#also really cute though steph is so proud ;;

[alwayshappyhoursomewhere]

Deniss Vasiljevs and coach Stéphane Lambiel in the mixed zone after the SP at the 2024 European Championships | 2024.01.10

[wosoamazing]

The Transfer

Summary: You move to Barca.

Warnings: None I don't think

A/N: Google translated Spanish so I apologies if it is incorrect, hope you like it. Also as usual feel free to send requests, whether it is for this Series or for kid!readers, or something else. Hope you like it.

You run to Leah when you see her, and give her a massive hug, you missed her, camp was hard, especially the second last day. There was a conversation you needed to have with her, you didn’t want to risk her finding out from someone else, so you decided to just start it right there and then in the airport.

“We need to talk about something, Le.”

“Go to Barca.”

“What?” you exclaim looking up at her, surely you heard her wrong.

“Go to Barca, you deserve it Bug, you’re amazing, go to Barca, you can always come back, Arsenal will take you back in a heartbeat, any club would take you back in a heartbeat, but you’re not going to want to come back, and I’ll visit I promise, and we can put daily facetime calls in our calendar for the first few weeks. Call me whenever you need, I’ll pick up the phone. But the girls are lovely there, and you will have Lucy and Kiera.”

“Wait, so you’re saying go? How did you find out?”

“Of course I’m saying go, it’s Barca, and the finding out part, well Alexia messaged asking if I knew anything I said no, asked Lucy and Kiera and they were like ‘yeah she spoke to us about what the people were like, and the environment etc we thought you knew’ Millie then walked in and was like ‘Guy’s shit just went down at the Matildas camp, might want to check your sister is okay though Leah’, Millie than told us what Sam told her and yeah”

“So, you’re not mad I didn’t ask you first?”

“No, I’m proud, you asked the right people the right questions, you stood up for yourself, you manage to do some pretty hard ball negotiations, and you didn’t let anyone make the decision for you, you stayed true to yourself, and I’m proud.”

_____

“Ready to go?” Lucy asks as your suitcases are loaded into the back of the car, you nod you had just played friendlies against the Lionesses in England, so at least the travel there was short, however the travel back to your club was going to be a bit longer, as you weren’t returning to Arsenal but to Barca.

“I feel sick,” Kiera moaned as she came out to join you and Lucy.

“Yeah, I told you to stop drinking, why do you think we didn’t drink.”

“Ah because she is still a week and one year underage, and you I don’t know, because you don’t know how to let loose and have fun,” Kiera replies. Last night some of your national and club teammates as well as some Leah’s national teammates had a party in your honour, to celebrate you going to Barca and to celebrate your Birthday, which was in a week.

_____

It was your first night staying at Lucy and Kiera’s and somehow it was conveniently team bonding night at their place. It didn’t seem like a coincidence at all. You were really nervous to meet the team, they all knew each other already, this was the first time you were joining a team that you were completely new in, when you joined Arsenal you already knew the girls really well because of Leah, and then when you joined the Matildas you had Steph, Kyra and Caitlin, but this was different.

You had stayed quiet for most of the night, watching the game, trying not to draw attention to yourself, however that was all unravelled when Mapi sighed “Estúpido Àrbitro. Eso fue claramente una falta.” (Stupid Referee, that was clearly a foul)

“Casi fue tarjeta amarilla.” (almost was a yellow card)

Everyone heads turned to you, and their jaws dropped. “You know Spanish?”

“Ah, well a bit, mainly to do with the game, one of my Friend’s Dad’s is Spanish and they talk Spanish at home, especially when he is watching the game.”

“Leah never told me that,” Lucy remarked, “Leah doesn’t necessarily know” “oh, so is this a friend or a friend.”

“Lucy leave the poor kid alone,” Kiera told her off.

“So it is a special friend,” “Is she, or he, cute?” “Do you have a photo?” the girls all asked at once.

“Girls, as Kiera said, leave the poor kid alone, she just got here” Alexia told them, they all shut up immediately.

_____

“Oh, Bebita, what’s wrong?” Alexia asks you as she walks into the locker room, you were slumped back in your locker, leaning against the wall, “come here”, she says as she drags you up and brings you in for a hug, in which you broke, tears start to stream down your face as you try to get out of Alexia’s grip, it was only your third day at Barcelona and yet here you were crying in front of your new captain. Alexia only tightened her grip at your actions cooing “It’s okay, I’m here,” rubbing your back slightly. “How about we sit down,” she sat down and pulled you into her lap, you rested your head on her shoulder, giving into her.

“I-I miss Le,” You sobbed into her shoulder.

“I know, its okay Bebita, we’re here,” Alexia could never understand completely how you felt but she could imagine, she could see how close you and Leah were which wasn’t surprising considering you had been living with her for the past six years but leaving her and only seeing her through the phone was something you were struggling with, and the team had started to notice it, you were always slightly sadder when you re-joined the team after being on the phone with Leah.

_____

You woke up and looked at the clock, it was 9:00am, ‘shit’ you mumble to yourself, you sprung out of your bed before flopping back into it, after having the realisation that you didn’t have training today, you had a game last night, which you played in, it was much tougher than the games at Arsenal, so you were exhausted.

It was only then that you took in your surrounds, there were balloons scattered around your room, and on the floor, there were little present signs with arrows. You quickly got yourself semi presentable before following the presents, they lead you into the living room, all your new teammates were there. “Surprise!” they all yelled whilst someone exploded one of those confetti guns, you were in fact surprised, you had been at Barca a week, you were expecting something low key with Lucy and Kiera not a whole team affair, “Come sit,” Lucy said tapping the empty section of couch between her and Alexia, as you walked over you couldn’t help but notice the pile of presents on the coffee table, you had already received gifts from your family and arsenal teammates, so these had to be from your Barca teammates but you couldn’t really believe it.

“You got these all for me?” you questioned in disbelief.

“Yes, they are all for you,” Alexia tells you before handing you a gift, “here open.”

You eventually finished making your way through the present pile and thanked everyone profusely.

However, while you thanked everyone Alexia walked in with three more presents, these ones were quite heavy. “Don’t open them yet, I just need to call someone,” whoever she was calling answered, and then she handed the phone to you, it was Leah and Lia, “Happy Birthday Bug! We may have some surprises for you, open the skinny rectangular one first. It’s from Katie, she wanted you to have it on your actual Birthday, make it more special” you opened it up and grinned it was a whoop, “tell her I like it please, and that I said thank you.”

“Will do bug, now the smaller of the two remaining was Lia’s idea, but both presents are from us” you opened the two gifts and at the sight of them tears left your eyes, “T-thank you,” your sister and Lia had just gifted you a new Mac Book Pro and a new iPhone. Ingrid moved closer to you and hugged you, knowing it was what you needed. After getting ready the rest of your morning was filled with fun festivities as the girls made sure to spoil you, however it was time to start getting ready to go out for dinner, so everyone returned to their own homes in agreeance they would all meet there, waiting for everyone to be there before they went in.

As you walked into the restaurant with the team Lucy whispered to you, “there may be one more surprise,” she gestured her head over to the massive table in the restaurant, where two familiar figures sat, you couldn’t control yourself and run over to them. “Hi Bug, glad you’re happy to see us,” Leah said hugging you “we missed you” Lia said now hugging you.

“I missed you too” you said before you sat down between them, you were grinning from ear to ear. “How are you here?” “Oh, this was all Alexia’s doing, she planned it all.” You looked over to you captain who winked at you, maybe Barca wasn’t going to be so bad after all.

[silamander]

In honor of Lautski week, time for Lautski headcanons

They always have some sort of physical contact going on, whether it’s arms around each other, legs tangled up, or intertwined hands.

They do the Lumity hug lift thing anytime they hug. Steph just lifts and spins Pete cause he’s a twig.

Steph’s favorite place to kiss Pete is his nose.

Pete has a running joke of Steph being a moth because she stares at lights so much (ADHD Steph is a whole other discussion for another day-)

Steph will tell Pete a ton of the popular kid drama before they start dating and all of it after, even if she was sworn to secrecy for some of it (most of her friendships are likely formed for superficial reasons so she might not care much about breaking their trust) and Pete pretends not to be super invested even though they both know he is.

Pete is the most attentive and perceptive partner ever. He picks up on every little detail. Steph had a bad day? Pete instantly knows how to cheer her up. Steph is excited about something and needs to talk about it? Hey babe what’s up tell me all about it. Pete’s the type to start keeping snacks on hand because he knows Steph’s internal clock and that she always forgets to eat and then gets hangry after a few hours.

They frequently have sleepovers and they try to be all cute and cuddle with each other but Steph moves around way too much for that to be a good viable option. Pete has woken up on the floor at least twice because Steph rolled over too many times.

They vent to each other about their problems/stress in private. It always ends in them making fun of someone/something that’s caused them these feelings.

Pete loves horror movies because he’s a special effects geek and Steph lies and says she likes horror movies so she still looks cool but is actually not a fan and the scares almost always get her.

Pete is also a Jurassic World Evolution junkie and he shows Steph all the parks he makes (no I am not self projecting).

If Ruth, in any timeline, lives to see Peter and Stephanie have a child, she’d be a MENACE of an aunt and teach that kid ALL THE SWEARS. Richie would put on his favorite animes for them, and get them hooked. The two of them would never admit it, but they love how much Steph and Pete care about each other, and are so insanely proud of Pete.

Ted would be so stoked that Pete pulled the most popular girl at his school and she’s so clearly head over heels for him AND she’s helping Pete feel more confident?? Fuck yeah that’s Ted’s sister now. Steph and Ted probably mess with each other in a really brother/sister way anyways. (Not that Ted would ever admit to Steph that he sees her as a sister. He has a reputation, y'know?)

Pete's parents love her too. Mrs. Spankoffski loves her boys but she needs someone to have a little girl time with (and Steph of course would love to have a maternal figure in her life). Pete's dad and Steph definitely talk a fuckton about classic rock. No thoughts just daddy issues, motherless, only child Steph getting the family she deserves by being with Pete :]

They're so cringe, i love them <3

[themurderofcrowscollective]

Some more HCs cause I feel like a caretaker feeding you feral little shits, and I'm oddly enjoying it while wondering where all of you keep coming from. - Hands down, Jason listens to Will Wood. Especially when he's going through it mentally and emotionally, so the best course of action to take is just sing along with him if he's singing or sit next to him while he's listening to it and sitting on the floor of his bedroom or his private bathroom. His favorite song has to be 'Marsha, Thankk You for the Dialectics, but I Need You to Leave.' (which is also my own favorite song) - If there's one person in the Wayne family who has a lot of squishmallows and is widely known to go buy more, that'd be a tie between Tim, Dick, Damian, Duke and Steph. Squishmallows are fucking comfortable. - You know it's been a fun night if you wake up at 3 AM and the first thing you hear is the muffled and quiet arguments about what food to get accompanied with the sound of things being moved around in the fridge. The batboys and Batman always have an improvised victory feast if the stakeout went great. - Nine times out of ten, after a long night of patrol and kicking crime's ass, everyone does not change out of their outfits and sleep for nearly a day. Alfred calls these days 'Lazy Bats Day'. - If there's one thing that is very precious to the Wayne Family, it's sleep. Sure, Tim pulls a lot of all-nighters but he's not the only one who's had his fair share of all-nighters spent fighting crime or investigating on a crime scene. - There's an ongoing competition on who snores the loudest. No one knows who's won yet, but so far it's Tim that snores the loudest. - Speaking of times where the Batfamily has stayed up for days, I am proud to present to you, the best times of the sleep-deprived Wayne Family: 1. Dick fumbling with his words and eventually laughing himself to death because he can barely make a sentence without giggling like a madman. There's been quite a few times he was incoherent on his reports during patrols that has rendered Batman speechless, trying to understand his son's blabbering.

2. Jason becoming more chaotic and using his sleep-deprivation as fuel to keep going or else he's gonna crash harder. You can see him walking around the Wayne Manor singing a song at the top of his lungs while slapping himself in the face to keep himself awake if he has to. He also becomes more talkative. 3. We all know Tim goes zombie mode, but after a month of all-nighters, he's like a cryptid that the Wayne kids have made an urban legend about. 4. Damian while he's sleep-deprived becomes more childish, and he acts like a kid his age, which is cute and funny at the same time because he'll laugh at anything you tell him. Put him and Dick in one room and you'll hear them dying of laughter within 30 minutes, and if you check on them, they'll be on the floor with tears in their eyes. 5. Duke tries to get enough sleep, but he will ultimately fail and so he becomes veeeery distant and lost in his own world. He has a very short attention span. 6. Cassandra is more hyper-focused and a bit paranoid, being more squirrely and fast to react while she hasn't been able to sleep. It's even harder to get her to sleep because she'll think you're out to hurt her. 7. Steph is the same as Tim, first a zombie then immediately a cryptid who will attack you if you look her in the eyes. 8. Bruce with 0 sleep is odd. Just straight up odd. You can find him staring at the wall for an hour before writing down something that sounds like a good idea, when really it's just something that already exists. Sometimes though, he's just not ever to be seen. But only sometimes, during the darkest of nights, can you see the grown man eating out of the fridge. Alfred gets the healthy amount of sleep and always has been, but he's the one who takes pictures and keeps tabs of everyone (especially the cryptid duo) while making a documentary on the cryptid duo.

[jonathan-samuel-smith]

Do you like that webtoon? I really enjoyed reading that, I know it's not canon but this is so funny and it's the only place where they get damian's color right

Also Damian is a cute smol baby there

It's not the only place! Teen Titans #1, most of Robin son of batman, Superman #...twenty something? (I have dyscalculia I wanna say #28 but that could be wildly off) when Jon meets up with Damian for the first time after his age-up, and Superman #21

Those are off the top of my head!

I do appreciate how cute and small and baby 8yo Damian is and I appreciate that he's friends with Jon so soon after joining the family. I appreciate Talia being proud of Damian for being happy at the manor.

I didn't like the etiquette lesson panel or the gassing pets mention panel but I loved the Goliath panels he's truly the best!

I haven't read it all yet, I really hope Damian and Steph get to interact more, they're THE BEST!

I also am a bit unsure about their take on Dick taking care of Dami. Yes it's parentification but Dick is an adult and in the comics was going to adopt Damian before Bruce talked him out of it by saying he wasn't ready, so acting like it's forced on him is unfair to Damian imo, even though Dick never adopted him here. They still have an adorable relationship though! (I just think if my sister was like "rain check I have to take my son to the museum for his science project" I wouldn't be like "ugh you never spend time one on one with me anymore" and expect her to apologize and drop everything in the future. I would simply also go to the museum. Kids are kind of supposed to be your priority.) I mean for sure put on your airbag before helping another passenger metaphor for emotions but also sometimes being a parent takes a mental toll on you and you do have to accept that. To me Dick is more of a father than a sibling to Damian and it's hard to erase that textually without completely altering their dynamic.

Basically they are father and son coded lmao. Also legally Bruce never adopted Dick! So Dick is not Damian's legal sibling, just one of his legal guardians, probably still to this very day since Bruce was legally alive when he took custody of him.

I think the art is super cute and I love how everyone is drawn and colored it's great!! I love the line thickness chefs kiss I love thick line art. They look like themselves and they look consistent. I'd love to see an animated show in this style.

The writing seems like they have a passable knowledge of every batfam character but it's a bit of a fanon take which is fine, it's not always what I would choose and that's also fine too!

I'm pretty happy with it, I'm happy it exists. Is it perfect? No and Thank God, they cannot please everyone and if it were perfect in my eyes I would have less to critique and learn from.

[cutethingstolove]

Skip Day

Photos and Inspiration From @little-stephanies-diary​ and @babiechristy​, Part 18

When the alarm went off at 630 Tuesday morning, the girls were still wrapped in each other’s arms. Stephanie, not wanting to stop cuddling, reached over and hit the snooze button so she and Courtney could spend another five minutes together before waking up for the day. The alarm woke Courtney up as well, but she was extremely happy that Steph had turned it off and kept holding her. Courtney was still thinking about last night when she received her first spanking since she was five years old, and loved that Stephanie was still holding her making her feel safe and loved. Sadly, it didn’t seem like too long before the alarm went off for the second time and the girls knew they had to wake up for the day.

“Hey Steph,” Courtney whispered, “We need to get up. I really wish we didn’t have to though.”

“Í know,” Stephanie said a little groggy, “But my dad will worry if we aren’t up soon, and we do have to get ready for school still.”

“Yeah,” Courtney said a bit dejected, “And I really don’t want to get in trouble again. That spanking last night was super humiliating, and I don’t want to deal with that again.”

“I thought the same thing the first time he spanked me last week,” Stephanie responded, “But you have to admit that he was pretty kind about the whole thing.’

“You mean last night wasn’t the first time he spanked you!”, Courtney said in shock.

“Just once last week,” Stephanie said sheepishly, “I lied to him about having an accident in school, but he caught me. It was a bit embarrassing, but since no one else knew, I didn’t want to say anything about it.”

“Well I guess we have another secret to keep,” Courtney giggled, “But I’m not sure if I want to go to school today after that. It might not have been so bad if you were the one who spanked me instead of him.”

Stephanie smiled a little hearing this, and understood why Courtney didn’t want to go to school. She wouldn’t mind taking the day off too as she wouldn’t have to spend all day worrying about one of her other classmates finding out about her diaper. Stephanie started to hatch a plan to talk her dad into letting them have the day off from school without being punished. She was still thinking when Courtney suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her out of bed.

The girls walked downstairs for breakfast, both still in just their diapers and the shirts they had worn to bed. When they reached the kitchen, they grabbed some cereal and joined Steph’s dad at the table where he was sitting with his morning cup of coffee. They both took their seats, pouring the cereal and milk into their bowls. Just before they had a chance to grab their spoons and start eating, they heard Steph’s dad’s deep voice interrupt the silence.

“Morning girls,” he said in his baritone voice, “Did you both manage to stay dry last night?”

“I did daddy!,” Stephanie exclaimed proudly.

“So did I,” Courtney said a little perturbed.

“Well I’m proud of both of you,” Steph’s dad with a hint of pride, “Are you two going to be good at school today?”

“Actually daddy,” Steph said meekly, “I was kinda hoping we could skip school today. I think last night was a bit hard on Court, and it might be good for us to have some girl time.”

“Yes please!”, Courtney piped up, “I could really use a day to wrap my head around getting a spanking.”

“That’s fair,” Steph’s dad feeling a little bad, “I guess I can call the school and let them know you two won’t be in today.”

Elated at this, the girls both looked at each other and smiled as big as they could. They started chattering incessantly about what they were going to do with their day off. After a couple of minutes, they decided that they could go shopping at the mall again which would be more fun on a slow Tuesday. Steph’s dad reminded them that they were still potty training, and mentioned that they should wear their bigger diapers since they wouldn’t have anyone to help change them if they had an accident. Stephanie was a little worried about this as she wasn’t able to try on any of the cute jeans she had found on Saturday with the big diaper on. Thankfully for her, Courtney spoke up with a great idea of how they could avoid this.

“What if we bring a couple extra pairs of Goodnites with us just in case?,” Courtney asked stoically.

“I guess that could work,” he said, “But you each have to take two with and I’ll check when I get home to see if you had to use them. And be honest with me because I don’t want to have to spank either one of you again.”

“Of course daddy!,” Steph blurted out with excitement.

“Thank you dadd-,” Courtney caught herself, “I mean sir.”

“Oh Courtney,” Steph’s dad said softly, “If you want to call me daddy like Steph does, that’s ok with me. You’ve spent so much time  over here during the years that I’m almost like a second dad to you.”

A grin spread across Courtney’s face when she heard this, and even Stephanie was happy since it made them feel more like sisters instead of just friends. The girls finished their breakfast rather quickly as they wanted to start their day off, and as soon as they were done they bounded upstairs to change for the day. Courtney went into the bathroom to change out of her nighttime diaper, but Stephanie just changed in her room tossing her diaper in the trash before pulling on a pair of Goodnites. Just as Stephanie finished pulling them on, Courtney came bursting through the door in a fresh pair of pullups and her hoodie.

The girls started looking through Stephanie’s clothes to find stuff to wear for the day. Stephanie picked out a pair of black jeans and a yellow t-shirt while Courtney found a pair of black leggings and a fuzzy white sweater. They  both quickly threw their clothes on, grabbed extra Goodnites out of Stephanie’s dresser, and hurried back downstairs to start their day. Steph’s dad stopped the girls before they left and checked to make sure they were both wearing their pullups and had their extras with them before releasing them for their day of fun.

The drive to the mall went quickly because there was so little traffic, but by the time they arrived in the parking lot Stephanie had already wet her pullup. She had been so excited to start the day that she didn’t bother going to the bathroom before they left so she told Courtney that they would need to stop by the mall bathroom first so she could change into a dry Goodnite. Courtney giggled a little, but made sure to put their spare pullups in her purse before they went inside. Courtney needed to go to the bathroom anyway, but didn’t want to wait until they made it inside, so she paused for a moment before closing the car door and flooded her Goodnite. Looking at Stephanie, Courtney smirked before saying, “You’re not the only one who needs a change.”

After their stop by the mall bathroom, the girls walked into the nearly empty mall talking about where they wanted to shop. Stephanie shyly mentioned that she wanted to go visit the new store where she had found Vincent on Saturday, but Courtney thought it was a great idea! Courtney had secretly wanted to spend more time looking there the last time they were shopping, but didn’t want Stephanie to think she was childish. She was a bit shocked when Stephanie told her that she was just pretending to not want to stay there either! The two quickly made their way to the new store and started browsing.

The store was empty, save for the cashier, when they arrived. They were also both rather excited that none of their classmates would be there on a school day to see them, and both went to quick work picking out their favorite things. It wasn’t long before their arms were loaded with adult sized onesies, cartoonish night shirts, and super colorful fuzzy socks. As they made their way to the dressing room they passed through a part of the store neither had seen before; it was shelves full of bigger diapers in a ton of cute patterns. They stopped to look at the variety when Courtney pointed out that one of them called ‘Lil Bella’ had a cotton candy scent! They decided that they were going to buy a pack of those before heading into their dressing rooms to try on their spoils.

As they tried on different things, they would step out into the hallway to show things off to each other. Ironically, they both stepped out one time wearing the exact same thing, a light blue hooded onesie with a white heat and cloud on the stomach! They complimented each other on how cute they each looked in it, and decided they would both buy one so they could match. After each picking out a couple other items, the girls started heading towards the checkout, making sure to grab a bag of the diapers they had saw earlier. The cashier smiled a little bit when she saw the girls placed their thing on the counter. Even though the girls were both well over 18, they were giggling with each other like they did when they were much younger.

Not really interested in going to any other shops, and wanting to try on their new clothes, the girls decided to head back to Steph’s house and just spend the rest of the day being lazy. As they pulled into the driveway, the girls bolted from the car grabbing their bags, and went inside nearly racing each other. The second they were inside and the door was closed, they both started taking off their clothes as fast as they could and quickly threw on the matching onesies they had bought. They took a moment to admire how cute they both looked before Courtney went to the living room to start a movie while Steph grabbed some snacks from the kitchen joining Courtney on the couch less than a minute later.

The girl spent the rest of the day watching Disney movies, poking fun at each other, and even took a nap together on the couch. They were both happy they had their Goodnites on when they woke up though as they had both had accidents while they were asleep. Knowing they would probably be caught lying if they tried to hide it, Courtney grabbed the last two spare pullups from her bag and they both went upstairs to change and use the bathroom. Just as they were finishing up, they heard the garage door open meaning that Steph’s dad was home. They both bounced downstairs and hopped back on the couch just a couple seconds before he cam into the house. Before heading upstairs to change himself, Steph’s dad looked at the girls in their matching outfits and a pleasant grin crossed his face.

To Be Continued…

[spoon-and-knifehandcrafts]

A new WIP enters

It's actually an old WIP. It's a WIP I've been working on since April, and I got one panel (out of two) nearly done one time!

So what happened? I'll tell you what happened. What happened is Steph doesn't really know how to knit! So when I got to the right side of the top part of this knit, which is also a tank top, to start knitting up the ... idk we'll call it a 'boob panel', I saw 'slip slip purl' on the armpit decrease and went OH MY GOD WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING THAT PART COMPLETELY DIFFERENTLY ALL THIS TIME and then I panicked, and- look I am not proud of me in that moment. We'll move on.

This WIP is the Streamline Tank by Alexa Tavel (Two of Wands) and it's... it's a well written pattern. Alexa takes a lot of time and care, actually, to make sure that plus sizes in her line always tailor correctly and the pdf's are always clear, concise, and very slick - professional looking. I dig her a lot. Also she gives me tons of fomo.

I decided to knit this thing in Truboo because I'd impulse bought a ton in Thistle for something else and then said 'oops what tank top can I make' and landed here, though it was designed for Coboo, so my drape will be different.

Anyway I had to start over on that but I started it over with a better edge and am now back on the part of the body with the cute neckline details so go me?

Look at that edge. We're proud of that edge.

Not proud of my stockinette though. If someone browses the knitting tag and knows what's going on with those stitches 6 rows from the top that are tilted sideways please give me tips. I'm already knitting with the 'purl side' on a smaller needle so I don't 'row out'. But gosh my stockinette is heckin' uneven and it bothers me.

Here's another photo of the old nearly finished object before the unfortunate thing happened - this tank is going to be really cute. Someday.

[anothertimdrakestan]

Damijon Christmas Present!

FOR THE DAMIJON SECRET SANTA I HAD... @nymph-patt

dear nymph:

hi love! i haven’t written in a fat minute and i’m a little rusty so bear with me hehehe. i hope you have a wonderful holiday season! all my love -elle!

I’ve got a fluff christmas fic and a lil headcanon for ya! 

Merry Stress-mas

“You can’t plan Christmas like a battle strategy Dami,” Jon groaned as Damian wheeled a whiteboard into their living room. “Actually, I’ve found it to be quite similar. Pay attention Kent, I know sticking to the plan has never been your strong suit.” Damian’s foot was tapping like crazy, Jon noted his clear anxiousness- needless to say Damian wasn’t the holiday type. Makes it a million times harder when it’s your first Christmas together as a couple. 

*super-couple. 

Jon gasped as Damian flipped the whiteboard like a school teacher, revealing meticulously drawn out plans mapped in expo-marker. “We start with my family, we stay until Jason is ten shots in, after that Christmas always becomes a nightmare so we head out. With your super speed it’ll be only an 14 minutes 37 second trip to your family where we stay for the majority of the night. At the end you rush us back to Gotham to console Dick after Bat-Christmas fails as always. Our emergency word is tyrannosaurus should anything go wrong at the drop we flee. Any questions?” Damian was flying through the plans, pointing at bulleted lists and analyzing possible flaws. 

Jon took a deep breath, a smile creeping over his face. “I didn’t think you’d care so much about our first Christmas together with our families, it’s kind of sweet.” Lazily he reached for Damian, clinging to his back while Dami shook his head, mumbling as he edited the board. “Not really our first Christmas Kent and I definitely do not care about family tt,” Jon didn’t reply, he just smiled into the crook of Damian’s neck.

“Our suits bring down our aerodynamic potential so I’ve taken the liberty of adjusting our arrival time to 15 minutes 43 seconds. Does that sound accurate?” Jon hummed in response as he straightened Damian’s tie, it was already perfect but he’d take any excuse to get closer to Dami. “Ready my love?” Jon glanced at Damian who was checking his watch. “Yes.” Damian responded, absent mindedly clasping Jon’s hand as they made their way to the mansion. 

“DAMI’S HERE!” Steph’s screech announced. She was hanging off the banister as she stole popcorn pieces from the massive tree. “Wonderful- Miss Brown I must ask you don’t eat the decorations tonight, have some festivity,” Alfred shook his head as he made his way to Jon. “Magnificent of you to join us Master Kent, I assume you will also be heading to your family’s festivities as well?” Jon opened his mouth but Damian answered first. “Yes Pennyworth, we plan on just saying for hors devours,” his curt reply brought a knowing smile to Alfred’s lips. “Always planned with you Master Damian,” his accent was playful making Jon chuckle. 

Dick descended the stairs, Damian groaned at his bright green and red striped suit, Jon couldn’t help but laugh either. “Hellllooo super boyfriends! Are-You-Readyyyy-For-Tonight!” Dick practically skipped towards the two, pulling them into a tight hug before Damian could slip away. “We won’t be long Grayson we must attend the Kent family Christmas too,” Damian nodded curtly, shifting closer to Jon who got the message and moved forward into the living room. 

“Actually, where are all the bat-siblings? And where did Steph run off to?” Jon noticed no one was around but Alfred who was preparing something delicious in the kitchen. Dick began chuckling, a devilish smile spreading across his face. “Oh, everyone is down in the batcave. C’mon.” Damian looked taken-aback but Jon was never to shocked by batfamily-antics. 

The two followed Dick to the secret door. “Now, we heard from a little super birdy [Dick winked at Jon who was now openly grinning] that you were a little nervous about having to deal with two Christmas’ this year, so we felt it’d be easier for everyone if we just-” Dick popped open the door to a winter wonderland of a batcave. A large table was put out, filled with their family members. “Merry Christmas!” A chorus of laughter broke out as Damian’s jaw dropped. 

At the table were the batfam, Kents, and even a couple speedsters littered around. All were laughing and smiling at one another. It was the biggest family gathering Jon has seen ever. “No need for crazy plans my love, just enjoy tonight with everyone,” Jon whispered to Damian as he scanned the room. “I- How did you- Thank you,” Damian settled on the last words of praise for the wonderful man who made every single day better. “No need for thanks, I’d get you the world if you wanted it, but for now let’s have a very Merry Christmas!” Jon took off towards his family and Damian would help but feel the corners of his lips betray him with a smile. Heart full he made his way down to his family.

“JASON DO NOT FLIRT WITH KARA SHE’S OFF LIMITS!”

“WALLY DID YOU EAT ALL THE COOKIES ALREADY?”

“BRUCE, CLARK, STOP FIGHTING OVER WHO GOT THE OTHER THE BETTER GIFT. YOU’RE BOTH RICH!”

very merry indeed. 

~

Okay so I haven’t absorbed much batfam content at all for weeks so hopefully my spin on the HC is still cute : )

I don’t think Jon gets enough credit for how observant he is. 

Too often Jon is forgotten, the second super boy, the sidekick, the boyfriend, the man who left everyone for space. 

It’s true, technically. But Jon is so keen at reading those around him, especially the un-readable Damian Wayne that I would argue it’s a super skill in of itself.

He gets it from his mother you know, Superman was always a little dense, but, though no one believes it, he always had Lois to help him out. Too often the quieter, smarter, more analytical side gets forgotten and that’s no different with Jon. His friends don’t see the way he checks up on them, taking in their facial expressions and reading them to know the right thing to say at the right time to help them out. They don’t realize he spent whole days memorizing their heart beats and their breaths to know if they’re ever in peril. And they don’t see the way he looks at them so fondly, beyond grateful they’re in his life.

Lois sees it.

She saw it when Jon met Damian. 

A young boy mesmerized by the wittiness and strength in the human boy. The greatest irony, the Superboy more human than the murder weapon now called “Robin”. But the two hit it off almost instantly- though Damian may not agree to that last bit. 

Lois knew Jon adored Damian, every deep red was “Robin Red” every Wayne Ent. building they walked past brought up stories of his adventures with the youngest Wayne, every Justice League trip meant begging for his dad to send him to Gotham for the weekend while he was out. He was young, but Lois knew a pair of soulmates when she saw them. 

There were these nights when they were teens. Jon would burst out of bed and rush to his mother. He never needed to say anything. There was this look in his eyes, Damian needs me. “Go” she’d always whisper, pressing a quick kiss to his forehead thinking back to when Clark would do the same for her. 

She remembers the frantic December weeks Jon spent toiling on Damian’s Christmas gift. “What do I give a trillionaire who has the world?” Jon would whine and mope around the house for any semblance of inspiration. 

Your heart Jon, all he wants is your love. Lois always thought to herself, she was quite aware of the two boy’s growing infatuation with each other, her husband was always slower in the “feelings” department and if he was slow she imagined Bruce was a damn sloth. So, she let the boys feel safe in her presence. Damian slowly spent more time at her home when Clark was out, she grew to have a sort of friendship with Damian. He’d comment on whatever news article she recently wrote, endure a three second reply and be on his way. She was always astounded at how up to date he was on all her pieces. 

Lois was always proud of the love Jon showed Damian. She’d be the first to tell Bruce he needed to hug his damn kids, but there was a special kind of caring Jon held only for Damian. A love woven only for the two of them. Like an invisible string linking them no matter where in the universe the other was at, there was a friendship, a kindness, a passion, a love.

Overtime, Jon’s analysis of Damian led him to his own feelings. And over an even longer period of time Damian discovered his own. Jon never stopped caring, he never stopped worrying, and he never stopped loving. 

Those, are the parts of Superman that Damian, and the world, need most. 

~

Merry Christmas! <3

[red-hood-redemption]

SO I know I’m like, super late to the party, but I finally got my hands on Robin 2021 and there is literally no one for me to talk to about it so now I’m just screaming my thoughts into the void ✌

First off, before i even bought the first two issues, I read through a lot of other people’s opinions on it to kinda get an idea of where it was going characterization-wise for Damian, and because of all the mixed reactions, I figured I should just read it myself and find out. Now I am the FURTHEST thing from a comic book authority, so like, this is truly just an opinion piece but if it convinces anyone to give the run a chance, then yay!!! Honestly, I’m really glad I gave it a shot because I’m genuinely hooked! I’m actually excited about this series (and it scares me lol)!!!

I'm gonna separate my thoughts into two sections: characters, and story, mainly for my own ease, but also if anyone cares more about one thing or the other it's easier to distinguish. But,  the line is a little blurry so if I end up getting a little too much into the characterization in the story section, just bear with me lmao. OH and I'm going to try and keep this as un-spoilery as possible but we'll just have to see. SOOOOOOOO

Characters

I think it goes without saying that Melnikov's art is absolutely gorgeous, and really does show how much Damian has grown up. It makes me want to sob its so beautiful, everyone is so pretty, even the guy that looks like a washed up, high as fuck Tony Stark lmao. But moving on to the actual characters,

Rose Wilson

I honestly don't know too much about Rose, I haven't read enough about her to say anything about her characterization and how it compares to her other appearances, or whether or not she is OOC, but so far, I'm enjoying her taking up the "big sis" role, like, immediately lmao.

I don't know how much I trust her yet, but I definitely get the vibe that even if she does betray Dami in any way, she's probably gonna stick her neck out for Dami again and he's probably gonna do the same.

I'm really intrigued about her motivations for being here. Obviously, Respawn has something to do with it, but I want to know what's up with that. I've seen a lot of theories and I'm so excited. Also side note, that Black Swan chick is hot, and I can't wait to see more of her in action!!!

I feel like Ravager knows a WHOLE lot more than Dami does about the interesting things going on on the island, mainly because she's been doing a lot more sitting and waiting than he has as of yet, but I'm hoping to see more of the two of them doing detective-y sleuthing together. We love a mysteryyyy

Flatline

Okay but real talk, why does she look like a character straight out of Monster High

Honestly tho, I dig it. It's cute! She's cute! She isn't annoying (yet) but I don't know if I care too much about her other than she would make a cute friend for Dami.

I think the problem with DC is that they know people LOVE Harley Quinn and they try so hard to make characters just like her but it always falls short, so honestly I am a little wary of her character development in this run, but I'm willing to give her a shot since her little coffin purse on the cover of the second issue is so damn cute. I'm a slut for character design, okay?

Oh speaking of Flatline and Dami, I don't ship it and I don't want them to force a romantic relationship into Damian's "coming of age"/"soul-searching" moment okay? Because that's what this run is about, at least to me! More on that in the story section!

They're literally 13/14 years old. That's 8th-9th grade, babes lets think about that for a minute

Also let's stop the whole "lets introduce a female character just to make her a love interest!" bullshit okay?

Basically, Flatline is interesting, or at least has the potential to be, but I don't want to get my hopes up because DC is notorious for disservicing their female characters 😕

I think the mixed reaction to her is valid, I don't think she's had much time to make a solid impression yet, so I guess you'd have to read it for yourself. Personally, I don't understand why people immediately hate her, especially because she's like, 14, and what kid that age isn't annoying? like at least a little bit lmao! But, yeah. I don't trust her either but literally everyone on this island is sketchy at least and a murderer at best, so hey 🤷‍♀️

Damian

His new outfit lmaoooo at first I was like "WHaT is this child wearing? You'd think Dick would have rubbed off on him and taught him what good taste looks like" but then I saw the later outfit, with the gold patterning and those sleeeevessssss ugh and I take it all back. A Fashion Icon TM. Truly stunning. A sight to behold. So proud, look at him go 😪

I think there's a lot of different opinions on Damian's characterization in this run, and I can definitely see where its coming from, but I disagree with the notion that Damian has been done dirty and reverted to a blood-thirsty, feral child.  And I have a LOT of opinions on the whole "feral" thing regarding Damian period (but that's for another time).

I don't think of Dami's rampage as a regression for his character. He's letting of emotions right then and I think its very similar to him venting. Its just not verbal, its physical and he knows he's not going to have to grapple with the consequences of his actions on the first kill. He knows he's technically not doing anything wrong.

He is clearly upset at Bruce and his failure to protect Alfred, and while Dami and Bruce are really often described as being very similar personality-wise, they are still distinctly different individuals who came to their current moral codes in vastly different ways. Bruce came to his "no killing" rule on his own; he made that decision for himself. It wasn't taught to him, it was a moment-of-truth kind of situation. Damian, on the other hand is in a vastly different situation.

Dami is, I think, at the beginning of the climb to his own moment-of-truth. He is in his rebellious phase like Dick, where he's gone off to spread his wings. It's not his conscious intention (at least that's not the vibe I got from reading the first two issues), but its directly underlying his "mission".

Damian is growing out of the expectations of his parents and into his own person. We all know he's been thrown from one moral code to another, both drastically different from each other. I don't think its a regression for him to lose his way a little, because realistically, he's going to have to in order to find it, specifically a moral compass that he forged on his own. He's just what? 14? Like hell a kid his age wants to listen to any form of authority. He's as stubborn as it comes. Damian needs to come to his decision regarding the path he takes in life on his own. It can't be made for him. He's seen and lived both sides of the coin, and I don't think he should be forced just yet to choose a side or pave a middle ground, but I do think that he should get the opportunity to see and experience all the gray areas on his own.

I think I'll transition from characterization to story here, because let's face it, this story is about Damian dealing with his confused emotions right now, in the wake of losing Alfred, a man that kind of acted like a grounding presence, a voice of reason, or a moral compass for him (and honestly Bruce and the rest of the bat crew if we're honest).

Story

So there's a lottttt going on in the story that is really enticing and exciting, and I'm really interested to see how it all plays out.

All the rules to the tournament are so, sketchy? Like they don't sound like they are meant to be sketchy, its basic safety and guidelines or whatever but with all the glowy green shit and the stakes of the tournament? Yeah, you can bet your ass its the "no fighting at night" and other shit is gonna be broken, and that's likely when the fun begins *insert evil laughter*😈

I was slightly put off by the whole "let me teach you to have fun" thing with Rose, because it's not like Dick, Steph, Jon, and like the Titans haven't done that with him too, but eh, not something I'm too concerned about. It's definitely just a segway to get us introduced to more characters that might become Damian's friends which will be interesting considering what Mother Soul said about fraternizing.

And that's another thing! I want Damian to make some friends! I know he already has some, but here's the thing: I think he's already been struggling with belonging, and he's definitely been feeling the disconnect between his life and other kids', whether they're supers/vigilantes or not. I think it'd be nice to see Dami have the experience of meeting people who he at first thinks are just like him!! and then realizing that maybe he doesn't really fit in here either, and that it's okay to feel like you don't belong, as isolating as it may feel at times. It just means you have a set of values. I want him to realize that its not always a bad thing, and you learn more about yourself and your own heart this way.

And from there,,, lets talk about the thing that stuck out to me the most in these two issues! GUILT!! It's mentioned SOO many times already, and I think its going to be a really fun, heartbreaking, and interesting aspect to explore about Damian. Is it guilt about his actions? Leaving behind family? Not being able to save Alfred? Not being a perfect example of Robin? He may call himself Robin but he doesn't sport the OG look or symbol like before. I love that his guilt takes on the form of Alfred though, or at least his conscious. I think it'd be really interesting to see this conscious disappear when Dami strays too far from his center, and when he finds it again, it reappears.

I really think that seeing Damian's actions in this run as a failure of character development is an unfair assessment, though. You can't do everything right in order to grow! You have to screw up, lose your way, experiment with life to find your fit, right?

Something tells me he doesn’t care for the tournament itself, but the end result, and the people behind it and more about WHY it was hidden from him. I mean he finds out the tournament TRULY begins once everyone has died once and tHEN he kill everyone? Felt to me less like a “killing spree” as everyone put it to a calculated decision to get the tournament going. He literally cuts Mother Soul off in the middle of her speaking to start fighting at the beginning

Anyway, just my thoughts lol. I do have some issues with the past two issues, and I might make a separate post about that, but honestly not enough for me to dislike Robin 2021 so far. I mean, besides the very obvious white-washing in the second issue, because DC can absolutely do better. And they should. It’s like they thought we wouldn’t notice???? But besides that, story and characterization-wise I’m looking forward to more. Here’s to hoping it stays that way, just with a better colorist!

[unmaskedagain]

Marinette Vs Santa

A quick Christmas drabble.

  How did Marinette find out she was adopted? Well… her little half-brother tried to kill her.

           Also, that’s how she found out her biological dad was Batman. Because… why not. As if her life wasn’t weird enough already.

           And to think Marinette had been secretly writing Santa every year since she was three to like nine asking for a sibling of her own. She didn’t think it would ever happen

           Then one day, on a cold December night, as Ladybug ran across rooftops to see as many of the Christmas decorations as possible. Suddenly every instinct she had told her to duck. And she did just narrowly avoided a sword to the throat.

           Marinette readied herself to fight an Akuma, only to see an angry ten-year-old with a sword and a mask. He was dressed in green, red, and gold.

“Die, usurper!” He roared and attacked her again.

           Ladybug dodged and jumped every attempt to kill her and tried to resist the urge to punch a child.

           Eventually she got the better of the kid, and ended up hog tying him.

           Marinette put her hands on her knees as she struggled to catch her breath, “Who. Are. You. Nightmare. Child?” She asked in between breaths. Ladybug picked up the fallen sword and pointed at him. “And what is your problem? What did I even do to you?”

“You are Marinette Dupain-Cheng, first born blood child of our father.” He hissed at her, “I am our father’s rightful heir; not you.”

           Our father?  Did her dad have a lovechild? Did he cheat on her mom? No, Tom Dupain would never.

“What?” Marinette pinched her nose. “You want to be head baker?”

“Fool!” He tsk’d at her. “I’ve no interest in your adoptive parents’ holdings. I will follow Father’s footsteps and rule the night. I will be Batman. Not you, sister. Kneel before me and renounce your heirship, and I will spare your life.”

           …Wait Adoptive? Batman? Sister?

           Marinette just stared at him. Not saying a word. For a while. Awhile he insulted her.

           She looked out at the colorful lights that glowed against the freshly fallen snow and sense of peace that filled the air, and Marinette whispered the only thing on her mind…

“Fuck Santa.”

           The boy stopped struggled and gave her a perplexed look, “What? What does the jolly fat man have to do with anything? Why has he made you angry, sister? I will avenge you.”

You just tried to kill me, she wanted to say.

           Marinette just rolled her eyes, “Never mind. We need to talk.” She picked him and tossed him over her shoulder. “In my room.”

           Running across Paris with a struggling kid on your shoulder and a sword in your hand wasn’t easy.

            When she got to her room, she dropped the kid on her bed as gently as possible. “Do not escape,” She ordered. “If you do, do not destroy my room. I’m going to ask my parents if…” If they’re really her parents. Why didn’t they tell her?  Why? Just Why? “What you say is true. I won’t mention Batman.”

           Or the psychotic ten-year-old she had tied up in her room. Who may or may not be her brother.

           Marinette de-transformed. Tikki hid in her hair before anyone could see her.

           She came back to her room half an hour later with a cheese plate, full of veggies, fruits and crackers. And a tray full of chocolate chip Christmas cookies and two glasses of milk. She sat them down at the desk.

           The boy glared at her.

“You were right,” Marinette sighed. “I was adopted. My birth mom was just nineteen when she had me. The sister of one of my mom’s friends.”

           The news had been a blow. Her parents had kept repeating how much they loved her and how they had been planning on telling her when she was older. Older than fourteen. They wanted to know how she found out. She said her little brother had gotten in contact with her.

           Marinette eyed the still tied up boy… her brother. He no longer struggled against his bonds, just stared with an angry expression on his face. “I don’t want to be Batman,” She told him. “The title is all yours. I like being Ladybug. It’s a name I earned, worked hard for. A name I’m proud of and will not part with easily. Is that something you can understand?”

           He stared at her for a moment before nodding slowly, “You created your own hero persona to find the terror entrapping your city; all by yourself. …Father did the same.”

           He said the last part with a sad tone that Marinette’s new found big sisterly instincts go haywire. “And you think just because you’re his… partner,” She said, instead of sidekick because she was sure that word would get her killed. “And not a solo hero, that he will find you unworthy of being his heir.” Marinette sat down next to him, and patted his hair softly. “Did you ever think that because he is the one who’s training you, that because you fight by his side, that he’d trust you more? Trust you to take up his mantle in the way he can’t trust me. He doesn’t know what I’m capable of entirely. But he knows exactly what you can do because he taught you.”

           Her brother scoffed but his face lost some of its anger and he seemed to relax.

“I’m going to untie you now,” She told him. “Do not attack me.”

           When he was untied and given back his sword, which he sheathed, Marinette brought over the food. “You know my name,” She said after he took a bite a cookie and seemed pleased with it. “What’s yours?”

“Damian,” He answered. “Damian Al-Ghul Wayne. How did you obtained magical powers? And what is the creature that thought it could hide from me?”

           Marinette just blink. Because Dammit Tikki. The pink ball of fluff out with a chastised look on her face. Unfortunately that look meant nothing as all the other Kwami Marinette now protected as Guardian thought that meant they could come out to.

           Plagg straight to Damian and sat on his lap, “Cheese. Now.”

           Marinette face-palmed. The Kwami had taken trying to declare dominance ever since Ladybug took the ring back from Chat Noir.

           Damian could only stare at the being, animal, and sprite as he reached slowly for a piece of cheese from the selection of food and handed it the small creature. That was all the other Kwami needed to rush to him for attention. Damian was easily mesmerized by the little creatures and saw no issue in showing them affection. Apart from the fact that Oracle, and Father, and thus the rest of the family were watching the feed, through the mask, while they attempt to locate him. Damian could only disable their trackers for so long. Annoying as she was, Oracle was a genius.

“Okay, little brother,” Marinette shrugged. “You tell me your story. I’ll tell you mine.”

           And so they did. The two siblings spent the next few hours telling the other all about their history. Neither were happy.

           Marinette was beyond furious that her little brother was raised by ruthless assassins, cast into the role of Robin (though mostly by his own doing), constantly risked his life, and had little no childhood.

           Damian was pissed, which was putting it nicely. His beloved sister had no training when she was charged with the task of defending the city as the hero Ladybug and fight a supernatural terrorist, dealt with sexual harassment from her once trusted partner, then her master died in battle but not before he bestowed one of the most powerful magical artifacts of all time to a teenager. To top it all off, his sweet sister was being bullied by a pathological liar who turned all her friends against her, nearly got her expelled, leaving her with little to no Allies to aid her in her fight against evil. Marinette had cried at the end of her tale.

           …He was going burn Paris to the ground.

           Little did he know, the Batfamily found it hard not to agree as they watched the livestream from the Batplane?

           Dick had gone from jumping up and down at the sight of his adorable new sister, Marinette. She was a hero called Ladybug, how cute was that? To being rather angry at what she had to put up with. It was too much pressure for a kid, superhero, superpowers, or not.

“What do we do?” Tim asked.

           Batman was still having trouble processing. He had another daughter; a beautiful little girl who seemed to have taken after him without ever having known the man. Nature versus Nurture, he supposed; nature won. Marinette who had been fighting to save her city like he fought to save his. Who was her mother? Why didn’t she tell Bruce he had another child? Granted Brucie wasn’t who most people thought would be an ideal father but still… Hadn’t he proved himself?

“Find Hawkmoth,” Jason growled. “Punch a hole through his face. And Send Steph and Cass to have a “Talk”, he air quoted. “With that Lila chick. While we have a little talk of our own with Chat Noir. End of story.”

           Cass nodded, gleefully, that little girl would pay for what she did to Cassandra’s sister. And if she was lucky, Lila would even live to tell the tale.

           Stephanie was wondering if the Batfamily, her sort of-adopted family, could really get away with murder.

           …Who was she kidding? They totally could.

“We don’t… kill?” Batman said as he turned around and stalked away. “I’ll inform Alfred of the development.” Maybe have him prepare a room, he thought with hope. He’d like his daughter to visit and feel at home whenever she could.

           When Batman left the area, Tim looked around at his siblings, “Did that sound like a question to anyone else?”

           Marinette and Damian fell asleep next to each other, with the Kwami cuddled close. The next morning she woke not only to sound to the sound of the Kwami but to the sight of five additional vigilantes heroes, in addition to the one from the night before, hovering around her room.

           Two girls who were discussing with Trixx and long about their abilities. A hero in mostly black and red, who sat on Marinette’s top bunk with Marinette’s laptop on his lap, and Pollen on his shoulder. Damian still had Plagg with him, which Marinette wanted to tsk at because she told him not to play favorites. A blue, clearly the oldest, was laying on the floor playing with the remaining Kwami like they were puppies.

           She sat up in her bed and tried to wipe the sleep from her eyes. She glared at Damian, “Want to explain?”

“Mornin, sunshine,” A guy in a redmask said, with Barkk on his shoulder, as he chopped on a leftover cookie, not noticing the way Tikki glared at him. “Name’s Red Hood. Real name Jason. Dad’s downstairs talking to your parents.”

           Dad?

           She glared even harder at Damian. He shrugged, “Marinette, these are our… brothers and sisters.” He said. “They were adopted.”

“You should get better security on your computer,” The hero on her bed said. “Name’s Tim. I go by Red Robin.”

“Cassandra,” One the girl introduced. “Blackbat.”

“Stephanie. Batgirl,” The other said.

“I’m Dick!” The one on the floor laughed. “Nightwing. Welcome to the family.”

Tim continued, “I’ve located all personal information on Lila Rossi. I believe we can now move forward with the plan.”

Jason clapped his hands together, “Awesome. Operation: Get That Bitch is a go.”

Marinette just started at them. Six. She had six siblings. One for every year ever asked for a sibling for Christmas. She just had one thing to say as she tossed the covers back over her head to hide from the world…

“Fuck. Santa.”

           Finding out Bruce Wayne, cough Batman cough, was her father was one thing. Meeting him in person was another. He stared at her with cool blue eyes that made Marinette realize she probably should’ve questioned where she got her own long before.

           Her parents had been surprised when Bruce Wayne walked into their bakery and asked to speak with them alone. Even more so, when he claimed to be the biological father of their daughter. It had been long conversation between the three. But Bruce made it clear that he had interest of just taking Marinette from them. However, he would like visitations and for her to spend time with him over the summers. And to take her out for the day so she could meet her siblings. Also, about adding Wayne to her last name.

           So that was how Marinette found herself sitting in one of the most expensive restaurants in all of Paris, in the best dress she ever designed herself, with her… family.

           The initial awkwardness was broken up by all her siblings. Though they seemed to know to how to behave in public, they had no problems messing with each other and teasing.

“How long have you been into fashion, Marinette?” Bruce, her Papa, (As her dad would always be her dad).

           She smiled, “Since I was really little. It’s my dream to have my own line.”

           Bruce’s eyes got bright at the chance to help his daughter, “I can help you with that. I can drum up a connect or two, to get you started.”

“He’ll throw money at it until someone cracks,” Jason translated which cause Marinette to laugh and Bruce to glare.

Marinette discovered Damian had snuck Plagg with him to the restaurant.

           Marinette just groaned.

“You brought Tikki!” Damian defended.

“I’m the holder of her Miraculous,” She hissed back as low as she could. “Paris’s main and sometimes only hero. I need her.”

           Damian huffed, “That’s no reason he shouldn’t be allowed to attend as well. He’s with me.”

           Before Marinette could continue the arugment…

“Wayne?” Gabriel Agreste asked, tailed by Natalie, Adrien, Chloe, and Chloe’s parents: Audrey Bourgeois and André Bourgeois. “Bruce Wayne?”

           Bruce put on his most charming smile as he stood up, “Yes and you are?” He put out his hand.

           Gabriel shook it, clearly wondering why the billionaire was there. “Gabriel Agreste.”

           Bruce nodded, “The fashion designer.”

“This is my son Adrien,” Gabriel introduced. “My assistant Nathalie. My longtime friend Audrey Bourgeois, of the Style Queen, and André Bourgeois, mayor of Paris, and their lovely daughter. We’re here for a quick lunch.”

“Same,,” Bruce nodded. “I’m here with my children. My eldest Dick, followed by Jason, Cassandra, Stephanie, Tim, Marinette and my youngest Damian.” He introduced them.

           At the sound her name, all the newcomers eyes went to Marinette. She gave them a small wave, “Good to see you again.”

“Dupain-Cheng!” Chloe gasped.

           Damian growled, “Dupain-Cheng-Wayne.” As he glared passed her at the blond boy, the former Chat Noir.

           The blond girl was stunned, “How could you not tell me?”

           Hadn’t the two moved passed their difference and become friends? The two girls, and Kagami and united together when the liar seemed to take hold of the rest of the class.

“No one knew,” Marinette defended. I didn’t even know, she wanted to add. But they had discussed and agreed on the story that Bruce and an unknown woman gave up Marinette to the Dupain-Chengs when she was born. Nothing scandalous about it.

           Gabriel paused as he tried to think of what to say. How did he not know there was Wayne living in Paris, that his son was classmates with a Wayne. The girl had power in her pinky when she was still in Nappies, then either of the older Bourgeois had currently in their entire bodies. She would’ve been a much better playmate for his son than Chloe; the vapid, girl that she was.

           Audrey was thinking nearly the same thing. “Such a brilliant daughter you have, Brucie,” She smoozed. “I still can’t believe she turned down the internship I offered her. I want her to come to New York with me, you know?”

           Bruce beamed, “I’m glad someone sees her brilliance.”

           This went on for a while as each of the parents tried their hands at flattering the billionaire.  Bruce finally had enough and all but dismissed them

“I’m glad our children our such good friends,” Gabriel said finally as he turned to leave.

           Marinette fought he urge to scoff. Adrien was not her friend.

           The boy in question looked anywhere but at Marinette as he left. He had chosen to side with the other students when the Ice’d out Marinette until the girl stopped being a bully and being mean to Lila. Even if he knew it wasn’t true. Most declared they weren’t her friends anymore. Alya said she’d never be friends with Marinette again.

Coward, Damian nearly hissed. When they were gone, he turned to Marinette, “The blond girl is your alley, correct?” He asked. “Your Queen?”

           Marinette nodded, “There’s Luka and Kagami as well.”

“I will test to ensure they are worthy to fight at her side,” He declared.

           The others nodded. Bruce got a dark look on his face, “We all will.” He would not allow his daughter to suffer another Chat Noir.

           That was it, Marinette thought as she threw down the sliver napkin, she was starting to hate Christmas.

           The end of the weekend the entire world knew that Marinette was Bruce Wayne’s daughter. This made going to school Monday morning a huge spectacle as paparazzi crowded the outside the bakery and outside the school. Each one trying to get the attention of Wayne’s crown jewel, new Princess of Gotham, as the media dubbed her.

           Suffice to say, Bruce had taken her to school that day flagged by Dick and Tim as her other siblings combed the city for traces of Hawkmoth.

           The principle had practically fallen over himself to speak with the Bruce Wayne. But quickly hid in the shadows, when the first thing Bruce said to him was, “Ah, yes, you’re the man who expelled my daughter without a proper investigation. I’ll be talking to you later. So will my lawyers.”

           Marinette tried to hide her blushing face her father walked her to class. Students did everything they could to get a look at her. Chloe and Kagami waited outside her classroom, that was practically bursting with noise.

           However She practically drop dead when Tim complimented Kagami’s sword fighting skill and offered to duel her, and Kagami blushed. Blushed. Kagami?

           Marinette shook her head as she kissed her father and brothers goodbye. This world just didn’t make sense anymore.

           The two other girls flanked Marinette’s side as they walked into class. All noise stopped instantly. Marinette didn’t even bother spare the other kids a glance as the three took a seat in back of the class.

           Chloe quickly pulled her into a conversation of the places she’d see that summer in New York.

“I’ll be spending the end of Christmas break in Gotham too,” Marinette said shyly. “I’ll open my presents there. Papa wants me there for the Wayne Ball was I can be properly introduced to society.”

           And not because Bruce Wayne was scared of what Alfred would do if he didn’t get to mean his new granddaughter before the new year. That and Martha Kent were the ultimate overprotective grandparents.

“A Ball?” Lila squeaked, poorly concealed jealously on her face. She still couldn’t believe the little twit was Wayne. IF she had, Lila would’ve been a hell of a lot nicer. No wonder Marientte always knew when Lila was lying. She probably knew the celebrities through her father. “You’re going to the Waynes’ Annual New Year’s Ball.”

“Everyone goes,” Rose awe’d. “It’s basically a red carpet event. I watch every year. And Selena Gomez had the most beautiful dress on last time.”

           Juleka hummed in agreement, “Clara Nightingale looked like a princess.”

           Marinette just shrugged as each of her classmates offered their input on what the Ball would be like. She wasn’t about to make nice with them. They had turned their backs on her, betrayed her trust. Her brothers and sisters had warned her to be watchful for phony friends.

           Alya, who’s face had been turning steadily more red, as the classmates speculated who Marinette would meet. “Girl!” She burst. “How could not tell me?”

           Marinette raised a thin eyebrow, “We’re not friends, Alya, by your own declaration. I don’t believe I have to tell you anything. And even when we were friends, I only knew you for two years. Why would I tell a journalist anything important about me?”

“She was right not to,” Kagami stated, “With how quickly you all turned on her, I’m surprised she ever told you anything at all.”

           Alya flinched back as if slapped. So did a few other students.

“It’s not fair,” Alya continued as if nothing happened. “I could’ve gotten so many interviews. OH! I could with you to the Ball. It’ll be bomb.”

           The three girls in the backrow just stared at her.

“We. Are. Not. Friends,” Marinette repeated slowly. “Kagami and Chloe, and their families are invited because Kagami. And. Chloe. Are. My. Friends. In fact, my only friends in class. Luka is invited as well as well as his family,” She turned to Juleka who turned bright red. “Luka will receive invite tonight. If you attend with him, I will do my best to be polite. My father allowed me to invite them so I would have additional company if it gets too busy. The Ball is invitation only.”

           Allowed? He insisted. Marinette doesn’t even know how he found out all their names and who their families were. For reason, Marinette had the gut instinct to blame a redhead and Tim. Batman wanted to test his daughter’s team. And if they were lacking… Well, he’d promised to shape them up. Or else.

“I’m going to the Wayne Ball!” Chloe shouted. “And you didn’t tell me. It’s mere weeks away. I need a dress. I need to tell Mother.”

           Kagami had frozen. She knew well that the Wayne Ball wasn’t just any high society event. It was the High society event. Her family had never been elite and rich enough to receive an invitation. “I thank you for the invitation,” She bowed her head. “It will be a pleasure to attend.” She paused as she pulled out her phone and stood up. “I must also tell Mother.” And with, she quickly left the room.

           Which was much more polite than Chloe who called her mom then and there.

“Mama!” Chloe sang, “Marinette invited us to the Wayne Ball this year!”

“WHAT!” Was heard from the receiver.

           Marinette giggled. She ignored the glare Alya sent her.

           Rose grasped Juleka’s arm and jumped up and down. “You’re going to the ball. Ahhhh!” She screamed. “What will you wear? Your hair? You have to take pictures.” Rose suddenly reared back and took a deep breath. “You’re going to walk the red carpet.”

“You know, Marinette,” Lila smiled sweetly. “I would be honored to help you navigate the world of a celebrity. The ball will be so stressful. If you needed me there, I’d be happy to attend.”

“No, thank you,” Marinette said. “My siblings have promised to guide me through. It will be a bonding experience.”

           Lila forced a smile on her face, “Of course.” She fought the desire to scream and throw a tantrum. How could this happen?

           Adrien on the other hand fought to keep the smile on his face. His father would not be pleased. He had instructed Adrien to get close to Marinette, and thus the Wayne family. Adrien hadn’t had the courage to tell his father that they weren’t friends anymore. And that because of the lack of friendship, the Agreste were not invited to the party of the year.

           Marinette went to bed that day with a smile on her face. The Christmas season may have started off rocky but it would get better.

           Suddenly her phone started buzzing like it was on fire.

           The first text she read was from Chloe: You’re dating Roy Queen?!!!!

           Marinette’s entirely body froze. Who?

           Suddenly, she got another text… From Jason: Hey Baby Bats, I need a favor! Can you fake date my friend Roy. I already told everyone you guys were a thing. Bruce is freaking out! Thanks! Love you.

           Her mouth dropped, raged filled her entire body. And then she remembered how she joked with Alya that she wanted a boyfriend last year for Christmas last year.

“FUCK SANTA!”

[choco-glow]

Fall Like Rain On Sunday, Pt. 4

Steph stared at the gourmet waffle menu with a look bordering on worship, and Jason hid a smile behind his menu, eyes skimming the breakfast platters as his stomach reminded him that Pentabux at six am didn’t keep a belly full all day. He’d been planning to invite just Steph out on a special day…might as well call it a date, Todd, because it sure as hell is after those kisses earlier. God, I’ve been in love for months now, but tonight…He studied her adorably messy ponytail, all full curls as natural as his own, her gorgeous dress and the way it flowed over her amazing figure, those eyes so full of love and life and joy even after the hell she’d been through…the drill-scars on her arms and lower legs.

The scars had healed over enough that if she was moving, you barely saw them; she certainly didn’t care if his scarred ass saw them anymore, not after the last six months of training in shorts and a croptop in his warehouse sparring arena. After all, Jason’s own scars started on his forearms and lower legs too, and mapped out over his back and chest, with the edge of one just barely visible into his hairline on the back of his neck…We haven’t talked scars, but…well, maybe it’s the whole dead thing, or just a Narrows thing, or just…two people who get one another thing. But I don’t feel self-conscious with her, and I don’t think she feels too much with me. It’s…comforting, and falling in love with her? It’s just icing on the cake.

Jason hadn’t ever expected to really get married when he was a kid; it wasn’t important then. And when he became Robin, he was still young enough and naive enough to not care; he was Robin! He had Batman! He didn’t need anything else…

I need that now…and Jason hoped Steph might need it too. Might want it too. But that was hatching his chickens before he’d even gotten the eggs, so he flicked his eyes over the menu once again, and decided on the extra large breakfast platter, with waffles instead of pancakes and extra bacon.

“Jay, what are you ordering?” Steph murmured, still gazing in wonder at the varieties, and he smiled, setting his menu to the side and propping his head in one hand.

“I’m thinkin’ the big platter for me, with waffles and more bacon.”

“…oh god, that sounds good, but they have an amazing looking mixed berry waffle combo…” She showed him, looking dazzled by it, and he groaned a little.

“That looks great, babe…tell you what, you could get that, and we can share?” She brightened at that, and when their waiter came back over, Steph ordered with glee, making sure to get extra eggs too, and hash browns (and Jason didn’t mind at all, he was swooning at how cute she looked), then settled back, looking happy and sipping her coffee with a sigh. He sipped his too, relaxing at the rush of caffeine, and she gave him a shy smile. “Something on your mind, sweetheart?”

“…You?” He grinned at that, color high on his cheeks, and leaned over to kiss her, lingering and squeezing her free hand.

“Same here…I know we…haven’t talked in depth about dating, but…um…”

“Yes. Yes, a thousand times, yes…I can talk to you, and with you, and I…you make me feel loved and encouraged, and so damn happy, Jason.” He blushed at that, really blushed, because he had sincerely been trying his hardest to make her feel good about herself…after what Tim had done, and oh, Jason wanted to beat the fuck out of that annoying fuckin’ twerp, even still. But it was also in the little things, like how proud he was of her being a good mom to her baby, especially because she’d given the little girl up for adoption. How Steph worked on campus, did full college hours, and patrolled the Narrows with him every night. How she always made his heart leap with joy when she smiled at him.

“…I’m glad…” He murmured, then took a deep breath. “I wanted you to feel good, baby. I mean that. You…fuck, you’ve had to deal with so much, so so so much over the years…and you’re barely twenty-one, and it’s just utter bullshit that no one else has ever had a goddamn good word to say to you, except maybe Al and Dick.”

“And you.” Steph’s immediate response made him blush again, but he firmed his chin, nodding, even though that one hit him hard in the heart.

“…and me. Always me. I mean that. I…know I was a grumpy asshole the night we met…” She chuckled, and he felt a grin touch his lips again, because he remembered that night well, and the grumpy façade had dropped like a concrete boot in the bay when she’d suckerpunched Red Robin for ordering her about.

“Oh, I can forgive that, considering you weren’t grumpy for long.”

“Hell no, I wasn’t after that punch, I think I was equal parts horny and oh-god-marry-me.” Steph laughed at that, really laughed, her bright giggle filling the restaurant, and though Jason was sure this swanky place would get them glared at…people actually looked happy to see a young couple laughing and joking, and he felt a warmth settle over his whole being.

“He was being such an ass, and I know he was doing that to get a rise out of both of us…but, honestly, it felt good to tell him where to shove it and punch him in the nose. I was better off patrolling with you anyway, and I think that first night, even with all the awkwardness of getting to know one another’s tactics, was still better than my first night with B and Tim.” Jason laughed at that, deep in his chest, and leaned over to kiss her again, warm and hot and so so happy.

“…That’s the best compliment I’ve ever been paid, baby. Thank you.” Her eyes softened, and she raised the hands they’d entwined together, kissing his knuckles with a tenderness that took his breath away. He couldn’t remember anyone ever being so gentle with him…

“The best one I’ve ever gotten was the day you told me I was a better Robin than Tim.” She murmured, and Jason gently drew their hands back to his lips, kissing her knuckles this time. “You were so honest and pure about it…”

“It’s true.” She sucked in a breath now, eyes wide, and Jason kissed her wrist, eyes locked on hers. “You’re intuitive and smart, you’re an amazing detective…but you have something that Tim still hasn’t mastered. That even Damian has in spades, and that poor kid’s as fucked up as I am.”

“…what’s that…” She whispered, and Jason smiled, warm and real and happy.

“You’ve got a Robin’s kind heart.”

[delusionland]

STEPHCASS FOR THE MEME <3

PRE-RELATIONSHIP

How did they first meet?

here is my personal hc. tim told cass about a girl. he didn’t tell her anything about the girl, just that she was woefully unprepared to be a crimefighter... but also she was kinda cute, in a totally naive way (90s tim was kind of an asshole, never forget). cass couldn’t quite understand what he was saying while he showed her the batfile on her---the picture of the spoiler, etc. but she got his general tone and body language. cass then sought steph out. for nights. nights looking for the spoiler. when she found her---she tackled her, immediately engaged her in a fight. she went so, so easy on her. she just wanted to see what a cute girl was. and steph... was definitely a cute girl. at the time, cass couldn’t talk, couldn’t communicate with her. but she left her a gift. a nice knife that she had throw at her head---deliberately missing it, that was... especially ornate, and seemed shiny and valuable, and most of all purple to match her costume. pretty purple girls like pretty purple things, right?

What was their first impression of each other?

steph probably did not think well of cass, at first. after that first outing---the batfamily got involved. cass was to help steph with her fighting. steph was to help cass with her speech. without the mask on---steph could see how much cass enjoyed her company. it was hard not to realize she had a sense of humor about everything. the laughter she had exhibited on a still-baby-at-the-time spoiler screaming her head off about what she thought was some kind of demon-ninja batgirl was... genuine, and not malicious in the slightest. she seemed to want to be friends, and every time steph frowned at her, or was a sore loser, cass simply smiled and laughed harder, finding everything steph did perfectly amusing. as they got to know each other---cass got better at talking, and steph got better at fighting, and they kind of, met somewhere on the outer edges of the middle for a while. there was always something standing between them--though. a resentment, not between them, but a misunderstanding. that cass belonged to bruce and the bat. and steph belonged to tim.

Did any of their friends or family want them to get together?

i feel like conner kent at the very least shipped it. alfred really thought there was a spark between them, and during their brief frenemy stage---alfred made sure steph knew cass genuinely cared for her. bruce did NOT want them to get together at all, though. neither did tim, for obvious reasons.

Who felt romantic feelings first?

cass. it was love the first time steph managed to punch herin the face. did she win? no. but she GOT her. and through that tenacity, cass realized that her friend was so much more than a silly, pretty girl. she was a fighter. she was a champion. and more than anything, she was brave, and determined, and they had practiced a thousand times for just this moment. and afterwards, steph was just so proud of her overall failure instead of being herr typical loser.... cass couldnt help but know steph was always going to be the love of her life.

Did either of them try to resist their feelings?

they both did! didn’t want to ruin the friendship!

If you had told one of them that the other would be their soulmate, what would they think?

cass would get a curious look, steph wouldn’t believe you!

What would their lives be like if they had never met?

they would be a lot worse, a lot lonelier. steph never would’ve become batgirl, that’s for sure, and cass would’ve learned to speak---but in a way entirely removed from her own personality and love of herself & life.

GENERAL

Who initiated the relationship, and how did it go?

it was a mutual thing in ocean city, maryland. they were in a photo booth, sitting in eachother’s laps, leg over leg, they did a silly face, and then another silly face, and then their faces were so close---and then SMOOCH CITY, and they WOULD NOT LEAVE THE BOOTH lol.

Did they have an official first date? If so, what was it like?

they considered ocean city their first date. but they’re not really the ‘dating’ types. they both LOVE to fight. they both LOVE to crime fight. they both LOVE spending time together doing NOTHING. if anything, the first time cass had to go to a gala with her was the first time they realized---ugh, do we REALLY have to be WAYNES? do we really have to have REAL LIVES? why can’t we stay in our cuddle - asskicking bubble forever?

What was their first kiss like?

it was the most natural possible thing, and it was something they had both almost had so many times before that it was like drowning in sensation after you had subsisted off of gerbil-cage drips of water for years. they couldn’t stop! they were consumed with want, and they only stopped when they started to get a little TOO frisky and somebody moved the curtain of the booth because they wanted to get their own picture taken and they were like ‘fuck! okay lets get french fries!’ lol

Were they each other’s first anything (kiss, relationship, etc.)?

steph is cass’s first gf, and vice versa.

What’s their height difference? Age difference?

cass is 5′7″ JUST tall enough to be taller than her gf >: )

What’s their relationship with each other’s families?

cass will kill the puzzler or whatever the fuck his name is. he sucks. steph’s mom loves her tho :’ ) and well. the less said about bruce and steph the better, but like. your whole blog is proof of how much the rest of the batfam loves steph!

Who takes the lead in social situations?

they both are the ‘HAHA! THE ECONOMY!’ gif tbh.

Who gets jealous easier?

cass. steph is special cargo, the first girl / person she ever loved romantically, the first friend she ever had. however, cass has made it very publically known she wants threesomes with other hotties of multiple genders.

Who whispers inappropriate things in the other’s ear?

CASS CASS CASS.

LOVE

Who said “I love you” first?

steph, and she agonized over it, only for cass to say it so easily in a way cass didn’t think it would ever be easy for her to say. like steph is some magical fairy tale princess that lifts the curse on cass to never be able to express love the way love is supposed to be expressed. steph just makes things easy. she makes everything easy.

What are their primary love languages?

TOUCH. GAMES. QUALITY TIME. GIFTS.

Who uses cheesy pick-up lines?

they both do they’re TERRIBLE.

How often do they cuddle/engage in PDA?

batgirl and the black bat are forced on seperate patrols bc they do this so much and they HATE it and SNEAK OUT and kiss ANYWAY!

Who initiates kisses?

cass!

Who’s the big and little spoon?

cass is big spoon!

What are their favorite things to do together?

they really like watching wrestling and kung fu movies together i think. steph also likes girly movies, but cass gets bored after a while and just starts wrestling with her over the popcorn and then wrestling leads to hankypanky. most of all they love fighting and dancing AND PLAYING PRANKS on the bat boys.

Who’s better at comforting the other?

cass is.

Who’s more protective?

CASS IS.

Do they prefer verbal or physical affection?

physical affection.

What are some songs that apply to their relationship, in-universe or otherwise?

jenny - studio killers

What kind of nicknames do they call each other?

they both call each other batgirl affectionately, cass also learns new words to say girlfriend and sweetie all the time and uses those.

Who remembers the little things?

STEPH.

DOMESTIC LIFE

If they get married, who proposes?

they COMPETE to see who will do it first. they use the batcave to make sure the other isnt going to look for rings. and when they find the other one shopping for rings. its fucking GO-TIME BITCH. you’re not going to propose to me, i’m going to propose to you! when they pop out the boxes at the exact same time, cass steals the ring from steph’s hands and holds it up over her head and throws hers at steph’s head like ‘YOU HAVE TO MARRY ME FIRST. NO TAKEBACKSIES.’

What’s the wedding like? Who attends?

it’s a big wedding. cass loves, loves people. it’s a whos-who, especially since cass is gonna be batman and she has all the justice league contacts now. cass turns a bit into a bridezila, but like, as a joke, mostly, and she calms down when steph is like ‘i thought we could be more intimate...’ lol

How many kids do they have, if any? What are they like?

they adopt some bratty street kids that are tangentially related to joker / black mask / puzzler / lady shiva as a fuck you. they love their kids so much.

Do they have any pets?

so many cats. a million cats.

Who’s the stricter parent?

cass.

Who worries the most?

steph.

Who kills the bugs in the house?

cass.

How do they celebrate holidays?

they go to concerts!!!! big loud concerts where they can mosh!!!

Who’s more likely to convince the other to come back to sleep in the morning?

cass! no school! just cuddles!

Who’s the better cook?

steph. cass doesn’t know how to, and also refuses to, fry an egg.

Who likes to dance?

cass most of all!

[musubiki]

Dark Steph give us the forbidden aged up headcanons for Hop. How has our boy grown in your opinion?

OOOH yes....i love it...though my “aged up” hop is just 18 years old hop, 2 years after gloria becomes champion because thats a good age where i like to imagine all of their future adventures!!!

- hes a very good assistant to sonia!!! all his energy is redirected to productive activities and research so they get a lot done!!! sometimes sonia is really tired from work and hop volunteers to finish the reports so she can rest. 

- it was his idea to buy a lil speaker for the lab so they can listen to music while they work. 

- his dubwool helps him out around the lab like sonias yamper helps her!!!!

- buys coffee and a coffee maker for the lab....,,,he cant get enough wake up energy from sonias tea...,,

- is so energetic that he forgets to do basic things sometimes. he has a problem with putting the ladder back on the bookcase so sonia is always struggling to reach high books (sometimes leon grabs them for her when hes home)

- he still lives in postwick with his family!!! since he also helps out around the town with the wooloo heards and takes care of his mom/grandparents

- eventually he stops copying leon and finds his own flare!!! he makes and practices his own unique poses/ball throws/etc for battle!!! when gloria first sees him do it in a battle shes like im so proud of my boy..

- he does a lot of the field research!!! so sonia sends him out to do research around the region (also its a good lil excuse for him to see gloria a lot more often)

- gloria sometimes helps with research too!!! especially since shes known to be like the queen of dynamax battles, she goes with hop to the wild area and they just have a blast battling dynamax pokemon and exploring dens and making curry

- sonia built a dynamax band into her black bracelet thing 2.0!!! and hops the one that wears it now!!!!! 

- hop is always the one to battle gloria in the finals..it pisses bede off because bede is always the last leg before hop gets to gloria and he can NEVER BEAT HOP.....and everytime hop and gloria have a match shes so cute and excited like waving to him across the battlefield, and he just has this sheepish smile and gets all giddy

- hop has fans.......like a lot of fans.......after the first match against gloria right before she became champion he already had a tone of followers, but NOW hes more grown up and tall and handsome and a lot of girls just FAWN over him

- catch him in motostoke trying to get water samples and all these girls are just squealing asking for his autograph on his league card and like clinging to his arm, giving him their numbers, flirting with and/or trying to seduce him and hes just laughing nervously

- queue jealous gloria peering over from behind the nearby corner just sneering “What do those chicks think theyre DOING” and marnie is right next to her, disinterested, just patting her shoulder “There there, you're still his favorite.”

- hes a lot more confident in himself now!!! he doesnt worry about being strong or weak or letting anyone down!! he just enjoys his work and takes a lot of pride in it!!!

- he knew he liked helping pokemon but he like. REALLY likes helping pokemon. him and gloria always help up doing silly little side quests helping a kid find his lost pokemon, or busting some ex-rocket grunts that ended up in galar trying to steal pokemon or something

- despite his confidence hes a MESS when it comes to gloria. he loves her so much his heart can barely contain it when hes around her. when she drops by the lab as a surprise when she doesnt have anything else to do that day his heart FLIPS and starts stammering like “GLORIA!!!! H-hey I didn’t know you were coming hi!! Coming by!! Whats up hahahaa!!!” and sonia and leon just kinda look at each other and smirk

- once in a soft moment gloria lowkey poured her heart out a bit and told him how amazing she thinks he is and how happy she is that she met him, and the rest of the day hes fumbling everything. keeps dropping the water mugs everywhere. knocks over books. zoning out in the lab. sonias just “Hey uhhh why dont you take the rest of the day off?? Youve been working hard!!” in reality hes just. inadvertently making more work for them. go home hop.

- hes so head over heels for gloria. and shes more grown up too so shes....very beautiful....and hes like constantly sweating. 

- hop has a little bit of a jealous flare too. since gloria is so pretty and sweet and STRONG she gets a lot of fans and a lot of people trying to get a date. which he doesnt mind as much as he minds BEDE!!!!!!! gloria sees bede a lot since theyre both in the league and hop is.....agitated.....but glorias never chosen bede over hop in any situation so it eases his nerves a bit...

[ethelphantom]

Things a Pet Name Can Reveal

Scroll down to the end for the art btw, don’t miss it! Also, you’re getting pure fluffy humour again, you should consider yourselves lucky. Maribat March day 13, Pet Names. Also, this is your friendly reminder that yes, I can tag you to stuff if you ask me to do it. This month or all my Maribat content or a specific series... You decide.

Ao3

This is Maribat -- don’t like; don’t read

_________________________

So, maybe, looking back on it, Tim regretted wanting to come over to see how Marinette was doing. He really hadn’t wanted to see and know what he did now and while it wasn’t honestly that bad, he kind of wished he’d found out some other way. Such as, maybe someone actually telling him with words.

The only good thing about any of it was that he had knowledge about Marinette none of the others except for maybe Alfred and Cass had. Scratch that, the two of them definitely knew, but the rest.

Marinette had gotten commissioned by many big names in the movie industry, as well as by a lot of the Wayne Industries’ partners, and yeah, she was definitely drowning in them. Of course, she had wanted to take them all as they paid well, they were good publicity to her, and they were okay with waiting as they knew she had a ton of people wanting to commission her at the same time. Tim would have felt bad for talking so much about his favourite designer to them because he was proud of her and how far she’d come, but Marinette had said it was okay and that she greatly appreciated it.

That was why he decided he wanted to come over to see how she was doing, maybe help her if she needed take-out (because yeah, he couldn’t cook to save his life), coffee (because at least he knew how to brew actually good and strong coffee), or really, anything. She would only need to ask and say the word, and he would do whatever she asked.

As he got to the door, the one that had opened it had been Jason. Which, okay, he could understand, they were close and Jason was the reason the rest of them knew her in the first place, but it still surprised Tim. Jason hadn’t even blinked an eye and let him in. And told him were Marinette was. And was that dark turtleneck Marinette's design he was wearing?

Marinette was, as Jason had said, sitting at the kitchen table (okay, to be precise, she was sitting on top of it), biting her pencil as she had a sketchbook in her hands. Some of her hair fell on her face and shoulders though most of it had been pulled up in space buns to stay away from her eyes. She didn’t even notice Tim had come in.

There was a huge pot on the stove, and the smell hanging in the air was wonderful. It was possible Marinette was cooking — that would explain why she was in the kitchen instead of her study — but somehow Tim found that unlikely. Marinette wasn’t focusing on any clock, didn’t check the food even once, and looked a whole lot like she’d stayed in one place for the past hour or two. There were chopping boards and knives behind her, as well as a whole lot of still untouched vegetables.

Yeah, so it wasn’t her cooking. Then who…?

The answer came in the form of a six-foot man with a white streak in his hair and a scar splitting his lips. “You gonna eat, Timbo?” Jason asked, crossing the kitchen easily with large strides before getting to the food he started stirring. “We’ve got quinoa.” And, as an afterthought, he added, “And avocado, tomato, corn, tuna, carrot and a ton of spices.”

Only then did Marinette realise there was someone else in the room as well. She lifted her head, looked at Jason, and then turned to Tim. The smile that had appeared on her face when she saw Jason widened and she abandoned the sketchbook and the pencil on the table in favour of getting down to give Tim a hug. “Hi Tim, it’s wonderful to see you. Sorry I haven’t texted you or anything, I’ve just been so—”

“Busy, I know. It’s alright, I didn’t really expect anything less from you,” he replied laughing. “You’re you, and you’re like me, and neither of us really knows how to stop working. That’s why I came over as soon as I had finished the biggest projects going on at the WE. I wanted to see you and thought that I could maybe help, even if it’s only in the form of providing you with strong coffee or snacks or something.”

Marinette snorted and covered her mouth with her hand. The ring in her hand glimmered in the light and her eyes crinkled. It was only then that Tim noticed the dark circles around her eyes that were so easy to see now that he paid attention. When was the last time she’d slept?

Not that he really had any say in it, he didn’t remember the last time he’d slept more than four hours at once. The last week had gone cat napping so much Selina would be proud of him. Dick would be horrified and disappointed. Well, who cared about that, that man didn’t know how to eat anything but takeout and cereal, so he had no right to judge the rest of them. Absolutely no right.

...Honestly, Steph, Cass or Jason were probably the most stable of them at this point. Maybe Duke. It was, the least to say, disturbing.

“Well, I appreciate that. You still remember how to make that death coffee you made for me like, a year ago when I was drowning in schoolwork?”

“The one that would probably kill any normal person with the amount of caffeine it contains but that both of us crave for because of the sweet, sweet caffeine?”

“Yes, that one.”

“Definitely. Where’s your coffee and coffee grinder?”

Marinette pointed him to the direction — to the left, the topmost shelf, hidden where neither of them could actually reach. When Tim asked why, Marinette’s sharp response of “Guess once,” and pointed look at Jason had told him everything.

Which meant, he needed to either get Jason to give the things to him or climb.

His dignity wouldn’t let him ask for help with this (after all, it wasn’t a life or death situation, or even an actual mission or job they had, simply his own personal need to be able to do something without anyone’s help on the line), so he climbed.

Eventually, he managed to reach the things and set them on the kitchen counter, careful as to not damage either of them.

After that, the coffee was soon finished, and he set a cup of scalding hot coffee in front of Marinette, who inhaled the strong smell of coffee into her lungs and sighed with satisfaction. He was rather sure someone else had sighed as well, and when he turned around to look at Jason, his suspicions were confirmed. He shook his head and looked at Tim like he’d ruined something personal.

“I was tryna to keep her from coffee. Just like you should be kept away from it, Baby Bird. Neither of you needs it, especially not the amounts I know both of you are drinkin’. God.”

“Yeah, we do need it,” Marinette and Tim chorused, followed by, “It’s the liquid of the gods”, “You can’t stop us”, and “stay away from our fountain of fortune.”

Jason just pinched the bridge of his nose but refrained from saying anything more even though it was clear he wanted to. That was alright with Tim — he didn’t, contrary to popular belief, have a need to fight Jason over every single little thing. No, the one he had the need to do that was Damian, even if he got along with the little brat significantly better these days.

When it seemed Marinette didn’t need him to do anything anymore and just wanted to concentrate on her designs again, Tim took out his laptop and set to work alongside her, just on the chair instead of the table. After all, just because he didn’t have that much work to do didn’t mean he didn’t have any or a lot of work to do.

Later, he was alerted back to the real world from his work by Jason who informed him food was done. A quick glance at the clock told him it had been forty-six minutes since the last time he checked it, so a little bit after he started working.

Reluctantly, he put his laptop away and accepted the plate full of the quinoa thing — whatever Jason had done — that was set in front of him. Marinette didn’t even move.

“Sweet Cheeks, you’ve got to stop working on that design before you burn yourself out. At least eat something.”

Tim’s gaze literally snapped at Jason. Sweet Cheeks? What was even going on?

Marinette groaned and let her face fall into her hands, but she missed and hit the table instead. That must have hurt. Then she gave Jason the finger, somehow perfectly aware where in the room he was located. “See, you started off saying that as a joke to annoy me and now I think you got so used to it that you're saying it unironically, and it's getting to be a problem.”

Jason just raised his eyebrow. “Does it still annoy you, Sweet Cheeks?”

“Yes!”

“Then I fail to see the problem here.”

“You are an asshole, Jason. Asshole.”

“No shit. We’ve been married for, what, half a year and you’re only noticing now?”

Tim’s eyes widened and his mouth dropped open. He could not believe his ears. The fork in his hands falling to the floor, he finally got his brain to cooperate and asked, slowly, as to make sure he didn’t say something wrong and would actually be able to understand what was going on, “You’re what now?”

“We’re married, I just said so. You seriously didn’t know? I thought that out of all of the people B’s trained in his life, you would have been able to figure it out on your own.”

“And you — neither of you — thought to invite us to the wedding?”

“Nah. It kinda happened in the spur of the moment and well. I mean we did have a suit for me and a dress for her so maybe it wasn't that impulsively done but yeah. Forgot to tell you after that and then we started betting on who would notice and when.”

“Of course you did. I shouldn’t probably be surprised even, now should I?��

“No, no you shouldn’t.”

Marinette, that little shit, just laughed. Tim sighed.

“Well, congratulations, you two. I hate you both.”

“We love you too, Tim.”

The rest of the visit was spent discussing the hows, whens and whys of their relationship and marriage. It was cute, he supposed. He was most definitely sure that he was happy the two of them were happy together, though. They clearly deserved one another.

Also, it would be fun to see the rest of the family’s reactions because they told him that if they didn’t figure it out by the end of the month, the two of them would come over and tell them, in some way or another. Tim kind of hoped the family would not figure it out.

A week later, Marinette received a package that contained a card and a framed picture of herself and Jason, taken by Tim on the day he had visited. Under the picture, there was a quote from one of the few plays Tim knew for certain Jason favoured. What the card said was lost in the wonder that was the gift Tim had sent them.

“Soul meets soul on lovers’ lips.”

_________________

@kris-pines04​ @thethirdwheelfriend @daminett4life @abrx2002 @persephonebutkore​ @rebecarojas07 @corabeth11 @freshbark @maribat-march2020 @catsandfanfic @fertileleaf @eat0crow @cutechip

[pluckyredhead]

Pick your Super Son of choice: are their siblings/sibling-esque-family-members supportive, effective wingmen, or just getting in the way of the natural course of the relationship?

“Kon?” Jon called as he walked into the barn. “Are you in here?”

“In the hayloft!” Kon called out.

Jon floated up to the hayloft and found Kon and Kara waiting for him. Kon, standing up, looked proud of himself; Kara, sitting on a hay bale, looked resigned. Between them was a whiteboard propped up against another hay bale. Written in messy marker were the words “SO YOU’VE GOT A CRUSH ON A BAT.”

“What is this?” Jon asked.

Kara closed her eyes. “Run, Jon. Save yourself.”

“It’s the Superkid School of Love!” Kon said. “We figured that since we were all here in Smallville for Pa’s birthday, it was the perfect time to talk to you about that thing where you’re madly in love with Robin.”

“You figured,” Kara said.

Jon felt his face go hot. “I…what? I’m not…in love…who’s Robin?”

Kara winced. “Yikes.”

Kon pointed at Jon with a marker. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. You have no chill about this, little dude! Your pining is visible from space, and I’ve been to space! I know! You gotta get on top of this situation or you will bring down the cool factor of the entire family.”

“You once wore two belts at the same time,” Kara pointed out.

“And it was cool then,” Kon retorted. “Besides, we’re talking about Jon now, not me.”

Kara rolled her eyes. “Whatever.” She turned to Jon. “Look, this was his idea, I told him to leave you alone, but if you want to talk about this thing with Damian…we’re here.”

Jon bit his lip. A large part of him still wanted to tell them they were crazy and then go hide in the next county until the birthday cake was served. But he knew his cousins meant well, and it was awfully hard not having anyone to talk to about the way he felt. Normally he talked to Damian about important things, but…

He sat down on the hay bale next to Kara. “I like him so much,” he said, putting his face in his hands.

“Aw, buddy,” Kara said, patting his back.

“It’s not your fault. It’s Bats. They’re hot,” Kon said commiseratingly.

“So hot,” Kara agreed. “I mean, not Damian, he’s like six years old, but the others?”

“He’s seventeen,” Jon said, picking his head up and giving her an annoyed look.

“A child,” she said, waving Damian’s existence away dismissively. “I’m talking about, like, Steph.”

“Truly a babe,” Kon agreed. “And Tim?”

“So cute,” Kara said. “Jason? With the hair?”

“Who doesn’t love a bad boy? And Cass?”

“Cass, oh my god. And of course…Nightwing.”

“Nightwing.”

For a moment they both stared into space, presumably thinking lustful thoughts about Damian’s oldest brother. Jon wrinkled his nose.

“Nightwing’s old,” he said.

Kon shook his head. “You are an infant and know nothing,” he said.

“We’re getting off the subject,” Kara said. “The point is, Bats are hot but they are bad at feelings and worse at relationships. If you want anything to happen with Damian, you have to tell him. Explicitly. Hints don’t work.”

Kon crossed his arms. “Especially on Tim.”

Jon considered telling Damian that he liked him, and hiding in the next county didn’t seem nearly far enough. “What if he doesn’t like me back?”

“Then we will incinerate him with our heat vision,” Kara said sweetly.

Kon sat down on the other side of him. “Seriously, though? That weird little kid is crazy about you. He is not as sneaky as he thinks he is.”

“Tell him,” Kara said. “It’ll be fine.”

“And if it isn’t, heat vision,” Kon agreed.

“You’re not allowed to heat vision my best friend,” Jon said. “But…” He thought again about telling Damian he liked him. He thought about the possibility that Damian might like him back. “Yeah. I’ll talk to him. Maybe.”

“Yes! Way to be brave, little dude!” Kon said, ruffling his hair.

“Ugh, stop,” Jon said, pushing him off. “Now tell me why you wore two belts, because that sounds really stupid.”

Kara cracked up. Kon glowered. “I get no respect in this family.”

*

[On the Bat side of things: 

Dick has not realized Damian is old enough for romantic feelings because Damian is his baby.

Jason teases Damian mercilessly about his boyfriend but doesn’t realize how accurate that is.

Tim can’t figure out his own sexuality, much less anyone else’s.

Barbara could figure it out but doesn’t care enough to.

Cass 100% knows that Damian and Jon are in love with each other and thinks it’s very nice.

Steph also suspects and finds it adorable. She and Kara text about it a lot.

When Jon and Damian eventually get together they will be largely supportive but Jason and Tim will tease Damian a lot. Dick might cry.]

[sunflowerstache]

Falling pt.2

What do you do when the person you pictured your entire life with, suddenly seems to have fallen out of love with you?

Word count: 3.2k A/N: Hi y'all! We’re back with part 2 AND I'm really happy and excited with this piece! I can’t wait to hear what you think and I just really hope you enjoy! It’s not as action packed, but it is nearly as emotional... and yes, there will be a part 3(:

The beige walls in front of you had always brought you a sense of comfort. It wasn’t because of the trees hiding the inside from any prying eyes, or the welcoming, bright blue door, or even the best chicken avocado blt wrap you’d ever had. It was the simple idea of spending time with the love of your life within the four walls. The four walls that held too many memories count; the release date of Harry’s first album, when you told him about the job at Gucci you’d accepted, Bella explaining what she learned at school, plans for future photoshoots, and talks of the future. It was the kind of place that gave you the chance to experience normality - or the closest you’d ever come to it again. Inside the Beachwood Cafe, you got to just be the Styles family, not the Styles family.

But were you even that same family anymore?

How could you consider yourself the same when things had gone so horribly south since the last time you’d stepped through the door? When you hadn’t seen Harry in five days and that idea alone didn’t make you feel sick. Not once since you first met him, were you okay with being so far from him for more than a day. You always felt your body had a magnetic pull towards him and the second you seperated, it knew something was wrong. But not this time. The second you walked out of your front door, you didn’t feel that pull, that need to go back in and be near him. It was like the invisible string pulling the two of you closer together had been cut the second you saw that magazine cover.

However,  you didn’t just have yourself to think of. Long gone were the days that you could stay cuddled in bed all day and wallow in self pity, eating tubs of ice cream, and thinking about all the ways Harry had hurt you. Because the little hands on either side of your face every morning didn’t know what was going on. She didn’t know that the entire world was speculating if you and her father had split up, or that daddy wasn’t actually away for work. All she knew was that the two of you were having a girls vacation at Auntie Steph’s and she missed her dad.

“You can’t avoid him forever, babe.” It was late one night when Steph spoke up, the two of you watching your second film of the night, coated in blankets and a bowl of popcorn nestled between you.

“Steph -”

“You can’t and you know I’m right. You heard what Jeff -”

“Steph I don’t care. I can’t go and sit with him and pretend that he didn’t sit back and just accept that he slept with someone.”

Obviously you knew she was right, there was no way you could stay at her house forever and simply never see him again. Not only was it not logistical - considering your job and your shared daughter - but emotionally you weren’t strong enough for that. Before he was your other half, he was your best friend. He was someone who was always in your corner, ready to give you the pep talk you needed or make a stupid joke to make you laugh. After everything you’d been through, and as hurt as you were,, you knew that you couldn’t cut him out of your life completely.

“I’m not telling you to accept anything, Y/N. I’m telling you that you need to hear what he has to say, and you need to bring your daughter to see her father. What you do after that if up to you, and you know I’ll back you up whatever you decide to do.”

Cher Horowtiz had begun her debate on refugees while you listened to Steph talk some sense into you. Five days was the longest you’d spent apart since becoming a couple five years ago, and you knew in order to either move past this or move past him, you needed to see him.

“So what, I just ask him to meet up for lunch? Like we’re sixteen year olds going on a first date?”

“No, you ask him to meet up for lunch like you’re twenty five year olds who have a lot to discuss.”

Having only sent the message a few hours prior to when you wanted to meet with him,you were a bit surprised that Harry had immediately agreed to lunch. He was right in the middle of creating his second album and the hours of free time he had could almost be counted on one hand, so getting a response only seconds after initially asking was a bit of a shock to you.

Then again, you shouldn’t have been surprised; Harry was never one to put work over family. From day one, he made it extremely clear that he would drop everything if someone he cared about needed him. And you finally responding to him after so long, on top of saying his daughter needed him, was something you should have known would take precedence over whatever he had planned for the day.

“And I have to give him my drawing! You have it right mumma?” Bella’s sweet voice sounded over the bell above the door as you walked into the cafe. She had picked her own outfit to see Harry; a pair of dungarees and a white shirt, her hair tied up in two cute little space buns so that it wouldn’t get in her face all morning.

“Of course I do, love. He’s going to love it.”

There was no guessing as to where Harry would be waiting for the two of you, because it was the same table you’d been sitting at for years. Just to the left of the service counter, was a smaller, more private room filled with tables. It was separated by a large wooden entryway which opened up into the bright yellow room you’d grown to adore. And as soon as you shut the front door, there was no trouble finding him. His head was upright, clear he had snapped it up the moment he heard the bell ring, almost indicating that he had been there for some time and had done the same with everyone who entered before you, and he stared right at you.

“Daddy!” it was a soft shout, her being well aware of not drawing lots of attention to your family, and Bella quickly let go of your hand so she could run towards her father.

In an instant, Harry was at his sliding off of the bench and bending down so she could run right into his open arms. His stood in stark contrast to the yellow wall; a black bottom up and cream colored trousers adorned his body; a look that he had recently grown to love. It was a look that had the fans making comments that left the two of you in hysterics, but also leading them to recreate in their own fashion sense. And it was a look that he was happy and comfortable in, so you enjoyed it.

“Hello little love! I’ve missed you!” you heard him coo into the side of her head once you joined the pair. The room was oddly empty, leaving the three of you to have some sort of privacy while in the bustling business on a Monday afternoon.

“Missed you too, daddy! How was work?!”

The question caught the two of you off guard. Logically, you knew Harry had to have known you told Bella some sort of cover up as to why he wasn’t around, but the look in his eye informed you that he hadn’t even thought about it. His body had stiffened and eyes shot up to meet yours immediately, heartbreak seeping through his lashes.

“It was great, sweetheart.” he replied, pulling back so that he could pick her up. “But never as much fun as being with you.”

“Good. I don’t like when you leave, daddy.”

You swore, it was like the universe was out to make this lunch as painful for you as possible. There was no other reason for why today was the day your daughter decided to be the sappiest version of herself, or why Harry very clearly had tears in his eyes that weren’t noticeable by anyone but yourself.

“I don’t like it either. But doesn’t it make being together so much better?” his voice was thick, and if you had to hear one more second of it, you were going to explode into a puddle of your own tears.

“How about we get some food, huh?” you cleared you throat, earning a concerned look from Harry.  “Weren’t you just complaining to me in the car that you feel like you haven’t eaten in six years?” trying to make jokes with Bella to avoid having to talk to Harry wasn’t something you were proud of, but you just needed a few more minutes before you could talk with him like everything was fine. At least until Bella wasn’t paying attention.

“Six years? My god, we need to get some food in that belly then, huh?” Harry feigned shock as you sat down, his arms moving Bella to let him bring her torso up to his face, his cheeks expanding with air so that he could blow onto her belly.

“Daddy!”

“You’re going to vanish with no food! My baby’s starving, we need a grilled cheese stat or she’s going to disappear!”

The two of them together was like watching the sunrise; beautiful and warm. The bond that they shared was stronger than anything you could have ever expected, and hearing them giggle with one another was infectious, a smile spreading to your lips before you could even realize what was happening. But you couldn’t help it. They had so much love shared between them that it made every other problem in the world seem so insignificant.

“How’s Steph?” this time, his attention was pointed at you. The green in his eyes seemed to be glowing in the rays of sun that shined through the window. But that’s where the brightness ended. Unlike the last time you saw him, he had bags under his eyes and his forehead was home to the red bumps you hadn’t seen litter his skin in years. Clearly, this was not what the two of you wanted or needed to talk about, but getting past the awkward initial conversations and making the day comfortable for Bella was the first and foremost.

“She’s good. She has a meeting with some people in Hollywood next week, so she’s pretty excited to start expanding again.”

“Wow, good for her. She stopped by Jeff’s the other day, was having dinner with Cam I think, but she looked good.”

“Oh I - I didn’t know they were - well I should have figured though when she came back with Il Fornaio leftovers.”

“I don’t think it’s anything serious, but they’re funny. Both of ‘em are the weirdest people I’ve ever met so…”

As always, Steph had given you advice that you didn’t instantly regret, and you made a mental note to thank her once you got back to her house. Whether it was because of your mutual need to make sure Bella was none the wiser to what was really happening behind closed or how much you had grown to pretend nothing was wrong, lunch went perfectly. For hours, the three of you sat in the yellow room and enjoyed time as a family. You laughed at the nonsense Bella was spitting, reminiscing on how the last time you were seated at that exact table, you were getting ready to head to New York for the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as well as listening to Harry talk about what kinds of cities he would like to go to on his next tour - whenever he finished his new album. But just as you learned in the recent days, some things that are so unbelievably good, inevitably have their downfall.

“‘M tired, mumma.” Bella had managed to leave Harry’s iron grip after everyone finished eating, and found her spot in your arms; her arms wrapped about your neck while she complained into the soft spot where your shoulders and neck met. Because of your unplanned lunch, she missed her nap for the day, so it was a ticking time bomb until it caught up with her and she either passed out in your arms or had a complete meltdown inside the quiet cafe.

“I know, B. Gonna go back so you can have a cuddle with Mr. Jeff, yeah?”

“Mhm. And daddy will come too, right?”

With her head tucked and hidden in your shoulder, neither you or Harry worried about containing your looks of worry at her comment. Harry because he didn’t know where the situation stood and you because you knew she’d wake up without her dad there.

“Daddy’s really busy, love, so he has to go back to work. But he’ll be back soon.”

Realization spread across Harry’s face at your words, understanding what the meaning behind them truly was, and his gaze fell to where his hands held an empty coffee mug. It seemed that the two of you would make it the entire lunch without bringing dirty laundry up, but now that Bella was fully asleep in your lap, there was nothing holding you back. It was time to have the conversation you so deeply wanted to avoid.

“Harry -”

“I didn’t sleep with her.”

Just as you did some nights ago, he spit out the one thing that was plaguing his mind, unable to hold back the information he was dying to tell you. But if he was going to replay the night that started all of this, you would do the same. So, just as had made no shocked movements at your accusation, you didn’t act shocked at his admittance. Because you weren’t.

“Jeff has videos of me spending the night with him and Glenne. Alone.”

In fact, you knew he was going to tell you exactly that. But hearing it come from his mouth gave you some sense of relief. Because as much as you appreciated hearing it earlier, nothing could compare to hearing it from Harry directly.

“I know.”

“Y/N I swear I can show yo- you know?”

You had to admit, seeing the look of shock cross his face was something you didn’t know you needed. His eyebrows furrowed which caused his eyes to squint, and he simply stared at you, waiting for an answer. But you didn’t immediately do so, instead, you rubbed your hand over Bella’s back in attempt to keep her asleep despite your wild heartbeat.

“Jeff sent them to me a few days ago.”

“A few - a few days ago?” This was one of the reasons you had thought about having this meeting in private; the tone of his voice started to go up at your confession, which you knew would happen. He was someone who couldn’t contain himself when his emotions got the best of him. “And you didn’t think to tell me? You just let me think everything was crumbling while you knew the truth?”

You didn’t have to tell him what you were thinking, because the second he said those words, you knew he knew. That was almost exactly what you had accused him of days ago. Asked him how he could let you think your relationship was one way, when in reality, it was something completely different.

“I didn’t not tell you to spite you, Harry. I didn’t do it to make you feel the same way I did, because we aren’t sixteen and this isn’t just some fling I don’t care about ending.” you worked so hard the entire day to not show the emotions you had bubbling around inside of you. But just as every other time you’d been around Harry, there was no hiding them. He brought out the vulnerable side of you, and the tears couldn’t be kept at bay. “I love you so much, Harry. I don’t think I’ve ever cared about someone the way I do about you. And these last few days… I’ve missed you more than I ever thought possible.”

“So why are we doing this, Y/N? Why are you going back to Steph’s and why are we not fixing this?” his thick voice was pleading, reaching across the table to grab ahold of your free hand. “I didn’t sleep with her.”

“But you thought that you did, Harry. You thought that you had slept with someone else, and lied to me about it.”

“I didn’t lie! I told you that I didn’t know if I did, and that was the truth!”

“I know, but you lied to me every day after that night. You walked around every day thinking that you did something so horrible and vile that I would leave you if I ever found out, so you kept it from me. That’s what hurts, Harry. Not the girl or what you thought you did. The fact that you would rather lie to me than work together and find a solution.”

His mouth hung open and you realized that he had nothing left to say, because he knew you were right. Every minute of your relationship had been built on trust and knowing that you each had the other’s best interests at heart, so what did you have when those values seemed to dissolve?

“Don’t leave me.”

Three simple words made your entire facade crumble. In all five years you’d known the man in front of you, never had you heard him sound so small and scared. And it hurt to know that it was directed at you, but just as you did five days ago, you needed to do what was best for you.

“I’m not. Harry I don’t think I could ever. But I just need some time. A few more days, a month, I don’t know. I just need to get out of the mindset this whole situation put me in, and when I do, we can do this again. But that time, we can leave together.”

It wasn’t ideal and it wasn’t ever how you thought your relationship would go, but it was reality. Sometimes the things you hold dearest in life are tested and the only way to see the light at the end of the tunnel is to go through it. But you had faith in Harry. You had faith that no matter what happened while you apart, that you would find your way back to each other. Because there was no way, after five years together and five as friends, that you would lose each other. He was the one part of fame that you’re glad no one warned you about. The ride the two of you had taken wasn’t something you wanted to be one step ahead of, as living in the moment with him was the happiest you had ever, and will ever be. He was the brightness your life needed.

But that bright, happy, yellow room would forever be tainted with the day you walked away from Harry.