#jordan is a hero. sure. but if his kids need him he will drop ANYTHING for them | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

voidandradiance · 4 years

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spirit never dies | 5.6k

"the legends tell stories of a goddess by that name,“ the priest admits quietly. “but those are old, old stories, too fantastic to be entirely true. they do speak of how to find her, though.”

jordan leans forward eagerly. “how? how can i find her, where has she been?”

the priest holds up a hand to ward off his questions. “i can’t tell you what i don’t know. all the stories say is that there is a man who lives in the clouds, and that he is the only one who can restore the goddess. some of the legends seem to indicate that it might be the captain, but i can’t say that for certain.”

"the captain?“ jordan asks, because that has always been his title, and yet it is a fairly common one. still, though.

"an ancient hero, who lived during the dawn of the gods’ reign. he was the most powerful warrior ever known to recorded histories. alongside the first champions, he helped bind the primordial darkness and seal it away,” the priest replies, gesturing grandly. “the priest of that time didn’t keep extensive records, but the captain was important enough to write of.”

"and i have to go find him?“ jordan adds. “i have to go find an ancient warrior who lives in the clouds, who may or may not actually exist?”

the priest shrugs. “if you want to find ianite, then yes.”

jordan goes.

he saddles a horse and follows what the priest has told him; he crosses the desert until he reaches the sea, and rows out toward two separate chains of islands until he reaches the place he has been told to go. it’s a wooded, untouched island, with nothing built and nothing dug.

but if he squints, there is a faint shape in the clouds, far off in the distant heights. of course. the captain lives in the clouds.

he builds his scaffolding up into the sky.

there is a small stone courtyard in the thick clouds, hidden by mist and distance. it is lit by strange metal lanterns, low walls standing around the sides. there is a pale archway in the center of the aged stone brick, intricately carved. a massive oak tree curls in one corner, apples hanging from its branches, a clear spring of water burbling between its roots, pale flowers blooming in the little grass left. opposite, there is a firepit, bright and crackling, warm and endlessly burning. one of the back corners holds only a chest and a few necessities, a worktable set up and filled with small tools.

in the last, a man kneels in front of a small shrine.

jordan freezes.

the captain gently places down an unlit candle onto the tiny altar, the space kept so carefully, so neatly. he places down the candle, then stands, then turns.

he is not a tall man, not any taller than jordan himself, but that does not make the way he braces himself against his trident any less intimidating. jordan’s never even seen a weapon like that, not here, and yet the captain leans on it with a familiar ease. he wears a faded red coat, and simple clothes, and a strange sense of power hums in the air around him.

"well?“ the captain asks. "come on. i’m sure you have questions.”

jordan steps forward numbly. the hairs rise on the back of his neck as soon as he sets foot on the stone bricks, though he can’t tell why. the captain smiles at him so knowingly, and rests the trident against the archway as they both step forward.

"you’re looking for ianite,“ the captain guesses, and he nods. "good. i’m glad. it’s terribly lonely, being a follower without a god, isn’t it?”

jordan nods again. “do you know where she is? the priest said you might.”

the captain looks at him for a long few seconds, and then sets his jaw. “i am the only person in the realm who knows where she is. even her brothers don’t know, and they put us here.”

"here?“ jordan asks. "how could they not remember? is she here?”

there’s a pause, and then the captain turns away and steps over to the chest, withdrawing two simply made cups that he fills with hot water from the cauldron beside the fire. he sets them on the corner of his workbench, and adds a couple of small bags, and-

tea. jordan is looking for a lost goddess, and the one man who can help him is making tea.

"this is going to be a very long explanation,“ the captain says, before jordan can do more than open his mouth. "no, ianite is not here, but this is the only way to get to where she is. yes, she is real, and yes, she is alive. no, she was not imprisoned with ill intent, not this time. yes, there is good reason for why i am the only one who properly remembers her. yes, i will take you to her, as soon as you have actually been told what’s going on here, alright?”

jordan blinks. “alright.”

the captain looks back at him, and nods at the ground. “i haven’t got anywhere else to offer you a seat,” he warns, handing over one cup. it smells warm, familiar, like apple and lavender. of course; what else is there in this place?

they sit on the cold brick, and the captain takes a deep breath, wrapping his hands around the still-steeping tea. he has such a strange look in his eyes when he looks at jordan, odd and unreadable.

"i think that the first thing you need to know is that i was her first champion, at the dawn of the gods’ reign,“ the captain announces. "i have walked the void, and i have served her in every realm i’ve known, but in this one i was her first and only true follower. my friends, my brothers, were the same for the other two gods. you have a set of siblings just like them, even if you haven’t realized it yet.”

tom and tucker and sonja are good friends, yes, of course. he wouldn’t go so far as to call them his siblings, though. still, the captain looks so melancholy that jordan doesn’t say a word.

"prior to the gods, there were the light and the darkness,“ the captain continues, forging ahead. "they were the primordial divinities, above and before the gods. and they were constantly warring. as the gods came into their power, with us as their champions, the darkness and light each tried to garner our favor. we all fought for the light, but the darkness was powerful, more powerful than we fully understood. they possessed almost all of us, at one point or another, including all of the gods. including ianite.”

jordan’s heart is in his throat. “and?”

the captain sips his tea. “tell me what you know about ianite, kid. i’m sure you can figure things out.”

"she- we are balance,“ jordan replies hesitantly, and gets an approving nod at the correction. "balance, justice, fairness. and- and the end is the only dimension without a god, so that’s probably hers, isn’t it? she’s the goddess of balance and the end. and i’m being called to her.”

"and the sea, and prophecy,“ the captain adds. "do you dream of other worlds that don’t make sense? of futures that may or may not come?”

jordan leans back a little. “how’d you know that?”

the captain taps the side of his head. “it comes with being her champion. i have done the same thing for centuries, now. we are balance between order and chaos, and justice and fairness in the mortal realm. we are attuned to the seas and to the end. we dream of possibilities. yes, all of that is true. but do you know what else it is that our lady holds a balance between?”

"light and dark,“ jordan guesses. it’s the only thing that makes sense. pieces are falling into place, and he much doesn’t like the way that they’re landing. "but if she got possessed by the darkness, wouldn’t that have broken her balance?”

his stomach drops as the captain points at him. “exactly. the end is also the void. the darkness had an easy way in, and we had no good way to heal her. the only way was to surround her with equal light, and to let them gradually… balance. when we defeated the darkness, there was still a shard of their power controlling her. there was no choice. mianite and dianite built this place together, and the light locked away all other memory of her so that no one could come to interfere. i have been left to guard the way to her ever since. i cannot leave until she is healed.”

jordan stares at him. “and how long will that take?” he asks weakly.

"four thousand years, by my count,“ the captain replies. "or, by an easier estimate of time, until her next champion comes to seek her. and that, kid, would be you.”

"oh,“ he says softly.

the captain smiles. "yeah. it’s a lot, but you’ll adapt well. i’d like to think that i did. have you done anything in her name?”

jordan shakes his head slowly. “not yet, not really. not like tom and tucker have. should i have?”

"you’ve only just found that she was real, so i can’t blame you for not,“ the captain reassures him. "her temple is in the end, but she ought to have one in the overworld as well. we’ll have you light a candle and speak to her, just to formalize the bond, and then we will go to see her.”

so they do. the captain takes a dried twig from the tree that mianite had planted and lights it in the fire that dianite had set, and kneels before the small shrine to light the shortest candles in a practiced motion. the last, newly reshaped from wax four thousand years old, remains unlit.

"there is no one way to pray to her,“ the captain tells him quietly. "you can build her grand temples or worship her in secret. all that she needs is your belief. there was a creed, written by one of her few other followers, and it’s a good one. void and radiance at once, he said. we are the healer, the warrior, whatever nature asks. there is no one right path.”

"you’re sure?“ jordan asks. he has not prayed to anything in his life, except for the sea’s better nature. he barely knows what he’s doing.

the captain smiles, and stands, holding out the crude lighter. "i am absolutely sure of it. come on, kid. i’ll start the portal.”

he takes the slowly burning stick, and lights the last candle. it smells like lilac as the faded wax begins to melt, the scent somehow familiar as he kneels before it. unlike his visits to the temples, this time he doesn’t feel like he’s intruding. it feels right.

words fail, so he just bundles as much emotion as he can into the only thing he knows to say. “lady ianite,” he murmurs, and hopes that she can sense his hope and worry and excitement. what can he possibly say to a lost goddess? only the honest truth. “i’m so glad to know you’re out there. i can’t wait to meet you.”

the captain activates something in the archway, and leads him through with a knowing smile. they step into the end, no obsidian towers in sight, only pale stone and dark void. there are what look like ships hanging frozen in the air above them, still and abandoned. there is strange rubble around them, purple pillars and pale brick, and jordan stares around the place with wide eyes.

and yet the captain doesn’t even blink. no, he closes his eyes and holds out his arms, tilting his chin to face a nonexistent sun. magic shimmers over his skin, softly shining, welcoming. when he reopens his eyes, they are faintly ringed in lavender light. he smiles.

"where are we?“ jordan asks, and his voice echoes around the fallen towers. "what is this place?”

"an old end city,“ the captain informs him casually, leading the way to the edge of the island. "and on the island below us, the place where ianite is waiting.”

he pauses. “below us? how are we meant to get down there? i don’t have any water.” which is his own fault, yes, but he still doesn’t see any way down.

the captain turns to look at him, smiling his strange, sad smile. there is something knowing in his eyes, something pleased and worried at the same time. “it’s a leap of faith, jordan,” he says. it’s the first time he’s used his name. “you’ll get used to it.”

"will i?“ jordan asks. the thought of falling makes his stomach turn.

"for her? yes,” the captain replies. “yes, you will. you have enchantments, the fall won’t hurt. it hardly ever does. there’s a platform just below the drop.”

jordan stares off the ledge. it seems like an endless fall. if there is a platform, it is too dark to see. the void stretches wide and empty below, singing softly, an eerie few notes that set a chill in his bones. it would be a mad, blind thing to do. “straight down?”

"straight down,“ the captain agrees, and sits casually on the edge. "it’s a lot, i know. i had more time before i had to make my first blind leap. i do recommend avoiding a running start, though. makes the landings a bit harder.”

jordan nods. there is something pulling him forward, downward, something deep in his chest that tugs and tightens as he draws nearer to where ianite waits. it calls him, familiar, something that he can almost reach. and yet- “your first?”

the captain shrugs. “my first. that’s a part of it, for us. mianite and dianite, they have had a hundred champions, and they can find a hundred more. chaos and order are not hard to find. but balance, our true balance? she cares for us. all champions must trust in their gods, but we can trust her. we will leap, and she will make sure we land.”

oh. oh.

mianite would probably do it for tucker, if it came down to it in crisis. dianite probably wouldn’t do the same for tom. and yet, here sits the captain, loyal and true after thousands of years. how many leaps of faith has he made? how many landings has ianite caught him with? how strong must the pull in his chest be, begging him to make the jump and race to find her?

"straight down,“ jordan repeats, more to himself than anyone else. the certainty is building in his chest, doubling back on itself and pulling him forward. it calls him, a call that fills his lungs and winds through his veins, wrapping around his bones and weaving through his ribs. it is a call that he has heard all of his life, something he has only hardly realized was a call at all, and now it is louder and clearer than it has ever been. it is a question, and he finally knows where to find the answer.

the captain smiles. "straight down.”

jordan inhales, exhales. he curls his hands into fists until his nails bite into his palms, and forces his legs to move. there will be a landing. he has to trust that there will be a landing. he has to believe it.

and he makes the leap of faith.

there is cold, cold nothing around him. the fall is short, yet an eternity, and fear claws at the back of his throat. he refuses to let it choke him. he closes his eyes and hopes, trusts, and then suddenly his boots hit stone in a flare of protective magic.

the captain lands beside him a moment later, grinning, almost proud. relieved, maybe. “it gets easier after the first time,” he says easily, and gestures up the path to the massive monument ahead of them. it is sheer, dark stone, a seamless face of some strange material. “this way.”

jordan follows him, heart still pounding in his chest. he aches with fear and hope alike. he can feel the half-known call in his chest, and it makes his steps fall a little faster. the captain feels it too, it seems, if the endlessly patient man is this hurried.

they stop in front of the thing, and the captain sighs. “put your hand over the carving,” he says, nodding at the only flaw in the surface of the stone. it feels more like a strange metal when he touches it, but he steps up to place his palm over the designs. on the opposite side, the captain does the same.

nothing happens, until the captain takes a deep breath.

"my lady,“ he calls softly, his voice fond and gentle, almost sing-song. "i’ve brought your paradox. it’s time.”

and then symbols along the edges flare to life, and the carving under his hand warms and burns, and the entire thing starts trembling. slowly, as dust falls, a glowing seam splits the middle of the seamless face, and the two pieces of the doors slide open.

inside, strange things hang from the walls, and metal lanterns cast an odd glow around the massive room. an elaborate fountain burbles away in the back of the room, water flowing beneath the violet glass underfoot. dark stone, gilded with gold, lines the pale staircase that leads up to a sealed platform not much larger than the one the captain has spent millennia guarding.

jordan feels the call pulling him forward, warm and welcoming and persistent, and he is not alone in that. the captain all but jogs up the quartz stairs, and he follows. once again, there are matched carvings. once again, they place their hands over the top. enchantment runes shine bright, brighter, and then suddenly the wall has opened.

there is a woman sitting there, a goddess, wisps of sparkling power just now vanishing into her skin. she sits still and unmoving, though her hair floats of its own accord as if it were underwater. thin golden chains hold her wrists tethered to the armrests of the chair. they look to be impossibly delicate, and yet remain.

the captain steps forward. “my lady.”

ianite opens her eyes, shining violet with power, and smiles. her teeth are a little too long, a little too sharp; she is the goddess of the end, of the dragon. of course she has fangs. “my captain.”

the captain blinks back tears. “i’m sorry, milady. i’m so sorry.”

"captain,“ ianite says quietly, her voice heavy with some soft meaning that jordan doesn’t recognize. "you saved me.”

and those are the words that make the tears slip down the captain’s cheeks. “you saw the other realms.”

"i got glimpses. the light and dark are universal constants; they see all. yes, i saw the other realms. i couldn’t interfere, but i watched. and here i had thought that the isles were overwhelming,“ she agrees with a broken laugh. "they shouldn’t have been. each world looks so small from-”

”-way up high,“ the captain finishes, and they say the words in unison. “i’ve heard.”

ianite smiles faintly, and holds out her hand. “i should be the one to apologise to you, captain. i’m sorry.”

"it wasn’t your fault,“ the captain insists, though he moves closer. she places a hand on his cheek, and he leans into her touch, magic singing between them. she wipes away his tears with a gentle brush of her thumb, nevermind her own.

she cares for us.

"i failed you,” ianite says. “i should have fought harder. i should have been better. i wasn’t, and i am sorry.”

"i failed you,“ the captain insists. "i should have figured everything out sooner, i should have found another way to help you, i should have-”

ianite shakes her head. “you did all that you could, captain, and you did the right thing. there was no other way. i do mean it when i say that you saved me. thank you. and, if you need to hear it, i forgive you.”

something silent passes between them, agonized and relieved. the captain drops to one knee, and the goddess runs a hand through his messy curls as far as she can, leaning forward to press a kiss to the top of his head. he says something too quiet to hear.

"mianite is allowed two,“ she murmurs in reply, comforting and quiet. "dianite has furia. i ought to be allowed my captain. i’m certainly not going to cast you aside after all you’ve done for me. you bargained four millennium just to remember my name.”

the captain very obviously tries to stifle his sob. it doesn’t work as nearly well as he hopes. she cares about us, and yet he seems stunned to not be cast aside. there is something here that does not make sense in the slightest.

and then ianite looks up, and beckons to jordan, and it clicks.

the captain was her first champion. jordan is her next. mianite has both tucker and sonja at once, yet the captain had thought that jordan would take his place entirely, somehow. as if jordan, young and inexperienced and idealistic, could ever compare to the captain. the thought itself is laughable.

he steps forward at the goddess’s wave, and she smiles, even as she tries to assure her first champion that he is still wanted and needed. “my boy,” she says warmly, reaching out as best she can with the thin chains still linked to her wrists. “i am so glad to finally meet you.”

"my lady,“ he manages to reply, more than a little overwhelmed. her smile only widens, amused but not mocking.

the captain looks up, tears wiped away, and follows his gaze. "go on, then,” he says. “you’re the only one who can do it. it’s time.��

jordan reaches out to touch the chain, magic humming and burning around it, strong and elegant at once. he means to lift it, to look closer, to find any lock or catch. they are forged from something much stronger than gold, of course, but a better look wouldn’t hurt.

instead, as soon as his fingers brush against the metal, the chain shatters into nothing. he startles. ianite smiles. the captain lifts the other chain, and holds it out to him. that, too, vanishes at his touch.

and the captain makes a wounded noise, pressing a hand over his chest.

"are you alright?“ ianite asks, worried, her hand on his shoulder.

"my tether to the portal,” the captain replies, looking stunned, slowly beginning to grin. “it snapped. i was bound to guard it until you were freed. and now i’m not.”

the goddess smiles, and stands, and helps pull the captain to his feet. “i do believe we’ve met the terms, then, captain. time to see how the world has carried on without us, i suppose.”

the captain shakes his head. “not very well. not the seas, and not the end. and i don’t think dianite is doing well, either.”

she laughs, this lost goddess with violet eyes and floating hair and broken cuffs on her wrists. “then i suppose we get to go and pick up after my brothers yet again,” she says, and sets a hand on jordan’s shoulder. she has not let go of the captain. “you’ll have to fill us in on what you can, my champion.”

"uh,“ jordan replies, which is a great thing to say when asked to do something relatively simple. "i’ll do my best.”

ianite turns her smile to him, and his chest aches with some strange relief, the call no longer pulling so desperately. the cry is now a quiet song, humming soft and warm in the space between his heart and lungs. “that is all i can ask, my boy,” she says, and squeezes his shoulder. “that’s all i can ask.”

thus begins the strangest conversation of his life.

they sit on the steps, halfway down, leaning against the gilded stone. ianite keeps a hand on the captain’s shoulder, and the captain leans into her without even seeming to realize it. jordan watches them, perfectly balanced, perfectly synchronized. their bond is strong, so strong.

but he talks. he talks about the way he arrived, and the other gods, and the other champions. he talks about dianite, and the problems his followers have caused, and about mianite, and the help the others have given him. they ask, and he answers, and sometimes the captain sighs or swears. he’s seen so many worlds, there are bound to be things that overlap.

he runs out of things to say, eventually, but they nod along with what he tells them. the conversation shifts and flows, turning toward all the things that must be done, all the broken things that must be fixed and the lost things that must be found. the realm was once far more than it is now, it seems, far wider and richer than any of the rest of them had thought. ianite promises that she will repair some old relic of the captain’s, and he grins so widely.

eventually, finally, ianite stands. “i will take us to the portal,” she says, and wraps her arms around their shoulders. “hold on.”

it is the same sudden, swooping feeling as an ender pearl, a rush of magic and movement. the world is gone, and then it is back, and they stand just before the pale archway. they step through the dark portal, ianite smiling and the captain laughing, and into bright daylight.

the goddess tilts her face up towards the sun, but shades her eyes. “i forgot just how bright it was,” she comments softly, bittersweetly.

"i’d offer you my sunglasses, but i’m not the one who had them last,“ the captain replies, and she rolls her eyes. he’s doing something at his workbench, shoving something in a bag before shedding his crimson coat and shoving that in too. there is some strange, silvery cloak that he wears beneath it, and he turns to her with quiet hope in his eyes. "could you-”

magic shimmers and flares, and ianite grins. “done,” she says, and waves. “go on, captain. we’ll meet you below.”

the captain checks his bag and chest again, and tightens his grip on his trident, and grins. “absolutely,” he says, and then leaps off of the edge. he doesn’t fall; he glides, soars. his cloak swings open into something that can send him in sweeping circles around the platform, racing through the clouds and whooping in delight. the weariness seems to have fallen from his shoulders, left behind with the shattered chains and empty chamber, left to fall from him and sink into the ocean below.

the captain grins at them, and swoops down into lazy circles. ianite shakes her head fondly.

jordan watches, and doubts. not her, never her, but his place with her. “my lady,” he says hesitantly, and the title feels so right. “am i- should i even-”

"my boy,“ ianite says, glancing down at him. "you are needed, if that’s what you’re worried about. the captain is capable and clever and loyal, yes, but he is not the balance that this world needs. you are. he is my true, needed champion, but so are you. i swear it.”

he sighs, and nods. it feels hollow.

"you’ll understand soon,“ ianite promises, and sits down at the edge of the platform. after a moment, jordan sits down beside her. "look. everything seems so small from way up high. what do you see?”

jordan blinks, and glances down. “some trees. sand. the ocean.”

"the captain would say an island and the sea,“ ianite replies. "he is very good at balance on a grand scale. he knows the struggle between light and dark, and how to mediate it. he sees the older, deeper things that must be balanced, and he takes it seriously. but there are other forces that must be balanced, ones that you are more suited to. the captain tends to balance my brothers by helping both of them in equal measure. you balance them by aiding the one closer to true balance, yet not siding with either. order and chaos weigh on a different set of scales, but both are necessary. do you understand?”

he thinks he might. “one for the grand scale, one for the details,” he says, and she nods approvingly. “because then we balance each other out.”

"yes,“ ianite agrees, and then pauses, sombering. "and also because the captain deserves to rest.”

jordan thinks about the four thousand years the older champion had stood guard, and finds that he can’t argue. the captain has done so much for their lady; it makes sense that she would want to take some of the weight off of his shoulders. jordan just has to be ready to take his share of it.

they teleport down just as the captain lands, and ianite offers to teleport jordan home. he hesitates, because he really doesn’t want to lose another horse, and the captain shrugs. “we could always go the long way.”

"i haven’t ridden in four millennia,“ ianite laughs. "alright. we’ll go the long way.”

the long way means crossing the desert in flight, the captain launching himself into the air from the ocean shore, ianite calmly floating along beside him. as soon as they reach the open savannah, she calls two horses to her, and the three of them ride the rest of the way together. it is a very thinly veiled excuse for both to distance themselves from the platform, but jordan isn’t about to say a word. he’s spent most of his life sailing; he understands the need to travel, more than most.

they approach the last hill, and ianite suddenly sits up. “race you to the ridge,” she tells them, and then takes off. the captain blinks, then grins, and follows. jordan urges his own horse onwards, and wonders what on earth has caught her attention.

there’s a ship in the harbor. that would probably be it.

"the pirates are a little early,“ the captain mutters, and ianite smiles knowingly. she can sense something that he can’t, or else has something planned. she doesn’t say anything, though, even as they start down the hill and eventually dismount. the path to the stables is uneven and unfinished, but neither of them complain. neither of them even say a word, not until they are just outside the walls, and the two figures in the distance both freeze. the captain freezes as well.

one of the figures is tom, of course, but the other is wearing a long blue coat and a truly outrageous feathered hat. they both pause in what they’re doing when they catch sight of them, and yet the stranger, the pirate, shoves his obnoxious hat back and stares.

and then he steps forward, and calls out, "jordan?”

and the captain swears. “tom?” he asks softly, dropping the reins, and then repeats louder, “tom!”

the pirate takes off running, shouting almost incoherently, and the captain does the same. “sparklez, you fucking idiot,” the pirate calls out, which doesn’t make any sense, because he slams into the captain and stumbles in an attempt to stay at least mostly upright, and isn’t paying even the slightest bit of attention to jordan. the two men are clinging to each other, and talking over one another, a jumbled mess of four thousand years and i would have stayed too and i couldn’t have asked that and you wouldn’t have needed to.

jordan stares.

"i’m not getting any deader,“ the pirate laughs, and clings tighter. "karl may have moved in with his boyfriend, mate, but i just stuck around. had a good feeling about heading this way, i guess.”

"sure, captain zombie boy,“ the captain teases, like his face isn’t pressed into the pirate’s shoulder and the pirate isn’t clinging to him desperately.

the pirate scoffs. "that’s all you, cap. i just wander around. you set your course.”

the captain just shakes his head. “must be fun,” he says. “haven’t got much of a course set right now.”

"they’ve got things in hand here,“ the other agrees. he sounds like tom when he speaks, yes, but older. more experienced. more exhausted. "it’s fun, yeah, but not alone. unless you feel like coming with.”

the captain steps back to look at him. “are you kidding?” he asks incredulously. “four thousand years, tom. of course i feel like coming with. but-”

"captain,“ ianite calls out, and he turns back to her, worry clear. she just smiles, and pulls something small and red from her pocket. he catches it easily, and looks back up at her after a few very long heartbeats. "you’ve waited long enough on my account, and you know where to find me. if you want to go, go.”

he stares at her, and grins slowly. he unfolds the red sunglasses with a practiced flick, and sets them in place with very careful intent. “if you insist, my lady.”

"go,“ she says, fondly exasperated, and the captain turns away laughing.

he is my true, needed champion, but so are you.

right.

#mianite #my. my fic.#nerf house cmere i made last centurion jordan

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chandelier-s-notebook · 4 years

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@the-only-gamer-gost‘s WritingTober Day 8: A Fanmade Au

Set in @moonbowphobia‘s Heist Au. @octopus-defence-squad is also a creator of the Canon.

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Coconut Café; That Saturday; 9am.

Phil enters, orders a coffee, sits down at a two-person table near the window, pulls out his book, and gets to reading. Listening to every conversation around him. Noting when Techno walked in. Catching his eye.

His buddy greats him before going to order a slice of pumpkin pie. He sits in the one of the round-table back booths of the establishment.

~ ~ ~

Wilbur knows what Technoblade looks like. He found the guy’s company email after all, it wasn’t too hard to find his ID when he had a name. But Wilbur respects the guy. When he told him that he wasn’t allowed to use his name he stopped. This was Technoblade. Nothing more. Nothing less.

- - -

Wilbur takes in the Café. He sees the face he’s looking for. He takes Tommy and Tubbo to their role model.

What a horrible older brother Wilbur is. Letting these boys’ role model be a never-convicted criminal. No. He couldn’t be a criminal. Wilbur wasn’t a criminal. And Wilbur tried to be just like him. Technobalde was a thief. A bandit. Yeah, a Bandit.

One of the baristas comes over and gives each of the teenagers a slice of pie.

“My treat,” Technoblade says after she’s come back in his and Wilbur’s slices. “Dig in.”

- - -

Tommy might have been all bravado in class with Tubbo and at home with Wil, but now that his Hero was in front of him, he was star struck. He didn’t know what do to.

He ate his pie.

“So how have you been big man?”

“Good. Bored. But good.”

- - -

And the ice was broken.

The blond kid started talking. Tommy, he learned soon enough. His buddy was called Tubbo. Other than that, Techno didn’t really listen. Sure, he absorbed the information. But he wasn’t actively listening to them ramble.

Likes. Dislikes. Classes. Hobbies. What they did in their ‘organization’.

He payed a little more attention to that. Tubbo was their hacker guy. Wilbur was the one with quick hands; pickpocketing, lock picking, internet deep dives. And Tommy was the daring one, the one who did the stunts, did the thing.

He noticed Wilbur shot Tommy a look whenever he got too personal. He was right. This was Whalebur.

He noticed Tommy pushing Tubbo to talk. This kid cares about them.

He noticed Tubbo taking in everyone in the Café. He wonders who’s listening to them.

Then they started to talk about jobs. One’s that they were proud of. One’s that could have gone better. And one’s that they learned from.

Techno was surprised by these kids. Sure the paper called them “The Technabees”, and they were. But they were going off and doing it their own way. Growing in their own skin.

- - -

“So. You wanna hit Jordan’s?”

“Yeah.”

“Any particular reason?”

“You hit MMO’s a while back. We wanted to be like you.”

“The Technabees,” he says, lifting his glass to drink some water.

Tommy looks disgruntled before starting to yell up a storm.

Tubbo kicks him under the table as Techno raises his hands. “That’s a compliment. It’s quite infuriating to watch you get away with all this stuff and never getting caught. It’s interesting to be on the other side of this coin.”

“Thanks.”

“Anyways, you kids need a better reason to hit Jordan’s than ‘it’d be cool’. You need a better reason than clout.”

“The banks steal from the people,” Tubbo says. “Floating point numbers. You know, computer stuff. They have all this extra money that really comes from rounding errors.”

“Good. Reasons. Reasons are good. And that sounds true enough for me to innocent-until-proven-guilty that statement.”

- - -

“Jordan’s is a big job.”

“You trying to stop us?” Wilbur asks.

“And become a hypocrite?”

“Jordan’s should be doable,” Wilbur says. “There are three of us.”

“And hopefully one of you.”

“Let’s not get hasty.”

“And I have no idea how you managed to hit MMO’s alone, but we could really use you’re help.”

Techno leans back in his chair. “You did track me down. Congrats on that by the way.”

“Thanks,” Wilbur replies. “Will you help us?”

“You gonna try regardless of if I help you?”

“Probably.”

“If I can get my partner on board I’ll help.”

“Partner?”

He nods. “I’m not doing a job without him.”

Tubbo pipes up, “I didn’t know you had a partner.”

“You think I hit MMO’s all on my own?” Techno asks the boy. “What am I saying? The private investigators still think I did it alone. Yeah. I have a partner.”

“You just become so much less cool,” Tommy states.

“Everybody needs somebody.”

The table is silent for a few moments. “So if you can convince your guy to help you, you’ll help us?”

“Yeah.”

“Thank you for your time.” Wilbur stands. “You have my contact. We’ll leave you to the rest of your day.”

The other two say their goodbyes, and leave Techno to his own company.

~ ~ ~

“No.” Phil slides into Techno’s booth.

“Come on ‘Za.”

“Why do you wanna help them?”

“Old habits die hard.”

“Jesus fucking Christ. I have a job. You have a job.”

“That’s not a no ‘Za.”

He buries his head in his hands. “I know.”

“It’s been years since MMO’s. Jordan’s will have better stuff. Harder thing to get passed.”

“I know.”

“We can’t let these kids go in alone. I had way more successful jobs under my belt when we MMO’s. They’re gonna do it whether we help them or not.”

“I know.”

“We’re still young.”

“I have a job. Young means I still have my whole carrier ahead of me.”

“You say that like we’re gonna get caught.”

“We always could.”

“No one’s gonna know about you. We don’t even have to tell the kids who you are. I just need to know that you’ve got my back. I wanna help. I wanna hit Jordan’s. I’m bored Phil. And I got a few vacation days I could need to use up.”

“Technoblade hits Jordan’s after years of hiatus. Helped by the new kids on the block.”

The two boys, men, they where men now. The two of them shared a chuckle.

“I can’t go back in.”

“Why didn’t you stop me back in the day?”

“Because you’re stubborn.”

“Why did you help me? Why didn’t you drop me?”

“To keep my mate safe.”

“Phil, two of those kids are in the eighth grade.”

“I know.”

“And then that’s little Whalebur.”

“I know.”

“You don’t want anything to happen to little Whalebur do you?”

“He’s a senior.”

“You gonna help me help these kids hit Jordan’s?”

Phil finishes his coffee. “Nothing more?”

“Nothing less.”

Phil drops his head in his hands. “I’m going with you to meet the kids.”

“You don’t have too.”

“Yes I do.”

“Thanks Phil.”

“You owe me one.”

“Only one?”

#MCYT WritingTober #Philza #Technoblade #Wilbur Soot #Tommyinnit #Tubbo #Heist Au

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jmeelee · 5 years

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Trick or Treat (You look good enough to eat)

Derek didn’t mind working Halloween night. It was notoriously dead (pun intended), lacking the usual pain-in-the-butt patrons, and gave him time to catch up on his year-end book orders. Cindy made him a double batch of her famous salted-caramel brownies as thanks for covering her shift, and proceeded to show him no less than thirty pictures of her one-year-old dressed in a bumblebee costume. “It’s her first time going trick-or-treating,” she said for the umpteenth time. “I’m so grateful I don’t have to miss it.” He hummed politely at the pictures (he liked kids, just, you know, not thirty pictures of the same one) and snatched the proffered plate of caramel-chocolate goodness, mouth already watering.

“Trick or treat, smell my feet. You look good enough to eat.”

At first, Derek thought the statement was directed at him.

The words echoed through the silent, almost-empty library like a tomb. The digital clock in the bottom right corner of his monitor read 5:39 PM. The only other staff working tonight were two elderly clerks clad in sparkly pumpkin sweatshirts and the teenage page who was too old for Halloween but still wore a cat-ear headband.

Derek glanced up from the computer, over the top of his black-rimmed glasses, mouth set in a firm, no-nonsense line. It was his best librarian face, the one he slid on to deal with censorship challenges and patrons who loved to loudly announce, “I’m a taxpayer!” when the movie they wanted to borrow was already checked out. But the guy—tall, wiry, with shaggy brown hair in need of a cut—wasn’t trying to sweet-talk Derek at all.

Shame. He was devilishly handsome, and just Derek’s type.

Instead, cute-guy was buttering up the bowl of candy corn sitting on the circulation desk, next to a festive sign with smiling black bats proclaiming, “Bat-ter take one before they’re gone!” A grin stretched his generous mouth, dimpling into pale cheeks dusted with tiny dark moles. He reached a long-fingered hand into the orange plastic dish.

“I wouldn't do that,” Derek warned, voice soft but commanding.

The patron tore his laser-focused attention away from the sugary treats, large teddy-bear brown eyes going wide when they landed on Derek’s face. His mouth opened, closed, opened again. He dropped a single tri-colored kernel back onto the heap, cleared his throat and slowly reeled in his hand. “Oh, uh…sorry? I thought the sign said they were free.”

“They are,” Derek informed him. “But they’ve been sitting here since my shift started at noon, and about a dozen kids have dug through them.” Derek inclined his head and lowered his voice, tone intended to strike terror. “And Dave, too.”

The candy corn caper’s eyebrows furrowed, and he leaned a little further over the desk. “Is Dave the monster who made you work on Halloween night?”

Derek took great satisfaction watching the guy’s reaction. “No. He’s a regular who always picks his nose.”

“Gross,” the cute guy said, looking at the bowl with a grimace. “These things are terrible, but they’re my favorite and I couldn’t resist. You really did me a solid.”

He stepped away with a sad sigh. Derek found himself not wanting to break the spell, so he added a flippant, “Trust me, you’re better off buying a discount bag in a day or two. Less chance of contracting the plague.”

The guy threw his head back and howled with laughter, the sound liquid and warm, hitting Derek’s veins like a double shot of espresso, giving his heart palpitations. “Well, thanks—“ big brown eyes slid down Derek’s face, his neck, catching on the magnetic name tag clipped to his tan cardigan—“Derek, for saving my life. Unfortunately, there’s no corn-syrupy goodness lurking in my near future.”

He gestures to a young, brown-haired boy bedecked in a DJ Yonder outfit, quietly pulling puzzles out of the activity bin. “I’m Stiles, and that’s my son, Jordan. He has some pretty serious food allergies. I only have partial custody, but I don’t keep anything in my house that might cause a reaction. He’s anaphylactic to most nuts and has celiac disease.” Cute patron—Stiles—shrugged, holding his large hands away from his body in a what-can-you-do gesture. “Hence why we’re visiting the library on Halloween, instead of Trick-or-treating.”

Derek blinked, brain working overtime to absorb the information dump. Cute guy. Lickable moles. Pornographic hands. No ring on his finger. Sweet, well-behaved kid. Single dad.

“You guys didn’t want to hit up some Teal Pumpkin spots?” Derek asked.

Oh. Add adorable nose crinkle to the list. “Some... what?”

Derek spun forty-five degrees in his chair, kicked off the file drawer and rolled to the reference shelf, where he pulled down a green binder.

“Impressive.” Stiles raised an eyebrow as Derek glided back to the desk and stood, opening the binder and handing it to him.

“A lot of people are starting to provide non-food treats for trick-or-treaters since food restrictions are so prevalent. It’s called the Teal Pumpkin Project. You put a teal-colored pumpkin on your porch, and add your house to the online map.” Derek pulled a copy of the local map and an informational brochure out of a laminated sleeve. “This map was printed yesterday morning. You can have it if you want.”

Jordan looked up from his puzzle, eyes hopeful. “Can we go, Dad? Can we?”

Stiles turned toward his son, face softening, and Derek found himself wondering how it would feel to have such unadulterated joy directed at him. “Sure, dude. Let’s give it a shot.” Jordan hooted, fist-pumping the air.

“Thanks again,” Stiles said, waving the map between himself and Derek. “I can’t believe I’d never heard about this. You’re a lifesaver.”

Derek shrugged, half-satisfied at providing excellent customer service, and half-guilty for not wanting Stiles to leave so soon. “That’s what I’m here for, to help you find information.”

“And to protect me from contaminated candy corn.” Stiles winked, and Derek’s stomach swooped like he’d eaten one-too-many brownies. “Not all heroes wear capes. Some wear cardigans.”

“Have fun tonight,” Derek said to both of them in parting. It was the first time in ten years on the job that he didn’t want a reference interview to end. “And be safe.”

Jordan dragged his father toward the automatic doors, and Derek definitely did not lean over and covertly check out Stiles’ retreating back side from behind the staircase to the second floor.

If he hadn’t been paying such close attention, Derek might have missed Stiles halting them at the door with a soft, “Hey bud. I forgot one thing. Wait here for a second.” As Stiles turned and jogged back to the desk, Derek quickly grabbed some loose papers from the desk, shifting them around in his hands and burning holes in them with his eyeballs. Too late he realized one sheet was upside down.

“Hey, Derek?” Stiles asked, a little breathless.

Derek cleared his throat and laid down the paper armor. “Yeah?”

“I know stuff like this probably happens to you all the time, since you look, you know…” Stiles gestured to Derek’s face and broad, sweater-clad shoulders. “Like that. And I promise I’m not trying to be creepy here, though technically Halloween is the perfect night for creepy-”

“Stiles,” Derek expertly interrupted. “How can I help you?”

“I was wondering… I was hoping…” He took a deep breath. “I have to drop Jordan off at his mom’s tonight at 8:30, and if you’re free after work…”

Derek exhaled the manic butterflies tickling his ribs. “You want to go trick-or-treating?”

Stiles blinked, then burst out in a cackle loud enough to rival a witch. “As long as it involves you, me and some caffeine, I’m game for anything.”

Derek scratched at his bearded jawline. “Well, there’s a live ghost story reading happening at the coffee shop down the street. It starts at 9:00. I could meet you there?”

And oh. So that’s what it felt like to have Stiles’ soft, happy look directed at him. It felt frighteningly good.

“It’s a date,” Stiles said, backing away, smile big enough to make sweet little laugh lines crinkle around his eyes . “See you in a bit.”

Derek munched another brownie and watched the swing of Stiles’ slim hips as he walked away.

Yeah. Definitely good enough to eat.

#sterekhalloween5 #eternalsterek #sterekweek2019 #sterek #haleinski #halloween #sterek fic #photoset #moodboard #a HUGE thank you to sterek week!!!! you guys are the best

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atlafan · 3 years

Note

*cracks knuckles* Finished Burning Love last night.

“Is the dalmatian mascot still coming?” “Yes, of course.” I’m so excited for this mascot to make an appearance.

“Do you have any questions for me? They don’t have to be fire related either.” How cheeky of you firefighter!harry.

“N-no, Chief Styles, I’m single.” “Hm, good to know.” Good to know indeed.

“You’re a bit more dolled up than you were on Friday, any particular reason why?” “F-Fridays are more casual.” She swallows, and he hums his response as he takes a bite of his salad. “Plus, I try to look nicer when we have guests since the principal tends to pop her head in to see how things are going.” “Right.” He nods, not believing her for a second. “So, it had nothing to do with me, then?” I think we all know it has something to do with you Chief Styles ;)

“You know, it’s okay if you think I’m cute too.” Chief Styles you cocky bastard. Love that he helped her clean up because he took her time. Love a thoughtful king.

Harry tells them that tomorrow Doodle the Dalmatian will be coming in for a visit, and a lesson stop, drop, and roll. The Dalmatian is called Doodle?!? That’s just too cute.

Danielle couldn’t help but blush when Harry winked at her once he was in his full uniform. He looked sexy, of course, but who wouldn’t? Exactly who wouldn’t!

At this point Harry had gotten her number, and he may have sent her a few cheeky texts that made her blush before going to sleep. Where are these texts and what did it say? I need to know!

“I never understood why teachers get so little. You all are, like, the back brace for society. The system is truly flawed.” He scoffs. It truly is. Come on government say it with me, educators need to be paid more than legislators.

“Hi.” She smiles back and steps outside. “You didn’t have to come to the door.” “Would be a right prick if I honked my horn, wouldn’t I?” What a gent!

“If I had a kid in your class, and I was a single dad, I’d be using that to my advantage as much as possible. I’d be meeting you for parent-teacher conferences, getting you sweets, donating things for your classroom, anything to woo you, honestly.” I’m imagining this and this is hilarious. Imagine Danielle complaining to her colleagues about a pesky single dad Harry hitting on her every chance he gets.

Walking Danielle to the door after that perfect kiss. *swoon*

After his date with Danielle, Harry went out to grab a couple of drinks with his friends. This resulted in him going home with one of his usual hookups. He never claimed to be a saint. Chief Styles you dirty bastard. I want to kick you in the nuts.

As Harry was driving home, he actually couldn’t believe that he fucked someone after going out on a perfectly lovely date with Danielle. He felt like scum. As you should! As. You. Should.

“Um.” She takes a piece of gum out of her mouth. “I wasn’t chewing this before.” “S’mine, sorry.” He opens his mouth and sticks out his tongue, and she places the gum back onto it. This is simultaneously cute and slightly gross and I want it to happen to me lol

Some of the yoga moves got more intricate as time went on, but no one minded. It made the cool down all the more rewarding. I miss going to the ashram for my daily yoga classes. Fuck you covid.

Uh oh Dani saw the text. Yeah you give him a piece of your mind girl. Oooh she took the pepper spray out. That was a nice apology Chief Styles. True if he was a womaniser he would have been super careful with his phone. They’re going to her house now? Okay I changed my mind I want to kick Danielle’s college boyfriend in the nuts. The smut 🥵🥵 Loved that she makes him work a little to call her Dani.

Harry made sure no one was in the fire house so she could come to his office, and he gave her a little strip tease. She had practically been begging him to play the part of the sexy fire fighter and he was finally doing it for her. Did he slide down the pole? I need to know!

“I just don’t want that idiot making my baby upset.” He pouts at her and she pouts back. “I love that I get to be your baby.” She sighs as she nuzzles into his chest. This is so cute. Me and who??? I feel so alone and single. Happy last day of school, babe.” Harry says as he walks in, holding a small bouquet of flowers. Another reminder of my loneliness lol

“Did you at least find the puppy?” “I did, shielded the poor thing from the wall that collapsed on me. M’gonna have to go on light duty for a while.” Chief Styles my hero.

…if he had ovaries they’d be bursting. As much as I find children annoying there’s just this primal instinct that washes over you when you see someone care for a child. “Okay, so, it’s not an if with us, Harry, it’s a when.” Leave me alone in the corner to cry.

So, Harry just blurts out what he’s thinking. “I think we should move in together.” He grunts, and she gasps around his fingers. Bro, as much as I love you, please wait till the sex is over.

They moved in! The argument hahahaha. I’m so much like Dani, I start an argument and stomp off lol. Good Lord, the smut 🥵🥵🥵🥵

The proposal 🥲🥲

He had inadvertently put her into one of her ‘Chief Styles/Miss Robinson’ moods, which he wasn’t upset about in the least. “How’s that sound?” “Well, Miss Robinson, I’d say it sounds like you’re trying to seduce me.” He smirks, and she rolls her eyes. It was her least favorite joke. Hahahaha!

Once again Jordan. Lovely. Just lovely.

You looked amazing in your swimsuit btw. Take all my kissies.

thank you for this! I don’t even know what to say. I’m so glad you enjoyed it. This was a fun one to write for sure, and totally indulgent. Thank you for this feedback it truly means so much to me

#burning love

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ks-caster · 4 years

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The 100 Season 7 Episode 4 - Post-Liveblog Recap

Okay, so I liveblogged an episode for the first time - and it turned out to be a nice way to stay focused through the commercial breaks. Might continue to do that for the rest of the season.

But TBH I started doing it just so I could bitch about the CLEAR AND BLATANT LACK OF A SCENE WHERE SANCTUM!KRU REALIZE THAT BELLAMY AND ANOMOLY!KRU ARE MISSING. That was an important scene that the whole fandom, more or less, has been waiting for the entire time for various reasons.

How do the characters react? Who figures out that something’s wrong first? Does Clarke sense Bellamy’s absence because they have a bond? Does Emori go looking for her space sister to comfort her other space sister only to find her missing?

(Actually, she does. That’s my headcanon and I’m sticking to it. Might fic later. Accounts for Emori’s complete absence while her bestie Raven is falling apart.)

Edit: here's the fic!

Anyway, back to the episode - whoever was in charge of editing really really dropped the ball. Missing realization scene, poorly ordered Raven and Clarke scenes. The music during the Dev-and-Hope montage was a nice touch but just too loud enough that I really had trouble telling what they were saying - and the pacing would have felt better with just one show of teenage!Hope before we got 20-year-old her. The cut from Orlando agreeing to train Anomaly!Kru to 5 years later was WAY too abrupt for me to get a feel for the character and relationship development that they were trying to shoehorn in in order to create conflict at the end. I got where they were going with everything, but in a I’m-reading-a-newbie-writer’s-fanfic-because-I-love-the-story-concept-and-want-to-support-them kind of way and not in a I’m-watching-a-show-made-by-experienced-professionals-and-paying-for-the-privilege-in-ad-revenue kind of way. Disappointing.

Jumping around here for a bit: I gotta say I’m loving the makeovers this season! Hair and makeup did a great job on bringing back the old Raven without losing the maturity they gave her, giving Murphy and Emori their Gucci Royalty Vibes without losing the feel of their individual styles, and making Hope look like she can’t find quite the balance between feral forest girl and innocent shut-in who can’t bear to take a life (which is accurate to her character, of course).

And Echo! So I really, really didn’t like her makeovers in seasons 5 and especially 6, because it felt like they were trying too hard to make her look pretty in a 21st Century kind of way. She looked softer, more vulnerable, which really contradicted her character traits - but I thought that might’ve been on purpose, to show a change in her (that she did indeed allow herself to become softer and more vulnerable for her family). And her post-time-skip (not that one. Or that one. The other one. There’s a lot of those. Bah.) look feels like a return to herself; she’s beautiful but in a no-nonsense, don’t-forget-I-can-cut-your-throat kind of way. (Is this because I just really love the butch look on woman and am myself a butch woman? Maybe. But that doesn’t mean I’m wrong.)

Side note: Where the hell did they get clippers on Penance? Those haircuts were entirely too even to have been done with scissors. I’ll buy that Gabriel and Orlando shaved their heads and their perfect round cuts were growout, but Hope and Echo? Electric clippers. Like I said I like the looks, but guys, there’s no way.

I liked that I got a better feel for Hope’s character this episode - she’s trying so hard to be like her mom and Aunty O and all the heroes they told her about when she was a child, but the truth is she’s been in one real battle, she froze, and her best and only friend died. And since her only role models were these incredibly strong people who didn’t give up, back down, hesitate, that wouldn’t be an easy thing for her to get over. (Given that Diyoza was pregnant with her for two entire seasons, I’d really like to have more time developing Hope’s character - or even the same amount of screen time but go easier on the timeskips, lol. She keeps having growth/maturity/life experience spurts so it’s hard to keep up with the development that we’re shown.

So, 5 (7? Wasn’t she 22? There’s still 2 years we missed right?) years after watching her friend die, and 5 (7?) years of blaming herself for freezing, she’s put into the same position, and she stabs some lady in the neck. Kid didn’t steal her coping mechanisms! All joking aside thought, the kid basically relived her trauma in real life - honestly her reaction was 100% valid.

I’m sure I’m supposed to be upset by Echo’s choice to kill the remaining gold-head people. But I think the only reason that’s supposed to bother me is that she promised (ish - she was real explicitly clear that she’d do what was necessary to rescue Bellamy and them were the breaks) Orlando that she wouldn’t. I think I’m supposed to care about the fractured relationship between AnomalyKru and Orlando.

I don’t. I don’t know if it’s the super-fast timeskip (it was weird enough to see the changed dynamics in SpaceKru when I deeply knew all of the characters AND we got time to see the changes play out) or the fact that I didn’t really get to know Orlando in a way that made me super sympathetic to him (I’ll get to that in a minute) or if it’s just that he was smart enough to know he was being played from the start (see Navy SEAL mom didn’t teach you how to swim and Echo again being 100% clear that killing people might still happen) and walked right in anyway. Either way, his betrayal wasn’t enough of a motivator for me as an audience member to be bothered about how things ended between him and AnomalyKru. I kind of shrugged and moved on.

More on Orlando... So The 100 has had several plotlines that center around people doing dangerous, terrible and downright ridiculous things because of their religions; see the kidnapping and conclave of freaking children killing each other to become commander, Gaia’s whole character arc + starting a new religion around Octavia/WonKru betraying that religion to go back to their old one centering on Madi, WHO IS GODDAMN TWELVE, all of Sanctum and season 6, the Sanctum conflict here in season 7, and now this goddamn Bardo Disciple shite.

Now I’m not dishing on real life religion or religious people - I happen to have one of those myself - but the plot of some-people-take-their-religion-way-too-far-drink-the-koolaid-and-hurt-people-around-them has been done and done and done on this show. And now here we have Orlando, who was a high-ranking member of his religion, drank the koolaid, cast out, still a true believer and therefore dangerous because his perspective is fundamentally skewed. I don’t know anything about this religion but that it’s militarized (they can arrest people) and think that sentencing people to 10 years of madness-inducing Geneva Convention violations and then bringing them back to their families two days later is okay. I don’t really want to know anything else, because I’m worried that the show is going to work hard on making this religion scarier than the Sanctum one (needing to one-up themselves with the big bad, of course) which just keeps making the commander religion look humane in comparison.

Which it wasn’t. But I digress.

So Orlando was kinda’ cool, but getting in too deep with a fundamentalist who was complicit in his own abuse by said religion (and so who knows what he thought was okay to do to other people) and then it ended badly.

Cue shocked Pikachu.

Moving on. Clarke. Baby. After the harrowing experience of the radiation destroying the radio so you couldn’t say goodbye to your mom when you were supposed to go to space, then missing your time window and getting left behind on Earth, and the radio broke them too so you couldn’t even be sure your friends would leave in time until they blasted off, and then calling Bellamy every day when you knew he couldn’t hear you, and ALL OF THE FREAKING LAST SEASON WHERE YOU WERE POSSESSED AND WOULD HAVE GIVEN ANYTHING TO LET YOUR FRIENDS AND DAUGHTER KNOW BOTH THAT THAT WASN’T YOU AND THEN LATER THAT YOU WERE ALIVE and THEN your MOTHER getting possessed and you had to check to see if it was really her and it WASN’T. Clarke.

After all that terrifying inability to communicate.

You leave Gaia behind to warn everyone of the danger. INSTEAD OF CALLING THEM ON A PIECE OF HANDY TECHNOLOGY OR TAKING A QUICK TRIP BACK YOURSELF. TO TELL YOUR DAUGHTER WHERE YOU WERE GOING. YOU DON’T THINK THAT MAYBE MAKING EXTRA SURE THAT EVERYTHING GETS COMMUNICATED CLEARLY AND IMMEDIATELY MIGHT BE A PRIORITY.

And then Gaia gets kidnapped. Honestly, cool! Not ‘cause I’m rooting for Gaia to be hurt (I don’t care all that much about her tbh) but I LOVE Indra and I want her to have more screen time and development this season - and or the chance to cut people up with her sword - and kidnapping her daughter seems like a great way to facilitate that.

*Looks at list* Oh, right, Jordan. I forgot you were here. Honestly I can’t figure out what the fuck is going on with you, and since I’ve had a whole season of not connecting with you because the story was too busy focusing on external plot... I don’t see that changing any time soon buddy. Sorry.

Oh and that FrEaKiNg PrOmO!

My garbage boy! My chaos gremlin! My excellent-at-impersonating-a-deity-even-if-it-goes-against-his-programming! What are they doing?!

I’m torn between NO DON’T HURT HIM and YES HURT HIM BECAUSE CHARACTER DEVELOPMENT AND BRAVERY BWAHAHAHA. At least I know there’ll be Murphy and hopefully Memori content in the next episode. That’s the good shit. It’s the only thing left about this show that still feels “pure,” not that I didn’t know what sort of darkness I was signing up for when I started but just because he and Emori are sort of the last light in the darkness, and it’s nice to get a break periodically.

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staywhelmedbatfam · 5 years

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Glow Stick & Spooky

~Bruce Wayne/Reader~

Summary: Of a day, you’re Bruce Wayne’s other half. Of a night, you’re the voice in Batman’s ear. This includes the night when Batman and Green Lantern first met. Who knew being on comms could be so entertaining? Inspired by Justice League: War.

(Y/CN) - Your Codename

If you’d like to watch the scene I used from Justice League: War for the dialogue between Batman and Green Lantern, here are the links: Part One & Part Two. It was too funny for me not to write something about it.

***

Even though you weren’t out in the field, that didn’t mean you just wanted to be on standby until he came home. No, you wanted to be of some help. Bruce was reluctant when you told him that you wanted to help him. He was about to tell you no when you followed it up with explaining that you had no interest in actually being out there where the action was. Instead, you preferred to be behind the scenes and monitor from the Batcave. This brought him relief and, despite not wanting to get you involved in his nighttime activities at all, the role was something he could accept. Besides, Alfred had been doing the same thing for years. The Batcave was the safest place you could be and still help out.

Over the past year, it slowly became routine. When you first started, it was strange for Bruce to hear your voice in his ear. Although, the two of you quickly discovered how you worked best together.

“Whatever that thing is, it just threw someone from one rooftop to another just a couple blocks away from you.” Maneuvering the small drone that you were using, you were able to see what exactly was happening. That allowed you to guide Bruce better than just using nearby security cameras, especially in this case when he wasn’t on the ground.

“Normally, I would suggest that you go help whoever it is, but that’s not a regular citizen.”

With speculation in his voice as he jumped across rooftops, he asked, “Are you sure?”

You zoomed in on the person that got thrown. “Considering that he’s glowing and still moving, I would say so.”

“I’ve got eyes on the monster.” Batman rushed forward and slammed it down to the neighboring roof. “What were you doing at the docks? I want answers.” The only response he got was fire coming from its mouth. Running and dodging was the only thing he could do at the moment. It got one good hit in with its fist before there was the sound of a train and a green locomotive slamming into it.

“Okay, what was that?” You knew he was about to say something snarky, so you quickly followed up with, “Don’t. Answer that.” Taking another look at the screen where the video feed was being played, you saw him being illuminated by a green light.

“Batman? You’re real?” the glowing man from earlier asked, surprised laced in his voice. You let out a snort.

“Turn it off,” Batman commanded.

“I had him.”

“Clearly. Now turn off the damn light before they see us.”

“Before who sees us?”

Oh yeah, you thought. This guy’s definitely new to Gotham.

Three helicopters put a spotlight on the two of them. “This is Gotham PD. Put your hands in the air. Put your hands in the air!”

The green guy did as they instructed. “They don’t like us much.”

“The world’s afraid of us,” Batman clarified, ignoring the imperative from the police.

“You say that like it’s a good thing.”

Your eyes glanced at the live footage and you noticed the monster in the background. It rose from the rubble. Nothing good could come from that. “Please tell me you haven’t forgotten about our monster because he’s not down for the count just yet.”

“It’s necessary.” Batman didn’t respond to you – responding to the other guy instead – but you knew he did acknowledge what you said. He turned around and saw the creature gearing up to let loose of another round of fire. “Move!” Apparently, the other guy didn’t move fast enough to get out of the way, so he tackled him to the roof.

Once again, Batman took off running across the roof. “Take your glow stick and go home. Gotham’s mine.” You stifled another laugh. He shot his magnetic grapnel and it latched onto the creature’s ankle. That thing kept flying through Gotham, taking him with it.

You sighed in annoyance, shaking your head. “I know you’ve been doing this a lot longer than you’ve known me, but please be careful.”

“Aren’t I always?”

“One, that was super cliché, and two, I just don’t want to see you faceplant into a building or the pavement below.” You glared at the computer monitor that showed Bruce’s location, imagining that it was him since he couldn’t see you right now.

Glow Stick unknowingly interrupted your conversation. “No. See, this entire space sector is my beat.”

“Uh-huh.”

“I’m serious. I’m Green Lantern dammit,” he shouted as he continued to follow after Batman and the creature, firing off a few shots but not doing much damage. Then, he ended up falling behind.

You pulled up the files Bruce had on different heroes – nothing matching this guy’s description – as he continued holding on as the monster flew through the city with him attached. Creating a new file, you started compiling information on this new hero.

“Green Lantern…” you muttered as you typed. “I’m still calling him Glow Stick.”

Upon noticing that the creature was no longer in sight, you started to survey the surrounding area with the drone again. It was just smoke and fire surrounding the two men. Suddenly, you noticed it. That had to be where that thing went.

“So, what’s it doing in Gotham?” Glow Stick inquired.

“Witnesses spotted this thing trying to plant some kind of bomb downtown. When the cops confronted it, it spewed fire from its mouth.” He paused a moment. “(Y/CN), do you have a location on it?”

“Yep, it’s in the sewers. There’s a manhole cover slightly out of place a couple of yards from you. You’ll enter there.” Pulling up a map of Gotham’s sewer system, you quickly figured out what turns he needed to take. “Make the first right, then a left, and another right.”

He dropped down into the sewers, Green Lantern followed behind him and continued their conversation. “Yeah, I noticed, but fire’s no problem for me. As I was saying, Green Lantern can do anything.”

“Except shut up, apparently.” Bruce’s bluntness made you laugh again and, with the way this conversation was going, you didn’t think your laughter would stop there.

“Wow. Someone forgot to take their Tru Blood tonight.”

Between giggles, you commented, “I hope Glow Stick comes around more often because he’s actually kinda funny.”

From the video feed, you saw Bruce narrow his eyes. You weren’t sure if it was a tiny bit of jealousy bubbling up from your comment or annoyance from the preconceived notion about him. Perhaps it was a little bit of both. “I’m not a vampire.”

“Seriously? I thought with the darkness and the vanishing and the, what, super strength?”

“No.”

Thinking about it, he did make a pretty convincing case. It was a little creepy how well Bruce was able to stick to the shadows and go undetected. Sometimes he would even scare you without meaning to. The man could absolutely pass for a creature of the night.

When it came to the super strength, though, you had to draw a line – and a fine one at that. He was definitely stronger than the average human but still had many limitations in that aspect. After all, Bruce was no meta-human, just very, very dedicated to his workouts… You were in a daze, thinking back to the last time you saw him working out. Oh, how lucky you were to be married to this man.

“Can you fly?” This question brought you out of your daydreaming.

Bruce didn’t even look back at him as he made the left you told him to take. “In a plane.”

“Wait. You’re not just some guy in a bat costume are ya?”

Stopping dead in his tracks, Bruce turned his head and gave Green Lantern a smirk. Seeing Batman with that expression caused you to snicker. He’s always serious, so this situation is extremely humorous to you.

“Are you freaking kidding me?” All he received in return was a straight face. “What? Nobody asked you to prom, so now you dress as a bat and prowl around your parents’ basement?”

Batman redirected the conversation by holding up a glowing green ring and asking, “What’s this do?”

“Huh?” Green Lantern lifted his hands to look at them just as his suit and mask disappeared.

“No buttons. I assume it works off concentration,” Bruce said, examining the ring.

You zoomed in on the flight suit he wore and saw the name Hal Jordan. As you began inserting his name and more information about his ring into the file you’d made, you rolled your eyes. “I swear you’re the most curious person I’ve ever met.”

“How’d you do that?”

“You weren’t concentrating,” Batman stated, smirking at him again. If these two end up working together in the future more, they’ll be a great source of entertainment.

Hal stuck out his hand, the ring flying out of Bruce’s grasp and back onto his finger. His suit also reappeared. “You won’t do that again.”

Turning back around to continue walking, Bruce casually spoke, “Unless I want to.”

“That’s it.” He put a hand on Batman’s shoulder to try and get him to turn again. It was fun seeing Glow Stick all riled up. “Let’s rumba, Spooky.”

“Hehe, Spooky…” you mumbled, a smile on your face.

Suddenly, Batman slammed Green Lantern into the wall and shushed him. Once it was quiet, they could hear the creature they were after.

You sighed, “Back to business.”

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#bruce wayne #bruce wayne x reader #batman #batman x reader #justice league war #justice league #green lantern #hal jordan

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lakersworld · 5 years

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‘My beloved Kobe’: Lower Merion coach Gregg Downer pens essay on Kobe Bryant’s passing.⁣

⁣

My favorite sports moments came during the 20 years of soaking up every second of my idol’s — my hero’s — Lakers career. My beloved Kobe Bryant.⁣

⁣For two decades, I kept West Coast time as Kobe ascended to greatness and perfected what he’d started at Lower Merion. I learned to get by on five hours of sleep while Kobe became the greatest champion and most feared competitor of his generation.⁣

⁣I saw Kobe’s air balls in Utah, his buzzer-beaters, his 81-point game, the rings and near misses. I witnessed his absolute greatness as a player. And I did so with immense pride, recalling the journey we took together to win a state title in Lower Merion, a journey in which he taught me how to win and pushed me to be the best coach I could be.⁣

⁣When asked by some stray reporter for the 50th time if I would ever have another Kobe Bryant, the answer was simple, and it will always be the same: absolutely no way.⁣

The moments we spent together were even more special. I shot free throws with him at the old Forum before practices. I swam and ate a few meals with him at his house overlooking the Pacific. I traveled to games all over the country, including the Finals series against Indiana, Orlando, Boston, and, of course, Philly. We exchanged e-mails about strategy. I worked his basketball camps. I introduced him annually to current Aces players.⁣

⁣And in a private moment, deep in the halls of Lower Merion High School, he became one of the first to know a dream of mine was about to come true. My beautiful wife, Colleen, was pregnant. We stopped in front of Room 225 for an embrace I will never forget. He was so happy for me. And I was so happy he was there.⁣

My father died, at 89, last fall. He also watched 20 years of Kobe’s play — 24, if you include high school — and it helped strengthen the bond between us. Dad would tape the late games and watch them in the morning. If we felt Kobe had an off night, we simply erased the DVR.⁣

Every morning, when I called my dad, most conversations would start with "Did you see what Kobe did last night?” I can’t imagine Dad’s shock when Kobe entered heaven on Jan. 26. I hope they are buddies and watching old game tapes together.⁣

The memorial at Staples was a Mount Rushmore of basketball experiences. If the premise had been different, if the celebration had been for lives present instead of lives past, it would have been the pinnacle of my career.⁣

⁣I’d been looking forward to that moment at next summer’s Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame induction. It would have been a joyous reunion and the moment of a basketball lifetime for a scrawny kid from Media, Pa., who never could have imagined he’d one day coach the NBA’s biggest and brightest star.⁣

⁣At the memorial ceremony, I hugged Kobe’s sisters and parents tight, and the tears never stopped. Vanessa’s speech was one of courage, resilience, and leadership. Although I don’t know her, I was so proud of her. Kobe would have loved her toughness and resolve and would have demanded she fight on for their three other daughters.⁣

With the world hanging on her every word, Vanessa gave a beautiful, intimate remembrance of Kobe and Gianna. Diana Taurasi and Sabrina Ionescu symbolized Kobe’s immense pride and passion in being a #girldad and made it clear that Gianna was developing into another Mamba. They thought that she would one day be in the WNBA. This was not idle speculation. Gianna could have been whatever she wanted to be and had the perfect father to guide her dreams.⁣

⁣I knew before many that Kobe’s real dream was to be the next Michael Jordan. We talked about it often as he developed from age 13 to 17, and you could clearly see it in his mannerisms, his imitations. Michael was a huge part of his identity.⁣

Jordan’s speech was iconic, just like the man himself. With tears pouring down his face, the ever-so-stoic and prideful Jordan — he of the six championship rings Kobe so relentlessly chased — acknowledged that Kobe was his little brother and that Kobe was an amazing player. Kobe had to have been smiling ear to ear from the heavens as his hero validated his greatness and gave him his due. I hope Kobe and Gianna shared that incredible moment.⁣

Most have no idea the work that went into Kobe’s chase of Michael’s acceptance and full respect. And I’m sure Kobe still wants M.J. one-on-one when he eventually joins him in heaven. Michael had better remember to bring his sneakers.⁣

The speeches have ended, but for me the essential question still remains: How do I move forward from this horrific tragedy? I am a teacher, coach, father, and husband. I, like many, am not sure I have the answers right now.⁣

Memories and flashbacks are everywhere at Lower Merion. Ten months each year, six days a week, I coach in the gym Kobe built. He can pop into my head at any moment. One morning, I spontaneously dropped and did 24 push ups for no apparent reason.⁣

Kobe needs his high school coach to be strong. My current players need it. My students need it. I need to continue to affect players and students in a positive way, as I’ve been trying my best to do for 30 years. Kobe needs me to stand tall and sharpen my resolve. The ceremony helped, but I miss my hero immensely.⁣

⁣I have a beautiful 7-year old daughter named Brynn Riley. She is my pride and joy. Every time Kobe saw her, he picked her up and hugged her tight. We smiled ear to ear, as did Brynn. He held her like his own.⁣

The “girl dad” movement Kobe ignited is something that now feels tangible to me. Maybe that’s the lasting connection to Kobe I need. Brynn comes to my games. She alternates between cheerleading and actually helping coach the team. She brings a clipboard. She comes to the film studies and all the pep talks. Her favorite activity after big wins is soaking her dad with water during locker-room parties. She recently made her first basket on a 10-foot hoop and completed two weeks of my summer basketball camp without complaint.⁣

We swim together, have sleepovers by the fireplace, do gymnastics, soccer, and baseball together. And recently, our favorite activity is our own version of backyard NFL football: Eagles vs. Patriots. Much to our delight, the Eagles always win, even if her extra points are a little low off the back fence. We laugh together and cry together through all aspects of life.⁣

⁣Like any parent, I want Brynn to have a great, successful, healthy life. She can be whatever she wants to be, and I want more than anything else to be the girl dad who helps and guides her through the good and bad. Kobe’s love for his girls, his legacy as a father, strengthens me. The bond we shared in raising our daughters is the greatest gift of our relationship. It’s what inspires me most.⁣

My players know I like to choose short phrases and collections of words to motivate and guide us during the season. I am going to focus on three words for my own motivation and peace of mind: courage, resilience, and love. Coaches need a game plan. For the first time since Jan. 26, I feel I have one.⁣

⁣

Gregg Downer as told to Mike Sielski | via Inquirer ⁣

⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⁣

#lakers #losangeleslakers #lakernation #lakeshow #kobe #purpleandgold #blackmamba #kobebryant #nba #lakersworld16

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jasontoddiefor · 5 years

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Summary: In all honesty, Hal should have seen it coming. Wally and Dick had already been there when they had started dating. Or: Hal contemplates family in the Wayne-Allen-Jordan household on a chaotic morning.

AN: Bc @amaztim and I have a new OT3 and there are only 2 fanfics so far so I had to fix it.

Hal woke up to screaming. He turned around again in the king-sized bed and pressed his pillow over his head. He was too old to be woken up by fighting children. Or maybe Dick and Wally just hadn’t been quite the terrifying chaotic mess that was Damian and Helen.

After hearing yet another shout on one of Hal’s rare free days damn it, Hal finally got up. Bruce and Barry were nowhere to be seen, but that was nothing new. Barry was stuck on monitor duty and Bruce had traveled to France on Monday, chasing after a lead.

Hal should have taken the offer and gone with him, but no. Someone had to look after the children since everybody was coming over for the weekend. Hal stumbled out of bed with the grace of a hero who had suffered way too many injuries. On his way over to the door, he grabbed a shirt and put it on. It was a little big on him – one of Bruce’s then. He rubbed his eyes and for a split second he contemplated just letting Damian and Helen murder each other for another ten more minutes of sleep.

Then the second was over and Hal threw open the door. Helen and Damian came to a halt right in front of it, both looking appropriately caught.

“What do you think you’re doing?”

Damian and Helen shared a look before switching to equally grave expressions.

“We’re fighting for the honor of killing Jason,” Damian explained nonchalantly like he wasn’t holding his training sword to Helen’s neck.

“He committed a serious crime,” Helen added, her glowing nerf-gun construct still aimed at Damian’s forehead.

Hal could still use his ring, go pick up Barry and get into a jet and visit Bruce. Eat some crêpes under the Eiffel tower while Bruce took down his arms dealer. It would be just like those summer months when Wally and Dick, who were the only kids running around the manor back then, went to San Francisco to work with their fellow Teen Titans.

Peace .

Yeah, Hal missed it.

“And what did Jason do?”

“He-“

“HeyguysIfoundthepaintgunsyouaskedfor- oh, fuck.”

Bart came to a stop just a few doors down the hallway, his arms full with paint guns and his shirt basically covered in acrylics. He looked at Damian and Helen, then to Hal and then back to the kids.

“Morning, Hal. I think I’mjustgonnagonowbye.”

“Oh, no!” Hal shouted back. “Don’t you dare run off, Bartholomew! How are you involved in this? And aren’t you supposed to be picking up Tim?”

Hal ignored Damian and Helen snickering at him using the speedster’s full name in favor of acting very intimidating and authoritative while still being dressed in his PJs with deep bags under his eyes.

Bart grinned sheepishly. “I already picked him up. I left him downstairs with Duke and Kyle. He sort of fell asleep on me on our way back home.”

“Kyle’s here?”

Bart shrugged. “He said something about dropping off an artifact, but Jason’s making pancakes for breakfast so he stayed.”

Hal pinched the bridge of his nose and exhaled. How did the saying go again? Kids are the future? Someone obviously forgot to attach the ‘because they’ll run you into an early grave’. France. Watchtower monitor duty.

“And if Jason’s making breakfast, why aren’t the three of you downstairs eating?”

“Because Jason threw us out of the kitchen,” Helen said. “We were interrupting his ‘workflow’ so he banned us! Uncle Hal, do you see now what terrible offense he has committed?”

Beside her, Damian nodded and once again raised his sword. “The evil has to be defeated.”

Hal had calmed down considerably since he had first become Earth’s Green Lantern. He didn’t rush into battle anymore, he had seen too many of his friends and comrades die. He had been dead, and been dealt an even worse fate for a while, and he had lowered both his lovers and his children into the ground at least once. No, Hal didn’t rush into war anymore and he carefully picked his battle nowadays.

This one he wasn’t going to fight.

“No maiming each other anymore,” Hal said and watched as three faces lit up with identical expressions of delight. “The house is off-limits for everything concerning paint, or you’re answering to Alfred. Outside of the manor, Gotham, Central and Coast are fair game, but not on patrol. Got it?”

“Got it!” They replied and rushed off in the opposite direction, jumping hopefully not straight into a loophole Hal had forgotten to cover. Either way, they were not Hal’s problem anymore. If they made a mess now, that weight would be on their shoulders, and they only had themselves to blame if Alfred’s cold disapproval would make them do chores until they turned eighteen.

Hal checked his watch. It was almost twelve. Jason had come to the manor late, and if he was making breakfast for everybody, he certainly wouldn’t be done yet. Hal made his way downstairs to the kitchen, passing the living room while he was at it.

Duke was playing a game on his Switch while Cassandra and Kyle were talking animatedly about whatever drawing Kyle was showing her.

And Tim was lying on the ground, his head resting on Titus’s body.

“Please tell me he decided to sleep there,” Hal said, already knowing the answer.

“Uuh,” Duke decidedly did not look up from his console while Cass just raised a brow.

When had they all become so sassy? Hal recalled their first weeks at the manor as if they had been just yesterday. Both of them had been so unsure and careful with everybody.

“Just put your brother on a sofa at least if nobody feels responsible for getting him in his room.”

Cass smiled at him and gave him a thumbs-up, but didn’t move from her spot. Right, why had he even bothered asking?

Next time, he’d let Barry and Bruce handle the weekend meet-ups. Hal had done the single-parent thing for a year, and it hadn’t been any fun having to be strong for so many grieving children. The least his partners could do was cover the family weekends until they actually died of old age.

The closer Hal got to the kitchen, the louder did the music in the hallway get. Today Jason had decided on classical tunes apparently, or as classic as Jason got. Hal wasn’t even sure where Jason found so many classic instrument covers of current songs, and he’d rather face Parallax than even suggest to Jason that he was recording his own violin plays, but fact was that Barry had found the corresponding scores in Jason’s bag once.

Jason was flipping another pancake when Hal entered the kitchen. The room was neat and orderly still, except for the side of the table Wally and Dick were sitting at. That part of the table was covered in Nutella, sprinkles, gummy worms, chocolate sauce, and fruits.

“Mo’nin’,” Dick greeted, his mouth stuffed with a pancake. Next to him, Wally only raised his hand and didn’t even stop inhaling his share.

“Good morning, boys,” Hal returned and sat down opposite from the duo.

“Slept well, old man?” Jason asked and put a plate with warm an delicious breakfast in front of him.

“I thought Bruce was the old man.”

Jason waved Hal’s comment off and took another gulp from his cup of coffee. “You’re all old, but only you are here this morning. You got any plans for today?”

Hal sneaked a look at the two oldest and, yes, Wally and Dick looked equally mischievously. Fourteen or twenty-four, was there really any difference with them?

“I’m not teaming up with you against the kiddos for Cluedo.”

“Why not?” Wally asked. “This week’s price is deciding the Thanksgiving dinner. Hal, please. We need to win. I need that turkey and Damian will do his best to stop it.”

Hal bit off another piece of his pancake. Out of all of them, minus Alfred of course, Jason could cook the best. If Jason willingly made anything for you, you accepted without hesitance, which was precisely why Hal stole another pancake before he replied.

“I know, which is why Barry, Bruce, and I are working against the rest of you. We’re not eating candied apples for dessert again or tofu turkey or any other monstrosity you kids come up with every year. This year it’s adults against the rest of you. May the better team win.”

Silence followed Hal’s statement before the kitchen’s other three occupants began to complain loudly. Hal could only grin. Okay, yes, this was better than the Watchtower or France.

“Jason! Come out and face us, you coward!”

Even if it came with the possibility of a hospital visit.

#hal jordan #bruce wayne #barry allen #dc #dc comics #batfam #flash family #what is their ship tag #flashbatlantern #batflashlantern #idk #fanfic #I LOVE MY DUMBASS OT3 OKAY

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ryanmeft · 5 years

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Ranking the Marvel Cinematic Universe, part 3

Part 1: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/183962601514/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-1 Part 2: https://ryanmeft.tumblr.com/post/184208179827/ranking-the-marvel-cinematic-universe-part-2

10. Avengers: Age of Ultron

Yes, the third act goes on way too long, and is uninspired and even a bit dull. It deserves the criticism it gets. Thing is, that’s pretty much all this one deserves criticism for. Right up until that final showdown, everything in the movie clicked. It starts right off with the Avengers already a team, in a semi-cold open where every member just works. Throughout the movie, Joss Whedon proves he deserves his reputation for snappy dialogue, as nearly every exchange between every character zings. The additions of Scarlet Witch and Quicksilver may not feel like the most vital parts of the formula, but they work every bit as well as they need to, and the defeated Avengers retreating to an off-the-grid hideout to hash out their issues is still among the franchises’ best sequences, more than worth the silly Ragnarok tie-in Whedon had to trade for it.

It also has a great, underrated villain. While it does seem that no one really planned in advance to have Ultron in the MCU, he works perfectly, backed up by the voice and personality of James Spader. He never comes across as a robot, but rather as artificial life, dropped into a supremely messed up world and taking---well, can we really say the wrong interpretation? Skewed, perhaps, but driven by the very true reality of mankind’s brutal nature. It seems obvious Whedon got tired by the end of the film, but everything prior to that is gold. Unless you’re one of those people who watches the original on repeat, it’s now hard to deny that the sequel tops it.

9. Iron Man 3

Fanboy cries of “they didn’t do the Mandarin right” have unfairly dogged this one since release. I don’t read the comics regularly anymore, and I find that after more than a decade outside of regular readership I have the glorious freedom of judging a movie apart from whether it matches the comics’ often-contradictory and confusing continuity. So, with that out of the way: Iron Man 3 is genuinely good. Recovering from the train wreck that was Iron Man 2 with new director Shane Black and co-writer Drew Pearce, this one decided to de-glamorize the hard-party aspect of the character and let his frat-boy nature lead him to near-ruin, getting his home destroyed and his suit crippled by a mad terrorist. That led to an excellent middle act in which Tony has to make a go of things without his vaunted suits to help him, against a mysterious villain. When the nature of that villain is revealed, it’s actually quite clever (while also being a way to avoid massively ticking off the all-important Asian box office). The new supporting cast, especially Ben Kingsley and Guy Pearce, add a lot, while returning favorites get actual development. The third act goes on a little too long, but the device of having Tony manipulate multiple suits of armor at once is a clever twist on the usual Marvel shtick of an army of bad guys vs. one hero. As Marvel’s first post-Avengers movie, this one needed to prove the MCU concept still had gas in it even though the big event it had been building to was come and gone. It succeeded.

8. Guardians of the Galaxy Vol 2

Which Guardians is better? They’re both some of the more pure fun movies in the MCU, kind of like Suicide Squad, but not shitty, and in space. Some people prefer the first one for sheer irreverence and comedic chemistry, while others appreciate the more personal story and stakes in the sequel. I had a raging debate with myself on this (there were injuries) but ultimately, more personal won out. The first movie has a bunch of misfits who get together to stop a generic cosmic evil baddie bad guy seemingly for no other reason than the heck of it. The second gives them actual reasons to be together, with a truly interesting threat to fight. Peter Quill’s dad Ego, played with just the right amount of swagger and just the right gleam in his eye by Kurt Russell, is the lightning this team needed to really live. There’s a lot of “Oh, come on, stop pretending he’s not the bad guy” in movies, but in this case you really don’t want him to be; he’s the kind of guy you’d like to have a beer with, and you get the sense he really cares for his son in his own twisted way. That’s villain gold.

The family themes don’t end there, with Gamora and Nebula working out their differences and Rocket learning to be (slightly less of) a little shit and appreciating his adoptive family more. And, of course, there’s Yondu’s emotional death. In fact, one of the more interesting takes I read casts the movie in the light of overcoming abusive relationships. That may seem a little grand for a superhero popcorn flick, but tilt your head a bit and you can see it. The greater amount of heart on display in this entry makes up for some occasionally ramshackle plotting, and provides a worthy sequel.

7. Black Panther

One of the few superhero movies that genuinely created a believable world, the land of Wakanda comes to vivid and incredible life, a more visually varied, colorful and detailed setting than anything in the MCU or even the Marvel catalogue; there’s nothing else like it in the genre. Ritual battles for the throne are fought amid towering waterfalls, while light speed trains blast by beneath the rural African facade. The action in this amazing setting is driven by two great characters. Chadwick Boseman’s T’Challa is a doubtful king, unsure of his country’s place in the world or even his own necessity to his country. Michael B. Jordan’s Killmonger is a radical with a reason; his motivations feel genuine and his rage earned.

Ultimately, the supporting cast decided this one’s ranking. Other than fan favorite Shuri, the secondary players in this one are…well, dull. Lupita Nyong’o, Angela Bassett and Danai Gurira are given minimal-if-any character development, and it’s impossible to ignore the fact that in the age of MeToo, all of the women here are subservient to a man. The third act devolves into an obligatory battle scene, when it could have been so much more given what it had to work with. By any measure, it’s an excellent tights flick, but we’re going to have to wait for the sequel to see what the setting is really capable of.

6. Captain America: The First Avenger

Just in case you were wondering if this list were biased, here’s my personal favorite MCU movie, down here at #6. One of the few films in the studio’s catalog that feels it was made entirely by humans with visions and not a marketing committee, Joe Johnston lends this one a feel that is a distinct mix of genuine World War II and the boys magazine vibe that originally birthed Cap. The result is a superhero film that stands as unique in the genre. Actual scenes of warfare are mostly avoided due to that PG-13 rating, but the costs of war are seen in relatively realistic depictions of refugee soldiers returning from a doomed mission, or the jaded responses of hardened troops to Cap’s USO-style shows. Light elements of camp come in with the deliciously over-the-top performance of Hugo Weaving as the Red Skull and that wonderfully hammy montage of Cap selling war bonds. The whole thing is tied together by Chris Evans playing the MCU’s most naturally likable protagonist, who gets a last line that, for my money, easily tops “I am Iron Man”.

5. Thor: Ragnarok

It may not be the weightiest film in the MCU, and the apocalyptic, full-stakes tone of the Asgardian story occasionally clashes strangely with the full-comedic tone of the Planet Hulk-inspired material, but Ragnarok was nonetheless the tonic we all needed in a world where blockbusters often don’t know how to relax. Sure, there’s plenty of humor in other MCU films, but it can occasionally feel as though a committee of people is sitting around with a page of one-liners and a stamp. Taika Waititi’s material does not feel like that. From the banter between Loki and everyone else to the fact that Hemsworth is finally allowed to tap into his comedic abilities, it feels like kids having fun, which we need more of. Cate Blanchett completely devours her role as Hela, while Jeff Goldblum’s Grandmaster is a preening drunk who gets some of the best lines. It pretty much erases the previous Thor continuity---including the only clever bit of plotting from Dark World---but what we lose is more than made up for by the fun we gain in the process. Oh, and visually, it may be the only MCU film other than Doctor Strange which fully taps into that wonderfully bizarre 60’s Marvel vibe.

4. Spider-Man: Homecoming

Spider-Man’s long-awaited starring debut in the MCU may not have been quite as earth-shattering as some hoped, but then, it wasn’t supposed to be. Of all the heroes in Marvel’s vast catalog, Spidey is the most like us. He has girl troubles, he can’t pay the rent, his boss is a jerk, and there’s always someone in the bathroom when he really needs to go (probably). Many of the hallmarks of the classic character didn’t make the transition, but the spirit is alive. Peter comes across as a hyperactive, overconfident millennial, which is what he’d be these days, and his classmates are updated from a rotating roster of stock characters straight out of 1950’s pamphlets on The Modern Teenager to a varied group of personalities that connect with today’s kids. Most crucial of all, though, is the Vulture, widely regarded at the time as the best MCU villain to date (and still this writer’s favorite). He doesn’t want to rule the world, he just wants to make a living, and that makes him the perfect opponent for Peter. Michael Keaton was the ideal choice for his casting. This is a case where a pretty darn good movie is bumped several slots simply because of how great the villain is. Sure, Downey seems to be phoning in his support role at times, and some great comedic actors are relegated to tiny roles, but these are flyspecks on the movie that redeemed the Spider-Man name after a decade of cinematic missteps.

3. Iron Man

The original and…still the best? Not quite, but it’s up there. At the time Iron Man released, it seemed flawless in part because of the odds against it. It’s hard to imagine a time now when Shellhead wasn’t a household name, but when Marvel decided to launch their new line of films with him, he was second-tier at best. The success of the movie and, crucially, Robert Downey Jr.’s casting elevated him to essential. The impact was so great that if you go and read a modern Marvel comic, you’ll find them pretending he was always front and center. It all started here, and it started because the movie was so good. It not only rehabilitated Downey’s image, it cast the great Jeff Bridges as a villain who seems to plausibly believe his version of events, and a pre-Goop Gwyneth Paltrow as an effective romantic foil for Tony. The humor, the action, the pathos all clicked. Looking back now, the decision to have Stane go completely evil by the end of the film cheapens it a bit, especially compared to truly complex villains like The Vulture and Loki, and the character himself has evolved beyond these beginnings---despite his moral conflicts, he still revels in being an irresponsible playboy here. These are incredibly minor quibbles, but ten years later, they stand out just enough to cost it a couple rungs on the ladder.

2. Captain America: The Winter Soldier

The popular favorite for the best MCU movie slides in at #2, and before you hit me, it’s all because of Marvel’s need to insert cookie cutter, blockbuster endings in their movies, regardless of what kind of movie it is. They’ve gotten better as time goes on, but the giant ships over the city, flaming and falling from the sky while superpeople jump on, in, over and around them was incongruous with the slower, more measured spy stuff of the rest of the movie, and felt obligatory, causing this to lose the top spot. Still, it had to have ranked second for a reason. The plot up until the third act may be the tightest and most tense of any MCU film, with genuine mysteries unfolding and an unexpected payoff when we get to the what’s-really-going-on-here moment. New additions Anthony Mackie and Robert Redford fit well, while Black Widow is such a perfect compliment to Cap that it’s a crime they didn’t team up more often without all those other hangers-on (and there’s an unexplored romantic chemistry that seems much more apt than that between Cap and Sharon Carter). The first two acts of this one define what the MCU is capable of.

1. Captain America: Civil War

Civil War plays like one of those old Marvel Annuals, with the double-sized page count and the promises of things you wouldn’t normally see. Unlike those annuals, the movie isn’t padded out with recycled material, either. It gives audiences exactly what they’re expecting: the answer to what would happen if the good guys turned on each other.

That answer, of course, is: one hell of a fight. The airport battle in particular shows off the powers of every available hero, including the newly introduced Black Panther and Spider-Man, and the Russos (with their small army of effects people) come up with every trick and use of the hero’s powers they can for this lengthy sequence. In many ways, it’s the best of the Avengers movies.

Yet despite some wags who say it isn’t really a Captain America movie, it is. The story heavily involves both him and Winter Soldier, and Rogers ends up being the one whose decisions shape the outcome. The stakes may involve everyone at first, but they eventually come down to a very personal battle between Iron Man and Cap, after a highly clever fake-out by Daniel Bruhl’s Zemo. The ads may have promised fireworks, but just like the other Cap movies, it’s the personal stuff that makes this one work so well.

#Avengers #marvel #robert downey jr.#black panther #spider-man #guardians of the galaxy #Chris Evans #thor #tom hiddleston #captain america #movies

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the-guardians-diary-blog · 6 years

Text

Another entry

After getting thrown out of the anomaly, again, it was damn near early morning at the Tower. But still nighttime on Io. “We’ve been doing this forever” Nadir let out with a groan, Jordan was asleep on the cliff, or he was knocked out, we weren’t exactly sure to be completely honest here. “Can we please just go back to the Tower, Ori? We haven’t slept in four days because of the Solstice of Heroes celebration.” To agree, I just let out a huge yawn and started to bring us to the Tower. Jordan was still asleep, we could tell because he was snoring this time. “Hey, Wraith, can you take the controls for his ship? We’ll all just crash in my room tonight. I’ll cook us breakfast tomorrow, since it is our off day." Wraith was his Ghost. “Probably, it’s been awhile since I accidently smashed us into the Dreadnaught.” “Wait, you what?” Rain blurted out. Wraith just left for the Tower. “Traveler, he can be almost as bad as Sagira sometimes!”

We made it to the tower finally, and when we checked the time, it was damn near 4 in the morning. Our transmat wasn’t as stylish as it normally was, we all kind of just rolled out of the ships. Jordan was still asleep. Nadir, Me, Wraith, Rain and Nadirs Ghost just surrounded him. “Man this guy would have slept through the Red Legion Attack if was asleep then” Nadir Whispered. A light bulb hit, “maybe it’s because I’m tired but I have an idea.” I knew Lord Shaxx would still be awake, watching late night crucible replays or late night matches that he made the kinderguardians participate in. And sure as soulfire, there he was, with a good cup of coffee screaming into the intercoms. “You call that a Novabomb?! I drop a Novabomb bigger than that every morning after breakfast!” I know on the steel beam supporting some of his computers. “Uh, Lord Shaxx?” he spins to face me. “Ah! Orianthi! Champion of the Crucible and a professional of the Dawnblade! What can I help you with? Please, come in. Long night?”

I entered, “Sir, you have no idea, we’ve been trying to investigate the Anomaly on Io to find the Whisper of the Worm Sniper Rifle but we just can’t break through their lines.” He put one of his hands, or should I say bear paws on my shoulder. “Somethings are not meant to be my friend, would you like a cup of coffee?” I was going to say no thank you, but, he was already over there making me a cup so I just went along with it. “A splash of Creamer and 2 sugar cubes please,sir.” Even though he still had his helmet on I could feel him side-eyeing me. “You really are a warlock, this coffee is Pathetic.”

“And this is coming from a Titan that will only have Gluten free Pizza.” I braced myself for a punch to my gut, but instead he let out a guffaw and slapped my back numerous times. “A warlock of Intellect and wit. Orianthi, you never cease to surprise me young wolf.” We stood and watched a bit of the crucible match for a couple seconds before I spoke my request. “Sir, may I ask a favor?” He didn’t even bother to look at me but I knew he was willing to hear. “Jordan is asleep. In the courtyard. We can’t get him to wake up, maybe you could try? The titan can sleep through anything.”

You could hear the evil happiness in his voice. “Oh, yes.” He went over and grabbed the Curtain Call Rocket Launcher. “Uh, sir...isn’t that overkill?” Oh god, what have I done. He completely ignored me and walked towards where Nadir was, hovering over Jordan with her hand covering her face, when she looked up, pure horror struck her face. “Ori! What the hell?! You called Shaxx? Are you out of your mind?” I stifled a laugh. “Shaxx is good people he enjoys a good joke.” She just stared at me. “He has a ROCKET LAUNCHER, oh my Traveler, is that the God damn Curtain Call?! Ori!” I couldn’t tell if she was genuinely pissed or trying not to laugh. For the sake of it, i’m gonna say both.

I heard Shaxx clear his throat a couple times before shouting, probably waking everyone up in the Tower, the launcher aiming right at the titans head. “You pathetic titan! Wake up or get blown to smithereens!” Still sleeping, by this time more guardians came out to see what all the commotion was about. Even Cayde and Ikora came out to see. “Oh no.”

“Shaxx what is the meaning of this?!” Ikora yelled. “Some guardians are trying to rest!” She saw my fireteam and then saw the sleeping titan and clarity hit her. “I see. Do what you need to, we’ll watch. Hunter, Warlock, to me please.” We both trotted over to her and stood between Cayde and her. “Ya know, this isn’t the first time this has happened.” Cayde whispered. “Yeah it was you Cayde. The first few missions our Fireteam went on.” Ikora chirped in, “watch and learn guardians.” Shaxx was getting frustrated and threw the Launcher over the Tower rail I really hope he had the safety on for it, he went to run up the stairs, to where Saladin usually sets up for the Iron Banner and Shaxx’s fists started to glow and crackle electricity. Down the line of us four. “Oh no.” “Oh no” “Oh no” “Oh yes” Ikora had a devilish smile I have not seen in a very long time when she said that.

“Titan! Now is your last chance! Wake up or be woken up!”. Silence. He jumped, screaming into the night. Fists raised above his head, lightning crackling around and hitting the walls of the Tower. Finally it looked like Jordan was waking up.He started to stretch before he figured out what was happening and he saw Shaxx coming straight down at him. “Oh my-”

I kid you not, the entire tower shook. Some Guardians were even hit by Shaxx’s lightning. Wraith expanded waiting to be ressed up. Shaxx revived him and Jordan came back to life. Before he was even back Shaxx grabbed him by the arm and started to scream. “Crucible! All day today! Get going! I want your fists to break, your hammer to break and your shield to falter before I even see one yawn out of you! Go!” Jordan let out a groan and left the tower, probably to see which matches were waiting to be filled. Shaxx turned toward us four. “Get some sleep. You are all on duty with me tomorrow. You are going to help me run the Crucible.” He turned to start walking away when Zavala came out. “What is the meaning of this ruckus out here!?” Shaxx didn’t even stop, he said it in such a dry, loud tone everyone heard. “Keep your titans in check and we won’t have this issue...commander.” The last word had some bite to it and if it affected the Vanguard commander he didn’t show. “Alright show is over! Back to your living quarters!’’

Nadir and I finally made it to my living quarters. It was one of the bigger ones. A living room, kitchen and a master bedroom, bathroom. “You really kicked the hornet's nest for him Ori.” I couldn’t hide my smile. “Yeah, but we’re off duty tomorrow and get to officiate crucible matches.” The hunter was already out before I finished that sentence. I don’t remember even falling asleep the next day before Ikora came to my room to get us ready to Officiate the Crucible. She gently knocked on the door. “Guardians, it is time to get up. Please get dressed and meet us in Crucible HQ; I will have a breakfast buffet, coffee and tea ready for you. Nadir let out a huge stretch and a yawn. “Thank you Ikora, we will be there momentarily.” You could hear her footsteps growing softer and softer before the hunter turned towards me. “Since when did Ikora like cooking? I didn’t even know she could cook.” I just shrugged and we went to go start our day.

#destiny 2 #shaxx #guardian entries #writing

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nightfoliage · 7 years

Text

Fic - The More Things Change (Superbat)

Prompt: Bruce and Clark have loved one another for years. They’re both aware of these feelings, though it’s never discussed between them and they refuse to act on them – Bruce because there are a thousand reasons it’s a bad idea, and Clark because he knows it’s not something Bruce would ever allow himself. Everyone from the Justice League to the batfam tries to intervene.

Additional Summary: A Holiday Exchange in the Watchtower.

For: @timmyjdrake

Pairing: Bruce Wayne_Batman/Clark Kent_Superman

Tags and Warning: 2017 Superbat Secret Santa @superbatsecretsanta, General Rating, mostly pre52 universe, holiday exchange, batfam, Ma Kent, other heroes, some pining, denial of feelings, and fluff.

Author’s Note: It’s a bit rough, so I might go over this later, but it’s done! I think I filled the prompt, but mixed in how I feel like things could end with these two.

Word Count: ~7400

Date Published: 12/25/2017 (Edited 1/4/2018)

Read below or on ao3:

-000-

He stays silent even as Diana shakes the hat in front of him.

“Don’t be a party pooper Bats, just take one,” Hal teases. He’s grinning at him along with a few other Leaguers.

Batman does not curl up on himself, nor does he slap the hat out of Diana’s hands. He doesn't go and punch the smug grin off of Jordan’s face and he certainly does not run towards the teleporters.

Instead, he grabs a piece of paper out of the hat. He resists the urge to look at the name and instead folds his arms, tucking the piece of paper into his cape. Some of the other leaguers look at the him, but Batman stays absolutely still. Diana gives him a smile, and moves on to the next person. The others move their attention elsewhere.

Batman silently observes the next people take a name. Some people reveal who’ve they've gotten from their reactions, but none of them get his name.

The papers are dwindling when a voice fills the room.

“Sorry, guys, I had to take care of something first,” Superman says, walking briskly towards the group. His eyes are bright and he looks a bit winded. However, his curl isn’t out of place, so it must not have been anything too important. He joins the circle.

“Don’t worry, Superman,” Wonder Woman says. “You didn’t miss the Holiday Exchange. And there’s a name for you inside the hat.”

Flash speeds over and leans against the hero. “What kept you?”

“Cat stuck in a tree?” Lantern asks with a snigger.

“Actually, it was a ball python.” Superman says, dryly. “I think the fire department was happy to let me handle that one.”

Some of the other heroes chuckle, while some shudder.

Batman does neither. He tracks Wonder Woman with his eyes and watches as she brings the hat over to Superman.

“No peeking.”

Superman rolls his eyes and looks away with his eyes closed and picks a name out of the hat.

After he’s picked his name, Wonder Woman finishes distributing the other names. Batman watches as Superman reads his paper, and discreetly puts it away. He does not give away who he has gotten.

Interesting.

He goes back to looking at Wonder Woman when she begins to address everybody. “This is our holiday exchange (not Secret Santa). Normally, there’s a twenty dollar limit, but we’ve scrapped that rule in case people have sentimental priceless gifts. Try to make the gift yourself if you can. Feel free to exchange them at any time, or during the winter party we’re throwing. If you’re unable to do the holiday exchange, then please tell me.”

Everybody quickly agrees and splits off into groups, while Batman slips into a corner unnoticed.

Someone joins him.

“Forgive me, Bruce.” Diana says softly, with a smile. She’s not sorry at all.

He narrows his eyes but no one's listening. At least, no one who doesn’t already know who he is.

“This is not an emergency meeting, Princess,” he murmurs back. “I’m not even a part of the Justice League.”

“Would you have come otherwise?”

He doesn’t answer.

“So can I count on you for the other gifts in case someone isn’t able to get one?”

He nods and her face turns softer, warmer. “Do you need me to help pick things out?”

Batman shakes his head. “I’ll be able to figure it out.”

She laughs, and for a brief moment everybody glances at her. One person’s gaze lingers for a little longer than usual. He hopes they find a proper gift for Wonder Woman. It would be unfortunate if she as the organizer didn’t receive something special.

“Thank you, Batman.” And with that she makes her way to the others. She draws their gaze away from him and he creeps closer to the zeta tubes. When he’s sure he doesn't have the attention of anyone else and his back is turned towards the rest of the group, he unfolds his piece of paper and reads it.

A moment later he’s teleporting back to earth. If he stayed, he would have stared at Superman the whole night, wondering what to get him.

-000-

“I don’t know what to get him, Ma,” Clark stabs into his pie a little bit harder than usual and winces. Luckily there’s no damage to the plate, or the fork, or the pie.

Blueberry pie.

“You’ve been friends for quite a while, Clark. Surely there’s something you can get him,” his Ma says, puttering around the kitchen. Clark has already been scolded for trying to help. Instead he’s been set to work trying some new pie flavors. There’s a slice of lemon and a slice of rhubarb-strawberry waiting for him.

Clark takes a bite of pie to delay his answer.

How could he explain how important this was to him. That Batman was one of his oldest friends and confidants, someone he trusted with his life. That he needed the perfect gift to show how much the man meant to him.

Thankfully, his mother seems to know anyway and takes pity on him.

“How is the pie, dear?” Martha asks.

Clark gives her a grateful smile. “It’s really good, Ma. A new recipe right? I’m sure the book club will enjoy it.”

But instead of taking the compliment and pinching his cheek like she normally does, Martha sneaks a bite for herself. She frowns and looks at the pie like it’s a puzzle. Clark shovels another bite in his mouth.

She sighs, “Yes. I suppose it’s good enough for book club. Now try the other ones.”

Clark polishes off the first slice and drinks a glass of milk. Then he starts on the next flavor.

“Why don’t you ask all those kids of his what to get him?” Martha suggests.

Clark protests, “Ma, I can’t do that.” But only because he’s considered it already. Maybe he could ask Dick, and maybe Cass in a pinch, but he knows that telling any of the kids is a sure fire way to get Alfred involved. And he’s not sure if he wants Bruce’s father-figure to find out that he’s trying to find the perfect gift for Bruce.

He’s not ready for that.

If he’s really in a pickle, maybe he’ll ask Alfred.

Martha lets her son stew for a bit, before tutting at him.

“Just make sure to get him something nice and make sure to come back during the holidays so I can give you the pies you wanted.”

Clark nods, grateful. “I’ll make sure to give his family one and the League loves your pies.”

Martha glances at the pies. “Well, I hope they like flavors other than apple.”

Clark wonders what his mom has against apple pie all of a sudden (his favorite), but knows he has other things to worry about.

-000-

It’s only a few days since the exchange and it’s a complete coincidence when Bruce needs to head to Metropolis for business. Bruce makes sure to pack for business of both varieties, and does not allow himself to smirk when he surprises Clark (and the rest of the Daily Planet) with his presence.

He makes sure to flirt with Cat and Lois gratuitously, makes sure to slap Jimmy on the back, and skillfully negotiates Perry into making Clark get an impromptu quote about anything new at Wayne Enterprises.

Clark still looks a bit gobsmacked when Bruce Wayne mentions that they can talk over lunch.

Clark stutters out, “Uh, well, Mr.Wayne, I don’t know anything good that’s open at 3pm, but-”

Bruce Wayne cuts the reporter off. “How many times do I have to tell you, it’s Brucie! And sure people are always offering things to me like lobster thermidor with kelp foam, but I’m feeling like something I can really bite into. Know any good places like that, Kent?”

For the first time since he’s stepped into the room, Clark smiles. “I know a good place, er, Bruce.”

-000-

“Finest pizza in Metropolis,” Clark says.

Bruce grunts in response and begins to scarf down his pizza. Clark glances back at the owners, but they’re purposely not paying attention to them and there’s no one else around (luckily).

Then he turns back to Bruce. Clark’s glad that he’s ordered extra because it looks like Bruce hasn’t had a hot meal in a few days. He knows that there’s a particularly troubling case in Gotham involving children so he’s not surprised. He’s just glad he can get him something to eat.

Instead of saying any of that aloud, Clark says: “You could have warned me that you were coming.”

Bruce is in the middle of decimating a bite. He wipes his mouth delicately with a handkerchief (the faker), before saying, “You’re reactions are always best when they’re honest.”

Clark snorts. “You just like getting the drop on people even when you’re not dressed up like a bat.”

Bruce smirks and takes another bite of pizza.

He takes a little bit of pride in making Bruce drop his Brucie Wayne mask, even if it’s at his expense. Once the glow stops he asks, “So why are you here?”

Bruce pauses. Clark can practically see Bruce sorting through all the information in his brain, deciding what not to tell him. It’s okay. He’s a reporter, he’ll figure it out eventually.

“Toyman,” Bruce finally admits.

“Really.” Because Clark hasn’t heard of anything that could hint at Toyman.

“Toy-person. Uses toys to,” and Bruce lips curl enough that it prevents him from eating and Clark’s stomach drops because there aren’t many things that will make Bruce this emotive, “uses toys to make children do their bidding.”

He’s almost afraid to ask, but he has to: “What does he have them do?”

“Anything. Everything. Sometimes it doesn’t even seem like the child is brainwashed, they just do things out of the ordinary. One of them learned how to play a piano concerto overnight, another could suddenly do backflips, and there was a one who scored a perfect SAT.”

“That doesn’t sound too bad,” Clark says, though he’s sure it’s only going to get worse.

“We were sorting through which ones were abnormalities as opposed to those who were naturally talented, when we caught a group that had successfully burgled a bank. Clark, they were all below the age of ten and had skills they had no business of having.”

“Bruce, your kids-”

“My kids grew up that way,” Bruce snaps. “They had been trained from birth to be the way they are. These kids are outliers. Either from families who can’t afford it or the rich and pampered.”

Despite the graveness of the situation, or maybe because of it, Clark lets out a wry chuckle. “Jealous that the young ones don’t have to work to become like Batman, Bruce?”

Bruce stares at him and Clark just manages not to laugh, though he know he’s grinning like the dim hayseed he’s often accused of.

“Maybe, a little,” Bruce says with an eye roll. Then starts to eat his pizza again.

“So, about the kids, are the connections toys?”

Bruce nods.

“I’ll see what I can do.”

Surprisingly, or maybe because Bruce is that tired, Bruce doesn’t growl at him to stay out of the case. Instead, he continues to eat his pizza and doesn't answer. That’s as good as a blessing as he’s going to get out of Bruce.

-000-

They're walking back to the Daily Planet, when Clark sees something that catches his eye. They’re passing an antique shop and Bruce immediately memorizes the storefront and the angle Clark glanced at the window.

A day later he drops the Brucie Wayne persona to go back to the shop.

Disappointingly, there’s nothing of note inside. There are a few baseball card he thinks Clark might have been looking at, but no perfect Christmas gift.

There are a few antique puzzle boxes he picks up and the owner looks considerably more welcoming after he flashes the cash. He’s even brought to a private room (he almost chuckles at how shrewd and secretive the owner was, he would have been a great Gothamite) where some of the more expensive prizes are.

He doesn’t spot anything of interest. Mostly it’s old artifacts he might buy later to donate to a museum and a lot of gilded oddities.

Nothing catches his eyes until he spots a golden elephant. Bruce lets himself get drawn into it’s figure. It’s a circus elephant, rearing back on its hind legs.

“Ah! You have a good eye,” the owner says. “It’s also a music box.”

And he turns a hidden piece of the contraption (cleverly placed, he’ll have to keep that in mind), and the whole thing starts to move. The delicate elephant rears back, it’s tusk moves, and it spins on the base. The music tinkles cheerfully, a generic rendition of circus music.

But Bruce is suddenly taken back to an unforgettable night. He remembers Dick, sobbing while holding onto an elephant. Around them the is circus wishing him goodbye and a goodlife as the two of them have solved the murder of the Flying Graysons.

He remembers how happy that elephant made him.

-000-

The case with the toys still hasn’t produced any leads. Following up with Schott and Okamura hasn’t gotten anything and Batman wonders if there is a new player in town. Maybe Mad Hatter? It’s not his MO, but giving children skills is such an usual thing…

He takes apart some of the toys and finds, something. They’re certainly not normal manufactured toys. They’ve been crafted with care and made to look like the other toy.

He’s taking some time to mull over the new information when he thinks about the golden elephant.

With some of the tools he already has out, he starts to take the music box apart.

-000-

He catches Dick after the boy has had a long patrol and a midnight snack. Dick is aware of him before he makes his presence known and Bruce presents him with the gift.

“Hey Bruce! What’s that in your hand…” Dick immediately reaches out and cradles the music box. He instinctive pets the elephant on your head.

Bruce stays silent.

Not a moment later, Dick finds the key to start the music. It’s the beginning of how Haley’s Circus used to open.

Dick can barely take his eyes off the dancing elephant. “Bruce…?”

Bruce doesn’t have an answer for him.

“We should go to the circus,” Bruce says instead.

“Uh, of course.”

Bruce nods and starts to walk away.

A moment later Dick calls after him, “Thank you, Bruce, I love it!”

-000-

Although Clark said he would help, the case comes to an end when the toy person tries to work their abilities on one, Damian Wayne.

Clark finds out via the Gotham Gazette, but doesn't blame Bruce when he sees the article must have been written hours before release.

He stares at the picture on the front cover. Damian Wayne looks triumphant with the criminal in police custody. Bruce Wayne is on one knee, facing away from the camera, a hand on his son's shoulders.

The criminal doesn’t look too out of sorts, so it looks like they’ve resolved the issue quietly.

Even so, Clark decides that Superman could make a quick stop in Gotham tonight.

He’s just crossed over the border when the familiar sound of a grappling hook catches his attention. Only because of his vision, and the fact that he’s been friends with Batman for years, can he spot the familiar silhouette in the shadows.

He lands silently and steps into the shadow so a random passerby won’t spot him. Batman doesn’t acknowledge him.

“How is he?” Superman asks.

For a moment, Batman doesn’t answer. Then he does something Super doesn’t expect, he sighs.

“Tired. It’s covered up by the adrenaline and the fact that he solved the case, but whatever happened made him tired.”

Clark would normally say, ‘at least he’s doing well,’ but he’s not Clark right now. Instead, he doesn’t say anything. Batman broods, but better he brood in company than alone right now.

They stand together in silence. Clark would have been content to stay by Bruce’s side, but Superman has to continue to watch the world around him. He takes a quick scan of the neighborhood, his vision failing miserably to look through Gotham’s walls. Darn lead is everywhere in this city. He extends his hearing, but he mostly gets the sound of the wind howling through the night and the creaking of old metal.

Sometimes, Superman thinks that the city is out to get him. However, it makes him more comfortable knowing he’s doing something.

Then there is a ‘thwip’ and Superman finds that his companion is leaving him behind. He follows slowly and as discreetly as possible, watching Batman move smoothly through Gotham. He’s admiring the sight of him when a sound catches his ear.

Someone’s crying.

Thankfully, Batman’s presence alone is enough to scare the group away, but whoever is crying continues to sob. Batman is silent and stays still, a protector for however long they want to cry.

Superman hesitates, but starts to fly away.

Bruce will feel better protecting someone than having someone try to comfort him.

-000-

Batman does not watch as Superman flies back into the sky. Instead his attention is focused on the young woman in front of him. She continues to cry and so he looks out in case anyone decides to take advantage of her emotional state.

He glances back at her. She’s dressed for a Gotham winter, but her clothes are new, bright, and eye catching. Her purse is name-brand and she has on jewelry. A tourist.

He almost sighs aloud when he spots the Wonder Woman jewelry and Superman patch on her jacket. He’s almost afraid to see if she has a Batman logo or any other hero symbols on her person.

After a moment, her sobs start to peter off into soft sniffling.

“I got lost,” she says, her voice still thick from tears.

Batman does not sigh even though he wants to.

Thankfully she doesn’t try to explain any further. She wipes her tears away and stands up shakily.

He doesn’t reply, instead moving forward through the alleys. The woman doesn’t need any prompting. She follows him silently and keeps pace. He leads her back onto the bigger streets. Batman molds himself into the shadows and calls a reputable taxi service to come in this direction.

It doesn’t take long before one starts coming down the street. Batman recognizes the license plate and the driver. He’s about to go away, when the woman calls back to. “Thanks for saving me.”

He doesn’t reply.

“Maybe I’ll get a Batman patch to match my other heroes,” she says, finally smiling for the first time he’s been with her.

He simply shoots his grapple gun and watches as the woman gets into the taxi.

-000-

The next evening he finds Wonder Woman waiting with a mug of coffee at the watchtower.

“That was a nice thing for you to do, Bruce.”

Batman does not look around this time, because he knows that no one is in the room with them.

“I don't know what you’re talking about,” he says. Then sits in the chair for monitoring duty. Wonder Woman places the mug in front of his hand and he grunts a thanks before taking a sip. She made it exactly how he likes it.

“Of course you don’t know anything about the Wayne Foundation making a sizable donation to my favorite women's charity” she says.

He takes another sip of coffee and switches through the channels, making sure to do his job instead of gossiping.

“And of course, you have nothing to do with the good media that comes with it. Of course that has nothing to do with Bruce Wayne making an announcement about backing the charity and wanting to open a branch in Gotham,” she says. Her voice is warm and she’s probably smiling and her eyes are most likely sparkling like their prone to do when she’s laughing on the inside, but Batman doesn’t turn to look at her to confirm this.

When Batman doesn’t reply, she places a soft kiss on the exposed skin of his cheek. However, after the kiss she doesn’t pull away. Instead she wraps her arms around him and presses her cheek against his and starts to laugh at him.

Batman does not grumble, nor does he pout. Instead he continues to do his job.

She laughs and laughs, but eventually does stop laughing to say: “Thank you for the wonderful present, Bruce.”

When she pulls away, he replies. “You’re welcome, Diana.”

-000-

There’s only a few days left until the Holiday Party at the Watchtower and Bruce does not have a gift for Clark yet. He's trawled over dozens of stores in dozens of cities, gone through hundreds of websites, and even looked through Clark’s apartment to look for a clue of what might be a good gift for him.

He’s thinking that he should just give him cash, but he hasn’t used up all his resources yet. He didn’t want to use this one, but he’s running out of options.

“Is there a reason that you’re ruining some of my dishes, Master Bruce?” Alfred asks.

Bruce does not roll his eyes, but that’s only because he’s staring intently at the water on the stove top. He’s waiting for the water to become a certain temperature, but he can’t let the water boil.

“Actually, I was waiting for you, Alfred,” he says.

Alfred, who was about to start tidying up the mess Bruce had made, stops.

“Why don’t you take a seat,” Bruce suggests.

He can feel Alfred’s gaze on him, but thankfully Alfred goes along with it. He’s probably curious enough to not let his instincts get the best of him. Just like Bruce planned, Alfred picks a stool at the island with the least amount of clutter in front of him.

Thankfully the water is done and Bruce turns the stove off. He takes the kettle off, pours the suggested amount of water into the teapot, then adds the tea leaves.

Bruce can tell that Alfred is itching to do it himself, so he finally tells him his problem:

“I don’t know what to get Clark for the Holiday Exchange.”

That gets Alfred’s attention. He’s finally staring at him and not paying attention to what’s in Bruce’s hands. Once he’s prepared the teapot, he marks the time.

“I’m assuming you’re trying to get a gift that will, ahem, show the extent of your friendship?”

“Yes,” Bruce says. He gets two sets of tea cups, with their saucers and spoons.

Alfred doesn’t answer, but Bruce can see the considering look he’s giving him. He makes sure that he has everything else prepared, the strainer, the sugarcubes, and the lemon slices.

“Why don’t you invite him over for Christmas?” Alfred says.

It’s not what he would have expected Alfred to suggest. Perhaps a physical object, or maybe even dinner, but inviting him over, that’s not something he would of have thought of.

“Alfred, all we do is sit in front of the television and take turns going on patrol. I don’t think that’s how Clark wants to enjoy his holiday. I know for a fact that’s he’s going back to Kansas to visit his mother,” Bruce replies.

“I know you and the kids sit in front of the telly for days. But perhaps that’s something Mister Kent could enjoy. He doesn’t have to worry about his secret identity, but he has plenty of people to keep him company, and if he leaves he doesn’t need to make any excuses to us,” Alfred explains patiently.

Bruce thinks it over and tries to find a way to refute the suggestion. There isn’t any exceptional reason not to invite Clark, especially if it’s after Christmas. And he agrees with all of Alfred’s points and the kids (as well as himself) would enjoy his company.

But is it an appropriate gift for the Holiday Exchange?

He mulls over this question as he pours the tea through the strainer into the tea cups.

“Sugar?” He asks Alfred.

“Ah, perhaps one.”

Bruce places one cube into the teacup, then stirs without allowing the spoon to hit the sides of the cup. Then he places the lemon slice on top. He puts the spoon back on the saucer in the position that he’s seen Alfred place it before. He places the tea in front of Alfred, then starts putting everything else away. He pours then drains his own cup quickly and excuses himself from the kitchen.

“Thanks, Alfred,” he says, but he’s already miles away, trying to think of how to invite Clark over and if the invitation is good enough as a gift.

-000-

Bruce doesn’t even notice the gaggle of people that are in his living room when he stalks past. He’s too deep in thought.

They stare as he goes away, presumably to the cave in order to stew in his thoughts.

As soon as he’s out of earshot, Damian hisses, “What’s wrong with him?”

Cassandra shakes her head while Dick sighs.

“He has been giving out a lot of gifts and none of them have been for Superman,” Tim adds.

“We know for sure that he got Superman in the Holiday Exchange, right?” Stephanie looks at everyone.

Dick steps up with an answer. “Yeah, I had both Diana and Zatanna on it to make sure they got each other’s names.”

“And they’ve received presents! From Bruce! Really spectacular presents that they both love!”

“It’s a coincidence,” Jason says.

“It’s a coincidence that he’s sending wonderful presents to all of his exes?” Damian hisses.

Stephanie is about to say something, but Cassandra stops her with a hand on her shoulder. Instead, she mumbles, “Geez, he’s been with those beauties.”

“Puh-lease, they deserve to get stuff for dealing with Bruce,” Jason says. Most of them agree, while Dick tries to elbow him. “The biggest problem is he’s giving gifts to the other capes, in full view of Supes.”

Dick sighs again, “Yeah, I heard from Diana that Clark’s getting a bit nervous because Bruce is giving people the ‘perfect gift.’”

“Has he found anything for Clark, yet?”

The kids share a glance, and in one look they know that he hasn’t.

“He’s been going to every store in Gotham,” Dick says.

“Not to mention, he looks online for hours for the perfect gift,” Tim adds.

“Which means what?” Damian looks around. “That while he’s looking for the perfect gift for Superman, he finds the perfect gift for everyone else?”

Everyone nods.

“I mean, even I got a gift,” Steph says, surprise coloring her voice. “He left it where I usually sneak into the manor.”

Damian snorts, “It’s not like it was a secret where you were sneaking in.”

They tussle briefly, but thankfully there's no blood.

Dick turns to Jason, “Did you get anything?”

Jason makes a face, “Yeah, he left it at one of my regular safehouses.”

“Everyone got something, even Titus and Ace!” Damian points to the dogs and their new beds. Somehow, Bruce had figured out two beds in which the dogs would not fight over.

“Not everyone has gotten a gift,” Tim says tentatively.

“Everyone’s gotten a gift, Hal, Barry, Vince, Billy, Kendra, Roy, hell, even Guy got a gift. So yeah, everyone’s gotten a gift.”

“Well-”

But before that sentence can be finished, Alfred walks into the living room. He has the most perplexed expression. He’s carry a tea cup on a saucer. The kids hold their breath, waiting for him to speak.

“Master Bruce, just made me the perfect cup of tea,” he says in way of explanation.

All the kids groan.

“Everybody’s gotten a gift,” Cassandra says solemnly, and everyone agrees.

“Everyone, but Clark.”

“I believe that Master Bruce will be inviting Mister Kent over for the holidays,” Alfred offers.

“Really?” Tim says skeptically. “All we do is eat food and watch reruns of Christmas movies so we don’t miss anything when we have to go on patrol or have to save Gotham.”

“Wait. That’s actually a good idea,” Dick says. “Clark is a hero like us and Alfred makes the best snacks.”

“And he’d probably like Bruce’s old fashioned choice in movies,” Jason adds.

“But that’s still not a gift,” Stephanie points out.

And it’s true, while Clark will appreciate the offer, it’s not exactly the romantic declaration they had hoped for.

“Maybe we’re going around this the wrong way. Maybe, instead of Bruce giving the perfect gift, we should have Clark get him the perfect gift,” Dick says.

“That could work. A good gift from Clark and forcing them in the same room with each other might be the key,” Jason agrees. Dick tries to ruffle his hair, happy that he agreed, and Jason fends it off.

“What’s a good gift for Bruce, that’s not something we’ve already got for him?”

“Wait, let’s go the other way around. What’s the one thing we all do for Bruce?”

They look at each other and say at the same time: “The Mark of Zorro.”

“It’s perfect. We have Clark buy tickets to that stupid movie we always watch with him.”

“Okay, then how do we go about this without arousing suspicion?” Damian asks.

Everyone slowly looks towards him.

-000-

Superman flies through the skies of Metropolis. He’s found that his presence can be a deterrent especially during the holidays when people may consider turning to crime. Then the hair behind his neck starts to rise. He’s being watched.

He looks down and sees some familiar figures waving at him. It’s Nightwing and Robin.

He flies to their roof. “Hey guys.”

“Hey, Big Blue,” Nightwing says. Robin nods his head at him.

Superman smiles. “Not that I’m not glad to see you, but what’s up?”

“Tch,” Robin pouts and crosses his hands, but doesn’t add anything else.

“Robin here has been getting a little too much attention from Batman,” Nightwing explains. Robin goes over to the ledge and does a very good impression of Batman looking over the city.

“Ah,” Superman says, totally understanding. “So you’re patrolling Metropolis?”

Nightwing nods. “I hope you don’t mind.”

“Of course not,” he says. Robin seems to hunker down, completing his Batman impression. It doesn’t look like he’s going to move from that spot anytime soon.

“Don’t worry, we’ll go back soon. We have to fulfill the annual Christmas tradition with B,” Nightwing mentions.

“Christmas tradition?” Superman asks, trying not to let the interest bleed through. He still hasn’t picked up anything for Bruce. Maybe his kids will be the key to getting him a present.

Nightwing shrugs, “Yeeeah. Every year we get together and go watch a movie at the small theater that he likes. Gets real grumpy when we don’t go. I asked a few of the Titans and some of the Teen Titans are going to help patrol Gotham while we all go. We’re thinking since it’s not Christmas, a baddie won’t interrupt us.”

Superman laughs, know how that goes. “Well, I hope it goes well.”

“Thanks,” Nightwing says with a grin.

Superman hears a scuff of a boot and sees Robin stalking back to them.

“There’s a robbery in process over there,” he points and it looks like he’s about to take a running start before Nightwing snags him.

“And that’s our cue to leave. We’ll leave this one to Superman,” Nightwing says as he pulls Robin into a headlock.

Superman smiles fondly and takes off to go stop the robbery.

Afterwards he can go buy the tickets.

-000-

Tickets bought, he feels infinitely better when he goes to visit Ma to get the pies for the party at the Watchtower.

When he gets inside he breathes in the scent of sugar and fruit.

He tries not to frown when he sees the flavors. Key lime, blueberry, strawberry rhubarb, but still no apple. Weird.

“Hi, sweetie,” Martha says. He bends down so she can give him a kiss. “Did you want a slice before you go?”

“Sure, Ma,” and goes to grab the utensils and glasses for the both of them.

Martha sets out two slices of- boston cream pie?

She catches him staring at the pie like it’s from Mxyzptlk.

“Oh, Clark. I’m just trying out some new recipes, you know that,” she says, before taking a bite.

Clark slowly takes his own bite. It’s not a bad pie, but it’s not a flavor that he’s known his mother to bake. Same with the lemon and the lime and the banana. She’s always been a fan of pies that have local ingredients.

“So, did you find a gift to give to your friend?” She asks.

“Yeah, I did actually. I got us tickets to a movie theater he likes to go to,” he replies, happy to finally be able to tell her.

“You’re finally asking him on a date? Oh Clark, I’m so happy for you.”

Clark startles.

“Ma! It’s not- it’s not a date. I just wanted to get him a good gift, that’s all.”

She wrinkles her nose at him. “Seems like an awful lot of trouble, for just a friend.”

His heart sinks and he sets his fork down. “It’s complicated. I can’t even remember when we decided it, but it’s not something that can happen.”

It’s a familiar conversation and he’s glad when she doesn’t continue it. However, he has to look away when she gives him a look of sympathy. “Oh, Clark.” She pats his hand before putting the pie away. “You can finish this tomorrow. Just have fun at your superhero party.”

“I will, Ma.”

-000-

Batman is digging into a slice of blueberry pie and trying to decide how to talk to Superman. He’s avoiding the rest of the League, no matter how many of them want to wish him a happy holiday, when he takes his first bite.

He takes a second bite.

He’s scowling at the pie when Superman approaches him.

“Hey, Batman, what did that pie ever do to you?” He asks, jokingly.

“This is your mother’s blueberry pie,” Batman states.

Superman is thrown for a moment. “Yes, it is. The other flavors are new ones, but this is one of her classics.”

“This is the same blueberry pie that you had bought last year,” Batman says.

“Oh, yeah. I did bring a blueberry pie last year, didn’t I?” Superman agrees.

But this year, Martha Kent didn’t pack any apple pie, her son’s favorite.

Interesting.

Batman takes out a evidence bag, bags the pie, and tosses his plate and fork out. Superman watches, bewildered.

“Happy Holidays, Superman,” Batman says. Then he stalks over to the zeta tubes and leaves.

-000-

On Christmas day, there are quite a few villains out and about. While Superman’s not happy to be working on a holiday, he’s glad to have something to distract him after yesterday’s party.

Clark ponders on Bruce’s behavior, but tries not to let it get him down. He didn’t even get the chance to give him the tickets, let alone talk to him. And what was wrong with his mom’s pie? Sure, it’s not apple, but her blueberry pies are just as delicious.

He’s looking forward to having Christmas dinner with his Ma, if only to be able to sort out his thoughts and plan out his next actions.

When he gets a break from crime, he flies to Kansas. He goes into the house and changes quickly into a Christmas sweater and some comfortable pants.

The smell of dinner is wafting through the house. Then he spots the spread. He’s glad that he’s brought a wine that Lois recommended, but he should been here to help. He places the wine down and goes over and kisses his mom on the cheek.

“Sorry I couldn’t help you cook, Ma.” His mother hands him the masher and goes about mashing the potatoes, the very last of the dishes.

“Oh, it was alright, Clark. I saw the news and today I had help. I’ll go change while you finish those potatoes and then we can start.”

Clark continues to mash the potatoes, almost forgetting to add the milk since he’s looking at his mom. Then he finishes them and places them in on of their nice serving dishes.

He stares at the spread again. Now that he’s taking another look there are differences that are standing out to him: the dishes are plated more neatly, the scalloped potatoes are exceptionally fine, and all the extra supplies and dishes have been put away. Even the kitchen looks cleaner than before. Now who would have been here to help?

His mother doesn’t mention it and he doesn’t ask. Instead Clark eats as much as he wants and makes sure to serve his mother. They chat about his job and about her book club. Clark makes sure to share the gossip and good deeds of his friends, both caped and not, and Martha makes sure that Clark is up to date on the farm and their neighbors.

Hours later, Clark is putting aside the dishes so that they can make way for desert. He'll put away and do the dishes later. When the table is clear, his mother pulls out a pie from the oven. Clark smiles. He’ll never get tired of his Ma’s pie.

Then Martha cuts into it and places a perfect slice in front of him.

It’s apple.

“Ma…” And he trails off, because she hasn’t been making apple pie for weeks.

“Ta-da!” She says with a bright smile on her face, and goes to serve herself a piece. Clark gets out the forks and the glasses of milk as is normal.

When his mom is seated and is digging into the pie in front of her, he finally takes a bite. It’s a perfect apple pie and he grins and slowly chews to savor the taste.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen that face,” she says. “I should have asked for your help before, but well, it’s fixed now.”

“Was something broken, Ma?” Clark asks.

“A while back I couldn’t figure out why my pies weren’t coming out right. They were a little different. I tried to fix the ingredients, the oven, but I couldn’t figure it out. I just didn’t know what to do. I knew some people wouldn’t be able to tell, but I could. I didn’t want anyone to notice ‘till I fixed it.”

“So, you made different flavored pies,” Clark fills in.

“That’s right. But this afternoon? A bus broke down near the house and suddenly there were a handful of kids and a handsome man with a wonderful accent come to my door to help with dinner. And when they all left? I found a note saying that the KitchenAid was fixed and that I could finally make apple pies,” Martha finishes, her eyes sparkling.

Then she stands up. “But I’m sure this note is for you, Clark.”

Clark takes the paper. It’s unremarkable and small and has his name written on it. He flips it to the other side.

Happy Holiday Exchange

Is all that’s written, but Clark can recognize that handwriting anywhere. He didn’t even try to disguise his handwriting. Hell, the ink is smudged and there’s part of a fingerprint on the note. He brushes his fingers against that print.

His mother huffs and he looks up at her. “Just a friend,” she says, shaking her head.

Clark can feel his cheeks getting warm.

“Ma? Do you mind if I-”

“Go to him, Clark. And bring the rest of this pie over, will you?” She pushes the boxed pie for him to carry. She must have wrapped it when he was looking over the note.

“Thanks, Ma,” and he leaves in a gust of wind, but not before cleaning everything and giving his mother another kiss.

-000-

He makes it to Gotham in record time and starts to listen for Bruce. Not surprisingly, he’s brooding. His whole body is still and his breast silent, but Clark can still hear the sound of his heartbeat. Luckily it’s coming from the manor.

A moment later he spots Bruce on the balcony, staring out into the forest behind Wayne Manor. He’s in a short sleeved shirt which shows off his scars, but the cold doesn’t seem to bother him, even though he must be cold when it’s snowing.

Not a second later, Bruce looks up and sees him.

“Clark,” Bruce whispers, but Clark can hear him loud and clear.

Clark lands gently next to him. Bruce watches him curiously, but still silent, even as Clark places the pie on the handrail.

“I got your gift,” Clark says with a grin.

Bruce looks at the pie. “Apple, your favorite.”

“My favorite,” Clark nods. “How did you figure it out?”

��The blueberry pie from the party. I had a slice last year, but the two were different even though you said the recipe hadn’t changed.”

“And the kids? And the- handsome man with the accent?” Clark says with a face, finally registering his mom’s words.

Bruce smirks. “The kids found out and wanted in on the plan. They called some others to help patrol Gotham while we were away. Then Alfred took them in to distract your mother while I fixed what was wrong with the Kitchenaid.”

Clark shakes his head. “You’ve certainly earned the title of World’s Greatest Detective.”

“Maybe,” Bruce agrees. Then he falls silent and looks away.

Clark stares at him, unabashed. He gently brushes the snow away that’s accumulated in his hair and on his shoulders and takes a step closer.

Bruce turns back to look at him. “Clark?”

It’s not like him to take such liberties.

Clark takes a shaky breath before speaking. “I had bought us tickets to go see The Mark of Zorro. I was expecting us to go as friends, like always, but now I’m wondering why I can’t ask you on a date.”

Bruce's eyes widen, before narrowing. “There are thousands of reasons why we shouldn’t go out,” he says, gruffly.

“Tell me them,” Clark says in reply.

“What about Lois?”

“What about Diana? We never know until we try, Bruce.”

“We’ll have to keep it a secret.”

“All secrets get out eventually; among the League, among our friends and family. Tell me this is something you think you can hide from Alfred.”

“You don’t want to attach yourself to the members of this family, Clark. I don’t even know how many kids live in this house anymore.”

“This isn’t a house, it’s a mansion, Bruce. And it fits however many kids that you want. And you know I love some of those kids and I would love to get to know all of them. Try again, Bruce.”

Bruce closes his eyes. “I’ll be your weakness, Clark. I’ll be Superman’s weakness.”

Ah. Finally, a reason for why Bruce has been distant all of these years.

“You've always been my weakness, Bruce.” Clark admits. Bruce’s eyes fly open. “For as long as I've loved you, you’ve been my weakness, my strength, my heart, my everything.”

Bruce snorts. “You sap. Just because it’s Christmas doesn’t mean you get to say something like that.”

“Maybe I said it so you’d laugh,” Clark says with a smile.

He takes another step closer.

“Tell me another reason why we shouldn’t be together, Bruce,” Clark whispers.

There are more. Hundreds of reasons why they shouldn’t be together, but most of them are too personal to admit.

But before Bruce is forced to either lie or choke out another reason, Clark grabs his hand.

“It’s okay. We have time.”

He hesitates. Bruce doesn’t know what to do now that he finally has something he wants, literally in his grasp. He nods.

Clark smiles again and Bruce almost looks away.

Clark laces their fingers together and picks up the pie with his other hand.

“Now come on, I want to enjoy this pie with everyone.”

They’re about to leave the balcony, when Bruce says, “Tomorrow.”

Clark pauses.

“Tomorrow, let’s fly your mother here,” Bruce decides.

“That’s a great idea, Bruce,” Clark agrees.

Tomorrow can be a new start for everyone.

#superbatsecretsanta2017 #timmyjdrake #nightfoliage #superbat #nightfoliagefic #edited #now with ao3 link

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t0mat0-pot4to · 7 years

Text

#JayDickWeek2017 Day 2: Confession Under Fire

Everyone is wondering how Dick and Jason got together.

How could they mess up so bad? The plan was simple. They will use the jet to get to the Watchtower, beat up the bad guys then get out. No talking with the other heroes. No distractions were available. And still they messed up. Instead of having a fight in the tower, they managed to get chased on the jets. So now they were avoiding everything that was thrown at them, try to stay far from the Earth's atmosphere so direct shots didn't get to land.

There was no back-up free. Everyone was busy with their own plans. They could keep the chase for a little longer, until things lighten up.

But things went wrong again. Someone got inside, then two then three more. They fought, breaking so many things inside. The main parts on the outside were hit and broken. Oxygen was running out. Wires everywhere. The control panel didn't work anymore. Red lights bathed them.

From their seats, they saw the outside. The galaxy was sure a big thing and how insignificant they were compared to other planets.

"Hey, Grayson?"

"I'm listening Jay." Dick replied kicking his feet on top of the broken panel.

"Since we are in this situation. I think it's the right time to tell you that I admire you." Jason commented imitating Dick's actions. His arms rested on the sides of the chair, while his head looked forward.

"Same here." He answered, looking at Jason with a smirk. "I wanted to ask you this long ago but I thought that I shouldn't. But, right now I don't even think I have a tomorrow for it so...I like you and all."

"Way to go Golden Boy." They laughed. "Yeah, I kind of like you too. Especially when you don't talk at all. It's nice, really."

"That's the nicest thing you've said to me today, thank you."

"So...do we kiss or what?"

"I got this."

Dick stood up, facing Jason. He stepped closer to Jay's right, leaning forward. He couldn't help himself but to laugh at what they were about to do. Slowly he kissed him, holding his left cheek. The kiss lasted a few seconds before they separated, to chuckle.

"This is probably the gayest thing Imma be saying today but, gee, your lips are so good." Jason expressed, blushing a bit, causing more soft laughter from his partner. Then they both laughed.

"Yep, gayest thing I've heard today."

Well, they were so far from Earth now. It looked like a tennis ball from the distance. Neither of them said it directly but they knew that it was the end for them. All because of a mission that didn't go as planned. They started to wonder how everyone else what doing, since communication collapsed.

They didn't say anything for a solid minute. Then Dick leaned to kiss Jason again. A few quick kisses on his lips then in the corner, slowly walking in front of him. Jason sat properly not sure what was happening but, boy, he couldn't resist it. One of Dick's knees rested right between his legs, while the kisses had started lowering to his jaw.

Knock. Knock.

Dick was forced to hold back to find out were the noise came from. From the window with many scratches, he could clearly see Hal Jordan. He grunted before walking towards the window. He wrote something on the window as some dusk and steam was there.

'What?'

Dick saw Hal laugh as some writing in green glowed from his ring.

'Am I interrupting something? I mean, I could rescue both of you later.'

'Just get us home. Not a word.'

'Yes, sir.'

"Oh my goodness Stephanie!" Barbara cried holding back her laughter. The others did laugh, well, only those who understood the last part. "We have kids here, you know?"

"I didn't tell them to listen tho'!" She excused herself, with a big grin in her face. "Plus, they are Dick and Jason! I'm sure it happened at some point."

"Dick would've told me if he did." Wally said as he chewed chips. "Plus, they've been together for only three months. Dick isn't that type of guy."

"Is it jealousy a sense?" Kate looked at him with a playful grin making him blush. Everybody else exploited in laugh.

"Like hell I am! He's my best friend." He mumbled grabbing another bag of chips fro himself. "And I have Artemis. I don't want him."

"Sure you don't babe." Artemis kissed him in the head. "Anyone to take another guess? Which doesn't involved any mature content?"

"We'll take a guess." Said Kate with Babs leaning against her.

After a long night patrol, Jason was walking in the empty streets. He was too busy to notice someone behind him. Next hing he knew was that he was tied to a chair and pretended he was doomed. He quickly noticed Arsenal, Roy Harper, and Starfire, Koriand'r, tied up too. Since they didn't move, he assume they were knocked unconscious.

"Look who decided to finally join us."

"I don't like crushing private parties." He rolled his eyes. He needed a way to free himself fast and keep his friends safe so they wouldn't harm them. "So, what's the deal? Do I owe you money?"

"Oh no. You owe me more than money. A whole company to be precise. If it wasn't for you, I would have gotten the deal of a lifetime!"

"You might not be able to see it but I'm silently laughing under my helmet."

"You think you are funny, but not today! Today I'll make you a deal. You'll get rid of my enemies and I'll give you your loved ones in exchange."

He went quiet. Now there was no way he could free them. Like, he didn't mind the killing but he wasn't sure what they will think of him after finding out he killed people for them.

"Why so quiet, Red Hood? Wasn't expecting that?"

"Of course I wasn't! I lost you went you said you couldn't kill your enemies so you needed me! What kind of thug are you? Even my dog could be better."

"So funny. But, will your friend Arsenal like a wake up bullet? Or Starfire? It's so hard to decide who should laugh with us tonight."

Now is when Jason started to try to free himself. However it didn't last long as guns were out pointing at him. It was suicide if he continues.

"I died once but a crowbar in the head by a clown. Satan will be disappointed if I go to hell with you as my killer."

Quiet. Jason needed to think fast.

"I'm so sorry to interrupt this little meeting of yours but, I can't let you kill my precious fugitive. So, what do you say if we all lower our guns and talk?" That voice was familiar to everyone in the room. And Jason didn't know if he was grateful or not for the new-comer. "Oh, come on! You know my name!"

Nightwing jumped from the pillars holding the ceiling above them. A smoke bomb was dropped and the bad guys knew it was done for them. The sound of heavy things falling, some breaking, gave Jason an idea of what was happening in there. Once the smoke curtain fully vanished, Nightwing was in the middle of the room with unconscious thugs around him. Some were shot by their own mates and some still growled in hurt.

"Oh my! What a mess I've made. Let me make it up to you." He turned to the leader, who held a gun pointing at him. "Put the gun down or else I'll be force to knock you out."

"No chance pretty boy."

"My pretty boy is still tied up, so you better make it fast." He challenged before dropping his weapons on the floor. The sound of it echoed in the room and the blast of a bullet broke it. First shot and missed. Nightwing avoided it easily. He moved closer as bullets flew by him, none close to hit him.

...

"Pretty boy." He called Jason, standing in front of him with a bright smile. He didn't say anything else while he untied him. "Got anything sharp?"

"My looks count?" Jason joked trying not to swear out loud.

"See, I could leave you here but I'm too nice. So better help or else..." Dick whispered something in Jason, with a playful smile.

"Fine. Left pocket." He replied turning away from the oldest.

Dick gave a triumphant smile then went to search the pocket. His left hand ran from Jason's knee to his thigh, 'looking' for the pocket knife. With his right hand, and without permission, he took Jason's helmet off. And made him look at him directly.

"The hell are you doing?"

"Take a guess." He whispered back before taking out the sharp object and cutting the ropes. He stayed with the knife a bit longer, just watching Jason's reaction with a smile.

"Oh my! Oh my!" Zatanna interrupted so they wouldn't continue. "That is not family friendly!" She joked as they laughed.

"Fine. Maybe we went a bit overboard." Babs said faking innocence. She did a little fistbumbed with Kate.

"I can assure you that did not happen!" Roy said out loud, pointing at the girls with his drink in hand.

"Me too. I don't recall that happening." Kori was a bit confused about said story but was completely sure it didn't happened.

"Ok, ok. Maybe Roy and Kori weren't there at all but it could have happened anyways." Kate defended.

"Anyone else?" Zatanna asked taking a slice of pizza from the box.

"Since everyone is making things up, I'll have a go!" Wally accepted.

Both Jason and Dick were being chased by some super-villains and the police. The reasons were a robbery and a murder. Neither of them were caused by them but they just couldn't stop for anything. It happened in the middle of Gotham as cars passed and people walked to late dinner shops. The moon was bright above their heads and no sign of the other members were present.

"So, what are you up to?" Dick asked as they jumped from one building to another. He seemed to be enjoying the chase somehow.

"Well, I don't know right now but it's not good at all." He responded, half turning to shot the man shooting at them in a helicopter.

"Excuse me, serial killer. Will you kindly not shot him?"

"Then?"

"Don't jump." He said as he rolled down in between two building. Jason reacted a bit late causing him to tripped down losing his balance. A hand caught his to swung him to a balcony in front of them. "Hold yourself up for a second." He pleaded before letting go and landing on top of a air conditioner box, without ripping it off the building.

...

They stayed on lower grounds for a bit, following their chasers close. Their spy skills kicked in but were soon put away as they escaped. Now they were underground, in the sewerage, following a track send by the Red Robin.

"Tim said that we'll be able to reach the bat-cave if we follow this." Dick commented showing his phone screen to his partner. "If we are lucky, Killercroc won't be roaming this place right now."

"Now that's a stereotype." Dick giggled at the comment said. "It's true. Just because he is a big-ugly-ass crocodile doesn't mean he'd at the sewerage."

"Maybe you could show me movies were it doesn't happen. I'd like to find one." He offered lending his phone to Jason.

"It's said then. Tomorrow night in my place."

"Oh boy, you are so gonna regret doing this."

"Then you should be grateful you are pretty. If you weren't, then you'll be doomed in society."

"I'll take it as a compliment. Thank you." He elevated his hands to the back of his neck, smiling. "It's been so long since we had a decent talk."

"Last week, when I told you that my apartment wasn't a safe place."

"And then you let me sleep in your bed. Yeah, good talk."

"It wasn't a good talk." He said and suddenly noise coming from their right side made them stop. "Great, now what?"

"We are going up if anything happens. Head East if there's anyone chasing you. I'll go West. Loose then. Beat them up. I don't care but we will meet outside the manor. Understood?"

"Loud and clear boss."

The noise was coming closer so they ran forward. Then the noise ran towards them too. There was no way to loose them so their plan was to be followed.

"Hey," Dick stop Jason once they were out. Not much time left. "Be careful, ok? I know you can do just fine but be careful."

"Same to you Golden boy."

Dick quickly kissed Jason in the lips. Then they were off.

"That was beautiful!" M'gann spoke happily. The other girls had the same reaction and the boys just stared in confusion.

"That's from a movie. Isn't it?" Tim questioned first, not wanting to believe that Wally just said what he said.

"Of course! Or a book. I don't remember." He answered, making the guys sighed in relief. Even some of the girls did.

"I don't see it. Both Jason and Dick are too proud to run from a fight, but I'll give you a seven out of ten." Raven replied, with the others nodding to her statement which was partially true. Especially from Jason.

"C'mon Rae! Even you know this could've happened...at some point." Garfield stated not truly sure himself.

"Indeed Beast Boy, but she is also right." Kaldur'ahm, Aqualad, affirmed.

"They would not retrieve if it was not an order." Cass mentioned. "It's clear on the battleground."

"Ok ok. My turn!" Kara declared.

The 'original' bat-bros were almost falling asleep on their way home from a special mission. Almost not making it home, especially the younger ones. So the older ones decided to carry them. Once they were in safe zone, with Alfred helping with some wounds from the younger ones. The Justice League was also there, in a special meeting with the Bat.

Neither group was surprise to see the other. It had happened so many times it became a tradition whenever they were over in the batcave.

Dick and Jason stayed back to join the meeting, while Tim and Damian were forced to get some rest. Again, it had happened so many times before no one was really surprise.

"So, the Secret Society is at it again? Gee, don't they ever get tired of losing?" Dick expressed while he typed something on his phone, although he wasn't really paying attention to the screen, they knew he was probably the one who absorbed all the information.

"We are afraid so." Martian replied, as the images of the Secret Society appeared with all their information. Then there was a second of silence before he talked again. "We will be busy dealing with an abnormally on the other side of Earth. Nightwing and Red Hood, you'll recruit the Young Justice and the Teen Titans for the job. We know you and the others are more than capable but we only want you to slow them down until we come back."

"Understood boss." Dick answered, putting his phone aside to concentrate on the new mission that was given to him.

"Any new information or dates will be send to you. Anything important must be send to us instantly. That will be all for now." Marian concluded, given the others a glance to see if they had anything to add.

"Ok. Jason and me will be out. Meta-humans are attacking central Gotham." Dick informed before heading to the exit with Jason behind. "Good night everyone. Don't worry about us too much."

...

"Got the what we wanted?" Dick asked, still looking back at the direction of the manor. Not a good idea when riding a motorbike, but he is the Nightwing. He was more than capable to do that and more.

"Yup. Being a street rat pays off in situations like this." His partner responded, holding a bag over his head. As much as they tried to be responsible on the road, they couldn't do it. "You know we are gonna get in hella trouble when they find out, right?"

"It will be worth the laughs."

...

Now they were off the roads, on top a building. The lights from the city hugged them away from the darkness of the night. Both excited to see the precious thing inside the leather bag. Jason took out Diana's Lasso of Truth, then threw the bag to a side. It glowed in golden magic, fascinating both.

"It's more magestic than I thought...It's just...Wow."

"It's an Amazon weapon. Created and used by Gods." Jason mumbled still holding it before giving it to Dick, who just admired the golden colour. "Who you wanna try it on first?"

"I don't care. We have, we use it. We don't have much time before Wonder Woman finds out."

"We could use it on the meta-humans, since we have to take them out anyways." Jason suggested with a smile on his face, Dick's reaction was priceless for him. He could have swore his partner didn't even noticed.

...

"Ok, so the bad guys escaped and now we are tied up. In the Lasso of Truth. In the middle of the night. We are a mess." Dick sided look at his weapons on the floor next to them. Near those were Jason's guns with empty bullets and fresh smoke coming out of the guns' muzzles. It was quite a hard fight.

"So...hum...Mind finding a way to free ourselves." Jason pleaded clearly uncomfortable by their closeness. Although they were back to back, he knew Dick was so calm about it.

"I could try leaning back and see if I could free my hands." His partner suggested as he inclined his head on Jay's shoulder, giving away his smile. As much as he tried to see Jay, his position wouldn't allow him. "Ok, I need you to stand still while I do this. If you don't, we are gonna fall and that's gonna be really bad for us."

"Yeah, yeah. I know. Hurry up."

Dick pressed himself against Jason's back, leaving just enough space for him to slide his arms in from. When he made it, he could finally let his breath go. Jason relaxed while he sighed, like Dick did. Before he could say anything, Dick was doing the exact same thing again as he tried to untie the knot. But didn't last long before giving up and wailing.

"I can't. Try twisting the rope from your side or something." He finally stated.

Jason couldn't even reach the rope with his fingers so he shrugged his shoulders. His action was enough for Dick to sigh again. Dick giggled.

"Want to ask me some burning question?" He asked and the rope glowed in a bright golden, so he figured out it was doing it's magic.

Jason gulped. He was clearly fighting the need to tell the truth.

"Come on little wing. You know neither of us can lie in this situation." He teased while leaning his head back in Jay's shoulder.

"I hate you. And yes, I do want to ask you something."

"Awww, what is it?"

"Since you been out with many people. And you are currently not dating anyone. What are your types?"

"Man, that's some silly question. However, because you are asking me, I'm gonna tell you." He gave a quit pause before answering. "I don't really have a type but I tend to fall for people who...I tend to fall for people who I have rescued once and vice versa. Yeah, I know, it's weird."

"Why?" Came out quickly out of Jay's mouth.

"Why? Oh, I don't really know. Something to do with trust. If they could save me, I could trust them with my life. If I can save them once, I can do it twice. Three times...I could protect them..." Dick went quiet all of the sudden. Still mumbling nonsense under his breath.

It was quiet.

"Who do you like?" "You." They both asked and answered at the same time. Their guards were down so they didn't notice until they heard the answer.

"Oh my goodness! You like me? Really? Red Hood likes Nightwing? Oh my gosh!" Dick teased surprised. Then the next thing he did was letting the rope go, freeing them. He basically pulled the Lasso and picked his weapons up, rushing away from Jason. "I'm so telling everyone about this!"

"You...You! You come back here now! Nightwing!" He tried processing what happened before picking his guns up and lifting them. Both guns pointing at a near Nightwing, fingers pressed against the trigger.

"Come on! Let's get moving pretty!" He screamed picking up the leather bag from the beginning, then putting the Lasso in it. "You could try shooting me babe, but that be such a mean thing to do! It's nearly midnight and Bats will be out soon! You coming or not?!"

"That did happened once. The Lasso thing but not with those questions." Duke pointed out, while the bat-fam laughed at that memory.

"Yeah, it was bad." Luke continued. "They were forced to stay away from each other so they wouldn't kill the other one."

"Yeah...I've been there...Not good." Conner rested his head on his hand, half-closing his eyes to Tim who just smiled 'innocently'. "Don't trust them. Especially a guy called Tim who will force you to deal with it."

"Really?" Kara questioned with eyes filled with hope. "What happened?"

Before Conner could answer that question, two familiar voices caught everyone's attention and tried finding were they were coming from.

"Oh! Wow. Why are all of you here? Wait! You guys didn't call me? Oh my gosh. I fell so disappointed." Dick dramatised with a funny look in his face. They all laughed at his reaction. "My friends and my family, together. In the same room. Not fighting...Who are all of you?! Where are my loved ones?! No. Don't tell me. Just...Just leave!"

"Shhh, they are safe." Kate winked at him, holding her finger in her lips telling him to stay quiet.

"Oh my! Jason! They have our family! And friends! And...and..." He pulled Jason's arm, who rolled his eyes as he was pulled towards his boyfriend.

"You guys, I hate all of you." He said, pointing at everyone in the room.

"We love you too Jaybird." Babs winked at him, taking a sip from a coke can.

"Gee, like, excuse me? Pretty girl, he is mine." Dick released Jay's arm before walking up to his ex-girlfriend, almost face to face with her. He just looked at her, quietly. Then he took one of the cans in the table, blowing a kiss to the redhead. "We are going out. See you on patrol. Lots of love!"

"Wait..." Tim called right before Dick and Jason walked out of the living room. When they both turned to see, the younger one made a sign to come closer. "We have a question. And we really want answers."

"Oh...What is it?" The oldest was the only one who looked worried, although Jay didn't looked at the conversation, he was pretty aware of his surroundings.

"This is dumb. They want to know how you and Todd got together." Damian finally talked, looking away from his phone. Jon, who was next to him, lowered his headphones to listen to the conversation.

"Well. It is kind of dumb but I guess, we could..." The oldest glanced at his partner for help as he didn't know what to do or say. They both shrugged not knowing exactly. "I mean, it was really stupid." He tried joking it off, so they will forget about it but he knew they wouldn't let it go.

"We were talking about it." Jon gave a little explanation, while looking at the others who kept their gaze on Dick.

"Well...there's two times, same day." Dick sat on the back of the couch, looking above his head as he tried remembering that day. Jay forced himself to stand next to his partner, with his hands on his hips.

It was early morning when Dick found Jason overlooking Gotham. They didn't talk straight away but soon loosen up and started talking about their day. As much as they tried looking away from each other, there's was always something that drew them to look back.

"Wanna go eat something?" Dick offered with a smile. It was early, too early to be seen by anyone they knew so it was perfect timing.

"You are paying."

...

They fought over the place, but since Dick was too nice, he let Jason choose. At the end they went to a Chinese restaurant, which kindly serve them anything they wanted. They have saved so many places, they don't remember all of them. Despite the time, they got some lunch instead of breakfast.

"This place is nice." Dick whispered, drinking his tea like Jason did. They weren't talking too much, just casual comments and responses. "We should come here more often."

"We?" He was surprised, almost shocked to hear that pronoun.

"Um...Yeah..." He was saved as their food came. He shook his head, attacking his food and this told Jason to not talk about it anymore.

The more time they were together, things lighten up a bit. Dick grabbed the fortune-cookie, breaking it to read the tiny paper folded inside. Soft chuckling came out his mouth, which drew Jason's attention.

"It says 'You should date the person next to you'. So, wanna date? It says on the paper." He declared, leaving the note on the table, eyes locked on Jay's.

"What?"

"Um...Maybe I could win you over with food...Yeah, that could work."

>>>

Since they spend the morning together, Dick managed to get Jason to be with him for the rest of the day. Of course out of their 'work' suits, to change in normal clothes. It didn't take long for them until they visited many places.

"Stay here, okay? I'll just get something for Tim and Damian."

"I'm not five years old anymore, Grayson."

A few minutes later, a lady walked up to Jason with a flirty look on her face. Jason was clearly uncomfortable but tried to play it cool.

"Hey, beautiful."

"Hello?"

"Why are you so lonely? No girl with you?"

"What? Madam, please, I'm waiting for someone."

"Oh, it is a young girl? I could wait with you, make you some company."

"I'm with someone." He mumbled loud enough for her to hear, who looked shocked. "So please, leave me. Or else..."

"Oh! Hey babe!" Dick came rushing with a bag with some sweets inside. He quickly hooked his arms with Jason's, slowly pulling him back. "I'm sorry madam but we need to get going now. Enjoy your evening!"

When they were away, the oldest was laughing quite loudly. The youngest only looked down, still embarrassed about what had just happened back there.

"Sooo, babe?" Dick muttered turning to softly kiss his left cheek, making him blush. No answer came so Dick kept talking. "Are you okay? If you want me to stop...I-I will do it..."

"It's okay." He murmured, half turning to face him. "Thank you...You know, back there...With the women...Arg...You know what I mean..."

"Yeah..." He side-hugged Jay's waist, pulling him closer. "Want to go home? I could take you. Then..."

"Shut up. Just shut up Dick."

"Wow, that's so nice of you." He replied, resting his head on Jay's shoulder. "So, do you want to date me?"

"You guys disgust me!" Damian focused on his phone again, pulling his headphones down covering his ears resuming whatever he was doing before.

The others just laughed it off before turning to see the couple again.

"Yup." Dick stood up before looking at Jason, who just shrugged his shoulders once more. "We are out then. See you around later?" Everybody else agreed with nods, so they both went out.

...

"Are you happy about embarrassing me?" Jason moaned pulling himself away from his partner. The afternoon light bathed them, with just few minutes to the night. Neither talked until the night came.

"I'm sorry..." Dick apologised felling a bit weird. "I just couldn't tell them the real thing...Hum...You know...That day..." He sighed.

Jason looked away.

"Come on Jay. You know neither of us wants to remember that especific day." The oldest stood in the edge of the building, overlooking the city. "Forget it, okay? It's better that way..."

"Yeah...Let's get going Golden boy." They both laughed.

#jaydickweek #jaydick #jaydickweek2017 #jason todd #richard grayson #batfam #batfamily #my writing sucks

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brittababbles · 7 years

Note

Hey could you please do an Jason Todd imagine where he insults the reader saying they're too nice but then he sees the reader go all shark lawyer mode and or kick someone's ass while being incredibly sarcastic

Author’s Note:Oh I love to pick on Jason. This should be fun. This is loosely set in theYoung Justice universe, I suppose. I realize Jason is ostensibly not in the YJuniverse, but there’s so much stuff from that universe that’s just so useful.

You’d been so late getting away fromwork that you hadn’t had time to change. Meeting up with a new partner usuallymeant a little prepping, but by the time you’d finished closing the office atthe air base up it’d been nearly 1am. Since you were loosely expected in Gothamat 1:30, you gave your Coast City apartment a pass and zeta’d to Gotham in yourcat-print, knee length skirt and pale blue blouse. You’d gotten pretty goodabout getting stains out of your day-job clothes.

Gotham was grim, when compared to CoastCity. Hal had warned you of that. Still, every alley met the definition of“suspicious and creepy”, so you weren’t sure exactly what your new partner hadmeant by “meet me in Crime Alley. It’s the suspicious and creepy one.”

Of course, you’d heard of the Red Hood.Gossip of that type made it through the grape vine of the Justice League easilyand Hal Jordan was notoriously incapable of keeping his mouth shut. Hal hadbeen the one to pick you up and dust you off when your power ring had draggedyou to Oa and unceremoniously dumped you in the alien dirt shortly before yourfourteenth birthday. He’d trained you, taken you under his wing, and quiteliterally save your life on multiple occasions, but you couldn’t say you hero-worshippedhim. Hal was more like an annoying big brother than anything.

In your experience, the same could notbe said of this city’s primary hero.

So, though you’d never actually metJason Todd in person, you’d assumed he was a carbon copy of his older brother.Dick Grayson was sweet. He was handsome and flexible and quiet handy with theescrima sticks, but he still hovered in Batman’s admittedly massive shadow. Heclaimed he didn’t want to be like Batman, which was understandable, but you’dalways thought a bit of the Bat-ness had rubbed off. Naturally, you assumed,one ex-Robin must be the same as all the others.

You turned the corner at a genuinelysuspicious and creepy looking alley whose street sign actually dubbed it “CrimeAlley”. You had to wonder if the city planners in Gotham City were even tryingat this point. There were only a couple dingy streetlights, which only added tothe atmosphere of the place.

If Todd were trying to impress you,he’d have to try harder than a spooky alley to make his point.

Loud, booted footsteps caught yourattention. Sighing, you turned to investigate.

A gun barrel was in your face beforeyou turned all the way around.

“Gimme your purse,” a harsh voice said.

There were two men, both dressed headto toe in black. They were even wearing the black ski masks. It all seemedrather cliché, even by your standards.

You backed against the wall of thealley, unprepared for a fight at the moment. The two masked men followed you,the one still pointing a gun at your face.

“Give it over, lady,” he said sharply.

You sighed but reached for your purse,intending to open it and pull out your ring. Before you hand had gotten halfwaythere, though, a pair of loud cracks echoed through the alley.

Your attackers both dropped, clutchingat their knees and screaming. You gawked at them for a moment and then lookedup to see who had rescued you.

Across the alley, balancing on top of atall wooden fence on the balls of his feet, was a tall, muscular young man. Hishead was entirely encased in a red helmet, which completely obscured his face.

The Red Hood.

“You have got to be kidding me,” hesaid, his voice surprisingly clear despite the helmet.

He hopped down from the fence and approachedyou. You could tell from his body language that he wasn’t impressed.

Yousquared your shoulders and stepped over your attackers. Your miniscule heightmeant you had to angle your head up slightly to look him in the face, but thathardly meant you were afraid of him. You met in the middle of the alley and hishead tipped up and down, clearly looking you over skeptically.

“You must be Todd,” you said evenly

“And you must be [your name],” heresponded, “what, too sweet to throw a punch? Or you just didn’t want to getyour dress dirty?”

You glowered in response.

“Take the helmet off. I barely toleratedomino masks,” you snapped.

He responded by reaching behind hishead and popping what sounded like a lock open, then carefully removing thehelmet.

Well, he looked an awful lot like Grayson.

You were right about the haughtyexpression you’d imagined. Between your size, your clothes, and the fact thatyou’d done nothing to prevent a mugging, you could tell your first impressionhadn’t been a stellar one.

“Does Bats know he sent me ababysitting job, not a partner? ‘Cause I really don’t have time for that,” hesaid sourly.

“Excuse me?” you snapped.

He raised an eyebrow.

“He sent me a skinny girl in a skirt.When he said he was sending a Green Lantern, I was hoping for someone at leaston par with Guy Gardner.”

You snorted, affronted at theimplication that you weren’t on par with Gardner.

“Have you even met Guy?” you asked.

“Yeah, a couple times,” Todd responded,“And he kicked ass every time. Even without the ring he’d at least throw apunch if cornered in an alley!”

“I was always taught to avoid gettingshot in the head,” you said coldly.

“Well then you weren’t taught—“ hestarted.

“Shh,” you hissed.

You’d heard what sounded like morefootsteps, and a series of male voices coming from a building at the end of thealley. You glanced over Todd’s shoulder, your eyes narrowed, just to see a halfdozen goons come swarming out, apparently looking for your masked friends lyingunconscious twenty feet behind you.

“What the?” Jason muttered.

“I’ve got it,” you sighed, your handalready buried in your purse.

Anymore, saying the oath wasunnecessary. You could usually get what you needed out of thinking through itreally hard. In brightest day, inblackest night, no evil shall escape my sight… you thought, slipping yourmiddle finger into the ring.

The bright green light that explodedfrom it, enveloping you, made Jason squint. Before his eyes had time to adjust,you were standing in front of him, fully uniformed now. Two ribbons of lightshot from your ring, surrounded the men running toward you, and scooped themoff the ground. You bashed them into the walls of the alley, twenty feet offthe ground, knocking all of them unconscious. Then you returned them to theground and laid them neatly in a line in the middle of the alley. All withouttaking a step.

Jason stood behind you, one eyebrowraised.

“Alright, but without your power ring–“

“I could have you on the ground,screaming for your mother, before you even finished that sentence,” you interrupted,turning back to him.

“Prove it,” he said with a grin.

So you did.

The fact that you flipped him over yourhead and knelt on top of him with your knee between his shoulder blades,twisting his left arm behind his back, didn’t seem to register until he wasactually face down in the pavement.

“I am tired, Todd. I have been at workall day, I have filed more flight plans than you’ve seen in your life, and Ihave no patience for your chauvinism. Now say it,” you growled.

“Say what?” he muttered, his voicemuffled on account of his face being squished into the ground.

“Say that I’m not just some skinny girlin a skirt with a flashy piece of Oan jewelry. I can kick your ass, GuyGardner’s ass, and any ass that I see fit,” you snapped, wrenching his shoulderslightly harder.

“Ow! Okay okay, you kick plenty of ass.Just let me up!” he yelped.

You complied, standing up and dustingoff your uniform as he clambered noisily to his feet. He turned to face you, agrin on his face.

Great,you thought, thinkingof Hal, another masochist.

“You’re still pint sized,” Jason said.

You glowered at him. He held up hishands in mock surrender.

“Fun sized then. You hungry, bychance?”

You eyed him suspiciously.

“I could eat.”

“There’s a place that does good pancakesjust around the corner,” he offered with a shrug.

You nodded slowly.

“Okay.”

He tipped his head back up the alley,knelt to scoop his helmet off the ground, and then led the way back toward thewell-lit street beyond the alley’s entrance.

“How the hell do you tolerate Jordan ifyou have such a short fuse?” he asked.

“What makes you think I tolerate him?”

Jason squinted down at you as youtugged the ring off your finger and returned it to your purse. Your streetclothes returned as if they were never absent in the first place. Technically,they hadn’t been.

“You know, this could work,” he saidafter a moment.

“What could work?”

“Me and you. Partners,” he saidcasually.

“I suppose we’ll find out,” youanswered dryly.

He smirked as he pulled open the doorto a diner, holding it open for you. You eyed him through narrowed lids, butstepped in ahead of him anyway.

“I s’pose we will,” he said.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd imagine #jason todd #imagine jason todd #jason todd x green lantern!reader #swbwrites #request

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thisdaynews · 5 years

Text

Garth Crooks' team of the week: Maddison, Pukki, Mane, De Bruyne

New Post has been published on https://thebiafrastar.com/garth-crooks-team-of-the-week-maddison-pukki-mane-de-bruyne/

Garth Crooks' team of the week: Maddison, Pukki, Mane, De Bruyne

Manchester City dropped two points after being held to a 2-2 draw at home by Tottenham, while Liverpool overcame spirited Southampton 2-1.

Arsenal also made it two wins out of two by edging Burnley 2-1 and Chelsea were held 1-1 by Leicester in Frank Lampard’s first home game as Blues boss.

Elsewhere, Bournemouth won 2-1 at Aston Villa, Everton beat Watford 1-0 and newly-promoted Norwich defeated Newcastle 3-1.

Sheffield United beat Crystal Palace 1-0 and Brighton were held to a 1-1 draw by West Ham.

Here’s my team of the week – have a read and select your own below.

Garth Crooks’ Team of the Week

Goalkeeper – Jordan Pickford (Everton)

Pickford saved from Deeney with his face

Jordan Pickford: This wasn’t the most scintillating performance by Jordan Pickford against Watford but it was good enough. I was told in no uncertain terms by former BBC presenter Ray Stubbs that I should have selected Pickford after his performance against Crystal Palace last week. Quite what he knows about it I’m not entirely sure!

However, I selected the England goalkeeper for his match-winning save from a Troy Deeney power-driver that hit him full in the face – although I’m not sure he knew a lot about it. Second consecutive clean sheet for Pickford and Everton.

Did you know?Pickford is the first Everton keeper since Neville Southall in 1993-94 to keep a clean sheet in the first two matches of a Premier League season.

Defenders – Caglar Soyuncu (Leicester), Joel Matip (Liverpool), Jack O’Connell (Sheff Utd)

Caglar Soyuncu of Leicester, Joel Matip of Liverpool and Jack O’Connell of Sheffield United

Caglar Soyuncu:He saw off Olivier Giroud, then Tammy Abraham; Willian then came on, thought about it and didn’t fancy it. Caglar Soyuncu was clearly punching above his weight but that never seemed to bother him.

Leicester City’s centre-back out-battled and out-fought Chelsea’s big guns and both were sent packing by the Turkish international. This kid has a real battling spirit and I liked it.

Did you know?Soyuncu attempted 13 more passes than any other Leicester player in the 1-1 draw with Chelsea.

Joel Matip:Whenever Joel Matip plays for Liverpool he appears to be the one who is making all the last-ditch tackles, getting the ball smashed in his face and coming to Liverpool’s aid in a crisis.

Meanwhile, Virgil van Dijk looks beautifully groomed, hair swept back in a ponytail, strolling around looking like he’s just returned from a week in Vegas! Matip must get Van Dijk to do his share of the heavy lifting when the Reds are up against it away from home.

I know Matip is the junior partner here but, come on, fair is fair. Good to see Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain back.

Did you know?Matip hasn’t ended on the losing side in any of his last 30 Premier League appearances.

Jack O’Connell:This was a poor game of football as far as I was concerned. Sheffield United showed bags of energy and courage but they lacked quality. Oh how they could have done with former Blades hero Tony Currie.

Nevertheless, they won three valuable points against a woeful Crystal Palace. The star of the show for me was Jack O’Connell, who dealt with the aerial threat of Christian Benteke and the dazzling feet of Wilfried Zaha. There was nothing dazzling about Palace’s performance unfortunately.

Did you know?O’Connell made more clearances (11) than any other player in the match against Crystal Palace.

Midfielders – Dani Ceballos (Arsenal), Kevin de Bruyne (Man City), James Maddison (Leicester), Bernard (Everton)

Dani Ceballos of Arsenal, Kevin de Bruyne of Manchester City, James Maddison of Leicester and Bernard of Everton

Dani Ceballos:Dani Ceballos’ involvement in a move to set up Reiss Nelson was superb. That was before that interfering, meddling, busybody called VAR poked his hi-tech nose in and ruled some wonderful work by Ceballos offside.

This lad can play. He seems to have a touch of the Aaron Ramsey about him, albeit a little more mobile. It will be interesting when Mesut Ozil returns to see if Unai Emery will accommodate both players.

With David Luiz in their defence, Ozil due to return once fully fit and Alexandre Lacazette and Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang up front, the North London derby suddenly looks interesting.

Did you know?Ceballos had the most touches (97), created the most chances (4), and attempted the most passes (70) of any Arsenal player against Burnley.

Kevin de Bruyne:It was only a matter of time before Pep Guardiola handed Kevin de Bruyne the captain’s armband. The Belgium international is producing the most spellbinding performances again. We saw it two seasons ago when he replaced the irreplaceable Yaya Toure.

De Bruyne’s first assist was another one of those extraordinary passes that when it left his foot, only he and its recipient actually knew where it was going. In this case it was Raheem Sterling’s head and went straight into the back of the net.

De Bruyne is producing magic. In fact, he should be in the next Harry Potter movie.

Did you know?Only Christian Eriksen (49) has more assists in the Premier League since De Bruyne’s debut for Manchester City in September 2015.

James Maddison:Leicester City should have come away from Stamford Bridge the victors and James Maddison the hero. In the end Maddison had to settle for man of the match while his team settled for a point.

The development this lad has shown in the past 12 months has been startling. If Maddison continues to dominate games like this he’s an England certainty. In the second half he took the game by the scruff of the neck and with better finishing (the only weakness in his game) Chelsea would have lost. Frank Lampard has a lot of work to do at Stamford Bridge.

Did you know?Maddison has created 50 chances from set plays in the Premier League since start of last season – six more than any other player.

Bernard:This was a performance reminiscent of Everton legend the late, great Alan Ball. Bernard was full of energy and ingenuity. All 5ft 4in of him ran the show at Goodison Park against Watford.

Everton currently lie eighth in the table with Bournemouth above them after two games. The problem with Everton is managing expectations.

Should the Toffees finish in the top six then their manager survives. Anything short of that then Everton’s fans will start asking their usual questions. It’s unfortunate for Marco Silva that Liverpool are doing so well but that’s what this is all about.

Did you know?Bernard scored Everton’s only goal and created more chances (3) than any other Toffees player in their 1-0 win over Watford.

Forwards – Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang (Arsenal), Teemu Pukki (Norwich), Sadio Mane (Liverpool)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang of Arsenal (left), Norwich’s Teemu Pukki (centre) and Liverpool’s Sadio Mane (right)

Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang:Arsenal are very lucky to have Pierre-Emerick Aubameyang. He was messed around last season by Unai Emery and some players might have said ‘shove it’.

He was often the chief architect of Arsenal’s victories in the big games last season. Burnley are not a big club but they are not afraid of those that are. The Clarets had enough chances to get something out of the match and should have done.

However, with Aubameyang in his current form it was inevitable the Gabon international would put Burnley to the sword and he did.

Did you know?Aubameyang has been involved in 28 goals in 27 Premier League appearances at the Emirates (21 goals, 7 assists).

Teemu Pukki:Anyone who scores a hat-trick in the Premier League deserves high praise and Teemu Pukki’s efforts against Newcastle entitled him to nothing less. However, I said last week, in the Crooks of the Matter, that the departure of Rafael Benitez from St James’ Park left the Magpies up the creek without a paddle.

It’s only the second weekend of the Premier League season and Newcastle look absolutely rudderless.

Did you know?Pukki is the first player to score as many as four goals in his first two Premier League appearances.

Sadio Mane:It might have been the first time Sadio Mane has scored against his old club but even he had to celebrate it, such was its brilliance. The Senegal international was on top of his game again after a hectic summer of football in the Africa Cup of Nations.

While there has been talk of Mane not getting sufficient time off to recuperate from the tournament, he looked sharper and fitter than anyone else on the field against Southampton.

Jurgen Klopp needs to be very careful not to overplay Mane. If he does and loses the player through injury, he could live to regret it.

Did you know?Mane has scored more Premier League goals in 2019 than any other player (15).

Now it’s your turn

You’ve seen my selections this season. But who would you go for?

The Crooks of the Matter

It’s only the second weekend of the season and VAR is already bugging the hell out of me. The whole point of the introduction of the technology was to eliminate the errors. What VAR is actually doing is looking for them. VAR can spot a toe, a stud or even when a players’ tattoo is offside, but will not offer an opinion when a player has been clearly manhandled in the penalty area?

Tottenham’s Erik Lamela practically assaulted Manchester City’s Rodri in the box and VAR said nothing. Why? If Referee Michael Oliver did not see it then it was a clear and obvious error and VAR should have brought it to the referee’s attention. So no help there.

England’s top flight is one of the last high-profile competitions to get on board with VAR

Did this technological ‘know it all’ not see what everyone else saw or did this scientific genius go for a comfort break? Of course not. VAR is a spoiler. It seeks and searches for error. He’s a show off! VAR comes into its own when it can combine the evidence with the facts. “Don’t blame me!” it shouts. “I’m just giving you the facts and attaching them to the evidence and the laws of the game.”

Meanwhile, the game has developed a virus but football doesn’t know it yet and it’s in danger of affecting the whole game. VAR’s decision to disallow Gabriel Jesus’ injury-time goal based on the new law, introduced this season, regarding handball, was nothing short of laughable. The law is an ass but more worryingly the game is in danger of becoming a joke.

#Bruyne #Pukki

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acoyotesmate · 8 years

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Stalia + stiles's birthday

Stiles woke up to the sound of his alarm blaring to his left. He groaned as he reached blindly for his phone to shut it off.

It’s Saturday. Why is my alarm going off?

“Malia, did you set my alarm?” He mumbled as he managed to turn it off without opening his eyes.

He was met with silence.

He opened his right eye, then lifted his head when he didn't see her but a note on her pillow addressed to him. He quickly grabbed it and read it.

Stiles, shower and get dressed. Be ready by 9. - Malia

It was then that Stiles remembered it was his birthday.

He smiled sleepily as he thought about how Malia had obviously planned something special for him. He grabbed his phone to check his notifications then went to shower and get ready as commanded.

Stiles was a little put off to find Isaac sitting on the couch, watching TV and eating the last can of Loaded Baked Potato Pringles.

“What are you doing here?” Stiles asked as he passed by on his way to the bedroom.

“Here to whisk you away!” Isaac called after him.

“Sounds romantic.” Stiles said.

“What can I say, I know how to woo a guy,” Isaac answered, followed by the distinct crunch of a chip.

Stiles fixed his almost too long hair then grabbed his wallet, phone and keys before he went back to the living room.

“Where are we off to?” Stiles asked.

Isaac turned off the TV and slowly stood up to stretch. “Not supposed to say. Also, there’s a surprise for you in the kitchen.”

Stiles went to the kitchen and found his favorite order from Starbucks sitting on the counter next to a neatly wrapped present. He went straight for his white mocha frappuccino then studied the gift as he sipped on his coffee. To his surprise, it was from Isaac who had never so much as given him a birthday card before.

He set down his coffee and quickly unwrapped the box to discover a dark blue bandana folded into a triangle with Stillinski stitched along the right side.

I don’t know how to react to this. I mean, it's the first thing he’s ever bought me, but…

Isaac walked in and leaned against the doorway. “Do you like it?”

“Yeah.” Stiles forced a smile. “Thanks Isaac.”

“Why don’t you put it on?” Isaac suggested.

Damn it.

“Y-yeah, uh, sure.”

“Let me help,” isaac said, taking the bandana from Stiles.

God, I have to go out in public wearing this.

“There we go,” Isaac said as he finished tying the bandanna.

Stiles turned to grab his coffee and breakfast sandwich so they could get going.

“I like the way it looks on you,” Isaac said with an odd smile on his face.

Stiles smiled, feeling awkward.

“We better get going,” Isaac said, suddenly cheerful.

What the hell?

Isaac pulled up to the theater where Scott worked and told Stiles to go up the door and knock three times. Stiles got out of the car, hoping no one saw him in the bandanna Isaac had given him as he walked up to the entrance.

He knocked on the door as instructed and only had to wait a minute for his best friend to appear and for Isaac to drive off.

“Happy Birthday!” Scott said cheerfully as he locked the door behind Stiles.

“Thanks man,” Stiles said smiling.

Scott quirked his eyebrow when he noticed the bandanna around Stiles’ neck. “Why are you wearing that?”

“Its a gift from Isaac,” Stiles said.

He saw Scott bite his lip as if he was trying to keep from laughing.

“He was with me when I opened it. I couldn't just not wear it!” Stiles said defensively.

Scott just shook his head and changed the subject. “So, you know how you’ve always want me to watch Star Wars?”

Stiles lit up, embarrassment over the bandanna forgotten. “Yeah?”

“I have A New Hope ready to watch in theater 10.”

Stiles gasped. “Not only do I get to share your first Star Wars experience with you but we get the theater with the beds?”

Scott nodded. “Only the best for my best friend. You can even have whatever you want from the snack counter.”

Stiles sniffled and pretended he was crying. “This is the best day of my life.”

Scott laughed as Stiles launched himself into his arms to give him a hug.

Stiles was still staring at the bear Scott had handed him while he waited for Erica and Lydia to finish picking out his clothes for dinner that they were apparently having at some nice restuarant.

“Stiles, you need to try these on,” Erica said. “And take off that thing around your neck.”

Stiles tied the bandanna around the bear and handed it to Lydia.

After half an hour of them throwing clothes at him , sending him to the dressing room and passing final judgements on him, they finally found him what they deemed to be the perfect outfit. His perfect outfit consisted of a black dress shirt, grey suspenders, a grey bow tie, black jeans and sleek black dress shoes.

Erica dragged him to the arcade while Lydia went to get something.

They played guitar hero, Erica winning almost every time, until Lydia reappeared with a present for Stiles.

Please don’t be another weird present.

He opened it and suppressed a frown when he saw it was a brush.

“Thanks Lydia,” He said. “Been meaning to get a new one.”

Lydia and Erica exchanged a look and he didn’t like the knowing smiles they shared.

“Ready to be handed off to Allison and Boyd?” Erica asked.

“You make it sound like I’m a kid you’re dumping off on someone else,” Stiles griped.

“Well if the tattered converse fits,” Lydia said.

Stiles took his bear from her defiantly and started leading the way out of the mall muttering,”When do I get to see Malia? At least she’s nice to me.”

The girls laughed at his petulance, but he really did hope he would get to see Malia soon. As nice as the day she planned had been, it didn’t feel right to go so long without seeing her.

His time with Allison and Boyd driving go karts flew by, and after yet another strange gift, a tiny soccer ball, it was finally time for him get dressed for dinner. He almost whined when he learned he wasn’t allowed to go home until after dinner, but stifled it just in time.

They ended up at Dave & Busters, and Stiles wondered why they made him dress nice, especially since they were dressed casually. He felt a little better when he spotted Malia.

She was leaning on her car wearing red dress and black flats, waiting for them and he almost dropped his presents as he practically ran towards her.

She kissed him chastely before telling him to put his presents in the car.

“How was your day so far?” Malia asked when he was ready to go inside.

“It was amazing,” He admitted as he took her hand in his,”but it was missing something.”

“Oh? What was that?” She asked, looking a bit worried.

“You,” Stiles said with what probably would qualify as a cheesy grin.

Malia smiled, worry draining from her features. “Well I’ve been busy all day.”

“Doing what?” he asked curiously.

“You’ll see later,” She promised.

“Can’t wait.”

After dinner, Malia took Stiles to the diner where they’d had their first date. She ordered them milkshakes, strawberry banana for herself and a chocolate one for Stiles as well as a two slices of cherry pie.

“So, when do I get to see your surprise?” Stiles asked.

“As soon as we get home,” Malia said. “What did everyone else get you?”

“Stuff I didn’t expect, that’s for sure.”

Stiles told her about all of his gifts and how he didn’t understand why their friends would choose to give them to him. He saw her smile like she knew something he didn’t as she adjusted his bowtie.

“I’ve been meaning to ask, why are we dressed up?” Stiles asked.

“Well, I needed you away from the apartment today, so I told Erica and Lydia to keep you busy. I didn’t know they were making you dress up until they texted me.” Malia explained. “And then I figured I should probably dress nice too so you weren’t the only one overdressed for Dave & Buster’s.”

Stiles laughed. “And here I was thinking you’d planned for us to go somewhere swanky.”

“No, I didn’t think you’d want that.”

No, I really wouldn’t.

Stiles kissed her cheek and stole the bite of pie she was about to put in her mouth.

“Hey!” Malia protested.

Stiles winked at her, smirking the best he could while trying to eat.

Malia laughed mussed up his hair.

They spent the rest of their time at the diner feeding each other pie and talking about whatever came to mind.

As Stiles was about to turn the doorknob to their apartment, Malia stopped him. He looked at her curiously and saw she was holding out a present to him.

Hopefully this is something normal.

It wasn't.

“A collar?” Stiles was perplexed by the small red collar and the attached tags.

Just as he was going to crack a joke about Malia having a weird kink, he heard barking from inside the apartment.

“You didn’t!” He exclaimed.

Malia smiled and opened the door to their apartment.

A tiny English shepherd was staring up at him, barking excitedly.

“You got me a dog?!” Stiles crouched down and held his hand out to the puppy to let it sniff him.

“You've been wanting one for so long, and I could finally afford the deposit, so I thought why not?”

The black, brown and white puppy licked his hand and Stiles picked it up.

“So, what do you think of her?”

Stiles looked up to see Jordan walking out of the bathroom wearing one of his shirts.

“I love her,” Stiles said, nuzzling against the puppy who licked his face.

Suddenly all the weird presents made sense.

They weren’t really for me.

Stiles froze suddenly as he realized something.

“What’s wrong?” Malia asked.

“Did she pee on you? She’s done that to me twice now.” Jordan said.

“No....I just...I wore a bandanna meant for a dog most of the day,” Stiles answered. “I thought it was weird Isaac bought me a gift.”

No wonder he was so pleased to put it on me.

“I told everyone to buy gifts for the puppy, but to not give anything away, but I swear I didn’t know he was going to do that. “ Malia said,

The puppy sniffed at Stiles’ ear and he laughed.

“You know what? It doesn’t matter because I have this little sweetheart.” Stiles went over to the couch to put the collar on her.

While he was busy with the puppy, Malia saw Jordan out then took Stiles’ presents over to him.

“What are you going to name her?”

“I don’t know yet,” Stiles said distractedly.

It was hard for Malia to get his attention after that, but she didn’t mind. Seeing her boyfriend so happy made everything worth it.

After the puppy fell asleep on Stiles’ lap, he pulled her into a brief kiss and said,”Thank you for today. t was probably the best birthday I've ever had.”

Malia ran her fingers through his hair. “I wouldn’t thank me yet.”

“Why’s that? You didn’t get me anything else did you?”

“No, but it means I expect a lot for my birthday,” She said.

Stiles laughed.

Malia smiled and kissed his forehead.

He grabbed her face and guided her until their foreheads were resting together. “I know you’re joking, but I’m going to pull out all the stops for your birthday, Malia Tate. You just wait.”

"I'm looking forward to it," She said.

I really like writing fluff tbh. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed!- Jay

#stalia #stalia ficlet #stiles x malia #Anonymous

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