be happy all the time for her family. she doesn't want to burden them as she's burdened everyone else. so she'll laugh, and dance in the wind, and she'll sway and hug and kiss, but there's a darkness behind those eyes. even when she smiles. you wonder if you're the only one who sees that darkness. you aren't. but you're the only one who doesn't try to change that darkness. you instead try and help cassandra embrace it, trying to learn how to live with it. "you don't have to pretend that all you feel is mild," you tell her. you don't try to make the dark into light. she doesn't really like the sun, it drives her wild. she's a lying summer child. "aren't you way too busy taking care of everyone else to take care of yourself? when the sun goes missing aren't the flowers just as pretty?" you press on. "aren't the oceans just as deep? the trees just as green?" and as for me, i'll just watch you weep. the words are better left unsaid. cassandra's not ready for that. and you're not sure you are either. so you stand, tired of trying to get the love of your life to understand what she refuses to see, and you walk out. "remember, my beautiful summer child, you don't have to act like all you feel is mild." it's fitting that those should be your last words to the stoic, emotional daughter of bruce wayne.

yours - barbara gordon. you messed up the best relationship you've ever had. it's one of your greatest regrets. barbara was someone you'd call when you're alone; someone you use but never own; someone you touch, but never hold. you were somebody she would never really know. barbara only saw the front you put up, never allowing her to get to close to you. when the two of you first started going out, you knew that she wasn't the one for you, but barbara fell hard. she knows she's not the one you really love, but that's part of the reason she's never given up. barbara went through something similar with dick. he chose kori over her, doing stupid things like sleeping with babs, but leaving the wedding invitation to his and koriand'r's wedding on her nightstand the next morning. barbara could give you all you wanted- the stars and the sun, and still, it's not enough. she's not enough. but she stays with you, because all babs has ever really wanted was the look in your eyes, like you already know that she's the love of your life, like you already know you're never saying goodbye. but, begrudgingly, barbara is coming to terms with the fact that's your not hers, that she's not yours. she wants more, but she's not yours. and she can't change your mind, so secretly, you're still hers. so tell barbara that it's time to go, because god knows she can't leave on her own. the only thing harder than sleeping alone is sleeping with your ghost. "i shoulda known that it was dumb love." you're in her living room, having just gotten dressed from the previous night. it was nights like these that kept barbara hooked on you. "what?" you call out, having barely heard her words. "fifteen dozen roses." her tone is bitter. "all the things i've done for you not to notice. i can't believe i chose you over all my best friends. what the hell did i do in the end? just to not be yours? what was the point of it all?" you just stare at her. "what?" you repeat. "get out of my house." barbara snaps abruptly. "i'm not yours. i'm not your lover, not your girlfriend, not your anything. so there's no point for you being here. get out of my life." that was the last time you saw barbara gordon.

#batgirls #batgirls angst #batfam #batfam angst #batgirlies #batfam x reader #spoiler #black bat #orphan #batgirl #oracle #stephanie brown x reader #stephanie brown #spoiler x reader #cassie cain #cassandra cain x reader #barbara gordon x reader

[lavenezolanarusa]

დ .•*””*• 𝑆𝑡𝑒𝑝ℎ𝑐𝑎𝑠𝑠 𝑤𝑒𝑒𝑘! •*””*•.დ

@stephcass-week ꨄ

𝐷𝑎𝑦 4: 𝐻𝑢𝑟𝑡 / 𝐶𝑜𝑚𝑓𝑜𝑟𝑡

Cassandra always kept herself busy with any task, so much so that sometimes she didn't even leave time for herself. And That made a certain blonde-haired, blue-eyed patrolwoman a little angry.

She knew that her girlfriend had things to do and that she couldn't leave them, but she wasn't going to let her overdo herself with difficult tasks for the fun of it, so she decided to follow her and maybe take some tasks off her; she stole some nights of patrolling, took care of organizing some papers, arranged important matters... all in order to see her beloved a little less stressed.

But one night, the last straw came. It would have been more or less 4 in the morning, and Stephanie could clearly hear some tired footsteps entering, she would have been alarmed if it weren't for the fact that she knew that those footsteps belonged to Cassandra; She decided to go meet her to at least lift her spirits a bit, but what she didn't expect was to find the love of her life covered in her blood while she walked slowly and it seemed as if the world had fallen on her shoulders. Her entire body ached. Her half-closed eyes didn't make out very well what she was doing and when she tried to hug Stephanie she almost fell to the ground, which made the blonde run towards her to catch her.

▪Cass? -she called her, hoping that she would answer him, even if she went with a simple sigh

• Steph... - The Girl replied, trying to seem calm- Don't worry, it's nothing... just-

▪Let me help you, and you better not say it's not necessary. -warned the blonde in a serious tone, helping him get up from her and taking her to the bed so she could make herself comfortable. Needless to mention the fact that she took it upon herself to disinfect and bandage her wounds as much as she could under Cassandra's tired gaze.

A couple of minutes later, the brown-haired woman dared to speak, although it was more of a question than a neutral phrase.

• Why?

▪ What do you mean by that, Cass?

•Why do you worry about me? -That simple question made Stephanie's whole body freeze- You're wasting your time... I can take care of this on my own.

Cassandra had never received affection from anyone, while other children had functional families with games and hugs... Cass spent all day being "the perfect weapon", going so far as to say "My father has always had the weapons dangerous to use against anyone... And I'm one of them."

No one had ever shown her affection like a hug, pat on the back or if she wants a compliment... And it was something that a certain blonde with eyes like the ocean had given her to see for the first time. For once in her life she was seeing how someone cared for her and...she didn't know why.

She didn't deserve it, she didn't deserve that she worry about her well-being, she didn't deserve that she was so loving when she saw her like this... Or at least that was what her mind told her. Her gaze lowered, her spirits dropped so much that for two seconds she thought they were greeting Satan, she entered a terrible trance and just when she was going to plunge back into everything she did wrong-

▪Cass! Cassandra! -before she could get lost in her mind, she could feel the arms of her girlfriend surrounding her

•What's happening? -she asked confused, taking Stephanie's face in her hands.

▪ I should ask you that question! - the blonde told her, hugging her tightly- I went to put some things away and when I came back you were having a panic attack.

The mere mention of it made the almond-eyed girl feel bad for worrying her girlfriend.

"I'm sorry..." -she murmured.

▪You don't have to apologize, darling... Listen, I know your life was hell, I know you've suffered like nobody else, I know you've seen things that don't do you good... but that doesn't mean you have to swallow everything that you feel without a specific reason... you have me here, I'll be with you until no one remembers us and we're just stardust... until the sun explodes, the sky falls and the stars go out... I'll stay with you without no matter what happens... even if I have to sacrifice myself millions of times... I would do it to see your smile.

#stephcassweek2023 #cassandra cain #stephanie brown #stephcass #writing #day 4

[blenderfullasarcasm]

Batfam, favorite Duel Monsters archetypes/strategies, go.

gonna preface this by saying that while i do play duel monsters and have never lost a game, that’s because i’ve only played like. five games ever.

also i haven’t touched my deck in at least five years so. that being said.

i think most of the batfam would tend towards strategies that rely on trap or spell cards rather than drawing a specific powerhouse monster (looking at you kaiba)

dick has two different decks - one he uses to play for fun and one he uses when he wants to win. the first deck is mainly made up of cards with puns in the name bc he thinks it’s funny (and also because he loves the look of dawning horror on his opponent’s face as they start to realize that the puns won’t stop). unfortunately that leaves that deck not super well-balanced but he enjoys the mental exercise of trying to win anyway. his deck for winning is made up of mostly water/wind type monsters and one time it made wally cry.

jason’s deck is the most well put together (by which i mean every card he draws enhances whatever cards he has in his hand) and it’s pretty well balanced although he does tend to go a little heavy on the trap cards and field cards. it works for him though. a lot of his monster cards are fiend or psychic type.

tim learned how to play via the yugioh tv show so while his deck is pretty well put together and has a bunch of intricate almost instant win combinations, he mostly relies on luck of the draw (and the heart of the cards ofc) to actually get those combos. tim is not a lucky person, and although those combos are devastating to his opponent when he does pull the right cards, they’re much less effective when he keeps pulling one card from each of his combos instead of a complete combo. his main monster type is dragons bc he made his deck when he was like twelve and he thought they were cool (secretly he likes the pun).

cass has a super op light/fighting type deck. i forget which card it is but there’s one that’s like “every light monster on your side of the field gets 500x(# of light monsters on field) points added to their attack score” and once she plays that it is over. she mostly relies on monster effects over spell cards though so even if she doesn’t draw that card she usually wins.

damian loves using field cards to give himself an advantage or to give his opponents a disadvantage but he also shoots himself in the foot a little because whenever he comes across a card he thinks looks cute he adds it to his deck. he tries to incorporate the cute monsters into his strategy but it doesn’t always work. yes he has at least one kuriboh in his deck. kind of reminds him of goliath. he owns like fifty monster reborn cards.

duke’s only just been inducted into the secret batfam duel monsters competition and he’s having to overhaul his deck from when he was like ten. it’s mostly warrior and winged beast type monsters and he’s a little low on spell and trap cards. jason’s offered to let him have some of the cards he isn’t using (he has a stash of old DM cards bc he refuses to throw them away) but duke hasn’t had a chance to look through them yet.

steph refused to play the first time tim asked if she wanted to join and now there’s a bet going on to see who can get her to cave first. she knows about it and refuses to give them the satisfaction. she does know all the rules though and often gets pulled into being the referee (mostly to stop the peanut gallery demo interfering tbh)

#yugioh #duel monsters #batfam #batman #robin #dick grayson #jason todd #tim drake #cassandra cain #damian al ghul #damian wayne #duke thomas #stephanie brown #nightwing #red hood #red robin #batgirl #orphan #the signal #spoiler #headcanon #hc #asks

[incoherentbabblings]

I must say I am partial to Evil!Batman Tim.

I know why, I like seeing Tim being the most dangerous guy in the room because I think Tim is always considered smart but would get destroyed in a fight.

Like, I read RR and Tim was kinda scary, like to the point where your like: "Oh, Tim is much better at fighting than I thought he was." Like, I always enjoy those moments because Tim being able to just fight is so I don't know fulfilling to see.

And the fact Evil!Batman Tim doesn't give a damn and is just gunning down anyone, despite me being like "Aw, Tim's evil that's a shame", it is fun to see Tim just methodically killing everyone.

Like, I always say Tim would be the most dangerous if he went evil, barring Bruce because we've seen what Bruce does when he's evil, because he is the most dangerous person in the room, like everyone says the obvious one's like Cass, Dick, Jason, and Damian, but I feel like Tim is just a next level threat, yeah he may not be the best fighter, although I believe he can hold out against any of them, but most importantly he's a planner, he is already 5 steps ahead so if Tim is evil no-one is making it out alive because he is the most like Bruce in that sense, he does have contingencies to deal with anyone, he knows your weaknesses and vulnerabilities.

Basically, I love it when DC make Tim show his more ruthless side because I love that side of him.

(Sorry for the word dump but I really like this topic, and I think Tim deserves more respect for who he is. Like, he killed Prime Damian who is to be believed better than Bruce, and apparently that Damian killed so I'm just saying Evil!Tim beating Evil!Damian in both there Prime's is me arguing for everyone to some respect on Tim's name y'know?)

I very much enjoy rambles in my inbox. It's what this blog is built on after all!

I'm never sure on the 'who would be the best baddie' convos because honestly you just know its whomever the particular writer favours. It's like the good old 'who would win in a fight X or Y' (the answer is Nightwing everytime because I say so).

But Tim is interesting because it's not like... say Evil Nightwing in DC vs Vampires. They do flip flop over it a bit, but the Titans of Tomorrow storyline isn't necessarily an Elseworld, especially when it got blended in with Morrison's future they wrote pertaining to Damian. It's a potential future, one of the more frequently visited ones at that, just as they've made the Batman Beyond a potential future, or the Future State stuff. So like... that's Tim. Our Tim.

But what I like about that Batman Tim is that he's not off his rocker or anything. He's perfectly rational. His rationale is awful but there is a logic to how he thinks and what he does. I like how in a way you've got a perfect corruption arc right there of a young kid who only got involved because he wanted to help and be of use, only the pressure and the trauma builds and that kid takes on more and more responsibility until he convinces himself that - in order to protect everyone - he's the only one who can carry that burden he's the only one who can do it right.

Which is very Bruce of him. But then, it gets worse, because then its not just I'm the only one who can do it right, it's no-one else understands what needs to be done. So then we come to the ends justify the means. And most of the batfam understand that there is no 'end'. Bruce wants there to be, and Tim believes they genuinely have an end goal where he can wipe his hands, say 'job well done' and go back to a normal life, or, if the job outlives him, he'll be sure to set a self sustaining system in place. But what those means are get darker and darker and more authoritarian because he's the only one who understands what needs to be done and therefore he's the only one who can do it.

Steph Dick and Cass are too naive and idealistic and aren't focused enough on structural change (according to him). Jason and Damian don't have people's best interests at heart and are far more self motivated (according to him). Tim has too much focus on the big picture with little focus to those on the ground. But it's the delusion of it all which I just find so interesting. Paternalistic, arrogant delusion developed from compassion and insecurity. I love it.

#dc #tim drake #ask and i'll babble #this is half headcanon in case it isn't clear T_T i will stretch and make fit that which does not. #batfam meta

[starspatter]

Heroes and Thieves, Ch. 20

Title: Heroes and Thieves Fandom/Universe: BTAS, pre/post-RotJ flashback

Summary: A story about second chances, healing, and having hope.

Rating: PG-13, for references to character death, child psychological torture and trauma.

Genre: Romance/Family/Friendship/Hurt/Comfort

Word Count: 4,019 Previous Chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19

Also on ff.net and AO3.

Well my head is dead and my mind is fed up of all this stupid time That has dropped off the clock and I've avoided the knock From the monster that's been running my life He's ugly as hell and well, his heart is broken His eyes tell a tale with words unspoken He dreams of a day when he can honestly say he's alright

-This Love, “Free”

————————–

Then.

“What do you mean you guys haven’t kissed yet?”

The end of December was drawing near, and they had just finished with first semester finals.  The four of them trekked through fresh snow back to the dorms, Steph and Cass taking the lead while Conner and Tim tailed behind, the latter lingering a distance so as not to let the girls overhear their conversation.  Tim watched as the blonde in front of him stretched her arms to the air, blissfully exclaiming: “Ahh freedom at last~” before anxiously asking her friend what she got on one of the more difficult Physics questions.

“It just… hasn’t really come up…  We’ve been studying so much since then, there’s never been a good time…”

Conner shook his head.

“Dude, that’s no excuse.  You gotta keep her satisfied if you plan to hold onto her past holiday break. Sometimes you just gotta go for these things, man.”  He paused, clapping a hand on his companion’s shoulder as he suggestively leaned in closer.  “Listen, Christmas is coming; that means mistletoe season.  It’s a prime opportunity.  If you want, I can totally set something up for you two…”

“I don’t need your assistance.”

Although Tim scoffed at his roomie’s waggling eyebrows, the worry of not measuring up to expectations had been weighing substantially on him over the past few weeks.  Dick kept trying to push him to be more assertive as well, and had even insisted on lending him a collection of certain kinds of “magazines” as “reference material”…

“Hey, what are you boys whispering about back there?”

Stephanie had swiveled around and approached the pair, suspicious of Conner’s smirk and Tim’s evidently embarrassed expression.

“You wouldn’t be bullying my boyfriend, now would you?”

She wrapped herself protectively – possessively – around Tim, who bloomed an intense shade of pink at suddenly finding himself being fought over.

“Me?  A bully?  Wherever would you get that idea?”

Conner whistled innocently, while Cassandra observed the three in silence.  Tim shot her a pleading look to get him out of this predicament, thinking “free me” as hard as he could, but she simply smiled slightly.  Damnit, was she actually amused by his humiliation?

“Tim, don’t listen to what that mean ol’ brute says.”  Steph squished her mortified prize tightly, magnifying his discomfiture further as she stuck her tongue out at her opponent, who huffed in indignation.

“Please, if I were actually a bully, I’d do something like this.”

Without warning, he stooped to scoop up a clump of crystal flakes, flinging the freezing projectile at Stephanie, who screeched and released in order to defend herself.

“Why you-”

She laughed like a shriek as she shivered and shook the ice shavings out of her mane, crouching to collect ammo herself.  Packing heat – or rather coldness in this case – as she launched a quick counterattack. They began pelting each other gleefully with polar pellets, while Tim spectated uncertainly, wavering whether to break the battle up…  Until a wayward missile errantly missed its mark, instead splatting straight onto his face.

“…Ah.”

The combatants immobilized, glancing in nervous remorse at the unintended casualty, who stood there in complete shock for a moment.  Stephanie instantly flashed back to the water gun incident, and gulped apprehensively, afraid they might’ve made another mistake.  (At least she wasn’t entirely the one to blame this time.)

As before, Tim wordlessly wiped the wetness dripping down his cheek – before calmly bending down and gathering a lump to lob right back at his assailant.  Conner yelped as the unanticipated retaliation caught him by surprise, while Steph burst into an excited beam.

“Boo-yah!  Tim’s on my team!”

She eagerly declared as she aided her partner in an aggressive revenge, ruthlessly ganging up on their target as he raised his hands in a desperate attempt to shield himself.

“Hey, no fair!  Cass, help me!”

Fair?  They were up against a superhuman and a psychic, Tim privately thought to himself.  Although to be fair, Cassandra denied the other’s turn to beg for mercy, merely casting a lolling glimpse that quite plainly said: “You brought this on yourself, mister.  Now deal with the consequences.”  …As she simply sidestepped any stray shrapnel without choosing sides.

As they clobbered each other with clods of frost, people stopped and gawked at the infamous group of so-called “freaks” playing enthusiastically like little kids in the courtyard, but none of said shunned subjects even cared, too engrossed in their game to pay patronizing passersby any heed.  Tim could sense his self-consciousness slipping away as he pitched and dodged, slipping back into old practiced habits of evading punches and bullets.  The exhilaration he felt now was perhaps even more fulfilling though, without real risk of legitimate danger to his life or others’.  …When he witnessed Steph was right in the path of a sizeable snowball’s trajectory though, he dove on instinct, tackling directly to the ground.

He blinked as they abruptly found their features so very near to each other, flushed and respiring heavily from combined adrenaline and chill.  Rapidly beating hearts and heat of their bodies connecting through thick sugarcoated layers.  He could distinguish individual flecks of powder from the fluffy pile they had landed on dusting her long lashes as they fluttered up at her “hero”, feathery and fair. Complexion as rosy as her lips, waiting with bated breath.  Tim swallowed, before hastily rolling off.

“S- sorry.”

Stephanie sighed at the release of pressure, flopping back in familiar disappointment.  She soon started giggling though, and before long Tim joined her as they took a timeout to just lie there laughing for a minute. …And maybe after a while he’s laughing a little too loud and too long, but by God it felt good to let his happiness out uninhibited like this, after so many years of holding himself back.  He couldn’t remember the last time he had this much fun.

As soon as the chuckles subsided and they sat up though, Stephanie was startled by a sudden smack to her temple.  At first they both assumed it was a signal of resuming the bout, but for some reason the assault seemed a lot harsher and more painful than before.

“Ow!”

She cringed on contact. Tim’s pupils widened when he saw scarlet seeping down her forehead, staining the rich white beneath them. …Where a rock jutted out from the bank.

“Steph, you’re – you’re bleeding…”

She touched a finger to her brow in disbelief, stunned to discover drops of crimson come off on her tip. Tim spun around towards Conner, who immediately denied any involvement, shaking his head in equal horror.

“Tim, I swear to God, bud, it wasn’t me.”

Tim swerved and glared angrily at their surroundings, as every member in the audience awkwardly averted their gaze.  He grabbed the stone and stood up, grip so severe it stabbed into his own flesh.

“Who the fuck threw that?!”

He shouted at a volume high enough for the entire yard to hear, likely disturbing some of the classes where students were still testing as well.  He didn’t give a shit about that though, seething to the core.  Doubt darted in every whispering, snickering direction, until his vision landed on their other comrade, who remained oddly mute even in this situation.  His perception narrowed.  She didn’t look guilty per se (and he refused to believe she would ever dare renege on her pledge to never do anything to harm Steph), but something about her shifty, shrinking appearance told him she was definitely hiding something.

“…You know who did it, don’t you?  You can tell.”

Cassandra bit her lip, declining to answer.  Tim stalked towards her, seizing her shoulders roughly as he demanded a response.

“Tell me who it was – right now.”

“I…”

She winced at the strength of his clutch, cowering under his looming fury. Conner’s own lion rage awakened as he lunged forth to fasten around Tim’s wrist like a vice, violently pulling him away with a far greater force.

“Oi, get away from her!”  He barked as he twisted Tim around, locking both limbs in a firm hold.  “You need to cool it.”

Tim’s view darkened with a grim pall, as he lowered to avoid meeting the larger male’s lecturing look.

“Let go of me, Conner.”

He growled, glowering defiantly.

“And what’ll you do if I release you?  Supposing you do find out the culprit?”

“Isn’t it obvious?”  Tim’s irises flared dangerously.  “I’ll beat ‘em to a bloody pulp.”

“And then what?  Get your ass suspended again?  Kicked out? Lose your scholarship?”  Conner hissed in a cruel, but concerned tone. “Stop and think for a damn second, will you?”

Tim scowled, but eventually his fist uncoiled.  Conner loosened a little, relaxing as Tim’s appendage obediently descended.  Stephanie spoke up softly.

“It’s all right, guys.  I’m okay, really…”

There was liquid leaking through her cupped palm though, and Tim bristled again, but Conner clamped him down, resolutely shaking his head.

“Let it go, Tim.  Let’s just get her to the infirmary.”

Conner offered his hand to help her up, while Tim looked on uselessly. He eluded Steph’s perspective as he stuffed his own empty paws into his pockets.

“You guys go on ahead,” he muttered.  “I’m gonna… go cool off.”

“Tim?  Wait, where are you going?”

Stephanie strove to stop him, struggling against Conner’s support, but Tim had already taken off, escaping towards the dormitories.  When he reached his room, he slumped against the entry, sinking to the floor with his own cranium cradled in his hands.  Reflecting back on his confrontation with Cassandra, for even though she hadn’t acknowledged anything aloud, he could still hear the reluctant reply resounding inside his brain:

…They had been aiming for you.

“Goddamnit!”

He revolved and pounded his knuckles into the wall, not caring if he caused any damage to either it or himself.  Another voice murmured mildly beside his ear, smooth and satiated by the display of outright hostility.  Insanity.  Delightedly feeding on such delicious despair and self-loathing.

Now you see what happens when you get close to others?  Let this be a lesson to you, JJ.  Don’t you get it?  You’re a blight, diseased.  A dirty, perverted curse that contaminates, taints every single thing you touch – nothing but a burden, who brings suffering to everyone around you.  A monster just like me.

“Get.  Out.  Of. My.  Head.”

Tim screamed as he slammed his skull against the partition to try and get it to shut up, and when that didn’t work, he hurled himself onto the bed, trying to cover his crown with the pillow. Of course it didn’t succeed in suppressing the scalding speech either though, slowly consuming, corroding his corrupted soul from the inside out.

You’re toxic.  Don’t forget that.  Your existence is poison – pure and simple.  I’m the only one who can withstand it.  You don’t need them.  Nor do you belong with them.  Come back to me, my darling.  Daddy will make it all better, I promise…

“Leave.  Me.  ALONE!”

Tim yelled at the top of his lungs as he chucked the cushion at his hallucination, who only hovered out of the way and cackled.  The boy buried his visage into the sheets, smothering his polluted presence, shoulders shuddering as he began to laugh like crazy again – until he cried.

…

Some time later, he heard a knock on the door as it creaked open cautiously. He didn’t elevate to look, but he knew Conner was standing there, taking in the pathetic sight of his flatmate flat on the mattress.

“Yo.”

He entered, closing the access behind him as he crossed over and sat down gently next to Tim.  After an uncomfortable gap, he cleared his throat.

“Cass reported the one who did it to the dean.  They won’t be coming back after break.  …She told me what happened.  It’s not your fault, man.”

“The hell it isn’t.”

Tim spat as he flipped over, sleeve still shrouding his inflamed eyes. At length he removed a fraction of fabric though to peek at the other boy’s back, inquiring fretfully:

“…How is she?”

“They’re treating her at the nurse’s office.  It’s not as bad as it looks.  She’ll be fine,” Conner reassured.  “She kept asking after you though.  She’s worried about you, bro.  …We all are.”

Tim said nothing, scrutinizing the ceiling.

“She wants to see you.”

“I don’t… deserve to see her.”  Tim choked, eyes welling up again.  “How can I face her like this?”

Conner’s countenance soured as he started to lose patience, resorting to somewhat stricter tactics in an effort to snap him out of it.

“Stop being a selfish prick. This isn’t about you.  It’s about what she needs.  And right now she needs you.  So stop feeling fucking sorry for yourself, get the fuck up, and go see your goddamn girlfriend before I fucking kick your ass.”

He snatched Tim’s collar as he said this, in order to prove he would make good on the threat if necessary, hoisting the sagging sad sack up and half-heaving him towards the exit.

“I’ll help you get started on packing, so go.  And don’t come back until you’ve apologized for leaving her alone.”

With that, he swung the doorway shut, bolting it determinedly behind Tim, who stood there dumbfounded in the hall as curious onlookers halted their own parting proceedings to goggle at him, gossiping in a susurrant hush.  Shuffling sheepishly, he complied to abide by the directive for now, advancing in the direction of the health center (recalling its location from when he himself had to be carried there following his “fainting spell”).

When he arrived at the entrance, he waffled for a long while, inhaling deeply before finally rotating the handle. ��The clinical smell that greeted him made his stomach sick at first, but he shoved revulsion down and quietly asked the receptionist on staff as to the whereabouts of the patient he was seeking.  She smiled and pointed him towards a curtain in the rear.  Upon lifting it back, he encountered Stephanie propped up on a cot, dome swathed in bandages in a manner that rather resembled his own injured image shortly after they first “met”.  She relieved visibly upon recognizing the visitor.

“Tim!  Thank God you’re here.  I was beginning to get bored out of my friggin’ mind.  Can you believe they’re making me stay in a bed while they run some tests?  It’s just a tiny cut, c’mon.  Plus it’s the last day of school before winter vacation.  We should be out celebrating right now.”

She bounced restlessly on the bedding, as Tim absorbed the ruby dye soaking through her dressing.  He clenched his fist in crushing shame and repentance.

“I think… maybe we should stop seeing each other.”

She stiffened sharply, fixing him with a flabbergasted gape.

“…What?  Just now, that was… a joke, right?  You’re not serious?”

He regarded her with a grave grimace.  Confusion and dejection distressed her chest at such curt rejection.

“Tim Drake, are you actually breaking up with me?”

“Yes.  Let’s break up.”

There was zero emotion in his tenor, as her own lips quivered, tears forming at the corners of her eyes.

“But…  But why?”

Tim exhaled as he spouted was probably the most cliché line in the history of bad breakups, but he didn’t really care about circumventing social pitfalls right now.

“It’s not you, it’s me.  I mean it. Nothing… good can come of being with me. I’ll only end up dragging you down.”

“Tim, don’t say that…”

“You got hurt because of me.  Besides, I… can’t do anything to make you happy.  Believe me, you’d be a whole lot better off without me in your life.”

“Tim…”

She tried to extend towards his hand, but he backed away.

“I’m sorry.”

He turned and fled before she could react, leaving her bewildered and brokenhearted beyond belief.  His own breast ached as it felt like something within him had shattered – shred into pieces once again.  Whatever light had been reignited was now eclipsed, extinguished by his own hand.  He should have known better, never tried to chase it in the first place.  Having been burned once before, only an utter fool would run right back into the flames.

…This is for the best.

For both of them.

…

It didn’t take long for Tim to realize he couldn’t well return to the residence hall without invoking his roommate’s wrath, so he was stuck outside for the time being.  Wandering back to the quad, he massaged his mitts together and blew out a puff of condensation, briefly wishing he still had some actual smokes on him right now.

Parking himself beneath the shadow of a barren tree, he idly surveyed the scene of classmates bidding goodbye before heading home for the holidays.  Some were being picked up by their parents, and his intestines constricted a tad more as the swarm of “normies” joyfully received their relatives whom they hadn’t seen in so long with hugs and ecstatic chatter.  He felt filthy – a black and ugly beetle, insignificant insect – petty and out of place compared to these bright, carefree families.  So Hallmark picture-perfect against a pristine postcard background, shining silver and gold.

Acquiring a fallen branch, he started to scratch absently at the slush, doodling a nostalgic depiction in the dirt.  Gradually, the symbol of a bat took shape – and beside it, a crude carving of two beings in capes – one big, one small.  He stared sullenly at the sketch for a minute, before striking the stick simultaneously through both stick figures’ axes in an “X”.

“Tim?”

He jumped, and hurriedly scraped over the rest of the illustration with his heel as he whirled around to face his… well, he supposed “ex” would indeed be the proper term to describe her now.

“Steph?  What are you doing here?”

“I managed to convince them to let me go.  Wanted to catch you before you left at least.”

She fumbled with a parcel in her hands.

“I know it’s kinda early, but… I wanted to give you your Christmas present. Didn’t want it to just go to waste, after I worked so hard on it and all.”

She fished inside the bag, and retrieved a folded red scarf.  It looked a little lumpy and misshapen, clearly clumsily homemade rather than a commercial product.

“Mom’s been teaching me how to knit.  It’s my first time making one, so it’s not very good, but I hope you’ll still wear it, and… think of me sometimes.  I guess now you could consider it something to remember me by?”

Tim remained reticent as she unraveled the muffler and draped it around his nape, tucking it tenderly so it was snug.  She reviewed her handiwork, nodding in admiring approval.

“As I thought.  You look good in red.”

Tim tugged the textile, fingering each fiber that was filled with such fondness – feeling his own thawing heartstrings being tugged at – torn.

“Why… would you go to all this trouble – for someone like me?”

She smiled.

“Isn’t it obvious?  It’s because I love you.”

…

“Eh?”

It took a bit for the statement to sink in, and the cloth’s color seemed to creep up his mug as the significance of the confession belatedly registered. She took his trembling skin in hers, keeping it cozy as his now cherished neck was.

“Plus I wanted to pay you back for letting me borrow your jacket,” she half-kidded, concealing her own blush behind blithe humor.

He shook his head.

“This is… too good for me.  You’re too good for me.  You shouldn’t have wasted your time…”

“Tim, how many times do I have to tell you?”  She squeezed his palm, praying he’d actually listen to – believe her for once.  Believe in himself. “You’re so much better than you think you are.  You’re kind, sweet, and caring – you’re not like any other guy I’ve dated before.  I like you for you, no matter what you or anyone else says.  If other people can’t see that, then to hell with all of them.”

He held her resolve for a long interval, before shyly expressing regret over his actions.

“Steph, I-”

She put a pointer to his lips before he could progress.

“Sh.  You’re forgiven.  Now let us never speak of splitting up over something minor like this again.”

Softening, she added:

“As for what I said before, you don’t need to answer me back right away. We don’t have to rush into anything if you’re not ready for it yet.  I’m happy so long as you’re happy.  As long as we’re together, that’s good enough for me.”

She boosted onto her boots’ toes to provide him an affectionate side-peck, sniggering as his cherry virtue exposed further at the gesture.  Yup, red really was his hue, it seemed.  …It suited him (more than he’d ever care – dare – to admit).

She started to separate, but he grasped back, bowing profoundly towards her as if to an angel.

“What… did I ever do to deserve you?”

He beseeched sincerely for a sign – that it was really okay for him to accept this much adoration from someone.

“Who knows,” she teased with a smug shrug, basking indulgently in flattering worship as she winked.  “Maybe it’s karma from a past life or something.”

Patting his hair like a puppy, she dotingly brushed off some sunken pearl beads from the strands – like a laurel of tinsel to match her own heavenly halo; planting another precious token on top in pardoned blessing – a starry seraph ornament – before bidding him rise.  As they strolled back to the quarters together, limbs still linked together in open broadcast of their bond, Steph piped up with another proposal.

“By the way, I wanted to ask you something else: I was wondering…  Do you want to come spend Christmas at my place? I already invited Cass to stay overnight on Christmas Eve, and Conner said he’d come too if you would.  Can you imagine it, both of them said they don’t have any plans this year, and that their folks were out of town.  I mean, what’s up with that?”  She shook her head.  “Christmas is supposed to be a time for people to spend together.  No one should have to be alone during the holidays.”

For the fleetest of seconds, an impression intruded on Tim’s conscience; of a solitary man holed up all by himself in a huge, vacant manor atop an isolated hill, hunched by the fireplace with a glass of brandy in hand, longing wistfully at his mother’s and father’s memorial portrait overlooking the mantle.  He urged it aside though, and smiled appreciatively at the offer.

“I’d love to.”  A nagging notion occurred however, as he agonized over accommodations on her behalf. “…Can your house really fit that many people though?”

She put on a persevering aura, pumping her fist.

“We’ll make it work somehow.  Worst comes to worst, we’ll just have to share some beds.”

He arrested in alarm at what she just said, as the implications dawned on both of them.  Steph swiftly endeavored to clarify, flailing and failing miserably.

“Uh, I mean, Cass and I can share a bed, of course!  I wasn’t insinuating anything else by it…”

The tables had reversed now as Tim snorted at her chagrin, and she grinned as well, goading his arm.  Clinging around it, she nuzzled up intimately against his shoulder, both marveling at the broad sky as it started to shed sparkling glitter again.  Safely cocooned by both her company and the gift she had granted him, there was no space left for someone else to come between; waking, walking nightmare to worm its way into his warmed spirit.

…And, for the first time in a long time, what he feels isn’t fear anymore – at allowing a new stranger into his narrowly confined world once again.  Chip through frigid barriers and sculpture’s solid shell in order to stir up the dormant globe – revive its stalled clock, frozen in stasis for so long.  Finally melting an age of presumed permafrost; nudging, encouraging cold feet to steadily begin moving forward again.

…

It’s hope.

————————–

Well keep it in mind I'm not as stable or able To use all my guts and turn over the tables Or open the door and stare the monster between the eyes But the times have turned and burned a hole in this heart Confronted the face of what tore my life apart And I'll start by living every moment like it was my last

#TimSteph #Tim Drake #Timmy Todd #Stephanie Brown #Conner Kent #Cassandra Cain #Batman the Animated Series #Batman Beyond #DCAU #Return of the Joker #fanfiction #starstories #Merry Christmas <3 #anyone who knows what the red scarf is in reference to gets a cookie~

[abyssal-ali]

Angry Birds (and Bats)

My thoughts on the Bats vs JL members

(Disclaimer: this will also include my hcs and not be completely canon)

Feel free to yell (or even speak nicely) at me if you think I'm wrong!

Its up to you to decide if they're truly angry or have just been strongly provoked.

Expectation: Okay so if the JL doesn't know that the Red Hood is Jason, ( aka Robin the Second, their blorbo), or they believe Bruce saying he's emotionally unstable, etc--- Red Hood will be the one they're most wary of purposely aggravating, lest he retaliate with another Duffle Bag of Doom. He's the biggest, most trained, has the least inhibitions and most guns & connections, etc.

Reality: He'll not retaliate so that you know it's him (although who else would it be?) Your demise (social, political, financial, etc) will be carefully planned and executed just when you’ve relaxed and thought maybe he wasn't actually that angry.

Expectation: Bruce is always kept at an arm's length because he's the most silently intimidating. He also has the most experience, power, and he will be absolutely ruthless if you make him mad. Thus, he'll be an adult and attack you on your level.

Reality: Bruce's middle name isn't Thomas, it's Petty. You'll be insulted but they'll be so well-worded you can't make a case for it. (Years of surviving in Gotham's high society has honed his insult-with-a-smile skills.) Your things will go missing, speedbumps will appear on cases (nothing to damage the case, but inconvenience you), he "won't have heard" or "seen" you in a briefing, you'll be picked last, etc. *Bruce* will attack as an adult, using his Wayne status and power, but *Batman* will be the petty drama queen that he is.

Tim will absolutely destroy you. He'll give you a couple days to think that he's calmed down...he may have, but he'll still be out for blood. Your tech will fail, you'll be locked out of your house, and when you finally get on you'll be greeted with a glitter bomb.

When Dick finally snaps he will be a volcano and completely unpredictable. Depending on the offense, he may enlist his siblings to help terrorise you and yours. He may also receive a red lantern ring, who knows?

Damian, when he is annoyed/offended, will scream for your blood as he charges with his katana. When he is truly angry, look out! It's personal and he wants your head as a trophy. He'll be silent and deadly, as opposed to letting everyone know you've irritated him. (This is also the approach Jason takes.)

Steph: So. Much. Glitter. You will never be free from the sparkling menaces again. You will also be heavily inconvenienced and may or may not be in hot water with the other Bats.

Cass: This angel can do no wrong. She'll let it go and never get her hands dirty. ....you'll just have to deal with 8 angry Bats, not 1.

Babs: Good luck getting your identity back, sucker. Expect to be locked out of all your tech or have problems with it somehow. You'll also hit all red lights when you're driving home, to put the cherry on tip of your extremely difficult day.

Alfred: You're dead. He'll take his shotgun to the backyard and practice shooting clays with your face on them. He'll sass you to your face and do incredibly slighting deeds the normally polite butler would *never*. Then he's the bigger man and let's it go.

Duke: I love him but I don't know much about him :( (Feel free to add your opinions!) He'll probably ask his siblings to brainstorm appropriate forms of revenge and you'll be the focus of a batfam prank war, which is *not * for the faint of heart!

[robinofgothamcity]

scenario: you start seeing Jon which leads to the two of you having to hide it from your family and especially Damian.

pairing: jon kent ( superboy ) x fem! reader

note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / can you tell my kent family hyperfixation hasn't left yet? i swear it's becoming an issue lmaooo but this might actually be the longest fic i've written for this blog.

you talked with your friends who you had snuck into the gala with. Rachel had begrudgingly agreed to come to meanwhile Cass and Steph were the only other ones who agreed to come on their own accord.

"Damian, your only friend is here," Dick said, earning a kick from his younger brother before getting up and leaving you and Raven alone. you knew it was a rare occasion that she even decided to show up so you didn't want to leave her alone. "we probably won't see my brother for the rest of the night. whenever his friend comes, it's like everyone becomes a background character. for him being my adopted 'twin' brother, I have yet to meet this friend."

Raven laughed as you saw the wine that the couple on the dance left on your table drunkenly. the bottle was little more than half-filled and you gave one quick look to Raven before pouring the wine into both of your glasses and discarding it right away.

"to not having fun for the rest of the night," you giggled as the two of you chugged the wine down in a mere few seconds, "drier than I thought it would be but it beats having to pay for it," Raven muttered as you agreed to sneak another bottle from the bartender so you wouldn't have to pay for it. even with your dad paying for all your necessities, the drinks at his galas were far too expensive for you to even willingly pay for them yourself. the only reason why he even paid for all your expenses was because you agreed to skip out on college to help run some parts of Wayne Enterprises with your brother.

another reason why you couldn't exactly go and pay for it yourself was because Bruce was not one to exactly be chippy at the idea of you getting plastered drunk at one of his public galas. "I got one of two ideas. one: I'll go flirt with the bartender and you can sneak behind him and get the other bottle or two: I can flirt with the bartender for enough time to see if he'll just willingly give it to us," you told Raven as she nodded with option two.

the bartender happened to be in his younger 50s. you recognized him from previous WE events and although he was familiar with your family, you doubted that he would say anything to your dad about you flirting him with. all you had to do was push the top of the dress down a bit and hike up the bottom to get his attention.

"hey Martin," you said, leaning up against the bar table and smiling, "enjoying the night?" you asked as you saw him flinch back in surprise. he nodded, trying to divert his eyes from looking at you in anyway you could have felt to be disrespectful.

"I was thinking, how much does the bottle of Lafite Rothschild go for?" you asked, giving him a pouty face. he gulped nervously, "almost ten grand ma'am," he replied, grabbing it from the wine stand, "even for me? I mean, my dad must've paid for it so does it even go for that much considering I am his child?" he asked.

you could tell that you had caught him in a predicament, "I would assume not, I assume you're twenty one, right?" he murmured, handing you the precious bottle. you smiled (a fake one that anyone could see through) and nodded before giving the old man a light kiss on the cheek, "thanks Martin, I appreciate it," you said, giving him a wave before leaving.

Raven perked up seeing the bottle in your hand, "snagged a ten thousand dollar bottle," you said excitedly as you waved it in your hand. Raven stared at you in shock, "you got a ten thousand dollar bottle in less than five minutes?" she exclaimed.

you giggled before whispering in her ear, "the benefits of being a child of Bruce Wayne is that you can practically get away with anything. especially when you're the daughter." you popped open the bottle as you handed her the wine glass and poured the drink with care. you gave her a slight cheers before taking a small sip and being pleasantly surprised that it wasn't as dry for a wine with a huge amount of alcohol percentage.

as the night progressed, you and Raven got actively more drunk. you hadn't realized how hard the wine had hit you until Raven was drunkenly getting pulled home by Gar as you sat at the table with a little less than the bottle still full. you hadn't seen your dad or brother all night and you figured they must've been pulled into doing Batfamily work at some point and left you alone with Steph or Cass. hell, maybe even Dick if he was still around.

you weren't actively apart of the vigilante work all of your siblings did but you did help them out with the technical parts of it when Tim wasn't available. you didn't really like fighting or risking your life so after you graduated, you interned at Wayne Enterprises under Tim's orders while Damian worked under your dad.

at the age of twenty-one, you still hadn't met most of the league for the exception of Wonder Woman and The Flash. the rest were strangers in your head and much to Damian's luck, he wanted to keep it that way. at least in his case with Jon.

"ow, I am so sorry," you slurred as you managed to hit someone on the shoulder. he chuckled seeing as how you were not attempting to get up, "you okay there ma'am?" the man with a southern accent asked. you giggled as you attempted to get up, "I'm ( your name ) and you are?" you asked.

"Jon Kent, pleasure to meet you," he said, kissing your hand. you blushed as you heard one of your favorite songs come through the speakers, "would you like to dance?" you asked, not even caring that you had met this just a few mere seconds ago. he nodded, figuring that since Damian left him stranded at the gala, he had nothing to lose.

the song 'telepatia' by Kali Uchis played throughout the ballroom. Jon immediately took the reigns as the lead as the lights got dimmer and you danced against Jon sensually. "what got you dragged here?" you asked Jon. "my best friend invited me as his plus one. you?" he whispered in your ear, "I work for the company so I kind of had to attend," you managed to say before turning around and facing him.

you looked at Jon with drunken yet loving eyes, "you're handsome, you know that?" you said with no hesitation in your face. Jon laughed, placing his hand on your cheek, "right back at ya, darlin'," he replied as the song switched to another one of your favorite songs.

side to side by ariana grande started.

you shrugged, feeling as though you had nothing to lose and got up on your toes gave Jon a kiss on his lips. he was slightly taken back but played it off by returning it. the two of you remained kissing through the entirety of the song until Jon felt a familiar tap on his shoulder.

"I gotta go but if you're up for it, I'd love for ya to give me your number," you nodded excitedly as you practically snatched his phone from his hand and typed it in as quickly as possible with your name having a hundred emoji's next to it, "text me in the morning!" you screamed.

Jon laughed before following Damian from behind, "you suck, you know that!" Jon exclaimed, "I meet one girl I actually like and you drag me away!" Damian rolled his eyes, "please, you act like there isn't more girls out there to hit on." this time, it was Jon's turn to roll his eyes, "I got her number so I guess that's a plus."

you woke up the next morning with a pounding headache but to a few messages on your phone. you smiled realizing that it was the boy you had met the night before.

"good morning...or actually good afternoon!"

Jon laughed from his side of the phone.

"good afternoon darlin'. I hope you had a good sleep."

you were texting your way down the stairs, greeting Alfred and Bruce before grabbing a plate of lunch and sitting down on the bar top. "what time you'd make it home?" Bruce asked, sensing the hangover you had. "a bit past midnight. drank a bottle of Lafite with Raven before dancing with a boy you invited," you said honestly.

Bruce felt himself go stiff at the admittance of you drinking the Lafite bottle but remained silent as Alfred placed Advil and one of your Gatorades next to you. "yeah, whoever must've danced with you last night must've been drunk too because you'd want to dance with you?" Damian said coming down the stairs.

you threw him a fork, Damian dodging it with ease, "I'd shut up if I were you. I'm actually getting coffee with the guy in like an hour," you replied, chugging down the rest of the food before getting up and going to your room, "yeah and I pray for the man who now has to deal with you," Damian screamed loud enough for you to hear.

you pulled on a skirt and tights before slipping on a sweater and fixing your hair and quickly doing your makeup. you grabbed the keys from your bag and took the back entrance to get to your car. one of the benefits of getting paid so much was that you were able to afford cars that were out of price range for a lot of people your age.

the coffee shop you decided to meet Jon at was a few blocks into the heart of central Gotham. you got a table farthest from the crowd as you didn't want any attention on you and your potential boyfriend. you saw Jon approaching at the front of the coffee shop and pulled on your sunglasses so no one outside could see who you were.

"nice to meet you, this time with me not being drunk," you told Jon, giving him a friendly kiss on the cheek, "pleasure is all mine sweetheart," he replied, putting his arm around your shoulder. you got up to the front of cashier and scanned the menu.

"I'd like a venti mocha with oatmilk, what about you?" you asked Jon as he scanned the menu nervously before muttering that he hardly orders coffee. you smiled, "and an order of a grande peppermint hot chocolate," you added on as you took your card out, Jon's eyes widening at the black American Express card.

"wow, Wayne Enterprises must pay you really well," he exasperated, "yeah, I guess you could say that," you said as hesitantly as possible. after the two of you got the coffees, you got back to the table as you took off your sunglasses in a sigh of relief.

"do you really wear sunglasses everywhere you go?" Jon asked. you debated on telling him the actual reason but decided on a vague answer, "eh, it's more for secrecy. I guess if I get another date, I might tell you the real reason," you winked, making Jon blush.

+

through the weeks, you decided to keep the biggest part of your life a semi secret to Jon still. he knew vaguely of a few things but one mistake on your end managed to throw all of that away in more ways than one.

you were walking downtown with Jon, his hand grasping yours as the two of you roamed an area of town that you knew didn't have major significance to WE. you were holding a coffee in one hand as you walked about a few things that happened to you that week to Jon. it wasn't until you walked towards a busy street that your heart fell to your stomach.

a huge billboard, like signs you would see on highways, of you and Damian representing Wayne Enterprises stood in the middle of an intersection. you stared at the ground, your one secret given away as Jon stared down at you, a look of shock in his eyes.

"wait, you work with Damian Wayne?" he asked as he could tell that you did not want to look at him. you sighed, a bit scared, "work partners might be a little too far from what we are," you gulped, finally realizing that you had to admit to your family ties.

Jon looked at you, now more confused than shocked.

what you didn't know was that at the same time that you were about to confess everything to Jon, a paparazzi had taken dozens of photos of you and Jon that were immediately uploaded to various Twitter accounts and gossip magazines.

"Damian Wayne is my adopted brother. Bruce Wayne is my adopted dad. that's why I have a lot more money than any regular Wayne Enterprise worker."

Jon immediately stumbled to the ground, not expecting that answer coming from you. you immediately felt tears hitting your eyes as you figured that maybe Jon didn't want to be with someone so rich and famous. someone's whose family was always in the spotlight.

"DAMIAN WAYNE IS YOUR BROTHER?" Jon screamed, catching you off guard as this was the first time Jon had ever screamed at you. you nodded, trying not to look at him in the eyes, "he's going to kill me. your entire family is going to plot my murder. I'm a dead man. Clark is going to find me in a ditch," Jon started talking to himself.

it was now your turn to look at Jon confused, "wait, what?" you asked, wiping your tears. "YOUR BROTHER IS MY BEST FRIEND. Damian Wayne is Robin and I'm Superboy!" he whispered the last part, "I've been dating my best friends sister this entire time without realizing it!" he screamed.

you finally connected the dots. every time Damian said he was going on patrol with Superboy meant that he was going to hang out with Jon and every time Damian said that Jon turned down a patrol session usually meant that you were going on a date with him. both of you stared at each other, not knowing what to say.

"small world, eh?" you asked, trying to defuse the tension, "guess we better figure out a way to tell them, huh?" Jon replied as you both heard your phone going off with texts and calls. you opened it to see that Dick, Bruce, Tim, and even Jason and Alfred were frantically calling you.

"hello, what happened?" you asked, picking up Dick's call. "GET HOME NOW!" he yelled through the phone as you heard Damian's screeching voice from the other side, "why? what happened?" you asked, staring at Jon now in fear.

"SHE'S DATING JON? I'M GOING TO KILL HIM BEFORE I KILL HER!" you heard Damian scream before something broke, "pictures of you kissing Jon came to the public on Twitter and he saw them," Jason said, half annoyed.

both of your hearts fell to your stomach as you realized it was now or never. everyone knew of your relationship and it wasn't even something both of you tried to do intentionally. you grabbed Jon's hand, yours shaking in fear as you got into the passenger side of his beat up red truck. he could tell you were beyond scared to go home and he now knew it was time. he had to man up before it got worse and you attempted to break up with him.

once you arrived to Wayne Manor, you sat still, not moving an inch. "it'll be okay darlin', I promise it won't be too bad," he murmured as he opened your door. you nodded as you hopped off and started walking towards the door.

you could hear Damian's yells still going on from the other side door as you opened it. you grasped Jon's hand and walked into the living space, Damian's eyes immediately looking at you before charging to Jon with every ounce of strength he had. Jason quickly grabbed you as Jon dodged him and Damian went straight to attack him again. you couldn't bare to look at the sight and felt tears spring to your eyes as you hid your face into Jason's side.

"hey, you okay?" Jason asked. he could see the tears in your eyes which instantly made him a bit upset. "enough," Jason screamed, catching everyone's attention. Jon and Damian saw the hurt look on your face and as soon as Jon realized you were upset at the fight he was having, he kicked Damian off of him and walked towards you.

he grabbed your hand and whispered an apology into your ear as he stroked your cheek lovingly, "I'm sorry dear but I wasn't expecting Damian to do this," Jon said as Damian watched the way Jon was treating you. a part of him knew that Jon would treat you right. Jon wasn't like your typical average boy but the fact that neither of you told him is what set him off and seeing you being so lovingly with Jon set him off again.

Damian ran towards Jon again but this time, you shielded him which made him stop immediately, "Damian, stop, please," you croaked. Bruce saw you trying to neutralize the situation and stood next to Damian, hinting at him to quit it, "I'm sorry we never told you but the reason why we never did was because we had no idea who the other was. I didn't know Jon was your best friend and clearly didn't know that he was Superboy and he had no idea I was even related to you nevertheless your sister. please, if it's anyone's fault, it's mine," you explained.

Dick, Jason, and Tim stared at Jon who grabbed your hand and pulled you to the side, "and I would have never made the move if I knew she was your sister but we fell in love and it was like a soulmate connection. we were meant for each other and I want her to be in my life. she's it for me," Dick sighed mesmerized as Tim and Jason gagged at the cheesy confession.

Damian growled, "if you even think of hurting her, Clark will be down one son and I mean it. that's my sister and no man will ever be good enough for her. you are my best friend and she might be a pain in my ass, she means the world to me. I will not hesitate to dig your grave and bury you alive if I see one tear of sadness coming down her face," Damian stated before hitting Jon on the shoulder purposely before walking away.

you smiled, your heart swelling at Damian's speech. he never once said anything like that about you and in his Damian way of being, you knew this was his way of accepting your relationship with Jon. you smiled at Jon before giving him a huge kiss on the lips, making your dad and all of your brothers gag at the sight.

"okay, save that shit for privacy, no one needs to see that," Jason said as he walked away. Bruce gave you one look before turning to Jon, "your father knows in case you were wondering but feel free to stay for dinner if you'd like," Bruce said before walking away with Tim and Dick walking away with him.

"I love you," you whispered to Jon as he let out a laugh against your lips, "I love you too and I'm all of this was cleared out." you nodded in agreement as you grasped his hand, "wanna come up to my room? I figured we should catch some sleep before Alfred calls everyone for dinner and Damian starts another fight," Jon agreed, giving you a kiss on your head as the two of you walked up the stairs.

#dc comics #dc x reader #dc imagine #dc #jon kent x y/n #jon kent x reader #jon kent imagine #superboy x y/n #superboy x reader #superboy imagine #damian wayne imagine #damian wayne x reader #robin

[mochegato]

Calling Dibs

This day was going to be boring, Jason knew that before he agreed to the trip in the first place.  ‘Agreed’ is a generous term.  ‘Relented’ might be a better term. Regardless, he was in Paris for the next week.  He was looking forward to the Louvre and seeing Notre Dame, but he was expected to spend time with his family for a large part of the trip and end with a branch opening party, because those are always so much fun.

He had barely plopped onto the hotel couch when something went flying past the building, crashing into the building down the street in a cacophony of shattered glass and warped metal.  “Holy shit!” Jason yelled, jumping up and running to the window to assess the situation.  The family looked to each other to see if anyone had a better grasp of the situation. Everyone shared the same confounded expression, before running out on the balcony to check out the situation.  

Bruce sighed.  This was most definitely not part of the plans.  This was supposed to be a relaxing week with the family looking at art for Damian, going up in the Eiffel Tower (and preventing him from jumping off) for Duke, sampling French foods and checking out French fashion for Steph, exploring the catacombs for Tim, attending the ballet for Cass, visiting Notre Dame for Jason, and time together as a family for Dick, with just a side of meetings for him.  Superheroing was not one of the scheduled activities.

Bruce opened his mouth to state a plan, but before the words made it past his lips, blurs of red and black swung past them toward the creature that had destroyed the building.  It took more than a few minutes for him to finally close his mouth in a resolute line as they watched the two heroes fight.  Jason’s mouth stayed open in awe as he watched the red figure expertly dodge and strike the creature.  It stayed open until the creature backhanded the red hero into a wall of the building across the street.  

The group flinched in sympathy at the sight, all too familiar with the feeling of getting smashed into a building.  She fell to the ground in a crouch.  Instead of fear, she looked back up with a glare. She jumped away and landed next to her partner in black and seemed to have a conversation before separating. The black hero distracted the creature while she swung further away.  It almost seemed like she had run away until they saw her charge at the creature from the side, hitting circles that decorated its body, shattering them like mirrors as she went.  With each hit the creature seemed to deflate more, until she hit the last one, a black butterfly emerging from it.  

She captured it in her yoyo and released it almost instantly as a white butterfly.  She called something out and threw her yoyo up into the air.  As soon as she did, a pinkish red wave rushed across the city and suddenly all the damage they had watched with their own eyes, was reset to its previous condition.  

They stared, mouths agape again, trying to take in everything they saw.  Finally the silence was broken by Jason.  “I call dibs!”

“What!” Dick exclaimed.  “You can’t just call dibs on someone.”

“I just did,” Jason scoffed.  “I call dibs on the red badass.  You can have the cat one.  Follow B’s footsteps, protégé.”

“You don’t even know if she’s straight.  What if she’s into girls?” Stephanie objected. “Maybe they both are.”

Jason stared at her for a second before his eyes narrowed.  “Fine. But if she’s anything other than a lesbian or ace, I have dibs.  And the cat one is up for grabs.”

“Oh, I’ll grab,” Steph smirked.

“Fine, whatever,” Dick groused, crossing his arms over his chest and looking away.  “Wasn’t looking for romance this trip anyway.”

“Your libido is not the priority right now. Father, did you bring us here for this?” Damian demanded.

Bruce kept his eyes on the spot where the creature had been a few seconds earlier before turning into a distraught woman. “No, I had no idea.  But now that we know, let’s investigate.  We’ll find out as much as we can from outside sources and try to meet up with the heroes when we can.  If they have a regular patrol, we can try to meet them somewhere. If they don’t, we might have to try to show up discretely at the next attack.”  He observed the people below already returning to their normal jobs. “It doesn’t seem like this is too out of the ordinary for everyone, so I don’t think we’ll have to wait long.”

He wasn’t wrong.  In fact, they only had to wait until the next night for another akuma to strike.  As soon as the akuma was dealt with, they caught up with the Parisian heroes, though in hindsight, they perhaps should have announced their presence a bit more clearly, judging by the way Red Hood was hanging upside down off the side of the building they were on.

“Sorry again,” Ladybug grimaced as she helped pull him back onto the roof.

“No, we shouldn’t have snuck up on you,” Red Hood assured her.  “I was just struck too speechless by you to give you a better warning.”

Ladybug blinked at him a few times before turning to the rest of the group and motioning toward Red Hood helplessly. Chat gave her an amused smile. “She tends to have that effect even on the best of us.”

“As Red Hood said, we should have announced our presence more plainly.  We likely would have reacted the same if you had snuck up on one of us,” Batman said, taking a step forward.

“We just wouldn’t have looked as kick ass doing it,” Red Hood added, leaning toward Ladybug.

Ladybug raised an eyebrow at him, but allowed him to move closer to her.  “Well, you certainly didn’t look ‘kick ass’ falling like that,” she smirked at him.

“I’ll work on how I look when falling, then.  I have a feeling I’m going to be falling a lot for you.”

Ladybug narrowed her eyes at him and puckered her lips in an unsuccessful effort to keep them from quirking up.  Red Hood’s chest puffed up almost imperceptibly at the sight.  Ladybug’s eyes darted over to Batman and back to him.  “First, I don’t think you came all the way to Paris just to hit on me.  I believe we have other things to talk about. Second, if you’re going to hit on someone, take off the helmet.  It’s rude. I can’t read your expressions at all. It puts me at a disadvantage.”

Red Hood quirked his head to the side. “Can’t take the helmet off. Secret identity, you know?  B would kill me.  If he didn’t the squirt there,” he motioned toward Robin, “would try. But trust me, if you saw my face, you’d swoon.  And I assure you, I would have come all the way to Paris if I’d known you were here waiting.”

“But we didn’t know you were here,” Batman cut in harshly.  He placed a hand on Red Hood’s shoulder and pulled him back with the others.  “We were unaware there was a supervillain in Paris. We’d like to offer assistance, ours and the Justice League’s, but first we should introduce ourselves.  I’m Batman.  That���s Spoiler, Black Bat, Signal, Robin, Red Robin, Nightwing,” he motioned to each of them in turn as he said their name.  “And you’ve met Red Hood.”

Ladybug and Chat nodded to each of them as Batman said their names.  “It’s a pleasure to meet you all.  I’m Ladybug. This is my partner Chat Noir.”

“Sorry, we didn’t bring our full team.  We would have if we’d known there was going to be a party,” Chat smiled disarmingly.

“We’ll be sure to let you know next time,” Spoiler grinned back at him.

“Can we sit down with you sometime to discuss the situation?” Red Robin interrupted whatever Chat was about to respond with. “It doesn’t have to be tonight, but we weren’t planning on staying in town too much longer.  Not that we haven’t been enjoying our time here.  And we’ve definitely enjoyed watching you work. You have got some really good moves.”

“Oi,” Jason interrupted, smacking him in the shoulder.  “I called dibs.”

“Dibs?” Ladybug quirked her head to the side and scrunched up her nose in such an adorable way Jason let out an almost inaudible choke.  Quiet enough that only Red Robin, letting out an almost as silent scoff, and Chat Noir, with his enhanced hearing, heard him.  Chat zeroed in on him with a knowing smirk.  He rested his arm on his baton and got into a comfortable position leaning against it, waiting for the entertainment.  “What is ‘dibs’?” Ladybug continued, oblivious to the dynamic between the three.

Chat’s smirk grew.  “Dibs, M’lady, is when you claim first rights to do something.”

Ladybug stared at him for a few seconds as she put together what he was implying.  Her head whipped around to Red Hood.  Her face was furrowed in an offended scowl.  She pointed to herself.  “Am I the thing you’re going to do first?”

Jason jerked back at the suggestion as Chat Noir and the rest of his family, sans Batman and Robin, started laughing.  “No! No, no, no.  No. Not… No.”  He waved his arms desperately.  “Not that.  I…”  He took a breath and glared at his family to get them to shut up, expecting them to know he was glaring harshly under his helmet.  “I just get to be the first to try to impress you.”

Ladybug rolled her eyes.  “You want to impress me?  Do something impressive.  And I don’t date as a superhero, so you’re going to have to impress civilian me. Good luck with that.”

Chat gave Red Hood a patronizing grin.  “You’re going to need it,” he singsonged.  He looked back and forth between Ladybug and Red Hood a few times, his eyes sparkling with mischief.  He swung his baton over his shoulders and rested his arms over it.  “But then again, she is the embodiment of luck so, maybe she just gave it to you.”

Ladybug’s head whipped back to him and she narrowed her eyes at him in warning.  He smiled innocently back at her as if he hadn’t just been meddling in her love life… again.  He needed to meddle in his own instead.  Although, with the way Spoiler kept eying him, maybe it was already taken care of. “Anyway,” she said loudly, bringing the focus back to the topic at hand.  “Tonight isn’t good.  We both have early mornings tomorrow.  But tomorrow night should work.  How about meeting here tomorrow at 22h?”

“Okay, now that that is settled, I have a very important question,” Spoiler spoke up.  Signal groaned next to her, preparing for whatever her question was going to be.  “Where is the best place to get some French treats?” Batman let out a deep sigh. “What!  I came to France to eat amazing French food and shop French fashion. They live here.  They should know the good places to go.”

Chat straightened up immediately and sent Ladybug a feral grin.  “You don’t say…”

“Chat,” Ladybug hissed warningly.

“They’re just asking for advice,” he answered in his most exaggeratedly innocent voice he could muster.  “You wouldn’t want to deprive them of the best food in Paris. Would you, M’lady?”  The devilish grin in his eyes was a complete contrast to the innocent voice.  He turned back to the bats, the picture of politeness.  “The absolute best place to get pastries in Paris is Tom and Sabine Boulangerie Patisserie on Rue Gotlib.  It’s amazing.  I recommend trying… everything.  And it just so happens their daughter is one of the most amazing designers in… anywhere.”

Spoiler grinned at him.  “A man after my own heart.  Thanks, Kitty Cat.  I’ll take that under advisement.  And do you also frequent there?”  

Chat blushed slightly and looked away quickly, but not before Ladybug saw the reaction and smirked at him.  “Yes, he does,” she assured Spoiler.  “He frequently frequents there.”

“And what about you?” Red Hood interjected, leaning toward Ladybug again, much to Batman’s chagrin.

“Are you kidding?  She’s the reason I found it in the first place.  I swear she’s there daily,” Chat grinned.

“Ooh, Kitty Cat, you sure know the way to a girl’s heart,” Spoiler purred at him.  Chat’s cheeks burned red, but didn’t look away from her this time.

Ladybug pursed her lips in annoyance at his romantic interference but quickly smoothed out at the sight of his blush.  A smile was back on her face when she turned back to the Bats, eyes lingering a bit longer on Red Hood before moving to Batman. “Anyway, we will see you again tomorrow. But Chat, maybe you should get an idea of what Spoiler likes so you can bring treats for her to the meeting tomorrow.  I have to go though.”  She waved at the bats before turning to Chat with a wink.  “Have a good night.”

Red Hood stepped forward before she jumped away. “You don’t want to know what I like for tomorrow?” he asked huskily.

She looked up at him with a sultry smirk.  “Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea of what you like.  Sweet dreams.”

Red Hood watched her jump away.  “Oh they will be,” he whispered to himself.

<><><><><> 

Marinette had been apprehensive all morning.  Every time the bell above the door rung, she braced for the bats.  She let out a relieved breath as a man walked in by himself.  She wasn’t positive, but she was pretty sure the group would come in together.  She wasn’t sure why she knew that, but somehow she was confident of it.  The man blinked a few times at her before smiling charmingly at her.

And damn if that smile couldn’t melt ice.  She let out another breath, this one to calm her cheeks.  She smiled at him, warmer than her regular customer service smile.  “Can I help you, monsieur?”

“Do you, by any chance, have a bowl or something I can put some water in?” he asked awkwardly in barely accented French.  The cocked head and curious look Marinette gave him prompted him to continue.  “I wanted to… there’s this stray dog outside and he looks like he needs some water.”

American, she noted… with dimensions roughly matching Red Hood’s.  And oh God, those muscles weren’t just the suit.  Well fuck.  Guess she did give him some luck after all.  “Of course he’s fucking Adonis hot,” she muttered under her breath, but apparently not quietly enough.  He smirked at her and chuckled.

Marinette’s eyes snapped up to him and she blushed furiously at having gotten caught.  She took a deep breath and smiled back at him.  “Blonde with a dark stripe down his back?”  He nodded at her, a surprised look on his face.  “That’s Éclair.  He’s a local stray.  An absolute sweetheart.  Here, let me get the bowl I usually use for him.”  She rushed to the back and came back with a filled dog bowl and some pancetta. “Can you give him this too, please?  I usually do, but I’ve been stuck inside most of the morning.”

He gave her another ice meltingly brilliant smile and nodded in thanks.

She tensed at the next man who walked in, not really knowing why she was apprehensive.  Red Hood was already there.  She gave him her customer service smile even as her eyes darted out the window to watch Red Hood feeding Éclair.  She could imagine the hearty laugh he let out when Éclair leaped up to lick his face.  She smiled at the sight.  

“Excuse me,” the man stepped into her line of sight.

She immediately turned to focus on him, regretfully tearing her eyes away from Red Hood and Éclair.  “Yes, monsieur.  Sorry about that.  How can I help you?”

The man looked her up and down and leaned toward her. “I was looking for something sweet. Maybe you could help me.”

She cringed internally, but gave him a strained smile as she leaned away.  “Of course, sir.  We have a lot of sweet treats.  Maybe you can look over the petit fours, éclairs, macarons, and tartlets.  Let me know if you have any questions.”

“I have a question already,” the man gave her a leering smile.  “Are any of the treats as sweet as you?”

She gave him a flat look and took a step back. She almost missed the door chime ringing.  “I assure you, monsieur, you would find me far from sweet. Let me know when you’re ready to order.” She turned away and started wiping the counter instead.

Red Hood took the opportunity to step up to her and pass the bowl back to her.  “Thank you. He looked very happy after the treats.”

Marinette blinked at him a few times and looked down at the bowl unmoving for a few seconds before the reason clicked for her. “Right,” she answered, louder than she meant to, as she took the bowl.  “Can I get you anything?”

“What do you recommend?” he asked as he moved to block the other man’s line of sight to her.

She smiled appreciatively at him.  Maybe he was impressive after all.  “You looking for something sweet or savory?  We have great bread, but if you’re looking for a treat, I would recommend an assortment of eclairs.  It just seems apropos.  Honestly, I think it’s all good, but I’m a bit biased.” She leaned in as if confiding a secret and winked at him.  

He chuckled and nodded.  “That is definitely something to consider.”  He side eyed the other man in the store.  “I’ll take a look around I think.  Figure out what it is I want.”

Marinette nodded and gave him an understanding smile. She turned to the other man.  “Have you decided, monsieur?”

The man made a show of looking around.  “Are you on the menu?  Because I definitely know what I’m interested in,” the man answered, leering at her again.

Marinette gave the man a flat look.  It was not the first time she’d heard the line.  She didn’t get it as much as waitresses, but still, it was a tired line… from a married man… that she had already turned down. “No, sir.  I’m not on the menu,” she answered curtly, “because we are not a brothel, which are illegal in Paris, I might add.  However, a quick internet search will direct you to the areas of the city where you can find that kind of menu items.  If you would like one of the pastries, please let me know which ones you would like, otherwise, please leave.”

“I’m not good enough for you, but you’ll flirt with him,” he motioned toward civilian Red Hood.

“First, I get to choose who I’m interested in and that isn’t you.  Second, he,” she motioned toward civilian Red Hood, “called dibs on flirting with me.  Now either order or leave.”

The man huffed and left, trying to slam the door on the way out.  The door closed with a gentle thud.  Marinette rolled her eyes.  “Sorry about that, monsieur.  Are you ready to order?”  She sent him an apologetic smile.

Jason stared at her for a few beats trying to figure out if her previous words meant anything.  She could have just said that because the guy was an asshole.  It could be a coincidence.  And her partner could have sent him here purely because they had really good food.  “Oh, um… what do you recommend I take?” he asked again absentmindedly, his mind still on how likely it was that it was all a coincidence.

Marinette smiled innocently at him.  “Me out.”

Jason looked at her wide eyed.  “What?”

“You asked what I recommended you take.  I recommend you take me out,” she shrugged nonchalantly, but the grin was devilish.

Jason opened his mouth and closed it again. “Any other day, beautiful.  Any other day I’d say yes, but I’m kind of working on someone else and I’m a one woman man.”

Marinette looked at him for a few seconds, a brilliant smile beaming at his response.  

“Thanks for helping out, Sweetie,” her mom called coming from the back room.  “I think we have it covered now.  Oh,” she looked up at Jason, then at Marinette’s smile, and back to Jason. She smirked at the two.  “I think you should be able to take off now, get to your real job.”

Marinette nodded and took her apron off, stowing it under the counter.  “Thanks, Maman.” She leaned up and kissed her cheek before making her way around the counter. Jason turned to her as she walked out, watching her as she moved.  She paused a few feet in front of him.  “I have to admit, you impressed me after all.”  

She smiled sweetly at him before moving to the door.  She turned back at the last second, twirling to face him.  “But you flirted much better with the helmet.”  She winked at him and disappeared through the door.

Her mom chuckled before clearing her throat. “Anything I can help you with, dear?”

Jason turned to her blankly, still processing what Marinette had said, after a second he smiled and rushed to the door.  “No, thank you ma’am.  I have some dibs to collect on.”

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