#more christmas color duo YAY!!!

[alumi-san]

At first, I wasn't excited about a finale (bc of episode 12)

But now (plus season 3 announcement), I'm intrigued.

Alec, please don't tell us that you and Fiore didn't reconcile.

[trashyswitch]

Gingerbread Heros

Chase Brody discovers that Jackieboy Man has a soft spot for gingerbread cookies...a soft spot that turns into playfully childish behaviour!

As Chase let’s the man help with the baking and decorating, Chase takes advantage of the rare, Christmas-y occasion.

Chase was checking pantry by pantry, with the recipe in hand, for the ingredients on his list. So far, he had found the flour, the baking powder, ground cinnamon, margarine, brown sugar, an egg, and the vanilla extract out on the counter with a bowl nearby. Now was the part he dreaded: the shopping...

Chase wrote a list of what he needed to complete the recipe: -ground ginger -ground nutmeg -ground cloves -molasses

He folded it, put it in his pocket, and started to put on his coat.

“Hey Chase!” Someone cheered behind him. Chase turned around, to see a sweaty Jackie behind him.

“Hey Jackie!” Chase greeted.

“You going out?” Jackie asked.

Chase looked down at his coat. “Does it look like it?” He replied in a teasing tone.

Jackie rolled his eyes. “You got a point...where are you going?” Jackie asked.

“Shopping. I’m gonna make some gingerbread cookies, and I’m missing a few things.” Chase replied.

“Oooh! Gingerbread cookies? I’m down for that! Can I join?” Jackie asked.

Chase lowered his eyebrows slightly and narrowed his eyes. “It’s not that exciting. Not yet, anyway.” Chase warned as he put his hat on. “But if you really want to, you can co-“

“YES! GINGERBREAD COOKIES!” Jackie shouted, throwing his fists in the air and flying in circles excitedly.

Chase smiled and chuckled at the childish behaviour. “You coming?” Chase asked.

“Oh ya! Coming!” Jackie replied quickly, before flying into his room to change.

“There’s a ground, perfectly renovated and laminated for your feet you know!” Chase yelled with a big smile, towards the room.

“OH SHUT UP!” Jackie shouted back as he put his other foot into the correct pant leg. Chase let out a short laugh as he waited for the superhero to get dressed for going out. Chase put his ankle boots on and tied the laces.

“Ready!” Jackie declared, fully dressed in his coat, boots, hat and mitts. Though, there was something still on his face...

“Uh...you have the mask on your face still, you know that right?” Chase pointed out. Jackie’s smile dropped as his hand felt the felt mask around his face.

“Oops...” Jackie mumbled as he pulled the mask off his face.

“Come on, you nut job.” Chase said.

Jackie followed Chase out the door, and closed it. Locking the door, he removed the key, put it in his pocket, and speed-walked past Chase. He opened the car door and held it open.

“Ladies first.” Jackie said politely.

“Oh, shove it, Irish asshole.” Chase shot back, with a teasy smile.

Jackie gasped, placing a hand onto his chest. “How dare you? You know what? Since women are sO iNdEpEnDeNt, You can close your own door.” Jackie replied with a smirk, before letting go of the door and walking over to the passenger door. Chase rolled his eyes. His smile got wider as he reached out and closed his door.

A few minutes past before the duo reached the local grocery store. They got out of the car, grabbed a grocery basket and went to the spices area.

“Alright. We need ground ginger, ground nutmeg, and ground cloves.” Chase explained. Jackie nodded, and looked around at the many containers and bags of spices. Pretty soon, Jackie’s eyes fell onto the ground cloves.

“Found the ground cloves!” Jackie cheered.

“Awesome! I already found the ground nutmeg.” Chase replied. Chase took one look up, and came across a bag of ground ginger! He grabbed it from the shelf, and placed both spices into the basket.

Next, the duo were off to the baking section. Jackie immediately got distracted by the different things offered there, while Chase focused on what he needed: vanilla extract. He looked around, grabbed the little bottle of vanilla extract off the shelf and lightly threw it into the basket.

“Chase! They have different colored frosting!” Jackie exclaimed, bouncing around and pointing at the tubes of frosting on the shelf. “Red, blue, orange, GREEN?! CHASE! THEY HAVE GREEN!” Jackie exclaimed excitedly, grabbing one of every frosting tube colour and carrying it in his arms.

Chase chuckled and shook his head.

“We don’t need every colour, do we?” Chase asked the childish superhero.

“Yes we do! Gingerbread men should be decorated with all the colours, so they can look their absolute best!” Jackie argued.

Chase sighed with an amused smile. “Could we include ‘gingerbread women’ to the mix, then?” Chase asked, attempting to compromise.

Jackie sprinted up to the man, and dropped all the tubes of frosting into the basket. “Of course! And gingerbread children?” Jackie asked, running up to the selection of cookie cutters and grabbing a smaller gingerbread man cookie cutter off the shelf.

“Yup. And maybe...” Chase trailed off, walking over to the selection, and grabbing a collection of Avengers* cookie cutters. “...Some superhero cookies as well?” Chase offered.

Jackie’s jaw dropped, as the little cookie cutter fell out of his hand and onto the floor.

“THEY HAVE THESE?! NO WAY!” Jackie exclaimed, grabbing the package and spinning with it in his arms. Chase pulled out his phone to record the reaction.

“YES! Avengers* cookies! And we should make sure to get white! We need white for Captain America’s Shield, Thor’s thunder, and Iron Man’s eyes, right?!” Jackie asked excitedly.

“Yup. Grab whatever you want.” Chase replied.

“YAAAASSSS!” Jackie shouted, jumping up and down and clapping his hands in the middle of the store aisle. He sprinted up to Chase and gave him a big squeeze, before grabbing the rest of the colours he needed for the cookies.

Though the trip to the store lasted a little longer than expected, it was definitely worth every second. Jackie unloaded the groceries and placed the new ingredients in the previous pile, while Jackie pulled out a pair of scissors and practically destroyed the cardboard package.

“Slow down there, speedy Sonic! We still need to make the gingerbread!” Chase warned.

“Oh! Right!” Jackie reacted, putting the cookie cutters down and joining Chase.

Chase pulled the recipe out of a binder, and placed it onto a wooden stand.

“Step 1: Sift together the flour, baking powder, ginger, nutmeg, cloves, and cinnamon; set aside.” Chase read aloud.

“Okay.” Jackie replied, separating the dry ingredients from the wet ingredients. Chase grabbed the plastic measuring cups and the teaspoons out of the drawer, and placed them aside.

Chase got started on the first ingredient: 6 cups all-purpose flour. He grabbed the cup sized measuring cup, opened the big bag of flour, and dipped the cup into the bag. He used his finger to flatten out the top, and dumped it into the bowl. Chase repeated this 5 more times, and placed the measuring cup aside.

Next, Chase grabbed the tablespoon cup, and the baking powder. He put the cup into the baking powder, grabbed the right amount, and placed it into the bowl.

“Done.” Chase said.

To end it off, Jackie put the tablespoon of ground ginger, and the teaspoons of ground cloves, ground nutmeg, and ground cinnamon into the bowl. Grabbing the whisk, he sifted the dry ingredients together and placed it aside.

“I’ll get the butter melted!” Jackie declared, grabbing the butter and placing it into the microwave.

“Thanks! ‘In a medium bowl, mix together the butter, molasses, brown sugar, water, egg, and vanilla extract until smooth. Gradually stir in the dry ingredients, until they are completely absorbed.’ Sounds easy enough.” Chase said.

Chase grabbed the beater bowl and the correct steel measuring cup, and placed the needed items in. Next, he cracked the egg into the bowl, and threw the egg into the trash. While Chase washed his hands, Jackie put the vanilla extract into the bowl and placed the bowl into the beater.

After drying his hands with a towel, he locked the beater head in, and turned the beater on.

Jackie pulled out his phone, turned on Slo-mo and recorded a video of the beater beating the gingerbread mix. He continued the recording for a few more seconds, before ending it.

“Hey Chase! Look at this!” Jackie said, turning the video on and showing his friend.

“That’s pretty cool!” Chase reacted.

While he was waiting, Jackie sprinkled some flour onto the counter and placed the rolling pin and the cookie cutters nearby.

Soon, the beater was finished mixing the batter. Chase turned the beater off, pulled the dough out of the bowl and laid it on the powdered counter. Chase split the dough into 3 pieces, placed the other 2 pieces aside and started rolling out the first piece.

“The trick for rolling out gingerbread dough, is you want the dough as flat and level as possible, so the cookies are level.” Chase explained.

“Huh...okay.” Jackie reacted, watching the man flatten the dough with his hands and the rolling pin.

After a few more minutes, the dough was level enough for the cookie cutters. So, Jackie grabbed the Captain America cookie cutter, and pushed it down into the dough. While Jackie was shaping the cookies, Chase ripped off a couple pieces of parchment paper, and placed them onto the baking pans.

“Alright. You can place the cookies onto the pans when you are ready.” Chase said to Jackie, who had most of the dough covered with every single cookie cutter in the house.

“Yay! Avengers cookies!” Jackie exclaimed before wiggling the cookie cutter, picking it up and slowly taking the mould out of the plastic cutter. After another couple seconds, the mould had fallen onto the parchment paper with a short crinkle sound, and Jackie moved onto the rest of the cut out cookies.

It took a while...but soon, the duo had two batches of cookies ready for the oven. As soon as the oven made the familiar beeping noise, Chase put the oven mitts on, put the batches of cookies onto the middle rack, and closed the oven.

‘10:00’ Chase types onto the oven, before celebrating by throwing both fists in the air.

“We’re done!” Jackie yelled excitedly.

“Not quite. The cookies are done, but we still need to wait for them to finish. Then, comes the fun part!” Chase replied.

“Wait- making the gingerbread wasn’t fun for you?” Jackie asked, in a curious, but pity tone of voice.

Chase turned around. “Yes! Making the cookies was fun. But decorating is a lot more fun.” Chase clarified.

“Oooh...” Jackie replied.

While they waited, Chase and Jackie played a game of Uno. They managed to do almost 6 rounds, with Jackie winning 3 and Chase winning 2. Now, you may think ‘That’s odd...who would’ve won the last game?’ Well...that answer remained unclear, for the stove timer ended in the middle of their game, and the gust of wind from getting up and sprinting had thrown the cards absolutely everywhere...

Chase ran to the stove, turned off the timer, pulled the oven gloves on and opened the oven door. After the heat wave hit and faded, Chase eyed up the cookies eagerly. Jackie, who was waiting behind him, was clapping his hands in excitement and anticipation.

They were ready. Chase pulled the baking pan out of the oven and placed them onto the stove. After putting all the cookies onto the cooling racks, they placed the pans and spatulas onto the stovetop to cool down.

Next, Chase grabbed the new icing tubes and started removing the lids. Jackie went to the baking drawer, and found a couple more colours: grey and purple. They took the time to clean up the flour and the cookie cutters, and put the bowls under some hot water to sit.

Once the gingerbread was cooled enough, the two bakers got to work!

Jackie immediately got started on the Captain America cookie. He spun the red and white icing in circles, and carefully drew a star in the middle. Lastly, he filled in the spaces outside the star with blue, and placed it onto an empty plate.

Meanwhile, Chase had started working on the Iron Man cookie. He had already finished the red parts of the helmet, and comfortably gripped the yellow tube. As the icing came out of the tube, Chase controlled the icing as it covered the blank part of the helmet. In a minute or so, Chase removed the yellow tube, eyeing up the finished Iron Man helmet cookie.

The two adults continued to cover the cookies in their respectful colours. Jackie started sneaking bits of icing into his mouth before putting them down, and Chase had started looking up the avengers logos to get the cookies as accurate as possible.

Before they knew it, all the cookies were finished. Jackie and Chase lifted their fist in celebration as they eyed up their work. The cookies turned out better than they expected! They had a Hulk cookie, a Captain America cookie, a Spider-Man cookie, an Iron Man cookie, even a Thor Mjolnir cookie! There were a few gingerbread men, a few gingerbread ‘woman’, a couple gingerbread kids, and a couple gingerbread trees to end it off. All of the gingerbread cookies were laid flat onto 2 big plates, free for the icing to harden and for their roommates to grab and go whenever they want.

“You want one?” Chase asked.

“Wait, really?!” Jackie reacted, clapping his fists together with a big, suspenseful smile on his face.

“Well, ya! Feel free to grab one! We made them!” Chase clarified.

Jackie threw his fists in the air. “YES!” He shouted, before grabbing the Captain America cookie and taking a big bite. Upon actually tasting it, Jackie’s entire body practically melted! It was SO GOOD! One of the best gingerbread cookies he’s ever tasted!

Chase chuckled as he watched. “Is it good?” Chase asked.

“Mm hmm!” Jackie replied, giving him a thumbs up with his free hand.

Chase decided to grab one of his own. He took a bite of the Black Panther cookie, and lifted his eyebrows in happiness and surprise: It was really good! Like, not only actually edible, but almost addicting! After finishing the first cookie, Chase was ridiculously tempted to have another one. But, he pushed his temptation aside and focused on cleaning up the icing tubes.

He put the lids onto a few of the tubes, and put them away. When turning around to face the tubes, he put a few more of the lids onto them. But after putting the lids on, he noticed that there was an extra lid. Curious, Chase looked up, to see Jackie holding the red tube of icing, squeezing it into his mouth. Chase sighed, rubbed his nose and shook his head with a smile.

“Give me the tube please.” Chase ordered. Jackie closed his mouth, leading to some red icing getting onto his lips. Jackie’s mouth twisted into a nervous grin, as he scratched his head and slowly backed away.

“Give it! Give it here!” Chase ordered, holding his hand out. Jackie took off sprinting, giggling as he ran away with the tube of icing. Chase followed suit, creating a playful chase scene. Jackie jumped over all the furniture in front of him, and even flew over the table to get away from him.

“HEY! That’s cheating!” Chase accused. Jackie laughed at the claim, and spun around the sofa. Jackie ran for the coffee table, and jumped. He slid across it Steve Urkel style, and tried to land on his feet. But, he didn’t anticipate the Uno cards being right where they were before: on the ground. So, he ended up stepping on the Uno cards. Quickly, he jumped up and flew, but his back hit the low roof and knocked him right back down. He fell onto the back of the couch, and slid right behind the couch.

Chase slowed to a walking pace, walking over to the space behind the couch. He climbed up onto the couch cushions, and eyed up Jackie, who had gotten himself stuck behind the couch.

“Peek a boo!” Chase cooed. Jackie gulped and held the tube in his hand tightly. “You gonna give me the icing?” Chase asked. Jackie’s eyes frowned, before a smile showed up on his lips. He shook his head confidently. Chase’s smile turned into a mischievous smirk, as he left the spot for a minute. He picked up a nearby reaching tool, and the long Swiffer* duster. Walking back to the couch, he climbed onto the cushions, looked back behind the couch, and showed the superhero the items.

“What are those for?” Jackie asked, pointing at them.

“To do this!” Chase replied. He lowered the reaching tool down to the red hero, and tried to grab the tube. However, Jackie was moving the tube left and right, to dodge the item. Anticipating it wouldn’t work, Chase moved the reaching tool towards his shirt, grabbed the bottom of the shirt, and slowly lifted it. Jackie’s one eyebrow raised, curious to what he was gonna do.

Next, Jackie lowered the yellow feather duster down and fluttered it back and forth on his bare belly.

“Hehehehey! Dohohon’t you dahahahare!” Jackie laughed, twisting to the side and curling into a ball.

“Oh, I dare! I dare to even touch those reeeeaally ticklish feet! It’s a shame you baked those cookies in your bare feet!” Chase teased, dragging the feather duster down to his bare feet. As soon as the duster went under his feet, Jackie’s giggling got louder.

“EEEEEEKK! Hahahahahaha! Thahahahahat tihihihihickles!” Jackie said through his laughter, shaking his head as he laughed.

“It DOES?! REALLY?! I CAN’T BELIEVE IT! HOW COULD THIS-” Chase mocked, stopping mid sentence to flutter the feather duster even more. “-TICKLE?!” Chase ended sarcastically with a smile. Jackie’s face turned slightly red as his laughter turned to cackles. “Perhaps someone’s feet are ticklish? Is THAT it? Oh! What an amazing discovery! I shall take advantage of this right away!” Chase exclaimed sarcastically. He lifted the feather duster away from the feet, removed the removable duster to reveal the clamps underneath, and lowered the extendable stock down to his feet again. Next, he used the clamps on the end of the stick, to scratch the inner arch and soles of his feet.

Jackie’s eyes widened as he threw his head back. “OH GAHAHAHAD! NOHOHOHOHOHO! AAAAHHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Jackie bursted out immediately, squirming frantically.

“You gonna surrender the icing yet?” Chase asked. Jackie attempted to glare at the man, but failed to thanks to his laughter taking over every part of his face.

“NEHEHEHEHEVER!” Jackie yelled through his laughter.

“Very well.” Chase said, shrugging his shoulders, and removed the duster. He pulled the feather duster back to himself, put the feather duster onto the clamps once again, and reached the feather down. Suddenly, Chase shoved the feather duster into Jackie’s face and used the reaching tool to poke and prod at Jackie’s sides and stomach.

“AAAH! WAHAHA! WAIT! DOHOHON’T! NOT THERE! OH GEEZ- BAAAHAHAHAHAHA!” Jackie yelled. His voice was jumping up and down as he reacted to each and every poke and prod from the clamp tool.

Then, to end it off, Chase shoved his tool into the right side, and slightly clamped down, let go, clamped down, let go, and repeated these actions to squeeze his ticklish side.

Jackie’s wise smile grew bigger as his arms flailed just about everywhere, with the tube in his right hand as it flailed. In the middle of his flailing, he dropped the tube of icing onto the ground beside him.

Chase removed the reaching tool, picked up the tube and lifted it away, along with the feather duster.

“Thank you.” Chase said, before putting the lid on the tube and getting off the couch to put it away.

Jackie stayed behind the couch for a few minutes longer, before flying himself up and back into the kitchen.

“Feeling better?” Chase asked, with a smile.

“You suck man.” Jackie replied.

Chase looked up at Jackie, and let out a sudden laugh. “What?” Jackie asked.

“You still have icing on your face! It looks like you’re wearing crappy lipstick!” Chase exclaimed, pointing at Jackie’s lips. Jackie’s eyes widened as he wiped his ‘lipstick’ off his mouth with his sleeve.

“Merry Christmas, Santa.” Chase said as he walked by the superhero and put something in his hand. Jackie looked down at his hand, rolled his eyes and smiling.

“Har dee har har.” Jackie said back, before twisting the lid off the tube of white icing. He put some icing onto his hand, and spread it onto his face.

“HEY CHASE! LOOK!” Jackie yelled. Chase turned around, and bursted out laughing at the silly sight. Jackie had white icing spread onto his chin and upper lip, to imitate a white moustache and beard.

“MERRY NATIONAL BURGLAR DAY! THE DAY WHERE SANTA GETS PRAISED FOR YEARLY MISCONDUCT!” Jackie yelled.

Chase and Jackie laughed at his remark. He wasn’t wrong. The Santa Present thing was a way of teaching kids ‘slave labor, talking children and breaking into their houses to give them gifts is perfectly okay!’. But, that was just adult logic. Kids don’t fully understand any of that Law and Order stuff, and care more for the idea that a big man dressed in red will give them whatever toys they want. Kids, man! You love ‘em! Even the adult-sized ones!

[business-as-usual-bats]

Tim's First Christmas as Robin

Tim walked through the hallways of his school with a smile because he officially had the best life ever.

Why? Because Tim Drake was Robin. He helped people. He saved lives. He worked with literal superheroes. It was hard work, exhausting in every way, it took up all his time, and he still had a lot to learn, but at the end of the day he made a difference in the world.

Batman had begun to warm up to him, too, trusting him more with patrolling certain areas alone and handling common thieves and muggers. Batman even complimented him yesterday!! After Tim solved a mystery about Penguin's disappearing shipments in Gotham Harbor, Bruce said, "Good job" and kinda gave a smile!! According to Dick, that's, like, practically the equivalent of a hug!

And since Dick is coming back to Wayne Manor for the holidays, Batman said Tim doesn't have to go patrolling on Christmas, so he can be with his family.

Tim's parents! That's the best part! His parents were finally coming home after being gone half the year. They were supposed to be home months ago... for the first day of the school year... Halloween... Thanksgiving... but they kept getting held up at their jobs. But this time they promised they'd be there on Christmas Eve! Tim went ahead and put up Christmas lights and a tree in preparation. He had it all planned out. He even got ingredients to make gingerbread cookies. Never before had Tim felt so... festive. A few times he caught himself humming along to the overplayed Christmas jingles on the radio.

So, now was the last day of school before winter break. His last class was Algebra and he took his usual seat by the windows. Everyone was goofing off, the teacher didn't even bother to try to actually teach anything by this point. The class comedian of his peers was talking to everyone,

"Nah, I'm just sayin' it's true! Whenever you're watching a movie and sex scene comes up then -BAM- your parents are right there outta nowhere."

Everyone is laughing, including Tim. God, that'd be embarrassing. Does this really happen that often to other people?

"Yeah, your mom be ignoring you all damn day and then she's suddenly all about your life when people start making out. Like how does she know? It's gotta be like the same magic Santa uses to sense who's naughty or who's nice."

"Shit, man. My dad could be gone for 8 years but as soon as that scene comes up he's right there behind me sayin, 'Hey, son. Watcha watchin'?'"

The jokes are silly and dumb and it makes time pass by quickly. Thr bell signaling the end of the day rings and Tim sets off for Wayne Manor.

Patrol goes well, too. It was all business as normal until the Dynamic Duo got back to the cave and who should be there but

"Dick!" Tim yelled, getting swept up in a classic Grayson hug. "Put me down!"

"Merry Christmas, Tiny Tim!"

"It's not Christmas yet."

"It's Christmas every day if you carry love in your heart." Dick grinned and plopped him on the floor. "I got you the coolest and totally-not-a-robin-motorcycle gift ever!"

"A what?" Tim squeaked. "Motorcycle?? But I don't have anything nearly as cool to give you-"

"Now, now, I specifically said it wasn't a motorcycle. But if it were, then I'd tell you it's fine and not to worry about it! It's Christmas!"

"Dick-"

"I'm gonna hug you again-"

"Don't you dare!"

"Pfft. Fine. But hey, I heard your parents are coming home?"

"YEAH!" And Tim didn't mean to shout but the words starting pouring, "They're gonna be home in time for Christmas and I put up the stockings I made, and I have a list of all of dad's favorite Christmas songs, and I'm gonna make gingerbread cookies cuz I found this awesome recipe online, and I got them the perfect gifts because you see last year my mom was complaining on how she didn't have any earrings that matched my dad's favorite tie that he wears all the time which I think was her way of telling him to get rid of the tie but instead I got him a new tie that's the same color and got matching earrings and-"

"Woah! But you'll still stop by the Manor to say hi, right?"

"Duh! I'm not about to miss out on Alfred's homemade Christmas cookies you guys brag about all the time."

"Good! How was patrol?" And they chatted away until Tim decided it was late and he should go home.

The days dragged on until finally finally it was the morning of December 24th. His parents would be home any second! He waited, looking out the window now and again, watching the clock tick by...

And he waited

And waited

They were late.

He called his mom twice, and she answered the second time.

"Yes? Tim, honey?"

"Mom? Um... are you guys almost here or...?"

"What? Oh no, I thought we told you. We aren't going to make it in time for Christmas. You see-" and she explained how an artifact they'd found was accused of being a fake and how much of a legal mess they were in... and... more excuses... "I'm sorry, honey. You know if we could we'd much rather spend Christmas with you. We sent your present in the mail."

"I... I know, Mom." Tim sighed, "I'm not mad. I understand."

"You're such a kind boy, Timothy. We love you so much. We never stop thinking of you."

"I love you, too." And she hung up.

Tim stared ahead blankly, the phone still in his hand. He wasn't sure how long he just stood there, but suddenly his phone rang again

"Hello?" Tim answered. His voice sounded distant to him, like he wasn't even the one talking.

"Tim!" It was Dick, "Hey, so I know we should probably know this but, um, are you allergic to any nuts or spices? Like, even just a small allergy to something?"

"No."

"Sweet! Thanks! Hey... are you alright?"

"Yeah."

"You seem... off."

"I'm fine. I'm just... distracted with my family. They... aren't as excited as I am to be home."

"Oh, that sucks. But they made it home, right? They're there with you now?"

"Yeah, no. They made it here okay." Tim didn't know why he was lying... Was he ashamed? And at who? His parents? Himself? "I should go."

"Well, alright. See you later!"

"Yeah." Tim sighed and threw the phone away from him in disgust.

His eyes stung, he quickly wiped away the beginnings of tears. This was stupid to cry about. Not worth it. Why cry? Just because his parents broke another promise? Because they say they love him but they keep leaving? Why don't they stay? Did he do something wrong? Is he that horrible that they don't want to be around him? Why isn't he good enough for them? Why don't they like him? What can he do better?

Tim started crying and immediately hated himself for it, but he couldn't stop. It all seemed so unfair. It hurt. And the hurt made him want to be comforted, and he wanted his mom here to comfort him. But she's not. She can't be. And somehow, Tim knew it was his fault.

He looked at the Christmas tree blurred through his tears and thought briefly about pushing it down. But that wouldn't fix anything, would it? No. It wouldn't bring his parents home. There was nothing to do about it.

He curled up on the couch facing the Christmas tree and let the tears fall until he could sleep.

The next day was Christmas. Yay.

Tim didn't feel like celebrating. Or moving in general. He managed to slink over to the living room and turn on the TV. Maybe he could watch something to distract him from Christmas.

Or every channel could be focused on the importance of family during Christmas time. Literally. Every. Channel. Christmas and love. Christmas and love. Fuck Christmas. It's was just a stupid commercialized waste of time! Why's he even doing this Christmas shit? He's pretty sure his mom is Jewish anyway! Ugh!

But then he clicked the channel and woah- that's more skin showing than he expected. Suddenly, he remembered:

"Whenever you're watching a movie and a sex scene comes up then -BAM- your parents are right there!"

What if...

He changed to one of the more "mature" channels debuting their Christmas specials. It was sappy romance stuff, which isn't the worst, but he was more of a scifi kind of guy.

It was a typical plotline. A lady is scheduled to marry a prince but she's in love with a commoner guy. Lazy writing. It's been done before. But maybe...

Is it too childish to hope for a miracle on Christmas?

He sat with rapt attention through the whole ordeal. At one point the lady runs away to meet her forbidden true love (even though it's totally going to get her caught and in trouble and might even get the lover killed). They start kissing and taking off their clothes, but Tim isn't paying much attention now because this is the moment! He listened for the doorbell, for a knock, for a car, for a voice... But no parents came running. No one was there at the door. Why did he even hope...

Tim glared angrily at the two naked people on screen, "Is it too much to wish for my family to be here on Christmas??"

Then a *ding dong* came from the front of the house. Tim paused the TV. Wait. Could it be?

One second he was in the living room, the next he was swinging the front door open without any hesitation,

"Mom?? Dad??" Tim called excitedly before realizing who was there, "Oh... Hey, Dick. Uh, come on in." He tried not to look disappointed.

"I thought you were going to visit the Manor?" Dick pouted, walking in. Only then did Tim notice Alfred was following him.

"I lost track of time." Tim said honestly, "I'm sorry." Oh God, what if Bruce was upset with him? What if Bruce hates him now?? What if he ends up leaving Tim for months at a time and lies about being home for Christmas??

"Where are your parents?" Dick asked, but it was more rhetorical than anything. He could no doubt see the puffy eyes of someone who spent the night crying. Tim answered anyway.

"Africa."

"Still, on Christmas?" Alfred raised both his eyebrows in disapproval.

"It's not their fault! It's... work stuff. They don't... they said they'd rather be here with me but... It's not a big deal."

"Well, as that may be, Master Timothy, I insist you join us today and tonight at Wayne Manor."

"Yeah!" Dick chirped. "Alfred made a ton of food, like, all of your favorites! Didn't you, Al?"

"Indeed, I did, sir."

"But, Bruce-"

"Is the one that asked us to come and make sure you're okay." Dick smiled, "He's waiting for us. Actually, I think he really missed you on patrol last night."

"Really?"

"If I may," Alfred whispered, "Master Bruce also specifically requested I hang up a stocking with your name on it."

No way. But... Alfred wouldn't lie about that would he... Bruce really... Wow

"...Right. I'll visit him as scheduled and then leave." By the glint in Dick's eye though, Tim had a feeling he'd be staying in the Manor longer than planned. And honestly? That sounded a lot better than staying in this house alone.

"Great! I'll get your coat." Dick walked around the corner to the living room. "It's this way, right? Oh. Huh. I remember this movie."

Oh.

"TURN IT OFF IT'S NOT WHAT IT LOOKS LIKE-"

The end.

[icannott]

Alright (Bill Denbrough x Reader)

Requested: yes!! by anon “Could you do a Bill x reader where she was his girlfriend but she got killed by IT and it’s basically him mourning over her and Georgie?? I’m feelin angsty.”

Pairing(s): Bill Denbrough x Reader

Warnings: Mentions of death, angst

A/N: day 23 of Christmas Fic Countdown!!! (im sorry i didnt get to post this sooner!! i tried to post while i was on vacation, but i had such horrible internet that only a few posted. im posting the final three for the countdown today, and im sorry i didnt get to say this sooner, but merry christmas!! and for those who dont celebrate it, i hope you had a wonderful day!!)

Gif Credit belongs to @richietzoier

“If I die, I want to be reincarnated into an owl,” you said suddenly, looking up from your book. With a laugh, Bill looked up from his, as well.

“What does that mean?” Georgie asked, drawing his attention from his coloring book. You smiled at the youngest Denbrough.

“They call it reincarnation,” you explained. “It’s basically what you want to become after you die. I want to be an owl because they’re a symbol of magic.”

“Woah,” Georgie gaped. He grinned. “I wanna be a dove!” He held up his coloring book to reveal the pristine bird he had been filling in with black.

Your smile widened as you slid down to the floor and lifted Georgie onto your lap. “We’d be the unlikeliest, most powerful duo in the afterlife!”

“Yay!” Georgie exclaimed, giggling and throwing his arms around your neck. You joined his laughter and returned the hug. Bill smiled down at the two most precious people in his life. 

Bill frowned deeply at the memory, his mind flickering back to the empty caskets he had gazed at earlier that day. He took a shaky breath through his nose, releasing it slowly from his mouth. His room suddenly felt suffocating. He put down the scrapbook you had made for him months ago, and made his way from his bed to the outside.

He stepped out into the warm night air just as a cool breeze swept through. It ran through his hair from behind like invisible fingers, arms throwing the material of his flannel against his back. He sighed in content, already feeling better.

He made his way down the street, taking his time admiring the familiar lawns and houses. He soon came across your house, where your parents were repainting the driveway. They weren’t currently out, since it was becoming so dark. But to mark such occasion, black buckets of paint were placed at either side of your driveway and their cars were parked in the lawn.

He distinctly remembered a time when you had told him that when your parents were stressed, angered, or saddened, they usually changed something. Once they had remodeled your kitchen when your aunt had died. He wondered how many more changes would be made over the remains of the summer.

He became distracted with his thoughts as he walked. How many times had he walked to this house to retrieve you? How many times had you left through that front door, walked down that pathway, to retrieve him? Did you know that when you left this house that day, you weren’t going to return? He frowned at the thought.

He didn’t pay much attention to where his feet were moving and accidentally knocked over one of the paint buckets, causing black paint to roll over onto the drying drive. He cursed and righted the bucket before too much could spill. Luckily, not much did, and it was already beginning to blend and level itself upon the other layer of paint. But in a small puddle that hadn’t yet advanced, something shifted.

Bill leaned closer to see what had moved, when suddenly, it shot straight up into the sky. He realized it was just a bird, and attempted to calm his racing heart. As it flew into nearby trees, he saw it was a dove, for he recognized its familiar shape, and some of its pristine white feathers were evident through the dripping paint. He curiously stared after it as it perched itself next to--his heart leapt painfully when he realized--an owl.

The owl’s call rang through the breezy night air, resounding in Bill’s ears almost painfully as his heart flipped. He lips started to twitch into a frown as the owl let out another hoot before flying off with the dove at its side. 

When they were out of sight, tears rolled down helplessly down his cheeks. He turned back the way he came, back toward his house. The breeze whipped his face, drying some of the tumbling tears, and he welcomed it fully. The most precious people in his world were alright. And he would be, too, eventually.

[janyolski]

Fic: Then I saw her face... Now I’m a believer (Halloween One-Shot)

Summary:  Seven year old Cosima is excited to dress up as Shrek for Halloween. Seven year old Delphine is going as Princess Fiona even if her mother didn't approve. They meet while out trick-or-treating. It's a parallel universe where their souls find each other much earlier in their lives. Set in Canada, 2001. They're born in 1994 instead of 1984. Mrs. S. makes an appearance because I love her so much. Little Cophine + fluff to celebrate Halloween! One-shot.

Read on AO3 | FFN

Little Cosima jumps up and down in excitement that her father almost gives up on putting on the green paper mache ogre head on his daughter. He laughs and shakes his head, exasperated, sits back on the heels of his feet from his kneeling position at eye-level with his little girl.

“Cos, I won’t be able to finish putting on this Shrek costume on you if you don’t stay still.”

Gene Niehaus swears up and down that he’ll grow a decade older from just having to keep up with his seven year old ball of energy

Curly-haired, hazel-eyed Cosima with her bouncy and short curly hair giggles and grins from ear to ear, putting her hands behind her back, swaying side to side. She wore a white undershirt with a brown vest on top, brown pants and her arms were painted green. The child insisted on the green body paint.

“I’m sorry, daddy. I’ll keep still.”

The little girl pushes her new glasses up her small nose as she speaks. Her father just melts in adoration of his daughter, so he nods and grabs the green ogre head again and successfully puts it on his daughter’s head this time. He made sure that the head costume wasn’t too stuffy inside so that her daughter’s new glasses wouldn’t skew. They’d just gotten them after they noticed Cosima had difficulty recognizing objects at a distance. Their little girl had an early onset of astigmatism and nearsightedness. Once she got to wear the new pair, the child’s eyes had gone wide at all the bright colors and had squealed, “I can see now!” happily.

The professor gives his daughter a soft pat on her ogre costume’s head and peers under it to see the excitement on Cosima’s face when he says his next words.

“There you go, sweetie. All set for trick or treating!”

The way Cosima’s eyes lights up could rival New Year’s Eve at Times Square. There were a million fireworks in those hazel eyes and her father thinks there is nothing more worth going through hell and back for in this world.

The child squeals.

“Yay!”

She resumes her bouncing and clapping and hugs her father tight before running off to grab her little plastic pumpkin to fill with treats tonight and mumbling, ‘thank you, daddy, thank you, daddy,' over and over under her breath. Cosima zips out of the living room with her candy basket and goes to her mother who was waiting for them outside.

The professor expels a breath and shakes his head. He treasures every moment with his daughter but hopes for his sanity that his child eventually mellows down. He really can’t keep up with her energy. He gets up slowly.

Shrek Cosima’s head pops up from behind the divider of the hallway leading to their front door.

“DOONKEY!”

The child bellows kn the lowest voice she could manage, imitating her favorite character from her favorite film.

The professor sighs and puts on the headband with donkey ears he made to match her daughter’s costume.

“Alright, alright, Shrek. I’m coming.”

Cosima giggles and whooshes out of his sight again. Her father just shakes his head again.

Little Delphine holds herself completely still as her mother fusses over her green dress.

“Ma cherie, you behave. No running around or making trouble. Comprenez-vous?”

“Oui, maman.”

Delphine dares not make a move because she is aware that her mother is already upset over her not wearing the pink Princess Peach costume her mother previously bought and insisting on wearing a green dress; the little French girl wanted to go as Princess Fiona from Shrek and her mother had flat out said no to her the first time. Her mother had asked her why she would want to dress up as an ugly ogre instead of a pretty princess. Delphine, like any six year old afraid of upsetting their parent, couldn’t say anything and just kept quiet.

She was crying in her room that night before dinner and when her papa went to get her, he saw her little red and tear-streaked face. He immediately hugged her and asked her what was wrong. He managed to coax it out of her after a few moments. She told him that she really wanted to be Princess Fiona because Fiona kicked butt unlike the damsel-in-distress that Peach was. Her father just smiled and nodded, “okay, ma cherie,”telling her that he will try to talk to her mother.

Two days before Halloween, her French mother had come home with a little green dress and a braided red-haired wig. Delphine beamed in happiness and excitement and kissed her parents on the cheek.

“Oh, Mama, merci infiniment!”

Her mother had smiled at her and whispered, “je t’en prie,” before giving her a kiss on the top of her head.

Delphine noticed the lack of green body paint though and ogre ears; she wanted to be the ogre Princess Fiona, but she accepts the compromise for human Fiona.

“Okay, princess, ready to go trick-or-treating?”

Her father walks into her room where her mother had helped her into the costume. The little French girl immediately broke out in giggles at the sight of her father wearing pink horns on his head, pink dragon wings on his back and a pink dragon tail behind him, tied around his waist.

“I’ll be the dragon watching over you… get it?”

Her Canadian father, who was always the funny one of her parents, turns around and gives his tail a little wiggle. Delphine giggles louder and claps her hands like a baby seal in excitement. Her French mother shakes her head and laughs at her husband’s antics. Her father turns back around to face them, grinning proudly that his plan to make his daughter and wife laugh was immensely successful.

“But Papa, the dragon is a girl!”

“Well, cherie, do you want me to wear lipstick?”

Another fit of giggles washes over Delphine and the little girl grips her sides. Her father smiles at his precious daughter then at his wife. The French woman just smiles and shakes her head again, before walking to her husband and lovingly kissing him on the cheek.

“Oh, you silly man.”

“You love me.”

The French woman chuckles and gives her husband another kiss on the cheek. Delphine looks at her parents and smiles, happy and relieved that her mother is now in a good mood. Her father turns to her.

“Ready to go trick-or-treating, cherie?”

Delphine nods so vigorously, with all the excitement of a seven year old about to go trick-or-treating, then runs to hug her parents around their legs.

“Oui, Papa!”

“This is Halloween! This is Halloween! Halloween! Halloween!”

Gene Niehaus holds his little excited ogre’s left hand while she held onto her little prop sack (“Because that fits Shrek instead of a Pumpkin!”Cosima had explained to him) with her right. The little girl is practically skipping. She and her father are singing random songs from the child’s favorite animated movies. The little girl told her father that it was only appropriate to sing Nightmare Before Christmas songs first, since it is Halloween.

There were already a lot of kids going from house to house on their block. Cosima asked to start from the farthest street in their neighborhood and go door-to-door backwards, so they finish at their block.

They get to the third street and father-daughter duo run into one of Gene’s colleagues at the university who happens to also live in the area.

“Hey, Gene! Oh, and is that little Cosima? You got bigger!”

The man bends down to look at Cosima eye-level and the child smiles politely at her father’s friend. She does however, find it unacceptable to be called by her name because tonight, she isn’t Cosima, so she puts her small hands on her hips and musters up all the authority she could to try to remedy this.

“Good evening, Sir! Please call me Shrek. I’m Shrek tonight!”

The man laughs and nods, putting his hands up in mock surrender.

“Okay, Shrek. I’m sorry.”

The two adults start talking and catching up. Cosima starts growing impatient and taps her foot. Her father remains to be caught up in whatever adult conversation he was having and couldn’t see that his daughter is simply itching to start her trick-or-treating adventure. The little girl decides enough is enough and so she tugs at her father’s pants.

“Daddy?”

Her father stops in the middle of whatever he was saying and looks down at his daughter.

“Yes, Shrek-sima?”

Cosima giggles at her new nickname. She decides to go along with it.

“Donkey-dad, can I go ahead and start trick-or-treating? I promise to be careful!”

“Hmm…”

Gene looks up and pretends to consider it. Cosima does her best puppy-eyes expression.

“Oh, please! I’m good. I won’t get into trouble.”

Her father laughs and nods his head slowly.

“Okay, Shrek-sima. I’ll go catch up with you.”

Cosima jumps up and her ogre head costume tilts. Her eyes widen in panic that the ogre head might fall or get ruined, so she stands completely still once she touches the ground, holding her head-piece and putting it back right-way up. Her father chuckles.

“Just don’t eat any of the candy before I come and get ya, alright? We can’t have you too hyper tonight.”

Cosima nods her head in understanding before waving at her father and skipping away.

She gets to the next block and decides that she just can’t wait until the last one so she beelines for the closest house instead.

As Cosima runs up the front porch of the house, she looks down at her feet to make sure that she doesn’t trip on any rock or cracked pavement. This proves to be a wrong decision because she collides into another kid. She falls splat on her bum on the ground, bouncing a centimeter off of it from the padding in her costume. That was her father’s idea which serves two purposes: one, to make her look like a believable mini Shrek, and two, for safety measures because he knows how Cosima gets when she’s a little too excited. The other kid, an older boy, wasn’t as fortunate, however. He was a taller kid but with the impact of their collision, he fell splat on his bum, too. A group of kids who looked to be his age started laughing at him. The boy’s face scrunched up in anger, turning red. He whips around to face his friends, yelling at them.

“SHUT IT!”

The group’s laughter dies down but they stay smiling, anticipating what their friend is going to do next.

The older kid stands up to his full height, a full head taller than Cosima, and dusts himself off. She was small for her age and this proved a disadvantage at times like these. He looks at Cosima with a nine year old’s rage in his features and Cosima cowers, stuttering apologies.

“I’m-I’m sorry! I’m s-sorry. I didn’t mean- I’m sorry!”

“You stupid kid! Watch where you’re going!”

He raises his fist and aims to hit the little girl. Cosima gasps and covers her face with her arms.

“HEY!”

Cosima turns her head towards the direction of her savior; the older boy and his friends to the interruption. A little girl in a green dress is running towards them, shouting.

“Hey, you ugly bully! Stop that!”

The little girl comes in between Cosima and the older kid, speaking with a hint of a French accent. She stands taller than Cosima but she didn’t reach up to the boy’s full height, only up until his nose. The bully’s face contorts in anger before slacking and relaxing. He then starts laughing and his friends laugh with him.

“Oh yeah? What are you gonna do about it?”

The little girl snorts before stomping off to the door and pressing the doorbell. All the other kids and Cosima watch her in confusion. The door opens and a woman answers the door. The woman catches sight of the bully with his fist raised at the little child in an ogre costume, who them immediately straightens up as he realizes that he just got caught trying to punch a younger girl.

“Oi, boy! What the hell is going on here?”

The little girl in the green dress speaks up immediately.

“Madame, these boys are picking on my friend!”

The man in the police uniform comes out to his porch and towers over the bully, a menacing look in her eyes. It was his turn to cower back now.

“You know what, kid? I hate bullies. You wanna pick on someone? Pick on someone your own size. Pick on me. Otherwise, piss off, now, will ya?”

The woman spoke with an Irish accent. The bully and his friends skedaddle away in fear. The woman turns to the two girls and her iciness melts away completely, reaching out to help Cosima get up back on her feet. She smiles and both children beam at her in return. She crouches down to their eye-level and addresses them both.

“Well, don’t you two look adorable? Shrek and Fiona!”

It was only when the older woman mentions it that Cosima realizes her savior was definitely Princess Fiona, green dress, red braided hair, little gold tiara and all. Cosima stares at her in awe.

“So, what are your names?”

Cosima snaps back to reality. The other little girl answers first.

“My name is Delphine, madame. Thank you for helping us.”

Little Delphine curtsies and it was the most adorable thing in the world. The Irish woman chuckles then turns to Cosima.

“How about you, chicken?”

“Cosima. Thank you, ma’m.”

The Irish woman smiles warmly at them.

“Well you both can call me Mrs. S. And you’re welcome. I dislike seeing people getting picked on especially when they can’t fight back. Now, let me go get treats for you both.”

The two children nod in excitement and Mrs. S. goes into her house again for a moment to grab the bowl of sweets she had prepared for trick-or-treaters. She comes out and scoops two handfuls each for Delphine and Cosima. She also digs around in the bottom of the bowl and pulls out two giant swirly lollipops that’s the size of a hand. The children’s eyes widen in glee.

“Whoa.”

Cosima mutters under her breath as Mrs. S. puts one lollipop into her sack.

“Happy halloween, kids.”

Cosima instinctively hugs the woman around her leg and Delphine sees this and does the same. Mrs. S. says a quiet, “oh” in surprise but the affection from the kids weren’t at all unwelcome. She pats them both on the head as they let go.

“Thank you again!”

“Merci beaucoup!”

The Irish woman nods.

“You two run along now.”

The two seven year olds smile and wave before turning around and heading back towards the streets filled with other little kids in various costumes.

Cosima and Delphine walk in silence for a few steps before the girl with glasses takes the taller girl’s hand. Delphine feels the smaller hand enclose hers and she pulls it away, to Cosima’s disappointment. But it was only for a split-second and the taller girl slips her hand more comfortably into the smaller girl’s grasp, so that she’s holding Cosima’s hand, too. This makes the bespectacled girl look at her and beam brightly.

“Thank you, Delphine… Erm, Princess Fiona.”

Cosima blushes, feeling shy. The taller girl giggled and squeezed her hand.

“You’re welcome, Shrek.”

The smaller girl looks down and pushes her glasses up her nose, then looks back up at her savior with a thousand-watt lopsided grin.

“Um, would you like to go trick-or-treating with me?”

Delphine mirrors Cosima’s smile, grinning brightly from ear to ear now, too.

“Oui! Of course!”

Cosima giggles and she automatically starts skipping. Delphine laughs and thinks, that looks fun, and joins the other girl in skipping. The girl in the ogre costume automatically starts singing the theme from their favorite movie. The French girl immediately joins her.

And then I saw her face Now I’m a believer Without a trace Of doubt in my mind

I’m in love! I’m a believer I couldn’t leave her If I tried

Both their fathers find the two girls after they finish trick-or-treating at the next house. The two adults laughed at the coincidence that their daughters would be wearing matching costumes, and in turn, they too would match.

The clock ticks 7 o’clock in the morning and Cosima’s phone starts blasting Accidentally In Love as the tone. She sits up in surprise, rubs her eyes groggily and yawns. Her French lover’s arm is draped over her waist. Delphine’s slumber hadn’t been disturbed at all and Cosima presses a kiss on the blonde’s forehead.

The LEDA suddenly remembers the dream she just had and blinks to wake herself up. That was an interesting dream. They had just watched the first Shrek movie last night, shared a bowl of popcorn and snuggled. She shakes Delphine softly to wake her, and whispers.

“Hey, babe… Hey.”

Cosima plants fluttery kisses on the side of Delphine’s face and the blonde stirs. The French doctor hums sleepily, wondering what it is that Cosima is waking her up for. Her unspoken question is answered immediately.

“I just had the cutest dream…”

And Cosima proceeds to tell Delphine about the dream where they were both seven years old and wore a Shrek and Fiona costume; how little Delphine and Mrs. S. had saved her from bullies and how they’d become friends.

Delphine smiles and laughs while listening to the tale of her girlfriend’s dream.

“... and then we started singing “I’m a believer” together while skipping; our dads found us and laughed at our matching costumes and their matching costumes. Then I woke up.”

“That sounds so vivid, mon amour. So cute. Almost as if… It’s another life in another universe.”

Cosima chuckles and takes Delphine’s hand, playing with her fingers.

“Well, that’s a nice thought. Who’s to say it isn’t?”

Author’s Notes: I put my other updates on hold just had to write something for Halloween lol. I remembered that I wrote an AU for Faberry way back where they met as kids on the playground and became childhood friends that eventually turned into lovers. I thought it would be a good idea to do that for Cophine and add Halloween into the story. :) Hope you enjoy this! Feel free to comment or message me- they fuel my writing. :P