#tiniest robin is a hard question to answer

[oifaaa]

Is Jaybin the tiniest Robin? Was he less than Damian's 10 apples tall Robin?

I think technically in canon Dick being Robin at 8 would be the tiniest robin however fuck that to me robin jason is small enough you could fit him in your pocket

[formosusiniquis]

twins of the heart

Robin Buckley & Steve Harrington; Robin Buckley/Carol Perkins wc: 2141 | T | tags & themes: Meeting the SO; No-longer Secret Relationships; Humor & the Tiniest Hint of Angst For @stobinmonth Day 11: matching | AO3

“I'm not changing.”

“We are not meeting my girlfriend for the first time matching, Steven.” Robin crosses her arms, ironically -- probably he's never really understood that -- matching his stance as she stands across from him.

Standing beside their selected arm chairs -- Robin's plaid with low arms and a springy cushion and Steve’s sunken and leather with the tall back -- he feels like Clint Eastwood. In a standoff with Robin, who's a second cowboy he doesn't know the name of even after weeks of watching spaghetti westerns with Wayne. She's got a smirk on her face. 

She thinks he's going to give in.

“We're in agreement then,” he says, “you've got a closet full of other shirts go find one.”

Robin looks seconds from ripping his button up off his shoulders, like it's his fault she's finally realized how much fun the bright colors are instead of the neutral pattern clashing she used to do.

“Your closet is bigger, she's my girlfriend you go change.”

“No, I've got my whole outfit planned.”

“I don't care that you matched your shoes to your shirt.”

It’s true that he has done that. It's also true that he has a backup outfit that he could use instead. But something about the frazzled way she’s looking at him, the way she’s tugging at the ends of her hair is tapping into his inner need to be a problem.

So instead of going back to his room. Instead of continuing what could, without a doubt, be an hours long argument until she either gave up and went to change or they went to the restaurant matching. He takes a step forward, settles down into the embrace of his chair and crosses his leg over his knee.

“Let’s talk about why it’s so important this ‘first’ meeting goes well.” He puts the air quotes around first because he knows how much it annoys her. Clasping his fingers on his knee when he’s done. “Are you worried that this sincerity of matching with your soulmate will scare her away?”

“You’ve taken one psych class, and it was developmental psych. For children.”

“Is this hostility real, or is it an easier emotion to express than fear?”

“I hate you. I hate you. I don’t know why we’re doing this.”

It wouldn’t be hard to keep this bit going, but Robin’s stress is quickly moving from funny joke to actually concerning. “It’s Carol, babe. I probably know your girlfriend better than you do.”

“Great,” Robin claps her hands, spins in a circle like she’s about to go back to her room but thinks better of it. “You can stay home then and I can make that table for three a table for two instead.”

“Robs.”

“You have to change.”

“We’re meeting,” he says slowly repeating her question from earlier in the same cadence he uses with his daycare students, “because you want your two favorite people to get along and because you feel bad that you were secretly dating my old best friend for a whole month.”

“She’s changed.” Robin says.

“I’m sure she has,” he agrees. It would be stranger if she hadn’t. Of the three of them Carol had always been the smartest, the quickest to point out what they had missed. Picking at a stray cat hair his lint roller had missed, he wonders how long after he’d left that Carol realized he’d been right about them being dicks. Wondered how long before she stopped being so stubborn and did something about it too.

“You’ve changed.” She says slowly like she’s repeating the answer to a question he’s asked three times already.

That doesn’t feel fair to either of them, and he’s ready to say that, when Robin’s hand flapping distracts him. “Except you haven’t, you’re just Steve and you’ve always been Steve but what if she has changed and you all can’t stand each other.”

“Well you’ll have to break up with her then.” He uncrosses his legs, braces his arms on his knees, a mockery of that ‘I mean business’ pose that Hopper would take at the end of a lecture,

Only Robin doesn’t laugh. Her eyes drop down to her clasped, nervous hands instead.

“No.”

“I mean,” she starts to say the expression on her face almost as guilty as it was when he answered the phone just to be shot back in time at the sound of Carol’s complaining the second she hears the line open.

The snap of her gum and the, “Babe, you are not going to believe this.” Had been so jarring he’d had to check that he was in the shitty, smoke-stained kitchen in their apartment and not the white walls of his parent’s house. When he’d caught Robin’s eyes hers had been wide enough he could see the pink in the corners. Panic like he hadn’t even seen in the Upside Down.

“I’m sure I wouldn’t,” he had said, hearing the soft sound of Carol’s surprise through what’s passing for a connection. “I’ll pass you over to Robin now, Babe.”

That night she’d done what passes for grovelling: take out from the place he likes but she can’t stand, Some Like it Hot already playing on the TV.

They didn't like arguing and like apologies even less. Robin was sorry he was sure, even if he was less sure why she hadn't told him about Carol in the first place. She hadn't had any problem complaining about her when she realized they were sharing the same campus.

And now they were wearing matching shirts in their living room, minutes from being late to a dinner with a girlfriend she’s thinking about breaking up with. Maybe that's why she hadn't said anything last month or last week or any time in between when her “study sessions” at “the library” went late enough that they missed getting to see each other before work and bed.

Steve is fine being the voice of reason, even if hes not sure why he has to be. “You’re not going to break up with your girlfriend if we don’t get along.”

“I will break up with whoever I want to.”

“Robin.”

“Steve.” Her arms are crossed, pulled tight against her chest. 

He thinks they’re going to have to actually talk about this. Not just bicker and tease and ignore the places where the hurt feelings come from. Because hurt feelings aren’t them, they aren’t something they do. They’re Steve and Robin. They don’t fight, disagree, or really argue -- because not wanting to get pizza from the place twenty minutes away that doesn’t deliver for the second time that week is none of those things.

“Were you ever going to tell me you were even seeing someone? Or should I just be glad I didn’t walk in on you eating out in the kitchen.”

“There wasn’t anything to tell.” Robin snaps like a rubber band pulled too far: sudden and it’s break more surprising than painful.

“At some point there was, and since we aren’t actually attached at the brain I really don’t know what you’re thinking.” He keeps his voice level but now that the words are leaving his mouth it’s like the slow peel of a scab coming up. Fresh blood following the sting of an unhappy, unhealed wound.

He wishes he were, wishes he could know everything about her, and she him, instantly. Wishes thoughts and extensions and meaning could just be there immediately and obvious. 

But it isn't, they aren’t. Steve just has to deal with knowing there are things that will always be secret, meaning he may never even be aware he missed.

“You liked her and I didn't,” Robin says carefully, the first stuttering chugs of a train starting forward. It has to start before it can barrel on. “That’s how it started.”

Steve is still sitting, legs spread, and Robin’s hands are flicking back and forth, swaying in a miserable vogue as thoughts arrange themselves in her mind, she steps forward.  Stepping and putting herself in that open space, ending the argument they still weren't really having through her proximity.

“Then we both hated her and that was good,” Robin continues. “What if now that I like her, you still don’t?

“If you never meet again it’s never a problem,” she continues. “I won’t have to end things. Cause that’s what I’ll do, Steve, there isn’t a choice between you and someone else. It’s always gonna be you. You’re my person.”

“It’s always gonna be you too, Rob.” He settles his hands on her waist in an almost hug, contact so he can keep looking her in the face when he asks. “But why are all you nerds so black and white?”

She scoffs, a total not-answer he knows means she doesn’t know what to say because he’s right.

“I didn’t hate Care, I still don’t. I was mad at her and Tommy. Mostly Tommy. But it wasn’t like she was dead to me. We talked in class and at games. She moved here for school, we were busy with fighting evil. We lost touch.”

“You don’t hate her?”

“I hate like three people and two of them are dead already. Everyone else is just annoying.”

“So you’ll change?”

She asks it gently, like it should be accompanied by an upset child’s sniffle. He almost feels bad about the way he knows he’s going to answer. Turning the hold on her waist into an actual hug, Steve rests his chin on the soft muscle of her stomach, looking up into her chin, and says, “No. We’re already late.”

He’s laughing too hard to keep his feet under him as Robin pulls him out of the chair. When he stumbles up to standing, she squeezes his hand, hard, a punishment for being mean to her.

“I hate you. I hate you. I hate you,” she chants.

She’s still muttering it down their apartment hall, in the car, and up to the restaurant where her mildly pissy face melts into something soft and gooey.

Carol is already waiting looking polished and pressed as she always has. The mid-length skirt and the chin length hair suit her. If the fashion is any indication, the 90’s seem like they’ll be kinder than the last few years have been.

Steve drops Robin’s hand as Carol walks up, gives them the space to greet one another. A warm hug: hands drifting. A kiss to the cheek: lip gloss sticky and possessive. Kind doesn’t mean they don’t still need to be careful, their greeting never slips beyond what could be friends meeting up. 

And when they let go Carrie’s eyes, still soft, take on that sly pinch at the corner. She hugs him too: one arm, from the side, hands firmly in the zone of public decency. “This twin thing is cute.”

Robin groans so they can both hear all the ways that Steve has victimized her.

“I mean it, Birdie, “ she says. And Steve can hear the way age has sanded down some of her sharper edges. “Makes me hungry.”

Robin flushes, a deep red Steve can feel the heat of in his own face. “Really?

Some of her edges, not all. The look in her eyes revealing that sharp gleam he knows meant, at one point, that she and Tommy were going to disappear into a spare bedroom and leave him to fend for himself.

“I had meant literally.” If they disappear to fuck in the bathroom he’s leaving them with the bill.

But Carol shakes her head and puts the obviously dirty thoughts behind her. “I haven’t seen you two look this cute since the summer we graduated.”

Wait. 

“You didn’t ever come into Scoops.” Steve accuses. 

Carol’s complexion betrays her. “No, but Orange Julius was right across the food court.”

Robin is looking back and forth between them. And she was worried they wouldn’t get along. He’s about to give Rob the food to get Care riled up for weeks.

“You spend a lot of time in the food court that summer?”

“Freshman fifteen doesn’t count if it happens before the school year starts.”

“And the seats across from Scoops were the best in the room?”

“It had the best view, and I can remember more than a few freaks and geeks who would say the exact same thing.”

“Wait,” Robin says, “you were looking at…”

“Blue looks good on you,” Carol sways into Robin’s space, a leer on her face that suggests that Steve will have the apartment to himself tonight. Carol’s eyes cut up to him, a reminder that she hasn’t forgotten him or the purpose of tonight, “It looks alright on you, Stevie.”

“Yeah, big surprise who you think wore it better. You’ve always been easy.”

“We have that in common, looks like you match with both of us.”

[sclki-op]

hello! thank you very much for contributing to the smozo art and fic!!! your writing is really good - i was literally like :0 no way when i saw your note on your fic about not being a native speaker after reading, and i mean this in the most sincere way!! i was wondering if you had any spare smozo thoughts / AUs that you wanted to talk about / writing or art projects that you are hoping to do but for some reason haven't gotten around to yet!! (i am just nosy and want to talk to another smozo shipper haha and i love your takes on their relationship but no pressure to answer!! hope you have a nice day <3) bonus question: do you have any other favourite OP characters besides smoker and zoro?

Hello! Aa thank you so much for your kind words!! Haha, I spend numerous evenings editing and fixing even the tiniest snippets so that maybe they end up decent.. trying to learn a different punctuation system and fix my not so great grammar as I go doesn’t add any confidence— so thank you, I’m happy to know that you like my stuff! I really appreciate it

Oh I turn utterly SHY when being asked about these two even though I’m eager to talk hahaha but really, thank you so much for your interest!

I guess my Roman Empire in this ship is exploring the concept of forbidden, in one way or another, relationship. Mostly between two characters that are antagonistic in their core and life courses but that might also gravitate towards each other in their worldviews, personality traits, morals. Something that starts as a cautious, very murky and blurry arrangement, situationship even, and gradually evolves into something so much more complex and multifaceted, something the characters themselves have a hard time navigating, verbalising and at the same time aren’t even allowed to by the circumstances. Between me and my friend we say: “y’know, that indefinable thing”. You can’t call it a shallow, periodic interest, but neither is it love in its common form. The thing. Long distance relationship is also something I like to explore for them. Fun fact is that I don’t really believe in such concept in real life. However, their relationship can be spurred on by so many factors within the context of One Piece’s universe that it becomes a solid possibility. And one could notice that these ideas are soo repetitive in both my art and fics it’s a bit awkward to think about haha

As for AUs— I have so many... But my faves right now are the mer! ones (3 of them, all different… with human!Zoro and mer!Smoker, the other way around and, well, mer&mer), only one of them has grown a proper plot x). Aand the one with asura Zoro. This one’s set within the canon universe, but Zoro meets Smoker before he does Luffy. Also kind of trying to fit the concept of actual demons into op for this one... I’d really like to write a lengthy thing for the asura!zoro au but I think that I’m lacking the skills for that, so it’s a goal for much later

I actually have a lot of things planned and currently in work. A bunch of illust sketches, several short comics, maybe half a dozen ficlets in my drafts? I’ve also set to depict a preface for their relationship because I’ve mostly been showing their future days. And it’s pretty hard to backtrack since they’re married like 5 times in my head by now… the silly stuff, when one’s been shipping the two for several years x) Gotta give people some lore while I’m at it to go with the contextless smooching. However, i don’t have much free time these days with uni and the upcoming internship and attempts at job hunting ouhh… But I will! Get to all my plans eventually

And for my other favourites in OP, they’re Ace, Law, Robin, Monet and Crocodile!

[steddieas-shegoes]

it led me to you

chapter 5: vecna also on AO3

Chapter 1 / Chapter 2 / Chapter 3 / Chapter 4

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

When Steve woke up eight hours later, he was in pain, and he didn’t remember anything that happened the first time he woke up.

Wayne watched them as Eddie tried to ask him some basic questions and got no answers, and Eddie tried so hard not to be disappointed.

Steve asked about Robin, mentioned that she had been there when he got injured and probably could tell everyone what happened better than he could, refusing to answer any question about the injuries.

When Wayne asked the nurse if they knew anything more, they said that he’d been unable to tell them and no one else who was there was talking about anything except the actual fire.

Wayne was a relatively distrustful person, especially when it came to things like this, things that seemed much bigger than just a mall fire. He got even more suspicious when he saw a few people in suits arrive and go into a room down the hall later that first day.

He was quickly distracted by Robin showing back up, though.

She ran into the room, practically face planting into Steve’s bed as she grabbed his other hand, ignored his wince in pain, and started rambling.

“You absolute dingus! I cannot believe you tried to hide a severe concussion for so long that you blacked out! I asked you how many times if you were okay? And you said ‘oh, I’m fine! I feel great! I could fly a plane right now!”

“You said what?” Eddie snorted, trying his best not to let the fact that she was holding his best friend’s hand make him jealous. He failed.

“I don’t think I said that,” Steve said, though he seemed unsure.

“You did. You said ‘planes are big and I am, like, so good at driving, so I could probably drive it if someone got it off the ground and then put it back on the ground when I was done.’ Which is truly something a gorilla could do, Steve. Like, not to be rude, but you saying you can do the easiest part of flying an airplane is not as comforting as you think it is, and I have been stuck on that for almost 16 hours now. How is that supposed to be reassuring?” She continued, waving her unoccupied hand so much, she almost hit herself and then Wayne when he came up next to her. “And then I started thinking about how maybe you genuinely thought that flying the plane in the air is the hard part. Like being okay is relative isn’t it? To you, maybe you’re okay, but to me, you’re so far from okay. And I think I’m pretty far from okay, but I don’t look nearly as bad as you so maybe I am okay and just being ridiculous ya know? And-“

Wayne placed his hand on her shoulder, effectively stopping her from continuing.

She took in a deep breath, and let out a sob.

Steve let go of Eddie’s hand to try to pull her into a hug.

Eddie didn’t mind so much, at least not right now. Robin seemed to need it, and Steve seemed to need to provide it.

He could let go of his stupid jealousy for this.

He could.

He felt Wayne’s eyes on him, but ignored the way they burned into his profile, ignored the words he knew Wayne was silently saying to him.

“I’m gonna go grab some food. Anyone want anything?”

Everyone shook their head, but otherwise ignored Wayne’s question, and he ultimately seemed fine with that.

Eddie kind of figured he just wanted to be out of the room, didn’t want to feel the tension anymore.

Couldn’t blame him with the way Robin and Steve were whispering to each other, looking at each other like they were saying more with their eyes than their mouths.

Eddie sat back in his chair, closed his eyes, and somehow managed to drift into an unfit sleep.

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

When he woke, he was alone with Steve, who was sitting in bed with his eyes closed, but he wasn’t asleep.

Eddie could tell because he just…knew every way that Steve held himself. He knew that when he was asleep, his mouth would often slip open just the tiniest bit, his hands curled into fists, holding whatever was closest in them (a sheet, Eddie’s shirt, sometimes his own shirt).

He was tense though, probably in a decent amount of pain still considering they’d slowly been taking him off the pain meds.

Eddie took in his injuries again, the way the swelling had started going down slightly, but the bruising hadn’t faded at all. He noted the way the bruising on his arms and neck and chest all seemed reminiscent of fingerprints, of someone holding him down, choking him.

Someone did this to him.

Fires don’t cause bruises.

People cause bruises.

He let him pretend for another minute, mentally filing away every scratch on his skin, every discoloration that meant someone had touched him to hurt him.

“Stevie? You need anything?”

Steve opened his eyes, groaning at the light.

“Will you hold my hand again?”

Eddie would jump out of the hospital window if Steve asked. Holding his hand was a small favor in comparison.

“Wanna tell me more about your dreams of being a pilot?” Eddie asked with a smirk.

“Oh my God, you two will never let this go, will you?” Steve rolled his eyes, but smiled.

“I’m just curious why you never mentioned it before. I’m sure we could look into you getting your license now that you’ve graduated.”

“I was just high when I said it, Eds,” Steve said, as if that made any sense.

He was at work, he shouldn’t have been high. He didn’t even like getting high, not even with Eddie, so why was he high at work with Robin?

“High?”

Steve suddenly looked like he regretted saying it, like he wasn’t supposed to tell him that and somehow letting it slip was a big deal.

He knew Eddie wasn’t judging him for being high, not even on the clock, so why was he suddenly acting like he shouldn’t have said it?

“What happened?” Eddie figured this was the best question to ask.

Even if he didn’t get all the details, he could maybe piece most of the night together, find out how he got beat to shit.

“It’s a long story. I don’t know what I’m allowed to say,” he started, still so hesitant, still acting like he had to hide.

“Allowed?”

“Yeah.”

“Who wouldn’t allow you?”

“I dunno. Dustin just told me not to say anything yet.”

Eddie was even more confused now.

“Dustin? Was Dustin at the mall when the fire happened?”

“Um.”

“Steve, why the hell was Dustin there?”

Eddie felt his brain trying to piece things together without even knowing half of the story. Dustin was a child. He shouldn’t have even been at the mall that late to begin with, let alone anywhere near whatever happened to Steve.

He hadn’t met Dustin yet, but he felt this overwhelming urge to protect him just based off of how much Steve loved him.

“He was visiting me at work when everything started.”

“Everything being…?”

“Eds, I-“

“Alright, Steve! Looks like you’re going home today, so let’s go ahead and do one last check on everything!”

The nurse walking in the room caused them both to jump, Eddie realizing almost too late how close he had gotten to Steve.

It wouldn’t look very good for someone who wasn’t Wayne to walk in on that.

Thankfully, she didn’t seem to notice, too busy focusing on the clipboard in front of her as she spoke.

“Your injuries are all surface wounds so they’ll just need to be maintained with regular cleaning and wrapping on the worse ones. Your eye may still need a cold compress occasionally while the swelling continues to go down. I’d recommend every four to six hours if you can. Do you have someone to help you for the next 24-48 hours?”

She finally looked up, seemingly noticing that Eddie was there for the first time.

“Oh! Hello! My apologies, I’ve been so busy tonight, my head is all over the place. Steve, is it okay to discuss things with him here?”

“Yeah, I’m gonna be staying with him and his uncle while I get better.”

“Great! They’ll bring some more instructions in a couple hours, but for now, do you have any concerns before you go?”

Eddie had a lot of fucking concerns. Like, more concerns than he had even just ten minutes ago.

But he couldn’t ask the nurse about these concerns.

No, Steve was the only one who could properly answer these questions, and he intended on making sure he got the answers he needed.

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

He lasted less than 12 hours before he was begging for answers.

Wayne showed up shortly after the nurse did, helped Steve sit up and walk around a bit, get ready for the doctor to release him.

They made it home only a couple hours later, Eddie setting Steve up in his bed while Wayne grabbed them some pizza in town.

It was the perfect opportunity to get some answers, but Steve finally looked like he was comfortable, relaxed. Eddie couldn’t interrupt that by asking him to relive whatever trauma happened the night before.

When Wayne got home, Steve was asleep.

Eddie sat with Wayne at the table, taking a slice and silently chewing as he thought through the events of the night and day so far.

“You call Robin?”

Eddie shook his head. He hadn’t thought to, even though her number was written on a piece of paper in his pocket.

He’d barely thought about much other than piecing together what happened to Steve.

But Robin probably knew.

“I’m gonna do that now!” He was maybe too excited, and Wayne’s eye roll told him that he probably realized he was calling for more selfish reasons than to let her know that Steve was home and mostly okay.

He knew Wayne would hear the entire conversation, but he didn’t really care. He just needed to understand what was happening with Steve.

Robin answered on the second ring.

“Is this a Munson? It better be.”

“No, this is Mrs. Hampton from the laundromat calling to remind you to pick up your delicates,” Eddie said in a high-pitched voice that sounded nothing like Mrs. Hampton.

“Well, either you’re preparing me for bad news with a sad attempt at humor or Steve’s fine,” she said, voice still laced with worry.

“Yeah, he’s alright. I mean, as alright as someone who looks like they’ve been put in the middle of a pro wrestling ring with no experience can. Wanna tell me more about that?”

“I don’t know if I can.”

He tried not to be mad, or jealous, or any other emotion that would be embarrassing later.

There was a reason for the secrecy, and as frustrating as it was for him, he knew they would be more honest about it if they could be.

“I’m Steve’s best friend. I promise I won’t say anything.”

“I just…I’m new to this. I don’t-“

“New to what?”

What the hell did that even mean? New to what? Robin had lived in Hawkins her whole life as far as Eddie knew. She wasn’t exactly new to working a job, having been a babysitter since she was 13 and working at the grocery store every summer since she was 14. She wasn’t new to Steve, or at least not that new: they’d been working together all summer.

“The weird stuff.”

“Weird what?”

But Eddie thought about what Steve said about Dustin and his friends. Thought about how they seemed too mature for their age in some ways, and not in others. How government officials in suits showed up when something weird happened, barely gave any explanation, and left again.

“I just think you should ask Steve. He’ll tell you,” she sighed.

“He might not want to.”

“He will if you ask. He’d tell you anything. He lo-“ Robin cleared her throat. “I should probably go in case my parents call. They found out about everything this morning and have been calling every hour to check in.”

“Tell her she’s welcome over anytime!” Wayne said from the table.

“You can come over anytime. But Steve’s asleep right now so maybe wait a few hours.”

“Yeah, thanks. Probably can’t until my parents get back and actually see with their own eyes that I’m not speaking to them as a ghost on the phone.” Robin laughed. “You know my mom genuinely asked me if I was someone pretending to be me. As if someone would admit that!”

“Wait, are you impersonating Robin?”

He was met with silence.

“Oh my god, you deserve each other. Goodbye, Edward.”

She hung up before he could ask what the hell that meant.

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

When Steve woke up, he was in pain, but it was manageable.

Eddie took advantage of his still-relaxed mind to start asking questions.

“So you were just working like normal and then the place blew up?”

“Not…exactly,” Steve said as he took some pain meds and chugged some water.

“What happened?”

“Um.”

“Stevie, please. You can’t even open one of your eyes. You’ve got bruises on your neck! Your skin is rubbed raw on your wrists like someone had you tied up. I don’t know what happened, but I know it wasn’t just an explosion. Please,” Eddie begged, tears filling his eyes despite his best effort not to cry.

“Eds,” Steve started, reaching his hand out to comfort, but Eddie stood up. He folded his hands in his lap, trying to cover up the marks Eddie was talking about. “I want to tell you, I just-“

“Then tell me! It doesn’t have to leave this room, I won’t even tell Wayne! I just need to know what happened to you, I need to know how to help you. Please.”

Eddie knew what his face was doing, what his eyes were saying.

He knew it wasn’t fair to put that on Steve right now, or ever, but he couldn’t pretend that this didn’t bother him.

He couldn’t pretend that he believed the mall just exploded.

“Alright. Okay. Just. Just sit down.”

Steve’s voice was trembling, his hands were trembling, his entire body was trembling.

“No one can know any of this. I’m not supposed to know any of it, but I was forced into knowing. It’s dangerous to know, and I don’t think it’s fair to put it on you, but if you’re insisting then-“

“Steve.”

“Okay! Okay.” He took a deep breath. “Hawkins Lab wasn’t just a regular lab; they were doing human experiments. This girl, El, she has like, superpowers. And I guess a lot of the weird stuff that happens around here can be traced back to them and their experiments. There’s a whole alternate dimension, Dustin called it the Upside Down, and there’s-“

“Wait. Sorry. Dustin?”

“Oh! Yes, Dustin. He’s apparently been involved with this stuff since Will, you know Will? Since he went missing. Which I guess when he was missing, he was stuck in the Upside Down, and like, almost got eaten by all these weird creatures that they named after D&D things? None of them fit though, and I told them that, but they kept saying it’s just what worked and-“

“Stevie. Please.”

Steve kept getting distracted, which was normal for him when he was rambling about things, but Eddie’s patience was thin right now.

"Right. So last night. I guess it started yesterday though. Dustin came to see me at work and said he needed help with something and I assumed it was something from camp maybe? I dunno, but then Robin got involved because she knows Russian and I guess under the mall there’s tunnels to a secret Russian bunker, which is crazy, right? Feels like I made that up, but I didn’t because Robin was there and then Dustin and Erica. And I had to protect them all because they could have died or gotten hurt and I kept telling the Russians that like, Robin and I just scoop ice cream! We don’t know anything! They didn’t believe me, and then Robin kept trying to get them to stop hurting me, and they almost killed me I think, but Dustin managed to get us out. Some other stuff happened that I don’t really know the details for because I was unconscious, but it wasn’t good. Billy, you remember him? He died. I was awake long enough to hear Lucas trying to calm Max down about it. And then I woke up in the hospital and I started to remember some of the stuff they did to me and I don’t really want to.”

Eddie was finding it hard to keep up, hard to breathe, hard to remember that Steve was okay.

He made it out.

This sounded like something out of a conspiracy book, and maybe if Eddie didn’t know Steve so well, he would assume he was making it all up, but he knew he wasn’t.

He couldn’t.

He wouldn’t.

“You were tortured by Russians under the mall.”

It wasn’t a question, but Steve nodded like he was answering it anyway.

“What the fuck.”

“They also gave me some kind of drugs, Robin too, but I think they messed up my dose because it lasted longer for me. I think it was like a truth serum, but I dunno. I don’t remember a lot still,” Steve sighed.

A truth serum.

He was probably still on it in the hospital. Which meant maybe-

“I’m supposed to let Dustin know when I’m awake so he can visit. He apparently called the hospital about 100 times to talk to me, but couldn’t. Can I call him?”

“Yeah, ‘course. You don’t have to ask permission, Stevie.”

Eddie felt like he was on the outside looking in, like he couldn’t quite grasp everything Steve was saying. He’d missed a connection somewhere maybe, or maybe there was no connection to miss and it was just this fucking weird.

He helped Steve stand and get to the phone, and then left him to talk to Dustin.

Maybe things would get clearer soon.

- - - - - - - - - -

Things did not get clearer soon, or at all.

The rest of the summer was a blur of Steve getting better, Robin becoming a fixture at the trailer, Dustin inviting himself over to hang out with both of them, and Steve and Robin trying to find a new job.

Apparently, they were trauma bonded or something and couldn’t work separately.

Eddie thought about trying to find a part time job that would work when he was back in school, but Wayne shut it down.

“Just need you to focus on graduating. You’ll have plenty of time to work yourself to the bone when you’re done in school.”

Eddie knew there was no point in arguing, so he didn’t.

But he did get lonely.

Steve and Robin managed to find jobs at Family Video about two weeks into the school year.

Robin could only work closing shifts on Fridays and whatever was available on the weekends, but Steve worked all the time.

All the time.

Eddie focused in school this time. He had to. He couldn’t do this again.

And it was working mostly. He was definitely passing everything, and Hellfire was great with the addition of Dustin and his crew, even though they were certainly an odd bunch.

Dustin knew that he knew, but the rest of them didn’t, and they both preferred it that way.

The less Eddie had to be involved in whatever the hell was happening in this town, the better.

Life moved on, slowly.

Until Eddie broke a promise.

- - - - - - - - -

He was going to graduate.

He made it to the pre-spring break deadline with all passing grades. As long as he didn’t fail any tests, he was walking that stage.

Finally.

It helped that Steve had Nancy meet with him every Monday afternoon to schedule out his assignments for the week and help with anything he didn’t understand.

It helped a lot.

But Wayne was working so much, and Steve was working so much, and Robin really only hung out with him if Steve was around, and he definitely didn’t wanna hang out with the kids outside of Hellfire.

He just needed a purpose.

And if Chrissy Cunningham needed some relief from whatever stress she was facing in the form of the leftover drugs he had in his trailer, then he could find a small purpose there.

He wasn’t even gonna sell them to her; her stress was almost a physical presence when she met up with him in the woods after school. She clearly needed something that she couldn’t find anywhere else.

He recognized the way she held herself, the way she was silently begging for anything to help.

He drove her to the trailer after Hellfire that night, after her cheer practice and extra coaching.

She was quiet, kept looking out the window or behind her like she was worried they were being followed.

“Um, should I be worried about something? Is someone following us?” He finally asked, his own anxiety spiking.

“Huh? No. Sorry, just, it’s late and I usually don’t lie to my mom about where I am,” she said.

Eddie believed her, knew she was a great student, great person, probably a great daughter. The opposite of Eddie in just about every way as far as he could tell, and yet here she was begging for illegal substances.

He wasn’t judging, definitely wouldn’t pretend to know what she had going on that was so bad she needed to get high to feel better.

But he was curious, extremely so.

“Is there anything you wanna talk about? Maybe talking would help a little?”

“I talk to the guidance counselor at school. It doesn’t help. Thanks though. That’s really sweet of you to offer,” Chrissy said, turning to give him a sweet, but fake, smile.

“Yeah, anytime. Seriously, I know we don’t know each other well, but. I don’t want you to do something you’ll regret just because you’re stressed.”

They settled into silence, Eddie kind of hoping she would change her mind and he could just drive her home.

He did not have a good feeling about this.

Steve was closing tonight and opening tomorrow, so he was staying at his house for the first time in a while, mostly because it was closer to Family Video, but also because he had to have his own space sometimes.

That’s what Wayne said, anyway.

Wayne was working. Wayne was always working. Doing his best to pay bills, picking up the extra hours as much as he could physically handle so that he had some savings “just in case.”

“Are your parents home?” Chrissy suddenly asked as they pulled into the trailer park.

“Oh. Uh, no. I don’t live with my parents. I live with my uncle. He’s at work though.”

“Oh.”

“I can just run in if you’re not comfortable-“

“No! I-no. I can come in,” she rushed out, already unbuckling her seatbelt before he even put the van in park.

He should have called it.

He should have read her energy, the nervousness in the way she was trying to rush and also take her time and said that he had to take her home.

Maybe he could say he lost the drugs.

Or that they went bad.

She wouldn’t know.

But he didn’t do any of that.

He brought her into the trailer, told her to wait by the couch.

He scurried to his room, sorting through his drawers where he usually kept his personal stash, hoping it was there.

His next best bet was the bathroom under the sink, but he remembered as he was rummaging that Wayne made him clean it all out a few months back to make room for new towels and Steve’s hair things.

The closet in the hall definitely didn’t have anything except everything that didn’t fit in the rest of the house and cobwebs.

“Everything alright?” Chrissy called to him as he went back into his room to think about where it could be.

“Yep! Just checking for something!” He called back. “Shit, shit, shit,” he said under his breath. “What am I doing?”

He heard a yelp from the other room and stood up.

“Chrissy? You okay?”

The trailer was small, and while it wasn’t messy, it was a bit cluttered just because they didn’t have space for everything. People who weren’t familiar with the layout and organization could easily bump into something.

There was no answer.

He ran out of his room, freezing for a moment when he saw the way Chrissy was staring off into space.

She looked like she was already high, but that was impossible. He hadn’t found any of his stash and it takes way longer for any of what he has to kick in.

He also doesn’t think she would have taken anything without checking with him first, she seemed too nervous to take such a serious risk.

“Chrissy?” He asked again, voice wobbling.

She didn’t answer, her eyes glazing over, turning a milky white.

He didn’t understand. Was she prone to seizures? What did it look like when someone had an aneurysm? Shit, was there even anything he could do other than call 911 for that? Then everyone would know she was here, and they’d assume it was for drugs or for him to take advantage of her, and he couldn’t just say he was gay, that would probably be worse.

She started rising off the floor, floating. It looked like someone was pulling her up on an invisible string.

“That’s not an aneurysm,” Eddie said to himself, eyes widening.

Despite his inner voice telling him to just fucking run, he closed the distance between them and started tugging on her legs to get her back down.

But it was impossible, she wasn’t even moving as he used all of his strength to bring her back down.

“This is some bullshit! If there’s any damn Russians or demodogs or what the hell else, now��s your chance I guess!” He was already out of breath trying to pull her down as he yelled.

The front door opened with a bang, and the thought ran through his mind that he was an idiot for asking for something else to happen.

His neighbor and one of Steve’s kids, Max, was suddenly next to him, radio in hand, saying something he couldn’t focus on as she also tried to help him tug Chrissy down.

“How long has she been like this?” Max asked.

“I dunno! In the air for maybe 15 seconds, but before that she was zoned out for maybe a minute. Do you know what’s going on? Please tell me you do, Red.”

“Does Eddie know her favorite song?” Dustin’s voice rang out. “Over.”

“I barely know her at all!”

“Why is she in your house then?” Max said with a brow raised, as if this was somehow more important than the fact that she was floating in the air.

“Take a guess! She needs music!” Dustin said when no one answered him.

Eddie stopped trying to pull her down, knew he wouldn’t be successful, and ran to his room to find something in his stack of tapes that Chrissy Cunningham would like.

And then it hit him.

Steve.

Steve listened to everything.

He probably had something in his stack on the other side of the room.

Eddie didn’t know what Chrissy would like, but made some assumptions and hoped that maybe stereotypes would be right just this one time.

He shoved the first Blondie tape he found in his boombox (which he would definitely be making fun of Steve for when there wasn’t a girl floating in his living room), turning the volume all the way up.

It was much too loud, and the neighbors would absolutely complain, but he just needed it to work. He’d deal with everything else later.

He ran back out of the room and saw Chrissy’s body flinching, her eyes starting to lose the milky whiteness, and he sighed with relief.

“Is it working?” Dustin’s crackling voice came through.

“Yes!” Max answered before turning to Eddie. “Be ready to catch her.”

“What?” He asked before her words caught up to him and he was scrambling to try to break Chrissy’s fall as her body fell from the ceiling.

She was nearly hyperventilating, tears falling from her eyes, and Max was in front of her in a heartbeat, checking her over for injuries.

“How long have you been having them?” Max asked.

“Having what?” Eddie asked, confusion only building further.

“I guess a week or so. But they got really bad yesterday and I couldn’t sleep and now I think I’m just sleep deprived,” she said quietly, voice shaking.

“Mine started yesterday. We’re gonna help you, okay?”

“Would someone like to fill me in on what the fuck just happened?” Eddie felt like he was losing his mind.

They were acting like this wasn’t a big deal, or at least that they could just brush it off.

“Yes, but do you have a walkman she can use for tonight? I only have mine and I need it so I don’t end up floating, too.”

He got his walkman from the bedroom, tuning out the voices of Chrissy and Max whispering to each other.

“You can drive us to Steve’s house, right?”

“Steve’s at work for another hour.”

“Yeah, and he told us all to meet there, so…”

Max stared at him, waving her arm impatiently.

“Okay, sure. Steve’s house. This is a totally normal thing and totally normal outcome to this evening.”

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

“You’re kidding me.”

Eddie stared in disbelief at the kids surrounding the table, at Robin and Steve who were still in their work uniforms.

They all stared back at him, not exactly calm, but as if this wasn’t the craziest thing that’s happened.

And from what he knew of Hawkins from this group, maybe that was true.

“And you named him Vecna.”

Everyone still just stared back at him, making sure he processed everything.

“You know, I don’t like how calm you all are about this. Two of you are basically possessed and could die whenever this Vecna guy feels like it, and you’re just casually talking about how to burn his body and mind,” he said, his volume rising as he spoke.

“Eds, it’s just. Kind of par for the course at this point for them, and I guess this isn’t really that bad in comparison to the Russians and everything,” Steve said as he came up to him, smiling sadly and touching his arm.

Eddie ignored the sparks shooting between them, ignored it because if he didn’t, he would lean in and kiss Steve in front of all of these people, and they didn’t have time for it.

Especially not with how carried away Eddie knew he wanted to get.

“You guys are super chill about an evil wizard man getting inside your minds and killing you.”

Chrissy and Max were sitting on the couch with headphones over their ears, listening to the songs that saved them.

“So, we have to go to the Creel house?” he finally asked, realizing he was just gonna have to get on board.

“Some of us will have to do it here, while the rest of us do it in the Upside Down version,” Lucas said, sighing. “Splitting up always ends bad for us, but I don’t think we have a choice here.”

“No, but we can split the adults up with the kids so that it’s safer,” Robin suggested.

“Okay, Eddie and me will go down there with Dustin and Max. Chrissy and Lucas will go with you and Nancy here,” Steve said.

“I wanna stay with Max,” Lucas argued.

“I need you to stay with the girls, though,” Steve replied.

“You mean Nancy, who has a better shot that Hopper? And Chrissy, who beat half the basketball team in an arm wrestling competition earlier this year? And…Robin?”

Robin smacked his arm, but nodded.

“He’s right, we don’t really need him. He can keep an eye on Max while the rest of you focus on Vecna down there,” Robin supported him.

“Fine, but that means he’s our communicator. He has to be the middle man between the groups in an emergency,” Steve added.

They all agreed, and Eddie watched as they all started preparing.

The kids were professionals at this point, and Steve and Robin hadn’t had quite the same preparation, but enough to know what was waiting for them.

Eddie and Chrissy were new to this, new to this whole other world that caused more mayhem than Hawkins, Indiana deserved.

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

It wasn’t the best plan, but it was their best shot, and that had to be enough.

It started fine; Steve and Eddie leading Dustin, Max, and Lucas into the Upside Down.

It even seemed to go okay when they got to the Creel house.

Nothing major happened, and they were able to find a way to communicate with the crew on the other side.

But as anyone who has ever tried to plan something knows, plans go to shit quick.

Vecna’s physical body being in regular old Hawkins was supposed to make things easier, but they forgot to take into account the fact that he was in Max’s mind, he was in Chrissy’s mind.

They thought he could only see where they were and what they were doing during possessions, but that was clearly wrong.

He knew they were coming.

He prepared everywhere.

And they couldn’t fight preparation like that.

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

It was a blur of just trying to survive.

Vecna sent demobats after the crew in the Upside Down, huge creatures that were all easily the size of Dustin or bigger, all hungry.

They had to run from the Creel house, most of the roof destroyed as the crew in Hawkins continued their attempts at destroying Vecna in any way they could.

Outrunning the bats wasn’t going to work, they all knew it.

But they didn’t have many options down here.

Steve led them into the forest down the road, managed to find a large area of fallen trees that made a sad excuse of a cave.

It was enough, though, for now.

Enough to keep the bats away and to keep themselves out of view from any other creatures that may be lurking around.

“This isn’t going well,” Eddie said, breathless from the run. He was a bit out of shape, and even short distances were hard, as his gym teacher could attest to.

“Could be going better,” Lucas nodded, not quite as out of breath, but definitely sweating from the effort it took to run half a mile, half supporting Max.

Max, who had started to be possessed again while in the house, was still shaken up, nursing a broken arm and blurry vision.

Dustin was mumbling to himself, and to Steve, but Steve was just watching outside their makeshift shelter, probably making sure nothing followed them too closely.

He was sweaty, dirty from falling on his way into the shelter, and had scratches covering most of his arms and neck from where he’d had to pull Max out of the attic in the Creel house as it started to collapse.

“We have to get back,” he finally said, looking back at Eddie with wide eyes.

No one else would see it, but Eddie did. He saw the fear in his eyes, the trembling of his hands as they settled on his own knees, trying to gain the courage he needed to be a leader for them.

Eddie loved him.

And suddenly he didn’t know why he waited years to tell him.

He didn’t know why he was so worried about his reaction, or why he thought Steve would treat him differently.

Because even if Steve didn’t feel the same, even if he didn’t love Eddie the way Eddie had loved him for years, he would never treat Eddie as anything less than his best friend.

And now, with the fear of something else going wrong in the back of his mind, he felt like he needed to tell him.

He needed to tell him right now, regardless of who else was around.

“Steve, I-“

A screeching sound filled their ears, filled the shelter, the woods around them.

It was loud enough for all of them to immediately cover their ears, looking at each other in a panic.

“What the hell was that?” Dustin asked.

“You’d know better than any of the rest of us, dude,” Steve answered.

Then there was silence.

Eerie silence.

They could count each others’ heartbeats in this silence.

Eddie felt the unease grow.

It went from chaos to silence too quickly; something had to be wrong.

Even more wrong than what it had been before.

“I’m going to check.”

“What?” Eddie grabbed Steve’s arm before he could go. “You can’t go alone, Stevie. Let’s wait another minute first. It could be a trap.”

“We have to get out of here, Eds. I’m just gonna peek first, then do a walk around.”

Eddie knew the kids were about to argue, but he also knew that Steve’s top priority right now was keeping them all safe, and sitting here waiting for something to happen was just going to increase their chances of someone ending up hurt or worse.

He knew no matter what they said, Steve was going to do what it took to protect them.

He’d lost his bat somewhere during Max’s rescue, and they didn’t have time to try to find it, so he was weaponless.

Eddie tried to hand over what was left of his shield, hoped it would be enough to at least be a comfort to all of them, but he refused it.

Steve looked out of the shelter, slowly, carefully.

He gave them a thumbs up before slowly stepping out, being careful not to slip on the dead leaves that were covering the ground of the entrance.

His footsteps were light as he walked away.

A minute felt like an hour.

Two minutes felt like a lifetime.

“He’s taking a long time,” Lucas whispered, scared to break the silence.

“I’m gonna go check,” Eddie said, sick of waiting.

“Wait! You can’t leave us. We should just all go,” Dustin said as he slowly moved closer to the entrance.

“Steve would kill me if I let you all come with me before checking on him.”

“And what if something got to him and it gets you too? Then what?”

“Then we’re all dead anyway.”

That was a harrowing thought, but a true one.

If something managed to get Steve without making a sound, it could easily get all of them, one at a time, or maybe even in a group if it was big enough.

“Alright, fine,” Eddie touched Max’s shoulder. “Dustin behind me, Max behind him, Lucas behind her. We get out, then we form more of a circle around Max since she’s injured. Steve couldn’t have gone too far, shouldn’t have, so it won’t take long to get to him and then get the hell out of here.”

“What if something comes?”

“Then we skip everything except the running the hell out of here part.”

Max snorted, and Eddie couldn’t help smiling a bit.

Any light in this shitstorm was welcome at this point.

Just as Eddie stepped out, he heard another terrible screech, not as loud as the one before, but closer.

He looked at the kids, looked out the door, and ran.

The kids were following, their plan gone to shit. Again.

As much as Eddie wanted to yell for Steve, he knew it would just draw attention to them and he had to keep the kids safe.

They had to get home.

He looked around; They weren’t far from the gate.

He could send the kids through, could try to find Steve while they got more help, more weapons.

Maybe some fucking water so he could rinse his mouth out from the dust in the air.

And then he saw it.

He didn’t think, he just ran, distance and exhaustion barely a problem.

Steve’s legs stuck out from behind a tree, pants visibly torn, even from a distance, even in the dark.

He hoped the kids were watching out for themselves, because all he could think right now was Steve, Steve, Steve.

Steve had definitely been attacked by one of the creatures, though it was hard to tell what, so much blood hiding where the true injuries were, hiding what they were.

His eyes were closed, his chest barely rising and falling.

“Steve. God, Stevie, please,” Eddie knelt by his side, touching his cheek and then doing a quick inventory of what he could see of his injuries.

His clothes were torn almost entirely, and he was actively bleeding from multiple spots on his chest and stomach, and definitely at least one leg had an open wound.

It didn’t look good, and if he’d already been bleeding like this for more than a minute, he could have already lost too much blood.

“Eddie!” Dustin called from only a few feet away.

God, he couldn’t see Steve like this. None of them could.

“Go through the gate! Get Nancy or Robin quick!”

He hoped his voice held together enough to get the point across without giving away how scared he was.

“But-“

“Dustin, not now! Go!”

That time even he could hear his fear.

He heard the kids talking to themselves as they walked just a bit further into the woods where the gate was.

“Stevie, sweetheart, hey. Can you open those beautiful eyes for me?” Eddie didn’t know what he was saying, didn’t think he could control a single word at this point as he tried to get Steve to open his eyes.

He was pulling off his shirt, ripping it in half to try to create a tourniquet to stop the bleeding on his leg, use the other one to apply pressure to the worst wound on his stomach.

Eddie didn’t know much first aid; He could patch up a cut, knew to put ice on injuries that might swell, knew how to pull a splinter out.

But he knew enough to know that if he didn’t stop the bleeding, Steve would die right here in this shittier version of Hawkins.

He started singing as he worked, though he couldn’t tell you what. His only active thoughts were figuring out how to get Steve out of there.

When he looked up at Steve’s face, his eyes were open.

They were glassy, unfocused, but open.

“Stevie! Hey!” Eddie leaned in closer, tried to get him to focus on his face.

“Mm.”

“Hey, whatcha lookin’ at?” Eddie was worried he hit his head, maybe got a concussion on top of everything else.

“You. Always lookin’ atcha,” Steve mumbled, barely audible.

“Sweetheart, what got you? Did you see?”

“Like that.”

“What?”

“Swee’hear’.”

Steve’s eyes were blinking slowly, his lids drooping more with each blink.

He was going to pass out again.

“You gotta keep those eyes open, then, sweetheart. Just a bit longer, okay? Robin’s comin’ for us. And we’re gonna get you to the hospital so they can get you stitched up,” he kept talking, hoping that it would keep Steve focused on something, keep him awake.

“Need a…nap.”

“No, no, Stevie, not yet! Just a bit longer, okay? Just stay awake for me,” Eddie begged as he put pressure on two different wounds, one with his bare hand, just hoping to keep things contained long enough to get real help.

“Dunno if…I c’n do…that.”

His breaths were getting more ragged, more wet.

That meant he was bleeding inside. Too much.

Eddie ignored the tears falling from his own eyes, tried to listen for any voices coming through the gate or any monsters who could smell the blood.

All was quiet.

Eddie had always hated the quiet.

He felt Steve’s hand on his own covering the wound on his chest, and Eddie let out a sob.

“Love you…got me?” Steve got out, his hand briefly squeezing Eddie’s, like he was using every ounce of energy he had to do it.

Eddie leaned his head down, rested his forehead against Steve’s.

“I love you so much, sweetheart. So much. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner how fucking in love with you I am. It’s been you since the beginning, it’s you now, it’s you forever, and that means this isn’t it right? You’re gonna make it out of here and then I’m gonna tell you I love you every single day for the rest of our lives,” Eddie cried.

He hoped if a monster came for them, it would end everything quickly.

“Eddie! Steve!”

Nancy.

“Over here!” Eddie called back, watching as Steve’s eyes closed, as his small, pained smile started to fade.

He was so pale, even in the darkness surrounding them, Eddie could see his usual flush and glow was gone.

Nancy dropped to her knees next to him, her voice sounding distant as he realized that Steve wouldn’t survive this.

No one could.

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

Hospitals were the bane of his existence.

Not just because someone he loved was in it, toeing the line between alive and dead.

It just reeked of pain, physical and emotional, the halls haunted with a misery that no joy could ever truly wash away.

The kids were all huddled up on the two couches in the corner with Robin, Chrissy, and Nancy, unable to sleep, but lacking the energy to pace like Eddie was.

He wouldn’t rest until he knew that Steve was okay.

He felt hands on his shoulders, stopping him in his tracks.

“C’mere, kid.”

Wayne’s voice was like a shock to the system, but he felt some of the tension he’d been holding for 12 hours now leave his body.

He turned and collapsed against Wayne, a loud sob leaving his throat.

He could feel eyes on him, but he didn’t care.

Wayne would keep him safe, keep the others from asking questions or trying to comfort him before he was ready.

Wayne managed to get them in the chairs closest to where they were standing, letting Eddie hide his face against his shoulder and rubbing his arm and back as he let out his emotions.

Nurses and doctors came and went, patients and families came and went, but their group stayed.

Everyone loved Steve too much to leave.

But the kids did eventually have to leave, their parents showing up one by one to pick them up, faces frowning with concern, but not asking questions.

They all stopped to give Eddie a hug on the way out, asked him to keep them updated when he heard news.

He nodded, but he knew that Wayne would probably be the one giving updates, especially if it-

No. Nope. He wasn’t thinking of things going wrong.

Steve would be fine.

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

Another four hours passed before a doctor walked out into the waiting room calling for Wayne Munson.

Eddie shot up, running to the doctor, who looked exhausted, beaten down.

Wayne was right behind him, hand already settling on his arm to keep him from being a little too much for the doctor.

“You’re Steve Harrington’s medical proxy?”

“I am. Is he okay?”

“He’s alive. He lost a lot of blood so we had to give him two transfusions during surgery, and he’s receiving another one now in recovery. He’ll be moved to a room when that’s done and you can see him, but I have to warn you, he’s most likely going to be unconscious for a couple days as his body recovers. He’s lucky to be alive. I don’t know what attacked him, but whatever it was did a lot of permanent damage. He has extensive scarring on his torso and leg, and from a scan of his brain, we can tell he had some fluid buildup that could be due to head trauma. Do you know if he hit his head?”

“He’s had a history of concussions, so any bump could have done somethin’,” Wayne told him.

“We’ll keep an eye on it. If you guys wanna have a seat, a nurse will get you when he’s settled in his room.”

But Eddie couldn’t possibly settle anywhere now, not now that he knew Steve was alive, that he’d be okay even if he was covered in scars.

“You heard the man,” Wayne said as he sat back down in the chair he was in before.

“Can’t.”

“Ed-“

“Nope. Just can’t. Not yet.”

Wayne sighed, but didn’t argue further, knew better than to try when Eddie was set on something.

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

Like clockwork, a nurse came out to get them an hour later.

Wayne had called Robin, then Dustin, told them what he knew and to have them spread the word. He told them not to come by for a bit since Steve would be asleep, but Eddie knew it was because he wanted Eddie to have a little privacy first.

The nurse walked them down the long hall behind the doors, took a left turn, and continued down another hall for a minute before stopping outside of a door.

It was quiet in this hall, only the occasional beeps coming from rooms and a nurse silently passing by, heading towards the nurse’s station.

“You’re welcome to stay the night tonight since it’s late, but only one person can usually stay after visiting hours. There’s a cot in the room for you. He’s pretty heavily sedated so he won’t wake up anytime soon, but if for some reason he does, please let us know. I’m Faye, and the RN on duty is Caroline. We just ask you limit movement in the halls at night so other patients aren’t bothered.”

They both nodded, just wanting to get in the room and see Steve.

She opened the door for them, holding it while they walked in, and closing it behind them.

Eddie didn’t look at first, just walked to the bed with his face bent to the floor, unable to face Steve.

But Wayne was suddenly there, holding Steve’s hand, and Eddie had to look up, had to see for himself that it was his Stevie.

It was a version of Steve that Eddie loved more than the last, felt pangs in his chest at the sight of the heavily bandaged and bruised man in front of him.

He was beautiful, always beautiful.

Even like this.

“You take the cot, Ed. I won’t sleep for a while anyway,” Wayne offered quietly.

“I…” Eddie looked at the cot set up across the room, then back at Steve. “I need to be here.”

“You need sleep, son. Steve would want you to rest, too.”

Wayne was right, of course he was. But he couldn’t be that far from Steve right now.

Anything farther than touching distance was too far.

“I’ll sleep in the chair. I promise. I just need to hold his hand,” Eddie whispered.

Wayne seemed to think about it for a moment before finally sighing and nodding.

“Fine, but if you end up with back main, that’s your problem.:

Wayne leaned down to kiss an unbandaged part of Steve’s head and then made his way over to the cot, slipping his boots and jacket off before settling into it.

Eddie sat down in the chair by the hospital bed, gently holding Steve’s hand in his, making sure nothing could possibly hurt or pull on any of the wires hanging off of him.

He let his head rest on the bed next to their joined hands, his eyes closing as he watched Steve’s slow, steady breathing.

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

A thumb was tracing the back of his hand.

He smiled as he tried to sink further into the dream.

“He’s a sleepyhead.”

Eddie’s eyes shot open at the sound of Steve’s voice.

It was raspy, softer than usual, and slightly pained, but it was Steve.

“Stevie?”

“Mhm. Hey, Eds.”

Steve was awake, alive, here.

Eddie lifted his head and looked him over, noticing more of the bandages going across his chest.

“You almost died sweetheart.”

Steve blushed.

He blushed. He could do that again.

“I know.”

“You-“

“I didn’t.”

“But-“

“Eds.” Steve’s eyes bore into his own. “I didn’t.”

“Right. You didn’t,” Eddie said, looking at him in awe.

“And I’m sweetheart now, so that’s worth it.”

Now it was Eddie’s turn to blush, suddenly turning to see if Wayne was watching.

“Wayne ran home to grab some stuff for both of you and me.��

“You reading my mind?” Eddie laughed.

“No, unfortunately, all I got from the bats was some cool scars. No psychic mind powers. Hoping you might just answer a question though.”

“What’s that?”

“Did you mean it?”

Eddie’s heart dropped to his stomach, his stomach dropped to the floor.

“Mean what?”

“Eddie,” Steve rolled his eyes. “You said you loved me. Do you?”

“How do you remember that?”

“Been waiting for that for years. Hard to forget.”

“Years?” Eddie suddenly felt like an idiot, as he should.

He waited years to say what Steve waited years to hear. They wasted years.

“Years.”

“Don’t have to wait any more. If you don’t want to, I mean.”

Steve looked at him through glassy eyes, the pain medication still cycling through him.

But Eddie knew he was coherent, knew he was saying exactly what he meant.

“I love you, Eddie. Don’t wanna wait another minute, mkay?”

Eddie bit back tears, let himself feel Steve’s love.

It was warm, circled around him, settled in his chest next to the love he had for Steve.

“I love you, too, sweetheart.”

“Wanna kiss you,” Steve whined, though it was halfhearted, his eyes closed as he was getting closer to falling back asleep.

“When you wake up again, I’m gonna kiss you so hard, it’ll send you into a coma,” Eddie laughed, mostly to himself.

“Mhm, soun’s good.”

Steve’s eyes were closed, his mouth falling open as he fell asleep.

Eddie watched, knew the look on his face was ridiculous, lovestruck.

That’s how Wayne found them, and even though he could have poked fun, he didn’t.

He’d watched them be idiots for years, he could hold back on the teasing for a little bit longer.

TAG LIST: @xxfiction-is-my-realityxx @renaissan-vvitch @estrellami-1 @sofadofax @mightbeasleep

[coffeecaffineandeverythinginbtwn]

Here is my @maribat-secret-santa-2020 gift for @liquid-luck-00

I’m really sorry It’s not finished (i had trouble finishing it due to school and some rough mental health problems) but I will be posting the outline so you can know the rest of what I had planned!

again i’m so so so sorry it’s not done. happy new year! please enjoy!

:readmore:

Marinette and the Runaway Assassin

~

Marinette Grason and the Runaway Assassin

The first thing they could remember was always flying.

Their parents always told them that the first thing a Grayson ever did was fly.

Whether it be him tossing his sister in the air as she did flips, or flying on the low swing trapeze with his mother and father. they were born soaring.

Their family was the best of the best. Humans with the agility and grace of birds. Their family never stayed on the ground for long. Nothing could keep a Grayson on the ground.

Until they fell.

Their wonderful parents never flew again.

~

Dick was trying his best to keep it together, for his sister, but the pain was almost too much. He was just 16. What was he supposed to do now? He wasn’t of age to care for Marinette and he certainly didn't have much money at all.

It was two days after the fall that killed their parents. Dick had cried himself to sleep, so full of grief, stress and uncertainty the night before. He wanted, no, needed to keep his sister safe, but what were they supposed to do? Live on the street? Marinette deserved better than that. Not to mention her schooling. There was just so many things he needed to think about he had no idea if they’d ever even survive -

A knock sounded at the door, startling Dick from his thoughts.

“Excuse me,” a deep voice came from behind the door, “I would like to speak to a mister Dick Grayson.” With those words the pit inside his stomach grew. It was probably some social worker coming to separate him from the only family he had left.

Dick opened the door and saw a large man with dark hair and blue eyes in a suit, “If you’re here to take me and my sister to some orphanage, leave now. It’s not going to happen. Get lost.” Dick, the normally polite boy, ended his statement by quickly closing the door.

“Wait!” The man jumped in, using his foot to jam the door. “I’m not a social worker. Mister Grayson I presume?” Dick just narrowed his eyes and nodded his head, “My name is Bruce Wayne. I was hoping to come to an arrangement that would greatly help you and your sister.

Dick had the urge to scoff, but he let the man, Bruce, continue.

“You see, I lost my parents at a young age as well. I want to make you and Miss Marinette my wards. You two would both get to live in my manor with your own room and have all the things you two would need to live a happy life. And you would not be separated. This can all happen effective immediately, as soon as you say the word. So, What do you say?”

This was insane. It was everything he and Mari could need. They could lead a normal, safe, and good life. There were so many goods that could come of this and yet…

Graysons are never tied to the ground my little robin. We must never be afraid to spread our own wings and soar. We are free spirits and we fly our own way.

With only that thought in his head, his ressove hardened.

“While I appreciate the offer Mister Wayne, I’m afraid I have to decline.” He began, “My parents used to say that we should never let ourselves be tied down. They were free-spirited and loved to travel. I want my sister and I to continue their legacy.”

Bruce looked a little shocked at this, and also a bit put out., but he quickly covered it with a determined look of his own.

“I see. If I cannot assist with housing, please let me help in any other way possible. Money is no issue, I can promise you that.” Bruce looked so ready to help them. And hell, if they couldn't use the help.

Dick was at a loss for words, “I- Mister Wayne- I can’t thank you enough!” Marinette would get to have the life their parents would have wanted for her. He didn’t have to worry about money any more. They could be free and go where the wind would take them. This flood of relief he felt did ease his grief a little for only a moment. It was one weight lifted off his shoulders.

“It’s the least I could do Mister Grayson.” He nodded, looking a bit relieved himself.

“Please, call me Dick Mister Wayne.” At that Bruce’s mouth quirked upwards the tiniest bit.

“Only if you call me Bruce.”

~

Over the next few years, Dick and Marinette went everywhere imaginable, traveling with the circus.

Eventually they decided to travel at their own pace. Marinette instided they spend more time in their favorite countries. They spent a few months in each, both gathering a love for each culture and language. Marinette especially took a bit of every country with her, absorbing each like a sponge.

Without the circus to keep them active in their travels and with barely any means to keep themselves protected, Dick and Marinette accumulated a mesh of different fighting styles. Neither ever truly mastered one, but both fought in a way very specific to them.

~

Currently somewhere in Italy, the two were waiting for one of their mentors to arrive for a meeting.

“Duckie!!” Marinette, now nine, ran to her brother with that particular spark in her eye, “Duckie! Guess what!”

Dick, smiled a little at the familiar nickname, “What’s up Nettie?”

Marinette jumped up and down excitedly. “Look what I can do!”

The small girl smiled and ran a little ways into the field nearby and did three handsprings to the shock, and pride of her brother.

“Good job Marinette,“ A voice that was not Dick‘s called from behind them, “I’m glad to see that you are improving well.”

An overall average looking man in his late 30’s wearing a firm, yet warm expression walked towards them.

Their mentor, Malachi Dobraski.

“Uncle Chi!” The Marinettw siblings voiced, running to him.

Malachi’s mouth turned upwards at the sibling’s outburst. “Yes, yes I have finally arrived. You two are, of course, ever so humbled to be in my presence.” There was a stretch of silence before the three burst out in laughter.

“Wonderful to see you two as always.” He said as he bent down to give Marinette a hug.

“So what did you need Malachi? You never call meetings so early in the month.” Dick said as he turned to face him.

Malachi hummed in an impressed manner, “Very astute Richard. I asked you here today because I wanted you to meet a friend of mine I had mentioned earlier. Gina, If you remember.”

At the mention of the woman Marinette perked up, The one who travels all around the world like us? We really get to meet her?” She topped off her questions with a wiggle of excitement.

“We’ll have to see about that Nettie.” Dick spoke fondly as he smiled at his sister’s antics. He then turned his attention to Malachi, “Will she be in town soon? You’re rarely one to throw out praise for no reason and you’ve spoken highly of her in the past.”

“She is a lady well deserving of my praise, Richard. To answer your question, yes. Ms. Gina will be in town Thursday evening.” their mentor said with another small grin.

Dick hummed while tapping his chin, “That’s about two days from now. Unfortunately me and Mari probably won’t be able to meet with her right away. We’re tied up until Saturday I believe. Will she be in town for long?”

“Gina is a free spirit, so it’s hard to say. However she has been interested in you two since I mentioned I was taking students again. I expect she’ll stay long enough to meet you.”

“That’s great!” Dick said, as cheerful as ever, “That settles it then.”

“Yay! We get to meet aunt Gina!” Marinette exclaimed, jumping up and down.

Instead of correcting his sister, Dick just shook his head with a laugh. Why does everyone we hear of instantly become family?

~

Marinette sat at a tall table in a quiet cafe. Her tiny legs swung eagerly underneath her as she hummed to herself. Her brother was up at the counter ordering their drinks. She was sketching, or trying to. It was really hard to focus when she was so full of jitters.

Today was the day they were supposed to meet Ms. Gina and while Marinette was excited, she was just as, if not more, nervous. She has always been this way with new people.

————————

That is the end of what i have written BUT NOW the outline:

Section One

Dick is older in this 16/17

Mari is 5 or 6

They grow up with their parents, until they die, again.

Dick is old enough to be emancipated/take custody of Mari

(Bruce didn’t adopt them but he helped Dick get emancipated and gave them loads of money)

Their parents were free spirits and loved to travel

Dick decides they should keep that alive.

The two stay with the circus traveling for around a year

And they continue to travel for 1 or 2 years

They meet Gina

Dick kinda wants to settle down Gina recommends Paris

They go to Paris

They get an apartment (thank you plot convenient Bruce money)

(she’s around 10 or 11 now. He’s 19 or 20 now)

Dick wants Mari to make friends or get a feel for regular school so she goes to FD

Section Two

Separately, Damian and the league are in turmoil (the coup happens)

Thalia might die Idk

Damian, not knowing what else to do, flees to Paris?

Tom and Sabine have always wanted children but were never successful

They find this aggressive child on the streets of course they take him in

Damian would grumble about their ‘lower status’ but would of course be secretly grateful and surprised at the unconditional love and care he receives from T and S

Section THree

Back to Mari

Being raised by Dick, she learned to be true to herself and also headstrong

She takes no crap from Chloé

(She eventually learns of her situation with her mother and they become less aggressive towards each other)

(she also learns a lot of different skills and fashion things)

Section Four

Damian arrives at FD

(He’s like 10 or 11 Mari is like 11)

Damian and Mari are both ahead of the curriculum (Both home schooled) same class

She is her kind self, doesn't know anyone else well and Dami is another new kid.

They stick together out of a sort of necessity

He’s cold at first but (go figure) he softens for her eventually

They slowly grow closer as friends

Dick becomes another behaviour mentor and Brother esq figure to Dami

Dick also sees Daminette’s in love right away

He teases Mari about it

Bada Boom they're 13 now

Section Five

Miraculos canon GO

Mari gets ladybug Dami gets cat

Mari doesn't get a crush on Adrien (the gum incident doesn’t happen because Chlo and Mari are on better terms)

Mari and Dami both immediately recognize each other in costume

Mari’s outfit is black with red detailing sans her cape/glider that’s full red with the five black spots. Has deep red boots that go up to the knee. Her ribbons are longer and can detach to use as a makeshift ribbon dance things (she also goes by Ladybird instead of Ladybug)

Damian’s outfit is his assassin outfit but black and tan undertones with cat ears (his pupils don’t change to slits) Damian goes by Leopard

Dick notices a change immediately He confronts Mari, She caves and tells him too

(She consequently reveals Damian’s Identity as well. No one could have that kind of chemistry with Mari that quickly)

He signs her up for many martial arts classes (She already had training in a few, picking up a lot from her travels)

Damian also helps train Mari in some ~Assassin Skills~

Basically, they’re bad asses.

The only thing stopping them from defeating Hawkey boy quickly is the fact that they can’t find where he is

Section Six

Moving on, Salt

Lila happens

Lila still sets her sights on Adrian (he’s got money at this point Damian is just a baker's boy to Lila.

Lila isolates the two from the rest of the class, even more so than they already were

Damian thinks the class are even bigger idiots

Lila is still an awful person and wants to make both Dami and Mari’s live miserable

Lila tries to go to Dick about Mari “bullying” her

He laughs in her face (he choses laughter instead of seething anger. thanks Hawky)

Lila then tries to get through to Tom and Sabine about Damian

This time it works, they have less reason to trust Damian (and he was also a major prick when they first took him in

(this happens over a year or so. Lila slowly gaining the trust of the class and Tom and Sabine)

The environment gets very toxic Dami and Mari decide to leave the school and go to online schooling (like at college level)

Section Seven

Time skip. They are 16 now

The two have had feelings for a while, they now realize them

Dami is less emotionally stunted, having both Dick and Mari around (Tom and Sabine too but they kinda suck now) so he doesn’t panic much

Mari is full panic mode

Dick is just in the corner all smug-like. (“you didn’t know you loved him? I’ve known this for years”)

Que pining

Lots of pining

There’s some angst, Tom and Sabine are negligent towards Damian (not mean but still neglectful)

He ends up staying with Dick and Mari more often than not

Eventually they both confess after a particularly rough akuma battle (the one where mari becomes the guardian?)

Both of them almost watched the other die. That was too heartbreaking for either of them to not confess

So they are together now.

It was an easy transition, they were already married pretty much

They’ve already figured out who Hawky boy is. They just need evidence

They get evidence. They also discover Lila was working with him

They take care of the Hawkmoth situation

Section Eight

Everything is good now right? Wrong

Batman Finally goes to Paris once Hawky is defeated,

(he kept in touch with Dick all these years and knew what was going on, {He practically became their “uncle Bruce”} He only stayed away cuz Hawkmoth)

When Damian sees Bruce visiting Mari’s House he freezes,

Mari: “what's wrong Dami?”

Dami: *whispers in her ear*

M: “He’s your WHAT???”

D; *whispers more*

M: “I- You- Um- WHAT”

D: *walks up to Bruce* “Hello, I know this is an odd way to meet but I am sure you know of Thalia Al’ Ghoul.” *B nods wairily* “Yes, well, I am your son. And unfortunately hers as well.”

“Yes, I’d be perfectly happy to do a blood test.”

Dick and Mari are shook

“Damian, You must come to live with me in Gotham”

Dun

Dun

Dunnnnnn!!!!!

End Part One

Again I am sincerely sorry I was not able to complete this story in time. Like I said before, I will (maybe/probably) be finishing this and planning a part two! I hope you enjoyed! (even though it’s the first fanfic i’ve written)

[excelsi-or]

your type (pt. 7)

Hellooooo~ I’m in a writing mood lately and have been paying more attention to this story again. :) so you’ll get a few more parts this month. 

BIPOC rec: Braiding Sweetgrass - Robin Wall Kimmerer; a beautiful book about botany and its influence on Indigenous people and how we can relate their teachings to climate justice. My favourite quote: “All flourishing is mutual.”

I’m also going to reblog this post with a bunch of links to support Daunte Wright as well as the protests in the U.S.

w.c. 1.4k (this one’s a bit shorter, but the next part is a LONG one. Like the longest post I’ve ever done across all my stories. I don’t want to split it up. So be prepared and enjoy :))

pairing: jihoon x OC/reader

pt. 1; pt. 2; pt. 3; pt. 4; pt. 5; pt. 6

Like every day for the last month, Jihoon is waiting for her in the hallway outside her lab. She closes the door behind her and notices the paper bag in his hand.

“I made us lunch.”

She blinks. “You made us… lunch?”

“Yeah.”

She ducks into the student office to grab her water bottle. When she reemerges, Jihoon motions with his head for her to walk with him.

“We need to talk.”

She lifts an eyebrow. “What about?”

“Just have to lay my cards on the table.”

Jihoon had gone over what he was going to say with Seungcheol, Mingyu, and Soonyoung the night before.

“It doesn’t need to be a big fancy speech,” Seungcheol said. “Just say how you feel.”

“I don’t…” He couldn’t exactly argue that he felt nothing. And his friends were clear that they didn’t think he felt nothing. “I don’t know what I feel. I just don’t think we can win this bet and we should call it.”

Soonyoung smacked the side of his head. “You can. And here’s what you’re going to say.”

“I want to be honest with you about my intentions so that you’re not confused as to why I’m hanging around you.”

She nods slowly and then takes a swig of her water. “Seems very formal of you.”

They walk right through the skywalk and take the stairs out onto the green. They find a tree to sit under. The air is warm, but there’s an intermittent breeze that makes it tolerable. He pulls two bowls of spicy ramen that he made before coming and hands one to her. It, at the very least, gets a smile on her face.

“I want you to know…” Jihoon pauses, stirring his noodles and watching the steam rise from the container. “I’m all in.”

She doesn’t miss a beat. “All into what?”

So, he doesn’t either. “This. Us. Whatever this is I’m pursuing. I want you to know that the stories you’ve heard about me are probably true, that I have hurt other people before, but I want to try with you.”

Her chewing slows, as she processes these words.

“Look,” Soonyoung had said, “it’s not lost on her that you’re a player. And Jihyo’s told hyung that some of your past girlfriends have shared… their opinions about you. You can’t hide those.”

“I know that someone like me has hurt you before and you don’t have to tell me about him ever, but I don’t want to be that guy. I want to be someone you can trust. Someone you can trust to give you the honesty you deserve.”

He’s started adlibbing off of Soonyoung’s speech. The speech had something about heaven and finding himself. It was too romantic and there was no way someone like her would buy it.

Meanwhile, her stomach is churning and she isn’t sure if it’s from the spicy noodles or from what Jihoon is saying. “You’re saying,” she searches for the words she wants to use, “you want to date me?”

“Yeah.”

“Just… me.”

“Yeah.”

She leans back against the tree and makes a point of stirring her noodles to cool them, mostly just stalling for time. A third woman had come to her while she was walking into the chemistry building that morning. It was as if all of Jihoon’s past conquests were gravitating towards her in some weird twist of fate.

Which was a strange coincidence, because Jihyo had just spent the better part of last night convincing her to give Jihoon a chance.

And now hearing Jihoon speak like this is messing with her head further.

“What happened to your date last night?” She shakes her head. “You told me you had dates lined up for the next week.”

“Cancelled. All of them.” Jihoon knew she knew about Ara yesterday. “Including yesterday’s.”

“All because you suddenly want to date me?”

“No, because I realized that unless I tell you what I want straight up, you won’t know. And my actions and what I want weren’t lining up. So…” Jihoon makes a point to catch her gaze. “I’m trying.”

“She’s not going to believe you,” Mingyu had said. “So, the best way is not to convince her that you’ll be good but that you’ll try to be better. For some reason, girls love when we say we’ll try to be better than we once were.”

She pauses. She’s about to put food in her, but sets the bowl down instead. “How many girls were there before me?”

Bewildered by this question, Jihoon says, “I can’t count that.”

She shakes her head. “Not one-night stands. Not girls you were only with for sex. Actual people that you actually dated.”

Jihoon swallows hard. Being honest here could ruin everything he’s built up until this point. “Maybe 7.”

She nods. “Name them.”

Jihoon bites his tongue.

“If you dated them, they must have meant something to you. You gave them more than a few nights.”

So, he does. He lists them off, but her face doesn’t look happy. Which maybe it wouldn’t because he’s listing off his exes, and she’s never come off as a masochist.

“Chaeyoung?”

Jihoon freezes. Almost immediately, his mind is scrambling and he’s unsure why.

“She’s in your lab,” Jihoon says in disbelief.

“What did you tell them all when they asked you why you weren’t talking to them?” She’s reaching with this question; hoping and dreading that Jihoon really is the creature of habit she’s learned him to be.

And it’s only through this sudden interrogation that Jihoon is realizing how intensely these past women of his have outted him. And it explains why she’s been distant. He hangs his head in shame, because he cannot believe he’s being called out like this. “It was something like…” He turns away from her, hoping a breeze carries his voice away. “‘I’m ignoring you now, please leave me alone.’”

“So, tell me how I’m any different to those girls. Tell me this whole thing isn’t some orchestrated game you’ve played over and over again.”

Jihoon doesn’t know how to answer.

“Jihyo told me that I was being too harsh with you. That the stories I was hearing were coming from women who had been hurt by you. That heartbreak distorts all the good parts about a relationship.” She waits for him to look her way. “My experience with heartbreak is… varied, that’s for sure. And you’re right. Your reputation is exactly how I felt like I was treated the last time I gave my heart to somebody.” She picks up the noodles and lets them slip through her chopsticks.

Jihoon can feel the tiniest flicker of hope rising in his belly, can’t explain the way his heart lifts.

“But my friends keep telling me that I’ll never know good love if I don’t let myself be vulnerable again.” She looks at him, studying his features. What she’s searching for neither of them is sure. “But I’m really, really scared that…”

Jihoon nudges her gently with his hand, careful not to touch her too much. “You can talk to me.”

Her gaze is unwavering. “I’m scared that I’m just going to be another notch on your bedpost.”

The magnitude of work required to win this bet hits Jihoon’s chest like a ton of bricks, hard. He’s sure it almost winds him. But he can see the cracks in her armour right now and he would be stupid (not to mention his friends will strangle him) if he doesn’t wiggle in just a little bit.

His voice is gentle. “I can’t promise that I won’t hurt you.”

“I never liked promises I know people can’t keep. They make real promises redundant.”

Completely fine by him.

“Can we just try it out?” He knows this formula works.

Except the pause is so long that he swears she’s going to say no. “Fine.”

His eyebrows lift, so does that hope in his belly. “Really?”

She nods, a small smile tugging at the corner of her lips. “Yeah. Really.”

Jihoon realizes that she’s definitely played his game before with other men when he glances at her lips and she smirks.

“That does not mean that you can kiss me right now.”

He smiles genuinely for the first time since they started taking. “Fine.” He recognizes the warmth spreading through his chest. It’s a nice feeling. One he hasn’t felt around anyone in a while.

“Thanks for the ramen, by the way.”

“Not too spicy?”

“I mean, yes, but it’s still good.”

“Does this mean that you’ll come to the studio and listen to those songs after work?”

She hums. “Yeah, okay.”

[lov3nerdstuff]

Voluptas Noctis Aeternae {Part 7.13}

*Severus Snape x OC*

Summary: It is the year 1983 when the ordinary life of Robin Mitchell takes a drastic turn: she is accepted into Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry. Despite the struggles of being a muggle-born in Slytherin, she soon discovers her passion for Potions, and even manages the impossible: gaining the favor of Severus Snape. Throughout the years, Robin finds that the not quite so ordinary Potions Professor goes from being a brooding stranger to being more than she had ever deemed possible. An ally, a mentor, a friend... and eventually, the person she loves the most. Through adventure, prophecies and the little struggles of daily life in a castle full of mysteries, Robin chooses a path for herself, an unlikely friendship blossoms into something more, and two people abandoned by the world can finally find a home.

General warnings: professor x student, blood, violence, trauma, neglectful families, bullying, cursing

Words: 5.4k

Read Part 1.1 here! All Parts can be found on the Masterlist!

______________________________

"Miss Mitchell, perhaps you could lower your wand first of all, so that we can discuss this issue without further violence." McGonagall finally stated, and Robin reluctantly did as she was told for the mere sake of a peaceful solution, but she took another step backwards and kept her wand at the ready nonetheless.

"This girl, this… student, she attacked me out of nowhere!" Morgan began stating his story, unasked, but McGonagall still turned to listen with a neutral expression and so did Robin. "We just so happened to stumble upon each other right here in this spot, after curfew may I add, and when I asked about her destination, she simply attacked me! I might have died if you hadn't found us!"

Robin let out the tiniest huff that luckily went unnoticed by either professor, and otherwise kept her neutral facade in place quite successfully for once this evening. She could prove Morgan's story wrong if she wanted to… because as much as he had been trying to get her to react, he had missed the fact that she would have multiple pieces of evidence against him in return. But for once Robin simply kept her mouth shut; if the issue was brought before the headmaster, which it surely would, she could spare herself the effort now and tell her story only once when the time had come.

"You should pay Poppy a visit if you are so gravely injured, Damion. The hospital wing certainly will be a better place for you right now than the headmaster's office." McGonagall stated, and Robin almost would've snorted at her dismissive tone. "But I suggest you return Miss Mitchell's property to her before you go."

Robin's train of thought halted for a moment, but she didn't allow herself to frown. How did McGonagall know about that? She would have to have witnessed their encounter to some length at least to be aware of the situation, which meant that she must have seen that Robin had merely defended herself. Perhaps it didn't look so bleak for her after all! But why would she let Morgan go without addressing his assault on Robin? Gods, things were getting complicated beyond her control again.

Grumbling something about mere evidence, Morgan grabbed the necklace from his pocket and tossed it at Robin with a sneer. She had a hard time catching it, but he probably hadn't intended her to in the first place. While she slipped it into her pocket, her eyes stayed on the two teachers in front of her.

"Don't believe a word she says, she's a brilliant liar." Morgan said to McGonagall, as he started limping down the hallway towards the infirmary like he'd been told to. "And remember that I would have kept the necklace as evidence of her crimes, if my broken bones aren't enough of that already."

"Don't worry, Damion, I will take care of the situation appropriately." McGonagall replied in an odd mixture of reassurance and accusation, and for a moment Robin wondered if she was wrong about the necklace issue. Morgan didn't seem to think that it was a tell of his lies, nor did McGonagall make any attempt to hold him accountable for what he had done. Perhaps Robin was missing something? Perhaps there was another way for her to know?

"Come, dear…" The transfiguration professor finally said in a quiet tone, once Morgan was definitely out of earshot. Then she led Robin down the hallway she had come from, and finally motioned for her to sit down on a windowsill. It briefly crossed Robin's mind that Snape must be waiting for her by now, but she could hardly leave the situation at a time like this.

"I apologise for the inconvenience, Professor." Robin finally said after a few seconds of silence, when she didn't know what else to say. "I'm aware that you had something else to do tonight, and I certainly didn't mean to keep you from it."

"And how would you know about that?" McGonagall frowned down at her for a moment, but then sighed as she answered her own question. "Severus. Of course."

"I was keeping him company on his patrol tonight. To catch up after the holidays."

"I can hardly imagine you having a lot to catch up on, after spending the entire summer together."

"You-..."

"I know all about the two of you, yes. The headmaster told me himself, and I also happen to have two very good eyes I occasionally make use of." McGonagall was quick to reply, however without any judgement to her tone, merely factuality. "But that is entirely besides the point right now."

"Right…" Robin said, taking a deep breath. "The point is that I attacked a teacher, or rather that Morgan accuses me of it. Either way, I will spare you the story; you probably wouldn't believe it anyway."

"Your lack of faith in me is disappointing. But I must admit it seems rather reasonable, in the light of past occurrences where –unfortunately– I was led to put more faith into Damion's word than in yours. I apologise for this grave mistake. Not only did I come to see the error in it a while ago, but this time I happen to have witnessed the entire incident myself." McGonagall sighed, then gave Robin a sympathetic look. "I am sorry that he hurt you, dear. Truly."

"But if you saw what happened… You heard what he said, saw what he did… Why did you just let him leave like that? Why didn't you stop him?!"

"I have my orders, whether I agree with them or not. I am merely to observe, and report back to the headmaster. But don't you think for a second that I didn't want to intervene when Damion laid hands on you! I might very well have, if you hadn't started defending yourself at last."

"I appreciate that, Professor." Robin gave her a small smile, and subconsciously started massaging the ache in her shoulder in an attempt to lessen it somehow. "Both, the apology and your help. Will you tell the headmaster what really happened? And what about Morgan?"

"He will be taken care of, no doubt. It is for Professor Dumbledore to decide over his fate, but you should try to stay out of his way nonetheless."

"That's what I've been trying to do for the last six years." Robin couldn't help snorting in irony. "But as it seems, no act to deal with him proved effective in the long run."

"Act? What do you-..." McGonagall was cut off by hurried footsteps approaching them, and when Robin saw a cloud of black rounding the corner, her entire being sighed in relief. Not that McGonagall was bad company, on the contrary really, but nothing could beat the comfort and safety she felt with Snape.

"What on earth is going on here?" He snapped at McGonagall in the very moment he was close enough, sending a menacing glare at his colleague while Robin rose to her feet even though she wasn't being addressed. "I certainly hope you have a good explanation for this, Minerva. What is it this time that you accuse Robin of?"

"Professor McGonagall was kind enough to help me, actually." Robin said before the professor could give an answer herself, trying to shortcut the discussion she saw coming between the two, and Snape turned around to her in an instant only for his scowling facade to drop immediately when his eyes fell upon her. Robin saw his impulse to react, followed by a sudden halt when he seemed to remember that they weren't alone. She might as well take that concern off his mind right now. "She knows. Dumbledore told her."

That seemed to suffice for him to know what she meant, and in conclusion to ignore the other professor entirely as he stepped closer to Robin and brought his hand to the curve of her neck, inspecting what Robin believed to be her by now bruised shoulder with a deeply concerned expression. "What happened?"

"Morgan." Robin replied under her breath, as she focused on the very much welcome touch for once, even though he dropped his hand mere seconds later. "He was… worse. So much worse than the last times."

"If the bruise and the bleeding scratch on your neck are anything to go by, I would have to agree." He grumbled with a returning scowl, but Robin knew that it wasn't meant for her. "If I had been there, I would have-..."

"I know." Robin interrupted him with a more or less reassuring half smile. "I know. But it happened like it did, and it's over for now. When you found us, Professor McGonagall was just saying that the issue will be taken care of by the headmaster himself."

"Yes, and we all have seen just how successful that has been the last few times." Snape drawled in sarcasm as he looked over to McGonagall in obvious disdain for the idea. "What do you think how often I have reported these occurrences to the headmaster, only for my words to be entirely disregarded? Do you seriously believe that he will take the necessary actions this time?"

"That isn't for me to judge." McGonagall replied evasively, and even Robin could tell that the professor didn't seem content with her answer herself. What was going on behind the scenes here that Robin was missing? Obviously there had to be something more to it all, if Dumbledore had tasked McGonagall with spying on Morgan in the first place.

"You can tell Albus that should I ever find myself a witness of Damion purposely harming anyone at all, I will see to it that he no longer can." Snape said in a threatening calm, keeping his bone chilling gaze on McGonagall who however seemed absolutely unbothered by it.

"In that case you might be pleased to know that Miss Mitchell sent him straight to the hospital wing tonight. There was no necessity for me to get involved, seeing as she is very much capable of taking care of herself." McGonagall replied easily now while giving Snape a look, for perhaps she too knew that his anger wasn't even directed at her in that moment. "What I very much intend to do now however is to ensure that she shouldn't have the necessity to do so again."

Snape in return quirked an eyebrow at his colleague first, while the scowl faded slowly, then he took a glimpse down at Robin and the corners of his lips quirked up for the briefest moment. "I wish I had seen that."

"I wish I hadn't." Robin said with a sad half smile up at him. "I could have done well without the entire counter."

"I will leave you two to it, then." McGonagall stated before the conversation that started to exclude her more and more could continue. "There is still plenty of work for me to do, and I believe both of you are well taken care of now."

"Yes. Thank you again, Professor. I hope you have a good night, despite this incident." Robin answered her before Snape could say anything overly defensive, which he surely would have done upon his colleague's choice of words.

With a small smile, the transfiguration professor gave them an almost approving nod, then made her quick way down the hallway, and disappeared around the nearest corner a few seconds later. When she was out of sight, Robin couldn't help releasing a drawn out breath and dropping her forehead against Snape's upper arm, which was the only point of him she could currently reach.

"This night really turned into a thorough clusterfuck." She groaned under her breath. "I'm just glad McGonagall showed up when she did."

"Did she actually help you?" He asked quietly, and held perfectly still to keep her head in place. "Or was that merely a twisted truth?"

"It's more complicated than that." Robin sighed under her breath and lifted her head to look up at him with tired eyes. "Perhaps we should just continue patrol and forget about it."

"Absolutely not. But say, were you able to drop off Miss Parlow with Pomona before this… incident?"

"Yes. Sprout sends you her thanks and she hopes we have a good night. I was just on my way back from her office to meet you when Morgan found me."

"In that case, I believe we have done enough patrolling for tonight."

"It's not even midnight…" Robin frowned up at him, but the mere prospect of going to one of her safe places sooner than expected sufficed to make it more of a loose statement than a protest. "Aren't we supposed to be out here until two?"

"Unlike what I believed up to the most recent past, I now couldn't care less about what is supposed to be. If assault on students is simply disregarded by the headmaster, he certainly won't mind half a night without patrol either."

"I wish I could bring myself to disagree with that reasoning, but I'm just beyond done with tonight, and even more so with Dumbledore's bloody secrets. That man clearly knows more than he tells us, and I will find out what that's about. Just not now." She sighed. "If I have to see one more professor tonight, I swear I'll scream."

Snape merely quirked an eyebrow at her in amusement while a not-smirk played on his lips, and it took Robin a few seconds to get it, but then she rolled her eyes exaggeratedly and had to smile as well before they started towards the dungeons.

"I didn't mean YOU, obviously!" She groaned as they crossed through the hallways. "I would keep you around me all day if I could."

"Would you really?"

"We literally spent all day every day together for eight bloody weeks, do you seriously even have to ask at this point?"

"I suppose I don't." He mused, while they made their way down the spiral staircase and towards the office. "Actually, I have never before thought it such a shame that the summer is over."

"There's always next summer." Robin shrugged, but immediately regretted it when both her shoulder and her neck hurt with new intensity, and she let out a pained hiss in return. "Bloody Morgan… Now that one bruise is finally fading, I already have got the next to deal with. And this one's gonna be a pain to cover up."

"To think that he did this to you on purpose… that he did it at all… You would do well to give me a good reason not to find Morgan and end him in this very instant."

"Who would patch me up if you left now, huh?" She tried with a half smile up at him, one that was meant to be encouraging but probably looked a bit too sad for that. "And what would you say to him? You have no idea what really happened…"

"He hurt you. Again. What could possibly be worse to know than that?"

"You'll see." She answered under her breath, not even sure if he had heard her or not, and they finally entered the office a moment later. Gods, it was good to be back… Robin had missed the place.

"I have a dittany balm that will heal the scratch, but the bruise will simply take time as always. Would you like a draught against the pain?" Snape asked after he had locked the door behind them, obviously sharing Robin's wish for some much needed solitude.

"No, it's alright. Compared to getting stabbed, it hardly even hurts at all." She huffed to herself with a twisted smile at the absurdity of the sentence that was now perfectly normal for her to say. "But I'll gladly take that balm. I can't deal with open wounds, I tend to scratch them open until they get worse and worse."

"Let me guess, you forget about it and pick at them while lost in thought?"

"Unfortunately."

"Very recognizable." He sighed, then pulled a jar with an almost unreadable label out of the shelves. "Apply this in a thin layer on your neck."

"Will you do it for me? Please?" Robin asked with an almost too desperate, too hopeful expression, and a much too quiet tone. "I can't... see the scratch, and I can hardly lift my arm without hurting my shoulder even more. Would you…?"

"Of course." He replied in the same manner, then reluctantly came close enough to see to the task himself.

It took exactly one brush of Snape's hand against her skin, while he carefully moved her hair out of the way, to erase any discomfort within Robin's mind that the previous encounters, or rather the overall day had left. She couldn't help but marvel at her mind and body's response to his touch, to all of him in general, and she stood perfectly still while she allowed herself to focus on the pleasant feeling of his chilled fingers on the burning skin of her neck. Ripping a necklace off was way more painful than movies made it out to be, especially when the chain was quite that tough and bit into the skin like a saw. But having his gentle touch on her neck now really was as soothing for her mind as the balm was for her skin, and she found herself melting into a pleasant mess of electric tingles right beneath his fingertips. If only she didn't have to keep getting injured first for such fleeting moments of physical closeness… but then again, she really wasn't doing it on purpose. The scratches on her neck were healed and fading all too soon, and when he carefully brushed her hair from her unhurt shoulder to her back again, Robin couldn't suppress the pleasant shiver that ran all through her.

"Are you cold?" He asked in return to seeing the goosebumps on her skin, but luckily he moved to put the jar back into its space on the shelf and didn't focus on the colour rising to Robin's cheeks in an instant.

"Mostly tired, actually. I think coffee should solve either problem." She replied with a small sigh, then dropped down in her usual seat. Honestly, she had missed the office. But she had missed Snape even more, even during that one stupid week alone. Pathetic… but what could she do. "Does our agreement still stand, even with only half a night of patrol?"

"I would make you coffee for the rest of my life if that could undo what Morgan did to you yet again." He mumbled as he moved to prepare their mugs that by now were as much a staple in the office as all the potions and books.

"It's not your fault that this happened, you know that, right?"

"If I hadn't asked you to come with me, or even worse, asked you to do my own bloody work for me, you would never have run into him."

"I didn't just run into him, I'm fairly sure of that. He sought me out on purpose. And he could've done that at any given point at all, if not tonight, perhaps tomorrow or the day after. Unless you were planning on escorting me every single day to every single place I go, I doubt that there's anything you could've done to prevent this from happening."

"What exactly is 'this', then? You said that it is worse than before, you said it is complicated. But you have avoided speaking of it as anything other than a tragic accident, which it clearly was not." He asked as he placed their coffees on the small table and sat down in his chair across from her, while his eyes however never left hers. "Tell me about it."

"No. You will have to look into my mind if you want to know." She returned quietly, reluctant and yet desperate for him to finally see, to understand. "I can't bring myself to repeat what he said, what he did… You and I have done this before in moments like this, where I-…" For a second she paused, swallowed the lump in her throat, and only then went on. "You know it will tell you more than my words ever could. Please."

"Are you certain you are comfortable with that?"

"Without a doubt. I'm honestly more concerned about you right now."

"Why?"

"Because I know what you will see, and I would gladly spare you from the consequences of that. But you have to know, even if you won't like it."

"I don't understand."

"You will." She sighed under her breath, then focused on locking everything up that he wasn't supposed to see. Hiding a love like that was getting nigh impossible at this point, but she knew she had to, so she did. Then her focus was back on his eyes. "Ready when you are."

He mirrored her posture, mirrored her focus, then Robin felt the prickle in the back of her mind that by now didn't even hurt at all. It was merely a matter of access and resistance; if she didn't fight, there was no pain. If she let him into her mind willingly, it was almost… pleasant. In a way. She shook off the thought immediately, only too glad that he hadn't seen it. They had more pressing matters to deal with now.

It didn't take long to go through her recent memory, starting from the point where Robin had left Sprout's door behind. Then her encounter with Morgan, how he had pressed her into the wall, how he had taken her locket, how he had made abundantly clear that he thought of her as his in whatever sick game he was playing. Finally the situation with McGonagall, which Robin still saw in a positive light after all, even if the professor had let matters proceed as far as they had. It left Robin feeling betrayed by the teacher who would have been supposed to help her, but at the same time understanding of the employee who had been forbidden to, and sympathetic for the woman stuck in the middle. Any anger she felt was solely directed at Morgan now, and perhaps Dumbledore as well. That's where her memories ran out, and Robin was left alone in her mind once more, almost suffering an actual feeling of loss for a few seconds, before her focus was drawn out of her head and to the man in front of her instead.

The expression on Snape's face almost broke her heart. Shock, repulsion, anger, incredulity… just to name a few. She wanted to make it better, to comfort him from the horrors of her own pain, to make that it never happened. But all she could do was look back at him and try not to cry while her heart was racing once again.

"I'm so sorry…" She managed to say in a whisper, not trusting her voice enough to speak any louder without cracking. She didn't know what exactly she was apologising for, all of it perhaps, but she felt guilty enough to do so nonetheless. "Please don't be angry."

"I am not angry." He finally replied, in perfect grave neutrality. Gods… that wasn't a good sign. "Anger doesn't make you want to do unspeakable things to someone. Anger doesn't make you want to kill them with such a burning urge for it to hurt."

"Don't…"

"And whyever not?!" He snapped and Robin jumped in her seat, which at least got his scrutinising expression to soften ever so slightly in obvious regret. "I have done worse before, Robin, you will surely know that. I have killed people and I have spent years hating myself for it beyond any measure. But for you I would do it again, anytime, without a second thought."

"And that is exactly why I could never let you do it indeed." Her voice was surprisingly steady, considering the rousing waves of overwhelming electricity surging through her upon his words. He meant every bit of what he was saying, she knew that all too well, and she swore to herself that she would never let it come that far. She loved him far too much to let him do that to himself. "I know you would, and it means more to me than you can imagine. But I won't be the reason for your misery."

"What is misery to this… Are you so unaware that I am devastated every single time you get hurt?! How can I let him get away with all that he has done to you, how can I let him live when I know he will do it again? Can you tell me that?"

"How could I let you kill someone only to then spend the rest of my life without my best friend after they send you to bloody Azkaban?! How could I live with myself knowing that I'm the reason for your death, because that's just what that hellhole of a prison is and you know it!" Robin snapped right back, and Snape turned to look away with a huff in frustration. He didn't move away, didn't even lean back in the slightest as he scowled at the wall across the room, and Robin knew that her arguments were getting through to him. If he wanted it or not. She was right, and there was no denying it, not even for the master of deceit. She would make him understand her truth. "If getting to live without Morgan for the next year means living without you forever, then I will gladly let him torture me as much as he fancies. A mere bloody year of pathetic quarrels with a delusional man in exchange for your life, a bloody year to keep you by my side for the rest of mine… I will gladly do that, for both of us. Without a second thought even."

"What if you don't make it to the end of that year in the first place? What if Morgan finally loses it entirely and chooses to kill you tomorrow, or next week, or next month?!"

"You forget that Morgan is an absolute idiot who surrendered to me more times in the past than he can even count up to. He's just a bully with a title, an asshole we can't get rid of for some reason that we will find out about eventually. We will be fine, just like we were before. You and I, together." Robin said calmly now, with a softness she just couldn't help. But he still wouldn't look at her, even if his expression had turned from a scowl to frustration and despair now, and Robin did the only thing she knew to work when he was stuck in the darkest corners of his own mind like this. She took his hand, and held onto it tightly. "Please, Severus… Be better with me."

Finally his eyes snapped back to hers, wide with surprise and something deeply vulnerable, and Robin immediately knew why. She never used his first name, never used any name for him at all… and now that she had, it seemed to have such an impact on him that the despair from before was washed away with a start. For a moment he simply held her gaze, without any readable expression at all, then he shifted his hand beneath hers to intertwine their fingers ever so gently, but in utmost certainty no less. Robin's heart skipped a beat, and another and another and then it settled into a steady drumming that might very well be heard in the entire castle. Gods, he did inexplicable things to her without even being aware.

"I will do anything to keep you safe, you know that." He said at last, in a quiet calm for the first time in hours. "But I have to agree, I cannot protect you when I am sentenced to a lifetime in Azkaban."

"I'm glad we are on the same page now." Robin returned with a small smile. "With killing Morgan out of the question and my act blown, we need a new strategy to deal with him though. Most of our more successful plans were a product of both our minds, and I doubt it will be different this time."

"Indeed. What do you suggest?"

"We might as well properly protect ourselves and each other when he tries to harm either of us from here on. But we can't be the ones to attack him first." She stated, and another shiver ran down her back when his hold on her hand tightened for a moment, still laced together with hers quite so perfectly. "Just because I want us to stick to defense doesn't mean we can't hurt him when he tries to hurt us."

Now that brought a small smirk to his lips at last, and he actually seemed to somewhat relax for the first time all night. "I can live with that."

"Good." She couldn't help smiling in return. "I think he got a good glimpse of that strategy tonight already. Fighting back I certainly did."

"I cannot believe that of all his vile words, it was his threat against me that finally made you react in the end."

"What's so hard to believe about that? You say you would kill for me, what makes you doubt that I would do the same for you?"

"I know better than to doubt you, Robin. But it is… an unfamiliar situation for me to find myself on the receiving end of such loyalty." He said in mild discomfort about whatever thought had accompanied his words, then however the expression passed and he was back to the usual calm. "It is easy being loyal to the ones in power, but staying loyal to someone who isn't perched in the heavens is an entirely different thing."

"I agree. But when you choose to stay with that someone through heavens or hell or anything in between, it's not about loyalty anymore, but about sincere and unconditional attachment. Or devotion."

"I have never been on the receiving end of that either. Not before… you."

"Well, then you better get used to it now." Robin kept her gaze fixed on his, giving him an encouraging smile along with her words, while however she tried her best to suppress the hollowing sadness that crept through the cracks of her mind upon his words. She knew the feeling all too well… having to run after people's affection if she wanted to receive any at all. Never being a first choice, never being the one others were devoted to. But all that had changed, he had brought that change into her life. And she was beyond glad to hear that she was doing the same for him. "Because I have no intention to stop. No matter what you do, what anyone does, I won't stop bothering you."

"Good." The smirk was back, as was a hint of a tease. "Who would keep me from drinking my coffee until it goes cold if not my favourite nuisance?"

"Hey!" Robin laughed at last, glad that the tension in the room was finally resolved entirely. "Without that nuisance, you wouldn't be here drinking coffee in the first place."

"Indeed, I would long be dead by now."

"Why on earth is that?"

"Isn't it obvious?" He quirked an eyebrow at her in that lovely feigned indifference. "If I had been alone with all those dunderheads over the years, I would long have perished from all the unsolicited nonsense and sheer idiocy of the common student. Or… the common professor."

Robin let out a way too loud snort, then an almost helpless giggle, and finally just had to grin down at her almost cold coffee. When her face finally wasn't a telltale of sheer adoration anymore, she looked up once again only to find Snape stifling a smile as well. Yeah, they probably would be alright from here on. If only Robin would stop wanting yet more.

______________________________

Tags:

@ayamenimthiriel @chibi-lioness @t-sunnyside @alex4555 @purpledragonturtles @istrugglewithphilosophy @meghan-maria @hidden-behind-the-fourth-wall @darkestacademiaaa

General Tags:

@wegingerangelica @dreary-skies-stuff @wiczer @lotus-eyedindiangoddess @theweirdlunatic @caretheunicorn @kthemarsian @lady-of-lies @strawberrysandcream @noplacelikehome77 @theoneanna @mishaandthebrits @i-am-a-mes @nonsensicalobsessions @exygon @hiddles-lobotomy @rjohnson1280 @annwhojumps @spookycatqueen @salempoe @headoverhiddleston @fanfiction-and-stress @createdfromblue @thecreatiivecorner @themusingsofmany @kinghiddlestonanddixon @scorpionchild81 @crystal-28 @adefectivedetective @lokis-girl-in-mischief @booklover2929 @iamverity @lovesmesomehiddles @akk4rin @whitewolfandthefox @stuckupstucky @kassablanca13 @delightfulheartdream @hayalee8 @bluewneptune @lemonmochitea

[dessarious]

Misconceptions, Miscommunication, and Misinformation Pt58

Inspired by @ozmav Maribat AU

AO3   Beginning   Previous   Next

“So what you’re saying is that Batman and his team have done more in two months than you managed it two years.” Discorde was about five seconds from Cataclysming Superman, relations with other heroes be damned. She only held back because Ladybug had a hand on her arm. Robin didn’t seem any happier and it brought him up in her estimation.

“That is wildly presumptuous and inaccurate.” Oracle’s voice came through the comm and both she and Red Robin were scowling at the others from a screen on the wall. “We only managed what we did because of the incredibly detailed and accurate information Ladybug gave us. There’s no telling how long it would have taken us starting from scratch the way she did. Not to mention she is one hundred percent responsible for the plan that gave us Mayura.”

“Convenient.” Superman still sounded doubtful but seemed willing to drop that part of things, for now. “Regardless, there’s still the matter of actually apprehending him and what we do with the object that gave him his powers in the first place.” The hand around Discorde’s arm tightened and she looked over to see an incredibly pissed off Ladybug.

“That is none of your concern.” Ladybug’s tone held an impressive amount of authority and disdain. She’d been around Damian a lot lately and it showed. “We are here as a courtesy but I will not allow you to interfere.” Multiple members of the League glared at her from their seats.

“She’s right.” The voice belonged to a rather subdued Wonder Woman. After the rundown Ladybug had given her of the previous meeting Discorde had expected her to be of the same mind as Superman. “The Miraculous are not our domain, nor should they be. While I’m not thrilled that such a burden was placed on children it is not our place to question a Guardian who has dedicated their life to protecting the Miraculous and maintaining balance.” There was complete silence after she spoke, no one seemed to know how to react. Batman recovered first.

“I agree. There’s a reason most of us didn’t even know the Miraculous existed until now. From what Wonder Woman has told me the Order that protects them is very good at keeping them contained.” Discorde felt Ladybug stiffen slightly, but otherwise she didn’t react to the words at all.

“They failed once. Sure this time it’s contained in Paris, but what happens the next time? We can’t take that risk.” Ladybug had apparently had enough of Superman’s self righteous attitude.

“It is not your decision to make.” Her tone was hard and frigid, it sent a chill up Discorde’s spine and she was thanking every Kwami she knew that it wasn’t directed at her. “Even ignoring the Order for the moment, the Miraculous exist to maintain balance. Having all of them in the hands of a group dedicated to their form of justice will wreak havoc on that balance. Villains and dissenters will start popping out of the woodwork at rates you won’t be able to handle. You’ll just be making everything worse for the people you claim to protect. The cost is far too high whether you believe it or not.”

Discorde watched the heroes' reactions, trying to decide which were threats and which were allies. Batman and his team were firmly entrenched on their side, at least for now. Wonder Woman seemed content to let things take their course and at least not interfere. Superman looked like he was ready to go to war with them along with a couple others so that’s where she kept her focus. When Marinette had suggested she be here Plagg had given her some tips and suggestions to keep them in line if necessary and she wasn’t going to hesitate if any of them came at Ladybug.

“So these powers are better protected in the hands of children? If this Order is so competent why didn’t they send their own people in to do the job?” Okay, that was a good question that she’d have to file away for later.

“You have no idea how the Miraculous or the Order work and I’m not about to enlighten you and put others at risk. You believe in very strict definitions of good and evil. I doubt you’d be willing to listen to let alone understand even if I did explain.” Batman’s lips twitched upward and Discorde thought he was trying not to smile. The rest of his team didn’t seem to feel the need to restrain themselves and were snickering in the background. Red Hood even gave Ladybug a thumbs up. Wonder Woman looked amused and… proud? One more thing to try and unpack later.

“You do not decide what is and is not pertinent information for us to know. We will ask questions and you will answer them to the best of your ability.” Superman’s tone said he didn't expect her to know much and Discorde felt the growl in her chest before she heard it. How dare this pompous, self important, alien…

“It would be wise for you to stop.” Discorde glared at Wonder Woman as she spoke, expecting to be the object of her censure, but she was focused on Superman. “Ladybug is perfectly correct in her assessment and the Justice League as no standing to interfere in the first place. What’s more, threatening her will do nothing but give her black cat a reason to show you just how ineffectual your powers are against the powers of gods.” Her tone was dry but firm. Some of the heroes were now looking at the two Miraculous holders like they were bombs ready to go off while others seemed to doubt Wonder Woman’s claim. Discorde almost hoped one of them would try something at this point. She knew exactly how much stress Ladybug was under and this wasn’t helping in the slightest.

“What’s she going to do, purr at me?” Something inside her snapped. She felt for the destruction inside her as Plagg had taught and pulled it to the surface. She was vaguely aware of Batman and his team moving away from the man of steel and heard Wonder Woman’s resigned sigh. The rest didn’t seem to know how to react. They would soon.

The table and chairs dissolved as though eaten by acid causing everyone to scramble away. After that she concentrated directly on Superman. He still seemed to think he was invincible but she knew better. Plagg and Tikki had created the universe and while Superman was immune to the dangers of Earth, he wasn’t immune to the dangers of his home planet, or the Kwami. She focused the ball of darkness inside her into the shape she wanted before letting it shoot straight at Superman. Just as Plagg predicted, he didn’t even try to move.

“Is that all you have?” His cockiness brought a feral grin to her lips. She waited. “This is a waste of time. I want to talk to whoever thought it was a good idea to entrust-” He broke off in a coughing fit that was so violent he ended up hovering over the floor. When he stopped and looked at his hand everyone in the room could see blood. “What did you do?” Discorde glared back at him.

“I infected you with Krypton’s version of the bubonic plague and Ladybug is the only one who can cure you so I suggest you appropriate a new attitude.”

AO3   Beginning   Previous    Next

Ko-Fi

Tag List

@noirdots @valeks-princess @chocolatecatstheron @krispydefendorpolice @bee-wrecker @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @northernbluetongue @paradoxal-occurance @scrumptiouslyelegantchaosqueen @sonif50 @thequestionablyhuman @persephonebutkore @elspethshadow @geekydragonyt @mmwolf1605 @da-tasuky @mjisntme @bluerosette23 @anjuschiffer @littleredrobinhoodlum @tazanna-blythe @resignedcatservant @schrodingers25 @seraphichana @persephonescat @punstoppablechatnoir @magicalfirebird @crazylittlemunchkin @corabeth11 @cyborgcandy @casual-darkness @shamefullove @miraculous-simmer7 @tamoni112 @cat181818meow @littleblue5mcdork @allthebooksandcrannies @enchanted-nerd @disneyfoxuniverse @fallinginthe-void @mandy984 @goggles-mcgee @fontegagrilledcheese @dorkus-minimus @theatreandcomicfreak @zerotosiki @ayuchan07 @mindfulmagics @urbanpineapplefarmer @winter-gardenflower @mooshoon @my-name-is-michell @melicmusicmagic @7-sage-7 @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @alicesangelofmusic @caffeinetheory @nataladriana9 @multplelifes @wanderingreader1019 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mvaree @redscarlet95 @storyteller-d @howabouticallyou @ginamarie1512 @kurogaya913 @tbehartoo @maddrag @two-faced-biatch @senyahgirl @unabashedlyswimmingtimemachine @iloontjeboontje @kakashixobito @welcometopradasa @amirahevens @amlesi @miraculousbelladonna @virgil-is-a-cutie @18-fandoms-unite-08 @cupcakeandkisses @angelofmusickaterinapetrova @book-r-the-best @dur55 @moonlightstar64 @fertileleaf @thequeenofpotatoeunicornss @thecaptainthunder @danielslilangel @novicevoice @nyaabinch @interobanginyourmom @welcometopradasa @charlietheepic7 @im-here-for-the-content @maya-custodios-dionach @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @starwindmaden @tired-butterfly @rogueptoridactyl @emeraldpuffguide @suzen23smith @yuulxd @animegirlweeb @alovelyocean @kris-pines04 @semaalcocer-blog @cadencehood @jardimazul @shethecat @silent-storms-posts @simplysslytherin @tog84 @thesunanditsangel @dast218 @tall-and-angry @the-alice-of-hearts @captainmac6 @theyellowfeverexperience @chrismarium @alessialeone6997 @heaven428 @tinyterror333 @smolplantmum @lilyellowink @naoryllis @katiegardneriscoolerthanyou @magewriter @doodledeerest @athena452 @peachedpocky @tired-butterfly @risingmoonyue @lunammoon @mylife-demonstrates-murphys-law  @bobothyross @silvergold-swirl @loysydark @heaven428 @peachedpocky @hauntedwintersweets @awesome-starfish-and-tacos @silvergold-swirl @rosesgonerogue @castielsofficialtoothbrush @myazael @aestheticnpoetic @creator-josie @sturchling @snowstar1016 @myblacknightworld @kittycatwowmeow @midnightkaito @chylou34 @hufflejournals @indecisive-mess-named-me @uwuteamleader @sassakitty @jessigurl-design @demigodgirl20031 @freshbark @soup-served-chilling @elmokingkong @unknownvsworld @thatonegaybitchfromschool @tis-i-beanbandit @damianette-is-life @peachesbackup @nobodyw8s4evr

[maddestzoomer]

the arcade

request from anonymous - Could you do a Steve imagine where he introduces you to the party and y’all are dating

warnings - there aren't any :)

word count - 1.2k

a.n. - i had a lil trouble writing this in the beginning, but once i got started, it became hella fun! i still low-key suck at writing concepts when there's more than like- three people involved lmao, but this was fun! i think this is such a sweet lil concept, and i hope you think so as well :)

.`.

It was a beautiful September day in Hawkins, one that had thick white clouds that looked like dollops of whipped cream in front of a wildly blue background.

There the two of you sat, hand in hand, hair being blown around thanks to the windows being down. The earliest fall perfume filled your lungs, still laced with the smell of flowers. It was enough to bring a small curl to your lips.

Today was going to be good, you could just feel it.

Steve had told you today was the day for you to "meet some people"- which you incorrectly assumed meant it was time to meet the parents. Which definitely wouldn't be a bad thing given the two of you have been dating for a few weeks now.

When he pulled up in front of an arcade, you couldn't help but frown as you looked over to him.  "What are we doing here?" You ask with a small, confused smile playing at your lips.

"Well," Swiftly, Steve backed into a parking spot with a small smile of his own "This is where you're gonna meet those people I talked about earlier. Just some friends I want you to know." He said simply

"You're being so cryptic," You say with a light, airy chuckle and the tiniest of smirks playing at your lips. He hadn't answered any of your questions today- but that was alright. You trusted him.

Steve turned the car off, glancing to you with a smile before leaning in to gently peck your lips with his own soft ones.

He'd decided against outright telling you he was friends with a bunch of fourteen-year-olds, and that he'd basically saved the world a cool couple of times with their help. He figured shit like that would take time- and that this was the first step.

There was a small part of him that worried about your reaction. He already cared so incredibly deeply for you that, if you were to negatively react to his friends or his past, it would simply destroy him. He was letting you into a new part of his life, which gave you a specific power, one he worried about.

Soon enough, the two of you were walking from the car. On the small of your back, Steve's hand softly lingered, a gentle reminder that he was with you and that you were with him.

He opened the door for you, allowing for you to walk in before him. The arcade was busier than you'd expected it would be, filled with kids trying to get their last days of summer fun before school resumed.

A shorter kid was the first to walk up to greet you, one that had curly light brown hair and an incredibly wide smile.

"Steve!"

"Dustin!"

You raised an eyebrow with a small smile as the two greeted each other, performing a sort of secret handshake that was probably inspired by Star Wars in one way or another.

Once the two were finished with their energetic greeting, another boy showed up. He looked to be the quiet type, with a small, pleasant smile and a bowl cut.

"Where is everyone? I have someone I want you guys to meet!" Steve said with a glad smile, pulling you close to him

The two boys looked your way, both wearing similarly wary smiles.

"I'm Y/N," you say, "Steve's significant other."

The boy you deemed to be named Dustin lit up, immediately sticking his hand out to shake. "Wow! Wait- Steve, this is Y/N?"

Softly, you chuckle, shaking his hand. You glanced at Steve, who was nodding with a stupidly proud smile on his face. "Yep!"

Soon, you and Dustin stop shaking hands. The boy with the bowl-cut gave you a small, almost shy wave with an again pleasant smile. "I'm Will."

"It's really nice to meet you both." You say with a small chuckle. You were a tiny bit confused, but not all that surprised. You could easily see Steve being these kid's older sibling figure.

"Alright- Where's Robin?" Steve asks, still with a smile.

"She's over there," Will pointed to a game titled Dig-Dug, where a tall girl stood, concentrating hard at the game before her with a few other kids surrounding her, cheering her on.

Steve again returned his hand to the small of your back, beginning to walk with you and the boys to where the girl named Robin stood, accompanied by a few other kids.

"Hey, Robin!" Steve called.

You knew of Robin, mostly considering it was a small town and she went to school with you.

She glanced to Steve, then did a double-take when she saw you at her side. Already, a smile was pulling to her lips. Sadly though, she stared a bit too long, and she died in her game.

That wasn't a problem though, given she was already walking towards the two of you.

"Is /this/ your Y/N?" She asked, a genuinely kind and interested smile on her lips.

"Yes, it is." Steve said, glancing to you.

You smile softly and give her a small wave "Hi, Robin." You greet lightly

Suddenly, a few kids around Dustin & Will's age appeared at Robin's side. You'd seen these kids riding around town before- except for one kid. A girl with doe eyes and brown locks, a timid, small frown forming on her face.

"This is Y/N." Steve explained, noticing the confused glances some of the kids shared with one another.

You smiled softly as the redhead lit up. "We have heard a lot about you." She said with a small chuckle.

"I'm Max. And that's Lucas, that's Mike, and that's El." She pointed to each person as she said their names, each one flashing you a small smile. Except for that El girl. She looked a bit uncomfortable, but still friendly.

"It's really nice to meet you guys," You say with a smile. "This might be a dumb question but.." You paused with a small chuckle. "how do you all know Steve?"

"Babysitting." Explained Dustin, causing the other kids to nod in agreement. It seemed a bit odd to you that this many teens would need babysitting, but you didn't question it.

-

The two of you stayed at the Arcade for an hour or so longer, talking and playing games. Steve absolutely sucked at each game he attempted, almost comically so. He really seemed to be enjoying himself though, smiling the entire time.

It was only when Steve ran out of quarters that you all said your goodbyes, telling that you'll see one another again soon, probably to do more babysitting.

As the two of you walked out, hand in hand, Steve glanced to you. "So, what do ya' think?"

You smiled and shrugged, beginning to swing your hands "I had a good time. Maybe next time you babysit, I'll come with."

[krispydefendorpolice]

Demon’s Bride Drabble

Meet the Batfam Take 2

So, around the time I lost my motivation to write a lot of the Adrian salt haters were getting pretty vocal. I don’t hate the canon character so much as I hate what the creators expect us to accept as “romantic” and “heroic” about the canon character.

Unfortunately I disagree with the creators. The canon character is a a sad, abused and abusive character that doesn’t hear what he doesn’t want to (Ladybug has said “NO” too many times for his continued behavior to be anything but harrassment, blackmail....), and throws temper tantrums when he doesn’t get his way.

I don’t like the canon character. But fandom does what it will and so many amazing authors have taken this character and given him the redemption he deserves and the chance to be a better person. I was considering doing this and this Drabble came to be, but since I have my other story where Adrian gets his redemption I’m gonna go ahead with the salt in the Demon’s bride verse so you have that to look forward to storywise. Until the next chapter comes out, enjoy this outtake.

Recommendations:

Adrian Salt - Seeing Green by @thyladyanput and

some no salt Adrian Confident by @snowhirl

Both are great stories I absolutely enjoyed.

Drabble Masterpost

****************************************

Waking up the day after Damian as Robin dropped her off at her hotel Marinette sent a group of texts. In the lobby she met up with Max, Kim and Alix. They were going to go with her to meet up with Damian and whomever he brought along. Though if she were a betting woman she would place money on that including his brothers, whether Damian wanted them there or not.

Four men waited outside the arcade. Damian smiled and stepped forward to meet Marinette before introductions were made between her friends and his brothers “officially” meeting Marinette.

Three hours of gaming later and the group decided to get lunch at some nearby food trucks. As they walked Marinette held Damian’s hand and would pull him behind her as they walked. She would occasionally drop his hand to pull out a sketchbook where she would spend a few minutes drawing before she would walk again. Each time Damian stood quietly with a small smile and watched her before their fingers would lace and they would continue on with the group.

About halfway to the park the group came across Nino and Adrian who had finally separated from Lila’s group. Lila continued to insist Adrian hang out with her and for some reason his father was pushing Adrian to keep Lila happy.

Seeing them, Marinette dropped Damian’s had and turning to face their group she held her finger to her lips with a small smile as she walked backwards towards the two boys. She stepped so softly that not even Adrian’s Miraculous enhanced hearing heard her approaching, thought the cover traffic provided certainly helped.

When she was only a couple steps behind Adrian must have sensed something because he started to turn around. Unfortunately it was too late and Marinette attacked.

“KITTY!” she yelled and jumped on his back.

Adrian yelped and stumbled a couple steps but kept his balance and gripped Marinette legs where they wrapped around his waist to help.

“Why do you always do this Bug?” He asked the girl clinging to him like a monkey.

“Because it’s fun to scare you Chaton,” she said before shifting her weight so that Adrian stumbled back towards their group to keep upright, “come meet my Gotham friends.”

“Stop, stop, I’m walking, I’m walking,” Adrian muttered as he shifted Marinette on his back so that they were no longer in danger of tripping.

Damian watched with an unemotional mask on his face while the bat boys were trading glances with each other, Damian and the monkey that was their brother’s girlfriend.

As soon as Adrian arrived at the group Marinette jumped off his back and ran through introductions for him and Nino again.

“Join us for lunch?” She asked.

“Sure. It’s better than watching Lila try to scam her way into yet another restaurant,” Adrian agreed.

“Great,” Marinette smiled blindingly and rubbed at an ear, “game of chase?”

Adrian and Nino looked at her questioningly while Max, Kim and Alix smiled conspiratorially at each other.

“Chase?” Dick asked.

Marinette turned back to Damian, “Let the Big Bat know we’re not here for trouble. Just have a few bones to pick with him. Yeah?”

He tilted his head to the side in acknowledgement.

“Tikki, Spots on.”

“Roaar, Stripes on.”

“Wayzz, Shell on.

“Xuppu, Let’s riot.”

“Fluff, Time’s up.”

“Kaalki, Reign in.”

After all six heroes were armored up. Marinette threw a wink at the bat boys. “See you soon birdies,” she said as she threw up her yo-yo and caught zipped off.

The other’s followed her lead and soon the whole group was parkouring over the roofs of Gotham. Unlike during patrols in Paris they allowed themselves to have fun with this. Turning it into a giant game of chase they took turns tagging a team member before running off in the general of the food trucks.

———————————

The bats watched the laughing group take off. Tim was the first to break the spell and pulled out his phone to call Bruce.

“Yeah we got a group of Meta’s that are asking for the Bat’s attention,” he said when Bruce answered.

“Where at?” He asked

“I think they’re headed towards the Botanical gardens food trucks.”

“You think? You don’t have eyes on them?”

Tim side eyed Jason who had shook off his shock only to fall to the sidewalk laughing like a hyena. Damian watched him with a look of mild disgust while Dick was still obviously confused.

“It would be kind of hard to disappear for a change after a group of six kids do a magical girl transformation in front of you. I have too many eyes on me right now. But before they took off they told Damian to let the commissioner and the ‘Big Bat’ they have ‘a bone to pick’ but don’t want to cause trouble.”

“Right,” Bruce said before hanging up. Tim knew that meant that Batman was on his way towards the spontaneous meet.

“Come on we got work to do,” he said motioning for Dick to help him pick Jason off the concrete and carried him in the opposite direction from where the Parisian’s had headed.

———————————

When Batman and the boys arrived it was to the teens sitting around and on the various tables around the food trucks still in costume. Each was eating something from the trucks around them and tourists were taking photos of them. The Gothamites were edging away from the unknown constumes all too familiar with how the city’s rouges often behave. In contrast the French tourists were easily spotted as they were exclaiming over the presence of their city’s heroes across the ocean and taking selfies with the teens.

“Hiya Bats. Want a taco,” the red teen asked the Gotham heroes holding up said taco in offering.

“Who are you and why are you in Gotham,” Batman ignored the question to get to the point.

LadyBug shrugged and finished the taco in two bites before standing and brushing crumbs off her hands.

She jumped off the table she had been using as a seat and stood before the bats. A red-orange, black and white clad hero stood and joined her just a step behind in support. The others quieted their laughter and watched the interactions with seriousness.

“I’m LadyBug, the Hero of Paris. I’m here because I have a bone to pick with your Justice League Bats.”

“The League is unaware of any active heroes in or around Paris,” Batman stated. It wasn’t a disagreement exactly but it was understood that he didn’t believe her.

“You shouldn’t be. Both the Mayor of Paris and myself have reached out to the League when the terrorist Hawkmoth first appeared almost four years ago. A total of 38 requests and pleas for help were ignored. After the last we were put on a do not respond list and prevented from further contact.”

“I am unaware of this. I will look into it,” Batman said.

LadyBug shook her head, “We don’t need you to come help anymore. Instead we, I, want a full acknowledgement that the League failed to do its duty to my city and its citizens. I want a full apology for every death Hawkmoth has caused and that you and your League let happen.”

“You were meant to be Heroes for the world. Instead you failed to protect those who needed it and left a city in the hands of two teenagers who still aren’t adults today,” she dropped the magic to reveal Marinette. “And I want to know what you’ll do to prevent that from happening again.”

******************************

So mostly the interaction between Marinette and Adrian in this take was what spurred this fic on. I think if she were ever to get over the crush she would be super touchy freely with her friend.

@g-arya @multifandomscribette @mochinek0 @inevitableenquere @ravennightingaleandavatempus @northernbluetongue @bluerosette23 @fertileleaf @thepeacetea @zebrabaker @mystery-5-5 @dast218 @evil-elf16 @vivilakitty @dessarious @rhub4rb @ozmav @unmaskedagain @actualaster @a-marlene-s @del-phin @tog84 @luciferge @sonif50 @actual-human-disaster @clumsy-owl-4178 @aarushi-03 @moonyloonyx @shreky-boi @thanks-captain-obvious @panda3506 @hinata3487 @thequestionablyhuman @dontgiveaflyinflip @chocolatecatstheron @asianfrustration13 @weird-pale-blonde-person @yin-390 @mycupisbroken @vixen-uchiha @kuroko26 @autisticlinx @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mariae2900 @zalladane @hypnosharkrebeldreamer @tbehartoo @novicevoice

[keroujack]

anonymous asked:

Back with more questions about you’re cold and i burn because I can’t stop thinking about it !!! You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, and I’m sorry if I’m being annoying, but I genuinely never wanted it to end lol. How did it go when robin and billy finally met?

omfg you’re not being annoying at ALL, i never wanted it to end either so i’m actually like, really really flattered that you’re still thinking about it and care enough to ask 🖤

and yk what? i honestly never gave a whole lot of thought to robin and billy meeting for some reason, so this really got my gears turning and now i’ve got Thoughts

because steve’s nervous about it. like. really nervous about it

doesn’t really know how his best friend meeting his best friend (his boyfriend? his soulmate? his billy?) is gonna go because robin is predictably unpredictable and billy is well. billy. and while billy’s sorta different now, he’s also never had any control over his mouth and steve knows there are about a hundred and one different ways this could go wrong but

robin comes over that first friday night after billy’s back and things, they actually don’t go wrong. they’re actually kinda. good

they’re all in the living room eating pizza, watching rebel without a cause like this is something they do every friday night. billy’s sitting up on the couch. steve and robin are sitting down on the floor in front of it and if there’s anybody that’s more surprised about all this than steve,

it’s robin

because she’s always known steve as the happy-go-lucky type, the mother goose type. the type that always makes sure everybody else is laughing and okay before he thinks about himself

and maybe, in retrospect, it’s easy to look back and say his eyes were kinda dim before, his smile was kinda dull before, his laugh was kinda hollow before

because steve’s sitting next to her on the floor now and he’s got his arm hooked around billy’s calf and he’s sorta smiling even though the movie’s near the middle and it’s decidedly not a comedy and there’s something all.

warm. in steve’s face. all soft. kinda bright. and she’s never seen his smile look like that, all genuine and easy and light like he doesn’t even know he’s doing it (she’d put money on the fact that he has no idea)

simply put, he looks like he’s in love

but if he does, then so does billy

it’s in his eyes, she thinks. the way he looks at steve when he thinks steve isn’t looking, the way his eyes fall kinda half shut and the way his mouth pulls into this tiny, little smile and the way his cheeks are always just the tiniest bit pink

so it’s clear that billy is in love, too

it’s so clear

he looks so far fuckin’ over the moon she can hardly stand it

so if she’s anything? it’s glad. and relieved

and it’s been a couple hours now and steve’s not so nervous anymore, not so scared. gets up from the floor when they run out of popcorn and goes to make more and doesn’t panic over the fact that he just left billy and robin (billy and robin) alone in a room together

but he can hear them talking if he tries real hard, doesn’t pour the popcorn into the bowl right away because he hears robin’s voice saying, “you know he’s crazy about you, right?”

and feels his heart jump a little when billy says, “yeah, i know” because billy does know. steve’s told him

(billy’s told him, too)

but robin doesn’t stop. she says, “well good, ‘cause i don’t really wanna give you a shovel talk since steve like, just dug you up or whatever” (and steve sorta wants to die, sorta wants to kill her because that is such a bad joke) “but if you hurt him, i’ll send you right back to where you came from. got it?”

and steve has to roll his eyes because she’s dramatic and she’s not his mom and he can take care of himself thank you very much

but billy says, “got it,” and his voice is even. even still when he speaks again, says, “but i’m not gonna hurt him”

and she says “really?”

and he says “really” and “i know a good thing when i got one and steve’s-he’s-”

he trails off at that and steve can tell what face he’s making, doesn’t have to see him to know that his eyebrows are probably pinched, that his left hand’s probably curling, uncurling. twitching, aching, twisting for a cigarette

but robin puts him out of his misery when she says, “he’s the best”

and billy laughs at that, says, “yeah. exactly”

and steve really can’t take any more of them talking like that so he walks back into the living room with the popcorn bowl in his hands (now full) and they stop talking so that they can look up at him, so that they can smile at him

he sits back down on the floor and hooks his arm around billy’s calf again, tips his head to one side so his temple’s resting against his knee

robin’s slumped against his side and billy’s twisting his fingers in the hair at the back of his head and steve’s not sure his heart’s ever felt so full in his whole life

and different,

different feels like it’s just getting better and better every day

[iphoenixrising]

For 800 Followers! The Wrong Robin

Babe recc’ed me a fic, Liminal Space by Calamityjim and a few profound things hit me in this fic. The author talks about how basically when shit gets broken, it’s broke. The Bats fucked Tim over and it’s not just a forgive-and-forget situation. It’s literally a darker world he’s living in and my fucking heart goes out to him. I write some angsty things about Tim not coming back to the Bats, but I do a few that really aren’t that, so this is inspired by the Tim that can’t go back.

So, for everyone that’s only wanted to do good things but still gets beaten down over and over again. I love you. I love you so so much.

**

Getting pissed really isn’t an option.

Because vigilantes arguing in the middle of a rooftop after an epic takedown is never good PR for the capes and cowls–

(but it isn’t like he’s really one of them anymore, right?)

“Can’t motherfuckin’ believe I’m hearin’ this shit, Pretender.” The Red Hood is standing tall against the night with forearms and fists clenched by his sides, fucking arguing with him like any of it means a damn thing.

“Am I in the Twilight Zone right now or some shit?” Red Robin comes back, sneering and baring his teeth in the semblance of a smile. “Who the fuck even are you?”

“Lookit here, asshole–”

But Red just moves, gets right up in Hood’s grill, whiteouts narrowed in the night, standing right the hell up to the Robin that once-upon-a-time was his (and welp, hadn’t that ship sailed?)

“Why are you even here?” He demands, low and dark, “wasn’t it enough to shove a Batarang in my chest? To almost slit my throat? Wasn’t that the fuck enough for you? And then this shit? You here telling me some pile of crap about how I should come back? Come back to what?”

Hood takes a step back, the tension in his shoulders and forearms loosening, “whoa, waitaminute, just wait–”

“You called me fucking Pretender, didn’t you?” Is even lower, the younger vigilante still as stone, “because that’s what I am, right? No matter what my intentions were, no matter how much of a beating I took all those years. None of that shit means a fucking thing, does it?”

“Look, kid, I don’t know what the hell yer goin’ on ‘bout. B just asked–”

“What? He asked you to tell me to get the fuck out of Gotham? Like I really need anyone to tell me that? Like I don’t already fucking know?”

Now it’s the Red Hood that stills, not even a huff or guffaw through the synths, just the tiniest movement of the helmet moving to track when Red Robin takes a step back.

“Go back and tell B to stop wasting your fucking time, Hood. He’s already got all his Robins.”

And Red knows he’s taking a real risk here, turning away from the vigilante that’s tried taking him out of the game more than once, one that hadn’t had a fucking moment of hesitation. He knows giving his back to Jason Todd could be the last mistake he ever makes.

Still, he’s not the same person he was back when the Battle for the Cowl was going down. He’s not the same person Jason Todd asked to be his Robin. He’s not the same person that died a little the day the tunic was taken right out of his hands.

He’s more pragmatic, less idealistic. He’s a vigilante that’s hit the grey areas and been able to come back–

(and fuck you, Bruce. Fuck you for coming after him when that little thing with Boomerang went down. When he didn’t let that murdering bastard die. When Red realized who he was, and that was not a murderer, when he wasn’t going to be like Boomerang or his future gun-toting Batman self. Fuck YOU, B. Jason got a second chance. Damian got a second chance. But him? Well, he’s the fucking Robin that was never chosen, so jumping all over him was pretty much fine.)

He’s pretty sure the fight between him and the Red Hood would go down very differently if he’d been that broken the last time they had it out. Hood never would have asked for Red to be another Batman’s Robin. He would have gotten the fuck you memo first thing.

But really, what does any of that matter now?

They’ve reached the end of his little Robin ride, so it’s time to cut his losses and move on – just like all of them pretty much wanted.

So he’s going to do just that. He’s going to stand with his team, take every lesson he’s ever learned from the Bats, and keep fucking moving. It’s what he’s been doing for a little more than a year, makes it easy to turn away from Hood, makes him narrow his eyes when a gloved hand catches his elbow unexpectedly just as he’s ready to shoot the grapple and take off into the night. Red Robin finds himself gone far enough from who and what he used to be that he’s already got a plan to put Jason Todd the fuck down this time.

(You’re not getting another chance to fuck me over, Todd. Not again.)

“Hey,” is low through the synths, the hand around his elbow not tight enough to be a hold, not really. “Lemme start again, yeah?”

“There’s no point in starting anything,” Red Robin doesn’t even turn to look over his shoulder, to acknowledge Hood, “everything has been over for a long damn time. Go back and tell them that.”

The grapple fires in the night, a bang, cuts off a “–wait a motherfucking minute!” when he’s pulled into space, pulled out in the dark Gotham night. A flicker of gold from the harness and utility belt, a dance of shadows in the shape of a flapping cape, and the younger vigilante is gone in a literal blink.

Hood shakes his head a little, thrown from the way his replacement brushed him completely off, sprouted old rhetoric from the days when the second Robin was one angry motherfucker.

And as much as he shouldn’t give two shits about the ig’nant fuck, the sight of that kid’s face when he was in the red, gold, and green, that face when he was clutching at his throat, bleedin’ like a stuck pig, looking so fucking devastated, is there in the Red Hood’s mind’s eye when he fires his own grapple and takes off in the opposite direction.

**

Dickie don’t make it any better. Not at all.

“He didn’t want to hear it, B,” the oldest Robin shakes his head sadly, “and maybe we should just let him go. He’s got his own team and a new ident. Maybe he’s just happier where he is.”

Stephanie Brown straightens up, mouth set in a grim line. But at the end of the day, she has nothing to argue, really. Her choices back then had been...questionable, even with the best of intentions. Scarab and faking her own death, piling more on a newly orphaned Robin hadn’t been the answer, hadn’t been the way to test his limits to see what would finally make him break.

It’s a few years too late for these realizations, and even when she wants to shove her face right up in Dick Grayson’s grill and argue–

She can’t.

And fuck, she hates it.

Behind them, Jason Todd is sitting at his workstation, back to the conversation after giving them a clipped, condensed version of events. At first, the two of them were talking low at the Batcomputer after a somewhat easy patrol.

She, Dick, and Dami had come in and started breaking out of the capes for the night before catching some of the conversation –

“Lil’ asshole didn’t stay long ‘nough ta listen, you feel me, B?”

“He wouldn’t even hear you out?”

Between getting out of the body armor and taking a shower, unwinding wrists and ankles, ruffling their Robin as much as possible just to have him “tt” at her and still grin when he turns away from her teasing, she’d come to stand on the outskirts with Dick, waiting to give her nightly report before crashing hardcore.

“Said ya already had all yer Robins. Also said ta tell ya ta stop wasting yer time n’ shit.”

The Dark Knight is silent, cowl back to air out his sweaty hair, arms crossed over his chest. The draw of his brows and deep frown are telling as to what he thinks of this little convo.

She’d been ready to ask who are you talking about? since all the previous Robins were, in fact, more at the Manor these days than even Alfred can remember. It’s rough and tumble sometimes, all of them grating on each other, but it really was what Batman Incorporated probably should have always been.

At least for the Batfamily.

But when she pauses, when the words get stuck in her throat, his masked face from way back when gives her pause, is still associated with old pains and regrets, and Steph has to take a long, deep breath.

That’s when Dick, who’d apparently also put the topic of conversation together, had stepped in to break the news to them.

“Maybe he’s just...moved on.”

She grinds her back teeth together, and can’t say a fucking thing.

**

“Tt,” is about as unconvincing as you can get. Certainly Drake will realize it.

“I asked what you wanted,” Red Robin reminds him, not bothering to look up from the microscope he’s studying.

“As I said,” Robin repeats, “Father has requested you return to Gotham. As I understand there is some yearly tradition he wishes to reinstate.”

“And as I said,” is unruffled, absent; the older vigilante obviously distracted as he jots down notes on a steno pad beside the microscope, “enjoy that. Don’t come back unless you need something important.”

Irritation wells up, but the teenager closes his eyes behind the whiteouts and takes a soft breath, trying to quell the emotion, reminding himself that Drake may be annoying and arrogant, but he was also once a Robin. He has had a few redeeming instances in his crime fighting career.

“This is important to Father, Drake,” Robin replies in an even tone, “he wants all the Bats to participate. Thus this applies to you.”

His predecessor’s muscles go tight in just the under suit, straightens away from the delicate equipment at one of the labs in Titan’s Tower, but still, he doesn’t bother to turn and face the current Robin head-on.

After a few seconds of silence, Red Robin goes back to the microscope. “C’mon, stop fucking around. Go back and tell him I said I was busy for, like, the next ten years or something.”

“That would be inaccurate.”

“Well, tell him I just said no.” Shrug of the shoulders, back to divided attention, and it is quickly starting to get more than just irritating.

“If I am to tell him that, Drake, then he will ask why.”

“Tell him I’m not his responsibility anymore. I mean, wouldn’t it be awkward if I did show up? Nobody needs that, and I have plenty to do here.”

Robin’s crossed arms loosen just a little, his back less rigid, the discussion in the Cave a few days ago still sitting in the back of his mind, making him wonder.

“Very well,” he makes it falsely light on purpose, “and when I return to Gotham with your answer, he will be the one to show up next. Unless you want to deal with that, you will need to provide better reasonings.” And a huff because he has no idea why he’s even still here, “Drake. They are a pain in the ass. This is not news to you. However,” and the pause, how he trails off is the things that finally gets the older vigilante to glance over his shoulder, “they are family. They are your family and mine. It is...troublesome at times, but they are what they are.”

Whatever he said is enough to make the older vigilante stop what he’s doing and lightly brace just his fingertips on the countertop as he stands.

Drake turns and approaches slowly, whiteouts up and face utterly impassive. A few feet between them and his predecessor breaks it out, calm and low when Robin feels like this visage is only another type of mask.

“Family? You think I’m family? That I ever was in the first place?”

Robin’s arms tighten.

“I didn’t want to be Robin forever,” Drake keeps going and Robin can imagine his eyes are cold and calm behind the domino, “I gave it ten years or so. That should have been plenty of time for B to get over Jason’s death. At least enough that he would get control over himself back. But the longer I was in the tunic, the more people that died around me, the more I had to change so I didn’t end up doing the same thing he did. There wasn’t another kid to hang around and keep me from destroying myself, so I had to keep my shit together.”

Robin’s mouth is slightly open, wondering why all this is coming out now? He and Drake have always been little more than rivals. This heartfelt account makes Robin uncomfortable for several reasons–

Primarily because he’s never been interested in his predecessor’s time in the tunic. It had simply never mattered, not when he took over the Robin mantle and strove to make it his rather than Drake’s.

“But when he disappeared, and everything that happened afterwards. All of that made me realize that no matter what I did, or what I tried to do, it was never supposed to have been me in that tunic.” A gloved finger flicks to the R on Robin’s left shoulder. “I wasn’t family, Damian. Not from the moment I put it on for the first time, and not at the end when Dick pulled it out from under me. Family? Family wouldn’t do that.”

And even if it’s difficult, Robin tries to swallow, his mouth suddenly dry.

“The last time I even talked to your dad? Was when the Boomerang thing happened, you know that, right?” And Red Robin goes still enough that Robin wonders if he’s even breathing. “No one died, and even though I didn’t let that happen, I’m the one that didn’t get a second chance. Not like you or Jason. All those years, all the times I pulled him out of the fire, all those years I thought he was my friend, my partner, my family. All of it meant nothing in the end.”

And Drake takes one step closer, just one, arms still crossed over his chest, head tilted down, but Robin feels like his chest is so tight, like he can’t even get a breath.

“So,” and Drake’s voice is softer now, gentle almost, “he won’t be showing up. I appreciate what you’re trying to do, but it’s probably time for you to go back to Gotham. Batman...needs a Robin.”

And if his vision blurs behind the whiteouts suspiciously as Drake walks away from him, through the open doors of the lab, no one would be the wiser.

[legolaslovely]

In Her Hands

A/N: Just rewriting this entire show one fanfic at a time. 

Pairing: Guy of Gisborne x Reader

Word Count: 2,348

Warnings: angst but mostly fluff, mentions of blood and torture.

Summary: When Guy is ambushed by (Y/N)’s brother, Robin Hood, she becomes the only one who can save him.

(Y/N) was sitting at the window of her chambers, seething while she mended a rip in her cloak. Guy had locked in her chambers all morning to stop her from leaving the castle. He thought it was best for her and said it would keep her safe from the evil illusion that was Robin Hood. Little did he know, Robin was (Y/N)’s brother and she often helped him in his duties feeding and aiding the poor of Nottingham.

She had watched Guy leave the castle on horseback from her window hours ago. He sent her a smile over his shoulder before he disappeared behind the gates. She knew she should be out in the villages by now, but decided for one day, she could obey orders and gain some of Guy’s trust.

(Y/N) and Guy’s relationship was a difficult one. She avoided and turned down his constant advances while using his knowledge and secrets to help her brother and his band of outlaws. Though he was clueless to her betrayals, her lies gnawed at her every time he showed her a kindness, which was often. She turned down his marriage proposals with promises of friendship, and friends they were, though he yearned for more from her. He showed her a side to him that had her shoving her ever growing thoughts of him out of reach.

Now, even with her anger bubbling, she thought of him as she mended her cloak. He had ripped it in a brawl the night before. She was disguised as an outlaw and he fought her fiercely before she could get away. She wondered what would happen to her and her friendship with Guy if he ever realized her relation to Robin.

She almost pricked her finger with the needle when a loud banging sounded on the door to her chambers. “Yes?”

“(Y/N), open the door, it’s Will.”

She rushed to let him in and he closed the door quickly behind him, leaning against it and catching his breath. “You shouldn’t be in the castle,” she said.

“Robin has Gisborne,” Will said.

“That’s impossible. He went to Locksley hours ago to guard the tax collector.” She handed him a goblet of water, trying to calm him.

Will swallowed hard, nodding. “We ambushed him and Robin brought him to the forest. He’s acting crazy. He thinks Gisborne did something against the King and won’t listen to anyone.”

“Why are you telling me this? Robin would stick an arrow in you if he knew you were here.”

“I think he plans to kill him. I know you care about Guy, (Y/N).”

She turned and fingered the short knife hanging from her waist. “Robin won’t kill him. Guy’s too smart to say anything to push him that far.”

“You know your brother when it comes to the King,” Will said, his voice low.

Her heart was pounding as she paced. She knew well what Robin would do to a traitor. But how could she explain to Guy her presence in the forest? What if he learned the truth? None of it would matter if she didn’t get there in time to save him. She glanced out the window and saw Guy’s horse trotting though the gates with an empty saddle. It’s true, she thought.

She whirled and kissed Will on the cheek. “Thank you for coming to me,” she said, running out of her chambers and racing through the castle.

Once outside, she found Guy’s horse and ripped the reins from a guard’s hands. Despite his protesting, she flew to the steed’s back and rode him as fast as he would run past the gates and into the forest. She knew Robin’s hiding place for those outside the gang.

She leaned forward as the horse raced through the trails and past the trees. Her knuckles turned white from her grip on the reins and tears fell from her eyes from the harsh wind of speed. Then, she heard her brother’s ferocious voice, followed by a defiant laugh of Guy’s. They finally came into view after she turned a sharp corner.

Guy was tied painfully to a large tree, his hands held high above him while her brother snarled in his face. She winced, noticing blood dripping from Guy’s mouth and hard cheekbone. It was clear her brother was losing his patience and that Will may have been right to guess his plans.

After what felt like ages, she finally drew close enough to them and leapt off the horse. “Robin!” she screamed, her voice scratching her throat.

“(Y/N), go home,” he said lowly, not taking his eyes off his prisoner.

She heard Guy say her name, but she ignored it. She refused to look at him, knowing that if she did, she would lose her courage. With all her might, she pushed her brother away and stood between him and Guy. “No, Robin, let him go. Now.”

“(Y/N), what are you doing here?” Guy asked. His heavy breath blew on her shoulder, but still she ignored him. This was between her and her brother.

Robin found his balance and grabbed her arm, trying to pull her away from the tree. “You don’t know what he’s done.”

“Yes I do.”

“No you don’t! You don’t know what he’s done!” His voice cut through her like a sword slashing her skin to the bone.

“I do know.”

His eyes narrowed until they became nothing more than slits. “How can you still care for him? He’s killed innocents. He’s left newborns to starve in this forest. He’s tried to kill our King!”

None of his words surprised her. She knew all of it and more. “Every single one of your men,” she said, pointing to each of them, aware of their raw nerves, “you’ve given them a second chance. I’m giving him his.”

“You can’t do this!”

“Yes I can!” she bellowed, her rage echoing through the trees.

His voice fell to a whisper. “If you do this, you’re a traitor too. If you do this, you are not my- you’re nothing to me.”

She stood tall, retreating from Robin until her back touched Guy’s chest. “I will not step aside and let you hurt him. Killing is not your way, Robin.”

“It is when it comes to traitors.”

She heard Guy roar, “Don’t touch her!” but she didn’t see it coming until it was too late. Robin pushed her aside with such a blow, her lungs emptied of air. She landed hard on the ground, trying to gasp, but feeling sharp pain in her ribs.  

Robin’s fist sounded against Guy’s face, but nothing shook her like the sound of his low, painful grunts. Blood flew from his mouth and landed on her skirts, and she summoned the strength left in her to stand. She looked to John and said, “You know this is wrong.”

He nodded and frowned with determination. While Robin was distracted, John closed his great arms around him and pulled him away from Guy who was hanging limp from his restraints.

She ignored Robin’s cries of outrage and pulled the dagger from her hip and slashed the ropes that held him to the tree. He muttered her name and fell over her at first, but quickly regained his resolve. Then, he had the gall to smirk wickedly at Robin and she slammed him against the tree and ground through her teeth, “We’re leaving. Now.”

His eyes flew back to her and softened. He whistled to his horse and climbed to his back and held his hand out to her. She leapt up behind him with little assistance and took one last look at Robin’s red, furious face before wrapping her arms around Guy’s waist and riding back to the castle.

The ride back was silent. The second the horse passed the gates, all the guards stared. Guy brought him to a halt and kicked his leg over the steed’s neck and slid to the ground. He turned to assist her, briefly holding her waist. She hit the ground with a wince and soft whimper of pain. “Are you hurt?” Guy asked.

“I’m fine,” she said. She held her chin high but her gaze fell to the ground. “Come with me, you need to get cleaned up.”

“No, I’ll go to the-”

“Do you want everyone to know what happened today?” she hissed. When he gave no answer, she said, “Follow me.”

She quietly led him to her chambers and the moment the door closed behind him, he was berating her. “What were you doing in the forest? I gave you direct orders to stay in your chambers while I was gone.”

“You do not give me orders. I am not one of your guards.”

He drew back. “You disobeyed me. Again. I’m trying to keep you safe.”

She sighed. She knew that. She gathered bandages and cleaning cloths and sat them next to her on the window ledge. She gestured to the chair before her. “Sit,” she told him.

She looked at his face for the first time since she untied him from the tree. Dark bruises were already forming around his eyes and jaw. Dried blood covered his cheeks and lips. She dipped a cloth into the warm water, lifted his chin with her fingers and dabbed away the sweat, dirt, and blood caked into his hair.

“How did you know?” he asked.

“Know what?”

“Don’t play games with me, (Y/N).” Despite the beating he took, his voice was strong. “How did you know where I was?”

Her eyes never left her work. “I had received a message, saying they were going to kill you. And I thought, who’s going to boss me around all the time if you’re gone?”

The corner of his mouth turned up into the tiniest smirk. “A message from who?”

“A friend.”

He knew that was all she’d give him, so he fired again, though it was more of a statement than a question. “You know Hood. He knew you, his gang knew you.”

She watched the water drip from the cloth and brought it to his cheek. “This may turn into a scar. You should go down to the sheriff’s apothecary tonight, he has ointment to help it heal.”

His brow furrowed. “He knew your name.”

She sighed, pushing his hair off his cheek and behind his ear to clean the wound there. “I knew Robin before he became an outlaw. Before he went to the Holy Land. I had not spoken to him since he returned, until today.” She moved to wipe the blood from his lips. Her fingers shook though she will them to be still.

He spoke when the cloth left his lips. “Will you always keep things from me?” She saw hurt deep in his eyes and she turned away. He stood. “No matter. Now I know where Hood’s hiding. I’ll bring a troop into the forest tomorrow and bring him to the sheriff.”

“Must you always be so reckless?” She shouted, slamming the wet cloth down on the sill. “You could have died today.”

He swiveled around to her, shocked at her outburst, and even more so to see tears of fright, frustration and exhaustion welling in her eyes. She quickly bit them down and returned to her resilient self, but he saw them.

He strode to her, grasping her arms. “(Y/N), I-”

“I’m fine.” She tried to swat his hands away, but they remained. “Seeing you abandoned against that tree today… I was very afraid.” Her eyes finally lifted from the floor and took in his rough, sore face. Her light finger grazed his cheek. “I don’t like seeing you hurt so.”

Despite his aching, Guy felt he could soar at her words. But he watched her soft eyes darken in a blink. She turned out of his arms and opened the door to show him out. “You should visit the apothecary before sundown.”

He stopped in the doorway, then spun and closed it, shutting both of them in her chambers once more. “Tell me one thing. Please.”

She nodded.

“What he said, was it true?”

“What who said? What do you mean?” she asked.

“Hood asked you if you still cared for me after everything I’ve done.”

She hoped he hadn’t heard her brother’s words. Robin was right, how could she? She’d seen the consequences of Guy’s actions, the death, the suffering of innocent people. How could she still care for him?

However, (Y/N) had seen a side of Guy he kept secret. A part of him was kind, tender, passionate, and strong. He was a man that wanted so badly to love and be loved. He had placed his heart in her hands so many times, she wanted to keep it for herself. It seemed an impossible decision for her to make.

He waited for her answer, his shoulders slumped and eyes soft. “Of course I care for you. You are my friend,” she said.

His fingers lifted her chin to face him. “Could I ever be more?”

He couldn’t stand her silence. He leaned down to her and left his lips only inches away, forcing her to make her decision. She took his face in her hands, her fingers barely touching the aching skin. She kissed him softly, only for a moment before pulling away.

He exhaled heavily, his ever present smirk turning into a bright smile. That was enough for her to sling one hand over his tall shoulders and kiss him again, this time deeply and filled with the passion she finally allowed herself to feel. He held her so tight, her feet floated above the floor and she laughed into his mouth.

He set her down triumphantly and his eyes glowed with pure joy. He whispered her name, but before he could say another word, she opened the door and waved him out. “Go to the apothecary before sundown,” she said.

His grin fell.

She stood on her toes, placing a hand to his chest and a kiss to his cheek. “Then come back to me.”

[lwoorl]

The Day Laika Came Back

Link to ao3

Note: This is an experiment to see if posting my fanfictions in both tumblr and ao3 is worth it. If this publication gets to at least 50 notes (not counting self-reblogs) in the following 3 weeks I will start posting my future fics in tumblr, otherwise I will stick to only publishing in ao3.

Summary:  Jon Kent comes back from space, years older and unable to believe he made it home. But coming back to the life he left won’t go as smoothly as he wished it did.

Jon can’t help it, he has to stare. Everything is so new and nostalgic at the same time, like a dream he’s had every single night for years and years and only now can clearly remember. It doesn’t feel real, the trees, the sky, as if someone took the string of memories he barely could hold, those precious, faded images he was starting to doubt if ever even happened and knitted a world out of it, colorful and lovely and solid. The final sentences from a poem he could barely recall, suddenly coming together into something he can hold.

It’s too good to be true and it makes the back of his neck ache, hurt and burn with that sense of dread crawling all over his shoulders, like subconsciously he knows any moment now the universe will pull him by the hair and throw him back into the darkness of space like a rag doll, like it all will dissolve if he so much as reaches to pick up a flower and he will be forced to admit what he’s been fearing for a long time now, that this never existed and the infinite void and the rocky prison is his only real place, that he appeared there and will roam there and will die there and all there is is there and there and there and nothing else than there and all those memories he holds so dear are just a bad joke, a carrot dangling in front of a horse to keep it walking; A plastic carrot.

But right now, he isn’t there. He’s here. And it’s real and true and alive and he can’t help but to look at everything with very round wide eyes like a baby who was just born. Drinking all around him like a man who’s been in the desert a decade and a half and will die if he doesn’t drink all the water in the world.

It happens all too quickly, the arrival, the fighting, confusion, questions, answers, kind words, harsh words, words, words, words all around, all in English, not kryptonian or other alien language but his mom’s tongue. He keeps it together through all that and puts a brave face on, and then when no one but his parents are watching and it’s all over he cries on his dad’s shoulder and his mom’s arms are around him and Jon shakes and chokes and laughs.

Time passes, seconds, hours, it’s not even been four days when a lot of people congregate around him. They ask more questions and he gives more answers and they demand proves and tests and argue and discuss and through all that he can’t help but to pass his eyes over their faces and almost gasp when he sees anything vaguely familiar. Dad’s friends, dad’s coworkers, that one’s wonder woman, that one’s a green lantern, that one’s this, this one’s that, that, those, these, and then his eyes rest on someone he thought he would never see again and if he thought his eyes couldn’t widen more, well, he was wrong.

He’s shorter than Jon remembers and he also got a bit wrong the length of the hair, but the costume, that’sexactly as he pictured it in his mind all these years, from the boots to the cape to the utility belt, he got it all right.

Damian has his eyes very open just like Jon, he can notice it even with the mask, and suddenly he really wishes he could take it off, to see his eyes. He can’t remember if they were green or blue.

He’s stuck there, being hit once again with the amazing, ecstatic thisisrealimherenotthere feeling, just going over his friend’s features, burning the image in his mind, and then Damian bites his lips and looks away like someone slapped him and it comes crashing down.

…Ah.

His dad will always be his dad, and his mom his mom, but he never… Well, he did, but not really, not seriously, he never… Actually thought how it would be for everything else.

Because, well, it makes sense, he's… He isn’t the same as when he left, he took too long coming back and now. And- And probably if he had taken one or two, maybe even three years that wouldn’t be much of a difference, maybe, but he's… He probably doesn’t look at all like his younger self.

And… It hasn’t been that long here. And now he thinks about what it must be like, what it would be like for him as a kid, and he realizes a lot of people probably won’t see him as himself. Won't… It will be more like this eleven years old just dissipated in thin air and a randomadult that just so happens to share his name appeared in his place and those two only have the most tiniest of connections and that one time when he met that older version of Damian and himself he didn’t actually think of them as them , did he? Not as…

He keeps looking at the ground for the rest of the Justice League meeting, and when everyone starts to leave he doesn’t notice Damian walking towards him until he speaks.

“Jon.”

He feels like jumping out of his own skin. He looks up, and then down, because Damian is short and a kid. And Jon isn’t, not anymore, and then Damian starts to open his mouth to say something but Jon doesn’t want to hear it, he doesn’t, because if there’s another thing he remembers of his best friend is that he’s mean, good intentioned and warm, a really good person once you know him, but also oh so damn harsh, and he usually could deal with that and see the real meaning lurking under his words but right now he’s tired, beaten and in the middle of a life crisis and can’t, doesn’t want to and won’t deal with it. So he bails. He just walks out and leaves him there, half a word out of his lips, he then goes back to his dad’s side and absconds from the encounter.

Some time passes, he settles, and doesn’t get in contact with anyone. Because it would hurt, right? He already proved he can’t face Damian; Kathy would either cry or smile and act like it’s fine, but he doubts she will see him as her friend and not a shadow of someone she knew; And he can’t actually tell any of his school friends… He’s ashamed to admit, he doesn’t really remember half of them.

So he stays in Metropolis and thinks what to do. He can’t just retake school where he left it, he will most likely have to work on getting a GED. He can’t hang out with people he knew, not now that he’s so different. He doesn’t think he will leave to do anything in space as long as he lives. And he doesn’t feel like looking for a job. So he stays with his parents dear Rao he missed them and throws himself into fighting crime, perfectly and completely, until it’s almost like he doesn’t have a civilian identity anymore. It makes for a good distraction, but there’s the risk of running into people he knows.

He thinks Damian is doing it on porpoise, working near Metropolis, sometimes in Metropolis, be it alone or with his Teen Titans team. He runs into him a couple of times, Damian’s heart beats real fast when it happens, and then he always tries to force him into talking when the fight is over, but Jon just keeps looking to the ground and running away. It must make him look like a jerk, hell, he feels like a jerk, but he can’t face it, the ‘you aren’t my Jonathan Kent’ he just knows is coming.

He’s walking through the city, pulling at his civilian shirt as he runs an errand for his mom. It feels like a costume, he wonders if normal clothes ever felt this fake as a kid, he can’t remember.

Suddenly, there’s a heartbeat in the crowd, a fast one he recognizes, moving right at him.

He tries to escape like the coward he is, but he can’t show his powers in public, and he doesn’t want to just walk over someone. Jon tries finding a place hidden from sight so he can take flight and disappear like always, but just as he’s entering an alley there’s a little hand firmly around his wrist and judging by how much force he’s applying there’s no real way he can get rid of Damian without tearing one of his fingers off.

It must look funny, the image of this young adult all but cornered by a tiny runt, looking like he’s going to pass out as he avoids looking at his face. It doesn’t feel funny, but, Jon thinks, it probably looks funny for someone else.

“Why are you ignoring me?!” Damian yells, his fingers hard enough against Jon’s skin that his nails turn white. “No, not only ignoring! Why are you avoiding me?!”

The accusation makes Jon flinch because, well, because it’s completely true. He forces himself to look at Damian’s face. His eyes are teal, so he was half right.

“Why do you think?” Is all he can say. Because really, it should be obvious, right? He isn’t the same person, barely remembers who he used to be. If he met a younger version of himself today, Jon’s afraid he couldn’t prove him they’re the same person.

The moment they talk for more than ten seconds Damian will realize he isn’t who he remembers and will lose all interest in him, maybe will even blame him for his loss, like he personally murdered the kid to occupy his place. No one shows it, but they’re just thinking of him as a bad copy, aren’t they?

“Tt.” Damian’s jaw tenses and his heartbeat skips a beat. “Of course.” He frowns really hard and then lets Jon’s wrist go. He doesn’t waste much time into flying away.

He doesn’t see him for a while. Damian stops invading his city and he doesn’t even hear of Robin for two or three months. Jon tries not to feel sad about it, but truth is the attention felt nice.

Around four months later there’s an alien invasion. The whole league joins to fight it and Jon helps too.

He’s fighting in the front lines, punching alien after alien after alien, when he hears a familiar scream and turns his head right on time to see Robin get hit and fall to the ground. The one who attacked has their weapon pointed at him.

Jon is there in less than a second, his eyes red as he stands between Damian and the other guy. Jon isn’t sure why, maybe it’s because he just recovered all this life and is still half expecting to lose it, maybe it’s because he hasn’t had someone he cares about actually being in danger in forever, or maybe realizing he’s the older one now is getting to him more than he first thought, but there’s just this surge of protectiveness running through his veins that builds up and comes out in a “Don’t touch him!” That resembles more an animalistic growl than human speech.

It’s over quickly, a leap and a well aimed hit is all it takes. He’s next to Damian before he even realizes. He offers to help him stand up but Damian slaps his hand away.

“I don’t need your help, don’t treat me like a kid.”

“Stop being so fucking stubborn, you could have died!” Damian’s heart jumps at that, for a moment Jon doesn’t know why, and then realized it’s because he isn’t used to hearing him swear.

The feelings of the last couple months come back but he pushes that aside, the middle of a war zone is not the time to worry about his interpersonal drama.

Damian tries to get up and then trips, Jon’s there to catch him and then looks what’s the problem with his X-RAY vision. He’s got a broken leg, a bruised rib and some injuries on the left arm. He probably won’t be able to walk unassisted right away.

“Here, let me…” He moves to pick him up and Robin, surprisingly, doesn’t put up any resistance. Jon doesn’t even need to use more than one arm to fit him, Damian’s so damn tiny.

“Put me down.”

“No.”

He looks around. The battle’s almost over, but there’s still people fighting and shots firing up nearby. Jon trusts the others to hold up without him for a while and starts flying towards safety.

“Just let me down, I can wait until Father comes for me.”

“Yeah, no. I’m not taking any risks.”

“You shouldn’t be wasting time with this, you and Superman are our biggest hitters.”

“You’re important too.”

“…Why?”

The word comes soft and broken, and it makes Jon pause mid air. He looks down, at the boy in his arms. Damian isn’t looking at him as he holds a handful of his red cape.

“Because you’re my best friend.” The words come easier than he would have thought, like they were just waiting to leave his mouth. Damian lets go of the fabric and then looks at him, his face a mirror of the expression he had when Jon just came back.

“But I thought…” He trails off. Jon resumes moving and after a while Damian speaks again, barely a whisper “Then why have you been avoiding me? I… Thought you didn’t want to see me.”

“I guess that’s a normal conclusion to get to.” He mutters, because, well, it is. Why is he so damn clumsy with people? Sometimes it’s as if his mere existence was hurting those around him. “But, no, that’s not why.”

“Then why?!”

This is the point on the conversation that Jon would chicken out and disappear, but he can’t do that while carrying the person he’s talking to. So he takes a deep breath and conjures all the guts he can get. “I didn’t think you would like the person I’m now.”

A beat of silence, a pang of anxiety, and then “You’re really an idiot if you thought that.”

Jon laughs, there’s no other answer he can give to that, he laughs and ever so slightly holds Damian a bit closer. They stay in silence the rest of the trip, and soon he’s leaving his friend at the safe edge of the battle field.

He starts turning around, ready to go back, when he feels those little fingers around his arm.

“Jon.” Damian’s voice is calm and steady, but his heart is going fast and filled with adrenaline. “You haven’t changed at all.”

It’s the first time Jon’s heard that. It’s been months since he made it home, and it’s the first time he hears that sentence. Those words go to stab him right on the chest, and he has to look away and bring a hand to his face to clean the tears that are peeking from his eyes.

“Yeah.” He nods, not sure what he’s agreeing to. Damian smiles and his fingers release him. “After this… Can we hang out?”

“Do you really need to ask?!” Damian huffs, and then, softer. “We have a lot of catch up to do.”

“You have no idea.” He laughs again, Jon thinks this is the most he’s laughed ever since that reunion with his parents.

As he leaves to re-enter the battle, he hears behind him a “Come to the manor later, we can play video games and you can see Titus and Alfred again!” He stops just long enough to wave, and then flies into the war zone.

Jon thinks, for the first time in a long while… That things are going to work out just fine.

[bouquet-of-gentlemens]

Two Birds Sitting on a Wire

Red Robin/Tim Drake x Fem!Reader

Word Count: 2,885

Warnings: None

Summary: Gotham’s nights aren’t exactly the prettiest. Quite frankly, you’re lucky to be alive if you even survive them. Despite the poor reputation, more often than not you spend these dreary nights alone on your fire escape, listening to the sirens and looking at what little stars you can glimpse. That is until you get an unexpected visit from a certain bird that may just turn into more.

Pt. 1 Pt. 2 

     The nights were much too short for you nowadays. They were cold and overcast, just as they have always been, but they never seemed to last. You’d spend far too much time out on your fire escape every night, just listening and looking and existing, until you saw the sun begin to rise through the smog and the haze.

     These nights were your escape. Your safe haven. You could just sit in silence, accompanied only by the sirens carried on the wind and the occasional appearance of rain. Of course you’ve had a few instances of hearing the distant echo of gunshots or incomprehensible shouting, but it oddly comforted you. It reminded you of the heart of Gotham, as black and bleak as it may be, it sounded like home.

     The days seemed to drag on longer and longer, however, as you worked on autopilot, far too much coffee in your system and not nearly enough sleep. The only thing that kept you going was your quiet, little fire escape in your own corner of the world.

     You had just gotten home after a particularly dull yet incredibly busy day. Taking off your coat and shaking out your umbrella at the door, you made your way to your small apartment’s kitchen.

     It wasn’t in the best shape, but not many areas in Gotham were. The walls were peeling and the floorboards creaked while wind was almost always blowing in through your windows despite them being shut as tight as possible. Light fixtures would break sporadically and almost all of the door hinges were loose. No, it wasn’t the best, by any means, but it was home.

     You stepped onto the grimy tiles, those stains never seemed to come out no matter how hard you tried, and started to make yourself some tea. Hopefully you’d manage to actually get some sleep tonight.

     Putting the mug in the microwave, you went to change into some more comfortable clothes as you waited for your tea to brew. It wasn’t long until you found yourself nestled up against the bars of your escape, blanket over your shoulders and warm tea in your hands.

     It was perfect.

     The night was cool with only a slight wind tickling at your skin and ruffling your clothes. There wasn’t any rain and, despite loving the sound of the thunder and the feel of the rain on your face, you were glad you wouldn’t have to change once you went inside.

     The sky was even a little less clouded than usual, a few stray stars peering at you through the breaks in the smog. You lived for these moments. This was where you belonged, here dangling your feet and staring at the stars.

     You were so lost in your thoughts, however, that you didn’t even hear the near silent shot of a grappling hook and the even quieter sound of a person landing on the fire escape right next to you.

     You did however notice the splotch of red and yellow and black assaulting your periphery not too long after it flipped onto the railing.

     Cutting your eyes to the side you could make out the face of a startled young man, though you didn’t quite know why he was so startled when you were the one with a stranger balanced on your railing. Upon further inspection you realized he looked to be a vigilante, the infamous Red Robin if you weren't mistaken. It was hard to tell with how his cape nearly engulfed his figure, including the insignia strapped across his chest. The darkness shrouding him wasn’t of much help either.

     His masked eyes appeared a little larger than normal and you could just make out the peak of his eyebrows as he raised them in surprise. The expression only lasted a brief moment before he relaxed his face back into an impassive stare as he took in your appearance.

     Likely deeming you as non threatening, with an oversized and far too fuzzy blanket and tired eyes you wondered just what could have possibly given you away, he eased his tense stance the slightest bit.

     Clearing his throat, he managed to look the tiniest bit sheepish as he addressed you.

     “I’m, uh, sorry, miss. I didn’t know anyone was up here. Please pardon the, uh, intrusion.” his lips twitched up in an unsure smile. You had to admit, there was something endearing about his unease. He appeared to shift his weight every now and again on the balls of his feet, still resting on the edge of the railing, while a hand rested at the back of his neck. With the movement you were able to confirm that this was, in fact, Red Robin. You laughed lightly at the nervous hero in front of you.

     He’s faced countless terrifying villains and he’s scared of a girl in mismatched socks drinking tea from a mug with a smiley face on it. The irony.

     Waving your hand in a dismissal of his apology, you assured the former Boy Wonder.

     “It’s alright, detective, I don’t mind the company. It’s a nice night out. Be nice to enjoy it with someone else for once.” you said, fondness and warmth coating your words. You returned the smile with a soft one of your own as you patted the spot beside you.

     He seemed hesitant at first, but as you turned your eyes back to the sky he gracefully slipped down from his perch to walk closer. Gently setting himself down he let one of his legs hang over the edge as he used his other as an armrest. Your smile widened when you saw him look up towards the sky as well.

     The two of you sat in companionable silence for what felt like hours, just taking in the scenery and the sounds as you basked in each other’s company.

     The comfortable atmosphere abruptly ended when Red Robin’s comm link beeped, the small noise amplified in the quiet air. You jumped at the shrill tone and looked to the hero next to you. He already had a hand next to his ear as he responded.

     “Red Robin, report.” his voice wasn’t cold, but it definitely had a sharp edge to it, very different to the stumbling boy moments ago.

     “On it. I’ll be there in five. Red Robin out.” he dropped his hand as a nearly silent sigh escaped his lips. You raised a brow before smiling at him.

     “Duty calls?” you teased. You couldn’t be sure, but you swore his eyes cut to you in amusement, the twitch of his jaw betraying his suppressed smile.

     “‘Fraid so, ma’am. Crime never sleeps in Gotham. Even if I should.” he joked, smirk gracing his lips as he stood up. Turning away, he began to walk back to the edge of the fire escape where he first appeared. Without giving yourself time to think, you called out to the departing bird just as he was about to jump. Looking at you over his shoulder he patiently awaited your response.

     “Thank you,” you began, unsure of where you were going with this, “for, uh, everything. Not just keeping me company tonight. You’re welcome back any time, so, uh, feel free to drop by.” you smiled at him again.

     He paused for a moment, still looking at you with an unreadable expression on his face, before he gave a small nod. And with that he was gone.

     When you looked back to the stars they were gone, covered by the clouds once again. Starting to feel a bit of a chill you decided it was time to go back inside. Falling into bed, you wrapped yourself in your comforter as you gazed out your window. You closed your eyes with the sight of the Gotham cityscape still in your mind. That night you slept the best you have in years.

     Your little encounter with Red Robin proved to be anything but a one time thing. Almost every night you could find yourself sitting next the bird, looking at the sky or just listening to the city as it breathed. Some nights he stayed for hours, some only for a few minutes, and others he couldn’t even show. Some nights were spent in silence, but as the two of you spent more time with each other, the more you opened up.

     He was the first one to break the routine silence just a week after your first meeting. You were surprised at first, but welcomed it nonetheless. He was curious about how nonchalant you seemed to act around him and why you didn’t freak out the first time he saw you. You laughed and told him that nothing in Gotham could surprise you anymore.

     “Besides,” you had said, “I like spending time with you. After all, you are someone under that mask; someone who probably needs a little normalcy in his life.”

     He was shocked at your answer before he started to laugh with you. You had thought he looked beautiful when he laughed. It was clear and bright, a sound you didn’t hear too often in Gotham. His head was tossed back and his nose scrunched up with how he grinned so widely. That was the first time you saw him so open, so vulnerable. You decided you liked seeing him laugh.

     As the weeks progressed you got to know each other better than you ever thought someone could know you. You proposed playing twenty questions to pass the time one night and it quickly became a tradition. Every time you met you’d play. Questions ranging from favorite colors to embarrassing secrets to deepest regrets were common. 

     Red Robin could only reveal so much without giving his identity or confidential information away, but he tried to answer as honestly as he could when possible. You understood and, to show him that there were no hard feelings, told him anything he wanted to know about you in as much detail as you could. 

     At this point, you even dared to call him a friend.

     Months seemed to fly by and with the help of your favorite caped crusader, your life improved. You quit your dead end job and got hired in Wayne Enterprises’ Biotech division so you could pursue your interest in the medical field. You were hesitant, but with Red Robin’s encouragement you were determined. Your education and training went by without a hitch and you were currently a researcher’s assistant. Your new job even paid you enough to be able to fix up your apartment so it didn’t look quite as rough as it used to.

     All the while your nightly rendezvous never ceased. Not once did you stop seeing Red Robin show up at your fire escape at odd hours of the night. It was... nice. For once you felt fulfilled and truly happy with how your life was going.

     To this day you still loved going out on your fire escape, and not just because a certain coffee addict was always waiting there for you. Pssh, of course not. Though, you’d be lying if you said his presence didn’t contribute.

     Tonight was no exception and you soon found yourself sitting against the cool metal earlier than normal. It was odd now, you thought, sitting out here alone in such a long time. By now, Red Robin rarely missed a night. And even rarer was that he wasn’t waiting here before you got home. 

     You could feel the creeping hint of nostalgia tugging at the back of your eyes as you thought of all the nights you spent content with being alone. You never once thought you’d share this part of your life with anyone else, especially not a boy whose name you didn’t know and whose life revolved around putting his, his everything on the line to keep this godforsaken city afloat.

     But you wouldn’t have it any other way.

     Swinging your legs back and forth as you waited you heard the quiet ‘thump’ of his landing and immediately turned to greet the tired bird with a smile.

     “Hey, Red,” you crooned, soft so as to not agitate his possible migraine. By the look on his face you could tell he was at least on the verge of one. He brought a gloved hand up to the bridge of his nose to try to alleviate some of the tension behind his eyes.

     Looking at you through his fingers you could see a twitch of a smile lift the corners of his mouth. Carelessly plopping down beside you he didn’t waste any time in laying down. Hands behind his head and legs dangling over with yours, he closed his eyes.

     Scooting back some you tucked your legs under yourself as you ran a hand through his hair gently. At his quiet hum you continued your ministrations trying to let him get his rest. You knew tonight was probably hard on him since he already seemed sore despite it being so early in his patrol. Lost in your thoughts and movements you were startled when he broke the silence.

     “You got home early,” he murmured, eyes still shut.

     “I did,” you confirmed, “Dr. Kimball thought I needed a break with how late I’ve been staying with her at the lab. I wasn’t gonna complain.” you shrugged your shoulders with a smile as his bleary (as far as you could tell) eyes blinked open.

     “Good. You’ve been pretty tired these last few nights,” he muffled a yawn, “You need to take better care of yourself.”

     You snorted and looked at him in disbelief.

     “Like you’re one to talk, Mr. Workaholic.”

     “Hey, now. I believe we’re discussing your bad habits here, not mine.” he lazily smirked.

     You were going to retort when the both of you were interrupted by the shrill beep of his comm. Red groaned as he sat up, you dropping your hand from his hair at the motion. He stretched his arms over his head before answering.

     “What’s up, Bats?” he looked at the alley below the two of you through the bars as he listened to the Dark Knight over the device.

     “Crown Point? That’s pretty far from my location. It’ll take me twenty minutes at least.” his eyebrows furrowed as he pursed his lips.

     “Got it. I’m on my way. Red Robin out.” he turned to look at you with a guilty expression. You just waved him off as he stood.

     “I’m sorry, Bats needs backup pronto and I - ” he started but you cut him off.

     “Just be careful out there, okay?” you smiled, but you were sure he could see just how worried you were. If Batman couldn’t handle this alone, just how bad was it? How badly would Red get hurt? Would he make it in time? Would this be the last time you saw him?

     You knew you were worrying for no reason, but you couldn’t ignore the possibility that one day Red might not come back to you. Sensing, or rather, seeing, your distress Red crouched in front of you. Feeling his hand brush against your shoulder you looked up at his face.

     “When am I not?” he slowly brought his hand up to brush against your cheek instead. Leaning into his touch you closed your eyes before laughing softly.

     “Do you really want me to answer that?” you opened your eyes, chest feeling just a bit lighter. He smiled at your question, mirth dripping from his voice.

     “Not really, no.” he laughed out. The both of you stayed there for a moment, just looking at each other, taking each other in as if it was the last time you could. After all, you never knew when it would be.

     “I’ll be fine, (y/n). I always am.” he reassured. Eyes losing a bit of their light, you felt your heart drop at the realization that he had to leave so soon.

     “Promise?” your voice was just above a whisper as you felt your throat tighten. You felt like a child, but you couldn’t help it. You couldn’t bear the thought of saying goodbye to him once and for all.

     He lifted your head up to meet his eyes, or the space where his eyes were supposed to be, at least.

     “Pinky promise,” he whispered, smiling at you with care. His hand left your face to hold out his pinky. A childish grin, ever so soft, continued to grace his face. The light from the moon illuminating the contours of his face just enough for you to try to memorize every detail.

     Eyes dancing across his face, you link your pinkies together. His hand, much larger than your own, was strong and sure in its grip and the way he squeezed your finger in his own caused a warmth to spread through your heart and a smile to spread across your face.

     Slowly letting your intertwined fingers drop from the other’s grip, he leaned forward slightly to place a feather light kiss to the crown of your head. You felt his hands against your face once again and the warmth from his touch sent a shiver down your spine. You let your eyes close so you could savor the moment. Feeling him pull away you looked up.

     But just like that, he was gone.

[anemoniii]

heads up. d.w.

I am back from the dead, my dudes! Hopefully for good this time. I’ll try my best to keep you guys up to date with stories and such, I hope you enjoy this one, lovelies; it’s my first time writing for Damion so. Requests are still open, by the way. I’m also going to start keeping these as non-binary as possible.

request: hi can u do a damian x vigilante reader and they all meet her for the first time and he kinda just falls for her and his fam just teasing him about his crush endlessly?? im glad u decided to come back btw : )

word count: around 2600

“Tt, you see, Batman, this is why Red Hood should never join us. He’s far too reckless,” Damian states trough his com.

Through a series of unfortunate events, Robin, Red Hood, and Nightwing had failed a mission. All they needed to do was get in, avoid too much violence, download a file filled with a minor drug dealers buyers onto a hard drive, and get out.

“First of all, don’t blame me for your problems. It’s not like I was the one to disobey Bats, that was all you, man. We had a clear goal, don’t cause chaos,” Jason’s voice echoed through the empty factory. Much like the rest, he was currently tied up and hung over a pool of hydrofluoric acid.

“Oh, so going into a building with AK-47’s blaring is the right way to go? My bad, I didn’t realize.”

I which was followed by a mutter however, due to the empty factory, came as a loud echo, “Imbecile.”

“Robin, control yourself,” Bruce stated through the com, “Tim and I will be there shortly.”

While Jason ignored Bruce, he attempted to swing over and bump into Damian. Unfortunately for him, Jason, not Damian; Damian was quite thankful, he was in no mood to be burned by acid, a loud explosion interrupted his actions.

“Well, I guess they’re finally gonna kill us,” Dick sighed, “It was nice being part of this family while it lasted.”

“I promise you will feel every last bit of the explosion, just a little heads up from one dead man to the next,” Jason added.

“Heads up, indeed.”

Over the heads of all 3 vigilantes, you glided past them, cladded in an outfit as if steampunk and a ninja collided together and became one, from pillar to pillar. (a/n: or you know, whatever you want. I’m low key digging the steampunk ninja vibe though, haha.)

When you found a pillar that was in a good enough distance to save the heroes in distress, you started jumping to each chain that held them above the acid and with perfect precision, you brought them to safety with a swift cut, catch, and release.

“Why are you all so bloody heavy?” You grunted out after you brought down Robin from the chains.

Breathlessly, you stood up from your crouching position with a smile. You clapped your hands together and rolled back onto your heels, “As much fun as this was, I truly must be going,” you turned to the man with a red helmet, “I presume you’re Red Hood, correct? I agree with this twat,” you made awkward hand gestures to Damian and continued, “Please, no more reckless behaviour; I don’t want to nearly break my back again.”

“Tt, I don't need your approval, nor should you ever call me a twat. Who are you even? Were you sent by my mother? Who do you work with? Why did you-.”

You cut him off, “Easy, tiger. No need for all these questions, all you need to know is that your in safe hands. Besides, I don’t even know who you are, but I’m definitely not against learning,” you ended your statement with a wink.

Damian’s face turned a deep crimson colour as his brothers laughed.

“Robin,” he responded.

“Excuse me?”

“I am Robin,” he clarified his response.

You laughed and gave him bow to mock him, “In that case, I’m Hawk. Pleased to you.”

“Tt, I am serious, you poor excuse of a hero.”

You put a hand to your chest and replied with, “Oh, goodness me. Why, I don’t recall ever saying I was a hero, my love. But in all seriousness, my name is Onmitsu (a/n: or whatever you want). I like to consider myself a… an antihero.”

Damian blushed, yet again. To save him from further embarrassment, Dick came forward, with arms crossed, “In order for this meeting to go on any longer, we will need a clarification of what your purpose is for being here.”

“Batman should be arriving with replacement soon,” Jason added.

“Tt, we are well past that.”

Ignoring the two who were arguing, you answered the other man, “As you know, my name’s Onmitsu and I consider myself an antihero-.”

“Why do you consider yourself that?” Dick added with squinted eyes.

Sighing, you continued, “If you would let me finish my sentence, you would have known by now. My name is Onmitsu, I see myself as an antihero because I prefer to be paid for my work, and the only reason I’m saving you idiots is because this happens to be my safe haven. There’s a nice view when there isn’t acid, chains, and random people. All you need to to is look up, the stars are quite beautiful from here, no?”

Damian looked up, “Tt, you make it seem like I would be looking at-.”

“Oh, how could I forget about you!”

Damian looked back down and to you, you were playing with the tiniest kitten he has ever seen, “It looks malnourished.”

You sighed and pat the cat behind its ear, “Her name is Manara. She is the light of my life. I found her a little over a month ago, she refuses to eat anything I give her. I don’t know what to do anymore. Do you like animals? I adore them. I prefer them over humans, humans are so unpredictable.”

Damian gave a faint smile, it wasn’t noticeable, but it didn’t slide past Jason and Dick. Or even Tim and Bruce who seemed to finally arrive.

“I couldn’t agree less, you seem to be tolerable. Perhaps you would like to meet my animals sometime. I have many, I simply adore them. I have a cat as well, his name is Alfred.”

Tim and Jason couldn’t help but snicker at Damian.

Batman clasped his hands together, “Well, we truly must be going. Onmitsu, it would be lovely to work with you in the near future,” he turned to the three who faced a near death experience, “You three were in good hands it seems. No scratches, cuts, bullet wounds. Anything?”

They all shook their heads.

“Very well. It was a pleasure meeting you, I’m quite excited for you and Robin to be dating, from the profile check I did on you, you seem quite suitable, y/n.”

“Why, thank you, Mr. Wayne. I can assure you, I mean no harm. Unless I’m provoked, that is,” you smiled.

With a sigh and a hand to his temple, “First Red Robin, now you?”

Your smile grew to a smirk, “I believe you mean, Tim Drake, sir?” You turned and nodded off the rest of the people, “Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, and last but certainly not least, Damian Wayne. It’s a pleasure to meet you all.”

Dick looked at you with confusion, “I thought you said you didn’t know Damian?”

You fiddled with your katanas and put them back in their scabbards on your back before answering, “Come on, who in their right mind would have came in saying how you already know someone’s alter ego? You gotta build up to that, my friend. Wait for the right moment, ya know?”

Your smile grew at their looks of discontent, “Please don’t worry, I have nothing against you. There’s not a dime for any of you to be dead. Surprising, I know.”

Tim yawned and added, “How reassuring.”

“Tt, calm down, Drake. Anyway, since you have the approval of my father and a reliable research, I deem you worthy to be invited to Wayne Manor.”

Jason came behind Damian and but his hands on his shoulders, “What demon is trying to say is he wants to date you. Possibly marry you, I wouldn’t be surprised if I were you; he doesn’t usually smile at people. That alone makes me hear wedding bells,” he finished by moving his index finders side to side in the air to symbolize the chiming of bells.

“Jason!” Damian hissed.

No one backed Damian up, they knew it was all too true. Never once did he show the same interest in anyone like he showed you. Inviting you over? Deeming you worthy? You were beyond confused with this seemingly dysfunctional family, but they seemed nice enough. You did your research, there was nothing to be too frightened of. What could go wrong?

“Well, it would be my honour.”

And if Damion wasn’t blushing, he sure was now, “Very well, I am free tomorrow at noon. Where shall I pick you up?”

“What about at Gotham Park? I’m already going there tomorrow, I’m down for you to come. Is that okay?” You hit his shoulder with yours.

“Okay.”

“Great, demon spawn has a date, I believe we’re done here. I really don’t want to be standing near this acid anymore. But I’m a nice guy, I’ll try to get this all cleared up for you before we leave,” Jason interjected.

“It’s fine; I’m a responsible adult, I’m sure I’ll find a way to get bloody hydrofluoric acid out of here. How the hell did it even get here?”

“You know drug dealers,” Tim cut in.

“Damn, why must this dealer just have to ruin the purest thing, I love this place” you added. “Especially you, Manara. No drug lord will ever hurt you.”

As the heroes and anti heroes walked out of the factory, Manara closely following behind, all that could be heard was the words of departure and traffic. For once, there was no raindrops to fill the erie city that is Gotham.