#miss those goth babies

[ladykakata]

My List of Demands for Hades II

ZAGREUS

I'm just going to list Zagreus until I run out of breath. I just need to see my baby boy again okay please tell me he's still as sweet and handsomes as ever

WHERE IS THANATOS we need our resident irritable goth to partner with the Prince of the Underworld

CERBERUS a lot of people noticed he was missing from the family portrait with baby Mel, he cannot have come to total harm otherwise there would be a massive riot and there'd be no game because Hades himself would go NUCLEAR if anything happened to his pupper

The Furies will be interesting. Meg can be salty somewhere far away from me, but Alecto getting her ass kicked by someone who isn't Zagreus would be novel. I'm betting at least two people (Meg and Zag) would make sure DUSA is safe and she's small enough/can float where she can disappear somewhere if need be

Hermes BETTER be married to Charon I swear to Gods you CANNOT put him in THAT outfit and not have them married come on. I doubt the game would let me have Zag and Than be underworld husbands but at least give THOSE TWO as a gift to the fandom

ACHILLIES AND PATROCLES. I did not watch the entire storyline playthrough multiple times and just adore how married they are only for something to mess that up. Even if it's just Patrocles holding Achilles back from attacking Odysseus I'm here for it let me see my uncles again

I'm not too worried about Persephone because a) Hades would move dimensions in order to keep her safe without hesitation and b) Grandma Demeter has her war gear on so Chronos is fucked either way

Zagreus ... mi son ... plz ... where mi son ...

[cinellieroll]

☆ random aot headcanons!

eren, armin, mikasa, sasha, connie <3

cw: modern au, slight angst but nothing too graphic. there might be grammar errors too bc fuck proofreading honestly

small note: so the reason why i took so long to post is because i had to do a lot of things and my old draft got fucking DELETED and that affected my motiviation to write so...im so sorry 😭

armin:

- during armins childhood he used to be scared of dogs until he came over eren's house often. his fear of dogs eventually disappeared. (i hc that erens family had a dog that time and its a german shepherd)

- armin has had his own small shelf of books ever since he was a baby! he got his bookwork attitude from his father.

- meanwhile he got his manipulating skills from his mama (and no i don't mean this in a bad way. armins mom is a girlboss.)

- went to church every sunday when he was young till his early teens. eventually stopped because he became more and more devoted in school.

- every year he looks forward to vacations the most because thats where he gets to visit his other relatives in the province! they live nearby the ocean and armin always receives trinkets and seashells from them.

- if you ever get to live with armin expect a lot of magnets on the fridge. especially if they're beach related like seashells, squids and fish!

- always has chapstick everywhere he goes especially in school because he has a bad habit of biting on the skin on his lips.

- loaded with stationery bro like you name it, he has it

- he's kind of a picky eater and also has a few allergies like shrimp or a specific fish.

eren:

- had a lot of game merch as a kid. minecraft, fortnite, etc. you name it, he has it.

- very much a computer addict during his teenage years. his parents constantly scolded him for it and they eventually got tired of scolding him lmao

- has been sent to the guidance quite many times because of his recklessness. like every fucking school year you'll hear my boy in the guidance.

- the fact that jean has teased him way too many times because of it doesn't help

- one of those bitches who turns their pfp into a black screen and posts on his story "hiatus." then comes back the next day

- mikasa was mainly the one who taught him to drive, including levi

- road rage thats all im sayin

- during elementary and highschool there's never a day where he doesn't fall asleep in class. usually falls asleep in math or history

- always compares heights with mikasa to sew if he finally grew taller than her

mikasa:

- entered her goth phase once she reached highschool

- from other peoples perspective, they'd think miksasa would be a smoker but in truth she actually hates it. one of her main priorities are self care after all

- very strict with her work out routine. she can't miss a day of it unless it's her cheat day

- her cheat day is like once every 3 months bro

- but it's good for you because she lets you join her. if you're lucky she'll let you sit on your back while she does push ups ;)

- joined jujitsu and taekwando with eren when they were younger

- started walking to school by her own or with eren and armin when she turned 15

- always rolls her eyes or side eye people unintentionally

- very protective of her girl friends. if you're close enough with her she'll always accompany you everywhere like how she does with eren. she's constantly asking where you are on weekends and on school days she'll be waiting for you outside your classroom breaks.

sasha:

- enjoys and i mean ENJOYS going to the mall and always look forward to cinemas. she'll invite all her friends for a good movie date!

- her favorite genre is horro and likes to watch conjuring with connie.

- her favorite color is purple and yellow!

- another one who falls asleep in class alongside connie

- after school convenience store hangoutd are very common when you're friends with her!

- if you're in a friend group with her and you feel left out, she'll most likely be the one to notice.

- no worries, she'll make you feel right at home!

- (istg this is the reason why ppl cry over her death i lub her sm..)

- very loud and obnoxious laughs but its okay because it's sasha

connie:

- is a basketball varsity student! to be honest he likes every sport where he gets to run and jump alot because it "fuels" something inside of him

- no school items whatsoever like he lost all of them after a month. he prays for the best and just picks up pens and pencils on the ground.

- always does bets with his friends. usually consists of who will treat everyone free food after school

- likes banana icecream / popsicles. like the ones where you peel it and stuff. also a slurpee lover. dude he just buys anything he finds delicious in the store

- sings out loud in the hallways when he's in an especially good mood. bro he got scoldes by the teachers once

- mainly teases jean out of all his friends but i feel like thats already canon

- HE DOES THAT THING THAT OLDER BROTHERS DO WHERE THEY BLOCK YOU AND DO A BASKETBALL MOVE ISTG ITS INFURIATINGGGGG

- also glides his hand on the ceilings when he gets the chance

- his bag smells like ass

[marvelfanfn2187a113]

Girls’ Night

Dean Winchester x little sister!reader, Sam Winchester x little sister!reader

Requested by Anonymous

Synopsis: Y/N wants to try out some girly hobbies with the boys

A/N: this one turned out so short 😅. But I still think it’s pretty cute.

“I want some nail polish.”

Dean put down the pie he was holding and turned to look at the ten year old leaning on the cart.

“Nail polish? What for, baby?”

“To paint nails,” you said in a ‘duh’ tone.

“Ok…” Dean was surprised by the sudden request, but still. wandered over to the beauty section. “Pick a color.”

“What color do you want?”

Dean scoffed, “Who cares? It’s not for me?”

The silence that followed was awkward, to say the least. “Honey? That’s not for me, is it?”

You huffed, “I wanna practice on someone else!”

“No no no, you’re not gonna-“ Dean stopped. “Alright, when did Sam teach you the puppy dog eyes?” He groaned. “Ok, but you’re using this.” Dean held up a bottle of clear nail polish.

“I gotta do some in color, Dean!” You protested.

“Ok, one can be black, but that’s it, ok? I’m not walking around like some emo goth Ken doll.”

You grinned, “Deal.”

…

“Hey, not bad,” Dean held up his hand for you to see his nails, and you grinned.

“Sammy, come see!”

“No no, wait-“ Dean tried to stop you, but it was too late.

“Ok, ok, it’s not that funny,” Dean groaned as Sam doubled over laughing.

“Oh yes it is. Smile!”

Dean was too late to hide his painted nails from the camera.

…

“What are you doing?” Sam tried to turn his head when he felt you tugging at his hair, but your cry of protest made him freeze.

“I’m trying to learn how to braid, now stay still,” you instructed.

“You’re…braiding my hair?” Sam wriggled in his seat, but ultimately decided to leave you alone. “Hey kiddo, can I ask you something?”

“Uh-huh,” you mumbled, your eyebrows drawn together in concentration as you worked on Sam’s hair.

“What’s with the sudden interest in this stuff?”

You were silent for several long moments.

“The girls talk about it.”

“What?” Sam asked, confused.

“At lunch, at school,” you explained. “Katie talks about getting her nails done with her mom, and Priscilla always has some kind of new braid that her mom did up for her. Sometimes the girls braid each other’s hair before going out, but I…” you sighed, sounding frustrated. “But I don’t know how to do that.”

“Oh,” Sam wasn’t quite sure what to say. He hadn’t grown up with a mom either, but it was different for him. He didn’t miss out in the same way you did.

Dean, who’d been standing in the doorway listening, made a mental note to learn how to braid hair so that you could go to school with your hair up like you wanted it. He remained silent though, wanting to let you and Sam have your moment.

“Done!” You announced, grinning as you put your hands down.

“What? No way,” Sam was incredulous. “You couldn’t have gotten a braid in it, It’s not long enough for that!”

Dean finally decided to make his presence known, pulling out his phone as he stepped into the room.

“Oh yes it is. Smile!”

Dean printed the image out and hung it up right next to the image of him with his painted nails, and the brothers never let each other forget those moments.

[arotaro]

I love voidpunk but I’m also curious about if there are any guidelines or rules, like what things are allowed and what things aren’t? /genq sorry if you’ve answered this before or answered something similar and I missed it I’m not super pro at finding stuff 😭 also double sorry if it’s an offensive question to ask. I’m genuinely not trying to offend you I’m just trying to learn more and since I’m kind of a baby queer I want to make sure the words I use fit me.

You can check the voidpunk tag on my blog, since I have talked about it before, but I'll go over some quick points:

There is no "requirement" for participating in voidpunk. Anyone who tells you "oh, only such-and-such group can be voidpunk" or anything along those lines is lying. HOWEVER:

The "punk" part of voidpunk is not there for no reason. It is tied to the punk subculture and it's best to have a general understanding of this subculture before participating in voidpunk. Also, voidpunk is specifically a reaction to dehumanization, and it's important to understand that certain people experience this more than others. People of color get dehumanized. Disabled people get dehumanized. People with personality disorders get dehumanized. Trans people get dehumanized. Aspecs get dehumanized. etc. etc. We are here to call attention to and take power away from this, not to be niceys about it. I left the voidpunk subreddit and its associated Discord server because it was full of entitled white cunts who acted like they couldn't possibly be racist because they were autistic or some shit and I was being sooooo mean and disruptive for asking them not to be blatantly racist, and I just want to make it clear that if this had been a real life social group and not an online space, I would have knocked their teeth out. Understand? That said, you don't have to be every oppressed minority ever to participate in voidpunk- you just have to be respectful and willing to listen.

One misconception I see very often is that voidpunk is some sort of personal identity along the lines of otherkin, etc. This is not true. Voidpunk is an aesthetic and philosophy, NOT about genuinely believing yourself to be inhuman. There certainly may be people who identify as both voidpunk and otherkin, or what have you, and that's fine! That's cool! I love those people. But they're not synonymous and should not be treated as such. You don't assume I'm really a vampire because I'm goth, right?

Also, the "void" part of voidpunk doesn't really mean anything. Genuinely, it was chosen because it sounds cool. I think another misconception I see sometimes is that voidpunk specifically is about like, literal voids or shadows or black holes or space or something, which is not true. It's kinda whatever. There are as many flavors of voidpunk as there are blue guys in the X-Men.

Have fun!

[444rockstargf]

BROOKLYN BABY. - euronymous

✩♬.ᐟ now playing: brooklyn baby. - ultraviolence

⊹₊⋆ synopsis: my boyfriend's in a band...

✮⋆˙ [tags] @faesucksass @lustkillers @mayathepsychic1999 @josibunn @si1nful-symph0ny @vanlisbon @livingdead-reilly @oliviah-25 @lankysimp @auggiethecreator @livingdead-materialgirl @monkeyfart

female!reader x r!euronymous

word count: 1.0k

contents: mentions of sex, some fluff, cheating, emotional euro

they all said that you were too young to love him. wherever you went with him, you could feel the stares of judgment following your every step. your friends, family, and even his bandmates couldn’t wrap their heads around the fact that you were with the lord of darkness himself. but he made you feel free. like a raven and a dove. opposites truly did attract.

you often wondered about how odd it was when you stumbled across him. you were a cool, careless teenager with a love for metal that you couldn’t explain. then you saw him, his dark long hair, that icy gaze, and the way his fingers danced across those electric frets. you could churn out and endless amount of novels just on how effortlessly he caught your eye that night.

then it was official. your heavy metal, goth boyfriend was in a band. you felt superior knowing that you were dating the eye candy that shredded on stage. and when you were alone, he’d play his guitar quietly as you sang to him. behind closed doors, you would decorate his hair with bows, roses, and even feathers, getting him all dolled up for you as slow music played in the background. you listened to all the records he owned, whether they were his or not, and teased him whenever you came across something that wasn’t death metal.

you got down to all sorts of music, but smooth jazz had put a chokehold around him. he would go from rocking out to metal, to fucking you senseless as you played your jazz collection for him, his cock pounding into you as he buried his head into your chest, holding you tenderly. his rough exterior melted away instantly as he felt your warm breath running down his neck, your sweet whimpers sounding like music to his ears as he filled you up so, so well.

the criticism never went away. you were young and ignorant, not knowing the consequence that could come with associating with him. you knew how dumb you were, opening your heart to such a dangerous man without a second thought. but you knew him in a way that no one else could understand. they could paint you and him in a bad light all they wanted, but you didn’t give a damn. 

he was the thing that you had been missing your whole life. you were like fire and water, like the wind and the sea. he burned up, and you cooled him down, helping him enjoy the little things in life, even though he was too blind to see. though your relationship was frowned upon, you knew it was perfect. you’re opposites simply allowed you to understand each other on a tangible level.

but times had changed, and soon enough your boyfriend became the hottest thing in town. the crowd in his concerts had doubled, then tripled in size, and he began drawing in a new audience. girls who didn’t actually care about music, or the art that went into it. they wanted to be as cool as he was and roll around in his sheets for a little. but he loved the attention. he basked in all the glory, and even gave into the groupies every once in a while. you had confronted him many times, but he never liked the way you said it. you had brought him up to where he was today, and if he didn’t appreciate it, he could just forget it.

the word spread across town like wildfire. “did you hear, my boyfriend’s in that band.” you heard it around countless times from hundreds of girls a day. you still showed up at his concerts, but you didn’t know why the hell you bothered. you always caught a glimpse of him after a show, his hand up a different girl’s skirt every day. you fucking hated it.

he couldn’t deny that he was enjoying the publicity, but he was unable to shake the memory of you from his mind. with he new girl he brought to his place and threw out just as quickly, he felt a new part of his heart starting to ache. you had loved him when he was nothing, and he discarded you as soon as he turned into somebody. he had turned into the exact thing that he swore against, and he hated himself for it.

he saw you in the crowd one night, hands shoved in your pockets as you focused on everything but him. he’d made plans for after the show, but he spotted you walked alone and he had to take his take. he ran up behind you, sheepishly tapping you on the shoulder. you turned around, meeting his gaze with your own, your expression instantly hardening. he backed down a little, looking at the ground and fidgetting with the zipper of his dark leather jacket.

you scowled as he met your eyes. he tries to smile, but it comes out as a grimace. “l-long time no see. how’ve you been?” you could tell that he was struggling to make conversation, so you softened your face a little. “guess you’re famous and all that.” you flick the dark red guitar pick necklace that hung from his neck. the one that you had given him all those months ago. his cheeks flush with embarrassment as he clears his throat. “yeah…” he looks down at the necklace. “i never do a show without it. brings me good luck or something.” 

you smile a little, rolling your eyes. “so that’s what’s helping you bring all these girls in, huh?” your tone was laced with bitterness, and his face fell once more. he took a deep shaky breath, trying to find his words. “about that, i owe you an apology. i-i…” he swallows hard. “it was real shitty of me to leave you like that. i think about it every day and… i’ve missed you.” you smirk a little, giving him a light slap on his chest. “so, the lord of darkness isn’t so cool now?” he shyly brushs his hair out of his face, feeling his heart throb. “not as cool as you, baby.”

with that, he scooped you into his arms and kissed you deeply, his heart melting as it filled with the sensation that it had missed so dearly. a small crowd had gathered around you, murmuring, but you didn’t care. he was all yours once again.

author's note: it wont let me update the stupid masterlist yall :))

[futurecorps3]

hello! could i please request James Potter x Goth!Reader? She would be a hufflepuff, maybe he saw her once at the hallway defending some younger kids from some bullies and it was love at first sight uwu

𝐉𝐚𝐦𝐞𝐬 𝐏𝐨𝐭𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐱 𝐆𝐨𝐭𝐡!𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

Masterlist<3

Yay, this is so cute!! I wouldn't define my style as goth but it is more on the punk/grunge, so I hope I get this right. Thanks for requesting, nonnie! x

♡ Baby boy is so :(

♡ He holds no stereotypes or at the very least tries his best not to

♡ So, when he sees you defending a Gryffindor boy -surely a first year- from a group of Ravenclaws, it's safe to say he was head over heels.

♡ "Hey I-I just wanted to say that was very kind of you" all light voices trying to be masked by an overly confident body language because you're so tall in those boots holy shit you're intimidating

♡ You are until you flash a dazzling smile to him

♡ "It's the least I could do; poor kid was terrified of them. If only he knew we're all very scared of everything most of the time..." you wondered, walking to the covered bridge with your long, black leather coat floating almost divinely behind you

♡ "I-I'm James!" he shouts, hand in his fluffy hair as he stared at you go before turning around briefly and shouting back "I know!" with a giggle

♡ He was aghast, knowing he hadn't seen you before in all his years here. How could he miss you!?

♡ While you didn't share any classes, he made sure to take an extra look at the Hufflepuff table during lunch and found you there, giggling with your friends

♡ "James, eat up" Remus mumbled with a full mouth "He's in love, Moony. Let him enjoy the fleeting moments of joy that come with the sight of his belo-" "Shut up Sirius, I can't hear her"

♡ Not long after, he saw you in the steps for Hufflepuff during a Quidditch match. In a swift motion, he flew on his broom over to you

♡ "James!" you smiled. You were wearing a dress vest, a long raincoat and dress pants all in black, along with silver accessories "I'd say your name in the same excited tone but I don't have the pleasure of knowing it"

♡ He was such a charmer, couldn't help but blush a bit 🤭

♡ "It's Y/N, Y/N Y/L/N"

♡ My man felt butterflies, fireworks and his heart skipped a beat! It felt nice to say your name, a good feeling in his tongue that he couldn't get rid of

♡ Y/N, Y/N, Y/N

♡ He took a big deep breath and turned the slut on

♡ "You're on the wrong side of the stadium, darlin'. Should be on Gryffindor's side! Let me take you there" he said, offering his hand out, so you hopped on his broom

♡ You declined kindly, saying your friend was playing for the first time today and you couldn't leave.

♡ James feigned offence and winked before flying off with his signature smirk

♡ Two weeks later, at the match against Slytherin, he spotted a familiar face in the crowd while he stretched and played his best

♡ After that, you never really left his side

♡ You seemed to be everywhere! He found you in the library, during parties, on Hogsmeade and even in the hallways

♡ This turned you into something, making him ask you for a date eventually. A date you said yes to.

♡ Now to the dating part <3

♡ HE BUYS YOU GOTH SHIT HE KNOWS YOU'LL LIKE

♡ "Look! It's a silver cross!", "Baby I got this corset for you, they only had this tone of red though...", "I got your eyeliner refill... yes I know you still have some but it'll run out EVENTUALLY... love you too, dove”

♡ He borrows your crop tops ughhhh!!!

♡ Baby is so supportive!! Ofc you don’t care much about what people say about your style but if you ever have second guesses he makes sure to reassure you

♡ YOU BLESSED THIS WORLD WITH THE SIGHT OF JAMES POTTER WITH EYELINER

♡ He loves Siouxie and the Banshees bro, he’ll be forever grateful to you for showing him her cover of Passenger, originally by Iggy Pop

♡ Y’all go record shopping to the city <3

♡ “James, baby, I adore you but if Daniel Ash asked me out…”

♡ He gave you the silent treatment for like thirty minutes, caving when you pretended to be truly hurt

♡ James is a SUCKER for seeing you get ready

♡ Wether you wear huge eyeliner with intricate designs or just take a lot of time accessorizing, he’s there to admire and help in what he can!!

♡ Therefore, loves going shopping with you

♡ He incorporated some of your underground music knowledge to one up Sirius during muggle music discussions

♡ “Queen is great but have you heard Sisters of Mercy?” “James there’s not a point of comparison what the fuck are you talking abou-“

♡ Worships the ground you walk on pretty much

♡ You get many stares with different meanings when you walk through the school but the only one you care about is James’ lovesick gaze checking you out from one of the classroom’s doors

♡ “You’re so hot” he’d groan when you finally reach his arms before kissing you UGH SOMEONE BRING HIM TO ME NOW!!!

♡ Just imagining his linebacker figure, dressed in his jersey and being the sunshine he is next to you which are pretty much the opposite at first sight makes my heart all warm!!!!!!

♡ To end this, a random little hc I developed just now

♡ If you tend to be very all over the place and distracted like me, rest assured that James Potter knows where all your shit is

♡ “Love, have you seen my boots? The one’s with a bunch of buckles on them, can’t fin-“ “Bottom of the bed” …. “Jamie! Where’s my chain?” “Bats or coffin?” “Bats” “Top left drawer under your black shirt with the tiny holes on it”

♡ Sweet angel boy loves his goth girl!!

✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦ . 　⁺ 　 . ✦

Marauders taglist (DM or answer to be added): @kquil

[perotovar]

into the beat of the night (interlude) "shake"

pairing: frankie morales/oc!river price (they/them) rating: E (18+) chapter warnings: swearing, this is honestly just pwp, fingering, squirting, multiple orgasms (referenced), overstimulation, frankie being a god damn menace, sub!river this time, takes place sometime after ch6 but could realistically be read as standalone as long as you know they're together. if i missed anything else lmk! word count: 1.3k dividers by @saradika-graphics beta: @scenaaario

for notifications, follow @oakslibrary and turn on alerts ♥

series summary: frankie thought he had himself figured out by now. he liked both men and women, had dated both in the past. but when someone that challenges what he thinks that means comes into his life, in an unlikely place, he truly learns who he is, and more importantly, who he loves.

series masterlist

Frankie’s often thought about how lucky he is: his honorable discharge, whatever got him out of Colombia mostly intact, and Marisol’s presence when he wasn’t sure he had anything to keep going for.

But he thinks walking into that goth club might be slowly making its way up the list for him.

“F-Frankie,” River panted, looking pleadingly up at him with big, wet eyes. “Please,” they whined. They dug their blunt nails into his shoulder with one hand, and gripped around his wrist with the other. “I’m–”

“Shh…” Frankie smirks, speeding up the pace of his fingers. “I’ve only got a few more minutes before I gotta leave for work, okay? We still need at least two more.”

River groaned, swollen lips parted as they watched those thick fingers of his appearing and disappearing inside of them. They had been at it since Frankie’s alarm clock went off early that morning. He woke up in a determined mood, and River lost count of how many orgasms Frankie had given them. Their head lolled back against Frankie’s arm, long hair draped over the only thing keeping them upright. River’s legs trembled, one foot dangling off the dining room table, and the other planted against the surface of the table. 

Frankie watched their eyes glaze over and the blush on their cheeks deepen in color. They were close, he could tell. “You gonna be good and give me another one?” He grinned, removing the two fingers inside them, a satisfying squelch hitting his ears. River moaned weakly at the emptiness, their chest heaving before they gulped and nodded as they looked up at his face. He pressed the pads of those two fingers against their clit and rubbed in tight little circles. “C’mon, baby,” he grumbled against their neck before sucking lightly at the tattooed flesh.

River whined pathetically, their thighs shaking even harder around his arm. The hand that was around his wrist moved to brace themselves on the table. Their fingernails dug into the table as they scratched against the wood. “F-fuck,” they moaned, biting their lip. Blood thundered in their ears in time with their rapid heartbeat. “I-inside, please.”

“Only because you asked so nicely,” Frankie smirked, his bear paw of a hand covering them entirely as he swirled around their clit a few more times. His middle finger teasingly moved from their clit down to their opening at an agonizingly slow pace, making River groan in frustration. He chuckled darkly, slipping the tip of his finger inside them until it was as deep as it could go. River’s whole body went taut briefly before relaxing, their hips meeting the rhythm his hand was making in a gentle wave. “Mmm, very good,” he hummed, kissing up their neck until his lips latched onto their earlobe to nibble lovingly.

The surface of the table between River’s legs was soaked. They’d built up a little puddle as Frankie pulled orgasm after orgasm out of them, and it was about to get even worse. Their eyes shot open as the feeling low in their tummy felt… different. “Frankie,” they whimpered, looking at him with those big eyes again. “I’m– It’s not–”

Frankie looked at their face with mock worry, slipping his ring finger in alongside the middle one. “What is it, sweet thing?” He grinned, picking up the pace of his fingers again. Their pussy was loud, wet squelching sounds filling the air around them. He pressed the pad of his thumb against their clit and rubbed hard. River’s eyes rolled back and they moaned out into the apartment, unable to speak.

“Can’t even say anything, can you?” He pouted, his tone saccharine. The arm holding them up moved slightly so he could tangle his fingers into their long hair, the tips running over the back of their neck teasingly. He gripped onto their sweaty hair and forced them to look him in the eye. “You gonna come? Look at me when you do.”

River’s entire body shuddered as they nodded obediently, biting their lip.

“Good,” Frankie grumbled lowly, watching their face closely. It didn’t take much longer after that for their face to twist in pleasure and for their hips to halt all movement as they came hard. River’s body shook like a leaf as wetness covered Frankie’s entire hand. “Mmm, that’s it,” he hummed comfortingly, the hand on the back of their head cradling their neck. River’s hips rolled with the waves of their orgasm, making them whine pathetically. “Shh…” Frankie kissed their forehead, keeping his curved nose buried in their hair. They wrapped their shaking arms around Frankie’s torso as the last few aftershocks wracked through their body.

“C-can’t go again,” they panted, face buried in the fabric of his t-shirt. 

“‘S okay, baby, I know,” he smiled, kissing the top of their head. He slid his fingers out of them, one final gush of slick landing in the little puddle on the table. Frankie’s hand gripped River’s hip and pulled their body towards his own so he could hold them for a few moments. They stayed wrapped in each other’s arms for a little while until River came down and could breathe evenly again. “Was a big one, huh?” 

River hummed in satisfaction and nodded against his chest. Their hair was messy and sticking to every part of their sweaty body. 

“You want some water?” 

River squeezed their arms around Frankie’s soft middle before saying, “Yes, please,” in a quiet voice.

“You’re gonna have to let go of me for that, Río,” Frankie grinned.

River pouted before reluctantly detaching from him. He looked over their flushed face and relaxed body, smiling to himself. He leaned over and pressed his lips to theirs in a gentle kiss, but it slowly built to something deeper. River hummed into his mouth and cupped his cheeks with their hands. Frankie parted and pressed his forehead to theirs. “Be right back,” he whispered, eyes never leaving their face until he stepped into the kitchen next to them. 

“Wait, don’t you have work?” River asked from the table, pointedly sitting next to the little puddle they created. “And could you grab some paper towels?” They added quietly, a blush creeping up their neck.

“I can be a few minutes late,” Frankie said as he came into the dining room, a glass of water in one hand and a roll of paper towels in the other. He handed them the glass first and set the paper towels next to them on the table. He made a little growly sound deep in his chest at the sight, but forced himself not to act on it. He couldn’t be that late. 

“I’ll take care of it,” River smiled shyly, taking a big gulp of water. 

“You better,” Frankie smirked, hands laying on their thighs as he stepped between their legs again. “Want you to take a shower while I’m gone, okay? And do one of those weird face masks you like so much. Since I can’t be here to take care of you properly,” he frowned, kissing their cheek. 

“Yes, sir,” River rolled their eyes and pinched his hip. They took another drink of their water and set the empty glass behind them on the table. “You better go.”

Frankie sighed and nodded, giving them one final, proper kiss before he stepped back. He reached the door and grabbed his keys from the little dish on the table. When he looked back, River was leaning on their elbows on the table, one leg gracefully draped over the other. Their tattooed skin was shiny with sweat still and they were perfectly content with staying naked right on his dining room table. A shiver traveled down Frankie’s spine at the sight of them.

River waved their hand at him and giggled mischievously. “Go!”

Frankie shut the door behind him with a smile on his face, and a tightness in his jeans he hoped would be gone by the time he got to work.

[allyheart707]

So my sona hasn't really made an appearance due to me not being much of an artist or posting my own stuff very often, but the pfp on my writing blog is kind of an early version of her. She's a humanoid Gold Cross variation nine-tailed fox, (because Gold Cross foxes are gorgeous and I love them), and she has the ability to turn into a human when she needs to. This is the human:

Because of course it is I use her image for almost all my main characters because she resembles me so it's just easy. I'm also goth so of course she is too. When in human form her eyes are blue but in her fox form they're red-orange. She also usually only has one tail out unless she needs to use a lot of power for something and they all come out, and her eyes glow blue when she's using her magic in human form and red in fox form. And she can shrink down to a normal four-legged fox as well if she wants to. And she has mental powers because I love giving characters mental powers so at points where it seems like she knows what other characters are thinking it's because she actually does know. But she doesn't intentionally read minds unless given permission or prompted by a dire need. She just knows surface level thoughts because she can't control seeing those most of the time.

Anyway sorry for the info dump I just really love my girl and sorry this took me a bit I've had an interesting day. Here's my girl trying to rescue some turtle babies! Starting out in her human form because how else can she infiltrate a top-secret high-security government building?

"Well, I do love kids. And I have been told I'm good with them."

I turn away from the scientist to look in the window. The four mutant turtle children I was told about are bouncing around what looks like an interrogation room, climbing over the table and running around it. One of them is even making faces through the window.

"So, hopefully that'll work in my favor...." I'm suddenly concerned with the fact that these are actual children thrown into an interrogation room like crime suspects.

"Hopefully," the man rolls his eyes, moving past me to open the door. "We're running out of options here."

"Can I ask a quick question though?" This is a bad idea. I shouldn't do this.

He turns to me, glaring, obviously just wanting to get this "interview" over with.

"What?"

Just do your job, May.

"Is there possibly somewhere else I could take them? To make them feel more comfortable?"

Dammit.

He squints at me, not understanding why their comfort would even be a thought on my mind.

"This is an interrogation, not a playdate."

"They're children. What if a playdate is what it takes to get them talking?"

He thinks for a moment, glancing towards the kids in the window.

"Well, there's their bedroom, I suppose. They're not allowed many places. For obvious reasons."

Don't you dare ask.

"What if I took them around the facility?"

Stop it!

This earns me another glare as he whips his head back towards me.

"Why would you do that?"

"Well, they've gotta be curious, right? Don't worry! I won't be taking them anywhere they absolutely shouldn't go! Just, like, the hallways in the main area and places other agents don't frequent. And places they can't mess with or break anything important. They don't know what they're missing, right? Since they've never seen it before? So they won't know I'm not actually showing them anything important."

He ponders for a moment, turning the idea over in his head and going through all the pros and cons. He seems to be leaning towards a negative response when he suddenly sighs and shakes his head, clearing all the thoughts away.

"Fine. But remember, there are cameras everywhere. If you do anything against protocol or allow them to do anything damaging to the building or the project, you're fired."

"Of course! I would never."

He studies me again for a long moment before opening the door and motioning for me to enter the room.

"Hi boys!" I greet cheerily once I can see all of them. "How are you all doing today?"

"Great!" The little box turtle exclaims, jumping up onto the table. "I've never seen this room before!"

"You haven't?" I ask, patting his head, much to his delight. "What do you think it's for?"

"Games?" He asks hopefully.

"It's an interrogation room," the softshell states, sitting in a chair next to the table. "Like I told you. It's where they ask people questions."

The slider leans against the wall and crosses his arms with attitude.

"I'm not telling you people anything."

"Oh, I'm not here to ask those types of questions," I explain.

"What are you here for, then?" The softshell asks, skeptical.

"I'm your new teacher!"

The little turtle lights up at this, eyes growing as wide as possible as he leans forward in the chair. The others seem confused.

"What's that?" The snapper asks.

"A teacher is someone who helps you learn things you don't know," I explain. "We're in this room because they didn't have any other rooms prepared, but hopefully one day we can have an actual classroom!"

"Yes!" The softshell jumps up and down in excitement, waving his hands around. "And we can learn things properly, just like the people in my books!"

I have to smother a laugh at that. I wasn't expecting them to be this cute.

"Pft," the slider scoffs. "What can you learn from books? Can you teach us how to fight? That would be useful."

"I can," I lean down to his level and whisper in his ear. "I happen to be a very strong ninja who trained under the greatest ninja master of all time."

His eyes widen, and I see a glimmer of his own excitement shine in his eyes as he looks to me with a new sense of awe and admiration.

Straightening back up, I look around to all of them.

"Now! My name is May. Before we get started, I would like to know all of your names as well."

The box turtle and softshell give each other a strange look, but the snapper jumps forward excitedly.

"I'm Raph!" He answers me with his tail wagging happily behind him.

"Hi Raph," I pat his head, and he squeaks in delight.

"Heishi..." The slider says quietly.

"Nice to meet you, Heishi," I hold my hand out to him. After a quiet moment of staring, he tentatively takes it, shaking it slowly.

"We don't have names," the softshell tells me.

"Yeah we do!" The box turtle jumps back up from having sat down on the table. "Raph told us!"

"Shh!" The softshell scolds his brother, pulling his arm to have him sit again. The box turtle does so, pouting.

"If you don't want to tell me your names, how about I just call you Orange and Purple? Because of the colors of your markings."

The box turtle looks down at his arms as if he's never seen the spots before while the softshell scrunches up his nose.

"It's just for now, anyway," I reassure them. "Just until you're comfortable with telling me your names or you come up with your own."

The orange one turns to his brother with a questioning look, and receives a shrug in response. He then turns back to beam at me and nods.

"Alright then!" I clap my hands together. "Let's get started. Today, we're going on a tour of the facility!"

Why must I always try to rescue animals I find? I mean, I know these are kids, but they belong to the government and are kept in a high-security building.

The plan I have is a good one, but it could end up putting the boys in danger if it goes wrong.

Heishi lights up at the prospect of seeing the rest of the building. He turns towards the door and looks back to us over his shoulder.

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!"

Donnie was fairly certain that something was up, though he didn't have enough of the pieces to figure it out just yet. Why would they take them to a brand new room just to take them out again? And especially when they knew how much of a flight risk Heishi was.... was she trying to give them a chance to escape?

Well, he wasn't going to jinx it, so he simply followed behind her quietly as she led them out of the interrogation room classroom?

In the map he had studied during their first failed escape, he had learned that there were six halls- all with different purposes. Hall C, however, was reserved entirely for them. It was the only hall they had ever been in and it was so alluring to know that there were six whole halls that they had never seen.

And then, outside of those halls...?

Not that it really mattered, because unless their new escape plan worked out better, Hall C was all he would ever see.

"This room is-" "The testing room. We know." He mumbled, rolling his eyes- The only reason they were having the tour was for their new subjects. Him and Mikey new everything on this hall by heart, and there was no way this stranger would be approved to take them out of it. "Yeah, but please, bare with me on this. I promise this tour will be a lot more interesting soon." She asked kindly as her face scanned the hall, looking for... something? What was she looking for?

Her eyes seemed to light up as one of the scientists in the hallway walked by Dr. Meanie-pants, striking up a conversation.

It wasn't going to keep him distracted for long, but it seemed a few seconds was all she needed for... whatever her plan was.

"Okay, follow me. Oh, and uuuuh, be prepared to run." She winked at them as she pulled Mikey with her, speed walking down the hall, past the testing room, then the meeting room, and Hall C's storage-

wait

Were they leaving hall C?!

[britcision]

Hey guys guess what? We’re finally out of the dang gala! However, because we did go back in for the explosion, now the boys don’t get to kiss until chapter 15 at the earliest

This chapter’s a little darker than the rest, we’re getting back into Jason’s death and Tim has finally done a google on Amity Park

Most prominently featured is Jason’s self loathing however, so do prepare yourselves for that after the Mariokart

The link to AO3 is in the first chapter

First chapter:

Last chapter:

——————

Not Over Til The Goth Lady Says Fuck

Well, Brucie Wayne hadn’t died. Gotham escaped annihilation by a sliver. There might still be something of worth left in this dump.

Vlad wandered amongst the guests as they returned to the main hall, wondering idly where those bloody Wayne “children” had all gone.

For all that people were sooo protective of them, no one seemed to care where they were during the actual danger. Typical.

Not that he minded. Vlad would be quite happy not to run into any of them again for quite some time. He had fences to mend first, and no desire to provide more fuel to the fire.

There was some form of commotion off to one side of the hall, yet more yelling, and Vlad let himself drift over. Honestly, the voices were almost familiar…

Although some of the more choice words weren’t. Vlad assumed they were vile exhortations of some sort, especially from the gasps of those around him.

It was actually rather impressive. He thought he had a rather extensive vocabulary of curses, but someone was putting him to shame.

At least his little moving bubble of space was useful as he made his way through the crowds. People who got too close soon realised who he was and pushed their way into the crowds to avoid him.

No jostling for Vladdie today. Maybe it wasn’t the very worst after all.

He was honestly a little surprised to find Samantha and Pamela Manson in full duet. As much as Samantha always wanted to scream herself hoarse at these events, usually she kept a lid on it.

It took a moment for the words to sink in, to realise that Daniel and young Jason were at the center of even this little ball of ire. His jaw dropped.

“I CANNOT believe you?! Why is it ALWAYS like this, EVERY TIME?! I was DEFENDING YOU and you can’t keep your legs shut for a minute at a time!” Samantha bellowed, fists clenched and a glint of tears in her eye.

“You utter HARLOT! Shameless STRUMPET, leading that INNOCENT BOY astray! DISGRACING my poor baby girl, you are WORSE THAN YOUR PARENTS Daniel Fenton!”

Pamela was actually crying, being held by her husband to prevent her from either running to Sam or full on attacking Daniel.

Vlad was going to put his money on attacking. The Manson women had a worrying streak of rage. Although…

Brows furrowing he tuned out the noise for a moment (Pamela had clearly been reading a lot of period romances) and focused on the thread of emotion he’d picked up.

Samantha was… delighted. Vlad might have suspected it was just at the chance to finally scream at a gala, but there were no darker feelings anywhere.

She was having a wonderful time. And Daniel and Jason, for all that they looked contrite, for all that Daniel’s head was slumped, were equally delighted.

Something was going on here, something all three young people had orchestrated. From the content of the yelling and the state of undress…

Vlad’s eyes widened. Daniel was wearing Jason’s tie. Jason’s shirt was missing three buttons.

Well that would certainly put both young men in an excellent mood, but at a gala?!

He was quite sure his cheeks must have blanched at just the thought. He’d noticed they were fond of each other, but so soon?

Perhaps Jason would have to be a son-in-law rather than an actual son. He simply wouldn’t accept the other way round, no matter how much Daniel might resist.

Daniel was perfect… if apparently a little easy. Not disloyal though, which was something of a relief. He’d never have considered Daniel capable, since he was loyal to his friends long past the point of fault.

Even now, he was perfectly happy to be harangued by both Samantha and her mother to allow Sam to make some sort of point.

He was distantly aware of the crowd parting again, but didn’t turn to acknowledge the arrival of… Brucie. He looked a little the worse for wear, likely from the thermos more than the actual rogues.

A thin smear of blood at his hairline betrayed where the thermos had struck, and the faint shadow of an oncoming bruise. He should probably be having someone scan his head, but since it usually appeared to be empty that was probably of little concern.

Well, he wasn’t likely to pay Vlad any mind.

Not with this little display.

**

Bruce had barely had time to pull Damian aside in the hopes of a debrief before shrieks and yelling once more filled the dining hall.

It couldn’t be Harvey after all, could it? As annoyed as Robin clearly was by the distraction, Bruce had no choice. He headed to the center of the yelling.

No matter how much it made his throbbing head pulse.

It definitely wasn’t Harvey at least. While Two Face probably knew all of the words being yelled, he would never say more than half of them. Not even at his worst.

The thought almost dragged a smile out of him, but a particularly loud curse rang off the marble and set up echoes in his skull. At least one of the voices was almost familiar.

The crowd parted without him having to jostle through it, and he’d never been more grateful to Gotham’s high society. Didn’t quite think about why they might want to help him get to the center of the action.

Damian - no, still Robin until he changed, had disappeared into the crowd at some point, but Bruce forged on anyway. He’d probably gone back to help Red Robin watch over Croc.

For now, he just had to focus on whatever else had gone wrong this evening, finally stepping through into an almost clear patch of floor and what must have been the commotion.

And arrived just in time to see Sam Manson turning from berating Danny and Jason, to point an accusing finger at her mother. Pamela actually shut up in surprise.

“And YOU! This is ALL your fault! If you had just let me be with Valerie this NEVER would have happened! She would NEVER do this to me! I’m NEVER dating another man again!”

Pamela looked like she might faint, her face pale as her daughter’s words sank in.

It didn’t take Gotham’s best detective to work out what must have happened. A quick glance at Danny and Jason showed them both… far more dishevelled than simply making out in the closet would allow.

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, clocking the missing buttons, ruffled hair, Jason’s still partially open pants, and his stomach sank.

At a gala. Even in the height of his playboy days, Brucie had never gotten caught at a gala. He had a sudden sympathy for Alfred and resolved to give the man his most sincere apologies.

If Bruce’s heyday was anything like this for the old man, he owed him far more than that. Maybe a fruit basket. A nice new shotgun.

He stepped forward quickly, taking advantage as Sam drew in a breath to try and inject some calm.

“I’m terribly sorry, but what has happened here?”

All eyes turned immediately to him and he spread his hands, gesturing for peace. Pamela rallied at once, pulling free of her husband and shooting Danny an utterly poisonous look.

“Oh I am so sorry Brucie, this is entirely my fault! We should never have brought that awful Fenton boy, he’s been CORRUPTING your poor Jason, taking advantage of him, he’s a dreadful influence!” She fluttered, clearly unsure where to direct her attention.

Behind her mother, Sam snorted loudly.

“It was Jason’s dick in Danny’s ass, MOM, I’m pretty sure he was involved!”

And that seemed to fluster both boys more than any of the previous yelling, Danny’s cheeks burning as he clapped both hands over his mouth. Jason was doing his best not to laugh.

Bruce gave him a Look, because they Would be discussing this later, and wasn’t in the least surprised when Jason just rolled his eyes. Still, there had to be limits.

Danny clearly had a far greater hold over Jason than he’d feared. It was an effort to force himself to remember Danny’s youth.

Bruce had been that age not all that long ago. And, as he’d just realised, probably a lot worse in certain specific ways. Perhaps they were just indiscrete. It didn’t all have to be a devious plot.

He gave Pam his very best soothing smile, taking her hand gently.

“It has been a very dramatic evening already, I’m sure the boys were just over excited. They will go and wash up and then Jason and I will have a quiet. Word.” He layered the last two words with intent.

Honestly, this was perfect. An excuse to get Jason alone, get a report direct from the source. Jason wouldn’t tell the truth, but Bruce knew him well enough to know what the lies he told concealed.

Sam Manson seemed equally derisive of the idea as Jason himself, shooting Bruce a vicious glare that looked eerily like her mother’s.

He almost took a step back. But she didn’t have that thermos anymore.

“Of course Famous Playboy Brucie doesn’t think fucking around with someone else’s partner is a big deal! Where do you think Jason learned it?” She snarked, sending an icy dagger straight into Bruce’s heart.

Had he done that? No, it was just his aching head. And the building wave of exhaustion. Jason knew as well as the others that the playboy thing was a front.

Had Jason ever had good relationship role models though? His parents certainly weren’t, and Bruce himself had definitely never been much of one.

If the closest thing he had was Talia, perhaps that explained why he’d fallen so easily under Danny’s sway…

His mind was wandering. Perhaps he should have one of his boys check him for a concussion.

As if summoned by his thoughts, suddenly Nightwing and Signal were there, pushing through the crowd. Thank all that was good that this was about to be not his problem for a while.

“Alright everyone, calm down, the cops are already on their way, let’s not also give them a murder,” Nightwing declared far too gleefully. It set off… something, but Bruce couldn’t quite put his finger on what.

Maybe taking the chance to head home early was a good idea after all. It wasn’t as though Jason would be courting donors for his own projects today.

No, Jason was courting much worse things, a dark little part of Bruce grumbled, and he fought to squash it down.

Jason was an adult, and whatever choices he made with other consenting adults, no matter how bad said choices were, were his own.

Since when were any of his baby boys old enough to be caught fooling around in closets?

Maybe he also needed to go and sit down.

**

Not getting to witness the explosion as himself kinda sucked, but Dick could accept getting to be there in costume instead.

It actually gave him an excuse to intervene, and meant he had a reason to try and pull Danny and Jason aside for Signal to get a good look at Danny.

They had hung back for a while, Nightwing not wanting to interrupt Sam’s frankly incredible vocabulary of curses, Signal just… trying desperately to work out what was going on.

Poor guy. Someone should have warned him.

Nightwing specifically probably should have warned him, but hey, too late for that now. Once Bruce had things mostly quieted down, Nightwing figured they should move in to wrap it up.

And sure, Sam was glaring at him again, but the big taser wasn’t actually in her hand yet so he was probably fine. He turned, giving Jason and Danny sweeping looks.

Not laughing got a whole lot harder when he took in the extent of their dishevelment. And the mostly unrepentant look on Jason’s face.

“Look, perhaps we should get these two young men to a bathroom, do some clean up and get you presentable again? And the young lady, wouldn’t you rather discuss this in private?” He offered brightly.

He knew full well Sam would not want to discuss it in private. But it gave her an excellent starting off point for another explosion.

Only helped when Pamela Manson immediately jumped on the idea.

“Oh yes, of course, we can all go and talk about things away from prying eyes,” she trilled, giving her daughter a significant look and not looking at their audience so obviously she might as well have stared.

Sam rallied magnificently, drawing herself up and sucking in a deep breath.

“And WHAT do you think I have to talk about with them?!” She demanded, and Danny took a very quick step back. Right into Jason, who caught him automatically.

Adorable. Nightwing wished he had a camera. The domino’s would had to do, and he took a couple quick snaps before turning back, not wanting to miss the fun.

Pam was now trying to calm her daughter down, like she hadn’t also been screaming invective and slut shaming Danny seven ways to Sunday.

She stepped forwards, hands held out placatingly, and stopped at Sam’s glare.

“Sammykins… I know you’re upset, but…”

“I would definitely like to leave,” Danny stage whispered, deliberately shifting in place.

Nightwing pressed his lips tight together to keep the smile from showing. Whether or not Danny and Jason were actually fucking in the closet, the boy committed to the bit.

“UPSET?!” Sam demanded, stepping closer to her mother now and making her back up.

As much fun as this part of the show was about to be, there was still a lil actual work to be done. Signal had definitely gotten a good look at Danny by now, but might as well get him alone.

Just to be able to prove it wasn’t anyone else in this room. Glancing around, he caught sight of Steph back in the crowd.

At least someone would still be there to enjoy the show.

He debated hauling Danny over his shoulder and carrying him out, but decided against it. Not least because he had no fucking idea where that thermos had gone, and didn’t want to find out.

Instead he clapped Danny on the shoulder, gave Signal a significant nod, and headed for the door.

“Seems like you might need a little protection, and I need to give you a once over anyway after tangling with Croc.” Fuck you Spoiler, he could steal her excuse.

Danny actually laughed at that, turning to head away as Sam gained rapidly in volume.

“Oh Jason gave me an extremely thorough going over, but you’re welcome to look too,” he agreed and Nightwing actually giggled. Just a little.

Flirty little shit. He could feel Pamela Manson trying to develop eye lasers. Danny was the perfect addition to the family.

Covered the giggle up before someone noticed and rushed them both to the nearest door, and down towards the backrooms. Following behind, Signal cleared his throat awkwardly.

“So, uh… do either of you actually need a bathroom?” He still sounded lost, so Jason took pity on him once they had a closed door between themselves and others.

“Nah, we faked it to fuck with Sam’s parents. Danny does need a check for any broken ribs though,” he added.

Danny rolled his eyes, waving a hand in Jason’s direction.

“I’m fine, the big guy just tossed me around a little. I’m not even gonna bruise,” he said casually enough that Nightwing was gonna add like, 50 points to his “worry about New Favourite Guy” meter.

He raised a hand cautiously.

“That might just be the adrenaline. I’ve taken more than a couple rounds with Killer Croc and he can do some pretty nasty damage,” he offered warily.

Danny sighed like he was being asked something completely unreasonable and yanked his shirt up, showing off a skinny pale chest and stomach.

“Look, I’m fine, alright? Maybe if you considered getting good he wouldn’t hurt you either.” And yeah, Danny was a sassy little fuck and Nightwing snickered, but he was still worried.

Sure enough though, there wasn’t a mark on the kid. Not on his chest from being hit by Croc, not on his back from an impact that shattered tiles.

Signal let out a low whistle off to one side, and Nightwing had to wonder what the hell the meta could see. He himself though, he just had to raise his hands and admit defeat.

“Hey, if you say so. I’m just doin’ my job here.”

There was a moment of… something. Jason and Danny didn’t so much as glance at each other, but Dick would swear there was a moment of charge in the air, a bolt of communication.

Shared understanding that they’d done nothing outward to share.

Then Danny’s lips tipped up in a cocky grin and he snickered, looking Nightwing full in the eye.

“Yeah, whatever you say, cop.”

**

Danny wasn’t gonna mention it. Partially because of the way Jason had looked at him, calculating, sizing him up.

He’d never been looked at like that by someone who wasn’t immediately about to attack him. Even seeing Jason’s aura, no hint of aggression or malice in it, hadn’t helped.

It. He didn’t like it. Not from a friend.

He remembered the fear though, from back in the early days when Wes called him out. The fear of what losing that secret would mean for his friends, his family, the ones he loved.

Back before he knew everyone would roll their eyes and write it off. Back when he thought someone learning his secret was a threat.

Guess all vigilantes had some common experiences.

But hell, it wasn’t like the bats weren’t gonna know who he was by tomorrow morning at the latest. That was fine, so long as it didn’t lead them on to what Jason was.

They’d probably have questions, and if they were super lucky he might even bother to answer some of them. Hell, he might know the answers at all; that wasn’t a given.

But if they were gonna go nosing about in his life, he might as well really underline that he wasn’t just some little puppy that’d roll over and play dead.

He was a strong, independent half ghost who didn’t need no man.

So when Jason heard him sassing Nightwing and his whole aura became a gleeful mix of happy-amazing-get his ass, Danny sent a gentle nudge back.

Mischief-secrets-should I?

Felt Jason hesitate. Didn’t have to look at him to know the calculations he’d be running. Jason knew his family best. Would know how careful they needed to be.

Mischief-glee-fucking do it.

Maybe they were bad influences on each other.

And, well, it was unofficially Bully Dick Day. Danny might have been a little less confident on his identification the other way around, but having just spent a couple hours with the guy?

Yeah, Danny would risk it. The look on Dick’s face was way worth it. His jaw dropped, and while Danny couldn’t see his eyes behind the little domino, that pretty much just made it better.

Dick’s head turned to Jason and Jason sighed, raising his hands.

“He told me he knew on the way into the closet. Fucked if I know how.” So they weren’t just dropping the Ghost King thing. Good to know.

Danny just grinned. He’d seen plenty of Gotham’s message boards and while he’d never cared, he’d heard the theories.

Especially Nightwing’s. Even if the actual poster was a little… fruit loopy. And thought Nightwing was Condiment King’s alter ego.

“The butts match. And I mean, I was just hanging out with you for like an hour. Doing a different voice isn’t really changing much, y’know?” Which was technically all true.

Pretty much every one of the Waynes mysteriously disappearing wasn’t all that subtle either, but he’d point that out when there were more of them around to be ashamed of themselves.

Dick’s mouth opened and closed a couple of times before he visibly shook himself and closed it. The eye slits on the domino narrowed, and yeah, Danny wasn’t going to resist that one.

“Are you fucking serious? The mask makes faces too? How the hell did you get it to do that?” He asked, rising on tiptoes to wave a hand in front of Dick’s face.

Signal was trying not to laugh, arms folded as he leaned back against the small table.

“Are you going to tell anyone?” He asked like he already knew the answer, checking something off on a list.

This was going better than Danny thought. Good vibes.

Danny shrugged and stuffed his hands in his jacket pocket, grinning.

“Who would believe me? It’s fine, you guys are gonna get like, 30 seconds into googling me and find my old secret identity anyway. I used to go by Phantom,” he added in case it made Dick feel better.

Poor guy was clearly still having a crisis. Maybe they didn’t have their own Wes Weston here and hadn’t been outed before.

He just stared at Danny for a moment longer, then sighed heavily and ran both hands through his hair. Not much point in continuing to pretend, even if no one had said the words “yes you are right.”

It wasn’t like Danny had said the words “you are Dick Grayson”. Plausible deniability all round.

“Just pinky swear you were never a villain,” Dick finally sighed, holding out a hand, pinky extended.

Danny obediently locked pinkies, snickering as he thought about Dan. Technicalities.

“I pinky swear I, specifically, in this timeline, have never been a villain,” he agreed. The overly specific wording didn’t seem to bother anyone.

Maybe fighting yourself from the future was just something all vigilantes had to do. He was pretty sure he’d heard something about the Justice League and time travel before.

Not paid attention to it, but he heard it.

Dick then turned and got Jason in a headlock, noogie-ing him.

“And you have to stop giving the lot of us heart attacks,” he declared, flipping over Jason’s back and away when Jason grabbed for him.

Danny snickered as the tension left the room, Jason clearly considering continuing the chase. Then he just shrugged, dropping down onto one of the two couches and waving to Signal.

“Danny, this is Signal, apparently you’ve almost met before?”

That caught Signal’s attention and he cocked his head, question all over his face. Danny grinned.

“You were the first vigilante I saw in Gotham. Like, 8 months ago, after that thing at the mall where you were teaching the kids to do backflips.”

He saw the moment Signal placed it, nodding and grinning. He held out a hand and Danny shook it.

“Nice to remeet you then, Danny. Jason’s told us nothing at all about you,” he added, grinning over at Jason. Who flipped him off.

“You call yourselves detectives, you’d get bored if I didn’t give you enrichment one way or another,” he refuted and Danny cackled.

“Oh, is that all I am? Enrichment?” He teased and Jason grinned at him.

“Was there another reason you were riding Croc like a rodeo bull?” He asked back. Danny raised his hands, still grinning.

“Yeah, alright. I guess I don’t mind being enrichment for your bored detectives,” he agreed, grinning at the two costumed heroes.

His phone buzzed in his pocket and he paused, pulling it out to check it. Tuck had texted.

‘$50 for you two to disappear out a window’

Stifling a snicker, Danny tossed his phone to Jason and returned his attention to the heroes.

“So, was there anything you guys wanted from getting us away, or were you just doing us a solid?” He asked casually. He’d disappear out a window for way less than $50. If Jason was down.

From his snort of laughter, yeah, he was.

Dick gave his phone a slightly suspicious look, then shrugged cheerfully.

“Well, we could also try and find Jay a new shirt before we get back out there if you wanna catch the rest of the show?” He offered.

As tempted as Danny was to ask where the fuck they’d find a new shirt at a party venue… they had shit to do.

Well, they could find shit to do. Same difference.

Jason rolled easily to his feet tossing Danny his phone back. He totally didn’t almost drop it.

“Nah, we’re probably gonna dip. Better for Sam if we mysteriously disappear together and you guys can go catch the show,” he explained with a slight shrug.

Dick’s mouth opened and closed a few more times, then he grinned and shook his head. Obviously a man who knew the finer points of escalating a situation.

“Steph’s recording, if you wanna catch up later?” He offered instead and Jason snickered and nodded.

“Okay. Don’t have my bike today, Danny, so can you sort out transport?” He asked and it took Danny a second to work out what he meant.

He’d come in the Manson’s limo. But Jason didn’t mean a vehicle type of ride.

Eh, why not give the bats something else to wonder about? There was only so long they’d be confused by his more useful powers.

He had to get the good times in while he could.

He kinda missed the old days, sometimes. No one expected a dead hero to have a living alter ego, so he’d flown under the radar with basically no effort.

Alright, the old days had also not included an inquisitive and protective bat clan sniffing around because he was friends with their own dead guy.

Jason had only died a year after him though. Maybe it could have… man, how different would his life had been if he’d known it wasn’t just him and Vlad and Dani at fifteen?

But he might not have been able to help Jason back then. Just the thought of trying to guide someone else while his ice core formed made him flinch.

No thank you, that would have fucking sucked. It was probably for the best that things had happened like this.

If it wasn’t, a certain nosey fucking regent would have pulled his thumb out of his ass and poked Danny in Jason’s direction years ago. He certainly seemed to like the guy enough.

Today though, Danny crossed to the window and slid it open, hopping up to take a seat on the sill. They weren’t too far off the ground here, so it’d be an easy enough slide.

The snow might have been more of a problem, but it wasn’t like he’d be walking for long. It wasn’t deep anyway, just a couple of inches out here.

He dropped carefully down, turned and grinned back through the window.

“Alright Jay, your turn!”

Jason was already there, snickering as he climbed carefully over the sill. Danny could still just about see Dick and Signal around his shoulders, so he figured fuck it.

Held out his arms.

Jason didn’t notice right away, but hesitated the second he did. It was like Danny could see the cogs turning inside his head, a faint rush of pink rising in his cheeks.

Jason really did have the cutest blush. Danny hoped he’d see a lot more of it.

He waggled his eyebrows at Jason, holding his arms out.

“C’mon, I’ve got you,” he prompted cheerfully, and saw the exact moment when Jason figured “fuck it”.

The window being lower worked against them there, Jason still being a good chunk taller than Danny, so the positioning was a little awkward. Finally Jason just sighed, gave Danny a look, and shifted most of his weight out the window.

“If you drop me I’ll kick your ass,” he warned and Danny grinned, stepping closer and slipping his arms in under Jason’s knees and back.

“Wasn’t even thinking it until you said that,” he pointed out and Jason groaned, but let himself drop into Danny’s arms.

Despite hefty temptation, Danny did not drop him. He gave Signal and Dick a cheery nod and walked away, princess carrying a snickering Jason through the snow.

Once they were almost but not quite out of sight, he took off.

“So, where we going?” He asked Jason, who looked a little uncomfortable being carried, but hadn’t stopped snickering yet.

It was probably the whole “not seeming weak” thing again. Or it could be the flying. He and Jason had flown in the Zone, but that wasn’t really the same.

The bigger man hesitated for a moment, then shrugged.

“I could honestly go for something else to eat,” he offered and Danny hummed thoughtfully.

The gala food had been good, but really not up to a half ghost appetite.

“Yeah, I could eat. We should also talk about the whole bomb thing,” he added more reluctantly, not wanting to kill the mood, but… well.

They were still in Gotham. The literal same shit could pop up tomorrow too.

Jason stilled in his arms, his aura suddenly nothing but dread. Danny squeezed him in a little tighter, blanketing him in comfort-acceptance-warmth.

“Doesn’t have to be today,” he said softly, felt something in Jason relax. Felt the pit curl in reluctance-anger-pleading-help.

It made him hold Jason all the closer, holding down the comforting trills his core demanded. No, dropping a startled Jason in mid air would help no one.

But Danny would help them. Both of them. Help the pit fix whatever had been done to all that ectoplasm, and help Jason get his life back.

What was left of it anyway. It was the least he deserved.

**

Inside the quieter backroom, Nightwing and Signal exchanged looks.

“Did he just…” Signal started and Nightwing sighed, looking as weary as he’d ever seen the older hero.

“It’s been the kind of night where I’m just not gonna ask,” Nightwing said dryly, rolling his shoulders and glancing around the room, “Danny seems to think we’ll work it out eventually.”

Signal shook his head, snickering softly. It wasn’t that he’d really had time to form any expectations from how Jason had described the guy, but Danny…

Yeah, Danny was pretty much exactly what he’d expect so far. An egregious little shit whose sense of humour fit Jason’s perfectly.

He’d have to hurry to get on their side of the inevitable prank war. Shouldn’t be that hard; Narrows and Crime Alley stuck together.

Nightwing leaned in abruptly then, his voice low. Back to serious hero time.

“So, you get more of a read on him alone?” He asked quietly.

Signal paused, brows furrowing under his helmet as he ran back through their minor interactions thus far. He still had the beginning of a headache dancing around from the windows, but…

He’d gotten a pretty good look at just Danny, on the walk from the hall back here and while he was teasing Dick.

Finally he shrugged.

“Honestly? No fuckin’ clue. He barely even registered an aura at all, I don’t think he could be bright enough to flare me out?” Not that it had happened before, but the kid barely glowed.

Most metas at least had enough of an aura to give him some kind of guess about their powers. Colour, shape, the way it moved, it was usually pretty obvious even for the weaker ones.

“So you don’t think he’s particularly powerful?” Nightwing asked, clearly adding it to his own mental notes. Hey, if it meant Duke could skip the paperwork on this run…

He shifted into proper report mode, straightening and turning to face Dick full on, voice lower and more serious. Nightwing obligingly flipped his computer up.

“Either he’s not a dangerous threat from powers alone, or he has serious control over the amount of energy he emits. If you guys hadn’t said anything, I might not even have pegged him as a meta. I did notice something though,” he added with a slight frown.

Nightwing typed a moment longer then glanced up and nodded for him to continue. Signal sucked in a breath.

He didn’t… well, he didn’t like discussing peoples’ auras, outside of a case. It was kinda invasive, especially for people he actually knew in day to day life.

Not least because he didn’t want other people trying to over analyse it. It wasn’t like he got a detailed rundown or list of descriptions; it was just a feeling. A light, a colour.

But this one felt important.

“Jason’s aura. It usually has this… red kinda funk clouding over it. Sometimes it’s thick and murky, and that seems to be when he’s… having a bad day. It’s always kinda red though. But today, it was just… clear. Soft and yellow. Whatever Danny’s doing with the pit, I think it’s working.”

Nightwing’s expression visibly softened, drifting almost all the way back into Dick before he got control again. He nodded, entering the data and then giving Signal a cheeky grin.

“I wouldn’t say you’re fully off the hook for your report, Signal, but if you wanna head out you could probably finish the rest in time for bed,” he teased and Signal rolled his eyes.

And his shoulders a couple times, posture relaxing out of the debriefing stiffness.

“Fuck off. I’m not missing whatever other bullshit you lot are getting up to tonight, fill me in on the way back to the hall.”

He’d be tired tomorrow, but he had too many questions to sleep anyway. They were a full family of nosey bastards - sorry, detectives, and he wasn’t waiting twelve hours for the details.

Not with practically all his siblings visibly sparking off with glee. There was a fuckery afoot, and that was worth a late night.

Nightwing snickered but nodded, tapping his computer closed and heading for the door.

“Short forms of course, but you’ve got the basics,” he agreed, and Signal chuckled, moving to follow.

He’d gotten plenty of pieces over the comms on his way in, but none of them were particularly coherent.

This was already a whole lot more interesting than what he’d been led to expect from a Gotham gala. Hopefully only showing up in costume wouldn’t count as actually attending.

He was still going for that record, Jason’s new boyfriend notwithstanding.

“Oh, and I think Tim’s falling in love.”

Wait.

“What now?”

**

Bruce was doing his best to keep up with events in the entry hall, but the rapidly rising lump on his head now throbbed with Samantha Manson’s every screamed curse, and he’d let himself be led away.

Someone had found him a chair closer to the back hall, a glass of water, and Stephanie had made her way over with an ice pack and a deeply amused smile.

Probably at the dramatics still ongoing around the closet. She had given him a few tests and declared it a mild concussion, most eyes still firmly fixed on the Mansons.

She wouldn’t smile like that at his pain. Unless she had been the cause. But he would be fine, so he was happy that she wasn’t fussing or worrying over him.

He supposed.

Sam not only had impressive volume, but an extensive vocabulary. Bruce’s attention occasionally faded in and out, making him miss some words, but Steph’s reactions were enough to clue him in.

The young lady had somewhat moved on from what Danny and Jason had actually done now that neither of them were present, and was now roundly denouncing men in general, her parents’ preferences in specific, and the historical trend of mistresses.

Bruce might almost think he was imagining the last one, but it was quite the impassioned rant and Steph at least was definitely following it.

Samantha Manson was a very opinionated young lady, with an extremely firm sense of justice. Maybe she would have been good for Jason he mused morosely, pressing the ice to his head.

And then the hall rang with an ominous silence.

Bruce’s head snapped up, ignoring the immediate twinge of pain, and he looked around sharply for what had captured her attention.

Ah. Nightwing and Signal had returned.

Alone. He perked up a little, hoping this might be his chance to speak with Jason.

Hopes that were immediately dashed when Nightwing caught his eye and minutely shook his head.

What?

Where was Jason? What could possibly have happened to him on the way to get a new shirt?

He couldn’t have some kind of venereal disease already, could he?

The swirling confusion definitely came from his head injury and he took another careful sip of water with Steph’s prompting, unsure of when she’d moved to steady him.

His boys had moved away, closer to the mother daughter drama but before Bruce could try to rise, young Sam saw fit to fill him in on what they’d said. At volume.

“They fucking LEFT?!”

The crowd parted immediately, eyes darting between the Manson heiress and Bruce himself, hungry for some kind of reaction from him.

At least he didn’t have to pretend to look confused. Maybe the head wound was a blessing in disguise.

Nightwing was definitely still enjoying himself far more than he had any right to be. His Dickiebird could always find the bright side in any situation…

Sucking in a breath, he let the Brucie mask fall fully into place, relaxing his facial features.

He may need an MRI when they got back to the cave. Just to check for any internal damage.

Steph leaned helpfully down, blocking him from view from about half the crowd to stage whisper,

“They said Jason and Danny climbed out the window, Brucie,” she said sweetly, and Bruce just about resisted dropping his head to thump into her hand.

That would not make his headache any better.

Of course they climbed out the window. Of course they did.

The gala had been Jason’s idea, hadn’t it? He’d wanted to be reintroduced to society so he could do things under his own name.

In all fairness, Bruce hadn’t checked that the first thing he wanted to do in his own name wasn’t cause a massive scandal. He probably should have.

If Jason thought he’d be avoiding this talk just by skipping out tonight, he had another thing coming. Bruce would rather do it as civilians but he’d hunt Jason down in his mask if he had to.

He’d never been unreasonable when bringing his children to galas; they weren’t dress up dolls to be seen and not heard and oh boy they all knew it. There just had to be some standards.

If Jason wanted to sneak away and have sex at a gala he could at least actually sneak. There were plenty of places to go without the risk of being caught that weren’t the closet just off the main hall.

The back rooms weren’t even that much farther away.

Maybe he’d have to give Jason a talk on appropriate gala behaviour. He hadn’t been to one since he… in a long time, he might not remember.

Maybe he should give Jason a sex talk. Had he given any of them a sex talk? He must have done. Surely.

Dick must know. He’d had plenty of girlfriends. Boyfriends. And… shorter encounters.

What if he hadn’t though.

Maybe he’d have to do it again. To be safe. Maybe Alfred would give them the one he’d given Bruce.

He could feel his thoughts spiralling away out of control.

Sam had reached new levels, possibly prompted by his lack of reaction to the news. Even Bruce had never heard half the words coming out of her now, some of which felt like they crackled in his head.

Just what he needed.

She’d also moved on to roundly denouncing the concept of virginity as a tool to control people with wombs. Selina would have loved having her around the house.

Steph was certainly enjoying herself, now cheering Sam on any time she stopped for breath. That also wasn’t helping his head, but he enjoyed seeing her happy too much to say.

Steph had never really come under his wing the way his other Robins had. She held herself apart, “family friend” more than family for a long time… possibly because of the history between her and Tim.

She hadn’t stood a chance against Dick. He wore people down like a cheerful, gentle waterfall, and once he claimed a sibling it was over.

He’d joke about Dick taking his adoption problem but even he could admit Dick did it better. He was just so good at affection. It came naturally to him.

Bruce was so proud of him. Of all the kids who’d taken up a mask to stand beside him. His babies.

He could feel his throat closing, choking up with tears and hurriedly forced them down. THAT was not going in any of the papers.

Whatever other disaster there was, no one would say he was anything but proud of his baby birds. At least he had the head injury to blame for his maudlin thoughts.

Casting around the room, he clocked someone checking their phone and squinted for the time. Barely past 9pm.

It felt like this gala had been going on for weeks, but there were still hours to go. And he wouldn’t even get the chance to hear Jason’s report tonight, knowing his second son.

Well, he could at least get Steph’s report. Loathe as he was to pull her away when she was having so much fun, he needed someone’s opinion on the Fenton boy that he could trust.

Leaning forward, he touched her wrist gently, letting his expression muzzy further.

“Steph, I think perhaps I need a little space. Could you bring me to one of the back rooms?” He asked softly, gaze flicking meaningfully to hers.

She hesitated a moment, clearly torn between the continuing show and the knowledge she could get at least a little of her report out of the way early.

Finally she sighed and slipped his arm carefully around her shoulders.

“Yeah, come on old man. Let’s get you somewhere quiet,” she agreed, steadying him as he hauled himself to his feet.

They could record part of her report. She wouldn’t even have to write it down later.

At least something good could come out of all this.

**

Sam was burning with satisfaction as she slipped back into her parents’ rented limo. She’d finally gotten to say every single stupid thing she hated about the galas and a little more besides.

The looks on their faces as she’d torn apart their precious little Jason (who, yeah, she owed a really big favour; that disappearing act was the cherry on the cake)? Wonderful.

When she started in on their homophobic bullshit, the stupid frilly dresses, the way she wasn’t just a present they could wrap how they wanted and ignore who she was?

It felt fucking amazing. Every frustration she’d been holding onto since her teen years, every time they’d shared those “meaningful looks” over her head, every huge sigh, every time they tried to change who she was.

If they wanted a pet they should have got a chihuahua, not had a damn kid.

She’d gotten a round of applause for that one. She hadn’t been expecting any support except for her boys, but having the Waynes on her side had changed a lot.

She’d swear she’d even seen Nightwing clapping along, but he’d stopped before she looked back.

Guess vigilantes couldn’t be seen condoning any of the shit disturbing. Signal had definitely given her a subtle thumbs up though, and a secret high five when she finally let them lead her away to “calm down”.

She’d spent the rest of the evening with the Wayne affiliated girls and Tucker, texting occasionally with Danny and Jason to let them know how the meltdown had gone.

Apparently Tim had some kind of medical thing that had acted up during the attack so Dick had taken him home. Tucker was heartbroken and adorable, but Steph promised to bring his well wishes back to Tim’s bedside.

They kept him distracted anyway by making some videos for Tim to enjoy, both with and without the various Gotham vigilantes as they waited for the cops to finish clearing the goons out.

Sam was a little bummed that Black Bat hadn’t stuck around, but while the gala was big it also wasn’t gonna be the only target in town.

Nightwing did a flip for them anyway, without being asked. He was a dork. Signal was cool though, and he sounded really sincere when he wished Tim well.

They both seemed at least passingly familiar with the Waynes, but it was Gotham. Who wasn’t? Especially with the number of galas that’d bring them into close contact.

Sam hadn’t spent much time with any of them before, mostly because her parents kept her on a very short leash with the rogues around. Not tonight though, she thought with satisfaction.

No, tonight she’d had free reign, especially after their little dust up. Maybe it helped that she still was kind of hanging out with the Waynes’ associates?

She liked Steph and Cass a lot, for sure. Steph was funny in a bold, outrageous way, and while she dressed a little brightly for Sam’s tastes, it was at least a classy purple.

She liked noise and attention and making people laugh when they took a drink to see if she could get it to come out of their nose. Tucker? Easy prey. But she got Sam more than once.

Cass was quieter in every way, but just like Sam had thought it wasn’t because she had nothing to say. She just didn’t need to be noticed.

Steph and Tucker ducked through the hall, recording people saying specific words one word at a time to build Tim a message about what he was missing.

Sam and Cass went around stealing empty glasses until they could write “Get Well Soon Tim” on the floor in front of the bathrooms.

They attracted stares for the entire rest of the evening but not a soul over the age of thirty dared approach. It was the best gala evening Sam’d ever had.

Her favourite part though? That had to be the number of people who were Absolutely Convinced that Danny had to be one of the Robins.

He fit the profile, sure; black hair, blue eyes. Just like more than half the Waynes, and a weirdly large chunk of Gotham in general. He’d jumped in to wrestle Croc.

Imagine if they knew he actually was a vigilante - just not a living one.

She’d actually passed someone passionately explaining that “you never saw him and Red Robin at the same time”, like Red Robin hadn’t been fucking desperately trying to pull Danny off Croc’s back.

That? That they made a video compilation of on Steph’s phone. She was keeping hold of it til they could see Danny in person tomorrow, because no way was she missing his face.

The crowning glory was a lady with a fan earnestly insisting that Danny must be the Red Hood, Noted 6’ Tall Tank Of A Man, while Vlad fucking fumed in the background.

It was wonderful. She was going to play it at Vlad’s next run for mayor. And his birthday. And maybe every time she saw him for the rest of her life.

She’d also seen more than one person meaningfully approaching her parents from the corner of her eye. Among their other shenanigans.

She was fully expecting some form of lecture, maybe some more hysteria from her mother, but honestly? It would hurt them more than Sam to cut her off.

Sam could walk away from the Manson money tomorrow. The greenhouse and nursery might not cover her full rent, but she could move.

Pamela and Jeremy Manson, having to explain why their daughter was never seen with them again? After tonight? Social hell, especially for her mother.

Maybe Pam saw something of that future in the set of Sam’s shoulders, because the drive back to their hotel was almost completely silent, even through Gotham’s slow crawl of traffic.

Didn’t bother Sam. She was perfectly happy to relive some of their more pointed shenanigans, maybe debate asking Danny if they could call him RH whenever Vlad was around.

That’d be fun. Or Hoodie. He wore the damn sweaters enough, Vlad couldn’t prove that wasn’t what they meant.

They’d actually reached the hotel, Jeremy stepping out to deal with the valet when Pamela turned hesitantly to her daughter.

“Sammikins… darling… I know you had an awful evening,” (and how appropriate that her mom had completely missed her having some of the most fun of her life), “and I know you said you wouldn’t date men…”

Sam steeled herself, wondering if another rant might be in order. Her mom clearly noticed, raising a hand in immediate surrender,

“And I fully understand, it’s entirely your choice whether you ever change your mind or not,” she added quickly, and Sam’s shoulders settled somewhat reluctantly.

Pamela gave her a very soft, hopeful sort of smile.

“It’s just. You looked so happy when you were talking with Cassandra. I didn’t know you knew sign at all, so if you wanted to see her again while we’re here…” she wheedled, and something in Sam’s brain shut down.

“What?” She asked, genuinely dumbfounded.

Pamela raised both hands this time, looking actually… kind of contrite. Like she’d actually been listening to Sam’s rants.

Like Sam might have finally gotten through to her.

Like the woman who hadn’t let her bring her girlfriend to a gala was actually immediately moving on to pushing her at another woman.

What. The fuck.

“I don’t want you to feel pressured, darling, I know we got far too pushy when you met Jason, I just. We’ll be in town for another day. And you made a very sweet pair.”

The hope in her face was unmistakeable, and Sam found herself gaping. There were just. Too many questions, all forming up in her head.

She found the words for at least one just as her mother reached for the door, almost ending their moment.

“Wait. You mean you don’t mind that I’m a lesbian?” She asked suspiciously, brows drawing down as she tried to make sense of what was happening.

Pamela gave her a soft smile and gently cupped her cheek.

“Sammy, darling, I know we’ve been… pushing an image on you,” almost the same words Sam had used, and they clearly pained her, “but I would never reject you for who you loved.”

Which made absolutely no fucking sense.

“So why the hell wouldn’t you let me bring Valerie?” Sam demanded weakly, shoulders sagging as confusion warred with the sudden wash of tears threatening to break out.

Acceptance. Her mother was finally accepting her. In the one thing she hadn’t asked for or expected.

Pamela’s face immediately pinched at Val’s name and she huffed, drawing herself up and resettling in her seat like a broody hen.

Not accepting everything, then. No surprise there.

“I don’t mind if you date or marry a woman, darling, but I most certainly do not trust that young Gray woman. The way she cosied up to you and your friends when her father lost his position! Wealth comes with many detractors, Sammy, and sometimes that means people will try to prey on your gentle heart and use you for your money!”

Sam’s jaw dropped as Pamela talked, passion flaring up until Sam had some idea what the others had seen when she got going.

She wanted to beat her head against the window. It was like they’d gotten absolutely fucking nowhere.

“Val isn’t a fucking gold digger, Mom!” She argued with a frustrated groan, tossing her hands into the air.

Pamela sniffed, turning her nose up.

“She is not good enough for my baby girl. Honestly, what does she even do at school?”

“Not fuck strangers in the closet!” Sam snapped back, and Pamela glared at her. Then deflated with a soft sigh.

“I just want what’s best for you, Sammy. If you think it’s Valerie… I suppose I can try. But I will be talking to her,” she added sharply, that Manson family steel shining through again, “just to let her know that I will be watching, and if she hurts you she will have me to deal with!”

The thought of the Red Huntress dealing with her mother almost made Sam laugh. As if the older woman would stand a chance.

But it was a compromise, if not an actual apology. She could work with that.

And, actually, while her mom was apparently in a compromising mood…

“And I can choose my dress for the next gala?” Sam asked quickly, again interrupting her mother’s move for the door.

Pamela hesitated for a long moment, then gave her daughter a wary look.

“So long as there are no spiders…” she said slowly.

“I want that in writing,” Sam warned sharply and Pamela sighed again, then nodded.

“By tomorrow morning, dear,” she agreed.

Sam’s triumphant grin carried her all the way into the elevator, up the stairs, and back to her bedroom where she pulled out her phone to update the group chat.

‘2Goth2Glorious: you guys aren’t going to fucking believe what my mom just said.’

**

“Huh,” Danny chuckled, glancing at his phone and then dropping it on a table and stepping over the back of Jason’s couch to slide down and sit like a fucking animal.

Already sprawled on the couch, Jason tipped his head back to frown over at him. They were in one of Jason’s less shitty safe houses this time (and Danny’s relief that he didn’t actually live in the first one was hilarious) after raiding a Denny’s.

And a convenience store. And a Batburger. For once Jason really didn’t feel bad about how much he ate; at least he chewed.

He’d swear Danny unhinged his jaw to just inhale an entire double cheeseburger. Maybe that was all Sam meant by “Jawbreaker”…

Jason wasn’t gonna think about that though.

Nope.

They were in a much more comfortable living room now, with actual decent furniture, and Danny was climbing it like a mountain goat. And being cryptic.

The first thing he’d done after walking through the doors was drop their food on the table. The second was drop his pants, kicking them away and throwing the tie and jacket after them.

Jason could sympathise, the monkey suits sucked and he’d abandoned jacket and tie not long after. Not the pants yet. But the sweatpants in the bedroom were calling to him.

“What? He prompted Danny instead, pushing over the second controller. Mariokart. The traditional way the bats kept score.

Easier to track than the number of crimes that didn’t happen. No one else liked his idea of counting heads.

Danny scooped it up and settled in, immediately picking his racer and getting comfy.

Baby Mario. Interesting.

Jason mained Peach, mostly so Dick couldn’t.

“So apparently we read the whole gala thing wrong,” he said casually, just as the countdown to begin the race began, “the Mansons aren’t homophobic.”

Classic distraction techniques. Motherfucker. Jason was so focused on gunning the engine and blasting off the starting line it took him a moment to process the words.

He had to actually glance over at Danny at that, brows furrowed, and missed an item drop.

Doublefucker.

“Fuck off.”

Danny snickered, effortlessly drifting into a turn.

“No shit. They’re trying to set Sam up with Cass,” he added as proof, and Jason snapped his attention back to the game.

He could play this with Damian standing on his shoulders and Steph tickling him, fuck Danny and his conversational bomb dropping.

First time he could say he’d side with the elder Mansons though.

“They were cute,” he offered with a slight shrug, casting back. Sam and Cass hadn’t interacted much, but Sam knowing ASL was a good sign.

No pun intended. He wasn’t Dick.

Danny snickered again and leaned sharply to the left as he skidded around another turn.

“And Sam woulda killed for a chance before Val. She learned sign language to try and talk to her, always said it was because she seemed like the only tolerable person in the room. That’s Sam for “she’s really pretty”,” he added slyly, dropping a red shell in Jason’s path.

Triplefucker. Jason skidded for a double set of items, then burnt a few coins to speed back up.

Digested new information. Both about the elder Mansons and Sam herself. But he didn’t have enough yet.

“So why wouldn’t they let her bring Val?” He asked instead, popping up a pirahna plant as they approached another turn. Not a great item, so he might as well make space.

“They think Val specifically is a gold digger,” Danny actually cackled this time, shaking his head and still not missing a beat.

He was a pretty good player. But they’d see how good he was under pressure later.

For now he snorted most of a laugh through his nose, shaking his head.

“Delightful. Bet Val will love that,” he snickered, hitting another double item. Mushrooms. Fucked again.

“It’s practically a mark of quality,” Danny agreed, grinning broadly, and dropped a row of bananas across the whole path. Dodgy little fucking shit.

Paused, then skimmed half way across the road for another double item box.

“By the way, do you mind if Val knows you’re a halfa?”

Jason, just about to launch a brand new green shell, frowned. They’d definitely been over this.

“I thought you already texted your team’s group chat?” It had been the most efficient way to share info with everyone who needed it.

And they’d shared more information since, mostly planning for the gala tonight. He’d kind of assumed the lot of them already knew.

He’d figured he’d meet Val and Jazz eventually, the same way Danny was probably gonna run into B’s brood again at least one more time.

Probably more now that Dick knew how much he liked puns. But Bludhaven was a ways out of Gotham, so Jason’s sanity might survive.

Danny shrugged, now glancing at Jason from the corner of his eye, and Jason took advantage to nail him with the shell. Fucking deserved it.

“Yeah but Val wasn’t in at the time, new phone- oh you cheating motherfucker!”

“Look me in the eye and say you wouldn’t have done the exact fucking same,” Jason taunted, not taking his eyes off the screen this time.

Fuck the other laps, the only thing that counted was who crossed that final finish line first. They were close, both neck and neck and if Danny had an item worth a damn he’d have used it.

Nor did Jason, but fuck it, who cared?

Just as they reached the final stretch, that dreaded alert popped up.

A blue shell. Whoever got hit, the other would win.

Half the family would have backed off, hit their breaks and let Jason take the hit. Because Jason? Jason never backed off.

He’d race the damn blue shell to the finish line and if he couldn’t beat that he didn’t want the race. And lucky him, he had coins to burn.

Danny hit his boosters right alongside Jason, the two of them careening towards the line. In the corner of his eye Jason could see the blue shell closing in, eating up the map behind them.

Reaching out suddenly, he caught Danny by the face and pushed just as the younger man shoved a foot into his other elbow.

The blue shell hit, explosion spinning both their carts to a stop. Before they could recover, a third cart sped past them, finishing the race.

Danny groaned, dropping his controller as the rest of the players passed them.

“FUCKING baby park!” He swore, and Jason nodded, flicking his controller to finish the race before tossing it down.

Then he turned back to Danny and shrugged. Ultimately he just… didn’t really care. Sam and Tucker had gone over well.

As prickly as he usually was about sharing intimate details with strangers, his death was basically common knowledge. Now, so was his revival.

So what if another stranger from a small town knew he’d fucked that up too? Precedent suggested she wouldn’t give a fuck, and it felt really, really good not having to hide.

“Yeah, I don’t care if Val knows. Do we really wanna add her back to the group chat right after the gold digger thing though?” He’d never met Valerie, even in text, but he knew she could be hot headed.

Half the stories of her trying to kill Danny proved that; it was how Danny survived.

Jason could relate. He’d been too fucking annoying to kill since he first put on a cape.

Well. Almost too annoying.

Danny just shrugged, shaking his head and rolling off the couch to grab his phone again.

“Sam’ll have told her in a private chat. Legal permission to tag her back in, or do you wanna tell her face to face?” He asked, and Jason had to wonder how much he’d talked to the others about it.

Mostly because Danny, thinking something through? He didn’t need to have known the guy this long to know that didn’t happen.

How the fuck did you even tell anyone something like this? He still had no idea how he was going to explain to his family that he was only mostly dead.

Maybe a stranger to practice on would be a good idea, and Val at least had the benefit of context. Knowing what a halfa was had put her one over him until last week.

Yet when he had an easy option, letting the others explain for him, he couldn’t help reaching for it. He didn’t even fucking know what it meant to him yet; how was he supposed to explain to anyone else?

And hey, Danny’s “new halfa just dropped” was elegance and perfection. If only he could just toss that in the family chat and call it good.

He shot Danny a thumbs up, scooping up the controller he’d dropped and tapping back to a new game screen.

“Go for it. You fill her in and I’ll get us a new game?” He offered, part of him resenting the vulnerability. The part that he kind of hated knowing was all his, and not the pit.

It wasn’t like he was even asking for help. He was delegating.

There was nothing fucking wrong with asking for fucking help. He wasn’t fucking alone anymore. He didn’t fucking have to be.

He was allowed to have friends who cared about him, and he was allowed to let them help with the things he didn’t know how to do.

His aura must have been a goddamn mess because Danny didn’t even open the chat, just hopped the back of the couch again and shoved his feet in Jason’s lap.

Soft-calm-understanding-been there.

Jason glared down at socked toes. More than anything else, he fucking hated bringing the mood down. Felt like it was all he did some days.

Socked toes scrunched to wave up at him. It looked so fucking bizarre he had the sudden urge to laugh, despite the mess in his head.

Well, he’d already ruined the fucking mood. It was easier to talk to Danny’s toes rather than look up, habits he’d learned to cope with surging green that was conspicuously absent now.

No pit rage. Just himself, still fucked up, still unable to look someone else in the eye when he was sure he’d see pity reflected back.

“Why do we need to talk about my death?” He asked the socks quietly, hands still curled around a game controller. Knowing the answer couldn’t be good.

“Because the first time you transform, you’re going to look the way you did when you died.” Fucking Danny scrunched his toes in time with his voice like the sock was the one talking.

That did knock a shaky snicker out, and Jason gave the man himself a half hearted glare. But it did suck the seriousness out of the situation.

Cuz yeah, that? That wasn’t a situation he was going to think about right now.

“Well fuck,” seemed to sum it up, and he stared back down at Danny’s feet. Couldn’t bring himself to face the sympathetic smile.

It didn’t help that Danny was the only person in the world who’d understand. Who’d already faced the horror of his own death, and now popped in and out of a ghost form like a cape.

Socked feet patted the top of his thigh.

“Yeah. You’ll be able to change it, and with some practice you can accessorize however you want just by thinking about it. But. Yeah. It’s going to suck,” Danny explained softly, thankfully abandoning the sock talking.

Jason chanced a glance up from the corner of his eye.

“How did…” how did you handle it? The words stuck somewhere below his collarbone, wedged sideways in his throat.

It didn’t seem to matter. Danny was good at hearing the ghosts of words he couldn’t say.

“Well, I transformed the first time the day I died, so it wasn’t like the memory had time to percolate,” Danny explained airily.

Like that was a good and normal sentence to say. Snorting a laugh, well aware that’s what Danny was going for, Jason pinched one of Danny’s toes.

The whole foot jerked back, coiling protectively. Motherfucker was ticklish. Yeah, Jason remembered that from their first wrestling session.

The temptation to knock Danny back to the floor and tickle him breathless was strong. It’d end the conversation, distract them both, get a more cheerful evening back on track.

Hell, they still had to tease Tucker about his massive crush on Tim. They were young, half alive, and had a truly obscene amount of snacks to get through.

They had every reason in the world to have a good night.

Just, y’know, the lingering spectre of Jason’s death between them. He’d never actually spoken about it to anyone, except to rub it in B’s face.

He’d made a joke a little too close once and watched Dick’s face crumple.

Fuck, he didn’t even like thinking about the event itself. Crawling out of his grave, well, he didn’t actually remember that.

Didn’t remember anything until Talia pulled him from a pool of bubbling green. Not the way he remembered what had come before.

Danny’s foot rose to poke gently into his face and Jason reared back, train of thought effectively derailed and he swatted for Danny’s ankle.

“What the fuck, dude?” He asked, giving Danny a mock glare as he knocked the foot away.

Danny was watching him just a little too closely for the casual smile on his face, or the lazy shrug.

“Well, you didn’t listen to your fucking name,” he pointed out, and it was news to Jason that anyone had been saying it. Obviously.

Then Danny sat up and moved closer, leaning in shoulder to shoulder with Jason.

“You don’t have to tell me. But. I’m gonna be with you when it happens, unless you don’t want me to be. And I need to know how bad I need to kick Batman’s ass.”

The last knocked a proper startled laugh out of Jason, but he didn’t move away. It. Helped having Danny close.

Close enough he didn’t have to look at his face. Close enough to feel his admittedly lacking body heat as comfort. Six of one.

“Pretty sure Sam has the brutalizing father figures part on lock already,” he said instead of asking, grin solidifying as he remembered the look on Bruce’s face.

It was never Bruce’s ass he’d wanted kicked. Alright, that was a lie, but it wasn’t Bruce he blamed for his death. That… that had always been on him.

He’d just expected B to save him like he’d done on all Jason’s other fuck ups.

Danny snickered along with him, reaching for Jason’s old controller and settling in.

“I see you still not saying Bruce is Batman,” he said innocently, and Jason fought free of the ghosts in his head.

Might as well kick their king’s ass at Mariokart before wrestling the ghosts of his past.

And if they were sat much closer, much better able to jostle each other, that’d work to his advantage. He had more bulk to use.

“Bruce knows Batman,” he repeated instead, clicking through to choose a map. Danny snickered again.

“Sam thinks Bruce is Batman’s sugar daddy,” he said innocently, just as the countdown ended.

Again.

Jason dropped his controller and lunged for his phone. Fuck the race, THAT was going straight to the family group chat.

**

Tim threw his domino aside as he stormed into the bat cave, slamming into the chair in front of the batcomputer. His fingers hit the keys before his ass hit the seat, clacking furiously.

Dick and Damian exchanged glances and shrugs, entering more slowly. Duke had skipped the cave altogether, heading straight to bed.

The actual hand off from the gala had gone smoothly. All the goons were in custody, and Croc had gone quietly. Probably because all four of them were still around, but that didn’t matter.

Tim ignored the company. It was still bothering him. He didn’t know what they’d missed when they’d raided the Riddler, and the mystery case hadn’t helped.

He’d gone to look at it when Nightwing and Signal returned to the dining hall; Damian had been right, it needed the building’s power supply.

And Dick had also been right - it was some kind of games cabinet. He’d gotten the touch screen off without setting off any of the traps and powered independently it did indeed produce a riddle.

Tim hadn’t bothered solving it, just gone back into the guts to trace what was supposed to be the threat. It wasn’t like Riddler not to include a backup battery, at least to prevent tampering.

(And alright, Tim had found and removed two, but that didn’t count. They were easy. Easy was how they’d missed something on the raid. Easy was hiding something.)

The fucking case was empty. There were spaces wired to take nearly double the explosives they’d found, and there was nothing in it. It just didn’t make sense.

As far as Damian cared, Tim was just getting up his own ass again. The brat had said as much on their way home, while Tim worked furiously at the tablet.

Tucker Foley had broken it open straight to the OS, all memory and data laid bare, except for one encrypted folder. That was too easy too, but Tim couldn’t fault his work.

It was perfect but for that one folder. Tim could trace back how he’d done it, the hack as clean and easy as one of his own.

And he’d done it with enough spare time to get right through to summer in Stardew Valley. While Tim fretted in the next room searching for the damn tablet.

That meant he’d given up on the folder, or been the one to place it. That was a clue, but if that was the case it wouldn’t help him solve the Riddler mystery.

Sighing to himself, he opened a connection through to Oracle on his comm.

“Hey O. Busy?”

“Not more than most nights,” came the easy reply. As usual, Babs sounded like she was calling from a LAN party, not rewriting the traffic grid.

Unless Bluebird was done already. Could be. Tim hadn’t checked.

“There’s a mystery folder on the Riddler tablet. I think Foley left it, but I don’t have time to break his encryption. Is Batwoman with Nygma?” He asked, running both hands through his hair.

Dick was hovering. Probably worried. He could stuff that in his own ass.

Barbara chuckled, and beside him the tablet screen sprang to life.

“Batwoman dropped him off before your guys came for Croc. He’s very upset, apparently. Sure you don’t want to take another run at the tablet? I hear your flirting has been adorable.”

Tim shot Dick a glare. Dick, entirely unrepentant, gave him worried puppy eyes.

“I have a boyfriend,” Tim grumbled, glancing back at the tablet again. Glaring at his brother was a waste of time when there was a puzzle to solve.

“So don’t marry Foley. Your nerd flirting is still adorable,” Babs shot back immediately. Tim could practically see her hands hovering over her own keyboard, waiting for his go ahead.

Riddler was actually in custody this time. That probably meant the threat was neutralised, at least for now. It also meant Red Robin could pay him a visit.

Red Robin could go check over the hideout. There might be some more answers there too.

His hands stilled on the keys, body tensing. A large hand landed on his shoulder and Dick leaned in.

“Actually, can I put a rush on that? Danny seemed pretty sure we’d learn more about him overnight. This’d explain it,” he added, tapping the tablet screen.

That caught Damian’s attention, the boy leaning back in from the locker room with his eyes narrowed.

“Does it pertain to his meta abilities?” He called, and Tim groaned, shoving both hands through his hair. Dick chuckled softly and gave him a gentle shake.

“Well it definitely has to do with him recognising us in costume, and I’m pretty sure he flew away, so I’m gonna say yes,” Dick agreed, and when the fuck had he been planning to mention that.

Tim’s neck cricked as he snapped his head around.

“He what?!” Danny had left maybe half an hour after the attack, at most. How the fuck had Tim missed so much?

Dick grinned down at him, still without shame, and one day Tim was damn well going to crack that facade. Possibly with his fist.

“You seemed so busy with the case, Red. I didn’t like to bother you.”

Damian materialised at their sides, glowering up at Dick too. It wasn’t all that often that they were on the same side but it wasn’t the kind of thing they could enjoy.

“Richard. He recognised you?” Damian asked sharply, and Dick sighed.

“Well he called me a fucking cop again and said the butts match, so I’m going with yeah. He seemed to think we would find something equally important on him though, and Jason didn’t seem concerned,” he explained a little less cheerfully.

Tim sucked in a deep, calming breath. Closed his eyes. And Damian snapped the question before he reached ten.

“So why do we not simply ask Todd?” The youngest growled, already reaching for his comm.

Dick shrugged.

“Go for it. He’s still with Danny, just pinged the group chat,” he added, raising his civilian phone to wiggle it.

Damian and Tim fell silent, both aware that Jason… well, for one would not react well to demands for information, no matter how much Danny helped with the pit.

And two… wasn’t likely to give them a full Danny download in Danny’s immediate presence. And they couldn’t swing by to ask, even if they did know where they were.

Sighing to himself, Tim pulled his phone out.

“O, if you could take a turn at the tablet hack I’m just gonna… check… Oracle check the group chat.” He pressed his lips together firmly, fighting back laughter.

All three heard Babs’ curious hum, keyboard clacking resuming a little slower than her usual. A one handed job while she checked.

Damian glared from Dick to Tim this time, then went back to the locker room for his own phone. Significant improvement from a year ago, where he’d have grabbed for Tim’s.

Fuck school, socialising him with Superboy the Younger was doing him good.

Tim’s head snapped up again, staring at Dick.

“Does the demon brat know what a sugar daddy is?” He hissed, and Dick’s eyes widened.

“Uh… dibs on not telling him.”

“You are the one he likes!” Tim hissed, Barbara’s snickering a new sudden baseline.

“And I’m keeping it that way,” Dick shot back, dancing away from the table, “you have nothing to lose!”

“Because his grandfather stole my fucking spleen, are you even Damian’s family if he hasn’t tried to stab you at least once?”

“Boys, boys,” Barbara cut in, still snickering, “think of it this way: do you want Jason to tell him?”

Both vigilantes turned back to the phone, where Damian’s icon was showing the distinctive three dots of a message in the making.

Tim glanced at Dick.

“Honestly? Kinda.” Better Jason than either of them, Jason was at least out of the immediate line of fire. And would probably weather Damian’s later vengeance attempts reasonably well.

Damian might have missed the original fireworks but he’d known Jason in the League; the fact that even he was wary of the pit rage said a lot.

But then, Damian had experienced the rage himself too.

Tim was kinda glad Ra’s hadn’t wanted to risk his mind to it. Would have been more glad if the old fucker had just left him alone instead of again, stealing his fucking spleen about it.

Wasn’t much of a surprise that Damian was stabby, honestly. But even he wouldn’t seriously pick a fight with Jason.

Nobody wanted to set off the rage that permanently broke him. Because that was what would happen if he ever did seriously hurt one of them again; Tim could see it.

Jason already thought he was broken. But they’d persuaded him he didn’t have to be. Putting one of them in the hospital, after all of his progress, would only confirm what he already believed.

Tim remembered the sharp, bleeding, fractured edges on the Red Hood he’d first met. He hadn’t seen that man in years.

He never wanted to see him again.

Not when he’d finally met his childhood hero, the Jason Todd he’d followed around with a camera in the night. Not when he finally had a Jason who called him his little brother.

They didn’t talk about it. But he could see it haunting behind Jason’s eyes some nights, a darkness different than when the pit was bad.

The pit’s anger spilled outwards, but Tim had learned to differentiate it from Jason’s. Jason’s anger spilled in, turned on himself. The kind of anger Tim was intimately familiar with.

Tim wouldn’t push. Not something so delicate. But one day, he’d really like some answers.

He’d like some damn answers about Riddler’s plans, Danny’s powers, and Tucker’s encrypted fucking file too though, and those were all a lot more urgent.

And why Killer Croc was in Gotham. And what Two Face wanted with Jason, not Red Hood. And what Killer Croc and Riddler wanted with Two Face.

And why Sam Manson’s grandmother knew Poison Ivy well enough to request a hit. What the hell was happening in Amity Park. If ghosts were actually-seriously-for-real-a-thing.

The speedsters were going to be intolerable if they presented that to the Justice League. Tim would definitely be hacking that footage with popcorn.

Heaving another sigh, he flopped back into the computer chair and just stared at the screens.

Alfred had made him weak. He’d been in bed less than thirty hours ago and his eyes were beginning to itch. But there was way, way too much to do for him to rest.

Scrubbing both hands down his face, he sat up again just as Babs let out a curious little “huh” over comms. That helped revive him.

“What’s up, O?” He asked, glancing back at Dick.

Some time while he was zoning out, the older had changed back into civvies and was leaning against the railing, checking his phone.

He must still have a comm in though, because he looked up too.

Why wasn’t he going back to Bludhaven? Another mystery for Tim’s eternally growing pile, but a minor one.

Babs was chuckling again, and the tablet screen flickered back to life.

“I got your folder open, RR. Very interesting encryption, the big bat isn’t going to be happy.” Babs sounded extremely pleased though.

“What did he use?” Tim asked idly, glancing down at the screen. Stilled. Was dimly aware of Dick moving curiously forward to peek at the tablet too.

There was only one thing in the encrypted folder, or at least one thing Babs wanted him to look at first. A simple text file.

‘To the Oracle. Love your work. Expressing my deepest admiration and eternal devotion. - TooFine’

And then an IP address that Tim couldn’t automatically place to a country. Was Tucker challenging Oracle?

Babs was talking again and Tim quickly refocused, already tapping the IP into the batcomputer.

“Three dates of my latest hacks into Lex Luthor, Vandal Savage, and the Legion of Doom. He even helpfully provided a hint in that Stardew Valley file.”

That caught Tim’s attention. He’d ignored the game, assumed the name was irrelevant.

“What’s the farm called?” He asked quickly, not wanting to scroll into the game to check.

Babs chuckled again, clearly back to work on one of the other problems.

“L85tH1t5. Or “Latest Hits”, for anyone that hasn’t used substitutions in a while. The kid’s good, and he’s been paying attention. The IP address has me in a private server, and it’s locked down with something I’ve never seen before. I think he wants to play a game.”

Tim’s brows furrowed, his attention refocusing on his own screens tracking the IP. It hadn’t even let him in.

“I’m blocked,” he admitted grumpily as Dick let out a low whistle, leaning back against the railing again.

“Must be a private invitation,” Babs teased, then sobered up. “I don’t think this is going to be the easy answers Nightwing’s looking for though. You’ll just have to run a search on Danny Fenton separately.”

Dick moved forward again, probably to lean over his shoulder or steal the keyboard, and Tim swatted him away.

“Wanna loop me in, O? I can get started on the server if you’re busy with the others.”

“Someone’s feeling left out,” Dick snickered, leaning on the back of Tim’s chair instead. Tim flipped him off.

“No need, Red Robin,” Babs replied, her own amusement just as clear as Dick’s. They were the worst. “It’s a quiet night for Gotham, I have time to flex a little.”

“Search Fenton,” Damian demanded, brows drawn down in a glower as he appeared beside the chair. Like that’d get him a big reaction.

Tim flipped him off too on principle, but sullenly pulled up a new window.

He didn’t feel left out. He wasn’t jealous. Tucker had been talking to him for half the gala, they’d had a great time and Tim really did like the guy.

They’d exchanged numbers and everything. He was gonna have to send over a real internship offer too.

Tucker hadn’t even met Babs. He was Tim’s friend.

Tim had a boyfriend. A wonderful boyfriend, whom he loved with all his heart. He wasn’t even lonely.

He just.

Didn’t see why Tucker would invite Oracle to his mysteriously secured server and not Tim.

**

By the time Bruce returned to the manor (and more importantly, to the cave) Tim was the only one down there.

No matter, Signal, Nightwing, and Robin had all had plenty of time to complete their after action reports. He could peruse those and prepare questions for later.

It was Tim he had wanted to talk to anyway. Whatever Tim had seen about Masters. About Danny Fenton.

Bruce headed over to the batcomputer, noting a cold mug of coffee that Tim somehow hadn’t finished. He’d been in for a while. And looked frustrated, not busy.

The perfect time to divert his attention for a report.

“Tim,” he said in greeting, brows drawing in as Tim turned a hazy glare on him.

He knew the boy had slept more this week than he usually did in a fortnight, but the bags under his eyes had barely lessened. Still, it had never affected his efficiency before.

“Your report on the gala. Particularly Masters and Fenton,” he prodded gently, and Tim groaned loudly, tugging at his hair.

“Honestly Bruce? Vlad’s a shifty son of a bitch that I wouldn’t trust as far as I could comfortably spit a rat, and Danny Fenton’s a fucking mystery. Who knows who we are, by the way.”

That was more than just concerning, and Bruce tensed. If Danny had approached Jason as a way to get to them…

“You’re sure?” He asked almost hopefully; he’d never actually had reason to doubt Tim. Who clearly also remembered that, from his archly raised brow.

“He called Dick out in costume. Hinted he’d done some vigilante work under the name “Phantom”, which I cannot find in any database anywhere, and I can’t find a damn thing about Amity Park from anyone who actually lives there ANYWHERE online.”

Tim spun back to the batcomputer, gesturing angrily at the three biggest screens. Bruce scanned them all, brows furrowing.

Tourist websites. An article about the “most haunted town in America”, clearly the hard earned result of their constant ghost claims, and… social media?

“They don’t have fucking Twitter, Bruce,” Tim growled, tapping through browser window after window. He’d clearly been doing this for a long time.

“No Facebook pages for restaurants, city hall, nothing. Except that Tucker showed me their weather station’s Facebook on his PDA. And that isn’t how fucking Twitter or Facebook WORK.” He slapped the keyboard, and the screen jumped.

Bruce carefully edged the cold coffee mug a little further away, but didn’t interrupt Tim’s rant.

“They don’t have a single server dedicated to one tiny town in Bumfuck, Illinois, to isolate their posts, or the kind of protections that would keep people from one town from connecting to the wider internet. It shouldn’t be possible! Nothing the government has on them even raises a blip but beyond those records, they’re just gone!”

Tim flipped quickly through various different government databases, too quickly for Bruce to do more than scan, but he didn’t need to.

Amity Park existed. There were a few accounts linked, email addresses, websites, that should have gone to city hall. The school board. Local businesses.

Tim clicked viciously on one of the links, and the window immediately blanked.

“Something is seriously fucking wrong with this town, Bruce,” Tim declared, the anger gone as suddenly as it had appeared, leaving only a dangerous sobriety in its place, “and we’ve been ignoring them.”

Bruce’s eyes narrowed, his concerns about Danny Fenton slotting neatly into a sudden, much larger concern.

Tim had pulled up the Justice League’s records on Amity Park. There were thousands of requests for help, every single one bearing the same status: Rejected.

Hundreds came from a single day, someone clearly hitting the button over and over and over again in a panic, desperate to get through.

And then nothing. Not a single request for years since. As if the residents had given up.

Bruce nodded to the screen.

“That cluster. I take it you’ve looked?” He asked tersely, slipping straight into Batman. Tim clicked a request at random.

“Not all of them,” he admitted bitterly, “but they’re pretty consistent.”

The panic was clear in the wording too, no attempt at spellchecking or grammar. Tim scrolled through the next few.

Key smashes. Curses, swearing, pleading for help. One phrase stuck out especially clearly to Bruce, repeated over and over.

‘The sky is green. Earth is gone and the sky is green.’

What the hell had happened in Amity Park?

Anger firming his jaw, Batman reached for his Justice League comm.

“I need to speak to John Constantine. Now.”

—————————

Tag list: @welcometosasakiworld @kyrianclawraith @someonebored0100 @stealingyourbones @starkcravingmad @frostedthroughghost @akikoyuii @rainbowbunny0159 @littlefeather345 @violet-catsarelife @serasvictoria02 @wolfjackle @blacksea21090 @secretdestinywerewolf @anime-hipster-the-amazing @undead-essence @skitscratched @blackroserelina @snoodly-boop @trickerdi @mayoota-blog @xysidhe @idkmrpianoman @little-apricot-the-writer @chaoticmistake @the-legal-shipper @bun-fish @aroranorth-west @demon-cat-goes-woof @eonic @onyxlightdragon @larks-and-katydids @peachesandcreamfemboy @jesus-camp-the-sequel @may-rbi @mothman-the-mothman87 @viyatrix @stargirl1331 @idfk-man10 @thedepressedrobin @skulld3mort-1fan

Next chapter:

[rainymoodlet]

i couldn’t do it, y’all. i spent the time to age up and adjust ivory’s save, because playing her in a world where dallas didn’t exist just felt wrong 🥺 that’s one dinner party of five down! (which i missed, bc i left my computer running dhdhs)

catch up with the kruegers below! ⛓️

for those of you who don’t know, dallas (sixth pic, they/them!) was a nameless sim i’d created with the idea of playing through the joy of life legacy with! they became much larger in-game than the confines of the challenge, though, and while they were working on starting their own 🌿 bakery, dallas was also working as a stripper and a sex worker at “the flamingo” in del sol valley.

dallas wasn’t on any protection when they successfully seduced mayor ted roswell at the club and freak-a-leeked the next month’s rent payment out of him. when they found out they were pregnant, they resolved to raise their daughter as best as they could.

little ivory was born maybe three in-game weeks into the game, i’m not kidding.

though she was a major upset in the course of the challenge, ivory has been a delightful sim to watch grow up! dallas did a wonderful job raising her - but their fate was never to be a simple legacy founder!! so while dallas is freed of mantle of “tjol gen one”, ivory gets to don the “tjol+ gen two” crown 💛 i did a timeskip in-save and now we catch up with her fresh off of her graduation from ubrite 😌

i hope this can help explain a little bit of what’s happened and why the legacy has been all over the place! we’re sticking with ivory from here on out, who has a much more streamlined gen dhdh

morgan fyres, wolfgang munch, savannah price, cassandra goth, and gemma charm are ivory’s best friends since highschool. she used to date cass when they were still teens, but they cooled things off before going to college. now, ivory’s crush on savannah has been popping up in her mind from time to time… 👀 shingo sasaki (fifth pic) was ivory’s nanny from the moment she was born to the moment she grew into a teen! he was there since day one, and over the course of the years has woven his way into the kruegers’ lil unit of two. he’s wearing a ring because dallas proposed to him, not the other way around 🥹 he’s also the reason our girl is level 5 in komorebigo, and they exclusively gossip together in this language. (shingo has never learned simlish dhdhd he’s like level 4 and we love that for him) ivory calls him “toji” or “otoji” — basically “grandpa-dad”. cliff kiser (by @gothoffspring) and anaya jang (third pic) are dallas’ best friends and the first two sims outside of her parent and nanny that ivory ever made friends with! they’re solid figures in her life, and ivory views cliff as the fun-uncle-slash-father that she never had in ted!

(ivory has been thinking a lot about ted in-game, though: she’s been calling him to chat every day bc her “think about family member” dialogue is always him. i’m imagining that the motherfucker didn’t exactly go to any of her graduations 🙄 ted still doesn’t recognize ivory as legitimate, even if he was paying her child support and even if she’s met her half-sisters and they adore her!)

also like??? my baby dallas did so good, look at ivory’s traits 🥹 none of these were cheated in: dallas was just an absolute super parent!

[batsarebetterthanpeople]

Alright I want to talk about piracy, gender, and babygirlification in here on this day. I don't know if metas are a thing you title but this one is called "babygirl, that pirate is gnc as fuck."

I want to be up front here. I've seen some people talk about us feminizing these pirates and saying "hey maybe don't do that" in ways I agree with the sentiment of but disagree with on their conclusions. So to lend credence to the parts of those arguments I agree with I'm gonna say up front that Ed's hair isn't the thing that makes me go "oh he's serving femboy" while is hair is gorgeous, it's not considered feminine in Maori culture to have long hair so it is not contributing to my reading of "ways Ed goes hard with his gender presentation" that's the part I agree on. However I don't think that means he's not giving gender because oh baby let's get into it.

I want to preface all of this with this. Ed's costume is delightfully anachronistic. He is dressed like Mad Max. He's giving biker he's giving leather daddy. So when I talk about the gender presentation implied by spacific costume pieces I'm analyzing it from a modern perspective because how am I gonna hold mad Max leather daddy to 1700s standards of masculinity and femininity. Now with that disclaimer out of the way let's start with perhaps the most talked about and simultaneously least acknowledged one

He's wearing a whole ass crop top. They didn't have to do that. Mad Max, the major costuming influence for Ed's look has the divide between his shirt and his pants down a bit from where Ed's is. me and the other girlboys and gender anarchists all know that a hairy man in a crop top is the ultimate serve. And while his tummy is thirsted after I don't think it gets the credit it deserves for being a gender moment. I blame the high waisted pants for that, because if you can't see tummy you are likely to forget it's a crop top.

The next hint over the course of the show we get that his gender expression might be complex and varied and for the queers is this

I'll get to the suits when I talk about Stede, but here we have a man with flowers in his hair and bows in his beard. What he has done here is again very androgynous. Usually when we think of androgyny we think of something that is neither masculine nor feminine. My man Jeff has gone the opposite direction with the beard bows. Because beards are very masculine (there are women with beards of course but as a cultural signifier beard screams man) and he has put these dainty feminine little bows in it. It's giving like 1700s glitter beard in that it's something we consider very masculine decorated in a way that is very feminine. And it's elevated by those fuckin hair flowers which match his shoes. It's a whole look.

Then we get another wonderful anachronism. It's blink and you miss it but

The fuckin nail polish. He's wearing nail polish, and not even nail polish in a color where you can go "well he's goth" lord no. It's pink and sparkly.

Next one: the Kraken

Now I know what you're thinking, "But Jamie, this look is the sad boy look. This look is the look where he's trying to hide his vulnerability, and, subtextually, his femininity from Izzy." And let me tell you, you're so right and as a trans man this look is something that can be so fucking personal to me. The man is undergoing beard dysphoria and he's dealing with it how I dealt with it when I was 16 and some of my cis male classmates started coming to school with lil teenager mustaches. I know that's like the opposite of a feminine thing but it is part of the complex gender fuckery we see on this character. He got told you're not enough of a man pirate and he ran and threw on FAKE BEARD? that's that on me knowing this mother fucker to be trans. On top of feeding us with that trans masc experience he gives us the MCR eyeshadow? The look is undeniably trans. And that's not even getting into the dangly earring. Granted the earring could go either way pirates are often depicted with earrings.

I suppose this isn't really a meta so much as me gushing about minor costuming decisions and how Ed is a GNC icon

[weirdo09]

THANK YOU SM X REMIX I am so tired of people taking away Gwen's fuckups it's what makes her a good character bc she has actual damn flaws and faces consequences😭😭😭Also if you go in my Mirasol tag,you will an ask with all my lore for her + Personally i LOVE Margo x Miles G,they are goth bf x pastel gf to me <3 I should make a hcs post for them for sometime!

yes !!!! i’m indifferent about her all because like she’s so different than what people in this fandom perceive her as. like the way people be tryna make it seem like her and miles have been married for 20+ years with 2 kids and callin Margo a home wrecker n wishin her dead all because MILES LOOKED AT HER !!!!!

like to me, canonically they should just leave gwen and miles friends. it just weirded me out how they had miles have a crush on her when miss girl was like “i’m 15 months older than you??” like no, their romantic chemistry is dead, 6 feet under, baby 🙅🏾‍♂️

love that she’s a character with flaws but those flaws be low key makin me wanna shake her n make her feel how she done made miles feel because likeeee that’s my boy n you treating him like that is not ok in the slightest !!!!! but like i hate it more when people be erasing her of her flaws because like i know why you be doin it cause she’s ✨white✨ n honestly it annoys the hell outta me as a cyberflower/flowerbyte shipper when the toxic gwiles shippers be comin n actin like her draggin miles like a dang dog was so so cute but it wasn’t, it was weird n honestly if the roles were reversed, ooo, miles would be so hated on

no like this bothers me to high heaven cause miles is not her boyfriend, they are not a thing, they’re just friends (who are on the rocks because of secrets) and they be treating margo so bad !!! like i love her and miles as a thing because they just clicked in the movie n i felt like they actually had chemistry aside from gwen n miles

like she faced consequences and y’all are like “no!!! she can’t!!!!” and the victimblaming again but with her and jessica like stop talkin bad bout my wife 😤 jess was doing what she said she was gonna do, she ain’t tryna lose her job over a girl who doesn’t follow the rules that were set. honestly, i’d could make post after post about how the fandom portrays gwen but i’m not

margo n miles g just give me such stiff bf x bubbly gf that softs him up. just love her n miles in general because their dynamics are just !!!!! i’m actually thinking of making headcanons for them myself

[rightpastnowhere]

A Random Assortment of fluffy cute headcanons:

One of the Kashra kids has a bat familiar/companion. It was latched onto Trinket's fur when they returned from a patrol, one wing broken after one of the arboreal wildcats around Whitestone got to it and... well, the Kashra kids take after their parents. They don't leave the needful to suffer alone: they try to help.

Percy used to make music boxes for his sisters. Cassandra still has hers. On the five year anniversary of Whitestone being freed, Percy makes her another (it's partly a trial run for some of his ideas for the clocktower, but it's also a harkening back to their childhood. After all, they're healing).

They do end up setting up a library in Whitestone. With Percy there, there's soon a reasonable printing press as well, and when Vesper starts shadowing Cass in the Chamber of Whitestone, she also starts making a little newsletter to go around. An early iteration of a newspaper.

Some nobles are shitty about Gwen and the Kashra kids. Some of them have tiefling kids of their own that they're ashamed of. Given Zahra and Vex, any time Gwen and the Kashra kids get an INKLING of this, they find a way to befriend said kid and get them free of their parent, if they want it.

Vax watches from beyond the divine gate. He's so proud of all of them.

There's snowdrops around the raven tree in Zephrah every spring. Keyleth never quite gets over it.

The women do periodic holidays any time any of them seems to be getting too mopey. Keyleth is getting too buried in work? Beach holiday. Cass is falling back in bad habits? Beach holiday. Vex is having a trauma anniversary. BEACH HOLIDAY. These are usually organised by Zahra, who is far and away the most on top of her issues, and Pike, who loves springing a surprise on upset friends.

Sometimes Kima and Allura join them. These rapidly turn into cocktail holidays that result in needing at least two days more holiday for "recovery" time when they return.

Percy learns how to make earplugs, not for himself, but so Vex can recover from those hangovers.

AWWWW the kashra kids going full goth aesthetic good for them <33 bats are SO CUTE so this is PERFECT

MUSIC BOXES,,,, something beautiful percy can make......... something beautiful that makes something beautiful, and can make people happy.................... and fuck, imagine him making music boxes for the babies too, and then giving them More once they grow old enough to have things like favorite songs or genres

vesper being a pioneer of something in her own right is SO COOL!! whitestone would end up as the origin of so many little modern thingamabobs, wouldn't it. the ruling family are all braniacs

THOSE NOBLES ARE GETTING DECKED!! i have headcanons about an orphanage/shelter/care system in whitestone that zahra and vex help out with (and i can't for the life of me remember if this is a headcanon inspired by someone else or of it's from canon somewhere) and i imagine it's only because they can't take in all the kids that they want to. and this is the next best thing they can give them, some place safe where they can be protected from the family that tried to - or that did - hurt them. no child deserves that, and vex n zahra (and the rest of the hydris-de rolo conglomerate) will love them twice as much and twice as fiercely to make up for how they were treated

I MISS VAX SO MUCH AND I'VE BEEN SO EMOTIONAL ABOUT HIM RECENTLY SHUT UPPPPP he watches over them.... his family and then his nieces and nephews............ even when he doesn't have much of himself left................. the snowdrops..............................

GNERKJGNEKGN THEY WILL DO ANYTHING FOR A NON-TRAUMATIC BEACHDAY AND THEY DESERVE IT!!! AND KIMALLURA TAGGING ALONG <333 MY FAVE NPC COUPLE

;;; percy keeps innovating ways for vex to be as happy as she can and he loves his wife SO MUCH

[joesalw]

Wow, 138 tons of CO2 emissions simply for a dick appointment.And her fans say that she’s this baby angel billionaire princess. She really flies to wherever he’s playing for a day or two and then fucks off back to New York.

‘If you had a PJ you’d do the same’. The fuck I wouldn’t. One thing if you’re constantly on the go for work purposes and are traveling either with at least 5 people or your family with you on the board and the other is hopping around the country to suck a dick and get photographed or broadcasted at the nfl game. I get that A-list celebs may be unsafe flying commercial especially in the social media era. There have been numerous instances where stalkers have found out the flight info and booked a seat next or near them. Some have licked toilet seats they sat on or done other creepy shit. That could make the experience of a whole flight passengers unpleasant and possibly get the said celeb on the no fly list. But this shit is truly next level, I’d understand if most of the time her jets were in a hangar and she was renting it to other people so the service and maintenance would pay off but 99% she’s the one on those flights. And why on Gods green Earth would you need a second one at that?

This mediocre hunchback Barbie is inescapable and I’m sick of her

With the insane amount of stalkers, kpop idols still fly commercially with proper amount of bodyguards. So TS can at least afford proper measurements for her safety with 1.1 billion dollars in her bank account. Keeping that aside, if she can't fly commercially, she can at least lessen the nonsense back and forth she keeps doing just to get some dick, maybe do facetimes like a normal person or like buy some sex toys if she's that desperate. But no, miss goth punk artist will produce 138 tons carbon emission for a guy that's gonna last for like 5 months before she moves onto the next one. Call me mysogynistic or whatever but that's who she is.

[changingplumbob]

Chopra Household: Chapter 5, Part 4

The baby shower continues, Lavina pops by and celebrates her birthday, then it's hospital time!

James: I know you have most of the stuff from your first two but Alexander and I wanted to get you a little something

Rahul: Oh James, you shouldn’t have

James: Nonsense. Can’t take the money with me. I know Dina is still being territorial about the Goth capital and I thought you two, sorry you five, deserved a bit of cushioning while you’ll be on family leave

Cassandra: Come inside, I’ve missed you lot

Charlie: Thanks for letting us bring Clover

Cassandra: We have so many animals here, what’s an extra good dog

Cassandra: I don’t understand why everything is so much more swollen this time

Devin: This is why you don’t get pregnant, right Charlie?

Charlie: Amen to that

Luna: I got quite big with the boys but luckily it seems to disappear pretty quickly after birth

Charlie: Yeah you are not changing my mind Luna

Devin: What are you making

Rahul: It’s meant to be cereal marshmallow squares but I think something went wrong

Devin: This is why I cook and Luna handles the baking. Anyway, do you two have some name ideas

Savannah notices Milton is feeling sad. She goes over and sits near him.

Savannah: Milton, I sorry

Milton: Huh

Savannah: I sorry I ask for password

Milton: Oh, no it’s fine Savannah, I’m not upset about that

Savannah: Uncle want some funny faces

Milton: It couldn’t hurt

Meanwhile Mercedes has again conned Alexander in to roughhouse play. She can’t do it with Cassandra while she’s pregnant so is getting in what she can with the visitors.

Lavina: I’m here! Sorry I’m late, traffic

Milton: What are you doing

Mercedes: Dancing. I good

Milton: I bet you’re excited about the new baby huh? Even though you’re still a baby, look at those cheeks

Milton leans forward to pinch them but Mercedes is too quick. Rather than her being pinched, Milton ends up with his fingers bitten. All the adults are too busy to notice so no one gets told off.

Lavina: How’s my brilliant grandbaby? Shall we practice some flashcards

Cassandra: She’s working on her numbers

Lavina: Oh how clever

Mercedes: *pouts*

Cassandra: Mercedes is getting better with her talking, she’s learning animals

Lavina: That's nice dear. Okay Savannah, what number is this

Savannah: Three!

Lavina: And this one

Savannah tries to peek around the card but Lavina tells her not to cheat.

With the baby shower over the twins get sandwiches while Rahul presents his mother with a cake.

Lavina: What is this

Rahul: You didn’t think I’d forget you turning 65 did you

Lavina: *scoffs* you needn’t say it quite so loud dear

Cassandra: It’s okay Lavina, we’re all family

Savannah: CAKE

Cassandra: No honeybee, you eat your sandwich

Lavina: Guess there’s no avoiding it. Here’s to elderhood!

Rahul attends to some chores while Cassandra has a much needed nap and the girls play outside.

Lavina: What are you doing in there

Savannah: Playing

Lavina: You don’t want to learn

Savannah: Play is learn-ding

Lavina: I see, okay dear, carry on

Mercedes: Nana, nana

Lavina: *sighs* yes dear, what is it

Mercedes: I learn words

Lavina: You mean learned. You learned words. And if you got that sentence wrong I do wonder

Mercedes gets mad and hits Lavina

Mercedes: I do learn nana

Lavina: Go away and hit something else, I’m not talking to you if you’re going to be like that

Cassandra wakes up and gets the two girls into their high chairs

Cassandra: Let’s see, how hungry are we

The girls aren’t overly hungry as they had sandwiches not long ago but Cassandra gets them milk to drink while she has dinner.

Mercedes: Mama, nana mean, she not like me

Cassandra: I’m sure she likes you

Savannah: Nana talk to me but not Mercedes

Cassandra: Really? Well I’ll talk to nana about it okay darlings, can’t have any sad faces here

Mercedes: Mama when baby here, where we

Cassandra: You’ll keep your room

Savannah: What about when baby coming

Cassandra: Oh! Okay when papa and I head to the hospital, Uncle Alexander will look after you

Mercedes: You be long

Cassandra: I hope not ladybug

Rahul: Bedtime I think

Mercedes: Papa I made yuck

Rahul: *sighs* come with me then

Mercedes: Papa, why table move

Rahul: Because the baby will need it more than you and your sister, so it’s back here in the nursery

Mercedes: Baby like me and Savannah

Rahul: I hope so, but it’s hard for babies to communicate ladybug, they might not seem like they do at first

Mercedes: Papa have time for story

Rahul: Absolutely, come on

Rahul reads Mercedes to sleep, Savannah took herself to the potty and climbed in bed while Mercedes was getting changed. Cassandra needs to lie down but once both girls are in bed she can’t help herself. She gets up, waddles across the house, and kisses them each goodnight.

Mr Cluckton: *crows* Hear ye, hear ye, IT'S TIME

Cassandra: The coop is further away and he still manages to- AH dear watcher

Rahul: Does that mean what I think it means? Is the baby ready?

Cassandra: Yeah, I’m pretty sure they’re ready to come out

Rahul: Okay, you get to the cars and we’ll drop the girls at your brothers on the way

Hospital time!

Cassandra: Where is Dr Eriksson?

Rahul: The nurse said she’s not here at the moment but don’t worry, she could still show up

Cassandra: Can you help me? My lower back is killing me

The couple move over to the exercise ball and Rahul sets about trying to massage some of Cassandra’s pain away. He’s not very successful though.

Cassandra: Rahul, for the love of the watcher, please go shave that beard, it’s stressing me out

Rahul: Right away my darling

Cassandra stands and her water breaks dramatically over the floor.

Cassandra mopes sadly on the bed while Rahul is busy.

Dr E: Did someone call for a doctor

Cassandra: Thank goodness, I really need some painkillers

Dr E: No problem dear. Turn around and we’ll give you the epidural. Remember it takes a while to kick in

Cassandra: But then we can do the c-section

Dr E: Absolutely. Now if anything feels off, tell me right away

?: Oh my, Mrs Chopra, can I have an autograph

Dr E: Not now dear

Rahul: Who’s this

Dr E: My husband, the other Dr Eriksson. I’m afraid he’s a fan and often has no bedside manner

Cassandra: Look, I’m really not in any state to give autographs right now

Rahul: You heard my wife. If you’re not here to help with the birth, please leave us in peace

Dr E: I am so sorry about him, believe me we’ll be having words

Cassandra: I think I just need to do some breathing while the epidural gets started

Rahul: Does everything look okay Dr Eriksson

Dr E: Oh yes Mr Chopra, nothing to indicate any problems

Rahul: We’ve just noticed Cassandra has put on more weight than she did with the twins

Dr E: Pregnancies are never exactly the same. I believe you get quite a lot of milk in Mrs Chopra

Cassandra: I did last time, but it took a while

Dr E: Your body is likely getting ready in advance. Now how’s the pain

Cassandra: I think I’m ready

Dr E: Brilliant. You two know the way, I'll be there once I've scrubbed up

Dr E: Remember, feeling pressure is normal but if you feel pain let me know, we can adjust the meds

Cassandra: Well big guy, here we go again

Rahul: Do you know how wonderful you are

Cassandra: I don’t but I do have this husband who tells me such things

Rahul: Looks like she’s almost there, how are you doing

Cassandra: Hanging in here

Dr E: One more cut and we can meet them

Dr E: Congratulations, a healthy baby girl

Cassandra: Thank goodness, we had a bunch of girl names ready but hardly any boy options

Dr E: It looks like we will have to await the melanin awakening again unfortunately

Rahul: So long as Viola is healthy, that’s all that matters

Dr E: That’s a lovely name

Cassandra: We think so

Dr E: I’ll just close up then you three can head home

Back home and it looks like Viola is keeping to tradition by inheriting Rahul’s eyes.

Mercedes: Mama papa back!

Savannah: You gone forever

Rahul: It didn’t take that long I don’t think. Now who is ready to meet their baby sister

The twins pout and look generally underwhelmed.

Cassandra: Come on over Savannah and say hi to Viola

Savannah: Hi. I done mama

Cassandra: How about you Mercedes, can you say hello to Viola

Cassandra picks up the baby who starts to scream and Mercedes does not look impressed.

Mercedes: Too loud mama, we no sleep

Rahul: She’s on the other end of the house to you two. I think you’ll sleep just fine

Mercedes pouts but reluctantly greets her new sister.

Previous Part ... Next Part

[iheartchv]

Hey beautiful!! I was wondering if you could do a COD match-up for me???

I’m a 5’9 girl, very chubby and… well-endowed in the bosom (embarrassing but necessary I believe). 19 years old. I’ve got lots of tattoos. Long brown hair, green eyes, occasionally wear glasses but mainly plain contacts. I’m a musician as well.

I like to wear dresses and skirts, kinda switching between grunge/goth styles?? I love to cook, clean, etc… def wanna be a housewife and stay-at-home-mom someday. I’m working as a nanny right now :)

I’m American but of German/Dutch descent (grandmother was born and raised in the Netherlands). I’m from Louisiana (closer to Texas) so I’ve got a southern accent but can cook some mean cajun food.

I’m pretty shy but get flirty when I’m nervous or scared. Love going to record stores and music shops, especially local!!

You can write whatever you want because it’s adorable, but I’m cool with either N/SFW. Thanks in advance, sugar plum!!!

🤔 I pair you with...

Phillip Graves ♠️

I think ol' Phil here would be your match

He met you when you both bumped into each other

"Oops, I'm so sorry"

"That's alright, darlin'. No harm done."

"It'll take more than that to knock me over"

When he smirked, you couldn't help to feel your heart skip a beat

He was handsome, no doubt about that

You small smiled and went on your way, your heart pounding in your chest

In random places in town you'd spot him

If he sees you, he'll come up to you and try to talk to you

He really likes you and will be flirty with you

Calling you gorgeous, beautiful, sweetheart, etc.

You soon found out he was quite charming underneath the playful winks and flirts

One time when you went shopping for just a some things to cook with, he saw you carrying bags in hand

"Mind if I help you with those?"

"Oh... uhm... I don't mind."

You felt your cheeks burn rosy pink

Phillip brings a lot of the bags in and follows you to your kitchen

He smells the meat you had slow cooking

He was salivating

"Whew, it smells so good in here!"

You let him stay the evening for dinner and...

Absolutely loves your food

He'll eat till he can't anymore

"You'll be the perfect wife to some lucky man"

You couldn't stop blushing and smiling and giggling

He wanted to be that lucky man...

But he didn't want to jump straight into it, in case you weren't ready

"Do you... have a fella yet?"

"No..."

"Are you interested in looking for one?"

His arms are crossed against his chest as he's leaning back a little in his chair

"Yeah... It be nice to settle down with someone"

You told him that you wanted to be a house wife...

He was right saying you'd make the perfect wife

You were ready

"Well, I'm sure he'll come knocking when he finds you"

❤

You were so happy and full of joy when he asked you to be his

"We'll take it slow, step by step, honey. Alright?"

"Yeah. Alright."

He gently smiled at you and gave you a soft, slow, lingering kiss as he held a side of your face in his hand and his thumb brushing over your cheek

When he comes home from missions, he finds you waiting for him with open arms

Tight hugs and kisses all over your face

"I've missed you, baby."

He feels like he's in heaven because all of this, and having you, was just too perfect for words