#dc secret santa 2019 | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

traya-sutton · 5 years

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Gotta Give it Up for Shakesy-P

Happy holidays @awhitehead17! I’m your secret santa lol, here’s your gift!

ao3

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“Quiet down now,” Ms. Prince ordered and the class fell into silence. The end of the period was near, and they were restless. “Your final project for Romeo and Juliet will be a performance piece. We’ll be doing an abridged version of the play in front of parents and friends two weeks from now.” This resulted in loud ‘Aww!’s from the class. Cassie wrapped her hand around Conner’s and squeezed, neck craning around the room. She was already picking who she wanted to do the project with. Conner wanted her or Roxy on in his group, but he could see Ray making eyes at him from across the room. It wasn’t that Conner didn’t like Ray, he just preferred to work with his friends.

“I’ve picked the scenes you will be performing,” Ms. Prince waved to the numbers written on the white board. There were three sets: an act number, a scene number, and a third number—almost of all which were between two and four, except for one which was six. “I have also written by the side of the scene how many people will be in each group. Groups will be picked randomly.” She said and pulled out a hat. This was met with another lament from the class. “After I pick your groups, huddle up and you can begin prepping for your piece for the last five minutes of class.”

Cassie sighed and dropped Conner’s hand. “Well, we tried.” He said with a shrug.

“I just hope I get a death scene.” Cassie said. Ms. Prince started calling out scenes and names but the attention span of the class was gone. Conner only half paid attention.

“Who would be your Juliet?” Conner teased.

“Huh? Oh!” Cassie’s eyes flickered to Cissie at the front of the room, leaning over Anita’s desk to mutter something to her. Then back to Conner, the tips of her ears pink. “I-I mean-any death scene will do. I’d love to be Mercutio.” Then Cassie grinned at Conner and waggled her eyebrows. “What about you, Romeo? Which would you like?”

“-ake. Conner Kent.” Conner’s jerked his head to look as Ms. Prince wrote names down next to scenes. She picked another out of the hat. “Jaime Reyes. Bart Allen.” He’d gotten the six-person scene: act one, scene five. “And Stephanie Brown. Since we’re doing an abridged version, you’ll be starting the scene at the entrance of Capulet, alright?”

Conner flipped to the scene in his copy of Romeo and Juliet, and scanned it. It was the scene where Romeo and Juliet met. He counted the characters and the number of people written on the board. There were too many characters in the scene, they’d probably have to double up. Ms. Prince moved on to the next group.

“Act one, scene five over here!” He heard someone call.

“You got a romance scene,” Cassie said, glancing at his book. She laughed. “Good luck.”

“Thanks,” Conner said sarcastically and she shot him a thumbs up as he headed over to where his group sat. Bart was with him, that was good. Conner liked Bart, even if he was a little much to be around sometimes. Plus, Bart was on the track team so Conner would see him in the locker room sometimes.

He knew Jaime vaguely. He was on the football team with Conner, but other than the fact that he liked science Conner knew nothing about him. La’gaan he knew was on the swim team. So they were a group of jocks, that would be fun. Conner would totally be able to get Romeo. There was a blonde he’d never met, but knew was a friend of the Waynes, and—Conner’s eyes fell on the last member of their group—a Wayne themselves. Well, fuck.

Tim Drake-Wayne. Tim was chewing on the end of a black pen as he read over the scene, completely ignoring everyone around him. Typical.

Conner was good at a lot of things. He was the best at most of them, in fact. Sure, he needed some help in math and science, but frankly, who didn’t. Plus, he was passing, which was good enough for him to not put in any extra effort. Almost anything Conner tried, really tried at, he was great at. Amazing, if one was being kind.

However, whatever Conner wasn’t good at Tim Drake-Wayne always seemed to be the one to excel. One step ahead whenever he was falling behind.

He knew that Wayne was on the debate team, Model UN, and the theater club. Oh, Conner realized, a theater nerd. This was going to be fun.

“Hi! I’m Steph! This is Tim. When are you guys free after school to work on this?” The blonde asked. She glanced at the clock. “We only have a few minutes before the end of the period.”

“Conner and I have football practice on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays after school, and Bart has track.” Jaime said, packing up his bag.

“I’ve got swim on Tuesdays.” La’gaan said.

“Well, that’s all the days of the week.” Steph said.

“What about after practice?”

“It ends around seven,” Jaime said chewing on his lower lip. “If someone drives me then I might be able to make it.”

Tim waved a hand. “Not a problem. How about tonight, Thursday, and then same time next week? It’ll only be for an hour or two at most.” He stood up, and pulled out of his phone. “Put your numbers in, I’ll make a group chat.” Bart took the phone first, fingers flying across the screen. Tim hadn’t even said ‘please.’

Kon bit his lower lip. Entitled brat. He took the phone without complaint though and put his number in. He passed the phone back to Tim just as the bell rang. “Awesome! See you guys later!” Steph hummed before grabbing Tim by the arm and pulling him out of the class.

Conner honestly had no idea what he expected when he checked his phone after football practice, but a message that simply said: Alfred is in a black car in front of the school wasn’t it.

“Who’s Alfred?” Jaime asked.

Conner shrugged. “Come on.”

They met Bart outside the school. Bart’s bag was gone, probably already in the car. He bounced up and down on his heels. “Dudes.” He said, waving his hands for emphasis. “You have to see this!” Then he sped off and Jaime and Conner exchanged a look before jogging after him.

Bart skidded to a stop in front of a Bentley. An honest to god Bentley.

“Ta-da!” He said, using Jazz Hands to add extra flourish.

A man who must have been in his seventies got out of the car and opened the door in the back for them. He had a British accent and wore a suit. Conner’s jaw dropped open. “You must be Master Tim’s classmates, Mister Allen was telling me you would be along soon.” Conner had known that the Waynes were like, stupid rich, but this was ridiculous.

Yeah, sure, the ‘black car’ in front of the school.

“Woah.” Jaime breathed. Conner agreed, but his exclamation would have been a little more on the inappropriate side.

“You’re Alfred?” Conner asked stupidly. Because… duh.

“That I am, sir.”

Conner, Jaime, and Bart slipped into the back seat. Alfred closed the door behind them and sat in the driver’s seat. “I believe we have one more friend of yours to pick up, yes? A Mister… La’gaan?”

“Yes, sir,” Conner said and shut his gaping mouth, because really Ma had raised his with better manners than that.

“What about Steph?” Bart asked, vibrating in the squishy seat beside Conner and Jaime. The kid seemed to be unable to sit still.

“Miss Brown is already at the Manor.” Alfred said and pulled out of the school parking lot. Conner’s phone dinged and he glanced at it.

Jaime

Alfred picked us up

Tim responded so quickly that Conner was shocked.

Tim

awesome

Steph

see you guys soon :peace sign:

They drop by La’gaan’s place to pick him up and because he’s last he gets the front seat next to Alfred. After that they head to the Waynes’ house. When Conner asked what the address of the house was he received an odd look in the rear-view mirror from Alfred.

“Dude,” Bart said, “it’s Stately Wayne Manor, that’s the address.” Well, then, Conner thought.

He wished Alfred had picked a larger car, he was crushed up against Jaime.

“We have arrived. Master Tim is waiting for you in the library,” he said, opening the door for them. He led them through the doors of the Manor and into the hallway.

Stately Wayne Manor was huge. Absolutely enormous. Conner’s mouth dropped open again against Ma’s better breeding, and he stared as Alfred directed them to the library. Bart was reading Wayne Manor’s Waynipedia page like stats for a weapon in a video game. “-and as for the library, that’s really a misnomer since Wayne Manor has four libraries, and three studies-”

La’gaan opened door to the library. Steph sat on the ground, her back resting against the coffee table. Tim sat across from her, his legs crossed on him. He was scribbling something in his copy of the play. Behind the coffee table was a mobile whiteboard.

“I leave you here, good sirs. Tell me when you are all finished.” Alfred said, and strode back the way they’d came.

Tim looked up when they came in. Steph grinned.

“Welcome!” She crowed. She waved them over.

Conner dropped his bags with the others by the door, digging out his book before heading over to the couch.

“Hi!” Bart sang. He sat on the floor next to her.

As soon as Conner sat on the couch, the cushions bowing under his weight, Tim jumped to his feet and around the table. He took a magnetic marker from the side of the whiteboard.

“Oh great, are we back at school?” La’gaan asked.

Tim gave La’gaan a condescending look and La’gaan flushed. Tim twirled the marker between his fingers. “Okay, I’m sure we’re all busy so let’s get started with parts.” Tim said.

Bossy.

Tim quickly scribbled out all the parts on the whiteboard—Capulet, Romeo, Juliet, Tybalt, Nurse, and Others.

“Others?” Jaime asked, flipping through his own book.

“There are three one line characters in the scene. Remember? Ms. Prince said that we’ll be skipping the first few lines to get to the plot of the scene.” Tim explained.

“Can I take those then?” Jaime asked. Everyone turned to look at him. “I’ve got stage-fright,” he said quietly.

“Sure,” Tim said. He wrote Jaime’s name down on the whiteboard.

“Can I be Tybalt?” Bart asked. “I can carry a sword.” He grinned.

“Sure, Bart is Tybalt. I’ll be Romeo-”

“Why do you get to be Romeo?” Conner asked.

Steph laughed and Tim gave Conner an odd look, like he thought that Conner was an idiot and was amused by him. “Conner, please.” Tim said.

“No, seriously! I’m big and strong, why can’t I be Romeo?”

“’Cuz Tim’s a theater nerd.” Bart argued.

Steph laughed again. “He is!”

Tim rolled his eyes. “I am not.”

“You are!” Steph grinned. “You’re totally a theater nerd!”

“I’m not.” Tim insisted, but his ears were pink. “But yeah, I should be Romeo because I act.”

Steph snickered to Bart, waving a hand daintily. She mimicked Tim’s voice and gave it a large drawl, “he acts.” Bart burst into giggles. Tim ignored them both.

“So? I look the part.” Conner said, bringing them back onto topic.

Tim turned to face him. He crossed his arms over his chest. He wore a black shirt and jeans that, each on their own, probably were worth more than Conner’s car. He was giving Conner that amused and condescending look again. “Come here,” he said.

“What?”

Steph whistled, looking like Christmas had come early. Her eyes flickered between them.

“Come here.” Tim insisted.

Conner stood. “Put down your book,” Tim said. He looked around the library for a second before he motioned to one of those ladders that roll around bookcases so people can reach high shelves. “Sit on the ladder.”

“On the ladder?”

“Just do it.” So Conner sat on the ladder.

Then Tim got down on one knee. Conner ignored the snickering of the others. Tim looked up at him and Conner raised an eyebrow. Was something… supposed to happen?

Then Tim looked up at him. The warm lights of the library illuminated his eyes, making their blue sparkle. Tim’s condescending expression melted, and he looked up at Conner. His eyes fluttered and he looked… awed.

Conner’s heart stuttered in his chest.

“But… soft… what light through yonder window breaks? It is the East, and Juliet is the sun,” Tim whispered. Conner swallowed thickly. Tim’s eyes flickered back and forth, staring at Conner. Through Conner. Taking him in, absorbing him.

“Arise, fair sun, and kill the envious moon/Who is already sick and pale with grief/That thou her maid art far more fair than she/” his voice had a quiet shock to it, chills went up Conner’s arms, “be not her maid, since she is envious/her vestal livery is but sick and green/and none but fools do wear it. Cast it off./It is my lad; O, it is my love! O that she knew she were!/She speaks, yet she says nothing. What of that?/Her eye discourses; I will answer it.” Tim clutched a hand to his heart, tearing his eyes away from Conner’s, as if it hurt to look away.

He looked embarrassed. “I am too bold; ‘tis not to me she speaks.” He turned to look up at the ceiling. “Two of the fairest stars in all the heaven/having some business, do entreat her eyes/to twinkle in their spheres ‘til they return/what if her eyes were there, they in her head?/The brightness of her cheek would shame those stars,” he sighed, leaning against the ladder, dramatically. He looked back up at Conner wistfully, “as daylight doth a lamp; her eyes in heaven/would through the airy region stream so bright/that birds would sing and think it were not night. See how she leans her cheek upon her hand!” Tim leaned closer to Conner and took his hand in his own. He pressed it close to his lips, as if he were going to kiss it. Tim’s breath tickled Conner’s fingers. He glanced up at Conner again, the words whispered. “O that I were a glove upon that hand, that I might touch that cheek.” He raised a hand, as if to brush it against Conner’s cheek. Tim’s lip quivered.

“That’s-” Conner couldn’t form any other word. There was nothing after ‘that.’

Then Tim stood and shrugged that sensitive facade off, and the asshole was back. “I’m Romeo.” He said simply. Bart began a loud, obnoxious slow clap, and Conner was rudely sucked back into the present, choking on his breath. He stumbled off the ladder.

Steph whooped. “Bravo! Bravo!” The other boys clapped also, though Conner wasn’t even sure if Jaime (who stared at Tim like he’d never seen him before, jaw slightly ajar) was conscious that he was.

“That’s-That’s not our scene.” Conner argued, but his argument fell on deaf ears. The boys stared at Tim with a new sense of awe.

I could do that, Conner thought angrily. Tim preened self-satisfied under the shocked reaction of the others in the group. I could do better than that!

Steph moved on, clearly no longer caring about Tim’s performance. Perhaps she saw it often. She swung her feet up onto the coffee table. “I call the nurse.”

“Why not Juliet?” La’gaan asked.

“Why should I be Juliet? Because I’m a girl?” Steph scoffed. “Capulet is obsessed with a blood feud, Tybalt is an idiot, Romeo and Juliet kill themselves rather than just move to a new city. The nurse is the only rational person in the play.”

“Well, I’m not going to be Juliet.” La’gaan grumbled. “I’m Capulet.”

Tim scribbled the parts down on the board. He turned to Conner. “That makes you Juliet, big guy. You okay with that?”

“My masculinity isn’t threatened.”

“Good thing, Juliet.” Tim said and wrote Conner’s name down.

“Wait! I want a shot.” Conner said stubbornly, arms crossed.

“Huh?” Tim asked mildly, picking up his play.

“You… auditioned for us, right now, to be Romeo. I want a callback.”

“To callback you have to audition first,” Tim corrected and Steph snorted.

“Nerd.”

Tim leveled a glare at her. “I hate you.”

“Give me a shot. I’m not a diva like you-”

Tim huffed, “I’m not a diva.”

“-But give me a week. We meet twice a week for two weeks until the performance, right? Give me a week, and I’ll prove to you that I can be a good Romeo.”

“Being Romeo is more than just being able to say a few poems. Our scene is iconic,” Tim snapped, he gesticulated widely as he spoke, “it’s where Romeo and Juliet meet! If our scene doesn’t land, the whole play means nothing.”

“Dude, it’s just a grade.” Jaime muttered.

“It’s our final project,” Tim said, crossing his arms. “You guys know that Ms. Prince used to do Greek plays and tragedies professionally, you get that right? She’ll have high expectations.”

“And I’ll get us that A,” Conner insisted. “Let me try.”

“I thought you didn’t mind playing Juliet.”

“I don’t.” Conner tried to copy the condescending look that seemed to be a favorite of Tim’s. “Do you?”

Tim’s eyes narrowed, but he didn’t take the bait.

It wasn’t a lie, either, Conner didn’t mind. Conner just hated that Tim was better at this than he was. He was Conner Kent. He could out act Tim Drake-Wayne. He knew he could, if he tried. It wasn’t like acting was that hard, right? So you lie, big deal. Anyone could do that. I could do better than that.

Tim’s lips twisted into something that had to be classified as a smirk, but it definitely looked more sinister. “I’m Romeo,” He said simply. He turned back to the whiteboard, Expo in hand.

“I’ll make it worth your while!” Conner said. Last ditch attempt.

“Please, you two,” Steph said, “get a room first.”

Conner made a rude gesture at her that she returned without a glance. Tim just rolled his eyes at her, but he turned back to Conner.

Conner had a foot in the door. He could feel victory in his hands. Conner Kent always got what he wanted.

“Oh?”

“If my Romeo makes you literally go ‘wow’ or ‘woah’ or something of the sort, or I get a majority of at least three,” Conner waved a hand at their other group members.

While La’gaan and Bart looked excited by the idea, Jaime groaned: “Leave me out of it, Ese.”

“-that agree that it was a ‘woah’ moment, I get to be Romeo.” Conner said.

“And when you fail miserably?” Tim asked, arms crossed.

Conner shrugged. He wasn’t going to lose, so whatever he bet was inconsequential. “I buy you a pizza.”

“I’m rich, Kent. I can buy myself a pizza store if I really wanted.”

Bart’s eyes lit up. “Really? Do it! Do it now!”

“I’m not buying a pizza store.” Tim said. Bart deflated, grumbling something to himself.

“Nice try. I give it a five out of ten, would have worked if Tim wasn’t like stupid rich,” Steph said.

“I don’t know, I could get you date with the head cheerleader.”

“Not interested.” Tim said, turning slowly back to the board. “So for theme-”

“Ooh, strike two. So close.”

“Wait!” What on Earth could be something Tim wanted? If it wasn’t money or food based, then all he had left were possibly embarrassing things. Conner watched as Tim tapped his foot, yes literally tapped his foot, against the floor gently, eyes fixed on Conner’s soul. Something embarrassing that would prove that Tim was better than Conner… he’d appreciate that. He was on debate, and members of the debate team always had to be right. “Uh, I’ll let you pick a scene, segment, or play for me to preform blind in front of the entire English class, and you can critique me.” Conner said.

“Ooh, playing on his ego. I like it.” Steph said, grinning. She turned back to Tim, who was still tapping his foot. “Rebuttal?”

Tim was quiet. His face blank.

“Well?” Conner prompted.

Tim brought an index finger up to his lip, tapping against it as he thought. “I’m processing...” Tim mused. “Hmm… Processing… Assessing risk… Weighing pros and cons...”

“Oooh, pros and cons list.” Steph nodded sagely. “He’s really thinking about it.”

“Alright, worth the risk. Proposition accepted.” Tim stuck out his hand, as if they were going to do a business deal.

Conner strode over and slapped his hand into Tim’s. He squeezed slightly, just to see how Tim would react. Conner carefully didn’t cry out when Tim squeezed back, damn was he stronger than Conner too? Now, Conner had the urge to arm wrestle him.

He… may have had some issues. But if it got him the part, who cared.

Tim turned back around to the whiteboard and Conner sat on the arm of the couch, and pulled out his book. La’gaan was giving him an amused look.

“What?”

La’gaan shook his head and laughed. “Just take ‘em out and measure, dude.” He snorted.

Tim said loudly: “anyway.”

“He’s right.” Steph hummed, winking at La’gaan. Bart gave her two thumbs up.

“Anyway,” Tim said, pulling their attention back to him, “theme. I was thinking something that isn’t classic, since almost everyone will be doing classic. I mean with-” and he continued to prattle on animatedly, but Conner was no longer listening. He was too busy studying Romeo’s lines, and daydreaming about how he was possibly going to up what Tim had just done to him. He had a lot of planning to do.

As Thursday drew nearer, Conner practiced and practiced and practiced. He knew his scene backwards and forwards, and was almost ready to be off book. In the showers after football practice, he’d practically sung his lines (much to Gar’s annoyance). For hours on Wednesday he’d sat in front of his mirror and worked on reciting the lines, making different faces while he did to see how they looked on him.

When Alfred swung by the school to pick Conner and Jaime up, Conner felt he had gotten much better. Maybe even Tim level by now, even if he still wasn’t settled on blocking for the scene. They’d decided on a modern view of Romeo and Juliet (but Tim had compromised on Bart’s/Tybalt’s sword). Tim had gone on a tirade about how having two boys be Romeo and Juliet could be a commentary on society or some shit… Conner honestly had been thinking more different reactions Tim would make after Conner blew him out of the water as Romeo. One where his smirking blue eyes would be wide with shock, or as pupil-blown as Conner knew his own were (despite how he really felt about Tim’s obnoxiousness) whenever Tim played Romeo. Or how maybe Tim would whisper ‘wow,’ and his hands would linger on Conner’s.

Maybe Conner would kiss him, the script called for it. Every time the kiss came up in the script during rehersal, Tim inconspicuously would find a way to skip that part. Conner would have been offended if he hadn’t been thinking in those moments about how much better Conner would be as a Romeo.

Who knew someone with such cutting expressions could be so soft?

Everything that Tim did as Romeo (and apparent director, it seemed, fuck he was bossy) Conner took mental notes on. It would have bothered him less though if Tim wasn’t doing the same—only Tim’s notes weren’t mental. He said them, aloud and self-importantly.

“It’s a poem, Kent,” Tim said. “Our lines are a sonnet. If you don’t say them in time, you miss half of the beauty of it.”

Then Tim proceeded to preform the entire conversation on his own, but all Conner could focus on was how good Tim was as Juliet. (And yeah, the poem thing when done right was really cool. Conner spent the rest of that meeting practicing his timing, because if they could pull that off for the play, they’d get an A straight off, even if everything else went wrong.)

“Wow,” Bart said as the boys sat in the car on the way back to their houses. “Tim is really bossy. Who would have thought?”

“Right?” La’gaan said. “I thought you would totally blow your lid,” he said to Conner. “I would.”

“He’s a theater kid, guys. Of course, he’s bossy when it comes to this project.”

“And it’s not like you help with that,” Jaime teased, nudging Conner’s shoulder, “you keep egging him on.”

“Whatever I do or say is an appropriate reaction to his pretentiousness.” Conner argued. Alfred pulled the car up to Ma and Pa’s and Conner opened the door.

“Oh? Is that what we’re calling it now?” Bart asked. Jaime and La’gaan shared a grin.

Conner didn’t get it. “What do you mean?”

The others shook their heads, exasperatedly. “Never mind, Juliet.” Jaime sighed. “See you tomorrow.” He closed the door behind Conner and the Bentley sped off.

Conner was invited four different times to the party at Wayne Manor on Friday night, and not once was by Tim (although one invitation was from a Wayne). Tim’s older sister invited Conner and the rest of Tim’s English class, as well as half the school. Cassie insisted that Conner went with her so she wouldn’t be going alone. Steph demanded that their English group come to make fun of Tim. And, as a football player, Conner was also invited by the Senor members of the team—whether or not any of them had a formal invitation, Conner wasn’t sure, but either way he counted it.

Friday night came, and Conner, as well as half the school, showed up at Stately Wayne Manor to trash it.

The party was much like any other party that Conner had gone to. There were those who went because their friends did, those who went to get wasted and out of their house, and those who weren’t invited but it was a party, so of course they were coming. Conner himself had no idea why there was a party, but when he finally arrived it was clearly well underway.

Cassie was called over as soon as the two of them passed the threshold by Cissie King-Jones. She shot Conner an apologetic look (with the volume of the music there was no way they could hear each other), and he waved her off and pointed to his teammates. He’d just hang out with them. She blew him a kiss and pushed through the crowd of teenagers.

After a game of beer pong that Conner, of course, slayed, he grabbed his second beer from the kitchen and headed upstairs. With all the extra practicing for the group project, plus other school work and sports training, Conner was lacking some sleep. Today, he hadn’t drunk anything other than Red Bull and the beers from the party. His head pounded, and the music was definitely going to give him a migraine. He couldn’t leave yet, it was still too early and Cassie was his ride anyway. Thank god she’d volunteered to be designated driver.

Conner realized, as he climbed the stairs and the thrumming of the music quieted, that he’d never been anywhere but the first floor of the manor. Wayne Manor loomed around him. The hallways were lined with paintings and sculptures. None of the rooms were labeled, and most were locked when he tried them.

Conner took a swig of his beer. It buzzed through him gently, easing the pounding in his head. Conner came to a fork in the halls and picked one at random. He continued walking.

The painting shouldn’t have surprised him or made him stop, because he knew, theoretically, that this house was probably full of old oil paintings like this. But, this one was different than the expensive landscapes and modernist art that had lined the halls before them. This painting was a family portrait.

Conner took another sip.

In it, Tim looked exactly like he did now, though perhaps a little younger—he was maybe fourteen. His younger siblings, or… the people Conner thought were Tim’s younger siblings with that weird amalgam of children in the Wayne family, clearly hadn’t been adopted yet. But his sister was. She slung her arm over Tim’s shoulder, positioned to his left. She was giving the painter a light closed-mouth smile. Between her and Tim stood an older man that had to be the Bruce Wayne himself.

Hmm… Conner mused, his unoccupied hand drifted up to run his fingers across the bottom of the frame. Bruce Wayne looked… different than Conner usually saw him online and in the pictures used in Lois’ articles. Softer. Less aloof. More like a father. Next to him, framing the other half of the picture was a young man who was definitely Dick Grayson. He rested one hand on Tim’s shoulder. One of Bruce’s arms slung across Dick’s shoulders. Both of them were giving smiles—Bruce’s looked like it was straight out of a stock photo. Dick’s was stupidly large, all encompassing and completely awe-inspiring. Looking at him, Conner felt a stupid grin spread across his own face.

But Tim wasn’t smiling at all.

Something about it made Conner clench his beer harder and take another sip.

Conner turned away, and continued along the hallway. He turned a corner and ran right into Stephanie Brown.

“Sorry.” Conner mumbled. “You alright?”

“Huh?” Steph asked, looking up at Conner. “Oh, hi Conner. Yeah,” she pulled her hair up into a purple scrunchie, “I’m fine. What’re you doing here?”

“It’s a party.”

“Uh, the party is downstairs.” Steph said, pointing down to the ground. Conner looked at his feet, as if he could see through the floor. Steph laughed. “But maybe you can help me with something else.”

“Oh?”

Steph hooked a finger behind her. “I’m going to have fun, but Tim’s being a party pooper and won’t come down. Convince him to loosen up a little, chill?” Steph asked. She patted Conner on the shoulder as if he’d already agreed, which Conner was pretty sure he hadn’t (and he wasn’t drunk yet, so saying things he wasn’t aware he was saying wasn’t a probability), then she skipped passed him.

Conner drank some more liquid courage, and turned the corner.

Tim’s door was open, and his room was empty, well, of people at least.

Conner surveyed the room. It was as large as Lois and Clark’s apartment in Metropolis. It was also a complete mess, clothes and books and video games scattered across the room. Huh. Who would have thought. Conner had a strange urge to check under Tim’s bed for porn, see if he was a real boy.

On Conner’s left he could see a half open bathroom door, and another door that was closed. Conner wasn’t sure if it was another room or a walk-in closet of some type. Other than that, what could it be?

A cold breeze drifted through the room. Conner’s cheeks burned from the booze in his veins.

Steph had said that Tim was in here, but it didn’t look like he was… unless… Conner walked over to the open window and poked his head out.

Tim Drake-Wayne sat on his roof, arms wrapped around his knees. He stared down at the ground below, which, Conner stood on his tiptoes, overlooked the parking lot. People danced and sang and hooted below.

“Hi there,” Conner said.

Tim turned his head. “What’re you doing here?”

“I was invited. You?”

Tim narrowed his eyes.

Now, there was the pretentious-robot Conner knew and hated.

Conner shakily climbed out onto the roof. He sat next to Tim and leaned forward a little to watch the buzzed teens below. “Learning normal teenage habits to imitate and then scoff at?” Conner asked. He took another sip and wobbled (less from the booze and more from the precarious position he sat in). Tim’s arm whipped out and grabbed Conner’s forearm to steady him. Conner flashed him a smile in thanks.

Tim dropped Conner’s arm and curled back up over his knees. “Did Steph send you? I’m not going down there.”

“How dare you! Of course not!” Conner paused, and Tim gave him that infuriating expression that clearly said he didn’t believe him. “I was enlisted after I had already left the party.”

Tim didn’t reply. Another breeze fluttered passed them and Conner watched Tim not move, not even shiver a little.

Perhaps robot wasn’t the right word. It needed something more pretentious, like a statue. One of those great, large pale Roman ones that were missing arms and you could see every sinew and muscle in, but were frozen in time.

Except, of course, that Tim was dressed.

“Aren’t you cold?” Conner asked, nodding to him.

Tim looked down at his clothes. He wore a black button up over slacks, like a true grown-up pretending to be a child. Tim shrugged.

“Are you?”

Conner shook his head. He drank some more beer. Tim’s eyes followed his hand, then went sharply back to people-watching. Conner shrugged off his leather jacket and held it out to Tim. Tim’s eyes flickered back to Conner, surprise cracking his cynical facade. Then his gaze fell to Conner’s chest.

“My eyes are up here.” Conner told him, waving the jacket in Tim’s direction.

In the dim light of the room and what drifted up from the parking lot below, he watched as Tim flushed. Or, Conner thought he was flushed. He wasn’t sure.

“Sorry.” Tim mumbled. “It’s just… your shirt.”

“What about it?”

Tim was definitely blushing now. “It’s… y’know. Cool.”

Conner wasn’t even sure what shirt he was wearing. He glanced down. It was a Wendy the Werewolf Stalker shirt with a picture of Seraph on it and a quote of his.

“You like Wendy? You?”

Tim frowned. “Why shouldn’t I? It’s fun.”

“It’s just… not… y’know.”

“What?” Tim quirked an eyebrow, and Conner got that feeling he got so often, like Tim was laughing at him.

“Stuck-up.”

Then Tim really did laugh. Or, chuckle, but that was close.

“No big soliloquies, and… I mean the deepest shit in there is the metaphor for growing up, which really is undercut by the episode where Wendy worked at a doggy day care that actually was for werewolves.”

Tim chuckled again. “Dog Days.” He said.

Conner was pleasantly surprised that Tim even knew the episode name. “Yeah.”

“Well,” Tim shrugged sheepishly, “you know all those speeches and analyses on Romeo and Juliet? They’re not mine.”

“They’re not?”

“No, they’re my brother’s, Jason. He gave me a rundown on the scene before you guys showed up, and that thing about a gay modern Romeo and Juliet, that’s all shit he lectured us on at dinner Wednesday night.”

Conner frowned, lip of the beer bottle halfway in his mouth. “Wait, is that why Steph couldn’t stop giggling?”

Tim laughed. Really, big, belly laugh. “Yeah.” He sighed, and leaned back against the roof, staring up at the sky. Conner lay back next to him. In Gotham there were no stars, barely even the two or three Conner got in Metropolis when he stayed with Clark and Lois. An airplane flew passed, blinking through the dusty clouds.

“I like… I like Wendy, and Enya, and video games. You know?” Tim said. “All this… Shakespeare and, I don’t know, honors English class and sweater-vests,”

“God, do you have sweater-vests?”

Tim ignored him, “and slacks and blazers and whatever. It’s not really me. It’s Tim Drake-Wayne. Not… Tim Drake.”

And for the first time, Conner realized that Tim didn’t used to be a Wayne. He was a… Drake, also. Whatever that was.

“Then why do you… do that?”

“Do what?”

“Treat everyone else like they’re below you. Lie. Be a pretentious asshole.” Conner’s tongue felt a little numb. He pulled his leather jacket into his lap.

Tim’s hand found his—his fingers were freezing and Conner winced, but didn’t pull away. Tim took Conner’s beer from him and brought it to his own lips, upending the bottle in his own mouth. Tim wiped the remnants from his lips with the back of his hand.

“Because it’s easy,” Tim said. He burped and Conner snickered even though it wasn’t very funny. His head was pounding again. “Because I’m good at it.”

“You’re not that good-” Conner tried to argue, but he knew that it was just macho posturing. That was what Conner was good at, what propelled him through his days, being better than everyone else.

“Conner, please.”

“Yeah,” Conner agreed. “So… that’s why you act? Because it’s easy?”

Tim shrugged. “Yeah. Pretty much. Why? Why do you do it?”

Conner shrugged also. “I don’t know. Because I want to beat you.”

“Really?”

“Well, yeah. I mean, nothing against you, it’s just that, you know, I’m Conner Kent.”

“Oh, I’m aware.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“Nothing, just-you know.” Tim’s voice got quieter. He waved a hand vaguely. “You’re Conner Kent. Quarterback of the football team, popular kid, Ultimate Jock, part of Model U.N. and…” Tim’s voice trailed off. “just the Best at Everything.” Neither of them said anything and then Tim added, almost whispered: “I didn’t get mad at you calling me pretentious, you can’t get mad at me for this.”

Conner snorted, but didn’t say anything else. He turned. Tim stared up at the sky, watching the dusky clouds drift slowly across the night. His eyes were dark in the dim light, but his skin was ghostly pale. Conner sat up and reached to pull off his shirt. Tim watched curiously, giving him that so hated Look.

Conner wondered if Tim even knew he was doing it.

“Ask me to dinner first, why don’t you?”

Conner handed it over to Tim, immediately realizing what a stupid idea it was. It was freezing outside, and Conner’s nipples seemed to be trying to make sure that Tim knew that. Conner pulled his leather jacket back over his shoulders. “It’s for you.”

“Gross.” Tim said.

Conner rolled his eyes. He was already this far in. “You know, so you don’t have to lie, you know, if you don’t want.”

Tim snorted. “Are you drunk?”

“No, I’m just being dramatic.” And stupid. This was really dumb.

Tim laughed. He took the shirt from Conner, curling his hands in it, running his thumb over the faded image on the front. “Gross.” He repeated, but he didn’t hand it back. Instead, he looked at Conner, in that same assessing way he had when he’d agreed to the stupid Romeo bet. “You should probably head home. Do you have a designated driver?”

“Yeah, no need to call the butler.”

Tim wrinkled his nose, but he didn’t reply to that, “who?”

“Cassie Sandsmark. You know her?”

“Kick-boxer? Blonde,” Tim sat up and tapped a finger against his lower lip. “Yeah, she has a mean right hook.”

“Mean right hook?”

“We do Krav Maga together.”

Of course, Tim did. “Do you have a black belt in that?”

Tim gave him the Look. “You don’t get black belts in Krav Maga, but… yeah, essentially, something like that.” Conner laughed sardonically. Of course.

“Steph totally has a thing for her.” Tim added.

“Steph? I thought, you two were… you know.” Conner wasn’t quite sure how to say it so he crossed his fingers.

Tim snickered. Conner felt himself flush and Tim laughed harder. So that wasn’t so bad. “Nah, she’s more of a Juliet girl, if you know what I mean.”

“Ah… If it matters, Cassie is too.”

Tim didn’t look surprised but he smiled back. “I’ll let her know. In a slightly less tragic metaphor.”

Conner shook his head. A breeze blew by, but he wasn’t very cold anymore. He zipped up the leather jacket, his cheeks burning.

“What about you?” Tim asked.

“Huh?”

“Romeo or Juliet?”

Conner wasn’t sure if he was blushing, but he felt like he was. He shrugged it off, like it was just the booze and cold. “Romeo. You?”

“A little bit of both.” Tim murmured. His eyes, lit by the little light of the his bedroom. Blue, a vibrant, violent, piercing blue.

“Uh. Yeah.” Something came back to him. “Uh, speaking of which, I um, I mean I came in here in the first place because Steph told me to convince you to come down to the party. I-I should probably be heading back down, anyway.”

“Right. Yeah.” Tim shook his head, and coughed. “Yeah, definitely. And,” Tim waved the empty beer bottle at Conner, “to get a refill.”

“Yeah, maybe,” Conner said, but, he thought as he headed back out of the room, he had probably had enough.

Conner was halfway down the hall when he realized Tim hadn’t come out with him. He went back and poked his head into Tim’s bedroom. “You coming?” He asked.

Tim grinned. “Yeah, let’s go.” He walked passed Conner and out of his room, and Conner stared at him. Or, more accurately, stared at his shirt as it hung from Tim’s shoulders, a little bit too big, but not hugely. Almost, just almost, an okay fit.

Monday came too fast, or maybe not really fast enough. Ma and Pa didn’t ask about the shirt which disappeared before the weekend. Conner wasn’t sure if they noticed. But he didn’t bring it up, just in case.

The ride over to Tim’s house was a lot quieter than Conner remembered the other two being. He knew that Bart was pointedly not mentioning the… upcoming audition. Jaime and La’gaan kept up the conversation expertly. Conner was sure they were in on it, too. It was nice of them. He felt weird. Conner usually wasn’t worried about these types of things, but right now he couldn’t stop his hands from sweating. There was a rush in his ears. Every sound and touch grated on his nerves. Conner was anxious. He really wanted this to be good. He really wanted to impress Tim. Or beat him. Whatever.

Alfred finally pulled up to the Manor and Conner and the others went to the library to meet Steph and Tim. Conner was the last through the door, and subsequently the last to see that their group weren’t the only ones in the room. Tim’s sister sat on the couch, munching merrily on popcorn which resided in an enormous bowl on her lap. Steph sat next to her, shoes kicked off and purple socked feet intertwined with the sister’s (why couldn’t Conner remember her name…?). She dug her hand into the bowl of popcorn and shoved it into her mouth.

“Connermph!” She called around her food. She swallowed noisily and Bart sat down on the other side of the sister, popping some popcorn in his mouth. “Ready?”

“You clearly are.” Conner nodded to them, pointedly.

The sister grinned. “I wanted to see,” She said gleefully. Tim stuck his tongue out at her, and she just grinned back.

“Do it, do it, do it.” Bart chanted. La’gaan, Steph, and the sister picked it up too. Conner shrugged off his bag and placed it by the table.

“Guys, cut it out,” Tim said to no avail. “Sorry, Conner.”

Conner shrugged. “Fine, just chill a sec, okay?” He called to them, which was met with cheers from La’gaan. Bart pulled out a glittery handmade sign that said GO CONNER! on it and was filled with tons of Valentine’s day stickers.

Conner must have given him a strange look because Bart shrugged and said by way of explantion, “there wasn’t really anything Romeo and Juliet themed for some reason. This was as close as I could get.”

“Perhaps because they die at the end of the play,” Tim said wryly. Bart took this idea under consideration.

The sister’s eyes widened and she gasped. “They do?”

“Oh, sorry Cass. Yeah, they die.” Tim said.

“Did you really not know that?” Conner asked, surprised.

Cass—right! That was the sister’s name! How could Conner have forgotten that?—shook her head. “I’ve never seen it before.” She said. Steph bet over and whispered something to her. Cass nodded solemnly.

Tim took Conner by the arm. “Do you really want to do this?”

“What? Nervous?” Conner gave Tim what Conner knew was a shit-eating grin.

“Please,” Tim gave him that Look.

That was all the boost Conner needed, all his anxiety was gone now, only the overwhelming urge to wipe that look off Tim’s face remained.

“Alright. I’m going to need you to follow my lead.” Conner said. “Think you can do that? Just ‘yes, and.’”

“Yes, and,” Tim repeated dutifully in a totally infuriating tone.

Conner whispered the blocking into Tim’s ear, ignoring the looks they were getting from the others. Tim thought for a minute, processed, and then nodded. “Let’s go.” Tim said, and got into his place.

Conner cleared his throat, and looked up at Tim. Tim Drake-Wayne. Juliet.

Juliet, who stood there in all her beauty. Juliet, who Romeo desperately wanted to get into the pants of.

Tim stood with his back to Conner and Conner placed his hand gently on Tim’s shoulder before turning him around. “If I profane with my unworthiest hand/this holy shrine, the gentle sin is this/” he leaned closer to Tim, brushing his other hand over Tim’s cheekbone. Tim’s brilliant blue eyes went wide, and an innocent look spread across his features. “my lips, two blushing pilgrims, ready stand/to smooth that rough touch with a tender kiss.” Conner leaned in and watched Tim’s patented Look crawl onto his face.

Tim pulled back, smirking. He shrugged Conner away, and Conner made it hurt himself. Made his features twist into those of pain. Made that sharp tug in his belly.

It was for the act.

“Good pilgrim, you do wrong your hand too much/” Tim shrugged, looking back at Conner with a wicked grin that ruined his Look, but also made it so much better, “which mannerly devotion shows in this:/for saints have hands that pilgrims’ hands do touch/” Tim took Conner’s hand that had touched his cheek, running his own fingers through Conner’s. Conner caught his breath. “And palm to palm is holy palmers’ kiss.” Then Tim dropped it and crossed his arms.

“Have not saints lips, and holy palmers too?” Conner asked with a shrug, reaching out for Tim yet again, but Tim pulled away. ‘Yes, and.’

“Ay, pilgrim,” Tim teased, tapping against Conner’s mouth gently, “lips that they must use in pray’r.” Then he turned, as if that was the end of the conversation.

Conner grinned and caught Tim’s own hand, which flew out as he turned flamboyantly. He brought it to his face, in a mockery of what Tim had done during his own audition, just millimeters away from his lips. Tim’s fingers twitched in his own. Conner looked up at him through his lashes.

“O then, dear saint,” he fell to one knee before Tim, keeping Tim’s hand in his own, “let lips do what hands do/” Tim took his hand away with a snort, blue eyes electric. “They pray—grant thou, lest faith turn to despair.”

Tim took Conner’s offered hand, up to his Juliet as if in worship, and pulled Conner to his feet. “Saints do not move, though grant for prayers’ sake.”

But when he turned away yet again, Conner seized his chance and pulled him in close, almost in a twirl. Until they were chest to chest, faces just inches away from one another. Tim was breathing heavily.

“Then move not while my prayer’s effect I take/Thus from my lips, by thine, my sin is purg’d.” And with that, Conner closed the distance between them and kissed Tim. It was a chaste kiss, an easy one. Gently pressing lips together, more a tease than anything else. Then he let Tim fall away.

Hungry, electric blue eyes stared into his soul as Tim took a step back. His hand drifted to his mouth. “Then…” he paused for a moment, “have my lips the sin that they have took.”

Conner grinned at him, and Tim’s pupils blew a little wider. ‘Yes, and,’ huh? Tim said that acting—lying—was easy, that was why he did it. Conner didn’t know about easy, but it was certainly fun. “Sin from my lips? O trespass sweetly urg’d!/” He reeled Tim back in until they were once against close enough to feel each other breathe. “Give me my sin again.”

Conner kissed Tim again. A real, hard, hungry kiss. One Romeo would have given Juliet. Then he stopped and leaned back, over-exaggerating the heaving of his chest. Tim did the same, those eyes never leaving Conner’s.

Conner waited. Tim’s hand clenched Conner’s shirt, and Tim swallowed thickly.

“Line?” Conner prompted him.

Tim blinked. “Huh?”

“Tim. It’s your line.”

Those blue eyes confused and… Tim shook his head and backed away. “Uh...” Tim bit his lower lip, usually pale skin pink. “You…uh… You…” Tim shook his head again, “Bart?”

“What?” Bart’s voice rasped, uncharacteristically.

“Line, Bart.”

Bart scrambled for his play but Conner knew the line, since usually it was his.

“You kiss by th’ book.” Conner told Tim.

“You kiss by th’ book.” Tim repeated dully. There was a crushing silence and Tim ran his fingers through his hair. Conner knew everyone was staring at Tim. Cass, Steph, and Bart’s munching had stopped. Had probably been stopped for a while, Conner realized. He hadn’t even noticed, he’d been too absorbed in the scene. Conner shot a glance at them. The others, all of them, sat with their mouths open. Gaping at Conner and Tim.

What the fuck was wrong with Tim?

Tim whirled on Conner. The electricity came back to those piercing blue eyes and he pointed accusingly at Conner. “You cannot do that in front of our parents.” He said, voice shaky.

Conner wasn’t sure what he’d done.

La’gaan was the next to speak. “Well, I’m gonna say that you won, Conner. That’s… totally a wow scene.”

Jaime swore in Spanish.

Conner glanced back at them (mainly because the longer he stared at Tim the hotter he felt his cheeks becoming) and saw that Bart held a notebook over his head which was decorating in glitter gel ink: WOW.

Wait, did that mean-? Had Conner won?

“So… do I get to be Romeo?”

Tim began laughing a little bit hysterically, and then everyone was. Even Conner, though he wasn’t really sure why. “Yeah, sure, why not,” Tim said, but his voice and face slipped back to normal (infuriating). He gave Conner a pink-cheeked grin. “But we’re definitely working on the blocking for that scene.”

“What? You don’t want Conner to jump you in the middle of the play?” Steph giggled. Tim rolled his eyes at her, but Steph hopped to her feet and slid across the room in her socks.

“I wasn’t-”

“Dude, it was like, I know you’re Romeo and Juliet but get a room.” Bart agreed.

A blush rose in Conner’s cheeks. “I wasn’t-!”

But Tim ended the conversation with a snort and a shake of his head as he shifted into director mode. “Alright everyone, places. Let’s take it from the top.”

Ma was way more excited for the play than Conner was. He picked up his phone after football practice and was greeted with seven different messages that seemed to be a bunch of cancellations and ramblings. Ma wanted to know if she should bring a pie for a treat. Would he be hungry between practice and the play, after all they had about a thirty minute wait between. What foods were best for actors? Should she bring him a present for after he was done? Never mind, Conner, Pa had figured it all out. Ignore everything she’d sent. She would see him soon, and she loved him.

Tim was waiting in the locker room when Conner and Jaime made it out of the showers. He was curled up on the metal locker room bench, texting on his phone. He held their costumes in his hands and tossed the clothes to them. “Ms. Prince wants to do one more rehearsal before the parents get here.” He told them. “Also, film club is filming it for some school… spirit… yearbook… something, I don’t know. But, you’ll both need make-up for camera.”

Jaime groaned and pulled his costume on. His was the least inconspicuous of everyone else’s since he would be playing a handful of characters.

To separate between Capulets and Montagues they’d decided that they would have them wear different colored clothes. All Capulets wore red and black, and Montagues wore red, yellow, and blue. (Tim had said something about how the two reds would be symbolism of how similar the two families were despite their perceived differences, which Steph had giggled the entire way through. Conner couldn’t stifle his own laughter now that he knew that the clothes were probably Jason’s idea.)

Tim did Jaime and Conner’s make-up—simple blush so they would show up on camera and eyeliner and mascara. Then they were off.

Conner was shocked by how smooth the play went considering how anxious Ms. Prince was. Conner and his group were the second scene up, since they were doing an abridged version. It went flawlessly. Jaime didn’t forget any of his lines, Bart didn’t hurt anyone when he swung around his sword flamboyantly. La’gaan was regal and serious for once. Conner was pretty seductive if he said so himself. He didn’t kiss Tim on the lips, they’d decided to trade the kisses for a kiss on the hand (which really didn’t make sense with the script but, Conner supposed, they were being censored by the school and strictly ironic PG rating for the kids in the audience), and another on the cheek. Then came Steph’s act as the nurse, and her foreboding warning which she delivered perfectly.

The rest of the play went pretty well. Cassie’s death scene as Mercutio was touching, and Courtney and Maxine as the final Romeo and Juliet were stunning. The balcony could have been done better, Conner thought though when that group went up. Tim had been a much more convincing love-struck Romeo for sure.

After the play was over, Ma and Pa came running up to Conner to congratulate him. He was shocked to see Clark and Lois behind them, their son wasn’t with them though. Clark beamed, but let Ma do the gushing.

“That was fabulous, Conner! Very realistic!” She insisted. She had six de-thorned roses in her arms (that Conner knew were from her own garden) wrapped in a red ribbon. She undid the ribbon and handed one to Conner.

Conner felt himself turn red. “Aw, Ma...”

“You deserve it, young man!” Pa said curtly. Ma stood on her tiptoes to see over the crowds of other parents.

“Where are your castmates? I picked one for everyone!” Ma said.

Conner frowned. After the play had ended, the class had been rushed by parents and friends. He wasn’t sure. He spotted Bart and his Uncle Max over by the stage. “Over there.” Conner said pointing.

Ma handed a couple of roses to Conner. “Here, honey. Would you mind helping me hand them out?”

Conner smiled. “Sure thing, Ma.” He stuck his own behind his ear. “I’ll meet up with you guys in a little?” He asked Clark and Lois. Maybe he was being too hopeful.

“Of course, Stud.” Lois grinned, bumping his shoulder with hers. They were level in height now. “We’re taking you to dinner. Jon’s sorry he couldn’t make it, but bedtime is bedtime.”

“I get it, it’s fine.” Conner shrugged it off. He was just happy that he got to see Clark and Lois. Metropolis was far enough that they’d probably had to take off both today and tomorrow to get back. “Text me if I’m not back soon.”

“Sure thing,” Lois smiled at him. Conner really liked Lois. Totally out of Clark’s league.

Conner jogged off to find his group mates. He climbed up on the stage and scanned it but couldn’t find Tim or Steph. He did see Ma hit La’gaan and then start looking for Jaime. Conner decided he’d head for the missing two.

Now that he looked, he couldn’t find any of the Waynes. He took out his phone.

Conner

hey did yall leave yet?

Steph

sorry cowboy

Conner tried Tim.

Tim

I’m by the lockers. Forgot my history homework.

Conner

stay there

Tim

…

Why?

Conner

just trust me dude

Conner headed out to the lockers. He found Tim leaning against his, bag slung over one shoulder.

“Took you long enough,” Tim said.

Conner was used to Tim’s wicked smirk, or, he’d thought he was, but something weird happened to his belly as he saw Tim pull himself upright.

Tim’s eyes took in the flower behind Conner’s ear, and then the one in his hand. His eyes widened. He looked speechless.

Second time Conner had done that to him. Conner’s heart sped up and he felt himself smile giddily. He liked making Tim speechless.

Conner bowed and presented the rose to Tim. “For you, fair maiden.” He said.

When Conner looked up again, Tim’s face was pink. He brushed some of his long hair behind his ear and took the rose gently. As if he were afraid he’d break it. His hand shook.

“It’s from my grandmother,” Conner explained, “she wanted to give one to everyone in the group. Steph already left though, I’ll have to give her hers tomorrow.”

“Oh,” Tim said. “Tell her I say thank you.”

“Sure thing, dude.”

Tim stared at the rose, running some of his fingers over the petals. He raised it to his lips—no, that was stupid. His nose.

Why had Conner thought that?

His heart thumped loudly in chest.

“You know, it’s too bad.”

Tim looked up to meet Conner’s eyes again. “What is?”

“This… that it’s over. This was fun.”

Tim smiled. “Yeah, it was. You know, we always have room in the theater club-”

Conner laughed and pushed Tim gently. “Yeah, no thanks. You know what they say about theater kids.”

“Oh?” Tim asked amusedly. His attention, however, was back on the rose. He pressed it back to his nose, inhaling deeply. “What do they say?”

“They teach all y’all how to project, but they never teach y’all how to shut the fuck up.” Maybe that was why Conner liked seeing Tim speechless so often.

Tim laughed. “Well, don’t get me started on what they say about football players.”

Conner snorted. “Yeah, I guess you would win on that one.”

Tim’s eyes slid over to Conner’s slyly. “Is everything a game to you?”

“What do you mean?”

“I mean, banter, this play… you’re a good actor,” Tim mused, “you should have bargained higher.”

“Huh?”

“Well, the bet, that you won.”

“The one that made me Romeo?” Conner wasn’t sure where Tim was going with this. Tim twirled the rose between his fingers. “I’m aware of it. What? You think I should have haggled?”

Tim shrugged. “You were Romeo for a week and a half. Was it really worth it?”

“Are you kidding? I just wanted to get Romeo,” Conner shrugged, “and I got what I wanted. I always do.”

“Do you now?”

“Mmhm.” Conner grinned at Tim. Tim’s eyes were narrowed, his lips upturned into what was definitely a smirk. One black eyebrow quirked. Amused and condescending. Conner was beginning to like this Tim just as much as the blushing and speechless one. “I am Conner Kent,” he said as pompously as he could manage.

“Hmm. You know,” Tim said mildly. He put his own rose behind his ear. “I’m pretty used to getting whatever I want too. Pretentious and rich and all.”

“Really?” Conner asked, trying to make the excitement in his tone not show through. Tim was a better actor than Conner was. Conner would just have to learn from him, he supposed. He tried to match Tim’s indifference. “You got something in mind?”

“What are you doing tonight?”

This… was not where Conner had thought this conversation was going, but when he saw the sparkle in Tim’s playful blue eyes… Conner couldn’t help but be intrigued. But-

Lois. Clark. Ma and Pa.

“Shit.” Conner hissed. Tim looked shocked at this sudden change of tone. “I would. I totally would, but I’ve got this huge like, family dinner thing.”

Tim shrugged. “Friday night, then.” This time Tim was a little shyer about it, as if worried that Conner might say ‘no’ now.

Conner smiled. “Sure. Text me the details.”

Tim smiled back. “Yeah, okay.”

Conner turned to talk away, but as he did Tim caught his hand and pulled him back against him. Then Tim kissed him, fingers curling around his neck to bring Conner in closer and stroking the hair beside the rose in Conner’s hair. Conner tightened his grip around Tim’s waist, pulling him closer than they ever were as Romeo and Juliet. And tongue. Oh god, there was finally tongue. Tim tasted like peppermint and he was a really good kisser and-

When Tim finally broke the kiss (because it was Tim who broke it, not Conner who was too busy forgetting about the outside world) with a laugh, Conner heaved in air. Tim leaned on the lockers to support himself as he giggled.

“What?”

“The Conner Kent, and The Tim Drake-Wayne,” Tim said. “It’s just, I think we might be what Steph would call a ‘power couple.’”

Now Conner was laughing too, but that was probably more because Tim was infectious than any hilarity. “Like Romeo and Juliet.”

Tim rolled his eyes and, still snickering, pushed himself upright. “A little less tragic though, I hope.”

“It’s funny,” Conner said, “how many teenagers do you think got together because of this play? Ironic, really. I feel Shakesy-P would be proud.”

Tim snorted. “Please never call Shakespeare that again.”

“Shakesy-P, Shakes-P, Shakesy-P-”

“And now I know why Romeo really died, it was because Juliet killed him.” Tim pushed Conner, teasingly.

“Well, if you want to get technical about it-” But Tim was pulling Conner in for another kiss.

“Shut up.” Tim told him.

After another kiss that made Conner go ‘wow,’ Conner pulled away, his phone buzzed in his pocket. “You’re so bossy.”

“And I always get what I want.” Tim added condescendingly.

“I haven’t forgotten. You’re also pretentious, and condescending, and-”

“Do you really want to go down this path, Kent?”

Conner pressed his lips to Tim’s for one last kiss, but broke it off far too early because of his fucking phone-

Conner took it out and checked it, even though he knew what the texts would say. “I have to go.”

“Your family. Yeah,” Tim said, a wry twist to his lips, “I haven’t forgotten.”

“Friday. Text me.”

“Will do, Juliet.” Tim called, saluting Conner with the gifted rose and Conner jogged away, laughing and red-faced.

Clark and Lois were staying over with Ma and Pa for the night so they all headed to the house after dinner. Conner was tired and full and happy, but he kept his eyes open the whole ride, waiting for Tim’s text. But it got later and later and there was little Conner could do, so he changed into pajamas and headed to bed.

The text finally came a little after midnight. Conner jerked up when he heard the chime of the text, half asleep.

Tim

You kiss by th’ book.

Sleep tight

Conner snorted and rolled over in his bed. Had to give it to Shakesy-P, he certainly knew how to write a pick-up line.

#timkon #diana writes timkon #timkon secret santa 2019 #awhitehead17 #diana writes dc

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theawkwardarchaeopteryx · 5 years

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Secret Clanta

[This was a special request by @eatsrawredonion / step step step step for our Secret Clanta event on Discord on the Certified Clowns Server. Inexperienced in writing fics, I still hope you like it and I wish you and everyone reading this merry Christmas and relaxing, joyful holidays!]

Summary: On your way home from work, you notice someone following you and things escalate a bit. But how can you stay mad at this person for too long?

[WARNING: Stalking, mention of assault]

(If I forgot a warning, please let me know!)

Deep at night absolutely everything seems like a threat, even if there should be streetlights which actually work, not counting in flickering ones, but ones that, indeed, work like they should and serve the exact same purpose they have been built for. (or what a scared shitless young person or a person of any other age with a healthy amount of survival will points). Unexpectedly you have had to work an hour longer and oh boy, do 60 minutes make a difference when it comes to daylight disappearing just as much as the overwork time in your paycheck. Whatever, you think, you coworkers had needed help - and despite being tired you wanted to help them as much as possible. Too many people visit the supermarket at such an unholy hour and even in the (or especially, as many customers dare to come in five minutes before we close). Unfortunately, none of you colleagues have been able to take me with them, since both of them - at least the ones who had to work today - do not own a car and you take different subways. I had to sigh, both of them worried something might happen but unable to help you out.

Gotham’s streets are - terrifying. You could have used any other word right now to take away from the fear but honestly, this is the most tame one to describe the horror you had to go through by walking around at this time, no one around, or, which would also be - uhm, terrifying - someone around, leaving your mind juggling about whether it was worse to not have anyone, a person, nearby, or people, people who might hurt you or kill you. God, you wished it would end up being your secret admirer. Grinning at this wishful thinking you continue, freezing off your ass which you would love to save from the cold as well as death. You have almost been assaulted already and although you would love to change your workplace to a closer alternative, it is not possible as no one is looking for a cashier at the moment. Of course, of course, it has been - hah, you almost said it again! - an unsettling experience, to say the least that is. Nothing has scared you so much ever. You just always know that something could happen - however, you never know when this ‘something’ will strike, or for a better understanding, that someone. That someone, this night, were three someones, not running, just in their car, pulling up and that has been strange enough already, pulling up and getting slower as they approached you, asking for directions, directions in the middle of the night, directions in a one way street, directions when they stopped the car after telling them where to go because you were tired and just wanted them to leave you alone and then - you shudder, not only from this mere memory as you try not to pain yourself with it but also due to the cold air, making itself visible through little clouds, which you occasionally use to fake smoking a cigarette, a habit which you have taken over from your childhood to your young adulthood or, as you would like to describe yourself, older-child-not-really-grown-up-yet, 21 year old responsible kid-at-heart. You mean - no career so far, just saving up for college, an apartment not too far from home so you always could move back in should the rents rise up yet again, just as much as your blood pressure whenever you see yet another warning from your landlord to oh-so-please forgive him for raising is again or when you have to pass these goddamn streets once more.

All of a sudden, a sound reminiscent of shattering glass which now shatters even the last bit of carefreeness you thought you’ve had makes its way into your whole body, paralyzed, eyes widened, heightened senses - well, the last part is a lie as you are not sure whether your senses are actually heightened or just more focused. Whatever it might be, it’s giving you some reassurance in your survival skills. Where has this noise just come from? You know you should run, your inner voice tells you so - but your body is apparently deaf to its own calls, probably also because you don’t even know which direction you could escape into. Maybe it was just a bottle which fell from a garbage can, a full garbage can? This could calm you down if it weren’t for the treacherous doubt crawling through your every cell like vermins, you recall the night you were attacked - what did they do? Almost unbearably loud, your fastening breath alongside your even faster heartbeat, panting, sweat, sweat, sweat, you think you can actually feel every single drop of sweat leaving your poor pores, your pore pores, your - and steps, now you can make them out, thrown into reality again, where you should be, where you don’t want to be but where you are, right now, anyway, because if wishes could come true, you would have never ever left your workplace and you would not even have teleported yourself into your apartment but you would be working as a teacher already, young, freshly introduced to your first teenagers to teach and support or to seek support from by the school counselor, depending on who you have the luck or unluck to get paired with. Speeding across your surroundings your eyes, without any further thought, shoot into an alleyway. Only now you realize why they have taken your attention there for a sweet, sweet night out, oh, staying alive is so sweet - the footsteps, their home must be there, lying in the shadows almost next to you, hiding in anonymity like a webcam hacker. The steps have not stopped yet. However; they have stopped being urgent. Whoever is there, they are watching me right now, you think to yourself, moving a hand into your pocket, right now in this very moment. Gulping, it is impossible for you to move with shaking legs, pressed together in absolute horror.

Seconds pass in which you cannot make out any sound - whirling nightly breezes through the passages aka streets, whereas the buildings would just damp its whistling. Are they thinking about something, or -

Then they begin again, now with more confidence as it seems, confidence because - because of what? Your hand manages to grab ahold of a small pocketknife, not much but honest to work with, right? Even something personal, something with love you would protect yourself with, a gift given to you by your brother after he has been able to get himself a new one. Why are you occupying yourself with this right now? Normalcy, it dawns on you, normalcy - that’s what your brain is attempting to provide you with right now. The steps are nearing, and coincidentally the person who they belong to probably as well. Sudden clearance in your head gives you a positive reassurance - that whoever it might be, they are alone. At least regarding this one direction and by that words a compilation of familiar songs barely scratch your inner workings though you successfully ban them into a secluded area inside of you where none of it would bother you.

Then you see the first shoe, then the next, then one leg and then two and it is getting more and more exciting, then the upper body follows, a kinda sunken statue, but with big eyes, glowing eyes, glowing eyes more glow-ey than these goddamn streetlights because even though the man standing there right in front of you (okay, alright, not right in front but, like, five meters away), his hands running over his shoulders as you can make out his nervosity, he raises one of them as a kind of greeting, a “hi” almost as small as he obviously wants to appear in front of you and, as you know and damn him, as not to scare you, even if he is only a few little tiny itsy bitsy teenie weenie centimeters taller than you.

One of the greatest sighs mankind has ever experienced enters your mouth as you conclude you must have stopped breathing for a short amount of time, making this reveal even more breathtaking that you originally have thought at its beginning. And, oh boy, this is very much only the beginning. Your teeth grind against one another as you finally feel capable enough to let it out:”What are you doing here, Arthur?”

Your neighbor, and god forbid, he would be only a neighbor for the coming future for scaring you like this because he definitely deserves some kind of punishment for scaring you this much, after revealing your fear, what you have witnessed that time ago when you have been attacked and left in fear, because sometimes you would talk, because when you had just moved in and tried to be nice to everyone, but stopped being explicitly nice and regressed to simply being decent to a big part of Gotham, except for him because he has always been genuinely lovely and sweet, only sweet to you, awkward and nervous, yet you could understand, in some way, and you thought you could be friends, in some way. And he had taken care of your wounds, yes, good care, when after his 60-hour-week, after bringing his mother to bed, he has provided you with first-aid, then you had called the police, but he has been there. And, compelled to somehow make it up to him, his tired self having felt the need to aid you, you agreed to accompany him to his workplace’s Christmas party, where he has stick to you the entire time, and you have stick to him as well, because, well, you did not know anyone and you also did not really - like anyone, the way they made fun of Arthur, this sweet man, who had to be stuck with you, but nonetheless talked, talked, and nervously asked you if he could tell you some jokes, and he was so sweet and nice, like a good real friend, and he was just - there.

Just as much as he is here now, this sweet man, who you know and would love to call a friend, who you love as a friend, who you would - would not mind getting to know better with time, for no reason, or for a better understanding: You could actually think of a good reason. However; it would be worth more if he told you himself instead of keeping you guessing.

Arthur now caresses his neck, sliding around, curls his hair a bit, looking down; only to swift up immediately, as if he just has realized that you expect an answer from him. He begins to smile, although the bewilderment in his eyes is already a given, always a part of him - unthinkable for him to be without and, sounding more romantic than it is, as inseparable than the moon and stars or this city and high crime rate. Almost sucking his words back in, Arthur eventually gathers the strength to form a reply, now his gaze upon you, although you swear you can see it moving around your face in the shadows as he has still not been able to raise his own:”I was accompanying you.”

That’s it? Goosebumps bump up on your body, one of your friend’s legs begins to tap on the ground, tap, tap, tap, and if anyone would now look out of their window, they would either think it is another drug deal going on or a friendly, friendly conversation between two strangers, friends, neighbors or whatever or that’s what they would love to tell themselves, while scared and/or ignorantly ignoring how this could also be some kind of assault, yeah, best not to get involved.

Tap, tap, tap, tap. You feel like snapping, you really do. You have always known him as - weird, but charming, kinda cute in his lack of understanding of social life, his apparent unawareness and disknowledge or, as that is not a real world, inexperience in knowledge. You cannot even think of anything logical as it escapes you, not screaming but very much obviously tense:”You were what?”

Silence for a minute; Arthur’s lip becomes shaky, and you can make up tears crawling up his eyes as much as more and more shudders from your side. Accompanying you? What was he thinking? You have no idea how to respond, so instead you wait and hope - and hope for a little bit more input, a little push to send his explanation into logic oblivion - but to no avail. “I wanted to make sure you are alright, Y/N,”, he begins, now the vibrations taking over his voice as if they were contagious, from legs to lips to voice to brain, brain, brain - oh, yeah, his brain. it does not make much sense right now, this is - a weird thing to do, he cannot think clearly right now, you are sure of that, he is scared and nervous and has no fucking idea of what to do and what to say. Question now is: If he has done it tonight, how many times before has he done it? Without you realizing? Absurd yet disturbed you let your pocketknife fall. Okay, let’s get this straight - he was trying to protect you? “I’ve heard - people do that if they like someone,”, his voice cracks at the sequel of his explanation. Now that’s - that’s just… ridiculous, heartbeat going crazy, sweat set free as if it were a feral beast released into the wild, caged inside your bone marrow bars, behind bars, caging your heart in, but now out, in, now out, in, now out, your rage begins to take over - you’ve been scared shitless, you have feared you life. But instead it has just been - just been unknowing Arthur. You cannot relax, no way.”Why would you do that? Has no one ever told you?”, raising your voice, but not enough for your anger to shine through, bringing some light to him to have a better sight at your true emotions.”Have your parents never taught you anything?” Instant regret begins to flood you and especially your eyes, on the verge of crying. He has not scared the shit out of you, no, not only that - he has managed to take it as his own to now talk it. And now you just regret these thoughts as well - as he does not deserve it, not completely. You’ve just been so scared, so incredibly scared and the memories were almost breaking through, you could feel them tickling your throat, making you want to throw up - but as soon as your thoughts have the chance to let them seep through the cracks of distress anyway, you begin to focus on what is in front of you, who is in front of you. Narrowed eyebrows, eyes reflecting every bit of light as of how much they are filled with tears now, only a matter of time until they fall down his face, him getting uncomfortably close (well, yeah, closer, not close - closer, armlength that is), his not-too-tall-shape hovering over you in the extend which is possible.”Why are you saying this?”

You move a bit backwards, but Arthur doesn’t seem to want to let go - and it almost feels like as if he were trying to make the pressure on you not only emotional in nature but also physical.

“Arthur, I’m so, so, sorry. I was just.,”, you bring out, actually never having witnessed so much guilt taking over you, your posture narrowing down closer to the ground, crouching a tiny, tiny bit - not standing but crouching. Arthur’s attempts are less than soothing; her shakes now, leaning forward with his upper body, closer to your face than before, and for the blink of an eye you‘ve had thought of reassuringly telling him that you are sorry, that what he was doing was creepy but that you - appreciate his concern and that he could have asked you, just - asked you. Although you would have said no in every single way possible to the human species, as you would not want his working hours to expand to 24/7, but now his frame is dangerously close, you still try to walk backwards, raising you hands in defense should he try something. Sweet, sweet Arthur. Oh god. You would never have expected any of this - to happen, for him to be like this. You have known about his issues but not to how deep they go - nothing too personal, as he has never invited you to his home, and you have found his innocent unawareness, his sweet consideration, his adorable humor more than just friendly-charming, but charming in another, never-expected way, not before, not ever in your young life. And now you doubt everything that you think you have felt - that you two were heading to friendship town, and maybe, your inner self blushing madly while hiding its face, more, like best friends or this other kind of friends, this lovely kind, this lovey kind, one of a kind -

“I was just trying -,”, you hear his throat being soar, just as you notice bruises on his neck, exposed from his sweater, his special sweater as it is a Christmas sweater, an “embarrassing” one, warm and fuzzy and angelic -

“To make sure you are safe! I want you to be safe!” His veins pop out by how much overtaken he is by anger, on his bruised neck, hurt neck, where he has been hurt somewhere, hurt, hurt by someone, how dare they, he doesn’t deserve this, this is just his outlet now, he does not deserve this treatment, even if he is scaring the hell out of you right now, he does not -

Safe. Safe. I do not feel safe right now, Arthur, not with you, not safe, you can only produce these thoughts as he coughs for a few seconds, unable to walk away, not - wanting to go away because a baby, a fetus, an embryo part of you still wants to believe he is this nice guy from the same damn building, the one you have learned to appreciate. Oh, wow, finally they leave you the fuck alone and go on their merry way, your tears, running down your cheeks, your heated cheeks in this heated - argument? - which has made you totally forget about the freezing cold air without any source of warming light. And he cannot even get any closer, just half a meter away, cramping hands,”That’s what people do when they care, don’t they? That’s people do!” Care? He cares, he cares - does that mean you could try to get through him? He obviously has had a rough day, or, as far as you are concerned now, a very bad week and month and, even worse as the fears makes your nerves tingle on your ribcage like a xylophone, life, at least a big part of it. With you eyes widened in shock you can’t help but pay attention to the details - which would be that now, as he is having this breakdown, bites his lip, a fire suddenly igniting in his face, he’s drawing blood, oh god, Arthur, you are sorry, so, so, so sorry, you -

Taken aback by the sudden hit as well as the unexpected cold freezing shiver going through your heated cheek you gasp, your hand covering your mouth. Eyes drifting towards the ground, widened in shock, Arthur does the same, just that he, as very much apparent, now tries to stifle his wallowing up laughter, painfully obviously crying while doing so, managing to bring out a desperate “I’m-,”, gulping violently, you still unable to process what just had happened but even more so, what you are exactly feeling about it,”, so, so sorry. I -,”, another gulp, a final one as it seems, he trembles for a few seconds, breathing heavily. You are not even sure who has felt more pain - him or you. Another feeling makes its way into your mind and from there on, begins to infest your every fiber of being, unaccustomed to it, yet - strangely exciting, strangely something you would never have seen coming ever in your life, nothing you would have talked to anyone about - not even your fictional friends in your fictional world where you feel like you can tell them absolutely everything, and even beyond. “Arthur, you,”, you try to break through the uncomfortable tension, attempting to bring on a new kind of tension,”, don’t have to - to apologize. I want you -,”, collecting yourself, absolutely bewildered by what you are now about to say,”, to do it again.”

This has been the wrong answer apparently, because he is sent into a mini laughing fit, no, fight (some letters were missing that fit just so much better considering his condition), coughing in a torturing way, not able to look into your eyes as raises his head to your almost-identical height. Oh god, what did you just say? Oh god, oh my fucking god. Not yet, you think, I don’t even know him, we need to get to know each other better first, not yet. Wait - why are you thinking “not yet” so many damn times? Oh no. Oh no. Oh. Oh. Oh. Oh. So - so no. Adorable, friendly Arthur. Adorable, sweet, cute, terrifying, like the streets of Gotham at night, and if people at least once would try to get to know him as him and neither sorely his condition nor his occupation, as helpless and as much as a victim as you were when you were attacked, as helpful and lovely as only few of can compare to in your experience, they would realize that he deserves so many beautiful things, that , and you are sure you want to help with those things, help him with many things, just - help him. You collect your thoughts, everything has been chaotic these past few minutes. And all of this anger inside of him - is hopefully out now. “I am so sorry for what I have said, Arthur, I’m just -,”, your sleeve being pulled over your face to dry it from the tears,”I was scared, you came out of nowhere. Please don’t do that again, that’s just - spooky.” You begin to smile reassuringly, yet obviously still emotionally drained. but Arthur turns his head to the sides, scratches it (oh, that’s him being nervous!), feet tapping on the ground, he cannot even look at you, mumbling a heartbreaking “sorry, I will not bother you again” and makes his way into - well, the exact same direction you would have entered into anyway, so you quickly call his name (not too loud, obviously, as no one would want to be woken up, not even considering these unholy hours, but in general - just who on earth would like to be woken up late at night be a Disney movie ending, with both friends and foes falling into each other’s arms, forgiving each other, as comrades), and he turns around with his hair flowing majestically, floofly, your frozen ice cream legs easily catch up to everyone waiting, which now sounds as if there were more than one person, but it is just one, just that his - impact is one of a kind, an impact so strong it could have been more than one person, that’s - that’s just strong his impression is, one person whose name is Arthur Fleck, the one who you’d love to be a friend of, and maybe more, maybe - maybe, considering your more-than-revealing feelings today, but for that you’d like to get to know him even better, not just occasionally.

“I - I’m sorry for what I said, Arthur, I was not feeling good and I should not have let it out on you,”, your apology is sincere, shaky voice, still a little bit distraught but now a happy smile creeps onto your mouth, creeping on you like Arthur, but lovely, welcoming, not stalking, not - stalking your face. Your friend (?)/neighbor (?) looks utterly surprised, everything open in shock, eyes and face, his ears most likely too, as he seems to have understood.

Tap, tap, tap, tap, tapping leg. Tap, tap, talk, talk. He holds his mouth closed for yet another time, most likely out of fear it will happen the exact same way it just burst out of him. But oh, no, this side of him - terrified you (hah, terrify!).

“I’m so sorry, Y/N,”, he then says and you swear, you have never in your life seen to much pain, pain from everything around you, in someone’s eyes alone,”,I will leave you alone now, I am sorry, I’m sorry”. It is dangerous to your mood talking to him, you think. He’s bringing you so much pain.

“Don’t be sorry. It was - weird and… and creepy, but,”, you now walk up to him, smiling at him with the full intent to make him feel better and to show him that everything is alright now,”,you have apologized and won’t do it again, right?”

Arthur looks to the ground for a few seconds, his gaze wanders to you, who is patiently waiting by his side; he nods, slowly. “I mean - since we are already here, how about we walk home together?”

Arthur smiles, no - completely shines at you, with his whole being, his inside joy being so intense at this thought that you would bet your shitty apartment on this that the world around both of you actually just got a little brighter as he heard you say that. You point towards him, grinning, as both of you had just stood there motionless, no one had started to finally, finally head to both your homes. Arthur, weird but - adorable, annoyingly, interestingly adorable Arthur leads you on to a journey both of you would never forget. One last thing, you think, one last thing about this incident tonight, tonight, after this, I do not want to talk about this again, maybe some other time.

“Thank you for walking me home. Can you ask me next time? I’d feel much - safer with you around. Being alone here sucks.” Arthur smiles, apparently covering a part of his face to hide something - his stifled laughter? His excited eyebrows being raised? His blush? It doesn’t matter, both of you appear so much more relaxed now that none of you are alone anymore. He then looks at you, grazing his neck ever-so-slightly yet again. “Well, I had planned that from the start. Just good that I don’t have to - don’t have to walk in these dark streets anymore. You can’t believe how many times I have stumbled.” He laughs, and although that was a crude attempt at a joke, you cannot help but grin bashful, the heat in your face rising, warming you up, being with him warming you up, hoping he would also warm you up with his self, his jokes, in the future.Then you remember something, something extremely important, of the highest caliber of importance which you will, from now on, never overlook, and pay attention to. “Arthur, by the way, let me help you with this injury on your neck once we arrive,”, just having remembered it, you hope to be able to help him, to give back to him what he has given you already - support, aid in times of need. “I’m pretty sure you have no more band-aids at your apartment, at least your supply was empty after, you know -,”, abruptly stopping, you wink in understanding. He looks seriously worried for a second, seriously, but apparently you worrying about him as well fills him with something else, as he has to look away, again covering his face for a split second. You wouldn’t even be able to see his blush in the dim light (that is if your assumption is true, hah!), but you would like to someday, maybe, possibly, if he allows it, if you allow it (your nervous self, god, are you nervous right now!), if you both get to learn more about each other and get along good enough. Well, today seems to have been a promising sign. And you can’t deny it but your hopes? They are up.

#Joker #joker x reader #arthur fleck #arthur fleck x reader #arthur fleck x you #fanfic #the joker #joker 2019 #christmas #joker christmas #certified clowns group #certified clowns #secret santa #secret clanta #dc #dc comics #joaquin pheonix #joaquin phoenix joker

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laindir · 3 years

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tl;dr about this blog

30+↑ fandom old, perpetually tired. スーパードライ。 I’m merely a feeble writer who loves dissecting my favourite blorbos apart to figure out their thought processes and mannerisms, and what essentially compels them in any hypothetical scenario I might fling them into :)

Sidebar credit: Akutami Gege [ 芥見下々]

_____ Jujutsu Kaisen (no leaks! manga spoilers are tagged), DC, Star Wars, Artemis Fowl, Psycho-Pass, Gintama, Tolkien Legendarium, Genshin (Sumeru, mostly), cats, ruins/nature, and the occasional barrage of fic, meta, edits for lulz and useless text posts. Follow* at risk of ridiculous crack and rampant tag abuse. Sometimes, I also bleed character/ship feels into my fics and keysmash tl;dr meta thoughts about Deep Lore. my fics are also cross-posted to AO3. *Disclaimer: I don’t always follow back, but when I do, I don’t... PSYCHE! lol I’m joking. Generally speaking though, I follow blogs that interest me, or if we’re already friends/I already know you from some place, or if we’ve spoken often enough that I feel we’ve reached a sort-of-acquaintances-but-not-quite-friends-yet level of mutual virtual camaraderie. **Disclaimer part 2: My fics consists of both SFW and NSFW content but I always list ratings and tag for all major content warnings (as much as I can) at the beginning of every fic. So, please do heed the warnings/tags, especially for my darker pieces, and curate your reading experience as necessary. I generally like leaving some things up to reader interpretation/imagination in my writing since authorial intent =/= reader response. Comments are always welcomed and appreciated. ***Disclaimer part 3: Fandom wank/disk-horse isn’t really my style; I’m too stuck in my own head tinkering away at my own brain-rotting thoughts/imagining fic scenarios. My general fandom motto: YMMV, to each their own, ship and let ship, etc. etc. Basically, don’t be a douche and cause real harm towards real people. Block and/or unfollow as needed, I don’t really care tbh.

_____ Zines & Fandom Exchanges: ◈ Eternal Dream || Tales of Zestiria Zine 2018 ◈ A Fowl Mood || Artemis Fowl Zine 2019 ◈ Artemis Fowl Yuletide 2019 ◈ The Disastrous Life Zine || Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan Zine 2020 ◈ JJK 18 Holiday Exchange 2021 ◈ Citrus: AllYuuji Zine || Jujutsu Kaisen: Itadori Yuuji Zine 2022 ◈ Blessings Zine || Jujutsu Kaisen: Fushiguro Megumi Zine 2022 ◈ Blackjack: JJK Big Bang Event 2022 ◈ Sukufushiita Secret Santa Event 2022 ◈ FandomTrumpsHate 2023

#tl;dr blog stuff #tl;dr about me #pinned post

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batty-writes · 3 years

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DCTV Masterlist

Olivarry:

The Red Canary Series (Barry Raised by the Lances AU) Volumes One, Two,

Bonded On The Atomic Level Series (Childhood friends AU) Protons, Neutrons(planned), Electrons(planned).

Mind & Matter (Disability AU)

As Long As You Can (Canon Compliant s4 based one shot)

A Different Song (No Lian Yu)

New Beginning (Alternate Crisis ending, based on a daydream)

Precious and Fragile Things (Need Special Handling) (Barry Allen Adopts Peter Parker)

Caught on the Line (Vaguely 101 Dalmatians inspired + bonus Marvel AU drabble!)

Things We Never Said (Quarantine Exchange fic)

Dinosaurs (Alternate Meeting AU)

That's Not What I Asked (Prompt: First Child)

Just As Good (Olivarry Valentines Exchange)

One Day At A Time (Baby!William AU)

Being Selfish (Elseworlds One Shot)

Forward Together (Post-Henry Allen Death fic, Olivarry Secret Santa)

I am Truly Lost (If He Can't See the Best In Me) (Psi Olivarry AU. Can be Shippy or not.)

Heart Beat Here (Domestic Fluff for I am an Ikea Professional)

Over and Over (William's POV Olivarry)

Incorrect Interpretations (Planned)

Christmas Treat (Planned)

No Good Deed Goes Unpunished (Planned)

WestAllen: Note: Most of my WestAllen fics are older but I plan on revamping them and uploading even more of my WA wips! They were one of my very first Arrowverse ships and they're very dear to me!

Warm Whispers ("Didn't Know They Were Dating" AU)

Warm Whispers 2.0 (Rewrite of Warm Whispers)

Heart to Heart (Drabble)

Something Stupid (No Flashpoint AU)

Breathe With Me (Hanahaki AU)

Maybe One Day (T-Shirt rewrite)

Baby We are Royalty (Trans Iris!AU Planned)

SnowWest:

In Too Deep (Iris is the Flash)

College AU WIP

Stargirl:

Halo of Daisies - Icemagic post-crisis AU Joey Zarick/Camron Mahkent

Hournite:

Smooth (Hournite Week 2021)

Tiger’s Eyes (Hournite)

I Want to Kiss You (Hournite background Joey/Cameron)

FlashAtom:

New Chapter (Librarian!Ray)

I Think I Might Have Inhaled You (Hanahaki AU)

Don't Be Mad (Timey Wimey)

Say Something (Soulmates, but not a 'Soulmate AU')

Circuit Boards (I'm Gonna Love You Inside Out) (Snippet from WIP)

SnowBarry:

Through Hell (Snowbarry Week 2019 day 5: kidnapping)

Wedding Bell Blues (Snowbarry Minibang 2020)

I'll Help You Stitch up your Wounds (M/M Snowbarry)

Flashclub:

Mystery Diagnosis (Med Student!Tommy fluff)

Compound and Alloy (Different Powers AU)

How to Love (AU)

Snowstorm:

Blueberries (Canon Complaint)

Canarywatch/Smoaking Canary:

Girl You Get Me High, Yeah You’re my Type (You’re Danger) (Ikea series)

Superclub:

Spoopy Birthday (DCTV Square "Supergirl)

Superflash:

Recycling (Throwback to Clark eating weird shit in the comics)

Steelatom: (Note: I only write them romantically by request now, so this will likely be where my Steelatom starts and ends)

At the End of the Day (Feelings confession)

Ray the Kind (Fluff)

Steelspeed:

The Walls We Build (And the Ones we Break) (Planned)

Polyships: Iris West/Caitlin Snow/Ronnie Raymond:

Life Unexpected (Rarepair Exchange)

DC Comics:

Steam (Carol Ferris/Jessica Cruz College/track team AU)

DCTV Gen Masterlist

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bluerosette23 · 5 years

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Maribat MASTERLIST ~ Pg1

Maribat Masterlist. (Updated: Feb 22, 2019)

Page1 > [Daminette December Masterlist]

by @ozmav Damian Wayne ~ AO3 Damian Always Answers The Phone When Marinette Calls Damian Wayne:Most Overprotective Spouse/Father in BatFam HC Daminette HC Finding Out ~ AO3 Heroes and Villains ~ AO3 Jason VS Adrien ~ AO3 JL Reaction to Daminette Lucky Bug & The Rogues ~ AO3 Kagami Meets Damian ~ AO3 MariDami Pitch Of Sleepy Bugs & Worried Birds ~ AO3 Phone Calls ~ AO3 Puzzles & Luck ~ AO3 Quality Time/Moments ~ AO3 Question Of A Lifetime ~ AO3 Teen Titans HC Wine Aunts AU/HC

by @18-fandoms-unite-08 I Didn’t Know I Needed You When You Needed Me Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 Prompts [Masterlist] Decision ~ The Demonic Duo ~ Myself, I Will Focus On ~ A Sign ~ I’ve Missed You ~ Wounds ~ It’s Not Your Fault ~ Blood ~ Please Tell Me ~ It’s Been A While, Hasn’t It? ~ Friend Zoned, Hard Zoned ~ I’m Not The One To Blame ~ I Don’t Care, Not Anymore

by @2sunchild2 A Guy That I’d Kinda Be Into A Pen Pal’s Advice in Butt Kicking Betrothed AU [Prompt] Bird Watching Daminette AU:Slow Burn Daminette AU: The Disneyland Tragedy Daminette God AU Genderbend!Daminette Facetime Failure Happy Birthday Disaster Hostage [Prompt] I Can Get You A Date With One of Them [Prompt] Just Watch:Daminette AU Male!MarixDamian [Prompt] Retro was Always in Style They Just Don’t Know You Songfic Totally A Duo [Jasonette] Treasure When Karma Bites Back

by @7701deathlyhalfbloodprincess Miracles In Gotham ~ AO3 Prologue ~ CH1

by @a-la-la-llama Daminette Song Fic ~ The One Where Marinette Steals The Batmobile Aged Up Daminette Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 Blueberry Maribat Pt1 ~ Pt2

by @a-marlene-s BioDad!Bruce + Male!Mari Jason Is Very Picky With Who’s He’s Soft For [Jasonette] Tall!Mari/Short!Damian Futuristic Miraculous [TerRi] Pt1 ~ Pt2 Gotham Nine-Nine [Timari] (collab with ladylucina28) Background ~ Ranks ~ Preferred Drink of Choice ~ Mari’s Thoughts on G99 CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 Lady Noir And Red Robin [Timari] Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 I Nearly Got Ran Over By The Batmobile: Twitter AU Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 Unknown Reality [Jasonette] Preface ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5

by @akalei Ladybug Young Justice Masterpost ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6

by @alexiessan Never Alone ~ AO3 Masterlist ~ CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 ~ CH7 ~ CH8 ~ CH9

by @ali-kitkat Audacity ~ AO3 CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 Fear Toxin ~ AO3 Hisses & Scratches CH1 Summer Gardenia (Valentine’s Special) Pt1 The Bat’s and Bug’s Prank War Series ~ AO3 The Beginning Of The End ~ The Plot of Revenge ~ Marinette’s Revenge What’s A Sham? Our Childhood ~ AO3 CH1 ~ CH2

by @alycesaysno Beyond Miraculous ~ AO3 CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 ~ CH7

by @amlesi Don’t Lie ~ Trust Me

by AnonymousWriter15 Birds And Butterflies ~ AO3

by @aquariusrunes BatFam Meets MLB Meets Edna Mode The Superfriends AU Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt2.5 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11

by @arsaem Marinette’s Balcony Club OG Post ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2

by @artxyra [MASTERLIST] Daminette AU Idea TA Marinette - DC Version The Robin’s Angel Thief!Marinette Untitled Piece #1 Another DC TA Marinette Story Pt1 ~ Pt2 Daminette Twins AU Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ML X DCs Titans AU Timeline ~ Prologue ~ Pt1 Lost In Paris Pt1 Psychologist Marinette AU Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3

by @aserniccatnip Lady Light Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3

by @autumnray Swapped Lives Pt1 ~ Pt2

by @bannananorie Marinette Todd AU 1 ~ 2 ~ 3 ~ 4 ~ 5 ~ 6 ~ 7 ~ 8 ~ 9

by @bb-basbusa BioDad!Bruce Wayne I Want You Back (Based on miraculous-of-salt story) Pt1 ~ Pt2

by @black-streak Little Pistol Prologue ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 Saturday Night’s Alright For Fighting [Timari] Masterlist ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 Waiting For The Worms [Jasonette] Masterlist ~ Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 ~ Pt10 ~ Pt11 ~ Pt12 ~ Pt13 ~ Pt14 ~ Pt15 ~ Pt16 ~ Pt17 ~ Pt18 ~ Pt19 ~ Pt20 ~ Pt21 ~ Pt22 Prompts A Challenge for Batman ~ Animalistic Tenencies ~ Babe’s First Murder [Jasonette] ~ Birthday Worth Remembering ~ Breathe ~ Coffee Themed Akuma ~ Employee!Mari ~ Espresso ~ Guardian!Mari ~ Lasso Of Truth [Dickinette] ~ Multimouse!Mari ~ Perfectly Planned ~ Pick-up Line ~ Pregnant!Mari [Jasonette] ~ Revenge ~ Syren Incident (1 ~ 2 ~ 3) ~ Timari Proposal (1 ~ 2) ~ WalMart Shopping [Pre-Dickinette] Maribat March D1 ~ D2 ~ D3 ~ D4 ~ D5 ~ D6 ~ D7 ~ D8 ~ D9 ~ D10 ~ D11 ~ D12 ~ D13 ~ D14 ~ D15 ~ D16 ~ D17 ~ D18 ~ D19 ~ D20 ~ D21 ~ D22 ~ D23 ~ D24 ~ D25 ~ D26 ~ D27 ~ D28 ~ D29 ~ D30 ~ D31

by @blooming-rose-writings MLB X DC Spiderverse AU Info ~ Pt1

by @bonbonbun-luna Youtuber AU Alone In Paris CH1 ~ CH2

by @bravescribbles Power Couple Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5

by @cadenceh2o Broken Hearts And Empty Ones Love Story Daminette Hogwart Daminette AU CH1~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 ~ CH7 ~ CH8 ~ CH9 ~ CH10 Lordbug, Robin and Kitty Noir CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 ~ CH7 ~ CH8 ~ CH9 ~ CH10 ~ CH11 MLBDC AU Pt1 ~ Pt2

by @caffeinetheory Steph And Mari Meet [SpoilBug] Investigation Games [Timari] CH1 Safe House AU [LadyArrow] Ideas ~ CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 Jasonette Prompts Everything Stays(1) ~ There’s Gotta Be A Reason(2) ~ Flower Shop AU ~ Nighttime Cuddles LadyArrow Prompts I Can’t Do This Anymore ~ Wayne Gala Timari Prompts School AU ~ Coffee Shop AU ~ Soulmate AU Timari Week D1 ~ D2 ~ D3 ~ D4 ~ D5 ~ D6 ~ D7 Maribat Monday 1 ~ 2-Promises ~ 3-Blackout ~ 4-Celebration ~ 5-Under The Sea ~ 6-Heartfelt ~ 7-Protection

by @calliopeia Love Alarm Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 On The Other Side Of The Mirror ~ AO3 Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 Next Time You Ask A Favor, Make Sure It Won’t Kill Me [Timari] ~ AO3 Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5

by @carrisarune Fairy Wings AU The Beginning ~ What Happens Next

by @cassiopeiathequeen A Different Kind Of Green Frayed Edges And Forgotten Love Girlfriend Troubles [Marijon] I’ll Start Now [TimxChloe] If I Could Tell Her [Jasonette] Maritime Madness [Jasonette] My Secret Santa [Roy/Mari/Jay] Please Don’t Take My Sunshine Away [Wallynette] ~ AO3 Rewrite The Stars Songfic [Jasonette] Wait, Wait, You’re My Kid? [Timari] ~ AO3 A Pocket Knife and A Gun [Jasonette] ~ AO3 Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 Birthday Shenanigans (Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ AO3) Can We Keep Him? [Jasonette] ~ AO3 CH1 ~ CH2 ~ CH3 ~ CH4 ~ CH5 ~ CH6 Let Me Hold Your Heart [Dickinette] Pt1 Ocean Eyes And Saltwater Tears [Timari] ~ AO3 Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 The Friendship of a Ladybug and a Zombie Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7(1 ~ 2) ~ Pt8 The Thread We Share ~ AO3 CH1(Pt1 ~ Pt2) ~ CH2 ~ CH3

by @chocolate1721 Bunny Mobile ~ Dick Stuck In A Banana ~ Gala ~ Marinette’s Revenge

by @chloe-bourgeois-is-big-gay Chlo’s Maribat One-Shots ~ AO3 Pt1 ~ Pt2 ~ Pt3 ~ Pt4 ~ Pt5 ~ Pt6 ~ Pt7 ~ Pt8 ~ Pt9 Paris is Overrated Anyway ~ AO3 Pt1 ~ Pt2

Page1 > [Daminette December Masterlist]

#daminette #damian x marinette #damimari #maridami #maribat #marinette x damian #ml x dc #masterlist:maribat #timari #timinette #marinette x tim #jasonette #marinette x jason #marijon #marinette x jon #marinette x dick

3K notes · View notes

dc-secret-gift-exchange · 5 years

Photo

for @lyssartandstars !!!!! ❤️ 💛 💚 💙 💜 ❣️ 💕 💞 💓 💗 💖 💘 happy holidays and i hope you enjoy!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! you said you’d like some dickwally and i hope this feels hurt/comforty(?) mostly comforty. i got really sad when i drew them sadder than this

#dickwally #dc fanart #lyssartandstars #richard grayson #wally west #dc #dc secret santa 2019 #submission #leonardodvnc

50 notes · View notes

reflectedeve · 4 years

Text

personal fandom history

So there’s been some tough stuff in my life lately (I mean, in addition to the pandemic), and in the spirit of self-distraction, I decided to go back and try and work out some basic info about my participation in fandom. Because why not. It’s been about 22 1/2 years and I was curious.

2021

Main fandom(s): none as such, but I’m feeling a pull towards The Expanse, Marvel Comics, and as always, many SFF books (The Locked Tomb especially) Exchanges & events: Chocolate Box, Once Upon A Fic, TBD Fanart in: The Locked Tomb, SPOP, Utena, TBD Assigned YT fandom: TBA

2020

Main fandom(s): none as such; SFF books generally Exchanges & events: Chocolate Box, FemslashEx, Yuletide, Fandom Trees Fanart in: Carmilla, The Locked Tomb, Marvel Comics, SPOP, Time War, Wayfarers Assigned YT fandom: Wayward Children series

2019

Main fandom(s): none as such; SFF books generally Exchanges & events: Chocolate Box, FemslashEx, Yuletide Fanart in: BtVS, Crimson Peak, Good Omens, Star Wars Assigned YT fandom: Wayfarers series

2018

Main fandom(s): Star Trek: DS9 (at first), then none Exchanges & events: emoji meme, FemslashEx (pinch hit), Yuletide Fanart in: Star Trek: DS9, Ghostbusters (2016) Assigned YT fandom: Mina de Malfois

2017

Main fandom(s): Star Trek: DS9 Exchanges & events: Trek Rarepair Swap, outfit memes, FemslashEx, Star Trek Secret Santa, Yuletide Fanart in: BtVS/SPN, DCEU, Marvel Comics, Star Trek (DS9, TNG, Discovery) Assigned YT fandom: Wayfarers series

2016

Main fandom(s): Star Trek: DS9 Exchanges & events: Seeing Color, FemslashEx, Star Trek Secret Santa, Yuletide Fanart in: Miss Fisher, Scott Pilgrim, Star Treks (DS9, TNG), Star Wars, WicDiv Assigned YT fandom: Scott Pilgrim vs. The World

2015

Main fandom(s): Teen Wolf, none Exchanges & events: Teen Wolf Reverse Bang, Teen Wolf Femslash Exchange, FemslashEx, Yuletide, Art Yuletide Fanart in: Miss Fisher, Sailor Moon, Teen Wolf Assigned YT fandom: October Daye series

2014

Main fandom(s): Teen Wolf Exchanges & events: Teen Wolf Big Bang, Teen Wolf Fall Harvest, FemslashEx Fanart in: bandom, Elementary, Good Omens, Hannibal, Marvel Comics, OUAT, Orphan Black, Parks & Rec, Pretty Little Liars, Sailor Moon, Teen Wolf, Utena, WTNV Assigned YT fandom: N/A

2013

Main fandom(s): bandom, Teen Wolf Exchanges & events: Kink Bingo, Snowflake Challenge, Yuletart Fanart in: bandom, Castle/DC, The Little Mermaid, Teen Wolf, Utena, WTNV Assigned YT fandom: N/A

2012

Main fandom(s): bandom Exchanges & events: Bandom Big Bang Fanart in: bandom, Teen Wolf, Warehouse 13 Assigned YT fandom: N/A

2011

Main fandom(s): bandom Exchanges & events: Bandom Big Bang, White Lotus, Yuletart, Help Japan auction, Star Trek Reverse Bang Fanart in: AtLA, bandom, Castle, Castle/Firefly, Doctor Who, due South, Sailor Moon, Star Trek: AOS Assigned YT fandom: N/A

2010

Main fandom(s): bandom Exchanges & events: Bandom Big Bang, Star Trek Reverse Bang Fanart in: bandom, Star Trek: AOS Assigned YT fandom: N/A

2009

Main fandom(s): bandom Exchanges & events: Bandom Big Bang, Sweet Charity, Yuletart, The Little Bang, Yuletide Fanart in: bandom, Kim Possible, Marvel Comics, Merlin, The Middleman, Star Trek: AOS Assigned YT fandom: Gunnerkrigg Court

2008

Main fandom(s): bandom Exchanges & events: GO Exchange, Yuletart, Yuletide Fanart in: AtLA/bandom, bandom, Good Omens, Marvel Comics Assigned YT fandom: Hopeless Savages

2007

Main fandom(s): none Exchanges & events: GO Exchange, Alien Altars, Yuletide Fanart in: DCU, From Eroica With Love, Good Omens, Harry Potter, Kim Possible, Marvel Comics, ElfQuest Assigned YT fandom: Nancy Drew

2006

Main fandom(s):Stargate: Atlantis, Kim Possible Exchanges & events: Draw Batgirl meme, Drawbles meme, GO Exchange, Fish Like Bikes, Femslash Today Porn Battle, Yuletide Fanart in: A Midsummer Night’s Dream, BtVS, DCU, Discworld, Gilmore Girls/RHPS, Harry Potter/ElfQuest, Harry Potter/Utena, Good Omens, Kim Possible, Labyrinth/Trading Spaces, Marvel Comics, Marvel Comics/Firefly, Stargate: Atlantis, Tortall series Fanfic in: Kim Possible, Marvel Comics Assigned YT fandom: Tintin (+Empire Records treat)

2005

Main fandom(s): Stargate: Atlantis, Harry Potter Exchanges & events: Yuletide Fanart in: Harry Potter, Marvel Comics Assigned YT fandom: ElfQuest

2004

Main fandom(s): Marvel Comics, Harry Potter, due South Exchanges & events: Hometown Challenge, HP Femslash Drabble Challenge, Fairytale Ficathon, Yuletide Fanart in: Carmilla, DCU, Marvel Comics Fanfic in: Labyrinth (poem), Marvel Comics, Harry Potter, due South, BtVS Assigned YT fandom: Runaways

2003

Main fandom(s): Smallville, Harry Potter, Marvel Comics Fanart in: Good Omens, Marvel Comics Fanfic in: BtVS, Labyrinth Assigned YT fandom: Good Omens

2002

Main fandom(s): Smallville, Harry Potter Exchanges & events: chibihp RPG Fanart in: Smallville, Harry Potter

2001

Main fandom(s): Harry Potter, BtVS Fanart in: Harry Potter

2000

Main fandom(s): Labyrinth, BtVS Exchanges & events: UGL Round Robins Fanfic in: Labyrinth

1999

Main fandom(s): Sailor Moon, Labyrinth Fanart in: Sailor Moon Fanfic in: Labyrinth

1998

Main fandom(s): Sailor Moon Fanart in: Sailor Moon

#fandom #meta #about me #super self indulgent

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collectorscorner · 4 years

Photo

CC Blogger - New Arrivals @ Collectors Corner : Wednesday 12/23/20

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CC Bel Air - NEW 2020 STORE HOURS, Sunday 11-5, Monday/Tuesday - Closed, Wednesday 11-8, Thursday 11-7, Friday/Saturday 11-8

Complete list of items shipping to the stores, some items may be limited in availability. If you see anything you want to purchase on the list and are not a subscription member at Collectors Corner, just contact us and let us know if you want an item held at the stores. email - [email protected]

Subscription Membership & Free Membership Card : Collectors Corner's No Obligation (FREE) Membership Card or FREE (In Store) & ONLINE Subscription Membership saves you 10% Off ALL Bagged & Boarded Comic Book Back Issues, Board Games, Graphic Novels, Manga & Special Orders. Plus Never miss a comic again!

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PUBLISHER/TITLE/PRICE

ABLAZE Cimmerian Volume 1 HC, $24.99

AFTERSHOCK COMICS Animosity Volume 6 TP, $16.99 Man Who Effed Up Time TP, $16.99 Miles To Go #3, $3.99

AHOY COMICS Edgar Allan Poe’s Snifter Of Blood #3, $4.99

ARCHIE COMIC PUBLICATIONS Archie Milestones Jumbo Comics Digest #12 (Of 12), $7.99

AWA STUDIOS Grendel Kentucky #4 (Of 4)(Cover A Tommy Lee Edwards), $3.99 Grendel Kentucky #4 (Of 4)(Cover B Dave Johnson), $3.99

BEHEMOTH COMICS A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night #2 (Cover A Michael DeWeese), $3.99 A Girl Walks Home Alone At Night #2 (Cover B Niko Walter), $3.99

BOOM! STUDIOS Angel And Spike Volume 1 TP, $15.99 Dune House Atreides #2 (Of 12)(Jae Lee 2nd Printing Variant Cover), $4.99 Dune House Atreides #3 (Of 12)(Cover A Jae Lee), $4.99 Dune House Atreides #3 (Of 12)(Cover B Rod Reis), $4.99 Dune House Atreides #3 (Of 12)(Cover C Rod Reis), AR Dune House Atreides #3 (Of 12)(Cover D Jae Lee), AR Firefly Blue Sun Rising #1 (Cover A Nimit Malavia), $7.99 Firefly Blue Sun Rising #1 (Cover B Christian Ward), $7.99 Firefly Blue Sun Rising #1 (Cover C Lorenzo De Felici), AR Firefly Blue Sun Rising #1 (Cover D Christian Ward), AR Ghosted In L.A. Volume 3 TP, $14.99 Go Go Power Rangers Volume 8 TP, $16.99 Jim Henson’s Labyrinth Masquerade #1 (Cover A Jenny Frison), $7.99 Jim Henson’s Labyrinth Masquerade #1 (Cover B Evan Cagle), $7.99 Jim Henson’s Labyrinth Masquerade #1 (Cover C Jenny Frison), AR Klaus Life And Times Of Santa Claus HC, $24.99 Something Is Killing The Children #13 (Cover A Werther Dell’Edera), $3.99 Something Is Killing The Children #13 (Cover B Frany), AR Unkindness Of Ravens #4 (Of 4)(Cover A Dan Panosian), $3.99 Unkindness Of Ravens #4 (Of 4)(Cover B Qistina Khalidah), $3.99 Unkindness Of Ravens #4 (Of 4)(Cover C Dani Pendergast), AR

COMIC SHOP NEWS Comic Shop News #1740, AR

DARK HORSE COMICS Assassin’s Creed Valhalla Song Of Glory #3 (Of 3)(Cover A Douglas P. Lobo), $3.99 Drawing Lines An Anthology Of Women Cartoonist Anthology HC, $19.99 Resident Evil 7 Biohazard Document File HC (not verified by Diamond), $29.99 Seeds TP, $19.99 You Look Like Death Tales From The Umbrella Academy #4 (Of 6)(Cover A Gabriel Ba), $3.99 You Look Like Death Tales From The Umbrella Academy #4 (Of 6)(Cover B I. N. J. Culbard), $3.99 You Look Like Death Tales From The Umbrella Academy #4 (Of 6)(Cover C James Harren), $3.99

DC COMICS Action Comics #1028 (Cover A John Romita Jr. & Klaus Janson), $3.99 Action Comics #1028 (Cover B Rafael Grampa Card Stock Variant), AR Authority Volume 1 TP, $34.99 Batman Beyond #50 (Cover A Dan Mora), $3.99 Batman Beyond #50 (Cover B Francis Manapul), AR Batman Superman #15 (Cover A David Marquez), $3.99 Batman Superman #15 (Cover B Travis Charest), AR Batman Whatever Happened To The Caped Crusader Deluxe 2020 Edition HC, $29.99 Batman White Knight Presents Harley Quinn #3 (Of 6)(Cover A Sean Murphy), $4.99 Batman White Knight Presents Harley Quinn #3 (Of 6)(Cover B Matteo Scalera), AR Black Adam Endless Winter Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Dale Eaglesham), $3.99 Black Adam Endless Winter Special #1 (One Shot)(Cover B BossLogic Card Stock Variant), AR Dark Nights Death Metal The Secret Origin #1 (One Shot)(Cover A Ivan Reis & Joe Prado), $5.99 Dark Nights Death Metal The Secret Origin #1 (One Shot)(Cover B Gary Frank), AR DC Poster Portfolio Clay Mann TP, $24.99 DC Through The ’80s The End Of Eras HC, $49.99 Detective Comics #1033 (Cover A Brad Walker & Andrew Hennessy), $3.99 Detective Comics #1033 (Cover B Lee Bermejo Card Stock Variant), AR Justice League Dark #29 (Cover A Kyle Hotz), $3.99 Justice League Dark #29 (Cover B Gleb Melnikov), AR Last God #11 (Cover A Kai Carpenter), $4.99 Promethea The 20th Anniversary Deluxe Edition Volume 3 HC, $39.99 Red Hood #52 (Cover A Dan Mora), $3.99 Red Hood #52 (Cover B Skan), AR Super Friends Saturday Morning Comics Volume 2 HC, $69.99 Superman Whatever Happened To The Man Of Tomorrow Deluxe 2020 Edition HC, $29.99 Terrifics Volume 4 The Tomorrow War TP, $24.99 Wonder Woman #769 (Cover A David Marquez), $3.99 Wonder Woman #769 (Cover B Joshua Middleton Card Stock Variant), AR

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GRAPHIX Raina Telgemeier Five Book Collection Boxed Set, $58.95

HERO COLLECTOR Star Trek The Official Starships Collection Magazine Special #24 (Regula 1), $49.95

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IMAGE COMICS Ascender Volume 3 TP, $12.99 Department Of Truth #4 (Cover A Martin Simmonds), $3.99 Department Of Truth #4 (Cover B Tradd Moore), $3.99 Department Of Truth #4 (Cover C Nick Robles), AR Department Of Truth #4 (Cover D Jeff Lemire), AR Family Tree #10, $3.99 Gideon Falls #27 (Cover A Andrea Sorrentino & Dave Stewart), $7.99 Gideon Falls #27 (Cover B Jeff Lemire), $7.99 Ice Cream Man #22 (Cover A Martin Morazzo & Chris O’Halloran), $3.99 Ice Cream Man #22 (Cover B Sam Wolfe Connelly), $3.99 Killadelphia #11 (Cover A Jason Shawn Alexander), $3.99 Killadelphia #11 (Cover B Duncan Fegredo), $3.99 Marked #10 (Cover A Brian Haberlin), $3.99 Marked #10 (Cover B Brian Haberlin), $3.99 Marked #10 (Cover C Brian Haberlin), $3.99 Oblivion Song By Kirkman And De Felici #29, $3.99 Outcast By Kirkman And Azaceta #47, $3.99 Redneck #29, $3.99 Scumbag #3 (Cover A Eric Powell & Moreno DiNisio), $3.99 Scumbag #3 (Cover B Dave Guertin), $3.99 Scumbag #3 (Cover C Joelle Jones), AR Sea Of Stars #8, $3.99 Spawn #313 (Cover A Bjorn Barends), $2.99 Spawn #313 (Cover B Todd McFarlane), $2.99 Spawn #313 (Cover C Greg Capullo & Todd McFarlane), $2.99 Tartarus #8 (Cover A Andrew Krahnke), $3.99 Tartarus #8 (Cover B Chris Brunner & Rico Renzi), $3.99 Undiscovered Country #11 (Cover A Giuseppe Camuncoli), $3.99 Undiscovered Country #11 (Cover B Mirka Andolfo), $3.99

KENZER AND COMPANY Knights Of The Dinner Table #278, $5.99

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