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intercoursefluids · 1 year

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Secret Santa

As soon as Damian saw the crowd at the end of the hallway, he turned around and walked the other way.

There was only one reason so many people would be smiling together in Gotham.

And that reason was Marinette Dupain-Cheng.

Ever since Marinette had transferred schools it was like the entire school had become infected with her cheerfulness.

It was nauseating.

As Damian took another turn he was forced to come face to face with Jonathan Kent who was, unfortunately, his best friend.

Even more so unfortunate, was the fact that he and Marinette got along like a house on fire.

Jon’s face positively lit up when he spotted Damian.

“Damian!”

Damian promptly turned on his heel, heading for the nearest set of doors leading outside.

“Damian, wait up!”

“No.”

Jon caught up to him anyway, bumping him with his shoulder when he was able to match his walking speed.

“Where you going? Don’t tell me you, the great Damian Wayne, are running away from Marinette again.”

There was obvious amusement in Jon’s voice, amusement Damian elected to ignore.

“Running away and avoiding someone are two very different things. As to where I am going, I was trying to get away from two of the biggest nuisances in my life, seeing as you are still here, I only partially succeeded.”

“Well, at least you got close-”

A loud boom cuts Jon off, causing him to cover his ears and cringe in pain before they both realize what had happened.

There had been an explosion in the school.

From the same direction Damian had last seen Marinette.

Damian turns on his heel, sprinting back the way he came with a hurried ‘Marinette!’ tossed over his shoulder to Jon.

Both boys race back towards Marinette, dodging the students rushing down the hall and ducking around the teachers who tried to herd them outside.

When they turned the corner it was abundantly clear just how strong the blast had been, pieces of rubble littered the floor, one of the walls of lockers had become unbolted and had trapped someone underneath.

Someone with pink ribbons in her hair.

“Marinette! Jon, help me move this!”

While Jon held up the structure Damian reached underneath, pulling Marinette out from under it and holding her against him, one hand against her throat, checking her pulse, and the other on her chest, trying to feel her breaths.

Only after Damian had confirmed that she was alive did he allow himself to relax, however temporary it was.

“She’s okay.”

Damian sighed, leaning back against some rubble and allowing Jon to look Marinette over with his X-ray vision.

Jon breathed a sigh of relief, planting his hands on his knees.

“Yeah, she looks okay, except for her leg, I think it's broken.”

Damian sighed into her hair, passing her off to Jon so he could stand before taking her back in his arms again.

Both boys started walking back down the hall, trying to find their way outside when they saw the flickers of fire getting closer to them.

Damian took deep breaths as he allowed Jon to lead them outside, it was fine, Marinette was fine, she would be fine.

They had barely made it outside when Marinette started to stir, shifting in Damian’s arms before letting out a small whimper.

“It’s alright, Marinette. I- we got you out. You will be fine.”

Damian started brushing his thumb up and down her arm trying to soothe her while studiously ignoring Jon’s pointed looks in his direction.

Marinette, wrapped her arms around his neck, tucking her head under his chin.

“...Safe?”

Her voice was weak and scratchy, as if it hurt to talk.

It bothered him.

“Yes, you’re safe. I promise.”

When they finally made it to the ambulance, Damian had a harder time letting go of her than he would like to admit. Not that anyone but Jon could tell at least.

_____________

Damian hadn’t been able to see her until the next day, and even then she had slept well past noon, only to wake up after Damian had already been there for the better part of 2 hours.

Damian’s family had been relentless in making fun of him for his worry (Constantly pacing the hallway waiting for permission to go see her and jumping every time someone startled him), but Damian knew they were just as concerned for her as he was.

The rest of the family was in the hallway, talking to Marinette’s parents on the phone when she had finally woken up.

“Da…mian?”

Damian’s head snapped up, startled to see her awake already despite how relieved he was that she finally opened her eyes.

“Hey.”

Damian did his best not to cringe at his response.

“Glad to see you awake, Marinette.”

She nodded, trying for a smile before cringing and putting a hand to her throat.

Damian was up in an instant, reaching for the pitcher and cup and pouring her a cup of water. He had to pour her two more cups before she could try to speak.

“...Thank you.”

Damian nodded, taking his seat beside her bed again and sending a quick text to Jon telling him she had woken up.

“The doctor said you had a bunch of plaster stuck to your throat, don’t speak if it hurts. I can get you a notebook or something to communicate with until you feel better?”

Marinette shook her head, staring intently at him before holding out her hand.

Staring at her in confusion Damian passes her whatever is currently in his hand, which ends up being his cellphone.

Marinette groans, setting his phone beside her and holding out her hand again.

Damian grows more confused as he tries to reach for the water pitcher beside him only for her to violently shake her head no.

With a sigh Marinette holds up her other hand, pointing at it before reaching out for him again.

Damian hesitantly puts his hand in hers, still not sure if he understood her right.

Evidently he understood her correctly when she laced their fingers together and cleared her throat.

“...Why- Why did you-?”

“Ah, you remember that? It’s not like I could just leave you there?”

Marinette’s eyes filled with tears.

“I thought you hated me?”

Damina froze, eyes wide as he peered up at her.

“I’ve never hated you, Marinette? Why did you think I did?”

Tears leak from her eyes and Damian’s heart clenches, immediately feeling like shit.

“Y-you always leave when you see me, and you refuse to be near me-”

“-That’s not because of you.” Damian cut her off.

“I always leave because there are always people surrounding you. It had nothing to do with you yourself. You’re too… nice, Marinette. I can’t stand watching all of those people who take advantage of that, so I leave. I don’t hate you.”

Marinette sniffles, squeezing his hand.

“O-oh.”

Marinette lets go, wiping her face and opening her mouth before she gets cut off by the door opening.

“Marinette! You’re alive!”

Jon’s hair is tousled, obviously having just flown to the hospital.

Marinette smiles at him and Damian decides to take the chance to grab something to eat and call the nurse over.

Marinette smiles at him as he leaves, a smile that Damian returns before walking out of the room.

Damian walks around for a bit before grabbing a bag of chips from the vending machine and a bottle of water and heading back.

Damian is almost back to the room by the time he finishes the chips, quickly disposing of the bag and taking a drink of water as he opens the door to the room and walks in.

“-When are you going to tell Damian you have a crush on him?”

Damian sputters, faintly aware of the fact that Marinette squeaks and turns bright red as she notices him.

“D-Damian! I- He- Jon’s an idiot, we both know this!”

Damian can’t help the small smile on his face, slowly regaining his composure before walking over to her.

“You have a crush on me?”

Marinette sputters, ‘accidentally’ smacking Jon in the face as she flails.

“Well- JOn was just- Jon was just messing with me and-”

Damian leaned in closer, gently bumping her head with his.

“That wasn’t a denial, Marinette.”

Marinette blushed bright red, sputtering for a moment before seeming to give up on words.

Damian grins, gently pressing a kiss on her forehead.

“I would like to ask you to be my girlfriend, if you do actually have a crush on me that is.”

Marinette nods, looking down and leaning against him.

Damian presses another kiss to her head turning to look at Jon who was grinning like a maniac.

“Oh yeah, Jon? You should run, you embarrassed my girlfriend.”

Jon keeps smiling, staying absolutely still before bloating out of his chair and down the hall.

With one final kiss and smile at Marinette Damian takes off after him.

@arty-shadow-morningstar

#maribat au #daminette december

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 9 months

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Mercy

Summary: Cass sees a pair of mers struggling in a trap, and so she helps them out. The mers see Cass struggling with her dad, and so they return the favor.

Mer au for AU August by @maribat-calendar-events

If nothing else, Cass would like to go on the record saying that she wasn’t stupid.

Normally, you might not have to state things like this but, unfortunately, many of her decisions as of late might suggest otherwise. She wasn’t stupid. She just… yeah…

Anyways.

It was early in the morning, too early for even the sun to think about rising, too early for it to really be considered ‘early’. But it wasn’t late, either, not anymore, really. It was just past three in the morning. That perfect in-between where no one should be up, and they certainly shouldn’t be out.

Cassandra Cain was out.

She knew she shouldn’t be – in the same way that people spot a tiger out in the wild and, even if they have never seen it before, even if they have no clue what it is, they still always, always run. It was dangerous, she could feel it in her bones. Three o’clock was the devil’s hour, and leaving the safety of her bedroom was tempting fate.

She would take her chances, though. Better this than being home, alone, for the next month and a half. The saying goes “the devil you know”, but sometimes people get bored of dealing with the same thing over and over again.

Her feet skipped as they jumped from rock to rock. The waves lapped at the shore. The seashells reflected the light of her flashlight. The beach. It was quite possibly her favorite place to be. Not that she was allowed to go many places, really, so that wasn’t all that impressive, but it still had to count for something, right?

And, besides, the rule was that she wasn’t allowed to talk to people. At night, there were no people, so she technically wasn’t breaking any rules.

It was peaceful.

Until it wasn’t.

She wasn’t quite sure what had piqued her attention first. The sound, maybe? The quiet clicking and hissing and metal scraping against metal and splashing. It was hard to miss.

Or maybe she just knew. Maybe it was the distinct wrongness settling over her the moment she got too close. Some instinctual knowledge that there was something nearby.

Whatever it was, this is where she made her first stupid decision: getting closer.

Which was how she found them.

They had clearly made some kind of effort to hide themselves. Hiding among the rocks and seaweed. The waves pulled at them, trying to tug them in. But they didn’t go, because they couldn’t. One of the two, the one with shaggy blond hair, was caught in what looked to be an old anchor chain, wound around his chest, trapping his legs and one arm to his stomach. The other, with black hair pulled into a delicate bun dotted with seashells, was clearly trying to help, tugging frantically at the bindings, but it only seemed to make things worse.

And Cass would have helped. You don’t have to speak to help someone, it could have been fine.

If the constantly churning waves didn’t draw her gaze. If she didn’t see one mer’s long tail, glimmering in the light. If her flashlight didn’t make them follow the thin beam of brightness back to her. If their pupils didn’t dilate, showing off their lack of irises and yellow sclera.

She made a squeaking noise in the back of her throat. The hand holding her flashlight couldn’t seem to stop shaking.

The one with the tail made a clicking sound in the back of her throat, before smacking her maybe-friend upside the head.

The one with legs gave a surprisingly human expression, pouting and moving his free hand in a way that looked somewhat like sign language, if stilted. Maybe he was used to signing with both hands, maybe the language wasn’t natural to him.

Not that Cass cared at the moment.

Both of them were clearly arguing, their hands waving wildly, clicking occasionally in a sharp way that could only ever be read as angry… which meant that Cass should run.

She took a half-step back. Not daring to look away from the two creatures that she had come across, for fear of them sneaking closer.

This was never a good thing to do when you’re standing on a rock, at the beach, surrounded by seaweed.

She shrieked, going up in a flurry of arms and nightclothes and the damned seaweed that she had slipped on. Her elbows and back screamed their protest as she was scraped over the rocks, and even all of her dad’s stealth training didn’t keep her from nearly smashing her head open. She gave a small hiss of pain, trying not to think about how much blood she could feel running down her back.

It was easy to ignore. Mainly because those strange eyes turned back onto her.

There was a few moments of awkward silence.

“Heeeeeeeyyyy,” the boy tried, going for his best winning smile, waving a webbed hand as if they were just random strangers that had happened to meet on the beach.

Maybe it would have worked if Cass wasn’t reeling from the fact that they could speak human language. But she didn’t get much time to process that at all.

“If you get any closer, I’m going to rip you,” the lady mer said, baring too-sharp teeth. The effect was dampened by the fact that knife-like claws were still scrabbling frantically at the chains, but only slightly.

Cass started to scramble backward on her hands and feet.

This did not please the mer either, as her eyes narrowed. “And if you try to run and get your human friends, I’m going to hit you with a rock.”

Cass was going to stay firmly in place, actually. That seemed like the best plan.

The mer breathed a quiet sigh of relief, and Cass was surprised to find that she didn’t seem all that affected by the fact that she was out of water.

Neither of them seemed all that affected, really. The girl seemed to be more affected, the line of gills on the side of her neck flapping helplessly, but she didn’t show any signs of discomfort, and her lips certainly weren’t turning blue or eliciting desperate gasps for water. The boy didn’t even seem to care, lounging as best one can when sitting on uncomfortable rocks and bound in chains.

Their frustration seemed to only stem from their inability to break the chains. The boy kept saying something, over and over, but he was ignored every time. Instead, the girl tried everything she could think of. Splashing him with water to try and get him wet enough to wriggle out, trying to rip the chains with a mix of sharp claws and even sharper teeth, bashing the chains with a rock…

It was… pitiful, really.

Cass wanted to help.

But Cass also knew she wasn’t supposed to talk to people.

And, just like that, a tiny loophole formed in her mind. She knew the reason for The Rule, knew that it was less about her talking to others, and more about her father’s fear of the unknown, his fear that she would get stolen away by the creatures of the night in the same way her mother had. She knew that he was only fearful of the fact that she would be tricked by someone who only seemed human, at first glance… but, hey. He had only ever told her not to talk to people.

Mers weren’t people.

“There’s…” Cass began, and her voice broke. The sound scraped against the walls of her throat, aching in a way she hated. It was always at its worst when her father was out on his hunts, because then she couldn’t talk to anyone at all, her vocal cords atrophied from disuse, and at that exact moment she wished she hadn’t tried at all. But the two mers’ heads snapped to her, waiting, and she wasn’t going to get out of this based on the cold glare in the female mer’s eyes. “I might have bolt cutters at my house.”

This was a bit of a lie. She had said that she might have bolt cutters, but it really wasn’t a might kind of situation. The trap that the mer had fallen into was her father’s, and he always had a way to get out of those things stored away in his shed.

The mers exchanged somewhat wary glances.

The female mer narrowed her eyes, making a quiet sound that Cass couldn’t even dream of replicating.

The male made a clicking sound, a warning of his own.

She bared her teeth.

He smiled. It showed off a set of wicked fangs, though his were simply long, sharp canines, surrounded by a row of otherwise perfectly normal teeth. One of them was missing.

She made a grunting sound that could only ever be interpreted as frustration, but finally threw her hands up, letting the chains fall from her fingers and clink together again, and motioned for Cass to go.

She made to move.

And then a high-pitched singing started.

Instantly, Cass knew what was happening. She had heard many a time of the mer. Her father had said that they were some of the least dangerous creatures, but only because they usually preferred to stay away from humans. When bothered, they were some of the most deadly. Every single type of mer – because the term was, really, just a broad term made to refer to the creatures of the sea – was deadly in its own way. The sea was unforgiving, and so were its creatures. Sea monsters would capsize vessels that were too noisy with a lazy swipe of their hand before returning to their slumber. The gods of the sea were known to be mercurial at best, changing the waters from perfectly calm to whirlpools if they were particularly bored that day. Sea serpents would crush even boats made of the sturdiest wood, or even just swallow them whole if they didn’t feel like fighting for their meal.

Sirens would sing, and humans would find themselves getting dragged into the water by their own two feet, only able to watch on in horror as they were puppeted around, unable to stop themselves from drowning.

But she didn’t go towards the water at all.

She felt herself tread the familiar path up to her home. Every thought she might have had slipped through her fingers like water. Her gaze flitted past the traps littering the lawn, the familiar harpoons, the array of iron and silver weapons, the wards and runes and –.

Her foot stepped over a specific rune.

Air filled her lungs again. Her stomach churned more than the waves. Her legs collapsed beneath her weight, and wrinkled hands were all that kept her from breaking her nose on the wood floors. It felt as if she keeled over to puke, as she so wanted to do, she would only find salty seawater.

But this wasn’t what made horror wash over her.

No, it was that the spell over her had been broken.

And the mer probably knew.

She wasn’t sure how much time she would have before the mer were gone.

They had tricked her, yes. Forced her to do something against her will.

But they had looked so… scared. And it wasn’t like she didn’t get it. They were right, after all. Her eyes caught on the harpoon hanging above the doorframe. It was a staple in any house near a beach. The pair of mer had been lucky to be found by her, rather than anyone else.

She scrambled along the rocks, hugging the tool to her chest. Later, she would regret this, as she would find herself covered in a myriad of scrapes and bruises and a deep cut on her left leg that oozed yellow, but now she didn’t care.

They were leaving. The girl was wrapped around her friend, her tail looped over him multiple times, dragging them both further into the water with trembling arms. Her gaze was on the horizon, eyes narrowed, quietly mulling over what they could do once they were in the water and she would need her tail. The boy was chittering nervously.

“I HAVE IT,” she yelled, and the sound was both terrible and amazing as it tore itself out of her throat.

The mers’ heads snapped to her. The girl swung herself around her friend, blocking him from sight, baring her teeth and claws.

Cass held up the bolt cutters.

It was… a slow process. Both of them were wary, looking around for anyone she might have brought with her. Neither seemed pleased about the bolt cutters being so close to them, either, shying away every time she approached.

She didn’t mind.

Up close, she got to see much more.

The girl was a traditional siren, unearthly in her beauty. Her tail started relatively high on her body, scales dotting even up to her cheeks, getting more frequent the lower down they went. By the time they got to her chest, there wasn’t anything human about her at all. Instead, there was a gorgeous tail, a mix of red, white, and orange, with the occasional speck of black. A couple of long, spiny fins decorated her body, with the one at the tip of her tail being the largest. With her lips pressed into a thin line and her nails curled into fists, nervous but trying to hide it, only succeeding in hiding her most dangerous traits, the mer didn’t look quite as scary.

The boy… well, Cass wasn’t quite sure what he was. If she hadn’t known better, she would think he was human. If her gaze didn’t keep catching on the webbed hands and toes, on the gills at his neck, on the lack of color in his eyes, on the sharp teeth that bit at his lips every time the bolt cutters neared… she would have been fooled. It wasn’t like those couldn’t be hidden, either. It was strange. She had never encountered anything like him before.

But… she would guess that he was a god. The nearly human appearance, the ethereal beauty hanging around his head in a way that almost haloed his slightly-too-pink face, the pleasant smile, the jewelry hanging from every part of him that he could manage to place it. The way that none of it completely masked the strange coolness of his eyes when he looked at her, just a little too smart, just a little too calculated.

There was no way, though, right? A god would simply break the things binding him. Even a young one would not be trapped by something like this for long.

Which sent her back to the drawing board – but she had forgotten how to hold her pen. How do you categorize something you had never seen?

She didn’t know.

She didn’t even know if they knew their classification. The girl’s English had been stilted, and the boy had only spoken a single word. And, even if they did know a word for themselves, she had her doubts that the term would be anything kind.

So, she kept her mouth shut, and finally managed to release the mer from his bindings.

Both of them seemed… surprised, to say the least. Strange, iris-less eyes stared at her, both of them soundless. Motionless, even as the waves tugged at them insistently, as if trying to drag them back in before the sun could tint the horizon pink.

Slowly, but surely, they both inched away from her, into the sea. She stayed as still as she could, nerves clawing up her throat. As long as real claws didn’t find their way to it, though, she thought that this would be fine.

Slowly, they crept back into the water, until only their heads could be seen.

She glanced back the way she came.

“Thank you,” the boy said, a hand coming out of the water to wave.

Cass waved back, if weakly.

She didn’t need to do more, though, the mer seemed pleased regardless. He shot her a toothy grin before ducking beneath the waves, disappearing off towards… wherever they were from.

The lady mer squinted at Cass for just a moment more, lips drawn into that thin line once again. Not quite as scared this time, just thinking.

After a few moments, she nodded her head in vague acknowledgment of the human back on the shore, and dove under.

Cass stayed there, watching the water, the sun rising on the horizon, casting the world in a pleasant shade of red, for another hour.

Her second mistake was this: she kept going back.

Day after day, night after night, she found herself walking along the rocks, eyes scanning the water, in search of the two strange creatures that she had come across. She might claim that it was habit, that she went out this way all the time. It might even be true. But it wasn’t the main reason.

No, she was simply… curious.

Her dad had always been interested in the creatures of the night, and she supposed that it was inevitable that she would pick it up. At least she wasn’t intent on taking one of those harpoons and driving it through their chests like he would if he found out that a pair of mer had come so close to their house.

No, she just… wanted to know more.

She really wanted to see them again.

It took eight days.

On the ninth, a head finally poked out. It was the girl, her head bobbing, the bottom half of her face hidden beneath the waves, her eyebrows drawn together in what was either frustration or concern. Cass was hoping for concern. Even if the mer interested her, she was still very much wary of the long, clawed fingers and sharp teeth.

“Why do you keep looking?”

Cass blushed. She wanted to say that she didn’t even know herself. But that would be a lie. And a lie would be… bad, considering her reasoning was this:

“Lonely.”

The mers weren’t good company. Especially not this one, who had been so openly hostile. But they were company. Cass’s father wouldn’t be coming back for another month or so, and she wanted oh-so-desperately to have some human contact.

Or inhuman contact. She couldn’t afford to be picky.

The mer seemed to consider this for a long moment.

And then she sighed and, with a couple of languid curls of her tail, came to rest her arms on a rock by Cass’s feet. “No friends?”

Cass shook her head, carefully taking a seat, her legs drawn up to her chest, her chin resting on her knees. “Not allowed to talk to people.”

She got a confused look in return. A clawed finger pointed at herself.

“Well, I don’t think you’d tell on me if you saw him.”

Because you’d have bigger problems.

“Might,” the mer said, something like a smirk on her face, her tail curling to splash water over Cass’s feet.

And, despite the fact that some part of her was worried sick about all of this, she couldn’t help but laugh a little.

The girl’s name was Marinette – or, at least, she explained that it was the name she used when talking with humans. Her real name was a low humming sound, but it was kind of hard for a siren to hum its name in front of a human, as their eyes would instantly begin to glaze over, so she had gone with a pretty name a French sailor had once given her. A cute marine animal, a marinette.

Her English was decent enough, hardly surprising considering sirens did tend to live near the shorelines.

But not because they liked to eat humans, as Marinette quickly explained once she registered that, while Cass was just generally nervous about this whole ordeal, she was also a little bit scared of her.

“The water is calmer here, easier for our children to learn to swim. Don’t worry. Humans don’t taste good.”

While Cass had to admit it was soothing to know she wouldn’t be eaten for the fun of it…

“Why do you know what humans taste like?!”

Marinette gave her a flat look. “Humans don’t like sirens. Can’t just let them hurt us because they want to. Sometimes you have to bite them. Or worse.”

Quietly, Cass wondered whether sirens’ ability to control humans had been there all along, or whether it was an adaptive trait that had developed for their own safety. Or whether that even mattered. If Marinette wasn’t just an exception, and the sirens only used their powers in self-defense (because Cass had been put under the spell and had come out of it without dying, it clearly wasn’t made only for the sake of drowning people like the stories liked to say), then what did that say about everyone else? Did they know?

Did her dad know?

She knew he wasn’t great, but… to be fair, Cass’s mom had been stolen away by the faerie. It was fair to be cautious about anything that wasn’t human since he had already lost one person he cared about to them.

But mer weren’t faerie. They weren’t known for stealing people away for nefarious purposes. So, was having all of those harpoons back home really necessary?

Well, this was all just an awkward line of thought, and even more awkward as a line of conversation, considering just who Cass’s father was and what the person in front of her happened to be. New topic.

Cass cast her eyes around determinedly for something to talk about, and ended up pointing at the bracelet on Marinette’s wrist. “Is that from your friend? He likes jewelry, right? Did he give you this one?”

Marinette looked down. She tipped her head from side to side, neither a yes nor a no, before taking it off.

Cass lifted a hand to take it and examine it more closely, but she was quickly batted away from it.

“No. Only mine,” Marinette said, not quite baring her teeth but certainly coming close. “You may look, though.”

Cass nodded, however hesitantly, and kept her hands firmly behind her back as she leaned forward once again to inspect the golden bracelet.

There were three charms tied onto the gold but, upon closer inspection, they weren’t ‘charms’ at all.

“They’re from my family,” Marinette explained. She pointed to a red scale. “Mom.” A pink one. “Dad.” Something white. “Baby.”

Cass leaned even closer, trying to figure out what the white thing was. It wasn’t a scale. It glimmered in the light, but it shimmered differently than the scales did. It was kind of oddly shaped, too, like –.

“Is that a tooth?!”

“He lost it anyways!” Marinette defended herself as best she could.

And, despite the mild horror at seeing a tooth being proudly displayed on someone’s wrist, she couldn’t help but laugh at Marinette’s expression.

Eventually, upon seeing the boy mer again, once Marinette had decided that she trusted Cass enough to let them within twenty feet of each other, she realized that he was the ‘Baby’. Because he shot her a toothy grin, and she realized once again that there was a gap in it.

She wasn’t, exactly, sure why he was considered a ‘Baby’ when he was about the same age as Cass, and not that much younger than Marinette, but these were mers. Cass couldn’t say she was super knowledgeable about mer family dynamics.

So, she brushed past it in favor of proper introductions.

The boy had made a series of clicking and high screeching sounds when asked for his name. Cass’s vocal cords were not made for that, so she listened to him say his name over and over again until her ears got tricked into hearing a name within the incomprehensible sounds: Adrien.

The boy didn’t speak at all, really, English or otherwise. Apparently, in the same way that Cass’s vocal cords weren’t made for clicking or screeching in a way that helped with echolocation, his vocal cords were almost nonexistent. He was a sea monster, though a young one, and it was common for sea monsters to leave their children to fend for themselves, so there was no reason for their species to be able to ‘speak’ at all. The only reason Adrien had as much of a ‘voice’ as he did was that Marinette had found him one day and decided to adopt him. Sirens were very vocal creatures, and Adrien had been young enough to learn to mimic some of the sounds.

Or, at least, that was what Cass thinks they were trying to say. Again, there were three separate language barriers going on.

“Baby,” she said, curling her tail around Adrien’s waist.

Adrien huffed.

He made a series of sounds, stretching his hands out wide so Cass could get the general idea of what he was saying: he would be big one day.

Marinette looked a little bummed at the reminder, so it was probably true. She squeezed tighter.

“I will keep you small,” she said. “Squeeze you so you can’t grow.”

Adrien tipped his head back and groaned.

“Are you his mom?” Cass teased.

Marinette huffed, amused, making a so-so motion with her hand. Adrien, however, nodded fervently, grinning cheekily in a way that suggested that he, too, was teasing Marinette more than sincerely answering the question.

Marinette retaliated by squeezing him harder, making the boy squeak and start trying to escape her evil, parental clutches.

It turned out that Marinette’s ‘motherlyness’ was not limited to Adrien, either, because a few days later Marinette tossed a fish onto the rocks and told her to “eat”.

Cass stared at her for a long time, unsure what to do about the slimy thing that now lay at her feet.

“What?”

“Tiny,” said Marinette, narrowing her eyes at her. “Need fish.”

Cass sighed. Whatever. Fine. She might as well go with it. “I need to cook it, or else I’ll get sick.”

The two mer looked very confused by this, and Cass realized belatedly that they probably wouldn’t have a concept for cooking. Unless they had happened across some heat vents underwater, which were neither common nor something that cold-blooded creatures were likely to stick around for long, the chances were that they ate all of their food completely raw.

She sighed. “Hold on.”

And this was how Cass found herself sitting cross-legged on a rock, carefully maintaining a fire. Which should have been decently easy, if she wasn’t also tasked with making sure the mers didn’t touch the flames (something that was surprisingly difficult despite the mers’ constant complaints that it was too hot) or accidentally drip water onto it and put it out.

She narrowed her eyes at Adrien, who was the main culprit, still turning her fish around and around over the fire to make sure it heated correctly.

“You must let him learn,” Marinette said. She was, perhaps, a little salty about the tiny burn she had received on the tip of her nose, which was what had started Cass’s new job camping out over the fire to make sure they didn’t hurt themselves further.

“That seems mean,” Cass chided lightly. “Aren’t you kind of his mom? Just tell him not to.”

“It is better for him. His species does not… do families, often. They are supposed to learn.”

There was a moment of hesitation.

“How did you guys even meet? Aren’t sea monsters supposed to… be way out in the water? And I thought sirens stay close to the shore.”

“Know a lot,” said Adrien, not quite suspicious, but perhaps confused.

Cass shrugged to hide some of the way her ears started creeping up to her shoulders. “Everyone near the shore knows a lot about the mer,” she said, which wasn’t exactly a lie, but it certainly wasn’t the truth, either.

Marinette eyed her posture for a moment, her lips pursing, but seemingly dismissed the thought with a tiny shake of her head. She reached over to Adrien and gave a tiny tug at one of the bangles around his wrist. “He likes – uh – shinies – jewelry.”

Adrien huffed a little. Cass thought that, if mer could blush, the boy certainly would have. Instead, he crossed his arms over his chest and glowered at his friend.

She only smiled back at him. “He went into a ship that had…” She made a crashing motion with her hands, and Cass winced a little. “Wanted more. But the ship broke. He got stuck.”

“She helped,” Adrien said.

“Now he’s baby,” she said firmly.

Adrien looked away in clear embarrassment, making a quiet grunting sound of disapproval. But, when Marinette grinned and reached up to his ear, where a single orange scale hung from his earlobe much like an earring, he made no moves to brush her off.

Instead, he made a quick movement to touch the fire. Which he quickly regretted. He sent Cass a look of pure and utter betrayal.

“I told you not to touch it,” she sighed.

Adrien didn’t seem to care, as he pouted for the rest of the night.

Until she offered up some of the cooked fish, and he immediately took a liking to the idea of cooked food.

Well, perhaps not immediately, his expression upon first contact with the warm piece of meat was something akin to disgust. But, at her prodding, he reluctantly put the food in his mouth.

He lit up.

The next day, she found several fish laid across the rocks and a pleading expression.

She groaned a little and turned back around to go get more kindling and a set of flint and steel.

It was as they were all eating later, that they once again expressed interest in the fact that she was human.

Not in the cooking way. Adrien was happily chowing down on his fish, and Marinette had refused the idea of cooked food in favor of tearing open a crustacean with her teeth and claws. They were satisfied with what they knew about human cuisine, at least for now.

No, Cass jumped when she felt a clawed finger prod at her leg, and found Adrien smiling sheepishly.

“Swim?” Adrien croaked. “How?”

“A lot of people can’t,” Cass admitted, shrugging her shoulders. “But I can show you how I do it.”

Adrien nodded eagerly, grinning.

Cass glanced down at her outfit, an old set that had once belonged to her father, and decided that she didn’t care enough to go and find a swimsuit. She had a fire going, anyways, and the stuff to rekindle it it happened to go out while she was in the water. She would dry off quickly, and if the clothes got ruined by the salt then it really wasn’t something she cared about anyways.

So, she toed off her sandals and stepped out into the water.

“Oh, it’s so weird,” Marinette warned him. “Humans have boats because they can’t swim right.”

Cass shot her a glare.

But, she had to admit, she did feel slightly graceless in comparison to the pair of mer. Slow enough that Adrien, too excited to wait, was already bobbing amongst the waves, and Marinette was able to swim in front of her, picking out the best places for her to step. Getting nearly bowled over by the, admittedly small, waves where the mer didn’t even seem to register the push and pull of the water. Constantly bogged down by her clothes and wet hair.

Of course, she understood that, at the very least, Marinette wasn’t exactly graceful on land, either, lugging her tail along with her and occasionally having to duck back under the waves to get some ‘air’.

But, still, sometimes she forgot that she wasn’t really one of them. It was strange, considering just how different the three of them were thanks to their completely different cultures and languages, but she had started to forget that she wasn’t just messing around with anyone she might see in town.

And, so, it was kind of jarring to see the pair in their natural element, where she did not belong.

Especially because Adrien looked genuinely horrified by just how much movement was involved in swimming.

“Gross. Don’t get why you humans don’t just float,” Marinette joked.

Cass couldn’t help but laugh a little. But, hey, if they wanted to see her ‘float’, there was a human version of that. She spread her body out starfish-style and allowed herself to bob in the water. Luckily, the water wasn’t too bad that day, the waves barely buffeted at her and she was at very little risk of it splashing over her face.

“No,” said Adrien, hands coming up to cover his mouth.

A tail came to wind around her waist, and she yelped as she was ‘righted’ in the water, the strange appendage curling itself under her thighs to give her a way to ‘sit’.

It would be remarkably easy to drown her like this.

But they’d had many opportunities over the past few weeks, and the grip the mer had on her was still remarkably gentle, and it reminded her so much of the way Marinette would sometimes squeeze Adrien.

“Being replaced,” Adrien joked, shaking his head with a false pout.

And, despite all of the whispers of warning that echoed in her mind, in a voice that she knew but didn’t really belong to her, she couldn’t help but rest her elbows on the tail and her head in her hands and grin at the pair of them.

“Can’t help that I’m the favorite child, Adrien,” she said, sticking her tongue out.

Adrien huffed and turned his head away.

Marinette giggled and reached up, tugging gently on Adrien’s earring. “Hush.” She squeezed Cass just slightly tighter, but it felt more like a hug than a genuine reprimand. “Both of you.”

She smiled.

Maybe she was one of them after all.

Because why would a pair made up of two completely different species that called each other family care that she had happened to be born on land?

But, of course, all good things must come to an end.

Cass’ father came home.

Without her mother, as always. He always left, and he always came back without her. Her father claimed that he would get her back eventually, that humans would always prevail in the end due to their characteristic persistence, but Cass had always wondered why the man would expect a species known for having eternal life to not also have endless patience.

The man didn’t know as much about the creatures of the night as he claimed.

But he did know some things.

And he noticed that the gravel that usually lined her voice wasn’t there. And he checked the traps and found that one of them had been triggered and subsequently broken.

These two facts could, of course, be completely unrelated. In most people’s minds, they would be.

But not in David Cain’s.

And the man had always been good at reading her body language. He could tell that, when she was confronted about this, she was guilty.

“You’re just like your mother,” he hissed, like it was a curse. “But you won’t be running.”

‘Running’. Not ‘getting stolen’.

A hand came to rest on her shoulder, grip just slightly too tight to be seen as caring. No, this was possessive. “If you won’t stay away, then I guess I’ll have to make sure you have nothing to run away to.”

She sat in her room, metal chains digging into her leg. He had repurposed one of the mer traps, fittingly enough, tying her leg to the end of her bed. The chain was long, she could walk around her room, could even get to the bathroom, and she took full advantage of this. She had never been one to stay cooped up.

Her father had insisted it was temporary.

And it would be. Cass would make sure of that.

She grabbed the bolt cutters out from under her bed.

She’d never bothered to take it back to the shed after that first day meeting the mer, instead opting to keep it close in case they happened to get trapped again.

She didn’t use them yet, wouldn’t dare to do so when her dad was still home, frantically rushing about downstairs, gathering supplies to try and kill the people that had been more family than he had ever been. She could hear him talking to a neighbor – because he had always insisted that, despite the fact that she wasn’t allowed to talk to strangers, he would be safe – asking for permission to use their boat for the next few days or so. Pages turned and pencils scratched on parchment as he wrote down every rune he might need.

The walls were thin. He would hear the click of the bolt cutters.

But he didn’t pay any mind to the sound of her gathering everything she might need. Clothes, some flint and steel (she only needed one, it would last for quite a while and there was likely a myriad of untouched rocks and minerals on the sea floor that she could ask Marinette and Adrien to get), a small knife to prepare any food that Adrien or Marinette might bring, a swimsuit, a way to filter seawater…

She wasn’t quiet, didn’t bother muffling the sound of drawers opening and closing or her chain clinking with every step. But her dad hardly cared.

Why would he care? The lawn was littered with traps, and they would be left there to suffocate or starve. The house was warded to keep the mer out. If they managed to get past that, then they’d be walking right up to her father, presenting themselves to be slaughtered.

The house was warded to keep things out.

Despite her father’s paranoia, it was not made to keep someone in.

And if her father had wanted her to not run away, perhaps he should have given her a reason to stay.

So, two days later when her father left briefly to greet their neighbor and assure the boat was large enough to hold everything he would need to take on the mer that ‘infested’ their waters, she unclipped herself and snuck out, a blanket filled with her things over her shoulder.

Thanks for the boat, ‘dad’, she thought as she pushed off.

It didn’t take long for them to find her.

Adrien was first, his head poking above the water for just a moment, his eyes wide as he looked at her. He looked her up and down once, and then ducked underwater and started screaming.

Marinette was there within minutes.

Cass was relieved to see they were both perfectly fine.

She could tell they were relieved, too, because they dragged themselves onto the boat to check her over, lamenting her disappearance and how Marinette was pretty sure that she had gotten thinner and Adrien’s mumbling about how she was ‘okayokayokay’.

Once they had confirmed that she wasn’t hurt, and once she had been told several times that they literally couldn’t hide injuries from her seeing as neither of them really wore clothes, the inevitable question was asked:

“What happened?”

Cass leaned back against Marinette. The mer had wrapped around her and Adrien about an hour ago and very clearly would not be letting go until she needed water – maybe, she seemed like she just might drag them both under for the minute she would need to recuperate. Adrien had taken to this position immediately, and she couldn’t find it in herself to complain too much about him resting his head over her heart so he could listen to her heartbeat.

It was comfortable.

She didn’t want to ruin it.

But Adrien drew back just slightly to tilt his head at her and Marinette gave her an expectant look.

She explained everything. Things she had known for ages but had kept from them for fear of their reactions, like her father’s ‘job’ hunting down anything that was more than human. Things she had put together recently, like how her mother had seemingly been ‘taken’ by the fae of her own volition. The things that were hard to even think about, like what had driven her to disappear to sea in the first place.

They listened, perfectly understanding despite it all, but that just made it worse.

Because, if they understood, if they sympathized, that made her dare to hope that this might work.

She didn’t want to be wrong.

But she had to ask.

“Please, take care of me!” Cass said, tears building in her eyes. Her whole plan hinged on this. If they said no, then there was nothing she could do. She would have to go home, have to face a punishment (whatever that may be). Or maybe she would just stay adrift until she inevitably died of malnutrition. She might be able to get some other human family to take care of her, but if these two mer she had seemingly endeared herself to said no then was there any hope of anyone saying yes?

But her fears were unfounded, as they often were with the mer:

“Of course,” Marinette said, squeezing them tighter.

Adrien buried his face in the crook of her neck. “You’re family.”

~~~~~~~~~

End note:

Listen that felt like a good place to end the story. However. I have more ideas so feel free to read if you’re interested

They take Cass to a deserted island with a hidden cenote that they visit her in, and she makes herself a house and place to stay. Mer don’t usually stay in one place for long, they’d really only lingered in an underwater cave by Cass’s house as long as they had because they were curious about her (which turned into a heck of an attachment), so they tend to go off exploring during the day. But they always come home by sunset to curl up in the little cenote to sleep with Cass snoring away just a few feet away.

Adrien goes to land while he’s still tiny and more-or-less human looking and tooooootally doesn’t murder David Cain while he was out getting lunch. Also, Marinette definitely doesn’t drown an entire ship’s worth of sailors to gift the ship to Cass so she can go on adventures with them.

Cass lowkey also becomes a pirate because she gets tired of the taste of fish and, well, she has two very scary family members so why not get some extra supplies from any ships she comes across?

The very scary apple doesn’t fall far from the even scarier tree <3

Speaking of their slightly messed up little family. When Adrien and Cass do sibling fights, Adrien will push her boat around like a kid playing with a toy car. Cass does not appreciate this and has tried to hit him with the anchor several times in retaliation. Marinette is so very tired.

Cass loses her last baby tooth and Mari and Adrien fight for their lives over it. Until she gives up and just asks one of them to knock one of her front teeth out. The knocked-out tooth matches Adrien’s.

Also, obviously, Cass gets a necklace with one of Mari’s scales and one of Adrien’s nails because Adrien didn’t want to stop matching her and this was the only other option.

They all learn to sign to communicate because they all have hands. Good for them.

Oh. Right. For those wondering, Marinette is a squirrelfish and Adrien is an axolotl. Marinette is very old (well over 300) and Adrien is very young (canonically like 3), but reality is whatever I want so Mari is like 30 as a human and Adrien is like 13 like Cass, hence all of the ‘baby’ and ‘mother’ jokes that weren’t really jokes. Marinette’s parents were highkey killed by humans super recently and that was why she mentioned having bitten humans before and was so wary about Cass at first. It’s also why she had originally taken in Adrien, taking care of someone was basically a coping mechanism for her. Taking care of Adrien because she couldn’t save her parents, you know? It works out for Adrien too. Adrien’s obsession with jewelry was really just an obsession with the idea of having a family, because mer use jewelry to tie themselves to their family and he didn’t really have one and he just wanted to belong and –.

Yeah, okay, I’m done.

#maribat #platonic cassinette #platonic cass and adrien #platonic adrienette #mermaid #merfolk #mer #marinette dupain cheng #cassandra cain #adrien agreste #mercy #get it like mer-sea #hehehehe #god im so funny #au august #maribat au #maribat au august

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seacashew · 1 year

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Tim met Alix while he was looking for Bruce through time. Maybe there was a fling, maybe it was just a really good friendship. Idk. But they definitely met.

#maribat au #maribat #mlb x dc #dc x mlb #alix kubdel #tim drake #red robin #bunnix #bunnyx

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ive-tumbled-down-a-rabbit-hole · 1 year

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Ugly Mugs and Icy Dips

Part of the midnight snack series, set after Stress Baking but before/during All because of a cookie!!

Masterlist

......................................

The Ugly Mug Cafe is… not the prettiest of establishments. The chairs didn't match, the tables were wonky, but it held a warmth and homely feel which very rarely existed in Gotham, especially in the East End and this close to the Bowery.

It was run by a gruff ex-con Gothamite who took care of his city's people but was willing to let those smuggled or hiding in the Gotham gloom without the relevant papers work with minimal fuss, as long as they could use his dragon beast of a coffee machine he would happily have a blind eye. The staff ended up being mainly either fellow ex-cons or students, willing to work the unsociable hours that were required for opening early and closing late.

With it being owned by a hardy Gothmite that exuded malice towards anyone who stepped out of line and didn't abide by his rules and ran by bitter overworked students or limited break ex-criminals who held no humour for robbery attempts, the cafe ended up a fairly neutral ground. Fights, thefts and robberies were minimal and it helped that the coffee was good. Really good. The pastries and cakes were improving in quality. And had a quirky secret menu for those in desperate need of a caffeine fix and those loyal regulars who The Ugly Mug employees deemed worthy.

Despite all the rough and sharp edges the cafe held, students adored the place during finals week where the special coffee kept them going on all nighters. Commuters favoured the place as it helped soothe their frozen bitter souls as they moved from the rough outer city edges and went further in for work.

And Tim.

Tim- Red Robin had found the place after a particularly grueling patrol.

Patrol had ended up with all bats hands required at the docks to deal with Scarecrow and a shipment of chemicals. During the last part of the fight Red Robin had taken a plunge in the docks murky water and well, by the time he had managed to get back to land the fight had ended with him being cold wet, cold and extremely grumpy at all of it. All he really had wanted to do was to get out of his costume and soak in an over-heated bath with a giant, steaming cup of coffee, or tea, in that moment he wasn't fussy. As long as it was hot and caffeinated he'd make do.

Somehow, Tim had got slightly disoriented on the way past Jason's domain (he would completely blame the icy dip he'd taken and not the exhaustion) but had stumbled upon this golden cafe. He had stumbled in to meet a coffee angel sent by the gods. The dark haired heavenly woman took one look at his pathetic looking vigilante self and started moving around the counter working the coffee machine with precision.

The aromas that filled the small run down space enticed Tim further into the building. The coffee sprite placed a concoction that was more than just coffee in front of him in the most hideous cup he'd seen in a while as he dripped onto the tiled floor. It was in that first sip that Tim's world narrowed down to this establishment. It was his new home. The brew was his new fuel. His life source. The celestial being behind the bashed up counter was the cardinal of the coffee gods. He'd worship with her for more of the sweet bitter nectar that he held in his hands. The coffee was the most magical and revitalising drink off menu that Tim had ever been blessed with. This was HIS coffee haven. His safe space. His daily stop to make it through the day in both faces of his life.

From that moment on, Tim knew that he was going to be visiting this place regularly. He was going to get to know the coffee padre.

What Tim hadn't been aware of completely was that as he cherished the coffee before him the barista had disappeared, returned and mopped around the vigilante and could hear his whispers of love to the steaming drink. Her angelic laughter and mischievous smile drew him from the trance that he had entered.

"I would not say the coffee holds secrets to the universe Monsieur Red."

It wasn't good really to lose complete awareness without backup and all because of a hot drink in a grotesque ceramic vessel. A blush grew under the mask that Tim wore, hopefully hidden, but if not he'd blame the warmth of the establishment pushing the cold that ached in his bones away.

"I might disagree. This is amazing, I can feel its power tingling in my toes."

"That might be more to the fact you look like a drowned rat and are warming up rather than the coffee, non?"

"Nope. Definitely the coffee. Nothing to do with the dip I took in the harbour."

"The harbour?"

The woman raised her eyebrow, opening the sapphire eyes further, from behind the counter as she started to move about puzzling Tim.

"I… yeah… wouldn't recommend midnight swims in the harbour this time of year."

Snorting with a huffed amusement, a plate with a reheated pastry appeared before Tim as the woman returned to cleaning behind the counter.

"Being Gotham, I'd say midnight swims any time of year aren't recommended."

"True. This is Gotham. You've picked that up quickly, it's not often non-Gothamites get the city's quirks. What made you choose this hell hole to work in?"

"Small gods, a slice of chance and fate."

It said everything and nothing all at once. Tim couldn't help but smile wryly at the barista before him. They fell into an easy teasing conversation that cemented the idea that this was his place. That this unusual, witty barista was going to be his friend and coffee dealer.

Given that The Ugly Mug coffee stop was not really on route to Wayne Enterprises from either the Manor, the Wayne City Apartment and it was tangential on route from Tim's nest, so getting there regularly in either persona's meant planning. Which was exactly what Tim excelled at. Subtly hints and some slight manipulation with planting the seed of thought meant that now his patrol routes passed close enough to the cafe at least 4 times a week. Getting up a fraction earlier and sacrificing more of his sleep was a forfeit he was willing to take to get this blessed nectar (he just needed to be cautious about hiding this information from his family). He'd also been able to task an intern to use his work driver and collect a midday pick me up from the establishment.

All in all, even though he had taken a dip into the freezing waters of Gotham docks (and ended up with a stubborn cold that took forever to shake), that evening had been a blessing in disguise.

Convincing Alfred that Tim would drive himself to the office this morning was hard. Tim claimed it was due to him wanting to pick up some paperwork and to talk to some heads of areas. Alfred's disapproval resonated off him since Tim was 'meant to rest' and recover from bruised ribs and twisted ankle. Tim ended up deploying Tam's disappointment and threat of maiming Tim that eventually convinced the elder man, with also the promise he would come straight home afterwards.

Free from Alfred's hawklike eye, Tim drove to his favourite location swiftly. He would go to the office, but first he needed to catch up with the devil in disguise, his favourite dealer to get the precious nectar he required.

Parking nearby, Tim turned to walk towards the cafe where he spotted the man lurking outside watching through the window.

Tim had been observing the man make this daily trip for about 3 months. The male always waited outside until he had spotted the caffeine cleric blessed to earth by the coffee gods before storming inside. He was meticulous in ensuring that she would be the one to serve him and then order the same bland unimaginative order everytime.

Tim followed behind the insipid man who suddenly darted in like it wasn't obvious he was waiting outside. Tim joined the small queue observing the situation, his mouth salivating with a pavlov response to the smells of coffee and sweet pastries. He grimaced watching the scene unfold in front of him.

It was painful just watching the unimpressive man flirt hopelessly with the coffee artist, who pointedly ignored the attempts and stuck studiously in just focusing on getting through the orders of the morning rush. It baffled Tim as to why anyone with any brains would come in at peak(ish) time to flirt with working servers and hold up the queue of tired, grumpy commuters.

Tim could easily admit that his dealer was cute, in a sister kinda way. Tim knew, from conversation with the blessed coffee provider, that the sharp wit and passionate fashionista was destined for greater things. She was worth more than serving coffee, baking delectable treats and being tied down with a partner of mediocrity who thought an espresso and a cappuccino to go was the height of coffee.

Tim's attention was drawn back to the situation occurring in front of him by the blonde customer in front snorting in amusement. Tim watched the car crash with a suppressed horror as the man leant on the counter and oggled the caffeine magician.

"Next!"

The vapid man stepped towards the counter.

"What can I get you?"

"I don't have caffeine in my system yet but you've just jumped started my heart. My usual please, sugar."

"And what's your usual?"

The cocky attitude the man held stuttered as an eyebrow raised waiting for his response. A pink dusting grew on his cheeks as the queue sniggered at the awkward exchange.

"An espresso and a cappuccino to go please."

"Name?"

"Marc, with a C. The C is for cuteness just like you."

"Oo-kay. One espresso and one cappuccino, coming up. Please wait by the end counter, please."

Dismissing the embarrassed man, the Caffeine Queen handed the order to her colleague then turned to the customer in front of Tim who wasn't even trying to cover their sniggers. The cropped haired blonde gave her order to Marinette who smiled in fake serenity as she put the order through the till before going to retrieve a pastry for the woman.

The fake smile morphed into an honest devil's grin as she eventually got to Tim. Her true chaotic nature resonated around the room causing Tim to send her a smirk.

"Tim!!! Your usual? Wide-awake poison? Or did you want to try something new like Finals Week Brew? Or I can make you my specialty, Hawkmoth Demise?"

"Morning Marinette. As tempting as the Hawkmoth Demise is… I'll stick with Wide-awake poison please. How are you this fair day my caffeine cleric, priestess of the grounds, goddess of the beans?"

"Oh you know, bitter souled as the roasted waters I brew. Is this to take away or will I be honoured with your presence for a while?"

The pair snorted at the jokes that jovially passed between each other adding further dramatics where they could as they ignored Marc's ever growing glare.

"Take away my fairest Barista. As much as I would desire to rest my weary soul in your presence, a quest of paperwork awaits me. To achieve this quest I require your blessing. I would be nothing without your magic caffeine potion."

Laughing and seeing as Tim was the last in the queue, Marinette moved to make his personalised drink as her colleague continued to make both Marc's and the blonde's before him.

"Cark? A espresso and cappuccino to go for Cark?"

No one moved. Tim watched as Marc bristled and had to hide his face and hope he could keep the giggles in.

"Oh Dan, that's Mark's with a C's drink. Not Cark. It is an unusual pronunciation of the spelling."

Marinette's cheerful voice drifted over the counter as the man turned beetroot and an ugly expression grew on his face. Marc snatched the drinks with a growl and stormed out of the cafe snarling at people in his way. Tim really hoped this wouldn't bite them on the proverbial later as the almost stalker left the premises.

"Maybe he should choose a more sensible coffee name with that kinda spelling Mare."

"Hmm probably."

Letting Marinette continue drink making, Dan called out for an Ash to collect their drink before noting the blonde staring at Marinette's pastry like it held the answers to the universe. Shaking his head Dan moved to the counter to serve the new crowd that had started to form.

Tim watched the blonde gaze at the treat, ignoring the world around her while Marinette flitted about making his life source essence. Finally, with a flourish, Marinette produced the largest possible takeaway cup of coffee with dragons and knights doodled across it.

"Sir gallant Tim. The potion for your epic journey."

Coughing politely, Tim tried to hurry Ash along as she continued to be entranced by the pastry in her hand. Tim could see Marinette smirking at him, like this wasn't an uncommon sight. Given how he reacted the first time he had found the place, maybe it wasn't that uncommon. The pastries were as good as the coffee since she'd started working at the Ugly Mug. The woman suddenly moved, drawn out of her daze and grabbed Ash's drink and moved to sit further within the cafe. Smiling in amusement, Tim shook his head and finally moved to get his precious nectar.

"My thanks dearest Caffeine Cleric. You're a blessing to the universe."

"Don't you forget it."

"I would never."

"Seriously, Marinette. Your coffee is the best. It's the highlight of my day."

"You say that all the time."

"It's the truth."

Smiling back with fondness, Marinette shook her head and handed Tim his drink.

"See you about Tim. Go tackle those papers and office mumbo jumbo. You know where to find me."

"Always. See ya Marinette."

With that Tim grinned while sipping his coffee and moved to leave his mini safe haven. Sighing in relief from the coffee flooding through his system before sighing again, bracing himself for the outside world.

Pushing the door open, Tim left the safe space of the best coffee establishment in Gotham. His family must never know about this place. He would set the world on fire to protect the hideaway cafe that was unobtrusive but homely to those who knew it's existence.

The Ugly Mug and its staff may not know it but as well as being neutral grounds due to the gruff owner and sassy worn out staff, it was under the protection of Red Robin - and Tim.

#maribat #maribat au #platonic timari #platonic maribat #dc x ml #dc x mlb #dcxml #dcxmlb #ml x dc #mlb x dc #mlbxdc #mlxdc

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maribatz-2k · 1 year

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Day 8: Siblings

Note:

I finally figured out what to type!

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

"No, no...absolutely not." A pair of round blue bell eyes peer at him like a cat asking for treats.

"Pleeaaaseeeee??" The blue bell whines putting her lips in a pout.

"No, not the pouty face." He tries to look away but peeks back seeing her round eyes just get wider. "Ack! Fine.." He says in a whined whisper. The girl gives a squeal and runs to her room.

"Boy how can I resist." The slumps over the sofa as he waits for her to return.

An hour later and now displayed in color changing dress of pink and blues, he stands in the center of the living room as she places the finished touches.

"There. All done." She steps back and admires her work. Circling him with satisfaction.

"Can I take this off now?" He lifts the long dress.

"Nope. Now you need these." She pulls out some make up and grabs the step stool to use.

"Whoa! No. We didn't agree to this."

"But it must be complete! Please...please big brother." She gives a sad pout waiting for him to cave. He let out a defeated sigh and nods. She smiles and gets to work on his face.

Another thirty minutes and she's done. Her brother stands there in a golden wig, centered with a small princess tiara, wearing some light but very well done make up, and his new gown. She pulls the mirror out and shows him before taking her phone out and take photos. Wow I look hot as a blonde. He thought. Whistles can be heard from the door as all his brothers stand there.

"Mari, have you seen Jason? Oh! You have a client over. Sorry to interrupt." Dick says but refuses to leave the doorway. "Nice gown. Going Sleeping Beauty?" He asks. Marinette just nods and continues to take photos of her work. Jason smirk gives Mari a wink and saunters towards him with a swing of his hips for flair. Dick blinks at first confused but smiles his innocent "think I'm hot" smile and watches as Jason lifts his chin up and towards his face.

"Sexy aren't I bro?" Jason asks making Dick pull away with a red face and gags as Tim falls over laughing at the advance and outfit and Damian just shake his head. Marinette laughs as she had began recording the whole interaction

@maribatserver

#maribat #mlb x dc #ml x dc #maribatmarch2023 #maribat au

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lonestarfangirl2014 · 24 days

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Damian in bio dad bruces AU: *attacks marinette when they met*

Comic book Damian when finding out about his clone/half bro respawn

Damian: *Ihasabro?*

*happy Damian smile*

Respawn: *NOT FOR LONG!*

*respawn attacks him*

#maribat AU #miraculous ladybug #marinette wayne #marinette wayne au #marinette dupain cheng

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jayphoenic · 1 year

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Tumblr Maribat AU Prompt Recommendations 4

Letters revealing a scary truth by @mysnis

"Please reach JL, villain in Paris."

"What? A villain in Paris?" Bruce asked. He frowned. "Why is she hiding it?"

"I'm hoping that the previous letters will reveal that." Tim answered. Damian stared between the two before heading to his room. He came back quickly looking at them.

Lost and Found by @soulmate-game

This doesn't actually have a title

“Is that a kid?”

“Yep,” Batman’s grin grew.

“Is she… stealing my tires?” Hood was so, so glad he wore a helmet that hid his expression. Because… wow.

“Yep,” Batman finally lost his composure, chuckling. “This seems like Karma, don’t you think?”

De-Aged by @timinette-is-best

“How is there a fairy in the Pixie’s pocket?”

He asked jokingly while swinging the hands back and forth!

“Lookin lookie! It’s a Ladybug fairy! She’s so pwetty.”

Marinette held Tikki in both of her hands and jumped up and down trying to get him to look. Jason chuckled and looked down at the toy. It was cute, he had never seen something like it before. Then it blinked, and flew out of Marinette’s hand, and oh gosh, IT CAN TALK?!

Innocence, avoidance by @consumeconstantly

To be more precise, he’s hoping that she’s simply avoiding his detection, and hasn’t gotten swept up in something bad.

It takes Jason three hours-- three hours-- to find the girl who can’t be much older than ten. Probably not even ten, judging by her size.

“You’re lucky it’s me finding you, and not someone else, Pixie.” He finally catches a glance of her glaringly sparkly backpack, complete with fairies and unicorns covered in some sort of holographic overlay.

The New Adoptee by @purple-goo-writes , @mochegato & @thepacifistavenger

This doesn't actually have a title

Alfred will tell him. Alfred knows everything.

“Master Bruce, I’m shocked at you. Surely you know your most recent adoptee’s name?”

Adoptee?! When–? How??

There’s a light tap just below his right shoulder blade–she really is a tiny slip of a thing–and he turns to meet her wide-eyed, innocent, sapphire gaze. Oh, no. Did she learn this look from Jason? Or is it her own and that’s how it is that she fits in so well with the rest?

Taglist:

@waremyth @onfire-garbagecan @dyinggirldied @mystarlightlight @leftguard66 @255940g @virgil-is-a-cutie @the-dumber-scaramouche @mewwitch @dopefirevoidscissors @bambicambi @batmanzplan @just-a-bottle-of-chaos @luvielle @elijahcrevan @gotham-redridinghood @chelama @intercoursefluids @weirdo-with-no-beardo @chocolate1721 @slytherinpride35 @summerfox1988 @skyerie

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san-fics · 1 year

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Gotham Love Square

Daminette

Chapter 23

AVAILABLE on patreon.com/san_fics

Summary:

“I can’t be mad at you, Marinette.” Damian admitted. “I knew it was a risk, but I wanted to…” He looked away and sighed.

What did he really want? Why did he put his secret identity in jeopardy the way he did? Maybe he was unconsciously looking for a way to confess everything to her?

“I realize that it was wrong to approach you knowing that you hate me…” Damian spoke, the other side of the coin suddenly becoming clear in his mind, making him conscious about how his actions must have looked to Marinette. “But I promise I had no intention of…”

Daminette Tag list (ask me to join)

@mochegato

@thepapillonnoir

@snow-leopard-777

@loves-books

@turiankitty

@toodaloo-kangaroo

@readingismyoxygen

@aespades

@starlightshield

@apasponsor

@iloontjeboontje

@ritacrow-blog

@hammalammadamdam

@yuriyuhitsu

@darth-nikeon

@trippingovermyfeet

@adrestar

@maanae

@kittyditzydancer

@imchaotic-dontmindme

@aliveforbatfamilymembers

@roselynfey

@kazuristar

@mimissss-s

@scarlixy

@angelwreckedd

@achaoticmess1

@maribatforever

@hammalammadamdam

@intercoursefluids

@unoriginalmess

@psychicdelusionwerewolf

@literaryhiraeth

@solangelo252

@jayphoenic

@ledalasombra

@alyssadeliv

@prettylittlebutterflie

@wolfy-kat

@uknowninglydead

@the-coffee-fandom

@ev-cupcake

@hauntedhoagiehorsetree

@its-maemain

@starling218

@itawonka

@hammalammadamdam

@beee1221249qq

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vln-vibes · 2 years

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Fics in the works

Updated 04/2023

Hey I know its been a while since I’ve properly published new fics. Honestly keep coming up with ideas but actually finishing them is the kicker.

Ngl I honestly feel like I need some betas for the works I’ve got going on and if any of these interest you then by all means feel free to message me! And yes some of these are still Maribat

The Winner Takes The Crown (Princess)

Got into DPxDC and decided to take a crack at it. As usual this thing was supposed to be a one-shot but is 18.9k words so far and counting so three-shot is more likely.

Tags: Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Kon-El | Conner Kent & Danielle "Dani" Phantom, Danielle "Dani" Phantom/Kon-El | Conner Kent, Danny Fenton/Jason Todd

Summary: When members of the Team get sent out to scout an inconspicuous town in Indonesia with supposed hauntings and missing teens on the night of an eclipse surely nothing could go wrong, right?Meanwhile the Ghost King got tired of every old timey ghost royalty trying to get their hands on his little sister/cousin/clone and got an idea. Why not have them duke it out amongst each other for once. It'd be entertaining at the very least or a disaster waiting to happen at most--- at least that's what his newly appointed Fright Knight thought anyway

Chapters out so far: 1/3 AO3 Part 1

Who The Wayne Are You?!

Why not do a fusion of two crossover fandoms??? (Not sure if I’ll include any romantic ships)

Tags: Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Danny Fenton, Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Bruce Wayne, Danny Fenton & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake & Danny Fenton, Danny Fenton & Jason Todd, Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Jason Todd, Cassandra Cain & Danny Fenton, Cassandra Cain & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Misunderstandings, Mistaken Identities

Summary: Its just her luck that on her first day in Gotham City, the literally cursed crime capital of the world that she gets kidnapped. To make matters worst her kidnappers must be blind because they think she’s Cass Wayne, Bruce Wayne’s only daughter, who doesn’t even have blue eyes! Fortunately or unfortunately she’s not the only one in this dilemma--- He was sure that the spirit of Gotham had it out for him; the moment his sister left to go on the tour to Gotham U he gets pushed into a white van (cliché much?). On the bright side it wasn’t the Guys In White, down side the idiots can’t seem to agree if he’s Tim Drake, co-CEO of Wayne Enterprises, or Jason Todd, supposedly dead son of Bruce Wayne (he’s not sure if that’s quite true). Well at least he’s got company. “Ugh just my luck that I get kidnapped literally on my first day in Gotham” “Oh samesie”

Chapter count: Unknown

Tales of Ladyluck and Jinx: Twins Extraordinaire (Wrk ttl)

I mean c’mon the potential for bio siblings Tim and Mari is right there.

Tags: Tim Drake & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake & Bridgette Dupain-Cheng, Bridgette Dupain-Cheng & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Tim Drake & Bruce Wayne, Tim Drake & Dick Grayson, Jack Drake & Tim Drake, Jack Drake & Marinette-Dupain-Cheng, Sabine Cheng/Tom Dupain, Sabine Cheng & Tim Drake, Sabine Cheng & Jack Drake, Jack Drake/Janet Drake, Bad Parents Jack/Janet Drake, Dead Janet Drake, Jack Drake Knows Tim is Robin, Does Not Approve, Surrogate Sabine, Fraternal Twins Tim and Mari, Jack Drake tries to be better, in the end, Bridgette Dupain-Cheng/ Felix Culpa, Quantic Kids

Summary: Tim Drake’s 12 year old, almost but not yet 13, life was falling apart right before his very eyes and there was nothing he could do to stop it. His mother was dead and his father was paralyzed. To make matters worse his father found out about Robin and was vehemently against it; so much so that he was sending Tim away. Turns out Janet Drake wasn’t his biological mother, his parents had used a surrogate. A woman named Sabine Cheng who lived in Paris alongside her husband and daughters. Turns out Tim was a twin; his parents only wanted the son.

As much as he wants to hate this new family he can’t help but crave the affection they provide, the warmth and comfort , that his parents never could. As much as Tim would miss being Robin he had Mari and that was enough. Who knows maybe he’d go back to the Life later on in life?

Chapter count: Unknown

Royal Flush

(Paused)

I’ve been really loving these HBIC Marinette stories and decided to try my own out with a fun Maribat twist!

Tags: Marinette Dupain-Cheng & Chloe Bourgeois & Nathaniel Kutzberg, Damian Wayne & Jon Kent, Jessica Keynes & Aeon Hill

Summary: For this year’s French-American Friendship Day it was the American's turn to visit and what a lucky coincidence and totally not tampered with by any of the Bats that Gotham Academy was chosen with newly re-enrolled Damian Wayne and recent transfers Jonathan Kent, Jessica Keynes and Aeon Hill. Jess was excited to reunite with her fellow Guardian only... things were different with the Parisians? She couldn’t really explain it but it seemed strange that the students were adorned with symbols; Red Hearts, Yellow Diamonds, Green Clovers and Blue Spades. What did this all mean and why were those without them ostracized? Was this also why Marinette seemed to have a whole wardrobe change and was now friends with mean girl Chloe?

Well it was up to Jess and reluctantly Damian to find out what was the root of the problem alongside sunshine duo Jon and Aeon, also known as the Seasonal Court while also trying to figure out how to offer their help with the Hawkmoth situation.

Chapter count; Unknown

Violet Gold (Working Title)

(Still working on it)

Tags: Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Luka Couffaine/Tim Drake, Adrien Agreste/Conner Kent, Juleka Couffaine/Stephanie Brown, Bart Allen/Jaime Reyes, Kagami Tsurugi & Cassie Sandsmark, Miraculous Team, Young Justice, Soulmate AU

Summary: After a heartbroken meta akuma unleashes her untapped power on all of Paris the citizens all get scatter across the world--- heroes included! While Tygress finds herself mildly concussed and not so alone in a technologically advanced cave with a shadow like girl who intimidating the ever-loving hell out of her and a beautiful amazon who looked badass and like she could kick her ass, even after her recent heartbreak with Rose she felt her heart skip a beat. That’s when she noticed the glowing red band around both their arms. It turns out her fellow heroes were teleported to the same location, each bonding with different teen heroes; Ladybug and Viperion with a red caped black haired hero she didn’t know. As they’d learn the Akuma took them to their soulmates. Journey as these teen caped and non-caped crusaders learn about their ‘soulmates’ and about themselves. All in the name of Love.

Chapter count: 7 (Chapter 1 partially complete)

War (Working Title)

(Still Working on it)

Tags: Bio dad Bruce Wayne, Bruce Wayne & Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Miraculous Team, Bat Boys, Bat Girls, Marinette stopped taking shit, salt fic

Summary; Not a Dupain. Not Wanted. Those two phrases echoed in Marinette’s head as she robotically made her way up the stairs after having her world turned. Marinette was not Thomas Dupain’s biological daughter, not only that but her parent’s had enough of her ‘problematic’ behavior and were sending her away to live with her actual father, a man who, after looking him up online, turned out to be billionaire philanthropist Bruce Wayne of Wayne Enterprise. Now she must leave her friends behind and move in with complete strangers while juggling her Guardian duties and hero life. Well one thing was for sure; she was done being a pushover. Done being a perfect example and ready to start anew. Gone was Marinette Dupain-Cheng, here comes Marinette Wayne!

Chapter count; 1 (its gonna be a long one-shot)

C’est la vie

(Paused)

Tags; Marinette Dupain-Cheng/Dick Grayson, Dick Grayson & Wally West, Dick Grayson & Kor’iander, Dick Grayson/Kor’iander, Tim Drake & Jason Todd, Tim Drake & Conner Kent, Conner Kent/Adrien Agreste, Felix Graham de Venily & Adrien Agreste, Bart Allen & Alix Kubdel, Mal Duncan & Alix Kubdel (more to come)

Summary; (Continuation of Staying Whelmed & Erable AU) Its been two years since the cease of the Parisian heroes. Everyone still mourns their loss but its time to move on. At least that’s what Dick keeps telling himself, he’s put off being on the team long enough and missed enough family dinners. Honestly he can’t even remember the last time he properly talked to some of his friends, the kwami doing a well enough job of keeping him from completely going off the deep end. With the help of the recently rescued princess Kor’iander of Tamarand he think he’s getting there. Tim on the other hand notices the imbalance of the world; the way certain creatures’ populations have significantly dwindled down, the way the magic users have been losing power, the increase of natural disasters and sudden reappearance of what they believed to be Trixx’s original temple... He can’t help but hope. Hope to regain his brother and fellow heroes, to bring back hope and restore the world’s balance. After encounters with others in the community he realizes that he’s not the only one that noticed. Now all he needs to do is convince the others that he’s not in denial and isn’t embarking some fruitless endeavor. Well no one said it’d be easy to enter the In-Between

Chapter count: unknown

#Maribat #Maribat au #fics in progress #beta needed #my fics #DPxDC #DPxDC wip #Maribat wip

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digitech4mlxdc · 6 months

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Remember Justice League Unlimited, specifically season 2 episode 7, Clash? Where Luthor and Waller set up the situation to make Superman look bad?

Now imagine Luthor learning of the Miraculous situation in Paris, going to his other contacts (League of Supervillains, The Light, whichever collection of villains you know) and deciding to use this as an opportunity to grow their influence. Like, The Light (from Young Justice)’s goal was basically ‘the strongest survive’ and the heroes were holding humanity back, so if The Light were to get involved it would probably be something to the effect of, ‘the Miraculous are only used when other Miraculous are threats? Then if there are no Miraculous threats, no Miraculous are in play, right? If we help catch the man, the Miraculous no longer get involved in mortal affairs, yes? Then let’s find this Hawkmoth.’ And within a few weeks at most Lex Luthor solves Paris’s zombie butterfly (what I call moths) problem, publicizes to the world that the Justice League ignored child heroes, and he was the one to help them, to help save Paris. Vilifying Superman specifically, but the Justice League as a whole. This IS Luthor, after all. Man can hold a grudge.

#maribat au #miraculous ladybug #justice league #miraculous fanfic #miraculous ladybug fanfic #fanfic ideas #lex luthor #ml fic

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seacashew · 1 year

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the boarding school zoé went to was actually Gotham Academy.

#i am actually writing something with these dw #some of them #i just got a new job so it takes a while #maribat #mlb x dc #dc x mlb #maribat au #zoe lee #zoé lee

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ive-tumbled-down-a-rabbit-hole · 8 months

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Look at my lips and listen closely

Master list

Ok, I've listened to a lot of Dead Pony recently and ended up mis-hearing a line or two in bullet farm which sent off a cascade of tangential thoughts (which is pretty standard really) and voila this is the nonsense that was created. Well sort of, characters then decided to evolve and take over as well in ways I wasn't expecting so it's more of a 'voilà' and 'oh, I was not expecting to write that' and 'ok, that's a new direction to the original loose plan… concept'

Ta for reading 😘

……………

Bruce stared at the trio across the ballroom. They were positioned in such a way he couldn't see their lips. Their conversation was hidden causing him to feel a rising panic as the sound slowly faded while his heart beat sped up. He tried to figure out why they were here. Why now?

Bruce's heart felt like it would burst out his chest if it wasn't for all his years training. It wouldn't surprise him if he received a call from Clark in a moment or two to check to see how he was doing with how loud it felt to him. The years of training seemed to vanish and he felt like he was a newly christened twenty year old vigilante finding his feet in the world, learning how to mask and misdirect.

Taking an actual drink from his glass for once, Bruce took a second to compose himself. The slightly aromatic taste danced on his tongue, grounding him back to the present. To look at him, he'd still look like Brucie, playboy turned father, but from the curious glances his children sent him, he knew that he wasn't hiding his concern particularly well.

Across the room it appeared like his past was finally catching up with him in the most unexpected ways. He really had not foreseen that these three people would ever meet. There were links of course. The potential that they could meet, he just had never considered that they would.

They all lived at some point in the same country, and the blondes ran in potentially similar social circles but their lifestyles and personalities were so different it was hard to see them meeting… and connecting. Particularly… no… he wouldn't… would he?

Frowning Bruce mused about Ra's and how he liked playing mind games and well, after so many years of not seeing any of them, it wasn't a hard stretch of the imagination that this was the lastest mind game the megalomaniac near immortal would play. Pulling his Brucie facade close, Bruce greeted Dick who appeared at his side and leant into his arm while Jason joined them. The younger man's arms folded and wearing a frown that mirrored Bruce's own internal one.

"So, B, what's got you upset."

Laughing jovially causing his sons to wince at the fakeness, Bruce wrapped an arm around his boys and guided them somewhere slightly more secluded.

"Oh nothing Dickie. Are you and Jaylad ok? Your siblings?"

Picking up Bruce's unsaid meaning, Jason quickly sent a text to the others to meet them as Dick scanned the crowds. A surge of protective pride flooded Bruce at his boy's growth, they'd come a long way from the boys he adopted all those years ago.

By the more quiet balcony the rest of the Wayne's and adjacents congregated waiting for Bruce to spill the deets. They'd all clocked the trio that seemed to be the source of Bruce's unusual anxiety and waited in semi baited breath.

"Spill old man. What's the deal?"

"Gnnn"

"So eloquent B. Spit it out."

"I slept with that trio."

"Shocker! Who haven't you dated or slept with? Diana and Clark aren't the first you've had a ménage à trois with, big deal. What's the issue?"

"Not together. One's a model, another an heiress and the other I met training at the LoA."

"Gross Bossman. T.M.I!"

"So we have a Ra's situation?"

"What would grandfather want to do with a model and heiress?"

"I don'ge'it. Ken's an assassin? No offence Blondie."

"Full offence Jay! Why can't blonds be assassins?"

"Nothing against blond's, just, him?! I stuck out when I was there, him! He'd be a walking target. He looks as threatening as a wet kitten."

"Not all that trained with grandfather were brutes Todd. It could be part of his style to disarm his prey, mother's preference was harmless seduction anyway."

"Talia… harmless… *cackles* you're joking right?!"

Bruce pinched his nose as his children bickered around him trying to draw the attention back to himself.

"*Cough* HE isn't the assassin *cough* He is… was the model. She, Marinette, the dark haired one. She was who I met when," Bruce paused as a group of socialite's walked past. "I met her when I was travelling. I was with Adrien shortly after when I got back. I knew Chloe from childhood."

"You mean Tinkerbell is the one we're concerned about?!" Jason raised his eyebrows in surprise then started to reassess the trio.

"It's what Ra's is up to that concerns me. Why she… they would target Adrien and or Chloe?"

"You're about to find out B."

Acknowledging Tim's input, Bruce watched as Chloe had split off from the others, her gold dress sparkling under the chandelier's, her icy ruling aura making guests part like the sea much like she did in childhood. Marinette continued to talk to the group they were with as Adrien started weaving his way through the crowds. Slipping on his Brucie persona yet again, Bruce grabbed two drinks from a passing waiter as he grinned (honestly not even having to fake his fondness) as Adrien sauntered towards him.

The moment Adrien got close enough to the Wayne's, in full Brucie style, Bruce dragged Adrien into a warm, fully embracing, hug as he scouted out the ballroom. His woody cologne filled Bruce's nose as he breathed the man's scent in. He would be ready to protect his ex paramour from an attack.

"Adi baby!! Long time no see sweetheart. How are you, gorgeous? What brings you to this spectacular event… have you tried the wine? Isn't it devine."

Leaning away to greet Bruce with a customary la bise, Adrien returned to melt into Bruce's arms. Succumbing to the legacy of spending so much time touch starved in childhood. Bruce carefully manoeuvred him so he could hold him close while passing him the glass of sparkling wine.

"Brucie! It's good to see you too, mon amour. Meow are you? I'm purrr-fect at the moment. I've taken over the family business. I came here with my chief designer and COO. Mari and Chlo, have you met Marinette or Chloe actually? Hang on, I'll get them over here to meet you, where is she? Anyway they say I need to network more."

Adrien scanned the crowd looking for the blood-red dressed assassin and golden heiress he had come with before turning secretly to Bruce and his family.

"Which I sup-pawse they're correct." Adrien brings his hand up in a staged overly loud whisper, "don't tell them I said that though!"

His captivating emerald eyes sparkle into Bruce's steely blue ones in amusement. Looping his arm through Bruce's Adrien leans against the giant man like a feline seeking warmth, to Bruce's children's amusement.

"I finally escaped modelling. Father took ill, much like maman and Natalie did, it was a slight cat-asrophe with lots of drama. But I'm in charge. Business is far more fun than posing, you know, the proper cats pawjamas. I guess you do given…"

Adrien waved his arm about before smiling up at Bruce in a fond manner, his lips catching the light as a clear gloss coated them along with embroidered playful cats decorating his suit, diverting Bruce's attention momentarily. Bruce had forgotten how affectionate and almost cat-like he was with his tactility. The firm muscles hidden under his fitted figurative cat suit tantalised Bruce with memories of late night rendezvous. It was what had drawn him originally to Selina, the familiarity and reminder to the man beside him.

"Ooo, let's grab Mari and Chlo a glass of this devine purr-seco as you say. They'll be done talking business by now, I hope. I'm sure they'll join us in a meow-ment. The papers say you're a family man now mon amour. By the looks of it, it's true? Finally dark and mysterious men adopt litters of children in Gotham?"

Bruce winced internally, this wasn't going to be easy as Adrien seemed to be fond of the potential threat. That also being said Bruce felt the need to find Chloe too. Despite the chemistry that still simmered between him and Adrien, she was still at risk. The woman he shared his first kiss with. The snarky woman he'd watch with Ollie verbally decimate Lex 'just for funsies'. He glanced around the party goers again while appearing to look at his throng of children that surrounded him.

"Ah, yes, I can't comment on bat but mine fill the house with noise and chaos and my life with colour. I'm so proud of them even though they are the cause of me going grey."

"Not pawsible! You hardly have a wrinkle chéri, are you sure you are not modelling and not doing it for moi?! Or well my company?"

Bruce let out a loud laugh before placing a kiss on Adrien's forehead as he watched Marinette weave closer towards the pair and his children slowly close ranks protectively. He bit back the smile as he watched her slightly stumble but gracefully rescue it to look purposeful. Bruce focused on the problem at hand and to suppressed and parked how he felt for her while at Nanda Parbat.

"Bruce darling. What a surprise to see you, I didn't know you knew Adrien as well."

"Mari, you know Bruce too?"

Marinette slipped gracefully between the Wayne's and came up close to Adrien who slipped out of Bruce's hold to hug her. The quick kiss of her cherry red lips on Adrien cheek which he happily returned sent an unexpected jealousy through Bruce. He wasn't sure if it was because Adrien had left his space, because he was close to Marinette or that they shared a bond that Bruce no longer did.

"Of course Kitty, I met him while I was soul searching, tying up loose ends and looking for inspiration from around the globe. We trained together for a while."

"Ah, that point in time. It's a shame I couldn't come along. You know I'd have come with you, Purr-incess."

"Silly Kitty, you were exactly where you were needed. Been fed pastries and smothered in parental love along with Queenie."

Confused, Bruce could feel his Brucie mask slipping as he watched the pair banter and talk within jokes, pet names and understanding. It was like watching his children interact, like how they all interacted with their respective teams. Adrien knew of her time away, they both knew Chloe, did they know what she did while travelling… what it meant?

"Err…hn?"

Adrien laughed with his sunny smile as Marinette smirked and took a small sip from the glass Adrien had passed her. A ladybug themed ring glittered in the light daintily on her hand.

"Brucie, don't look confused. I've known Mari since we were tweens. We've been fur-ends… best fur-ends since my first day of collége. I've known Chlo even longer. She was my first fur-end. We all went to school together. Lived through Hawkmoth together. Were friends like you are with Ollie and that reporter from Metropolis and the curator at the Louve."

"Oh."

Blinking trying to process it all. Maybe there isn't a huge underhanded threat from Ra's. Bruce found himself getting more and more confused as his initial hypothesis has started to unravel but unwilling to let it go completely. Out of the corner of his eye he can see Cass, Steph and Tim whispering as Jason hovers while broodingnin a way that he'll deny. Dick charming and distracting other guests with Duke. All on hand if required but close enough to eavesdrop as well.

"And back to what you were saying. I'm not sure about the modelling Kitty though. He's missing the je ne sais quoi. The build… shoulders too…" Marinette's hand flipped at the broadness and just Bruce himself, "his looks too much like dracula. Our next look needs to be spectacular and Brucie… he has had too many injuries and spent recovering inside avoiding the sun. Hmm, not enough Côte d'Azur trips."

Marinette leant in close, her calloused hand skimming his cheek startling Bruce by her suddenly closeness and stealing his breath away and he peered into her bluebell eyes. Her lips tantalisingly close, sparks of something skittered around them despite the heat that Adrien was burning him with. Her hand slowly slipped down to brush imaginary lint off his velvet tux jacket and turned to Bruce with knowing eyes.

"Skiing accident in the Alps was the last injury Oui? Cannes, Nice or Toulon are good places to visit too, not quite as dangerous but still enough to do for thrill seekers."

Bruce gulped.

He'd forgotten their games of words. Of hidden meaning and close to the truth while saying everything and nothing. In a way, it's what drew him to Talia, the deadliness in a lithe form. What separated them was that Talia used her body like Selina to get to him. Adrien on the other hand used his playfulness and some to coyness where Marinette used her softness to hide the steel and sharpness of her mind.

The feeling of being the prey and not the predator in control grew as the French duo danced about him with more history than he expected. Their playful flirting and silent conversations left him feeling trapped and surprisingly flustered.

"Oh hush Buginette. Stop teasing Brucie. He's litter-ally a walking sex god and you know it. Your designs would need to be tailored oui, but imagine his body selling your outfits, his face selling the perfumes."

Staring at him like he was a slab of meat, Marinette's critical eye gazed over him. Finally Bruce felt he could breathe even with their sole attention on him. He felt safe knowing that it was clinical rather than heated.

"Potentially. I'll let you tell Jules then."

Adrien paled and shook his head.

"Nope. No thank you. I'd rather live, she has claws."

"*cough* hngh, do you still visit Nanda Parbat?"

Bruce stared at the duo trying carefully to unravel the situation without unsettling the careful balance that was required to keep the conversation from going south. The navigation of it all felt like he was lost at sea, and he didn't like it.

"Only visited there once. When I met you to be precise. The city had something that didn't belong to there and I was seeking it out to return to its original owners."

Cupping Bruce's face and pulling all his attention back to the blonde with emerald eyes. "Brucie, mon chéri, look at my lips and listen closely, Buginette is my chief designer at Agreste. We only travel to these events and fashion weeks. She isn't what you are thinking. No nefarious ties to green goop and wrinkly prunes. Definitely aligned to bats, cats, ladybugs and bees. Especially the birds and the bees."

Bruce let out a sigh, some of the tension he had held seeped out and he fell into a more natural Brucie stance and grin, kissing Adrien on the cheek and laughing as a blush flushed the Parisians cheeks as Marinette's familiar giggle surrounded them.

A fleeting look at his children, Bruce spotted them also relaxing their stants and slowly starting to drift off. Cass's thumbs up and smile said everything. She didn't perceive the pair as a threat, Marinette as a threat specifically and that there were no lies to worry about. Damian's disgusted face at having to witness the flirting was normal but he made no move to reach for his hidden weapons and was willing to be led away by Dick. Tim seemed to be long gone talking to investors and Jason seemed to be with Duke making a break for it no doubt.

"Umm, Bugaboo, I can see your wife approaching and she looks mad! I'm gonna go make out *cough* I mean catch up with Brucie. Play his dark knight and saviour. Cool. Love mee-yow. I'll let you deal with her umm sting!"

Looking up from the man who suddenly curled into him, Bruce's eyes widened in surprise as Chloe in a swarm of gold stormed towards them, her pink lipstick sneering at anyone getting in her way. The recognisable fire burned in her eyes like a vengeful queen only softening as she spotted Marinette whose red lips twisted into a dangerous smile.

"Ridiculous, utterly utterly ridiculous. Minette! You would not…. hmmmmmf!"

Stopping Chloe from approaching the flirty men, Marinette captured Chloe into her arms and distracted her with a searing kiss.

"Quick! Come mon chéri, Mari est saving us!"

Bemused, and thoroughly out of his depth at the power play and relationships of the Parisians, Bruce let Adrien drag him towards the balcony. The searing look in those emerald eyes said everything. The peach lips alluring and pouting at Bruce, as tempting as they were years ago. Bruce shrugged and decided for now he'll go along with it.

Given the hints they had littered, the conversation with Bruce suspected that they knew who they really were, but returned the favour with tips on who they may have been in a past life. They wore their masks in plain sight but hidden from the world unless you knew. Unless the world remembered the past.

Was it a worry? Yes. Would he investigate further? Definitely. But for now he would relax and catch up with Adrien.

#maribat #maribat au #ml x dc #dc x ml #ex relationship #flirting #marinette and adrien #Marinette and bruce #adrien x bruce #adrien and chloe #bruce and chloe #Marinette x chloe #mlb x dc #dc x mlb

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maribatz-2k · 1 year

Text

Day 5: Shot(s)

Note:

Welp. This was longer than expected but there was soo much detail and ideas behind this that I wasn't sure where this would go. Wasn't too sure if this was a Mature Rating or Teen and Up so for safety I put Mature.

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At 18, Marinette was finally able to go to bars and drink with her friends without parental advisement. Now at 21 and living in America with her said boyfriend. He was a musician and he reminded her a lot of Luka, but he wasn't. He was an American guitarist, named Mickey, she met at a bar that her college friends dragged her to. He was playing cover songs on a single stage, siting comfortably on a stool in his white Tshirt and ripped blue jeans and black and white converse. They had locked eyes during one of his many songs. Marinette couldn't look away and her friends elbowed and teased her all evening. Eventually he had walked over and they got to talking. Exchanged numbers and a date and more later they were a couple.

He had convinced Marinette to go with him to his gig at a bar in the semi high-end side of town. She reluctantly agreed despite it being her birthday and her boyfriend said thag he had a surprise set up for her just wouldn't say when or what. She dressed up in bed nice comfortable clothing, grabbed her purse, locked her apartment extra right, then met him down at the main door of her apartment complex. He pulls up in his black Toyota Camry, window rolled down and looks at her.

"Mmm hey sweet thing. Need a ride?" He tried to sound sexy and cool. Marinette raised a brow then shook her head before leaning down pressing her elbows on the door.

"Sorry sir, but I don't think my boyfriend would be so keen to me taking rides with strangers." She winked twirling her raven hair around her finger.

"Ah lucky guy. Then I guess I'll have to ask this boyfriend of yours for permission." He smirks before pulling the visor down and look at himself in the mirror. "Alright sir. So I want to take this pretty lady here at my window out for a good time. You got a problem with that? No? Well good." He closed the visor and turns his attention back to Mari.

"He said yes?" She asked teasingly shifting her feet to not hurt herself in the stupid heels she put on.

"Indeed he did. Let's go." He unlocked the door and waited as she opens it and climbs in. Once buckled they drove off into town for 30 minutes. No one spoke on the way, but they enjoyed the wind blowing through the car. When they arrived, Mickey got out opened the back seat and removed his guitar case. Marinette waited a minute or two before deciding to just get out of the vehicle herself. She examined the area, finding motorcycles and cars all around this place. The building was almost the side of two bedroom house that had good bones but lots of wear and tear. It wasn't dark like all of Gotham but it had a more of a homey feel to it. Mickey took her hand and pulls her inside, where she meets with the smell of sweat, alcohol, cigarettes, and food.

Marinette felt out of place. There were men and women everywhere. Tables were full, the center of floor was filled with dancing women and a few men who decided to take a chance, and a stage sitting out in the back to allow space. The bar was tucked over where the one would assume was a dining room at one point that elad into the kitchen. Taking a better look around, the inside of the building was more modern and luxurious feel. Men and women were dressed almost formal and yet casual. Some women were even too underdressed in Mari's opinion. She moved around to find a seat at to watch her boyfriend on the stage. He finds a position he was comfortable in and began to play.

A few songs in excited screaming and shouts from the crowed of women near the front later, Marinette decided to go up to the bar to order a drink for herself and Mickey. The bartender, a very handsome brawny type asked for her ID. She handed it to him and watched as he examined the card to see if it was fake. She'd be lying if she said she wasn't mentally drooling over this man. He was kind of tall, dark, and handsome. His blue eyes moved across her card and back to her face if they stayed on her, she'd probably melt right then and there. God I'm such a Hoe I have a boyfriend. I have a boyfriend. She mentally thought to herself. But the man was built. Like could probably lift her up like she was just a sheet of paper built. Her mind let loose images of naughty things she would like to do with him, but then stopped as he handed her back the card.

"Happy birthday little lady." He says giving her a charming smile.

"Oh thank you!" Marinette says blushing red as she remembers her thoughts and now mixing them with his strong honey like voice. "What can you recommend for a good first birthday drink?" She asked.

"Mmm.. shots. And I know just the ones." He smiled and turning around to pick up his mixture of flavors. The music stopped catching Mari's attention back to the stage. Seeing her boyfriend taking a drink of a beer. He looked up and waved it at her then begins to sing another song. It was one of their songs they sing in the car she listened to him but then began to sing along. A two shot glasses clink to the surface next to her arm but she refuse to stop singing until it was over.

Jason had been managing this bar for a long time now. He has seen too many dip shits and whores to even give a damn anymore here. As long as there was respect he didn't care what anyone did. So when Tim suggested doing open mic there, to bring in some actual people outside of street urchins, he gave it a shot. A year from today and it has been a success. Many people of different sides of Gotham has visited and he was making enough to revamp the place now exteriorly.

Tonight a loner guitarist had signed up for two nights with a couple other bands. Keeping it timed to allow them to rotate. It was around 1900 when the guy walked in holding his guitar case, behind him was a small woman no more than 5"2' maybe? It was hard to tell with her blood red, can those toothpicks even be considered heels, like heels. She wore a tight pair of blue skinny jeans that emphasizes her muscular toned legs and round ass. She had patches of ripped fabric randomly placed along her legs. Before he could completely eye rape her further, a customer came over requesting for more drinks.

Tim had decided then to show up sitting there on on his barstool sipping on a cup of coffee.

"Come on. You're in a bar. Drink something other than caffeine." Jason remarked.

"Hey, leave me alone. I'm a paying customer." Tim scowls.

"Paying customer my ass." Jason retorts and shifts his attention only to the crowd. His eyes scanned the room looking for the female from earlier to no avail. He gave up for now listening to the musician singing a couple cover songs. After his fourth song, someone stepped up to the bar to order two drinks. Jason looks up seeing the small woman from the door and blinks. He looked over at Tim who was still focused on his cup not once looking over yet and smiles. Perfect!

"Can I see your ID?" Jason asks. She pulls her purse up and pulls out her ID from her wallet. Looking it over purposely delaying giving it back, he takes this chance to look at the woman more. Her hair was in a messy bun and with strands of hair falling all around her face and some caressing her bare skin around her neck and shoulders. Marinette was wearing a dark red top that rested off her shoulders exposing a small amount of cleavage unless she leans over. Which is what she did. She was adjusting herself on the stool and as she waited. He handed her the ID back leaning over be heard.

"Happy birthday little lady." The raven haired woman was blushing. He had caught her eye raping him too. He could imagine the thoughts she was probably having. He'd be lying too if he said he wasn't.

"Oh thank you!" Her voice let out a squeak in her excited tone. "What can you recommend for a good first birthday drink?" This excited Jason.

"Mmm...shots. I know just the ones." He turns around to begin getting his mixtures of flavored alcohol, juice, and garnishes. He preps the different flavors into a shaker then pour into two different shot glasses. He can see Tim's eyes look up from the cup to see the glasses then to the female who is now singing. Her voice was very sweet and smooth, nearing the end with a hum. Tim was watching her with a soft smile then leaned over to whisper into her ear. The woman straighten up and blushed more earning a chuckle from Jason's little brother. She turned around looking down at the drinks Infront of her.

"Ooo these looks colorful." She smiled then reached for one. Jason went to grab for the other one but Tim grasped it earning himself a scowl of displeasure from Jason. Tim just smiles and Salute to Marinette and downs the shot with her. Jason's mouth just dropped watching the scene. Marinette did the same and downed hers with ease and tipped the small glass upside down on the bar.

"Oh my God I want another." Her smile was radiant.

Tim was glad he decided tonight he'd finally go back to Jason's bar. Sitting there drinking a decent cup of coffee. Yes, I know coffee in a bar. He thought. He sat at the bar with his brother behind it serving out drinks and food. Tim doesn't really care of the people around him, though it doesn't help that he was tired too. He didn't expect to find a little French woman sitting next to him and celebrating her birthday here of all places. He knew full well that his brother only did the two shots for himself and her. But Tim just said fuck it and took it. Surprisingly, it was smooth. What was smoother was the woman's radiant smile.

God she looked like a freaking Angel. Her skin was smooth and barely tanned. It was hard to tell if this woman was even real until her skin across her cheeks were flush. Jason put down another set of three shot glasses and filled them up with different set of mixtures. Neither moved to grab a glass as they watched the other to see who grabs first.

"Birthday girl first." Jason said.

"I went first last round." She whined with a giggle.

"Then I'll grab first." Tim went to say only for Jason to swipe the glass away from Tim's reach. Tim scowls and reaches for the one in front of the ravenette. She blinked then grabbed the one in front of Jason. With a group Salute, the three of them took the drink as one and gasped out. They slammed the glasses down on the bar. Tim didn't like the flavor of what turned out to be whiskey and cranberry juice. The little woman gave a sour face sticking her tongue out on the side as she decided on what to say.

"So missy, what's your name?" Tim asked curiously. Jason did another set of shots listening. She must be a light weight because she began to fall into a flushed giggle fit.

"Marinette. But my friends call me Mari." She reached up and touched her cheeks. Tim reached over and moved her hair from her face then gently placed his hand on her knee. Mari had turned her attention away looking back at his brother but not acknowledging his hand on her leg. Tim took this chance to look over this woman Infront of him. She was gorgeous, something about her just seemed different than the women that he had once been with. He wanted to pull her into his lap as they continued to take shots. Wanting to cover her exposed skin in kisses and marks from his lips. Tim took a glance over to his brother, watching Jason give the same expression as his own. Desire.

Marinette watched the two men who continued to share shots with her. God how did she get this lucky to have two hot men serve and drink with her. They shared another set of shots filled to the brim. Mari continues enjoying herself which hasn't been this good in a long time. She watched the two men around her, taking in their desired sexiness that she underestimated until the third shot set in. The last drink with whiskey and cranberry juice did not taste so good but refused to spit it out. Luckily the man next to her didn't like it either.

"So, do I get to know your names?" She leans forward pressing her chin on the back of the hands accidentally causing her shirt to open around her chest area.

"I'm Tim, your bartender here is Jason. My brother." The man next to her said with a wide smile. Mari turned her head to look up at the bulky handsome man in front of her.

"Mmm... seems almost fitting." She smirks watching the man accidently drop the cup he was fixing. She let out a chuckle. "excuse me gentlemen, but Ill be back for some more celebratory drinks." Mari slides down and walks through the crowd disappearing near the back right corner. She found the sign that says restrooms and slips in. Marinettes mind was wheeling over Tim and Jason. Picturing them wearing her newest designs, measuring them, and just even leaving them there practically naked. She got a glance at her reflection in the large wall of mirrors behind the row of sinks. Her face was flushed and she had a smile present on her lips. She had a feeling she forgot something, something important. With a shrug she went to handle her business and return to wash her hands. It wasn't until she was drying her hands with the paper towel and fixing her hair that she remembered. She completely forgot about her boyfriend.

Marinette quickly runs out of the bathroom bumping into a couple making out near the restroom. She apologized then walked toward the stage trying to find her boyfriend. He wasn't anywhere near the front. She looked around through the crowd until she finally spotted him, wrapped around another woman near the bathroom. Without another thought Marinette goes back to the bar next to Tim and ordered four more shots. Jason applied with only two and waited until she was done to ask.

"What happened little lady?" Tim leaned over again running her thigh out of comfort. She leaned into him but then laid her head on the bar almost defeated.

"I just need to drink. My (now ex)boyfriend was just making it with some woman by the restroom." She huffed out fighting the tears. Tim gives her thigh a squeeze when Jason rubs her hand with his.

"Well, you know how to fix a bad situation. With a good one. And it's still your birthday until midnight. So let's continue to celebrate." Jason says. "Hey Michelle, you'll take over for me? I gotta go home." A woman that was sitting at the other end of the bar glares at him then climbs over the bar and gets behind it to prepare the now asked for drinks. Marinette watched confused as Jason moves out from around and lifts her off the chair like a princess. Tim leaves a tip for the drinks and follows them out. All Marinette could do was blush and cover her face into the man's stern warm chest.

Jason put Mari on his motorcycle then climbed on In front of her. Tim placed his helmet on the girls head and button it up before he left to get onto his. Marinette squeaked and hugged onto Jason's waist as he started it up. She let out a fit of giggles as they drove out the parking lot and speeding through the empty roads of Gotham. The two raced to their destination with Mari just laughing and squealing with excitement. There was even a time she let go of Jason and held her arms up in the air trying to catch the air between her fingers. They parked their bikes in the parking garage and dismounted them. Tim helped Mari off after removing her helmet. He didn't want to let go of her waist when he set her down but reluctantly he did letting her follow Jason to the elevator. Tim stayed behind them though, he wasn't complaining, he had a hell of a view.

Arriving to their floor and into the apartment, Jason kicked off his shoes by the door, Mari and Tim following suit, then offered the couch. Jason went to a liquor cabinet he had pulling out three whiskey glasses and a full unopened bottle of bourbon. He filled up the three glasses a shot full as he offered a game.

"A shot for every loss."

"Alright, what are we playing." She asks.

"Mm....what would you like to play?" He asked her.

"Mmm cards." She says. Jason grins and looks to Tim who gets up and grabs a deck of playing cards and began to shuffle them. They were lost in the games and drinking that eventually the whole bottle of bourbon was gone, clothes were all over the living room leading toward a giant king bed and three bodies laying in it passed out. Mari in the middle and held by two strong arms on either side of her.

Mari woke up to an empty bed the next morning completely naked and rubbing her very sore and pounding head. She looks over to find a bottle of water and a couple pills of Tylenol sitting on a end table. She reached over and took them then leans over grabbing a random shirt and put it on. Mari makes her way to the kitchen almost tripping over her own feet as she runs her hand through her bed head of hair, pulling it into a over the shoulder ponytail and yawns.

"Wow, so that's what a sexy woman looks like in my shirt." An almost unfamiliar voice speaks from her kitchen making her freeze in place. She looks up and takes in the sight. Two men stood in her kitchen both drinking coffee as one was cooking breakfast. Then it clicked. Her night of events and remembering that two most sexiest men alive bringing her home. Her face grew redder than ever.

"She does look ravishing Tim. But I think we should hold off at least until after breakfast." The man, Jason said as he placed a plate down with eggs and bacon in the empty seat next to Tim.

"Just no more shots. Please my head is still pounding." Marinette says with a huff, forcing herself to get over her embarrassment and goes sit down only for Tim to pull her into his lap and press his face into her neck making her squeak.

"I'm okay with that. Though, you're about wild when you drink." He says wth a soft chuckle and a kiss to her skin making her blush once more.

@maribatserver

#maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #jasonette #timinette #maribat au #maribatmarch2023

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