#jasonette fluff

[mochegato]

Absolutely Smitten

Jason was beginning to regret his decisions.  Not just the ones that led him to his current predicament, but all of them.  Because only a massively dysfunctional historic pattern of decision making could result in this catastrophic situation from which there was no escape, at least not one he had found.  And he had been looking.  Don’t think a quick death hadn’t been considered, preferred even.  But at this point, quick was out of the question.

He dropped his head into his hand as they came to an abrupt stop, wishing the floorboard of the car would disappear and take him with so he wouldn’t have to face any more loathsome glares.  Glares to which there were no barrier because he’d allowed Dick to convince him they should take the convertible.  ‘It’s safer in Metropolis,’ he’d argued.  ‘How often do we get to do this?”  Clearly, too often.

Yet somehow, the glares seemed to have absolutely no effect on anybody else in the car.  And he absolutely refused to threaten to turn the car around again.  Dick was the geezer not him, damn it.  But he was not above begging.  “Will you please shut up for the love of all that is holy.”

“We are on our way to a Jagged Stone concert and you have a problem with his songs?” Dick teased, taking a short break for his own overdramatic interpretation of ‘You Are the Donut of my Life’ on order to torment his brother.

Jason had to lean forward to dodge away from Dick’s hands coming for his face, but he ended up leaning closer to Roy in the passenger seat who took the opportunity to pull him into a side hug, or rather pull him down and mess with his hair.  He shoved him away with a grunt and stepped on the accelerator at the green light.  “Not his songs.  Your caterwauling.  You’re tormenting half of Metropolis.”  He shot a pointed look to Duke in the rearview mirror.  “I expected better of you.”

“Don’t know why,” he snorted just before joining Roy and Dick in belting out the final lyrics.

Jason sighed and stepped on the gas.  The quicker he got to the arena, the quicker he could end this and pretend like he didn’t know them in the mosh pit.  His sigh turned into a groan when he was immediately with another red light.  What was worse was another car had now pulled up to their left, a car with a few guys, girls, and one gorgeous stunner in the passenger seat.

He breathed out a sigh of relief at the silence and shot her a dashing smile, a smile which widened at the blush that dusted her cheeks and the shy smile that graced her lips.  He opened his mouth to say something but before he could get the words out the opening chords of Trocaderock suddenly echoed down the street.  His smile strained as his treacherous passengers started singing again.  Not just singing, full on serenading the car next to them, wild gestures, reaching for them, impassioned inflections, and all.  He watched as the woman’s face morphed from shy to surprise to amusement.

“I’m sorry about them,” he called to her trying to be heard over them.  “I wish I could say sorry, they’re just drunk, but they’re not.  That’s just… them.”

Her smile brightened, the giggle she let out loud enough to be heard over the yowling right up until her friends joined in at which point her giggles turned into full blown laughter, lighting up her entire face as her eyes crinkled at the edges.  She took a moment to settle, but the smile continued to grace her lips.  “Same with mine.  But it makes life more fun,” she shrugged.

“Yeah, fun.  Sure,” he grumbled but eyed the rest of his car dramatically until she laughed again.

“You don’t sing?” she asked innocently.

He grimaced and shook his head.  “Like an angel.  It’s too powerful.  It would blow everyone away.”  He preened at the brilliant smile she responded with.

He kept eye contact as he accelerated slowly, making sure to keep pace with their car, until he had to return his eyes to the road, mostly because she pointed ahead of him and mouthed the word ‘road’ with a bemused smile, a smile, he would like to note, that was still there every single one of the many times he glanced over at her.

“Hey,” Dick called across to them.  “You guys going to the concert?”

“Yeah,” the woman in orange tips and glasses called back.  “You?”

“Us too.  We’re in the pit right in front of the stage.  You?” Roy yelled, not at all subtly looking between Jason and the woman with a sly grin.

“Us too!” a blonde man called back from the driver’s seat, a matching grin on his face as he looked pointedly at the woman.  “Guess we’ll see you there,” he promised before peeling off to the left.

“This concert is about to be a lot more interesting,” Duke smirked.

As promised, when they got through security, got their drinks, and made their way to the pit area, the occupants of the other car were already there, but Jason frowned as he approached them.  Not that they didn’t seem like fine people, but the only person he was really interested in seeing from their car wasn’t there.

He craned his neck to search the area with almost singular purpose, but aware enough to shove Dick away by the head for snickering at him and almost smacked Duke upside the head for nudging him with that smug smirk of his until he saw what Duke was pointing at, the woman trying to push her way through the crowd to get to her friends.  However, she was having a bit of difficulty due to her size.  Instead of the slap he had been anticipating, he patted Duke on the chest and pushed his way over to her.

“Need an assist,” he asked with his most roguish smile.

“Hey, Handsome Stranger” she grinned.  The expression on her face when she saw him, not just relief but excitement, made his chest puff out to accommodate his swelling heart.

“Hey, Pretty Lady” he grinned back.  “Come on, your friends are this way.  I’m Jason by the way.”  He didn’t even have to push through the crowd to get them back, the people parted as soon as they saw him coming.

“Ahh, so I should call you Jason instead of ‘my hero’?”  Her voice was cheeky and cheerful and it somehow made his already wide smile even wider.

He hadn’t smiled this much in years.  He ushered her ahead of him by the small of her back, his fingers tingling from the contact and his brain buzzing from the fact that she was not only letting him, but leaning into it.  “Oh, you can call me anything you want, Pixie Pop, just as long as you call me.”

She squeaked and hid her face in her hand, only removing it to wave to her friends as they approached, but her blush was so prevalent, it ran all the way down to the collar of her shirt.  “There you are, Marinette!” her friend with pink hair cheered.  She looked Jason over, her eyes lingering on the placement of his hand with a knowing smirk.  “And you come bearing gifts.”  She waggled her eyebrows at the two of them, very clearly enjoying embarrassing her friend.

“How did it go?” her blonde friend asked.  “Everything fine?”

“Yep, crisis averted,” she nodded.

“You good?” Jason asked carefully.  His eyes wandered over her thoroughly but efficiently.

“Not my crisis,” she assured him.  “Not a crisis at all, actually, just a drama king.”

“Awww look how smitten he is,” he heard Duke coo somewhere behind them.

Jason nodded to Marinette.  “Good to hear it.  Give me just a sec.”  He reached into his pocket and pulled out the only thing he had in that pocket, a handful of coins, throwing it at Duke without breaking eye contact with her.

Marinette giggled at his move but turned away when the backup band took the stage.  Jason took the opportunity to step up behind her and lean down close enough for her to hear him among the din of the crowd.  “So, you going to sing this time?  You never did say if you like to sing.”

She grinned and leaned a bit closer to him without taking her eyes off the stage.  “I sing all the time... and very off key, but my dancing... that is also bad.  But I have never let that stop me from having fun.”  She finally turned her face to meet him with a teasing smirk over her shoulder.  “What about your dancing?  Do you also dance like an angel?”

He hummed and let his eyes roam her face.  “No, there’s nothing angelic about the way I dance and rarely in public.”

Her blush raged across her face again, but she refused to break eye contact.  “You just going to stand there stoically then?”

“Might be persuaded.”  His voice dipped down, as did his eyes to her lips for just a moment before lifting back up to her eyes.

They kept eye contact until the area around them shook with the reverberations of the guitar flowing through the arena and drew all eyes to the stage, some more slowly than others.

Marinette proved herself to be honest though not terribly coordinated over the next several songs as she sang and danced with her friends along with Jagged Stone, though to be fair, nobody was really dancing so much as jumping around just like her.  She didn’t take a break until he played one of his slower songs.  But no matter how high she lifted herself up onto her tip toes craning her neck to see the stage, she couldn’t make herself tall enough to see over the crowd and after a few moments, she gave up the hope of seeing anything until the song changed and she could start jumping again.

“Need another assist?” Jason whispered into her ear.

She blinked at the words.  It took her brain a few moments to get past the feeling of his chest against her back and his breath on her neck and ear, and process what he had said.  “What?”  She was going to need a few more moments.

She absolutely had not expected Jason to pick her up and set her on his shoulders like lifting a pillow.  “Better, Pixie Pop?” he asked, but the lilt to his voice made it clear he was teasing her.

“Yes,” she acknowledged shyly.  After a moment she cleared her throat and smirked down at him.  “Glad to see you’re living up to the hero moniker.”

He wrapped his hand around her thighs, ostensibly to secure her position, but really more to feel her bare skin under his hands.  He grinned at the yelp she let out and slight jump.  “I just want to make sure you’re enjoying the show.”

“Oh, um, yep, en… enjoying the show.”  It took a few moments before she eased her muscles again and began swaying to the beat of the song.  It didn’t take much longer before Jason followed her lead rocking to the music as well.  “So, you do dance,” she teased.

He immediately stopped and tightened his laxed grip on her thighs.  “I'm not dancing,” he insisted.  “Your dancing is shifting my balance.  Just trying to keep you safe.”

She took a few seconds to respond, during which time, Jason could almost feel the incredulous look he knew she was shooting him.  “Huh, it's a very rhythmic shift.  Almost like it's a pattern of smooth movements.”

“So, you think I'm smooth?” he asked overly sweetly as he adjusted his hands and let his thumbs rub circles on the outside of her thighs.

She shook her head.  “Oh, I know you are,” she whispered breathily.

The music shifted tempo again and Jason carefully lifted her off his shoulders and set her down gently.  She turned and met his eyes as everyone around them started bouncing and singing loudly to the song, all of it melding into the background as their gazes intensified until Marinette suddenly got bumped into Jason.  His arms started to circle around her until her friend with the orange tips almost tackled Marinette from the side.  “It’s Mirockulous!” she yelled and pulled Marinette closer to the stage.

Unfortunately, between her friends pulling her in different directions and Jason trying to figure out if Jagged Stone really was staring at him suspiciously from the stage or if he was making it up in his head, they stayed separated until the end of the concert.  But the moment it ended, he intended to search for her, but as it had turned out, he hadn’t needed to because Marinette almost instantly appeared in front of him having pushed her way through the crowd to get to him.  He grinned brilliantly.  “Hey there, Pretty Lady.  Missed you.”

She took the last few steps to him, stopping just short of touching him.  Her arms twitched, almost like she wanted to reach for him, and he really, really wanted her to, almost to the point of reaching for her himself.  “Hey, Handsome Stranger,” she grinned back.  “The last part wasn’t nearly as fun without you.”

Dick popped up next to Jason, slinging his arm over his shoulder to smile at her and her friends who had wandered over to them.  “We were going to find somewhere to get some grub.  You guys up for it?”

Marinette met Jason’s eyes; her eyebrow raised in question.  “How about a trade?” he offered without breaking eye contact.  “You can give the one making eyes at your friend a ride,” he shoved Duke toward Marinette’s blonde friend, “and we can give Marinette a ride?”  Jason didn’t wait for the others to respond, at Marinette’s nod, he grinned and took her hand leading her out of the venue.  He silently congratulated himself.  Clearly, his decisions lately had been the best decisions of his life.

[lily-drake]

It’s a Learned Trait

This is my Secret Santa gift to Night_ngale on Ao3! This story is inspired by this photo by @mumblesplash on Tumblr (yes I got permission, and thank you for it!):

For Night_ngale on Ao3:

Marinette had been having a wonderful day with her parents in Gotham, New Jersey.  Her parents had just finished a catering job there and today they had decided to go sightseeing to all of the tourist attractions.  They had taken her to the zoo, to the aquarium, to the museum, and now they were heading to a bo-ton-tanicel-al…. botanical garden!  Both of her parents were holding her hands and smiling brightly at her as they walked the busy streets.  It was such a nice day, absolutely nothing could ruin it for her!

Then an explosion happened, and there was running, and a ringing noise in her ears that just wouldn’t stop, and everything was moving too fast.  

Screams filled the air along with scary high pitched giggling that sent shivers running through her spine.  She clutched tightly to the pair of hands that held onto both of her’s just as tightly, if not tighter, as they fled the crowded streets.  Then they could feel the cool shadow of something big that was coming from up high.  She looked up and felt herself freeze up as a massive piece of concrete broke off of the building they were under and fell faster and faster and faster exactly where she and her parents stood.  She tried to move, she tried to get herself to run away from the danger that she knew even at her age meant that she would no longer be able to wander the Earth; but she couldn’t.  The people kept shoving past her and her parents, keeping them in place as everyone pushed and shoved to get far, far away from the ensuing chaos.  The crowd was too thick, the screams were too loud, the rubble was too fast.  The next thing she knew was two pairs of different sized hands shoved her forward away from the massive pieces of falling debris that was right above them.  She turned to look behind her to see her parents' horrified expressions as they too stared up at the ginormous piece of concrete that was hurtling towards them and so many more people.  People kept almost stepping on her and crowding her vision of her parents and they moved before she could blink.  

Before she could even process what happened next, someone had picked her up and moved her away before quickly covering her eyes.  A few seconds later a loud crash was heard and the ground shook so hard she would have fallen over if the person hadn’t been keeping her upright.  Once the shaking was over the person that had rescued her picked her up, holding tightly onto her as they moved their hand up and the sound of something being shot through the air sounded just above her.

“It’s ok, I’ve gotcha.”

Said a deep gruff voice, though she could barely hear it as the cold wind whipped past her ears biting at her skin.  Her knee length pink dress hugged her legs as her brain refused to function and process the events that had just occurred.  She felt her feet touch solid ground, but her legs didn’t seem to want to hold her as her brain continued to stay offline.  She couldn’t think, couldn’t comprehend, and would the ringing in her ears just stop!  Where were her mama and papa?!  What happened to them?!  

It sounded like someone was trying to talk to her, but she was underwater and she couldn’t hear a thing, she couldn’t even see what was in front of her clearly.  Her entire body felt like it was weighted down, the pressure slowly crushing her.   She couldn’t even think, her brain was just too quiet and the ringing was too loud!  There was too much, too much noise, too much quiet, too much information yet not enough at all!  She kept going down deeper with nothing to ground her fleeting thoughts until she felt something heavy being placed around her shoulders.  Her eyes slowly began to register her surroundings and, after who knew how long, she was met with deep light teal eyes that were filled with worry.  Their face was obscured by a red mask, but she could still make out most of his features.  He had dark black hair with a white streak in it.  She didn’t know why this was important, all she knew was that she had to keep looking at him.  It was like if she looked away from him then everything would get all fuzzy again and she wouldn’t be able to think, and the ringing would take over her again even though it was still there!  Why can’t it stop, just make it stop, she wanted her mama and papa!  Where were they?!

“Hey, things will be ok.”

The masked man gently stated.  He kept eye contact with her, watching her to make sure she didn’t start to hyperventilate and that she wouldn’t go into shock.  He carefully pulled the jacket around her full body, carefully pulling her limp and dysfunctional arms into the jacket’s large sleeves.  He gave her a small reassuring smile while smoothing out the sleeves on the jacket, pressing the warmth of it onto her.  “Can you hold onto this for me?  I’ll be right back, ok?”

She simply nodded her head and held onto the jacket tightly like it was a lifeline.  He slowly grabbed a helmet that was on the ground near his legs and put it on.  “Don’t move ok, you’re safe now.”

He looked back at her then ran and jumped off…., oh, she was on a roof.  When did she get on a roof?  She hadn’t noticed.  She stood completely still, her mind causing the cacophony of noises to fade in and out.  She could hear screams and bangs, then nothing.  She could hear fighting and laughter, then the ringing came back.  The sounds often came close to the roof she was on; the fear of it made her legs so weak she eventually collapsed onto her knees as she clutched the jacket tighter than before.  Eventually her brain finally seemed to grasp the reality around her causing tears to start falling down her cheeks and sobs escaped her lips.  Her parents were dead, she was rescued, but th-they’re d-de-dead!  

Sobs wracked her small frame as the noises continued on for she doesn’t even know how long.  Every time there was a noise louder than the rest she pulled the jacket even tighter around her small body expecting the worst.  She wanted to escape, she wanted to hug her parents, she just wanted to go back home to Paris.  She wanted to go back to the bakery and eat the desserts her parents made, see Nino and Kim and play games with them, she wanted to go to the pretty gardens at the park and lay with the flowers.  

They were supposed to be happy, they were happy when they saw the pretty fishies, they were happy when they saw the amazing artifacts in the museum, papa had held her on his shoulders so she could see the giraffes better when they had taken her to the zoo.  Everything had been so perfect, why did everything change so fast?  Why did her mama and papa have to leave her like this?  Why was there no rain when such a terrible tragedy had just occurred like in the movies?

There was a soft thump that made her wrap the jacket even tighter, if that was even possible.  She didn’t want to get hurt, she just wanted her parents back.  “Hey, thanks for holding onto that for me.”

The man from before said.  She looked up, her eyes watery, making his figure blurry.  She saw him take off the helmet and set it down.  He looked sad and remorseful as he slowly sat next to her, but never reached out to touch her, instead remaining a comfortable presence.  “You from here?”

She slowly shook her head no.  “P-Paris.”

Her voice was cracked and broken.  Her parents had her study English with her French studies because of all of the tourists that came by.  Not to mention Mama said that if she wanted to be famous then she had to know English.  How would she get back to Paris?  Who would take her?  How was she supposed to survive without her mama and papa?!  She couldn’t, she needed them, now they’re gone and she’ll die here because she has nothing without them.  

“Paris is a nice place.  Have any friends there?”

She nodded again, the movement causing the drops on her cheek to drip onto the ground.  He stayed silent, waiting to see if she would do or say anything further.  She was glad he let her take her time, she was tired and her brain was still too loud and fuzzy to really understand his questions immediately.  Dejectedly she replied,  “N-Nino and K-Kim are my friends.  Th-they stand up t-to Chloe f-for me.  Everyo-one else is too scared of her an-and her daddy.”

He reached out to touch her, but quickly pulled back.  He wanted to comfort the small child, but he wasn’t sure how she would respond if he touched her.  She looked so small curled up in his jacket, it would have been cute if it weren’t for the circumstances that led to the scene in front of him.  “Sounds like you’ve got some good people lookin’ out for ya.”

He said, trying to sound reassuring.  She gave a small smile and nodded, “Y-yea.”

“Why don’t we go somewhere safe.  I know someone who will take care of ya for a bit, okay?”  Red Hood asked carefully.  She nodded again and was about to take her arms out of the sleeves of the warm jacket, but before she could fully take it off the man stopped her.  “Keep it, I’ve got a lot of others back home, and this is gonna keep you safe, ok?”

She nodded slowly, letting him adjust and zip it up so the warmth that still lingered in it was all around her.  He slowly stood up, projecting his movements so as to not scare her before he extended his hand for her to take.  She looked at it hesitantly, slowly reaching out and taking hold of his hand as she wiped her cheeks with the sleeve of her free arm.  Her hand was so small that when he closed his her entire hand was encompassed by his own. He gently pulled her back onto her feet making sure she was stable before letting go.  “Hop on my back and hold on tight, ‘kay?”

He said softly–just like her mom used to when she was hurt–crouching down with his back facing her so she could climb on.  With a brief moment of hesitation, because what if this was a trap like Mama and Papa had warned her about, she carefully climbed onto his back and wrapped her arms around his neck and gripped onto his shirt.  It was a bit hard as there seemed to be something hard sewn into parts of it, but it was okay.  He slowly got up and made sure her legs were wrapped tightly around his torso so she wouldn't slip or fall off.  When he was sure she was secure, he grabbed something from one of his pockets, angled it.  There was a loud bang, like the one she had heard when he had first grabbed her, though that memory felt like it was from so many years ago, that startled her accompanied by a whiz as it shot into the air.  He pulled on the device he was using to make sure it was taught and secure, then he ran and jumped off the building.  

Marinette screamed in fear and buried her face into his shoulder, holding him even tighter than before.  She kept her eyes shut, feeling out the rhythm of run, jump, fall, swing.  Eventually she started to feel a little more comfortable swinging through the air, that was until they started to fall again.  She screamed again louder than the time before and heard the noise of the man’s device again before she felt the taut jolt that signified they were soaring through the air once more.  Slowly, she tilted her head up and saw how amazing the city looked with all of its shining lights so high up in the sky with the setting sun sinking behind the tall buildings.  Wasn’t it just past 13:00 though?  She had just eaten lunch with her mama and papa; hadn’t she…?

Suddenly the lights weren’t as amazing as they were before, they were dull and full of sorrow and loss.  She didn’t want to look down just in case she saw them, they wouldn’t look the same.  She didn’t want to look down because then she might fall, and she didn’t want to fall.  Heights have always been scary.  She held onto the man tighter, scared that if she loosened her grip even the smallest amount, she’d fall.

They continued on in that fashion for a few minutes when the man with the red helmet set her down on a balcony.  It was plain with a swirled black metal guard.  The roof was bland and lifeless with nothing decorating it other than the fence, she didn’t like it.  “I’ve got a friend here.  He’ll watch over you for a while, okay?”  She nodded slowly, unsure of whether she should be relieved someone would take her in or scared that this was all some sort of trap.  She watched and listened as the man climbed down a fire escape and began to tap on a window.

Tap

…

Tap tap

…..

Tap tap tap

Then he stepped back and waited.  Another man with red hair opened the window with a small smile, “What’s up Hood?” He asked in a casual voice.

“I need you to watch someone for me.”

The red-haired man raised a brow.

“Her parents didn’t make it in the last battle with Joker.  Lots of debris, and I don’t feel like having serial-adopter-bats see her.”

“Makes sense.  Where are they?” The other man asked with a small nod, looking around the escape.  The man in the helmet held up one finger and climbed back up to her.  

“Can you come with me please?”

Marinette gulped, unsure of what she should do.  But the man has been really nice to her so far, and he’s even letting her keep his jacket.  Slowly she reached out and took his offered hand, letting him help her down the fire escape to the window.

“Hey,”

The other man said in a soft tone,

“What's your name?”

She looked down, anxiously twirling her foot from side to side.  “M-Marinette.”  She replied quietly, voice strained.

“That’s a nice name, how old are you?”  His voice was soft and gentle and it made her feel a little more at ease.

“Nine.”

“Wow, you’re pretty old, huh?  I’m Roy, do you want to come in and eat something?  I just finished making some sandwiches.”  She looked back at the man that had brought her here and saw him give her a small nod.  She nodded back and shyly followed the red haired man into the apartment building.  “Do you want some water?”

She nodded again, standing near the island counter.  She looked back at the window where the man in the helmet had been only seconds before, only to see that he was no longer there.  The man nodded and quickly got a cup from a cupboard and filled it with some tap water before placing it on the counter near her with a small plate that held what looked like BLT.  “I have a roommate, he should come by soon.  Just as a heads up, ok?”

She nodded, carefully climbing up to the barstool and sat down.  Marinette looked at the sandwich and started picking at it.  She really wasn’t that hungry, but it would be rude to not accept her host's hospitality.  Her mama had taught her the importance of respecting people that were trying to help her, especially when she was at her friend’s home.  Tears she thought she had run out of started to resurface as she thought of her mama.  She sniffled and wiped her eyes before more could escape.  

Roy looked at her worriedly.  From what he had read from the text Jason had sent him, her parents were caught by falling debris from one of Joker’s bombs that the bats hadn’t been able to dismantle in time.  He had been able to pull her away, but her parents along with a bunch of other civilians weren’t able to make it out of the way in time.  Jason said that he had managed to cover her eyes and take her away before she could see anything, but he knew that wouldn’t be enough to stop any type of trauma from forming.  

The girl was so small, he could only imagine what must be going through her mind.  Not to mention she was only visiting from Paris, she wasn’t even from Gotham.  Apparently her parents were catering for one of Bruce’s events, and that was the only reason they had even traveled here in the first place.

“Hey, do you want to watch a movie?  I’m sure we could find something you’d like.”  She didn’t respond right away as she processed what he had asked. It didn’t matter though, he’d give her all the time she needed.

“R-Ratatouille?”  Was her small reply.  A smile graced his lips, as he asked,

“Is that your favorite Disney movie?”  She shrunk in on herself and nodded with a small, 

“Mhm.”

“That’s a great movie, let me ask Jason to pick it up when he comes back.  He should be here soon anyways.”

“Okay.”  

Her voice was so quiet, but he could hear the joy in her voice.  He quickly texted Jason to pick up the movie when he was done debriefing with The Bats and started to make another sandwich since she was eating his, not that he minded of course.  

•         •         •

Jason walks in with a bag full of gummy candy, popcorn, a box of different flavored macaroons, and one Disney movie in its unopened case and plastic wrapping.  He was thankful to see that the small girl was sitting at the counter drawing.  He wouldn’t know what to do if she were still crying.  “Hey, heard we’re takin’ care of another kid?  I bet Lian will be happy to have a new friend when she comes back from her sleepover.”

He called out into the apartment as if he had no idea what had happened only a few hours before.  The little girl startled from her seat, quickly turning to look at him with her large bluebell eyes.  He really needed to keep her away from Bruce, she was perfect Wayne material and he refused for her to be tainted by him and the rest of his adopted child army.

“Yea, Red Hood dropped her off due to….”  He glanced at the girl sympathetically, “The incident that happened earlier.”

Marinette shifted uncomfortably and went back to drawing with a furrowed brow.  There was a heavy silence that filled the room until Jason said, “Well, I bought a bunch of snacks and was told to buy a movie, so….”

Marinette looked up again and hopped off the chair nearly tripping.  She quickly stood up embarrassed as both boys stared at her in worry.

“You okay Marinette?”  Roy asked carefully, walking towards her.  Her cheeks turned a slight red as she nodded.

“Y-yes, sorry.  I’m really clumsy.”  Her voice held a French accent that only made the little girl even more adorable.  Jason gave her a wide smile and gently handed her the plastic grocery bag.  

“Here you go.”

She carefully took the bag with a small, “Thank you”, and started to look through it.  Her eyes shined with childlike glee at the macaroons and they shined even brighter when she pulled out the blue-ray disk.  She quickly ran over to Roy and showed him the movie asking if he could put it into whatever he uses.  

It was interesting to see Roy smile and ruffle her hair.  He looked calm and happy, used to the role of caretaker.  Gently he took the disk, removed the plastic before opening it up, and walked over to the TV in the main room next to the kitchen and popped the disk in. 

“Hey, I’ll go grab some blankets.  Do you want to take your shoes off Marinette?”  He asked gently as he moved toward the linen closet.  She nodded and slipped them off with a slightly flushed face.  She watched as Roy sunk down on the couch where he patted at one of the seats.  Cautiously she walked toward the coach sitting in a rocking chair a few feet away from Roy.  You could never be too cautious, at least that’s what her mama used to say.  “Used to”, that felt wrong. 

When Jason walked back into the room he watched as the small girl hugged her legs close to her chest, face hidden behind her arms.  It was a heartbreaking sight, a sight that felt familiar as it pulled against his heartstrings as he remembered doing the same thing around the same age. 

“Thanks Jaybird.”  Roy whispered as he took the blankets from his hands.  He hadn’t even noticed that he was approaching.  He was out of it today, and not in a good way.  The opening narration of Remmy the Rat began to play through the speakers as Roy slowly and carefully wrapped a weighted blanket around the young girl's shoulders.  He watched as Roy talked to her quietly for a few moments, never initiating touch, waiting to see what she would say or do.  It was always interesting to watch Roy act like a father as he treated his kid far differently than either of his dads had treated him.  After a few minutes Roy stepped away, back to his spot on the couch not saying another word as the young girl collected herself before looking up to watch the movie with tear soaked cheeks that stabbed at Jason’s heart.

•         •         •

It was around the middle of the movie that little Mari fell asleep.  She had slowly begun to relax as the movie progressed until she had blinked a few times very slowly, then her eyes fell and stayed shut. She was emotionally exhausted from the day and had simply passed out, poor kid.

Jason watched the kid, but not in a weird way.  He was worried, and he didn’t know what to do.  The kid was stuck here, despite the fact that she’s not a citizen, and from what little information he could find with little time at his disposal, he couldn’t find any family that could take her now that she was an orphan.  Jason wondered if this was how Bruce felt when he had met all of them before he decided to make them his little band of misfit toys.  He often felt this way when he saw Lian, but it was never as strong of an emotion as he felt now for this child he had only met a few hours ago.

“You look constipated; which means you’re trying a failing to show some form of deep emotion.  So spit it out, what’s going on in that thick skull of yours?”

Roy asked quietly, turning his head slightly to give him a side eye before turning back to the movie.  Jason rolled his eyes and let out a long frustrated sigh.  “I don’t know Roy.  There’s just a lot going on, especially after the last attack.”

Roy quickly paused the movie and turned to look Jason in his eyes.  There wasn’t any pity in his gaze, but there was empathy and an openness that showed he wouldn’t judge.

“It was Joker’s fault.  So many people died because of the Joker, her parents,” he firmly gestured to the sleeping girl with tear stained cheeks sleeping on the small chair, whisper yelling so as to not wake her; “are no longer alive because of his actions today and Bruce still won’t get rid of him.”  Jason took in a deep shuddering breath, he needed to control himself, he couldn’t let the green creep in.  That wouldn’t do anything, it wouldn’t do any good for anyone, especially right now.

“I’ve tried to kill him,”  Jason admitted shakily, “I’ve tried, but he always finds a way to stop me.  I don’t understand how he cares for that-that creature more than his own- than me.”  A heavy silence fell between them only broken up by the gentle snores to their right.  

“I don’t want her to feel this way, I don’t want her to go through the same pain I went through at her age.”  Jason continued.  When I was trying to find out any information on her, a potential family member that could take her home I found that her grandmother on her dad’s side died in a motorcycle accident, her grandfather died of a heart attack, on her mom’s side it looks like her mother was disowned for unknown reasons, which means that they probably would not take in her daughter.  That leaves her with Social Services, and despite Bruce’s efforts I still don’t trust it; or as a street kid.”

Roy contemplated everything that Jason had just told him.  They had been through a lot together, in fact Jason and Star were the reasons that he was still alive, the reason he believed that he was doing a good job at being a father, they helped him keep going when everyone else had given up on him.  Roy glanced at the sleeping girl, then back to Jason.  Jason looked at the girl the same way Roy looked at his own daughter, with a sort of protective love.  Roy could tell that Jason cared about the kid; he probably saw himself Marinette.  It only made sense that he would feel extra protective around the girl as no one would want the same trauma that you’ve faced placed onto another.  

“Well, what do you think is the best thing to do Jason?  I know for a fact that you’re not going to be letting Bruce or any of the other bats, besides maybe Oracle, anywhere near her.  If what you say is true, and she really has no family that will willingly take her in, then what’s your plan?”

Another sigh escaped Jason as he leaned his head back so that it was hanging off the couch. “I don’t know Roy, maybe we can drop her off in Metropolis and let her be taken care of there.  They have a better system and I’m sure she would  be adopted by someone that would love her.”

Roy nodded, he could see the good in the plan, but there was something else.  Jason was still frustrated and didn’t like the idea.  “But?”  He prodded.

“‘But’,” Jason said emphasizing the ‘t’, “the thought of doing that makes my skin crawl in all of the wrong ways.”

Roy hummed.  This isn't some easy or light hearted task.  The kid had just lost both of her parents in the most sudden way possible, then she was taken away from the area and to the house of complete strangers, and to top it off she may never be able to return to her home country; but if she does she would be put into the foster system with no stability ot time to heal.  Of course she also had the possibility of being taken in by her grandparents in China, but there was a chance that they would treat her poorly since they had disowned her mother, and they may only take her in because of obligation.  Nothing about this was easy, none of it was simple.  If Jason wanted to somehow become her legal guardian then he would need to earn her trust, he would have to either legally become alive again or find a believable identity that would allow for him to adopt her.  

There were just so many variables, and it was too late for this conversation, yet not late enough.  

“Lian’s coming home tomorrow, we can figure this out while they play.”

Jason nodded, mostly to himself.  “You’re right.  We need to give her more time to process everything, I still need to process today.”

“Did you have a panic attack?” Roy asked worriedly.  Now that he was thinking about it there must have been lots of explosions, even if most of them were disabled.  Then there was the clown and how he just paraded around on the rooftops.  Jason had had a few before when he returned back to the apartment after a Joker breakout, it was horrifying.  Jason just gave him a sad, strained smile.

“No, thankfully.”

“Right,”  Roy said as he slowly stood up, stretching his arms up dramatically. “Well let's move her to Kori’s room tonight.  She’s still visiting Tamaran.”

Jason nodded, following suit.  Slowly he approached the sleeping girl, televising his movements despite the fact that she was still asleep before gently picking the girl up.  Roy watched with a gentle smile as he slowly walked to Kori’s room, trying not to wake her as he brought her to bed.  He had watched Jason do the same thing with Lian, playing the role of older brother perfectly.  Now, it looked like he might be stepping into a new role.  The same role that Roy carried right now.  But who knew what would happen.  As Roy settled in for the night in his own room a sudden thought came to his mind.  Jason was always complaining how Bruce had a “type” or MO for the people he really cared about; and that was that they needed to have black hair and/or blue eyes.  The girl that Jason saved and now is attached to has black hair and…blue eyes.  He quickly turned into his pillow and started laughing his butt of, hoping that no one would be able to hear him.  A couple tears slipped down his cheeks as he thought to himself, ‘so it’s a learned trait after all.’

Taglist:

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[official-timari-server]

Welcome to the Timari Servers first Live Event

Shutterbug Station

There are two teams, Angst v. Fluff, and only you all can decide who shall be the true victor.

On each day a prompt will be revealed that corresponds with either Angst or Fluff depending on the day. Your goal is to create something that fulfills the prompt!

Trauma Train Tuesdays are dedicated to Angst prompts while Fluff Freight Fridays are for Fluff with some bonus prompts sprinkled in!

We’re aware full calendars can be daunting and too much for people so this gives people a chance at a break while also keeping them on their feet when the day arrives for their prompt to be revealed and gives them time to complete their prompts.

Choose which team you wish to support (you are allowed to join both), make content for them, and post! If you post it on the day their prompt is revealed, you’ll get an additional 5 points.

Guidelines:

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• While we are a Timari Server and would love more Timari content, we are aware of the constraints of that and absolutely support other pairing submissions

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Tags:

Ao3 : #Shutterbug Station 2024  #MSS2024

Tumblr :  #MSS2024 #Shutterbug Station 2024

Insta :  #ShutterbugStation2024

(M for Maribat)

@official-timari-server for reblogging!

Contact us with any questions, comments, or concerns!

[littleinkling64]

Some soft cuddles with Lian and Nettie for all your Jasonette/Roynette needs  @mochegato @newdog14 @tylindel

[freedom-shamrock]

I’ve finally posted the first chapter of that Jasonette piece I’ve been playing with.  I’ve got a couple more written, and I’m hoping being ahead of the game will mean I can get it finished without leaving you hanging.

Chapters: 1/6 Fandom: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Jason Todd, Jonathan Samuel Kent/Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Damian Wayne, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug & Jonathan Samuel Kent Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Jonathan Samuel Kent, Damian Wayne, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Luka Couffaine Additional Tags: Neighbors to Friends, Found Family, Healing, Eventual Romance, Guardian of the Miraculous Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Miraculous Magic Marinette, Lazarus Pit Side Effects (DCU), Lazarus Pit Madness (DCU), PTSD, Identity Reveal, Jasonette Summary:

Marinette is in her early 20s and has moved to Gotham to study business and design. Hawkmoth had been defeated a few years earlier and she's embraced her opportunities to heal herself and others. Her neighbors Jon and Damian have become more of found family. Who doesn't love swing dance, cookies, and a little bit of pit madness?

[maribat-calendar-events]

Maribat Awards 2023 Nominees

Art: Favourite Artist Favourite FanArt

Authors: Favourite Author Most Underrated Author Best Maribat Author of All Time (Any year) Best New Author

Fics: Favourite Fic Most Underrated Fic Best Maribat Fic of All Time (Any year)

Ships: Best Daminette Best Jasonette Best Timari Best Dickinette Best Rare Pair Best Platonic (non-bio-family) Best Biological family AU (not just biodad!Bruce)

Overall: Best One-Shot Best Multi-Chapter Best Fluff Best Angst Best Hurt/Comfort Best Comedy

Vote Now Here!

[mae-dwrites]

Events

Featured: Jasonette July • Shutterbug Station • Mayday • Malachite Milestones

Links under the cut <3

Jasonette July 2022 (Ao3)

Aim

Target

Strike

Jasonette July 2024 (Ao3)

Misbehavin’ - D2 - R

Protector - D3 - R

Unsteady - D4 - P

One Thing Right - D10 - P

Home - D21 - R

From The Grave - D28 - P

Shutterbug Station 2024

Bonus Day 1: Meme - Chloé/Jason

Angst Day 1: Meme - Chloé/Jason

Angst Day 3: Meme - Chloé/Jason

Fluff Day 3: Meme - Alley Cat

Final Bonus Day: Fanfiction - Angst - Tim Drake & Zoé Lee

Final Angst Day: Fanfiction - Tim Drake & Zoé Lee

1 of 10 no prompt: Fanfiction - Angst - Zoé Lee/Jon Kent, Chloé Bourgeois, Damian Wayne

Mayday 2024 (Ao3)

Poem 1: Meet an Eclipse

Poem 2: Coffee Haven

Poem 3: More than a bump

Poem 4: Follow, My Life

Poem 5: The Night We Met

Malachite Milestones Event (Mae’s Version) 2024 (Ao3) (Wattpad)

Ring

Scratchy

Could we?

Shutterbug Scoops 2024 | Note: Cross-Submitted with the Malachite Milestones Event | (Ao3) (Wattpad)

Ring

Scratchy

Could we?

Summerween Special 2024 | (Ao3) (Wattpad)

B5 - Chapter 1 of Coffee Stains and Leaky Pens

C2 - Chapter 2 of Coffee Stains and Leaky Pens

Adribat October 2024 | (Ao3) (Wattpad)

To be started 😉

[maribat-media]

Maribat Media Poll Sunday Tuesday! #3/4

Can we just act like it's Sunday? No one will notice...

@dcmiracles is the blog putting on this event and they plan on doing others in the future! Give them a follow! They are open for any questions surrounding the event!

Feel free to leave questions here as well!

Reblog Challenge: Mention wherever you feel comfortable (tags or reblog message) the things that excite you about this event! Try to go further than just mentioning which days you like the most. Hype up each other!

[ao3feed-brucewayne]

Paris' Protector

by Nory_Gail Jason was expecting more when Bruce and him went to Paris for a mission! Crepes, kicking butt, no school... but he's gotten none of it so far! At least his classmates are nice, most of them at least.   Jasonette July Day 3: Protector Words: 3279, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English Series: Part 45 of Maribat Multitude Fandoms: Miraculous Ladybug, Batman - All Media Types Rating: General Audiences Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply Categories: F/M Characters: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug, Jason Todd, Lila Rossi, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir, Bruce Wayne, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, Caline Bustier Relationships: Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug/Jason Todd Additional Tags: Jason Todd is Robin, Bruce Wayne is Batman, Paris (City), Mentioned Caline Bustier's Class, Post-Episode: s01 Le Dessinateur | The Evillustrator, Jason Todd-centric, Jason Todd is Bad at Feelings, High School, Budding Love, Crushes, Adrien Agreste | Chat Noir Has a Crush, Unrequited Crush, Marinette Dupain-Cheng | Ladybug Has a Crush, Requited Love, Love Triangles, Prompt Fic, Fluff, Some Plot, Lila Rossi Lies, Evil Lila Rossi via https://ift.tt/NyVDjRh

[abyssal-ali]

Stars Around My Scars

Part 1

Pairing: Jasonette

Rating: T

Word Count: ~5.7 k

I don't believe there are any warnings, but if you think I should add one, let me know!

Some things may make more sense if you read my (extended) Author's Note here.

Cardigan AU Masterlist here.

Everyone say thank you to my wonderful betas @sarcasticbambi and @boldlyanxious <3<3<3

Any errors are mine, and please don't hesitate to point them out (but please be nice, I'm really proud of this AU).

Requested by @mochegato from my discord poll. I hope you like it! (I promise the fluff and comfort is coming <3 )

You drew Stars Around my Scars

Marinette rushed from her last class to her locker.

The teeming crowds of students milled around the suddenly full hallways, pulling her closer to her goal. Her boyfriend often left little notes or clues to gifts, and it always brightened her day to find a loving surprise. How he knew her locker code, she didn't know, but brushed it off (she'd certainly acquired dubious skills for stupider reasons than giving her SO a gift).

There was nothing there today, but when she slammed it shut she turned and walked into her boyfriend.

“Hey, Pixie. Ready to go?”

She groaned. “Nooo. I have to work on my Lit essay.”

“I can help; whatever you need.”

He grabbed her hand and dragged her to the quiet library, seemingly empty except for the rows of books and the librarian, Ms. Blue. She nodded familiarly at them and went back to her computer as they disappeared deeper into the library's abyss. Finally, they stopped at a table and Marinette dumped her things on its surface.

“Okay, let's do this.”

About an hour after they began working on their homework, Jason got up to find a book for references. A few minutes later, Marinette noticed he still hadn't returned, so she decided to stretch her legs and go look for him. After scouring several rows, she finally heard a thump behind her. The trail of thumps led her to a corner of the library, where Jason was waiting with a smug grin.

“You did miss me.”

“Of course.” She rolled her eyes. “I have to keep a very close eye on you when we're in a library or bookstore. I couldn't wait too long or I mayn't have seen you ever again. Like that time I lost you at the B&N.”

“Mayn't?”

She punched his (stupidly solid) arm. “It's an uncommon contraction that should be used more.”

“I'll tell the world to start, then. We should make a prank on Twitter.”

“Oui, good idea! No one will know it's us trolling them, and you can share your bizarre stories and explain your unusual skills.”

“What bizarre stories?” He followed her back to their table, setting up a new Twitter account on his way.

“Um, my ex-girlfriend possessed my other ex, for one. That time you met a civil, agreeable demon, for two...you are a mysterious person, Jason Todd.”

“Thank you, I try to be as cryptid-like as possible. What shall we name our crack account?”

“Um...our names combined make “Janette”; Janette can be the mod. For the handle, how about...Janette@pothamcrack. Yeah. And before you ask, Paris + Gotham equals Potham.”

“Great. Here, our first official tweet. Janette@pothamcrack says: 'Mayn't' is an underused contraction. Use it more, cowards'.”

“Perfect. Can you make everyone we know that's verified follow us so more people are subjected to our crack and insanity?”

•○•○•○•

Jason knocked on Marinette's door. There was a brief flurry of activity, then she opened it enough to stick her head out.

“Heyyy, Jay. You're early!”

“Is that such a bad thing?” he asked, faux-offended.

“No, of course not...come in. I just gotta...”

“Why is there blood on your sweatshirt? Are you hurt?”

Jason carefully circled her, gingerly trailing his hands over her body to check her reactions. When he reached her lower left ribs, she only winced once, very quickly, but he caught her reaction and yanked her Gotham Knights sweatshirt up a couple inches. Her hand grabbed his wrist tightly, preventing him from moving.

“Oh, sorry, Pix. I...should've asked first.” He felt quite remorseful, knowing she hated showing skin, though he didn't know the reason why. But if she was hurt and hiding it, and bleeding...“How badly are you hurt, Pix? Do you need me to take you to the clinic?”

Marinette looked down. “I'm fine, it's just a scratch,” she mumbled quietly. "I was just gonna change, you don't need to worry.”

Now Jason was really concerned. Why was she hiding it? If it really wasn't bad, she'd show him as proof, like that time he thought she chopped her fingers off (in hindsight he may have panicked a bit, but she was his girlfriend and he was terrified of something hurting her) and she immediately showed him the barely-visible nick on her finger.

He gently tilted her chin up to face him and started directly into her blue eyes.

“Marinette, I'm your boyfriend, and I'm worried about you. I understand if you don't want me to see, but can you tell me what happened, at least?”

She dropped her gaze again, though it could only reach his callused hand this time, and inhaled sharply, then winced again.

“I was lightly stabbed from an attempted mugging, but I'm fine! It's just a scratch! I'm sorry for worrying you. I was just gonna get a bandaid; it's not that deep.”

“Stabbed and mugged? Marinette Wendy Dupain-Cheng Stone, why didn't you tell me?!”

She jerked her chin out of his hold and glared at him. “Because I don't need to answer you. I'm an adult and I can take care of myself just fine, thank you. If you don't trust my judgement, then you obviously don't respect me and you can leave me to my first aid.”

“Woah, Pix. I-” Jason stopped and took a deep breath.

“Okay, clearly you have some things we should talk about, but first, you're right. I'm sorry. We can talk about this after you get first aid. I don't have to watch, but I'm staying until we talk this stuff out, Marinette."

Marinette headed to the bathroom where her closest first aid kit was and began unpacking it to search for the things she needed.

The door shut in Jason's face with a decisive click.

He sat across the hall, leaning against the wall and talking to Marinette. She didn't reply, but she didn't chase him out or tell him to shut up, either, so he took it as a win.

Finally, the door opened and Marinette stood in the doorway, just looking at him.

Jason slowly got to his feet and scanned her up and down, just in case she'd bled out in the bathroom and was now a zombie or some other supernatural revenant his brain cursed him with imagining.

She'd left her sweatshirt off and was just in a white tank top, bloodstained on the lower left side (thankfully less blood than his traumatised brain helpfully made him think of), and her jeans. His eyes landed on her arms, which she usually had covered by a sweater or hoodie (usually one of his).

Scars of various sizes and shapes littered her arms and what he could see of her chest. She'd told him that everyone was healed and brought back to life, but he'd thought it was completely healed, not left with scars.

A sudden flash of insight hit him and he blinked, then moved across to hug her gently. “I'm glad you're not seriously hurt. Are you in pain? Do you want me to get a pill?”

“One small slice does not constitute pain, Jason.” She was avoiding his eyes again, he noticed. He much preferred those pretty blues looking at him, not away from him in shame or pain or anger.

“I understand.”

Which hurts more, A or B? Forehand, or backhand?

“I'm so sorry you had to go through that. I didn't...when you told me about Hawkmoth and Multimouse, you obviously toned it down a lot.”

Marinette realised he had picked her up and they were now in her kitchen, where he perched her on the island and began making her a mug of tea. Oh, she realised. He's not just talking about the mugging.

Her lips quirked up a bit as she watched him move around her kitchen familiarly.

Jason handed her her favourite mug and leaned against the counter beside her.

“Are you okay, besides the 'light stabbing'?”

She glared at him over the rim of her mug, but it lacked heat. “Yeah, it was only an attempted mugging. The dude was following me so I ducked into an alley and when he 'caught' me, I let him get close enough to stab me and then I grabbed his wrist, kneed him, and put him in an armlock. The stab was simply a tactical sacrifice. Then a nice cop drove by as I was zip-tying him, so I let him take the guy into the station. His name was, um, Dick Grayson, I think? He had similar features to you...anyways, yeah, I'm fine, you worrywart. I'm sorry for yelling at you earlier, I just...I shouldn't have yelled, I'm sorry. You were just worried but it reminded me of some situations in Paris and I reacted disproportionately.”

“I forgive you, Pixie. Can you tell me what part of what I did and said reminded you, so I can work on that?”

“The...well, it wasn't really anything. I'm just always on guard because I had to fight for people to trust me so much, and my ex-partner was...always crossing lines and I was always explaining things I shouldn't have had to. You were just asking out of worry, but I immediately jumped to you trying to back me into a corner. It's not something you have to work on,” she snorted bitterly.

As she spoke, Jason picked up her free hand and began running his fingers over her arm soothingly. Marinette suddenly realised what he was doing and focused on the shapes. He was slowly tracing stars around every single mark and scar on her arms. Eventually, he reached her shoulder and left his arm comfortingly across them. She snuggled a little closer and they drank their tea in cosy silence.

○○○○○○○

To Kiss in Cars and Downtown Bars

Jason flipped through the security feeds from his office in the Iceberg Lounge. A familiar face at the back of the line to get in caught his eye. Why...

He changed out of his Red Hood gear into his usual outfit of jeans, a T-shirt, and his leather jacket (different from his RH jacket), then snuck out the door.

•○•○•○•

Marinette jumped as a large, warm hand was put over her mouth. She hadn't heard anyone coming, but they were awfully brave to attempt...whatever...in full view of the bouncers a few metres ahead. She made eye contact with one but he completely ignored her!

Now Marinette was more annoyed at the bouncer's incompetence than the person behind her!

“It's me.”

She whirled around. “Jay? What're you doing here?”

He plucked her ID from her hands (thanks to Fluff and Trixx, she had a passably legal ID) and examined it.

“Not bad. C'mon.” He grabbed her hand and pulled her behind the Lounge. A passcode later, they were in the dark hallway leading from the club's fire exit.

“Here.” He handed her a metal bracelet. “It tells people to back off, you're under the owner's protection. You also won't have to pay.” He pointed to his matching bracelet. “Maybe you'll tell me why you're trying to enter a club?”

She strolled over to the bar, him following closely as usual.

“I'm legal in Paris. Apparently, I have the worst luck. My old class is coming on an exchange in a couple months so they can tour some American universities and experience the American high school system. The problem is, they all think I'm dead - a strawberry daiquiri, please.”

“Mood. Can't you...avoid them? Hack the system and become part of the class going to Paris?”

She chugged half her drink, impressing him, and shook her head.

“Most people in Paris think I'm dead. Paris is bad for me...all the memories...and I was asked to be a translator if there are any issues and because I'm a helpful person who still hasn't learned to say no, I said yes! Although, I didn't know it was my class until the details were sent after I already agreed.”

“Oh...that is a problem. I'm also fluent in French, could I replace you or at least help you?”

“I'll talk to Mr. Patel, he's organising it, but that should be okay. We can continue Janette's crack—they're so idiotic sometimes, and yet they can be so brilliant others, I really don't understand it.”

“I can't wait to meet them. And um, maybe don't chug your drink without eating something?”

“Right. Want to dance?” She held out her hand. He took it and kissed the back, spinning her away from the counter.

“Sure.”

After a couple dances and a close call with a tipsy patron, they headed to a quiet corner, where Marinette dissected outfits and rated style with Jason, who knew a surprising amount about fashion. She supposed he'd heard more than one of her rants/lectures and picked stuff up.

Around midnight, Jason's phone buzzed and he sighed.

“Hey, Pix, I gotta go. Can I bring you home first?”

“Sure. Did you bring your bike?” She followed him outside, her hand still in his.

“Nah, I borrowed a friend's car because I had to transport stuff earlier.”

He led her to a sleek black car and opened the door for her. When he crossed the hood to get to his side, she leaned over and opened the driver's door for him and smiled sweetly.

The drive to Jagged's penthouse, where she was currently living until her parents finalised closing the bakery in Paris and joining her in Gotham, was quiet, broken by her soft humming of random song snippets.

“Thanks for the fun evening, Jay. I was so bummed about them coming, but you cheered me up.”

Marinette leaned over and kissed Jason's cheek before she got out of the car, but he wrapped his hand around the back of her neck and pulled her back for a longer, proper kiss.

“Night, Pix. Have sweet dreams, maybe of me?” He wiggled his eyebrows at her and she giggled and waved him off noncommittally. His ego would be too big if she told him she often dreamed of him.

•○•○•○•

Marinette sighed at Tikki and Wayzz for the fourth time.

“I know I should, I just don't want to. Why can't I live in denial a little longer? He treats me like a princess.”

“Marinette, this is the third time in three weeks that he left your date early with no explanation. This won't be healthier for you in the long run if you keep denying it,” the ladybug kwami advised.

“I'm just tired, Tikki. Aside from the dates and being even more selective about what he tells me about his family and life than I am, it's great! I didn't want a busy, dramatic year. Can I seriously not just leave it a little longer?”

“Guardian, there is a difference between being patient and understanding, and letting everything slide because you don't want to confront someone. There is a possibility he just doesn't know how or when to bring some of these things up, so just try talking to him,” said Wayzz. “If that does not resolve anything, then you can consider what to do after that.”

“And as for the 'no drama' you want, ignoring all of this is only adding to it,” Tikki interjected.

Marinette huffed a breath of hot air and crossed her arms petulantly, knowing the kwami were right. “Fine. I'll ask him to meet me later.”

○○○○○○○

Peter Losing Wendy

“I think we should break up.” She looked him in the eye as she stabbed him in the heart with those dreaded words.

“Why?”

He knew it was for the best, it would keep her safer, but he'd hoped...if she wanted it, he would let her go, taking his heart with him, as he ignored the urge to hold her and never release her.

“You can't explain those weird texts and calls and disappearances, and you've been late or left early with such plausible excuses...I can't...it looks like Adrien 2.0. And believe me, I don't want to think that, but ...call it PTSD or whatever, you're so hot and cold. You keep me at arms' length for so many things, and then you turn around and you're the warmest, most perfect boyfriend I could want. You've got this way of telling me everything, but it's nothing at all...all an illusion. I just, I can't do this again. It's not fair to either of us. Gotham has been better to me than Paris, and I'm going to fight with everything this time."

...And now she was taking his shattered heart with her.

“I asked you to come so we could talk about it, try and figure this out, but you cancelled last-minute, again, Jason. Once or twice I understood, but now it just feels like you're avoiding me, or at least avoiding opening up to me. I'm just...done. I can't ignore all of this anymore, and I'm tired.”

He couldn't do this to her. He'd seen how scarred she was after Multimouse. Now, as an ordinary civilian with loads of PTSD, he wouldn't risk hurting her anymore, repeating Parisian mistakes.

He swallowed. “I'm sorry, P-Marinette.” He turned to leave, blinking rapidly. “If you're in trouble, call me. I'll still come.”

As he turned to shut the door his eyes met hers.

Both pairs were overflowing.

“Goodbye, and good luck.”

The door closing behind him sounded like a sentencing being put into effect.

•○•○•○•

She didn't go to school for two days, choosing to curl into a ball and cry instead.

When she'd first enrolled as Marinette Stone - courtesy of Jagged and Penny helping her set up a new life in his hometown - everyone had been trying to get to know the other new transfer student, Jason.

She'd snubbed him, wanting her final school year to be drama free, and he'd laughed.

Thus began an academic rivalry, and everyone thought they were sworn enemies from the cold way she'd greet him in the halls. For his part, he was warmer to her than anyone else, which confused her, but she wrote him off as a masochist.

But thanks to meddling from Mrs. Perez, who paired them up on a very important assignment, they became sworn besties instead, which led to dating. They kept it quiet, finding that trolling the entire school was hilarious to them, as well as the disappointed look in Mrs. Perez's eyes when at the end of the assignment, they were still rivals and not in love (yes, Mrs. Perez was the biggest Marison shipper).

Jason picked up one of her design scribbles and looked at the hand-lettering she'd done when she was bored in class.

“Your name is Marinette Wendy Dupain-Cheng?”

“Yeah, so?”

“We're Peter and Wendy! My full name is Jason Peter Todd.”

“Didn't they end up not together?”

“... Right. Well… You're petite, so you can be Tinker Bell then.”

She hoped her face conveyed her scepticism. “Tinker Bell? A pixie?”

He ignored her and exclaimed, “Pixie it is!” happy to finally have a nickname she didn't hate or have bad connotations with.

Marinette cried even harder at the memory. They hadn't ended up together, after all.

○○○○○○○

I Knew You (Marked Me Like A Bloodstain)

The tell-tale swish of a grappling hook being deployed caught Jason's attention from where he sat on the roof's vent, swinging his legs as he surveyed his empire's capital, Crime Alley. He rolled backwards off the vent and faced the Dark Knight, tensing for an altercation, whether verbal or physical.

“What do you want, B,” he snapped, annoyed his depression session had been interrupted by the partial cause of the entire mess he was moping about right now.

Batman didn't move, signifying he wanted to talk right now, not fight.

“You haven't been around in either capacity lately, and you didn't respond when Nightwing texted you earlier, either. I just wanted to make sure you're doing okay.”

Angrily, Red Hood turned on Batman with a growl. “As you can see, I'm out, so I'm perfectly healthy. You don't need to check in on your wayward soldier personally. You only care that I'm fine so that you know if you can call me to help on missions and I'll come running back like a dog when you whistle. Just because I'm working with you more doesn't mean I'm one of your little clones who only exists to be useful to you; I have my own life and I don't have to answer to you about any of it.”

“Hood, where is this coming from?” Batman truly sounded bewildered. “I was only checking on you because I care about you. I care about your health and functioning because I care about you.”

“Well maybe you care too much, B. You're constantly calling me out on missions and that's about the only time you contact me, unless Agent A requests it. If you actually care about me as a person, if not your son, you'd ask to see me outside of the mask, but you haven't, which leads me to my previous conclusions. I'm taking a break from all of your messes. If you need my help, don't contact me, and clean it up yourself. I'll be back when I'm back—if I'm back. And don't snoop!”

Hood jumped off the roof and landed on a fire escape, using parkour moves to slide down railings, and assassin-training to evade Batman's close tail. Eventually, Batman gave up and Hood moved out of the shadows to mope back in his Bat-proof apartment.

•○•○•○•

Chasing Shadows (in Grocery Lines)

Red Hood angrily yanked the knots tight on the goons' restraints. He knew the Untitled were in Gotham, but why? Besides the obvious (to kill him), of course.

A flash of movement caught his eye, and he followed it carefully. He snuck up behind the faux-Catwoman and hissed, “Who are you and why are you here?”

“...Catwoman, of course. You know cats, curiosity kills us.”

Convincing.

She acted similarly to Selina, but she was... off. Wrong inflection, similar mannerisms but they were too forced, the suit wasn't pure black like Selina's (it was black with grey accents), no purr...

“No, you're not. Catwoman and I have a bi-monthly feline petting session where we complain about Batman, so I've spent enough time with the Sirens to know you're just… Uncanny Valley Catwoman.” He waved his hand at faux-Catwoman's entire existence.

She hissed and her ears and tail twitched.

Were...they real?

“Look, I don't want to fight you, but you're making it hard. Don't insult 'short' people. It's not our fault you're trees.”

“I'll stop saying things like that when you stop looking at me as if you want to climb me like one,” he retorted.*

Wait, faux-Catwoman, Bat-adjacent, flirting on a roof… NO! I'm not becoming Bruce!!

“I'm here because I think some of my trainer's enemies are after me,” faux-Catwoman blurted in an attempt to change the subject.

Ha, he could still see her cheeks and neck warming.

“Who?”

“They're a creepy old magic group called the Untitled. Ironic, I know. I don't know much about them besides the fact that they're incredibly evil, and they want my Miraculous.”

“Are you All-Caste too?” He didn't think they had anyone left besides himself, but if they were travelling while the Untitled attacked, maybe someone escaped...

“What?”

“Nevermind. I didn't know the Untitled had more enemies than my sect. I'm the last member; the Untitled wiped the rest of us out. I can tell you more about the Untitled once I finish my patrol, in 20-ish minutes?”

Faux-Catwoman nodded. “The gargoyle across from Drake Industries work for you?”

“Sure. What should I call you, by the way?”

“Onyx. Ciao!”

Twenty-three minutes later, Red Hood grappled up to his gargoyle, finding Onyx sitting beside it, casually swinging her feet as if she wasn't 40 stories up and untethered.

“So, you like Freddy too?”

“Freddy?”

“My thinking gargoyle. You're new in town.”

Onyx sighed heavily. “No, you're just the first person to notice I'm not Catwoman.”

Jason sensed she needed to talk more so he employed his most effective interrogation technique, silence, and she began talking a moment later.

“This is Paris all over again. Do you know about what happened in Paris?”

Jason nodded and pulled out a granola bar from his pocket, unwrapped it, and began eating as she continued.

“I was Ladybug. When I became Guardian of the Miraculous, I revoked my black cat's ring. He'd been corrupted since he wasn't a true black cat, and also from living in a house with the corrupted butterfly and broken peacock Miraculous. His dad was Hawkmoth, though he didn't know that, and he was my boyfriend as a civilian. Turns out he was cheating on me with my bully per his father's and my bully's manipulation.

“I used the Miraculous of Multiplication to become Bugmouse and Catmouse, and when I got the Miraculous from Hawkmoth, I put them away.

"My uncle helped me move here to start afresh… in Paris, everywhere I went, there were memories… And most weren't happy. When I came here, life was great… I didn't think I wanted another boyfriend but I did get one… And now I've broken up with him. He was perfect, and I was waiting for the imperfections, but... It turned into Paris II: Electric Boogaloo. He would disappear randomly, and it seemed like he was waiting till I was busy so I wouldn't notice. I followed him once because he'd left something behind, but it was like he knew I was tailing him and he lost me. He never introduced me to his family — he said they were semi-estranged, but I can't help wondering...

"So I grabbed a Miraculous and became Onyx; beating up bad guys is better than therapy, y'know? I just didn't expect to be traced by the Miraculous's signature by the Untitled.

“And now Gotham is becoming Paris,” she finished with a heavy sigh. “At least to me.”

After another silence, she gasped quietly. “I'm sorry for monologuing on you, you just felt… like a comrade, maybe? You give off safe vibes, anyways.”

The more she talked, the more she solidified his suspicion that Onyx was Marinette.

“I'm sorry you had to go through that, Onyx.” He didn't want to say anything else, partially out of guilt, and partially to stop himself from explaining everything and throwing himself on her mercy and begging her to take him back.

“So, the Untitled?” Onyx cleared her throat and straightened her shoulders, turning to see his (masked) face a bit better.

“Right. The Untitled are millennia-old evil sibling magicians who got their power from a well of evil. There are only eight members of the Untitled, but they are very old and powerful. They were enemies with the group who trained me, the All-Caste, and killed them all. They can't be killed by normal means, but I have the All-Blades, which can defeat them. Do you have anything that can harm them, do you know?” Hood asked.

“I suspect the ‘Cataclysm’ power and perhaps ‘Clout’ or ‘Uproar’, and though I'd prefer not to test it in battle and find I'm wrong, I don't know how else to confirm my hypothesis.”

“Then how about you stay in the background while I take on the Untitled with the All-Blades, and when there's an opening you try your hypothesis?”

“I can do that. When are we going?” He asked her.

“Sooner rather than later, I think. When can you-”

“Okay, give me ten minutes,” Onyx interrupted. “I'll get my Miraculous and meet you at the warehouse at the edge of Gotham, in the westernmost part of the Tricorner Yards. You can lure the Untitled there or something, right?”

“Yeah, I can do that. Ten minutes average or ten minutes on the dot?”

“On the dot. I have a very precise Miraculous.”

“...okay. See you in 10, Onyx.”

•○•○•○•

Ten minutes later, Onyx appeared in the shadows of the warehouse, where Jason was already in the middle of two Untitled, his glowing swords flickering in the dark and giving off an eerie vibe. The chill and sense of evil permeating the air didn't help, either.

Onyx's suit was now pure black, with thin stripes of red, magenta, and brown scattered around her suit.

“Cataclysm,” Onyx whispered and threw the ball of destruction at the Untitled on Jason's rear.

The Untitled were now alerted to her presence and she moved swiftly from shadow to shadow. One began to approach her, and she instinctively activated the tiger's power, ‘Clout’. The immense power from the magical punch knocked the being out, and Onyx turned her attention to the two Untitled who took the place of the previous duo already taken care of by Red Hood's swords.

“Uproar!” she cried, hoping the power-disrupting ability would work on the beings as she tossed the circlet like a frisbee at them. Onyx breathed deeply in relief when she realised her powers did work on the Untitled and turned to face the remaining two, back to back with Hood.

They attacked at the same time, swirling black shadows with surprising speed, but Onyx had prepared a second Cataclysm and yelled “Jump!” at Hood as the Untitled reached them.

The Untitled almost crashed into each other and tried to stop themselves before they could collide. It was too late, however. Onyx and Hood jumped to the first level above them (superpowers handily granting them extra height), and watched as the same cataclysm turned both ghouls into nothing.

Hood exhaled jaggedly and turned to her. “You have some nice moves and those were some sick abilities!”

She grinned, a little winded from using three Miraculous at once, and replied, “You weren't too bad yourself! Those swords sure are handy.”

“Yeah… Thank you for your help, Onyx. I couldn't have taken them all down at once without you.”

She waved it off and swung down to the floor again. “It was my pleasure, I assure you. I'm thrilled one less group of weird power-hungry monsters is after my head.”

“If you want to team up for a night of regular vigilantism, that'd be cool. Or are you leaving, now that you're safe again?”

“No, I'm here for another unforeseen amount of time,” she sighed, civilian life distracting her.

Hood didn't want to have her dwelling on their breakup quite yet so he decided to distract her. “Hey, how'd you learn that flippy move you did back there? It was really cool.”

Onyx cheered up a little. “Really? Thanks. My uncle taught me, actually... I'd taken gymnastics for a couple years so I had a good base and then he built off that. I have a similar build to his daughter, so he taught both of us. I think you'd get along great… He does prefer a sword, but he's still pretty handy with a gun.”

“Oh, maybe I've heard of him?”

“Uh...Slade Wilson?” Onyx asked hesitantly.

Deathstroke was Onyx's uncle?!

“Your uncle is Deathstroke?!” he blurted.

Onyx chuckled guiltily. “Heh. Not by blood, my nonna just has a ton of connections with really strange people, and she introduced us a few years ago. He kinda adopted me, so I just call him uncle. Y'know, we only see each other a couple times a year. He likes to surprise me when he visits and keeps my skills sharp, so he usually makes sneak attacks. I've got a good eye for attempted assassinations thanks to it!” she said cheerily, rambling in her nervousness but somehow concerning him more.

Hood was a little more scared of Onyx after he learned that information.

Yeah, Talia al Ghul had adopted him, but she was less likely to come after Marinette just because she was dating her son. Also, he knew her.

Slade was protective of his children, even if he did nothing else as their father, and he was unpredictable.

Hood shivered and headed home chilled, looking over his shoulder a couple more times than he usually did.

•○•○•○•

Jason wandered aimlessly down the aisles, collecting items he remembered he needed and tossing them in his basket. Bread, yeast for when he was feeling less sad and went back to making his own, milk, oats, soap, bandages and ointment, coffee, chicken, ice cream.

He headed to the only checkout lane open and put his purchases on the conveyor belt. The bored and tired-looking young adult started soullessly scanning them while Jason rolled his eyes at a gossip rag loudly proclaiming Wayne family "news" on its cover.

He reached for his wallet and spun back to face the shadows. Slim, black hair, shadowy…Marinette?

He looked closer and grimaced at Cass.

“What are you doing here?” he signed, annoyance clear in his body language.

“Saw you going by and you looked sad, so I followed you. No one else knows,” she replied.

He frowned harder. “I’m fine. Just tired. And I told B not to contact me. I’ll talk to whomever of you I want when I want to, and I don’t want to talk to any of you right now,” he signed emphatically. “Thanks for checking on me, but I don’t need it.”

He turned back to the slightly bewildered-looking cashier, who had only seen him making gestures at the shadows, and rolled his eyes harder. Stupid Bats, always making him look foolish.

He grimace-smiled politely and handed over the cash, grabbing his bags and leaving immediately, feeling even more foolish for thinking Cass had been Marinette.

Marinette wouldn’t be near him willingly for a while. Clearly he needed to do something about that.

He’d been feeling more foolish in the past couple days than in the past couple years combined.

Marinette had told him she was a temp hero, Multimouse, and stayed in contact with her friends, who had been temporary and official heroes. She clearly still cared about them and knew they were heroes, yet didn’t act any differently. He could’ve told her his secrets, she would’ve understood and kept them, but he didn’t want to hurt her with them.

Well, if she was still friends with official heroes, she’d obviously weighed the risks and decided it didn’t matter. He should have let her choose in their relationship, too.

Marinette had good judgement (the only strike he had against that evidence was her agreeing to date him in the first place, but then again he’d always been a good actor out of necessity) and he trusted it, although he hadn’t really shown that.

Tired of waffling between should he talk to her/should he leave her in peace and never show his face in front of her again, he finally decided.

○○○○○○○

THE END of Part One

Thank you for reading!

*this sentence is all thanks to @nitwitjustice, who gave permission for me to use his quip in my fic :)

[mochegato]

Sugar Baby Blues

“Where is she,” Zoe wondered aloud for what had to be the fifth time in the last five minutes.

Marinette giggled and clasped her hand to ground her.  “Zoe, she’s only a few minutes late.  She said she’d be here any second.”

“Yeah, but that was like ten minutes ago, and honestly with Sandy,” she rolled her eyes, “she’s worse than you used to be and I’m hungry,” she teased.

Marinette gasped in mock offense and swiped playfully at her.  “I am much better, thank you very much!”

“I know,” she crowed, “that’s why I said ‘used to be’ not currently are.”  They glared at each other, trying to stare the other into submission, but both broke down into giggles after just a few moments.  They were laughing so hard, they completely missed the limo that pulled up in front of them.

“Zoe!” a blonde-haired woman, who Marinette had to assume was Sandy, squealed as she launched herself out of the limo and into Zoe’s arms.

“Sandy!” Zoe squealed, matching Sandy’s excitement.  They both made the same noise as they hugged, jumping around in a circle in their excitement.  “I missed you so much!  It’s so good to see you!  You look amazing!”  Zoe gushed all of it out in less than 10 seconds and at a decibel that Marinette had a hard time hearing.

“Oh my God!  I missed you too.  You have to tell me everything about Paris and your life there!  You look so good too!  But I have to give credit to my Daddy for my look,” she preened and fluffed her hair as she posed for Zoe.  “He buys me the best things.”

“Your dad?” Zoe asked.  Her eyes shot to Marinette in confusion.  “But I thought you didn’t talk to…”

“No,” Sandy waved her off like the very idea disturbed her inner peace, “not my dad, my Daddy.  My Sugar Daddy.  Come on, he’s in the car.  I’m dying for you to meet him.”  She started pulling Zoe toward the car but froze after a step and turned to Marinette.  “Oh!  Oh my God!  I’m so rude.  I’m sorry!  You must be Marinette.  Zoe has told me so much about you.”

Marinette smiled and waved awkwardly.  “Yep, that’s me.”  Her eyes flicked to Zoe who suddenly looked uncertain, but she took a breath and turned back to Sandy again.  “Zoe’s told me a lot about you too,” she offered kindly.  “It’s really nice to meet you.”

“Sandy,” Zoe started carefully, her eyes shot to Marinette for reassurance before continuing, “I thought it was just going to be us at lunch and after.”

“Oh, don’t worry!  Gary’s just joining us for lunch!” she reassured Zoe quickly, her voice full of excitement.  “He’ll drop us off at Times Square after lunch and he promised to let me use his credit card for our shopping.  But he knows the nicest places to eat so when I asked him where we should go and said I wanted to take some girlfriends out, he volunteered to go with us.”

“Oh, that was… nice,” Zoe faltered, finally able to settle on a neutral way to end the sentence.

“I know right!” Sandy gushed.  There was no indication she’d caught onto Zoe’s anxiousness.  “He’s the best Daddy ever.  Come on,” she motioned them toward the door.  “We don’t want to be late.  Daddy doesn’t like being late.”

“Right,” Zoe nodded.  She shot Marinette an apologetic glance before following Sandy into the car.  Marinette sighed and followed Zoe into the limo.

Once she got in, it became clear Sandy had left out a few significant details and Marinette instantly wished they’d decided not to get in, because not only was Gary there, who she assumed was the man in the main seat Sandy had cuddled up to, but there were four other men in the car as well.  All five of the men were in dark, poorly tailored suits, which she could tell without looking very hard, hid guns in shoulder holsters.  The four men’s expressions matched their dour suits.  Their eyes had a hard, emotionless set to them, and their mouths fixed into neutral flat lines.

She turned to Zoe with wide eyes, hoping she was picking up the same thing as Marinette, but Zoe was watching the way her friend and Gary interacted with poorly disguised distaste.  Marinette had no choice but to grin and push past the four men, sitting two by two on the side benches, to get the seat facing backward.  She looked past the partition to see the chauffeur, accidentally catching his eyes in the rear-view mirror.

To her surprise, his eyes were not devoid of emotion like the other men’s were.  Instead, his vibrantly blue eyes looked almost confused at seeing her there until one eyebrow rose into something like a question.  She gave a crooked smile back and shrugged.  The question he was trying to ask was still a mystery to her but whatever it was, a shrug felt like the right answer.  It was the answer to so many questions someone could ask right then.

Somehow, that small interaction made her feel significantly more confident about the situation.  She could handle this.  This was nothing.  It was a lunch and then she wouldn’t have to see any of these men again.  She could do that.  She’d had dinner with Adrien’s dad… and his mom, not to mention Zoe’s mom.  If she could survive them, this would be a breeze.

Her resolve was shaken the moment she looked up and had the unfortunate experience of meeting Gary’s eyes.  He looked her and Zoe over like a predator, actually licking his lips at one point.  His lips curled up into a wolfish smile.  “So, who’re your… friends, Baby?”

“Oh!”  Sandy brightened up and pulled away enough to motion toward Zoe and Marinette.  “This is my old friend Zoe.  We went to school together.  We haven’t seen each other in forever, but we were best friends.”  Marinette silently thanked the gods that Sandy had enough sense not to mention Zoe’s status, or rather her parents’ status.  There was no way that wouldn’t be dangerous information for a man like him to know.  “And this is her friend Marinette.  She’s visiting from Paris.”

“Ahh, the City of Love,” he leered.  He leaned forward and waggled his eyebrow.  “Maybe we can help you find love here.”

Marinette subconsciously leaned away, but her eyes widened at the offer, which the man apparently took as interest instead of the repulsion she actually felt as his grin widened.  “I’m actually hoping for more corporate pursuits for now,” she said tightly.

“Maybe we can help you with both,” he offered.  He shimmied forward in his seat, still too far away from her to actually make contact, but he very much looked like he wanted to.

Marinette almost shifted further into the corner but before she could, the car took a turn unnecessarily sharply, knocking him back into his seat.  “Hey!  Watch the turns, incompetent jackass.”  He leaned closer to one of the goons to whisper under his breath, “Never hire this guy as a fill-in again.  In fact, never use that agency again.”

Marinette gave the driver a grateful smile while Gary settled himself again.  “I’m good, thank you,” she stated firmly.  “I’m going to do it on my own.”

“It never hurts to have friends,” he chided.  He had the audacity to pout like she was hurting his feelings.

Her eyes moved from him to his goons slowly, uncomfortably before returning to him.  “It depends on the friend,” she said carefully.

Zoe grabbed her arm and edged closer.  “Marinette,” she warned, her voice was low enough for just Marinette to hear it.

“I can be very friendly,” he cooed.  His voice was so sickeningly sweet, it made her nauseous.  Combined with the utter disrespect he was showing Sandy, who clearly was not happy with the situation, Marinette couldn’t wait to get out of the car and breathe uncontaminated air.

She wanted to tell the creep that she was well familiar with the benefits of having the right friends because she had a friend who insisted on putting any new friends their group made through a thorough, slightly illegal… depending on the country, highly illegal in most countries, background check after the miraculous situation had blown up and they all discovered half of the parents and friends of parents were involved.  So he was welcome to become a friend and be exposed to that kind of check, but somehow, she didn’t think that would end well for her while she was contained in the small car with five hostiles.

She was saved from having to say anything by Sandy’s shrill squeak as she pulled a jewelry box out of Gary’s chest pocket and showed it to him.  “Is that for me, Daddy?”

He grabbed the box back and gave her a smarmy smile, though his eyes flicked to Marinette for a second.  “Of course, Baby,” he crooned in that same saccharine tone.  He held it out for her but pulled it away at the last second when she tried to grab it.  She giggled and reached for it again only to have it pulled away again.  They repeated the cycle a few times, Sandy giggling like it was a surprise each time.  Marinette shot Zoe an unimpressed look that Zoe returned, hers with a significantly more uncomfortable inflection at seeing her old friend behave that way.

When Sandy finally grasped the box, she had it open in a matter of seconds and gasped loudly, clutching it to her chest as she gave Gary a kiss on the cheek. “It’s beautiful, Daddy!  I love it!”  she gushed as she did a little dance in her seat.  She held the ostentatious diamond necklace out to show Zoe and Marinette.  “Isn’t it beautiful?  Thank you so much, Daddy.  Will you put it on me?”

“Of course, Baby,” he cooed.  He looked at Marinette and Zoe the entire time he was latching the clasp.  “It’s what I do for my friends.”

Marinette couldn’t stop herself from reacting that time.  She looked away and closed her eyes, forcing herself to take several long deep breaths as she edged closer to Zoe, trying to angle herself so she was almost in front of her, but Zoe wouldn’t let her do it.  She kept her right by her side but clasped her hand to make sure Marinette knew they were in it together.

Fortunately, they didn’t have to sit there long.  They arrived at the restaurant almost immediately after that.  If she hadn’t known better, she would have said the chauffeur had been speeding to get them there faster.  Someone opened the door from the outside and the four men on the sides filed out first, followed by Gary, then Sandy.  Zoe gave Marinette a significant look and a nod before following her out.

Marinette, however, hesitated before moving.  She needed a few seconds to calm herself down and build up her defenses before she could brave another extended period with Gary.  She let out a few long, deep breaths, counting to five on the inhale and five on the exhale.  “What have we gotten into this time?” she muttered to herself.

“You sure you want to go in there?”

Marinette jumped away from the partition, her hands flying to her chest.  She’d forgotten about the chauffer, which said something about how unthreatening she found him despite what she was positive were bulging muscles under his suit based off the way it settled against him.  Sometime while she was doing her breathing exercises, he’d turned around and settled his elbow on the partition to check on her.

When she met his eyes, she saw the concern but there was something else there, something surreptitious that should scare her, especially considering the kind of man he worked for, but didn’t.  His roguish smile didn’t hurt either.  It softened the sharp lines of his face, making him seem gentler than his scars indicated.  “No, but I’m not sure I have much of a choice,” she admitted, more honestly than she’d meant to be.

The charming grin dropped from his face and his eyes darted to the door and back to her in a microsecond.  “I can take you out of here,” he offered, his voice light in direct contrast to the weighted look he was giving her.

Marinette’s eyes traced the same path, to the door and him, but much slower than his did.  “I can’t do that,” she shook her head doubtfully.

“You don’t need to worry about him,” he assured her.  His hand rested gently on her arm and his eyes were steely, a reassurance that he meant what he said.  “I can get you out of here before he notices.”

She smiled softly at him and rested her hand on his but shook her head.  “I can’t leave my friend.  We’ll just try to get through this as quickly as possible and get out.  Won’t be our first dinner with a criminal.”

“You make a habit of dining with villains, do you?” he teased, but she could hear the edge of curiosity in her voice.

She huffed out a mirthless laugh but then let out a long-suffering breath.  “More than I care to remember.”

“If I can’t convince you otherwise, then just be careful,” he said, all teasing long gone.  There’s an exit through the kitchen, just past the bathrooms, a perfect cover if you want to get you and your friend out, and of course there’s the door in front.  The back is easier though, less men guarding it and they won’t give a few women a second glance, especially if you’re giggling.  Giggling women always get ignored.”  He squeezed her arm just enough to let her know he was serious about his concern, but it was the worried look in his eyes that made her breath catch in her chest.  “Get out, get to the far side of the alley, and start walking.  Don’t stop until you’re at your hotel or safe.”

His words struck completely through Marinette, setting her on edge.  There was something off in them.  It wasn’t a normal warning.  It was far too specific.  Either the man she was dining with had a history of violent meals or something was going to happen during this meal, and he knew.  She was just about to ask him about it when one of Gene’s men stuck his head into the car.  “Boss says to get into the restaurant.”

Marinette’s eyes instantly narrowed and her back stiffened rod straight.  “Excuse me?  I don’t work for your boss.  He can’t order me around.”

The chauffeur snorted lightly, just barely loud enough for Marinette to hear.  She wanted to shoot a glare at him, but the goon was her more immediate concern and she didn’t want to take her eyes off of him.  The goon glowered deeply at her and reached in to pull her out by force, but the chauffeur jumped into action, letting the limo jut forward just enough to throw the goon off balance.  “You sure about this?” the chauffeur asked under his breath.

She nodded determinedly.  “More than ever.  I can’t leave Zoe with men like that.”

He nodded but kept his eyes on the goon still trying to get up.  “Good luck then.  You better go before he sends more goons.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly and gave him one more timid smile before exiting the car.

><><><><><><><>< 

Dinner proceeded with little fanfare.  Dinners with the Agrestes and Zoe’s mom had actually set Marinette and Zoe up pretty well for dealing with Gary.  It was miserable, but manageable and since he’d apparently rented out the entire room, they didn’t have to suffer in front of anyone.  Of course, that also meant there was nobody there to appeal to if anything happened.  They just had to hope that nothing happened to make it worse than it already was.

The entire meal was filled with self-congratulatory, pompous pontificating.  The only time he asked them a question was to get their opinion of something he’d done, and even then, he started talking before they could answer.  And the only break from the egotistical monologue was to overtly flirt, more with Zoe and Marinette than Sandy, who had clearly noticed and did not appear to appreciate the slight in the least.

Marinette and Zoe had strategically seated themselves as far from Gary as they could.  Luckily, he’d chosen a massive table, so they were able to sit far away from him.  Unluckily, that position also put them in direct eyeline for him, meaning he could casually ogle them throughout the entire meal, which he seemed to take great pleasure in doing.

By the time the dinner was over, Marinette and Zoe were praying nobody ordered dessert so they could end their misery, but Sandy of all people, destroyed that hope ordering the chocolate entremet.  Marinette had to tighten her muscles to keep herself from throwing her head back with a groan.  However, her body’s already rigid posture straightened even further at Gary’s next comment.

“That’s a lot of chocolate, isn’t it, baby?  You sure you should get that?  You’re not going to fit into that new dress I just got you,” he chided.

She pouted dramatically at him and shoved her chest out as she positioned herself to look up at him through her lashes.  “But, Daddy, I love chocolate.  And I thought we could share.  I was going to eat off of your spoon,” she implored in a poor imitation of a baby voice.  “I was going to lick it clean.”

His eyes flashed and moved to Zoe and Marinette, his lips widening into that same predatory smile from earlier, but before he could voice what was obviously on his mind, the door slammed open.  Marinette jumped, her arm immediately reaching for Zoe, to pull her closer while she tried to assess the situation, but the only thing she could ascertain was that the bad thing the chauffeur had warned her about, had arrived.

“Girls, eat your dessert at the bar,” Gary barked at them, his eyes staring intently at the man who had just entered, only flicking away to note the men he’d brought with him and were spreading out throughout the room.

“But, Daddy, we were going to share our dessert,” Sandy pouted.

“I said leave!” he shouted at her and shoved her away.

Sandy was barely able to catch herself before she stumbled to the ground.  Zoe helped her up and rushed her over to the bar with Marinette.  Marinette eyed the door to the bathroom, but there was a man stationed at the door.  She motioned for the two women to follow her and took a breath before walking up to him.  “Excuse me, we’d like to use the restroom.”

The man looked over her shoulder to his boss before turning back to her with a shake of his head.  “Hold it until we’re done,” he grunted.

Marinette glared at him, but let Zoe guide her back over to the bar while they waited to see what was going to happen.  She didn’t listen to the words, focusing more on the men, what weapons they appeared to have, where they were positioning themselves, how much attention they were paying to the events around them, how confident they seemed.  All of it fed into her planning, so when the first gun was pulled out, she was able to react instantly, pulling the other two women behind the bar and pushing them onto the floor, but making sure she had a good view of the exit at the back, which now had two men defending it.

If they could just get the men to move, then she could get Zoe and Sandy through the door and out the back.  There was no way to tell if there were more men waiting for them at the door to the alleyway, but as the chauffeur had said, they likely wouldn’t think anything of a group of women.  They were probably keeping their eyes out for the men working for whoever the enemy was and wouldn’t think twice about some women, especially vapid, weak women, which it shouldn’t be hard to convince men like that, that they were.

She stayed there, hidden, just listening to the sounds of bullets and punches flying, her eyes never straying from the back door, until one of the men stationed at the back door started toward them, a slightly deranged look in his eyes.  Marinette patted Zoe’s shoulder to get her to look up.  She could feel the moment she saw the same thing Marinette did, her entire body tensing, but she moved into position instantly, ready to defend themselves.

However, it had been quite a few years since they’d had to fight and as became crystal clear as soon as they started fighting, they were far out of practice.  Zoe attacked him first, throwing punches and kicking him in the knee to force him down, but he seemed to not feel her hits at all, moving smoothly past her and bucking her off into the wall of bottles.  She crashed down onto the floor with a soundless groan.

Marinette stared from Zoe to the wall of bottles behind her critically for a split second before making a decision and backing out of his way.  The man leered condescendingly at her; confident he’d scared her into submission.  She backed away from the man, close to Zoe to let the man pass before jumping into action.  She grabbed the thickest bottle she could find, which had happened to be right next to where Zoe fell and swung it into the back of his head as hard as she could.

He fell instantly, his head smacking into the ground, but the sound muted by the cushioning matt for bartenders.  Blood trickled from the back of his head, but not enough that Marinette was concerned.  Zoe knelt to check his pulse, giving Marinette a breathless nod.  Marinette nodded back and turned her attention back to the fight, seeing the damage for the first time.  Several bodies were sprawled on the ground, but for the most part, the men appeared to still be fighting.  There were several groups sequestered around the room, hiding behind inadequate barriers.  Until two new players joined the fight with a loud bang of some kind of smoke bomb.

Marinette squeaked and ducked back behind the bar.  She eyed the back door again disappointed to discover the second man was still there and clearly on the defense, his eyes darting around the room as he took it all in.  She peeked around the corner of the bar which exposed her to the man at the door, but she was confident he wasn’t a threat to them, he was far too focused on the people with weapons.

Smoke had filled the room limiting her vision.  All she could make out were vague shapes of punches being thrown, men falling against tables, and the occasional arrow, which actually confused her more than anything else she was seeing.  Zoe popped up next to her, also scrunching her face to try to see better.

Finally, the smoke cleared enough she could see people’s faces and gasped.  The chauffeur and another man who hadn’t been there before were in the thick of the fight; punching men, blocking them from shooting each other and the other man was shooting arrows that did all kinds of different things, at the goons.

“Is that… who is that?” Zoe whispered.

“I’m not actually sure,” Marinette answered blankly.

She was awed for a moment at their skillful, graceful movements but then a movement caught her eye.  Two of the goons were creeping up on the men.  Marinette moved before she could fully think through her plan.  She grabbed two of the full bottles that looked like they had the thickest glass and deftly threw them at the men, both hitting their mark easily.  She cheered at her success but squeaked and ducked back down when the remaining men in the room turned their attention to her.

She stayed ducked behind the bar until the sounds of the fighting were done, even then, not popping her head up without knowing who had won and whether Zoe and Sandy were safe.  There was little to no cover behind the bar if someone bothered to come around the side, so Marinette tried to push Sandy and Zoe as far out of the way as possible, but Zoe wouldn’t let her leave, pulling her into hiding as well.

From her new position, she could barely see the entrance to the bar area, but she was able to see someone moving past the bar and into the back passageway.  She heard a voice that sounded like the chauffeur’s, but she couldn’t be sure, calling across the room.  “Hey moron, where’d you go?”

There was a pause before he laughed loudly.  Marinette looked pointedly at Zoe, communicating an entire conversation with just a few looks.  Finally Zoe huffed and rolled her eyes with a nod.  Marinette smiled and crawled over to the entrance to the bar area just in time to see the chauffeur’s partner wheeling a large linen basket into the room with two goons knocked out inside.  “Ahh, just taking out the trash then,” her chauffeur chuckled.

She took a second to take in the scene now that the fight appeared to be finished.  Men were laying on the floor all around the room, some bleeding, some handcuffed, some tied up, some in nets for some reason, and at least one strapped to the wall with some kind of restraints tied to arrows.  She ducked back behind the bar and shook her head in shock.  Very little of the sight made sense and she’d seen plenty of fight aftermaths before.

She didn’t even notice when the chauffeur approached them, getting close enough to rest against the end of the bar and watch her, his eyebrow raised in what Marinette assumed was amusement.  She smiled sheepishly at him with a shrug.  He chuckled and shook his head as he held out his hand to help her up.  As soon as she was up and standing on her own, he gently brushed the glass and dirt off of her.  “I thought I said to go out the back,” he chided lightly.  “Not hunker down and fight.”

She raised an unamused eyebrow at him.  “Was there a secret passage we didn’t know about,” she asked sharper than she meant to use with the men who’d saved them.  “Because the exit you told me about was well guarded for the entire fight.  So, unless you have an invisibility cloak you meant for us to use, we didn’t have an option.”

He bobbed his head to the side in acquiescence and slightly sheepishly.  “Well, it’s done now, let’s get you ladies out of here.”

Sandy whimpered and hid her face in Zoe’s chest, who wrapped her up in her arms and hid her eyes.  “It’s okay, don’t look, Sandy.  It’s okay.  We’re okay,” she reassured her, speaking slowly and confidently even as she looked to Marinette for reassurance.  Marinette nodded to her and let the chauffeur take her hand to guide her through the back passage out of the restaurant back to where the car was waiting for them.

Zoe took a long, cleansing breath as soon as they got outside.  It took a few seconds before she could process everything again.  “Sandy,” she shook her head exasperated, “I know I asked for a blast of a visit, but this is not what I meant.”

Sandy looked around them, edging further into Zoe’s arms and away the trash and the men who had been knocked out, and whimpered.

The sound of sirens broke through the silence.  He whipped his head toward the sound and cocked his head, listening quietly for a few seconds.  He turned back toward them and jerked his head toward the street.  “That would be the police.  I’d say they’re about four to five blocks away.”  He opened the door of the limo as his friend pumped into the driver’s seat.  “Would you ladies care for a ride?”

“Before the police get here?” Zoe asked suspiciously.

“I don't think you want to be involved in a police investigation, do you?” he asked pointedly.

“No, we do not!” Sandy agreed instantly and jumped into the limo faster than she had earlier.  “Come on Zoe.  Marinette.”  Zoe bobbed her head to the side in agreement and crawled in with a sigh.

Marinette started toward the door but froze before getting in.  “Our fingerprints are everywhere though,” she pointed out.  “They’re going to know we were there and left.”

“We'll take care of it,” he assured her hurriedly.  “Now, get in, we only have about 30 seconds.”  He said it like a suggestion but shoved her into the car and followed after her.  Marinette didn’t even have a chance to brace herself before the limo peeled out and just in time, they turned the corner down the block just as the police turned onto the block in front of the restaurant.

Marinette climbed onto the seat and rubbed her head.  She studied the two men closely, trying to glean any clues to their role in what had just happened.  They clearly weren’t with the authorities, but they also weren’t with the gangsters.  But that didn’t mean they were safe.  And with all Sandy’s attention on her hands as she processed what just happened, and all Zoe’s attention on comforting Sandy, it was left to Marinette to make sure they were safe, or at the very least safer than they had been before.  “Who are you guys?” she finally broke the silence to ask.

“We're the good guys,” the original chauffeur grinned.  The red headed new chauffeur made a noise that didn’t really seem indicate agreement or denial to Marinette, but it seemed to mean something to the original chauffeur.  “We're the goodish guys,” he amended with a shrug to which Marinette hummed unconvinced entirely, but enough to not push it.

They arrived at the hotel in no time, again she was positive the new chauffeur had far exceeded the speed limit to get the back as quickly as possible.  As soon as they eased to a stop, the dark-haired, original chauffeur got out and opened the door for them.  “Don't forget, you ladies were never there.  You were together shopping and drinking all day,” he reminded them pointedly.

“No, we weren’t,” Sandy choked like she was insulted by the insinuation.

“Yes, we were,” Zoe insisted pointedly.  She turned Sandy by her shoulders to lead her into the hotel.  “Remember?  You must have had too much to drink.  We were drinking and shopping but didn’t find anything we wanted.”

Sandy blinked at her but let her lead her into the hotel.  “We did,” she asked carefully.

“Yep, we did,” Zoe reassured her.  She glanced back over her shoulder to catch Marinette’s eye, raising an eyebrow once she did.

Marinette nodded back furtively.  She waited until the door had closed behind them before turning to the man.  “You knew something was going down today.”  It was a statement not a question.

“We did,” he confirmed.  “The shooting was a surprise though.  It was just supposed to be a business deal that we were going to get on camera then steal the goods after,” he shrugged, “…to return it to its rightful owner,” he added quickly at seeing her raised eyebrow.  “I did offer to get you out,” he pointed out and put his hands out in innocence.

“Couldn't leave my friend,” she shrugged.  “Someone had to watch out for them.”

“That was very...” he looked away into the distance as if searching for the right word, “…stupid,” he finished.  She gasped and punched him in his unfairly firm pectoral.  She had to bite down the whimper at the pain that shot through her hand, refusing to let him know how it had affected her.  She hadn’t even hit him that hard!  But judging by the loud bark of laughter that echoed off the buildings in the street, she hadn’t been too successful.  “But noble too,” he admitted, his voice softer, more intimate.

“Here,” he handed her a card with a number scrawled on it.  “If you have any trouble with the police or that guys’ goons, or have questions, or you need a tour guide, here or Metropolis, or you get bored, or don't get bored, give me a call.”

She took his card and looked up at him through her lashes.  “And who would I be calling?

“Me,” he grinned back.

She rolled her eyes but smiled at the joke.  “And you are?”

“Jason.  Jason Todd.”  He held his hand out to her.

“It’s nice to meet you, Jason.  I'm Marinette.  Marinette Dupain-Cheng.”

“It’s very nice to meet you, Marinette.”  He raised her hand to his lips and pressed a gentle kiss to it.  He backed away, still keeping his eyes on her.  He maintained his eye contact until he’d reached the passenger door.  He gave her one more roguish smile before opening the door.  “Use the card,” he called as he slid into the seat.

“I'll think about it,” she quipped, but her warm smile betrayed her interest.

“Think hard.”  His annoyingly enticing voice carried to her even as the car pulled away.

She watched the car until it turned at the next block, only then whispering, “I don't have to.”  She was already planning to text as soon as Zoe and Sandy had calmed down and they were sure the police weren’t going to question them.

@maribatserver

[lily-drake]

Master List Part 1

I finally have my own laptop so now I can officially do this!

Master List Part 2

Timari

BioSibling!Timari:

Siblings Don't Shake Hands...: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Stay With Me Now

Romantic!Timari:

Happy Birthday Tim!

Hiding in the Blue

Let's Play a Game

Red is My Favorite Color

Escapé

Hide and Seek: Part 1 Part 2 Bargain: Part 1 Part 2

Ditched and Hitched: Part 1 Part 2

Platonic!Timari

The Bird's Baby Bug: Part 1 Part 2

Mistake?

Jasonette

Biosibling!Jasonette:

Happy Birthday Jason!

You Think We're WHAT?!

Peter and His Pixie: Part 1 Part 2

Platonic!Jasonette:

Unexpected Discoveries Lead to...: Part 1 Part 2

It's a Learned Trait

Romantic!Jasonette:

Stars

One of Us Has to Die

Daminette

Romantic!Daminette:

The Floor is Out to Get Me

Kiss the gir-NO!

The Blessed and Cursed

Who Do You Think You Are?!

Robin Hood and His Treasure

Found Family

Forced

Fear Me: Part 1 Part 2

Betrothed: Part 1 Part 2 (What-if ending [non-canon])

The Demon's Queen: Prologue Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 Part 16 Part 17 Part 18 Part 19 Part 20 Part 21 Part 22 Part 23 Part 24 Part 25

BioDad!Daminette:

Mommy, Daddy Look! BioFamily!Daminette:

Cousin

Grumpy Cat/Fairytale

Stab or be Stabbed

Photograph

Why Can't Bats Rest in Peace? Part 1 Part 2 Surface Pressure: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

Trust Must be Earned: Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 LettersPart 8 Part 9

[official-timari-server]

Shutterbug Station Team Poll

[velveteenshadow]

Writing Patterns Game!

I saw the lovely @abyssal-ali throw out the at to anyone who wants to so I figured why not!

These are all Maribat fics!

10: Lackluster Apologies (Gen)

"How was I supposed to know, Adrien?"

9: We Didn't Start The Dumpster Fire (Timari)

Marinette points her head up as she sniffs the air, instantly regretting it.

8: The Phoenix Five (Gen {at least thus far})

To say the waters were calm, would be the farthest lie one could conjure.

7: Secrets of the Shutterbug (Timari)

Tim slowly backtracks when he sees Bart and Jason laughing with a laptop open.

6: Prodigious Denial Defying Diary (Bio-Mom)

Dear Diary,    Today marks my first writing in hopes that these words reach her.

5: Speedy Rebound From Uncertainty (Found Family)

What would his siblings say if he told them the truth?

4: A Bittersweet Prelude (Gen {Ship in Pt 2})

‘Nothing can beat the strike of a sword.

3: Split Second Chance of a Freeze Frame (Rare Pair, Lukabara aka Luka Couffaine x Barbara Gordon)

Life has the worst ways of showing you what you never thought would happen in any of the multitude of universes out there.

2: You Can Ring My Bell (Timari)

“Gettin' deep…” (I swear this one is Family Friendly)

1: Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic (Platonic Timari with OC character focus)

Now, there were plenty of things that Scarlet Morningstar has experienced.

Hmm... it's interesting to see how all my starting lines have a nice punch to them in some way, shape or form.

Bonus Below!

Here are the 6 starting lines of my poems thus far for the Shutterbug Station Event!

(They are in order of posting)

1: Red Robin's Rapture (Rare Pair, Tim/Adrien)

"Stay with me a little longer" Tim cried out as the lights dim in his eyes.

2: Anything For My Lady (Gen, Adrien & Mari)

Solitary Confinement can the worst. Too much time with nothing to do.

3: Windy Wonders (Rare Pair, Jay/Adrien aka Alley Cat)

Strawberry Blonde Tall, Handsome, Mysterious

4: Time Passes On (Rare Pair, Bart/Adrien)

Silence Ticking of a clock

5: Marinette's Hidden Talent (Jasonette)

In the depths,

Can one really find one missing out?

6: Lonesome Moonlight Waiting For The Clouds To Clear (Rare Pairs, Tim/Adrien and Bart/Adrien)

Stay with me a little longer Tim I cannot help myself Loving you is all I need

All of the above include the prompt, "Stay With Me A Little Longer" while 5 and 6 include the prompt, "I Can't Say I'm Sorry" as well!

If you are curious about where the prompts came from, check out the Shutterbug Station event and consider joining us on the Timari Discord where we have been hyping it up! It's a great place for Timari lovers and those who are following the Angst V Fluff event!

https://discord.gg/mDmTHPNKyj

[boldlyanxious]

Fluff

Love in the time of taco trucks Jasonette. Crime lord Red Hood x Marinette

Admiritrice Cassinette secret admirerer fic

Archer and Bug

Without Delay Timdrien Christmas fluff

Snow Angel marijon in the snow

Take a Break Tim makes Marinette take time off

Birthday fluff Tim wakes to his family on his birthday

Snowflake timari in the snow

Secrets Tim and Marinette have a date night

Hospital Injured Tim is adorable

Marshmallows with Cocoa Damian is distracted by thoughts of Marinette

Always Here Timari childhood friends

[maribat-calendar-events]

Maribat Awards 2023

It's time for the yearly Maribat awards again. You guys have asked for more time in the past, so you're getting it two months early. There won't be any extensions, so take advantage now. Feel free to submit as many nominations forms as you want.

Survey Link Here

Deadline for submissions is January 31 11:59pm GMT-6 (CST).

RULES:

1. When you are nominating someone, you MUST include LINKS to their accounts or stories, or they will not be counted.

2. All works submitted must have been created in 2023. This does not mean updated in 2023. The original work creation date must have been on or after January 1, 2023, or it will not qualify.

3. Any creators must have completed at least one fic/artwork in the 2023 year.

4. You may nominate as many works or creators for each category as you want. 

5. You may submit nominations more than once in case you forgot something - but submitting someone twice for the same thing won't do anything!

6. You DO NOT have to fill out every blank! Just do the ones you want. ANY nomination is welcome!

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Categories include:

Favourite Author

Favourite Artist

Favourite Fic

Favourite FanArt

Most Underrated Author

Most Underrated Fic

Best New Author

Best Maribat Author of All Time (Any year)

Best Maribat Fic of All Time (Any year)

Best Daminette

Best Jasonette

Best Timari

Best Dickinette

Best Rare Pair

Best Platonic (non-bio-family)

Best Biological family AU

Best One-Shot 

Best Multi-Chapter

Best Fluff

Best Angst 

Best Hurt/Comfort 

Best Comedy