#side note but jasons appearance in that was so fucking funny

[roseworth]

wait that post about deathstroke is so hilarious isnt he supposed to be better than bruce 💀

fsjhfasdjfhad yeah lmaoooo dc loves to act like deathstroke is a god amongst men and the greatest fighter ever but. i mean he regularly gets his ass kicked by a team that has TEEN in the name. im tired of dc acting like hes so cool and dangerous. he is just some guy

[writtenjewels]

Mirage part 8

Part One, Part Two, Part Three, Part Four, Part Five, Part Six, Part Seven

They ate breakfast, talking little. Jason might have closed the can of worms but he could still feel them wriggling inside him. He hated the tension he felt between himself and Salim now. He really grew to like the guy in the days spent helping Salim recover. The man was funny, sweet, smart, and stubborn in a way that was weirdly endearing. If only Jason hadn't been so stupid he ruined things by kissing the man.

He scrubbed at the dishes a little too hard. Salim had gone back to the main room. Jason could hear him messing around with the music. That had been really cute, watching Salim get into Slayer. Jason would not have pegged the guy as a heavy metal fan. A smile played on Jason's lips before he shoved it off and went back to cleaning up breakfast.

When he was done, Jason stepped back into the main room. Salim was bobbing his head along to the music. Fuck, he was so goddamn cute. He turned at Jason's appearance and lit up in a smile. Jason couldn't help smiling, too. He dropped into his beanbag chair.

“How you feelin'?”

“I don't know how to answer.” Salim reached over to turn down the music. “You seemed upset earlier.”

“Yeah, I know. Sorry about that.” Jason scratched behind his ear, hunting for the right words. “I don't usually... you know.”

“No.” Salim's brow creased. Jason huffed out a breath. Was Salim really going to make him say it? He cleared his throat, turning to look at the man.

That shirt he was wearing was such a menace. The way it stretched across his chest to perfectly define every angle. It was so damn easy to watch the rise and fall of his breaths. Those pants looked like they were a little tight on him, too.

“I need some air,” Jason announced.

“Oh.” Salim looked startled and a little confused. The expression fell and he looked away, nodding. “You are upset, then.”

“No!” Jason rose from his chair and took a step toward Salim. “No, it's not... fuck!”

“Jason.” Salim reached for him and the worms started to slam their heads against the lid, ready to burst out again. “I know we met only a few days ago, but it doesn't feel wrong.”

“Shouldn't it?” Jason asked. “I found you dying in the desert and nursed you back to health. All I wanted... was for you to be okay.” His voice dropped to a soft tone on those last words. He didn't know when he and Salim got so close. He couldn't resist leaning in enough to brush his nose against Salim's. The other man trembled and let out a heated breath. “I ain't even a nurse or nothin',” Jason continued.

“You didn't take me to a clinic,” Salim noted. “You brought me here, to your cabin.”

“Yeah.” Jason slowly ran his thumb under Salim's bottom lip and felt it move, parting invitingly. Salim had dropped his eyes half-closed, his cheeks flushed. He couldn't be broadcasting any louder that he wanted to be kissed. Jason wanted to kiss him so bad it was nearly painful. He could barely stand breathing. “I didn't know if you'd make it. I wanted...” He tried to come up with the word to describe how he felt when he found Salim. “I wanted to protect you.”

“Like a shield,” Salim hummed. “My shield.”

Their lips touched, so soft and delicate it was barely a kiss at all. But in the next moment they were locked, his hands cupping Salim's face, Salim's fingers in his hair, his tongue sliding in to taste the older man. Heat slid into his veins. Salim took his hand and placed it at his waist.

“These clothes,” Salim panted out, “are too tight. Take them off.”

“What?” Jason gulped. He pulled back enough to look Salim in the eye. The man was flushed, lips still parted and now moist from their kisses. This couldn't be real, could it? “You can't take 'em off yourself?” He tried so desperately to make a joke of it.

“You didn't want to talk about it,” Salim reminded him.

“Now I do.” His fingers trailed along Salim's side and down to his hip. They were still close enough that he felt the gasp of air. Fuck it, the worms were out and scattered everywhere. Jason followed the hemline of Salim's pants to the button that fastened it on. “You need my help... with these clothes?”

“Yes.” The word was hot against his lips. Salim angled his hips invitingly. “Please, Jason.”

“Fuck.” Jason moved up to pull at Salim's shirt. He didn't look, focusing on the tease of Salim's ragged breaths against his mouth. Slowly he inched the material up, popping it over Salim's head and letting it fall to the floor. “That better?”

“Almost.” Salim moved Jason's wrist down to his pants button, then brought it lower.

“Holy shit,” Jason breathed. He felt the bulge against his hand. Without thinking, he squeezed. Salim groaned and pressed an open-mouthed kiss to Jason's lips, practically begging for Jason's tongue to go in and taste him.

And he did, pressing his tongue between the man's lips as he rubbed and squeezed between Salim's legs. The bulge pressed more demanding against his touch. Salim's hands slid along his back, down to his waist.

“Jason.” Salim's voice was rough and heated, nearly purring out the name. Jason opened the man's pants and guided them off his hips. Salim's hands were moving, too, lifting Jason's shirt inch by inch. “Is this... all right?” Salim asked.

“Fuck. I donno. This isn't... I don't just...” He couldn't come up with the right words. He didn't know how to explain that he felt drawn to Salim from the moment he found the man, how even though they knew each other for only a few days, Jason already felt connected to him.

Jason wanted this man. He wanted to make Salim smile and laugh, wanted to touch Salim's body and kiss his mouth, wanted to make Salim feel good in every way.

“I want to fuck you,” he confessed.

“Please,” Salim rumbled. He tossed Jason's shirt to the floor, leaning in to kiss him. “Please fuck me, Jason.”

[notallwonder]

I have no chill, about this ridiculous tv show. 🙃

CME 17x07, alright alright alright...

- ewgh acid shower. 😬😬 yikes that's gruesome

- sorry but also hilarious that this guy's just in his basement with the holiday decor in storage

- nothing like a nice nap while you wait for the corpse to dissolve 😂

- I mean yeah especially when you're a new dad

- ok Felicity Huffman will be making her appearance!

- Emily "I gotta flex a little bit" profiling Tyler's handwriting? rolling my eyes so far back in my skull

- LOLLL Emily's "all of them??!" delivery

- so they're leaning into the parental dynamic with Rossi and Emily here, and it's cute, but the very idea that Emily would follow such a prohibition is so funny, Rossi you're still delusional my man. Adorable indeed

- cm is a comedy!!! "I don't have asthma"

- oh no this is heartbreaking AND sinister. And kind of vaguely romantic?

- Tara, I WILL listen to you lecture me about epigenetics. Anytime

- "situational psychopathy." words!

- "you're not gonna mess with my head again, are you?" "of course I am" 🤣🤣🤣. It's so nice that Emily's feeling more pep in her step

- side note: Emily in red my beloved

- what is Tyler's "persuasive skillset"?

- what is going on with this lawyer guy. Voit's whole deal seems to be reminding us that profilers are insufferable

- well that's one way to pay your lawyer I guess

- okay actually I think this shot through multiple car windows is cool

- I am not the only one interpreting that "skillset" comment that way lol. cm is a comedy! not like...a good one. But I am laughing. yokes on me guys

- oh I like this Penelope look

- hope his screams don't wake the baby 💀

- what? why this weird ass angle. oh like a security cam? harrumph

- yeah ok I'm laughing so much at Jill thru the door

- did she just leave Tyler in the car like a neglected toddler?

- this murder couple is fucked up, but like not in a fun way

- kind of annoying that they conveniently forget bi people exist just to make this evidence 'exonerating'. I mean, JJ didn't forget (of course). but also is it weird they didn't say the guy was gay or bi, just referred to who he had sex with?

- "he loved you back" Aww

- oh my god the comedy just keeps coming. Jason Gideon was melodramatic, histrionic...and Rossi is "the opposite," please. Like, I know the man is currently xtra traumatized but he's been yelling and throwing coffee cups at the wall for weeks, months, etc

- "how's JJ?" aww

- this baldfaced manipulation is kind of funny. it's kind of like all the times Emily's flirted with a suspect or unsub except not smooth at all, girl did you forget how to be subtle. the eager "but is it working? but I'm cute right?" energy

- calling JJ "the younger generation" is too silly I can't. She's been in the BAU longer than you!

- omg his wife is dead already isn't she.

- this mfer creepy

- JJ still wearing those sleeves pulled all the way down to her hands...

- when Jill comes in to the BAU is she just going to read everyone for filth? I wouldn't be shocked

- oh doctor you got lucky

- oh goddddd not the baby corpse 😫 holy shit. the dead wife's hand was gross, but the baby! noooooooooo 💔. aisha tyler why did you do this to me

- uh oh vinny!

- here she is! hugs from Penelope!

- it would be so funny if Jill took this opportunity to vandalize Rossi's office

- love to torture this old man

So overall this episode was okay. I think they're having a hell of a time trying to balance the Voit/Gold Star of it all with a serial murder of the week. The murderer was suitably creepy and imo an interesting rehash of that guy in "Normal" that was shooting people in traffic. But does it tie in with the season? Thematically if not in plot terms? Seems like not much! Maybe I'm wrong.

I do really like Jill Gideon, very much looking forward to her involvement. I wasn't sure how I'd feel about Felicity Huffman, but I like this character - she has a personality! And a sparkle in her eye! And a unique perspective on the team and the work! I hope she's not just used to fuck with Rossi. I like that she has (pleasant!) history with the OGs. She must have known Elle as well - it would be neat to get an Elle mention. Also I hope she and Tara get some screentime together.

[bisluthq]

the people who were annoyed at olivia cutting some of their scenes out came across like they didn’t know how movies work lol, they were side characters and who knows what went on with studio notes etc. I remember the test screenings for DWD actually had very positive reactions. I think they ended up divorcing recently

Sorta funny that they got divorced and yea idk to me it came off unlikable and ungrateful. You got to work a huge production. You got paid. Your names do appear in the cast list. Congrats! That’s a huge achievement! Onwards and upwards. Don’t go whining like little bitches. also I normally hate the term hate train but that’s exactly what it was re Olivia and they 100% joined it because if they’d starred in literally any other big budget movie and had some scenes cut - even a big budget movie with some drama on set like idk every Christian Bale movie ever - and whined about it on Insta it wouldn’t have been celebrated. They got cheered on because of the Olivia hate.

and look - Olivia fucked up in a lot of ways. She lied to Shia, to Florence, to the press/us, to Harry, to Jason, probably to other people. She fucked her employee. She didn’t handle her personal life personally and took it out into the open (I mean Jason did but it was her job to handle her baby daddy, not anyone else’s). She engaged with the drama and behaved really prettily by posting the salad dressing recipe and stuff. She said the most bizarre things ever about the movie (it’s about female pleasure? Girl, respectfully, what the fuck are you talking about???) She also said some really bizarre things about Harry lol on Insta idk if her pussy was writing those captions or what was going on. She misused her marketing budget (less Harry, more crisis team management tbh). She didn’t handle Florence (who’s also a petty little child) at all. Like she FUCKED UP.

but beyond saying “eh she fucked up” like idk everyone else acted horribly too lol so 🤷🏻‍♀️🤷🏻‍♀️

[pinepickled]

I posted 5,842 times in 2022

80 posts created (1%)

5,762 posts reblogged (99%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@primeemeraldheiress

@shy-daredevil

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I tagged 233 of my posts in 2022

#pine talks - 56 posts

#jason todd - 15 posts

#pine's asks - 13 posts

#under the red hood - 13 posts

#batman - 13 posts

#bruce wayne - 9 posts

#the red hood - 8 posts

#mystic messenger - 6 posts

#brujay - 6 posts

#jason todd meta - 5 posts

Longest Tag: 130 characters

#id be one of his funny little side characters who have a mysterious past with him who shows up every 10 chapters just to annoy him

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

GUYS

This post was just slap after slap after slap what the fuck!!! I now desperately need to learn Korean so I can experience this real time like what do you MEAN Jumin calls Zen Zen-ie and Zen has called Jumin Juminnie???

Zen refers very casually to Jumin and Jumin simply??? Does not care?? That he doesn't use honorifics??

Yoosung calls 707 Sevennie hyung... 😭 why am I crying... Seven calls Jumin Juminnie Hyung?? He refers to Jumin so affectionately but Zen is just Zen hyung...

Pls read the whole post I love it

93 notes - Posted November 28, 2022

#4

Once the time for the great evil to appear passes, and no man has been born to the Gerudo, all take a sigh of relief. The prophecy will not come to pass this go around, they think.

But there's one Gerudo, with long red hair and a veil over her face, a thin attempt to try and hide a truth no one could see anyway

She has all the parts, and no more strong is she than the average woman of her race. She's normal. Absolutely normal. A good Gerudo girl who's mind had never been touched by the miasma of Ganon.

But one day, a young blond Hylian visits. He is strong, and earns the respect of the Gerudo soldiers easily. A sword of mystic powers strapped to his back and centuries of the trees, the sky, and courage lay in his history. It's not his time yet, this good Gerudo girl knows- but she doesn't tell anyone.

This Hylian, he leaves the city. He cannot reside in the same quarters as the women, and in a town of all women this means he must sleep outside. The boy is not bothered, he sets up camp at the city walls with indifference, and for some unknown reason, the good Gerudo girl goes out to meet him.

"I've simply brought provisions, nothing more." She tells him. The Hylian doesn't speak, he never speaks, but he smiles. The mark on her hand pulses.

The Hylian invites her to sit, and out of some sort of obligation she does. She cuts up the fruit she'd brought for the Hylian, and the Hylian gives her another smile. She feels sick, in a way. The heat of the desert night persists, and as a bead of sweat trails down her back, she becomes hyper aware of herself. The jewelry on her ankles accentuating dainty legs, the elegant bow of her straight back encircled in gold, the high ponytail of red hair cascading over her shoulder. She was a good Gerudo girl.

It's summer in the Gerudo Desert. Even at night, the heat easily clears 100 degrees. The Hylian, the Hero, he strips. Casually, as though unashamed in the presence of a good Gerudo girl. She'd been told the Hylians were more prudish than her own people, but something about this one, he was wild. The deranged holiness of the forest and the skies shone in his eyes. When he prompted her, the good Gerudo girl took off her own top. Laid bare before the Hylian, he did nothing. The Hero simply sat down once more, gazing up at the stars as he accepted the cut fruit. Slowly, carefully, breathing shallow as though a sword was to her neck, she shed the loose pants cinched with gold at her waist. The Hero only glanced over, uninterested. The mark on her hand throbbed harshly, and the mark on the Hylian's hand did the same.

But that didn't matter. She was a good Gerudo girl, and the great evil hadn't been born this time around. No sin had been bred in her mind, no power she wielded more than normal.

Right?

Right.

Trying to be as inconspicuous as possible, she copied the Hero's stance. Her own elegant posture was that of a good Gerudo girl, she'd trained it into herself since she was but a child. The warrior at her side had the lazy stance of a predator, as though he were a jaguar lounging over its prey. The Gerudo girl didn't want to be prey, but as she rearranged her legs and shifted her waist to copy the Hero, she couldn't help but feel as though she'd fallen into the Hylian's lap. The pleased smirk on his face could have been a figment of the Gerudo girl's imagination, and the sharp blue eyes roving over her body could have been a trick of the light.

The hero did nothing, though, and now both in the position of men, horrible, un-Gerudo-like Men, the Gerudo girl closed golden eyes and reached out. The hand with a mark identical to hers, except for the triangle on the opposite side filled instead, took hers.

She was an awful Gerudo girl.

The Hylian drew words in Gerudo script in the sand, and pointed them out to the very bad Gerudo girl.

Your name? he had asked.

The very bad Gerudo girl couldn't speak her name aloud. She would be an even worse Gerudo girl than than if she didn't say it at all. Perhaps this Hylian was wise, sticking to the ways of silence.

As though admitting to the greatest sin of all, the Gerudo girl who was perhaps not a girl at all, wrote in the sand one of her numerous secrets.

Ganondorf.

106 notes - Posted August 2, 2022

#3

Get fucking owned

109 notes - Posted March 6, 2022

#2

Honestly, Mystic Messenger deserves kudos for how unique it was. I really can't think of another dating sim with the overall vibe of MM, nothing compares. Like, the dynamics between love interests first of all isn't jam packed with cheap drama. When you read the conversations between them, you can actually believe that these people are friends and get along with each other. You can sense that they've known each other for a very long time, you sense the trust and the deep bonds more and more as you progress through the story.

Not only that, but the love interests are unique as well. Any dating sim fan can tell you all about the various tropes that our love interests embody, but I feel like MM is the only sim that actually has a unique take on them. Like yes, Jumin is the overbearing rich CEO who's into BDSM and wants to own you like he owns everything else, but going through his story you truly see a side to him that feels so gratifying to learn about in the format of MM. His conflict with his dad is unique to the core- his dad isn't abusive, not to Jumin. On the contrary, Jumin holds nothing but warm praise for his father consistently and you can tell that aside from the womanizing, they have quite a good relationship! But you see Jumin's emotions change real time, how he slowly breaks down until he can't stand it anymore. How he just needs someone to comfort and understand him in his lonely world, someone who isn't a cat or his friends that don't know how to act when Jumin's collected demeanor falls apart.

Or Zen, the classic narcissist flirt, who isn't at all. You really get to see where his narcissism comes from, how he copes with being an actor, how he learns to let down his walls and let people in all the while his sweet personality coming through.

Just. Ugh. Mystic Messenger.

383 notes - Posted November 24, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Back at it again to talk about just how much I hate the very concept of Jason 'giving up' on the Joker to return to the batfam.

Like, I see so many people who write meta and fics that claim that the one true solution to the current conflict between Bruce and Jason is for Jason to have a come to Jesus moment about why killing is wrong and to just accept that the Joker will continue to live, doing so for the sole reason of reconciling with Bruce. To me, it just reeks.

I cannot say this enough, but their conflict is not about whether killing is moral or not!!! That is not why Jason just cannot make up with Bruce as things are! Jason was considered one of the only comic book characters to be permanently dead for a reason, his death continues to mean something even after his resurrection for a reason!! The conflict starts in that the man who was supposed to protect him failed to and Jason DIED! The conflict continues because Jason was not avenged at all! His death was meaningless! Completely, utterly, meaningless!

The whole reason Jason goes on his murderquest in Gotham is because he saw newspaper clippings of the Joker, still alive and well, escaping Arkham! He must have thought of all the times Joker escaped while he was just a little kid, how they were constantly rounding the guy up and putting him back, watching the body count that this man has personally caused go up and up and up while they were functionally powerless to stop it. Jason himself says so, directly asking Bruce why he's let the Joker fill entire graveyards with innocent lives!

Under the Red Hood is a well thought out story. It never meant to make the case for whether murder is morally justifiable or not, that was Batman's trauma filled excuse. The reality, as outlined in samiralula01's post, is that Jason's death killed Bruce. He lost his ability to be compassionate, loving, merciful, and more. His little boy was dead. Clinging onto his belief that murder is wrong was just a means to justify to himself why Jason's death would have to go unavenged, and as a direct consequence of this delusion and trauma, which is explicitly said in UTRH, most of Batman's sidekicks have left him! Oracle, Tim, Steph, Cass, everyone except Dick! He's pushed them all away because of this crippling fear of losing them like how he lost Jason, this fear that has made him a colder, less loving man. The fear that turned him from a bringer of justice and hope into a dark shadow.

Jason is right, at the end of the day. He knows the Joker cannot be rehabilitated nor contained, he knows that Bats is just making excuses for himself, and his point of view is further justified by two events: 1, the fact that Barbara was brutalized by the Joker even after Jason died, and 2, that Bludhaven and supposedly Dick was literally NUKED right before Jason went to kill the Joker and instead of running to see if his son was okay, Batman went after Jason.

Batman chose the Joker over his kids not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times.

Jason dying and the Joker living on was the first.

Barbara being tortured to the point of disability was the second.

Dick being nuked and Bats not running to save him was the third.

and Jason having his throat slit by a batarang so Bats could save Joker was the fourth.

UTRH is the story of how Batman does not actually have a solid moral ground to stand on anymore. It displays not only what a broken and defeated man Bruce is, but also implies several times, most notably through the coffin maker's story, that even Bruce believes that Jason is right. He believes that his precious second son deserved to be avenged, not even through bureaucratic or judicial means, but through death. UTRH is a story about Batman, all alone, making huge mistake after huge mistake.

Jason asks Batman to choose: him or me. The Joker or Jason. Your kids or a villain.

Batman chooses.

The Joker puts it the best, after Batman upholds his no-killing rule for the Joker by killing Jason.

"You managed to find a way to win... and everybody still loses!"

717 notes - Posted June 28, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[idkthisisjustforfanfic]

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PART 19

Sweatpants low around your hips, a pair of biker shorts underneath for when you got too hot in the rented warehouse space. Luis clapped his hands and shook his head, the band fell apart and the sound died out before you could even take the microphone out of its stand.

“What on earth did I fuck up in those two seconds?” You laughed, a playful glare at your choreographer when he came closer to your mark on the floor. 

“Nothing, nothing,” he promised. “But if we’re going with the change in the setlist that you mentioned the other night we’ll have to rework the end of this.”

You nodded--your musical director was over near the makeshift sound booth and seemingly too distracted by whatever a soundtech was pointing at. A problem for later. Luis agreed with a smile. “Can someone jot that down as an issue to address at tomorrow’s run through?”

An intern with a clipboard nodded quickly and you smiled, looked down to the floor and lined up your toes to the blue tape that Luis had laid down a few weeks ago. 

You leaned into the microphone, your voice echoing through the rehearsal space when you smiled. “For the eighth time, if Luis can let go and just see how we do.”

Your band laughed, the lights dimmed a little and you heard the count through your in-ears. 

The opening verse was easy enough: stay in one spot, bounce to the beat until the pre-chorus hit and you were set to pull your mic from the stand and head down the catwalk out front. Which, for now, was simply a six-foot wide lane marked by neon pink tape on the black floor. 

You did as you and Luis had planned, headed down closer to the sound booth and smiled at Mia when she looked up from her phone. It was Wednesday, your third day this week in the giant warehouse somewhere West of the city. Things were coming together: choreo, the band, the lighting cues and video graphics that would play on the giant screens overhead. 

Tomorrow would be a dress rehearsal, everything moving in the right direction now that wardrobe had been finalized and the band had their last fitting a few days prior. So you shook your hips and made a funny face at Mia, your eyes trailing over to the corner of the space when a door opened and a familiar face took in the sight of the whirring and buzzing and overall rocking in the room. 

He had a baseball hat on, smiled over at you when your eyes met. 

You fell out of step for a second--something Luis would be sure to mention later when he gave notes--but were quick to fall back into the beat when you clipped your microphone in a new stand at the end of the pretend catwalk. A guitar tech appeared, magically, as planned, and helped slide a guitar strap over your shoulder before you played along with the band.

Jason, who had now found a spot beside Mia and watched you bounce along with the music, adjusted the hat on his head before he clapped his hands together once the song was finished. 

Mia did the same but you leaned into the mic. “Applause is not necessary for that trainwreck.”

Luis pressed the button on the mic pack on his hip, letting his voice carry out into the big room. “Couldn’t agree more--let’s take five, okay?”

He walked a few steps over and you handed the guitar back to the tech who was waiting to fetch it. “Okay--so, don’t forget that you need the mic to be back in the stand before you get to the second verse, you don’t have all day to get down here.”

“I know,” you breathed out, a quick smile when you glanced over to where Jason stood. “I was mildly distracted during that one.”

Luis looked over his shoulder, rolled his eyes when he noticed the new audience member. “Oh my god,” he teased. “You’re crazy and unprofessional.”

“Can we make that take five a take ten?” You offered your pleading smile, one that Luis had been seeing for the last ten years in your career.

“Fine,” he groaned. “But only ten!”

“You’re the love of my life,” you told Luis, a pinch to his side when you headed towards Jason and Mia. He hadn’t said for sure if he’d show up and say hi, mentioned last night that he might get out of filming early and wouldn’t be too far from the rehearsal space. 

He smiled when you approached, Mia looked between the two of you when you told him: “You’re gonna get me fired.”

“Me?” He asked, a finger at his own chest when Mia stifled a laugh.

“Yeah--can’t keep my focus on the dancing and shit when you show up mid-song.”

“Oh, boohoo,” Mia chided with a smirk. “You guys are disgusting.”

“Fine, then we’ll go be disgusting in my dressing room,” you rolled your eyes at her. Jason fell into step behind you, you took a gulp from the water bottle that Mia had been holding for you as you led him out of the big room. 

“You realize that they can’t fire you, right?”

“Sounds like you know it’ll be your fault if they do,” you eyed him over your shoulder. 

You pushed open the door, a small room with a couch and a makeup counter that was currently stocked with water and snacks. He stepped inside, took a look around the room before his eyes landed on you. 

“What?”

“You looked really good out there.”

“Thanks,” you walked over to the counter and hopped up. “We’re still ironing out the smaller details but we have all of the songs choreographed and we start with full wardrobe tomorrow.”

He smiled, you took another swig from your water bottle. 

“No, like, I mean you looked hot.”

“Oh,” you made a face, feeling anything but in your sweatpants and sports bra and with the probable layer of sweat over your forehead. You reached for a bag of cheez-its, tugged it open. He watched with a smirk as you threw a handful into your mouth. “I wouldn’t say this is my sexiest outfit.”

“You don’t have a least sexy outfit,” he flirted, a few steps closer. 

You chewed and let your eyebrow quirk up. “Are you trying to have sex with me right now?”

“Well--I mean, I wouldn’t say no to a little afternoon delight.”

“Oh my god,” you laughed, hopping down from the counter. “I smell. I’m sweaty.”

“I don’t smell anything,” he laughed.

“You’re not close enough,” you warned, a sidestep towards the couch. “I only have ten minutes.”

“Yeah?”

“I’m eating cheez-itz,” you held the bag up and dangled it in front of his face.

“Save the rest for me for when we’re finished,” he smiled, another step towards you when you giggled and gave in. His lips were on yours and his left arm snaked around your waist, you tossed the snack aside and smiled against his mouth. 

“I don’t think this door locks,” you told him.

“Extra risky,” he pulled his head back and looked over to the knob. “I like it.”

You shoved at his chest, pushed him down onto the couch and straddled his lap when he looked up at you with wide eyes. 

“You have to be quiet,” you nodded. 

“I am quiet,” he said, a look of mock-offense on his face. 

You pressed another kiss to his mouth, a soft whimper from between his lips before you pulled away again. 

“Really?” You laughed. “Because you’re already being too loud.”

“I can’t help it that I just want to fuck you,” he said with an innocent smirk, hands already creeping up to the elastic band of your sports bra. 

You could feel him growing beneath you, you buckled your hips against his just to watch him squirm. You slapped his hand away from your bare skin, tugged your bra off yourself as he smiled at the sight of you. 

He pushed his mouth against yours quickly, your fingers fumbled with the hem of his shirt as he leaned forward to provide better access as you pulled it over his head. Layer by layer you giggled as he tossed your clothes across the room, a look of ecstasy on his face when he pushed into you on the couch. 

“This is definitely your kink,” you breathed out, a smile as he kissed your face. “Almost public sex.”

He laughed, rhythm as his hips knocked into yours. “It is not!”

“SNL, now here,” you reminded.

“You’re awfully chatty for someone who said this sex had to be quiet,” he teased.

You rolled your eyes, felt the friction of your skin against his as he pumped into you and pressed another wet kiss to your mouth. “Not my fault that you feel so good.”

“Yeah?” He asked, voice low and breathy as he sped up. 

“Yeah,” you smiled up at him. 

“You feel even better,” he flirted, a kiss to your jawline when you let out a whimper of pleasure. “Does that feel good, baby?”

“Mhm,” you tugged him closer, let your legs tangle with his as you arched your back. 

“Are you gonna cum for me?” 

Too much adrenaline in your body for words, another whimper as you chased the high of orgasm, breathless and desperate for release when he moved harder and faster against you. 

You giggled into his shoulder when he followed close behind, a moment of reprieve when he smiled down at you joked: “I think you have some more ass shaking to do out there.”

As if on cue, a knock on the door, Mia’s voice was muffled from the other side. “Luis is gonna come in here himself if you don’t get a move on!”

Jason’s eyes went wide. “Told you so.”

__

You stole a glance up at him, across the table as Mia dozed a few seats over. The cabin of the jet hummed when you looked back down at the book you were trying to focus on. 

The air shifted in the room, a cool breeze through the doors before…

Another glance up at him. Computer on his lap, airpods in, apparently he was having no trouble focusing. 

You sighed, looked down at your book. The air shifted in the room, a cool breeze through the doors before…

A third glance, this time his eyes flickered up and he pulled an airpod out, a smirk on his face when you offered a guilty look. 

“Y’alright?”

“I’m nervous,” you whispered, lips curling up in a smile when his eyes went wide. 

“You? Nervous?”

“Yeah,” you laughed a little, voice still quiet to avoid alerting Mia to the anxiety that was climbing up your throat. “Just a little.”

“For The Grammys?”

“Yes,” you rolled your eyes.

He tugged the other airpod out, shut his laptop and adjusted in his seat. “Why on earth are you nervous?”

A shrug, you shut your book and tossed it onto the empty seat beside you. “I don’t know. Last year was way different, way less of a spectacle.”

He nodded. “You also went solo last year--and the years before that.”

You smiled a little. Was it weird to bring him? Weird to walk the red carpet with him by your side as if your relationship wasn’t already a hot topic on talk shows or tabloids alike? 

“I don’t have to come,” he echoed the same sentiment he’d been saying from the start. 

You asked him one night over a glass of wine, sat on the couch when Mia sent an email about your penultimate dress fitting. Of course he could go, of course the internet would lose it’s shit but Kailyn offered reassuring words: it’s a big night, you deserve to have your person there. 

So he found a suit and accommodations were made, but now the reality of the weekend was setting in as you sat--30,000 feet--over the East Coast. 

“I want you to be there,” you nodded. “I just want people to be nice to us.”

“Well,” he let his head tilt to the side. “We don’t have a lot of control over that. And I, personally, think the focus of the night should be celebrating you.”

You let your head rock back and forth, hoping that if you pretended to believe him, you’d start to feel it in your bones. 

It wasn’t your first Grammys, wasn’t your first time being nominated in the Big Four either. In 2011 you took home Best New Artist, in 2013 you won Album of the Year for the first time. It happened again in 2017, and there were a few smaller awards in between. 

Which is exactly what Justine reminded you when you sat in her chair on Sunday afternoon. A bathrobe, under-eye patches, an extra large coffee, and--on top of that--a knot in your stomach. 

“You’ve won eight Grammys before,” she commented, “but you’re shaking like a leaf and I need you to hold still.”

“I can’t,” you laughed a little. 

“Then I’m taking this away from you,” she snatched the coffee, placed it on the bathroom counter out of reach. You let your shoulders sink in disappointment, her voice much quieter when she asked: “Wanna talk about it?”

You cleared your throat. Mia was running around like crazy, Cara was somewhere out in the living room of your suite. Jason was doing this thing where he came in every ten or fifteen minutes, asked if you needed anything, then went back to pacing the suite or distracting himself with his phone. 

“I just want it to go smoothly.”

“The awards or bringing a date?”

You laughed a little, she rubbed moisturizer on your forehead and smiled. “Both,” you admitted. “But the latter in particular.”

“Fuck anyone who hasn’t gotten on board with it yet,” she said simply, eyes scanning over your face absentmindedly when she reached for another bottle of something. 

“No, I know,” you agreed, a quick exhale and a nod. “You’re right. It’s not like I’ve never dealt with this type of shit before on a big night and—“

She pulled away from you, brush in hand when her eyebrows knit together. “You are so anxious you’re talking yourself out of it.”

“What do you mean?”

She shook her head, opened the primer she held and dabbed some on a pallet. “That’s, like, stage four anxiety for you.”

“What is?” Mia popped into the bathroom, phone in hand as she hung your dress up on the back of the door. 

“Nothing,” you made a face at her. No. No way did Mia need to get all keyed up because you were all keyed up. 

“She’s freaking out.”

You shot Justine a look. Thanks for nothing. 

“No I’m not.” 

Mia’s eyebrows lifted and she eyed you for a second. She glanced over to the coffee that had already been confiscated, then put a hand on her hip in suspicion.

“I’ll be fine.”

“Do you need something?”

“No,” you shook your head quickly, embarrassment washing over when Justine kept brushing your cheeks. A moment of silence.

“You seem like you do.”

“I’m alright,” you tried to sell it, a smile in her direction. 

She let out a sigh, one that said she wouldn’t fight you on it before she looked back to her phone. “Well, it’s almost five, have you eaten anything since lunch?”

“No.”

“You should have a snack.”

“I’m not hungry.”

Justine tucked her chin towards her chest. You? Not wanting a snack? Something was up. 

Mia gave you another look: you’re being ridiculous and we both know it. After a deep breath, you looked up at her: “Can you bring Jason in here and can we have a minute?”

Justine dropped her stuff on the counter and smiled over her shoulder. “Not to rush you, but I’ll give you 10 minutes.”

Mia smiled and followed her back to the living room of your suite, she reappeared with a hand on Jason’s shoulder after roughly thirty seconds, barely enough time for you to slow your heartbeat. 

“Hi,” he greeted, a concerned smile when Mia shut the door behind him. He hadn’t started getting ready yet, still in a sweatshirt when he scanned your face. 

“Hi,” you offered a smile.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you shifted in the makeup chair. “I just wanted to talk to you about something.”

He came closer, leaned against the counter and crossed his arms over his chest. “What’s up, baby?”

“So,” you exhaled. “Sometimes, before events like this, I get kind of freaked out.”

He nodded. 

“And sometimes, when that happens, I take something to help with anxiety.”

A smile, “okay. What do you take?”

“A beta blocker—propranolol, I think.”

He nodded again. “You should take it today.”

“Yeah, Mia and Justine seem to think so.”

“I trust Mia and Justine,” he laughed.

“You don’t think it’s fucked up?”

“That you need something to take the edge off before the biggest night in the music industry? No.”

You smiled a little, looked down at the fresh coat of nail polish that had been swiped on this morning. 

“Taking it will help you feel better. You should do whatever is gonna help you feel better.”

“Okay, alright,” you relented. 

“Why are you against it?”

“Cause I wish I didn’t need medication to handle my anxiety.”

He shrugged, leaned forward to press a kiss to your forehead. “There’s nothing wrong with that.”

A knock on the door. Justine poked her head through. “I lied, I’m back, I heard laughter so I figured we were all good.”

Mia came in behind her, orange bottle in hand before she shook it and smiled.

“Let’s take some drugs!” Jason teased. 

You rolled your eyes, popped one and swallowed after Justine finally gave you your coffee back. Mia held out her open hand, taking it again before she smiled. 

“I don’t know about you,” she smiled, “but I feel better already.” 

__

You stepped up onto the red carpet riser, Jason’s hand steadied you but he stayed behind. Laverne extended her arms, it’s so good to see you! before the man behind the camera gave her a signal, you smiled when the light above the lens lit up. 

“Alright, look who I have here with me--you know the party has started when Y/N L/N arrives on the red carpet! Y/N how are you feeling tonight?”

“I’m pumped!” You laughed. “This is the hardest part, the carpet, honestly!”

“It is,” she nodded, “you’re right. But at least you have a very handsome date with you tonight! Jason Sudeikis, I see him back there, are you hiding him?”

“I’m not,” you laughed, looking at him over your shoulder. “I’m not hiding him, he’s hanging back though, look at him.”

“Jason get up here,” Laverne smiled. “Come say hi to the people at home!”

He laughed, stepped up beside you but was careful to avoid the train of your dress.

He gave her a hug, “it’s so lovely to see you!”

“It’s lovely to see you!” She beamed, “and this is your first event as a couple, congratulations! We are so excited to see both of you, we love you so much!”

“Oh, thank you,” Jason nodded, an arm snaking around your waist. “I’m not cool enough to come to stuff like this,” he leaned in when Laverne held the mic up to him. “This is my first Grammys, so I’m living it up!”

“Your first?” She asked.

“My first!” 

“And it’s your millionth!” Laverne smiled at you. “You’re a regular here.”

“Which is amazing in and of itself, I’m just happy to get to celebrate a lot of talented and wonderful people.”

“And we are dying to know, what are your after party plans tonight?”

“What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas,” you laughed. “Which means we might end up asleep before midnight, truthfully.”

“No Vegas chapel wedding? No wild night?”

“You never know,” Jason shrugged, your eyes going a bit wide at the remark. 

“You never know,” you agreed. “Anything can happen!”

“Well thank you so much for saying hi to us! Y/N, break a leg tonight, I’m sure we’ll see you holding some awards on your way out. Have so much fun tonight, guys!”

You hugged her again, stepped back down to the carpet to find Mia and Kailyn with smiles on their faces. 

“She made a marriage joke,” you whispered to Kailyn, who’s eyebrows shot up at your words. “Implying we could get married in a chapel here.”

“A la Sophie and Joe,” she nodded. “Interesting.”

“Are you talking about the chapel joke?” Jason leaned in and smiled. 

Kailyn looked up at him. “Let’s keep it tame tonight, okay, guys?”

“Hey, I would do it if she would--”

“No you wouldn’t,” you laughed, an eye roll as Mia tugged you further along the carpet. 

Photos and friends as you made your way towards the theater, you introduced Jason to music industry execs that wished you luck on your nominations. You were seated at a table in the front and after glasses of champagne were delivered, Mia and Kailyn briefed you, found their seats out of camera view, and bid farewell. 

Maybe it was the fact that he was sitting beside you, simultaneously calming your nerves and sparking anxiety in your chest. You nursed the champagne in front of you, laughed when he leaned over and whispered jokes in your ear. 

The first time your name was called you sprung up with excitement, Camila Cabello pulled you into a hug before you climbed the stairs to the stage, Best Pop Vocal Album. You thanked the producers, the engineers, the people who answered your anxious calls in the middle of the night as you finished it in London last spring. 

Ushered backstage by headsets and clipboards, you returned to your seat and he hugged you, a proud smile on his face when Mia bent in front of your seat, 90 seconds until the commercial break was over. 

“Do you need another drink?”

“I’m good,” you told her, waving at a familiar face a few tables over. 

“Bathroom? Might be a good time--”

“I could use the bathroom,” Jason leaned forward and told her, a guilty look on his face. Mia laughed and led the two of you out of the event space, hallways and signs on the walls pointing people in the right direction, stage, performer dressing rooms, bar, red carpet. 

Walkie-talkies beeped when he took your hand in his, following behind Mia as you wove through crew and photographers and fancy dresses. Once you re-emerged from the bathroom he was waiting a few steps over.

“Where’s Mia?”

“She went to find someone to take us back--she had to find Kailyn.”

“Okay,” you nodded, a quick glance around the busy hallway. 

“Hey,” he said, pulling your attention back. “I’m proud of you--that was so fucking cool.”

“Thanks,” you smiled up at him. “It’s always a blur.”

“I know--you kind of black out in those moments.”

“I always get so anxious giving speeches,” you admitted. 

“You sounded like a pro,” he reassured. “Almost like it was your eighth time doing it or something.”

“Seventh,” you corrected. “If I win anything else it will be eight.”

“My apologies,” he teased.

“I won’t win anymore though,” you shook your head.

He smiled a little. “Sounds like anxiety talking.”

You didn’t reply, once again got distracted by the bustling of people all around. 

“Hey,” he reached for your arm. “If you need something, you know, to take the edge off--”

Your eyes went wide and you stifled a laugh when he wiggled his eyebrows. 

“Did you bring a joint?”

“No,” he looked at you like you were crazy, pulling something out from his interior breast pocket. “It’s a weed pen, I’m not classless, Y/N.”

You rolled your eyes and watched as he brought it to his lips, a smile as he inhaled and then held his breath for a few moments. Too busy in the hallway for anyone to notice.

“I don’t think I’m going to win Album of the Year,” you shook your head. “I think I’m done for the night.”

He narrowed his eyes at you, let out his inhale and coughed. “You just want to smoke weed.”

“I also mean it--I don’t think I’m going to win. Have you seen the nominations?”

He nodded, “you’re going to win it.”

“No I’m not,” you reached for the pen. 

His eyes got wide, watching as you brought it to your lips and did exactly what he’d just done. “If you go up on that stage high and accept an award I am going to lose it,” he stifled a laugh. 

“Hey,” Kailyn hissed behind you. “What are you two doing back here?”

You had already taken an inhale, turned quickly to see her with a guilty look on your face when you exhaled quickly, but probably too late. You let out a cough, tried to avoid her eyes.

“Nothing,” Jason said quickly. 

“Oh my god,” she looked at the pen in your hand. “Did you just do that?”

“Yes,” you admitted. “Because I’m not going to win Album of the Year.”

“You don’t know that, Y/N--are you serious? You’re gonna be stoned now? Jesus--”

“Hey, hey,” Jason held up his hands. “It’s fine, she’s fine. You’re fine, right?”

“I feel fine,” you nodded, another laugh threatened to escape when Kailyn gave you an evil look. 

“Helps with anxiety,” Jason reasoned. “She needed it.”

“Look at me,” Kailyn grabbed your wrist. “Short and sweet, if you win, okay? Do not get wordy or talkative. Short and sweet.”

“Short and sweet,” you nodded obediently. “Got it.”

“Go get back out to your seats,” she rolled her eyes. 

“Yes ma’am,” you saluted in jest. She pointed in the direction you needed to go, watching with wide eyes until you fell into step behind another woman with a headset. Jason followed, leaned down to whisper in your ear: as if we’re the only ones here on something. 

He followed you back to your table in the front, smiled at you when an announcement came over the speakers, cameras rolling in five, four, three…

You pulled your chair closer to his, cheered for the presenters and winners and watched in awe of your colleagues as they performed songs you wished you wrote. It was easier now, just a bit, to relax and let go and sip from your champagne flute that was always full. 

Another commercial break towards the end, you chatted with John Legend before the same warning announcement sounded. You hurried back to your seat only two tables over, Jason pressed a kiss to your cheek when you sat.

“This is about to be the best moment of my life,” he watched you, a smug look on his face.

“Why?”

“Because you’re going to win this and you’re going to go up there stoned--”

“I’m not going to win,” you laughed, shook your head. The music filled the room, cameras buzzed overhead and Dolly Parton stood in the center of the stage with the final envelope of the night in her hands. 

“The end of the night is always so fun,” she said into the microphone, the crowd applauded her presence but nervous silence fell over the room. “Especially here in Vegas, where the end of the night is really just the beginning!”

You laughed, reached for your champagne and took another gulp. You weren’t going to win. No way.

“And I’m lucky enough to be here tonight and to announce the winner for Album of the Year, here are the wonderful nominees.”

Footage rolled on the big screens: snippets of songs and clips of video and then, finally, yours. The montage made your heartbeat climb, Jason stole a glance at you from the corner of his eye and you did what you had been trained to do for years. Smile graciously and watch with intent as she opened the envelope with her perfectly painted nails. 

“Oh this part always makes me so excited,” she squealed, ripping it open and looking down. “The winner is….Y/N L/N!”

Jason was on his feet before you were, a look of shock that you tried to hide, a smile when he wrapped his arms around you and kissed you on the mouth with force. 

“Holy shit!” He said, “go get up there!”

You headed for the stage, a hug to Lady Gaga when you passed her table and a hug for Dolly when you tried to slow your pulse. A woman in a black dress handed you a golden trophy, you walked up to the microphone and looked out at the crowd.

“Oh my god,” you laughed, “I really thought I was done for the night after the last one.”

The audience cheered and laughed, you swallowed the nerves and remembered what Kailyn had said: short and sweet. 

“Thank you so much to the Academy, this is always such a special one to win. Thank you to my team, everyone at my label, to Max and Laura who produced this album with me, to Chris, my manager, to Kailyn and Mia, my parents and my brothers--who would kill me if I didn’t thank them. Thank you to the nominees, who make such amazing music that I seriously did not think I’d be up here right now, to my boyfriend, to my friends, yeah--wow--thank you so much!”

You were ushered off camera as the music played, a whirlwind of excitement and stimulation as you stepped over wires and under platforms backstage. Mia and Kailyn magically appeared, smiles on their faces when a woman in a headset congratulated you but tugged your elbow to lead you out of the way. 

“I heard you’re stoned,” Mia laughed, a glance up at you as she followed behind. 

“My speech was fine, right?!” You looked at her and then Kailyn, who smiled despite still offering a disapproving glare. 

“That man’s a bad influence on you,” she giggled, snaking an arm around your waist. 

He was waiting in a green room with champagne, production crew and other members of your team buzzed around as a few friends stopped by to squeeze you in celebration. Tugged in different directions, the notorious red carpet poses after the show ended, trophies in hand as you grinned.

An afterparty with more liquor before you finally ended up in the backseat of an SUV. “I’m proud of you,” he said, a hand on your thigh when Mia scrolled on her phone in the row ahead of you. 

“I can’t believe I accepted a Grammy high,” you shook your head. 

“I told you he was a bad influence,” Kailyn turned around and offered a smile. 

“I am not!” Jason defended. “She took the pen right out of my hand!”

Mia rolled her eyes. “Well, we had a wild night, so, let’s just be glad it ended on a good note.”

“Does this mean no chapel wedding?” Jason looked over to you with a smirk. 

“Hmm,” you went along with it for a second, he winked and egged you on, presumably to see what type of reaction the two of you would get. 

“You would seriously go get married right now?” Mia turned around and looked at both of you with wide eyes. “No family? No friends?”

“No ring,” you held up your hand and waved it in Jason’s face. 

“I wouldn’t put it past them at this point,” Kailyn laughed. 

“We can rain check tonight,” Jason rolled his eyes. “Give me some time to get all my ducks in a row.”

“Deal,” you smiled over at him. “Rain check.”

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[ragingbookdragon]

So Live A Lie, Just Tonight, And Burn Out Bright

Batsis x Hal Jordan One-Shot

Word Count: 3.8K Warnings: Explicit Language, Mature Themes

Author's Note: I decided to compile that one Batsis "story" into one doc, and I added the alternate ending for the one anon who asked! Enjoy! -Thorne

**********************************************************************

“Alright, easy sis, easy,” he worried, watching her carefully for signs of pain flickering across her face as he helped her off the bike.

She scowled, managing to drag her injured leg forward. “Quit nagging. I’m—ngh—fine.”

“You’re on emergency oxycodone and you’ve got a broken femur,” he retorted. “I’m nagging until you’re in surgery.”

“Ugh, stop reminding me.”

Someone hauled her off her feet with a quiet, “I’ve got you.”

She grunted in pain laying on the gurney. “Thanks, dad.”

“Miss Wayne, are you alright?”

Her eyes found Alfred’s. “I’m good. I just ne—motherfucker!” she yelped, glaring at her father who was squeezing her thigh. “Hey! That’s broken, jackass! Quit!”

Bruce grunted. “You need an ORIF now.”

A pinch in her arm made her twitch and she turned her attention to Alfred who was uncapping a needle. “Alfred, what’s that?”

He shook his head. “Nothing to worry about, Miss Wayne.” Smiling, he stuck the needle into the line. “You’ll feel better when you awaken.”

Her vision blurred rapidly, “Gonna take…a nap…now…” her head lolled, and Bruce met Alfred’s gaze.

“Call Damian. He’s got the steady hand we’ll need.”

***

“How’re you feeling?” Jason asked, setting a cup of juice on the bedside table.

She blinked slowly, staring at her fingers. “Why are my fingers like this?”

“Like what, Queenie?”

“Bendy,” she replied, flexing her fingers. “It’s fuckin’ weird.” She looked at him. “I feel weird.”

He snorted, nodding at Dick and the others who were walking in at the sound of her voice. “You’re on hydromorphone, sis.”

“Hydro—what-what?”

“Hydromorphone, sister,” Damian said. “It has increased your threshold for pain and reduced the perception of it.”

She stared at him like she hadn’t heard a word come out of his mouth. “I didn’t understand a single goddamn word that you just said.”

Snickers sounded around her, but her head was up in the clouds and she rested back against her pillow. Her family gathered around her, sitting up on the bed, and suddenly she cocked her head up, squinting at each of them.

“Sweetheart? What’s wrong?” Bruce inquired.

“Where’s Dick?”

“I’m right here, sis,” he answered, pressing a kiss to the back of her hand. “What’s up?”

“Why’d you break up with Kori?”

His eyes widened. “I—what?”

“Kori. Tall alien with the shooty-hands.”

“I know who she is. What about our breakup?”

“Are you kidding me? That woman is spectacular, and you broke up with her. She’s gorgeous, wicked intelligent, fantastic in bed and—”

“Wait, back up there,” he interrupted. “Good in bed? Did you sleep with, Kori?”

“Oh yeah, totally. I was her rebound after you.”

Dick blinked while the others cackled. “Have you…have you slept with any other exes?”

“Of yours? Or in general with the family’s exes?”

“Wait,” Jason said. “Have you slept with any of mine?”

“Did you date Artemis?”

He shrugged. “Sort of?”

“Then, yes.” She looked at Bruce. “I slept with Selina too, but to be completely honest we were both drunk and I don’t think either of us remember.”

“I uh—” he started, then quieted. “I didn’t know you were gay, sweetheart.”

She let out a ‘pfft’. “I’m not.”

“Oh, you’re bi, then?” Dick smiled and she shook her head.

“Nah, I like the wine but not the label.” She grinned. “I’m a lover of people.”

“How many superheroes have you slept with?” Tim questioned and she pursed her lips.

“Uh…I dunno…kinda lost count.”

For a moment no one said a word, then Jason asked, “You know how we call Dickhead the fuck-boy? Can we refer to you as that now? I think you’ve topped his count.”

Her eyes narrowed into a glare and she pointed at him, though she was seeing double, so it was entirely possible that she was pointing at the wall. “Keep that up and I’ll sleep with your best friend again.”

“You slept with Roy?!”

“I was talking about Kyle, but Roy works too.”

“OH MY GOD! IS THERE ANYONE YOU HAVEN’T SLEPT WITH?”

She thought for a moment, then offered, “Diana. But I asked her out last weekend so it’s up in the air until our date.”

***Part Two***

There was only one rule that everyone collectively followed in Wayne Manor and that was: no excessive noise until after twelve P.M. It was mostly influenced by Alfred who’d more than once pulled out the shotgun but surprisingly, mornings were usually calm and quiet. Keywords: “Were” and “Usually”. There were some special cases.

An ear-splitting scream shattered the silence of the breakfast room and in an instant, everyone was jumping from the table, sprinting towards the staircase to find out what was quite possibly murdering their eldest sister. As they neared the staircase, they came face to face with her as she stood behind the banister, her hands gripping the railing until her knuckles started whitening.

“Sis, what’s wrong?” Dick worried, already starting to come up the steps, Jason and Tim close behind.

“I’m late,” she whispered, and they leaned forward.

“What was that?” Bruce inquired, brows furrowing, and she looked at him.

“I’m late.” Her voice was firmer this time.

He blinked. “How long?”

“Two months.”

“Wait, what’s going on?” Jason questioned, shaking his head and she scowled.

“My period’s late, jackass.”

She wished she’d taken a photo of their faces, because nothing would ever amuse her as much as the way their jaws went slack, eyes widening in total shock. Running a hand down her face, she groaned, “Oh my God. I knew something was up. I completely forgot about it.”

“Sooooo…” Tim drawled out with a recovered grin. “Who’s the daddy?”

Her eyes narrowed and she shot him a glare. “Shut. Up.”

“C’mon sis, someone—some guy did it for you.” Jason quipped. “Who’s the lucky man?” he paused, seeming to remember something. “How many superheroes have you slept with in two months? That have dicks, of course.” She clenched her jaw and his eyes widened. “Oh no. Oh no…is it, Roy?”

“It’s not Roy!” she hissed.

“Kyle?” Dick offered and she shook her head.

“No. I’ve only slept with one guy in the past two months.”

“Who was it sister?” Damian quizzed, placing his hands on his hips. “I have yet to meet anyone acceptable for you to populate with.”

“Thanks Damian,” she griped, then groaned. “Oh God, I know who it is too. And I wish I didn’t.”

“Why’s that?”

Her eyes found Tim’s. “Because we were drunk as hell after a League mission.”

“Who is it?” Bruce grunted and she met his gaze.

“You’re not going to like it.”

Something passed between them, and his eyes narrowed. “Please don’t say that’s who you slept with.”

She nodded, pressing a hand to her face, hiding her embarrassment. “Mhm.”

“You slept with him?”

“Unfortunately.”

Jason looked between his sister and father. “Wait, I’m confused. What’s going on?” A snort sounded beside him, and he looked over, seeing Dick in tears. “Why are you crying? What’s so funny?”

Dick cackled. “SHE SLEPT WITH HAL JORDAN!”

Another round of slack jawed brothers appeared in her sight, and she hissed. “It was an accident!”

“YOU’RE HAVING A BABY WITH HAL JORDAN!” Dick gasped, starting to drop to his knees from laughing so hard. “OH MY GOD, YOU SLEPT WITH THE GUY DAD HATES THE MOST!”

“You slept with Hal Jordan?” Tim gagged. “Ew.”

“Sister, I am disgusted in your choice of partners for children.” Damian noted and she scowled.

“I hate all of you.” she looked at Bruce.

He sighed heavily, a defeated father…or maybe a defeated grandfather. “I’ll go call Hal…and order prenatal vitamins.”

She ran a hand down her face. “I’ll call Leslie and get in for an exam.”

“Holy shit,” Jason gasped. “We’re gonna be uncles!”

***Part Three***

He shifted the phone to rest between his ear and shoulder, hands busy pouring coffee into his cup. “Hello?”

What are you doing right now?

“Bruce? Is that you?”

Answer the question, Hal.

He rolled his eyes and frowned. “Well, it’s nine A.M., I’m making a cup of coffee. I know bats are nocturnal, so this might come as a surprise to someone like you, but rest assured it’s a normal habit for us normal folks.”

How fast can you get to Gotham City?

“Willingly?” Hal chuckled, setting down the coffee pot to grab the phone. “What’s going on?”

I need your…help…with something. And I need you in Gotham as fast as you can get here…please.

He almost dropped both the phone and coffee mug. “Did you just say you need my he—” the line went dead with a click, and he pulled the phone from his ear. “Asshole,” Hal scowled and shoved the phone in his pocket, before putting the mug down. His body flashed green as he suited up and he sighed. “Can’t believe I gotta go to the land of the living dead at nine A.M.”

***

He rubbed his temples as he disconnected the call, barely suppressing the sigh that wanted to escape him. “Are you mad at me?” he heard behind him, low, scared, and worried; he shook his head.

“No.”

She leaned against the desk, staring down at the side of his head. “Are you disappointed in me?”

Bruce sighed this time. “At your basic lack of common sense and sleeping with a team member despite the fact that I’ve told you time and again that inner-team-dalliances only end badly? Yes.” He turned his eyes to her. “But for being pregnant? Never.”

“Doesn’t seem like it, dad,” she muttered, crossing her arms over her chest; he watched them lower to hold her stomach.

“I think Hal Jordan’s an idiot,” he stated. “If it seems like I’m upset, it’s because he’s going to be my grandchild’s father and I’ll have to be nice to him now.” She huffed a laugh and he reached over, placing a hand on her arm. “It’s going to be okay, sweetheart. We’ll take care of this.”

“I know, it’s just…” she sighed. “I never expected this to happen.”

“No one ever does,” Bruce answered. “Have you contacted Leslie yet?”

She nodded. “Yeah. I’ll go see her around three.” Grunting, she muttered, “Figured if Hal got here in as soon as possible, we’d have enough time to sit and talk about this before we went.” She ran a hand over her face. “God, I can’t believe I Hal knocked me up.”

“Please don’t say that,” Bruce griped. “I don’t like that phrase.”

“But that’s what happened, dad. I got knocked up by Hal.”

“Why do you hate me?” he scowled, dropping his head into his hands. “How did this even happen?”

Sighing, she recounted, “After the mission in Brazil, Hal invited Barry back to Coast City for a drink and Barry invited me.” She shrugged. “I didn’t wanna be rude even if I am typically antisocial, so I accepted, and we got there and found a bar. After a couple hours, Barry had to get back to Central and we just decided to keep drinking.”

She grunted. “Hell, by seven thirty we were already gone so we got a ride back to his place and he offered to let me stay the night and one thing led to another and—”

Bruce raised his hand, effectively silencing her. “I can infer what happened after that.” He rubbed his temples. “Let’s just wait for Hal to get here, yeah?”

“Yeah,” she agreed, falling silent.

***

Alfred cleared his throat. “Master Jordan, is here, sir.” They both looked up from the Batcomputer at the test pilot.

“Thank you, Alfred,” Bruce said, and the butler nodded, ascending the steps.

Hal walked towards them. “So, what’s the deal? Why do you need me?”

Bruce looked at her and she sighed. “Actually, I’m the one who needed you to come here, Hal.”

His brown eyes darted to hers, a flash, a recognition of something and he nodded. “Aright. What’s up?”

“Dad…give us a moment?” he nodded and stood from the Batcomputer, walking to the medical section on the other side of the cave. She waved Hal over. “You might wanna sit down.”

He did, albeit suspiciously. “Why are you acting so…weird?”

“Hal,” she said, then looked at her hands. “I’m…ah crap.”

“What’s wrong?” he asked, brows furrowing.

She took a deep breath and admitted, “My period’s late and there’s a good chance I’m pregnant.”

For a moment, Hal didn’t say a word, then he burst into laughter. “Oh, that’s hilarious!” he held his stomach and wiped his eyes. “That’s a good one.”

“I’m not joking, Hal,” she spat. “In the last three months, you’re the only man I’ve had sex with. If I’m pregnant, you’re the father.”

He stopped laughing at that. “Are you being serious?”

“Dead.”

Hal ran a hand through his brown hair and let out a shocked breath. “Holy hell.” She watched him and he gaped at her. “W-what…what do we do?”

“I’ve got an appointment with Doctor Leslie at four. You’re welcome to come along if you’d like.”

He nodded. “Yeah. Yeah, I will.” Swallowing thickly, he said, “Does he know?”

“Dad? Yeah. They all do.”

“They?” he repeated, eyes wide.

“My brothers.”

“You told them we slept together?”

She chuckled. “Apparently a year ago under heavy meds, I admitted I slept with Dad, Dick, and Jason’s exes.” She shrugged. “There’s not much I keep from them.”

Hal’s eyes shifted to Bruce’s back. “Can’t imagine the Big-Bat is happy about this.”

“Oh, he’s not. He thinks you’re an idiot, but judging by the look on your face, you already know that.”

He scoffed. “Your dad likes to think he’s smarter than everyone else.”

She cocked a brow. “He is.”

“And it seems like you’re following that strain well,” he shot back, and they glared at each other before cracking smiles.

“If this is real, we’re going to be some parents, huh?”

Hal could sense the fear in her voice, and he stood in front of her, placing his hands on her hips. “Hey,” he murmured. “No parents are perfect. And we’re sure as hell not.”

“If this is supposed to cheer me up, it’s not.”

“I’m not trying to cheer you up. I’m trying to reassure you,” he corrected, squeezing her hips lightly. “We’ll work through this, and we’ll do it together.”

She gazed at him then heaved a sigh and leaned her head on his shoulder. “Thanks Hal.”

“Don’t mention it,” he chuckled, then murmured, “But if we really are going to be parents, should we tie the knot?”

“Absolutely not.”

***

“Hal, for the love of God, will you sit down?” she griped. “You’re starting to make me anxious with all that pacing.”

He sighed, running a hand through his hair before shrugging off his bomber. “I can’t help it,” he retorted. “I hate waiting.”

“Yeah, I’ve noticed.” She rolled her eyes. “Leslie’s working as fast as she can. Just sit down and be patient.”

Hal paced for another minute before collapsing into the seat beside her; she took his hand in hers and rubbed her thumb on the back of his hand. “What are you doing?” he asked, and she hummed.

“Comforting you.”

“Why?”

She looked at him. “Because you’re worried.”

“How are you not?”

“I am,” she commented, and he scowled.

“You don’t look it.”

“Well, that’s because I was trained to retain my emotions a as child,” she retorted. “It helps when I’m dealing with children who are scared.”

“I’m not a child,” Hal hissed, and she snorted.

“Could’ve fooled me.”

“You know what? I’m gonna—”

The door opened and their mouths snapped shut as Leslie walked in with a smile. “Good afternoon.”

“Hey Leslie,” she greeted, then glanced at the papers in her hand. “So? What’s the verdict?”

Leslie handed her the file and she looked it over. “Case of irregular period, dear.”

She blinked and said dumbly, “I’m not pregnant?”

“No,” she said, shaking her head. “Our bodies act up sometimes, even when we’re grown. Irregularities can still happen even now.” Clearing her throat, Leslie added, “But your blood and urinalysis came back negative. You’re not pregnant.” She looked between Hal and her. “With the results, you’re free to leave.”

She stood to her feet, but when Hal didn’t, she tugged his hand. “Hal,” she whispered. “Come on.”

He staggered to his feet. “Yeah, I’m coming.” He disappeared out of the clinic room, and she sighed, then looked at Leslie.

“Thanks doc.”

“Of course.”

***

They were quiet on the park bench, watching the sun reflect off the water and listening to the birds singing in the sky. “So…I guess that’s a relief,” Hal stated, and she nodded.

“Yeah. I guess it is.” Laughing, she said, “I mean could you imagine if I were actually carrying your kid?” when he didn’t laugh, she looked over at him. “Hal?”

He blinked, shaking himself out of his thoughts. “Yeah, couldn’t imagine it.”

“Hal,” she plead. “Are you upset that I’m not?”

“What? No. No, I’m relieved you’re not pregnant, but…” he sighed and shrugged. “I dunno at the same time as scared as I was, I was happy, you know? Ready to step up and be there for you.”

She lowered her gaze to his hands and reached over, placing hers over his and he took it, squeezing. “Well, look at it this way. This was the universe telling you that you’re ready to be a father and this was the universe telling me that I’m not ready to be a mom or your baby’s mother.”

Hal gazed at her for a moment then chuckled. “Yeah, I guess it is.” He squeezed her hand again and climbed to his feet, flashing green as his suit appeared. “Now that everything’s sorted out, I should be getting back to Coast City.”

“Sounds good,” she agreed, standing to her feet.

“Can I drop you off anywhere?”

“Nah, I’m gonna walk around for a bit,” she said.

Hal took to the sky then looked down at her. “If you ever find yourself ready…call me?”

A shocked laugh bubbled in her chest, and she shook her head. “Not a chance in hell, Jordan.”

“Come on, don’t you think it would be fun to have the old Bat call me his son in law?”

Giggling, she waved him off. “Get out of here, Hal.”

Winking, he replied, “See you later, babe.”

She couldn’t help but chuckle and watch him leave, then she shook her head. “Ridiculous.” But a small smile was still on her lips as she headed down the street.

***Alternate Ending***

She gazed numbly out at the water, not sure if she should feel surprise or shock, but whatever emotion she was feeling had completely dumbfounded her. She was pregnant. Her hands had unconsciously pressed tight to her stomach, and she felt sick more than anything. Sick, scared, ashamed, every emotion that came with sleeping with a coworker—and every TV show and movie where the woman got pregnant from the affair.

How was she going to explain this to her family? To her friends? How was she going to face their scrutiny? Pregnant out of wedlock? With the biggest skirt-chasing, arrogant asshole in the galaxy? She’d take the brunt of their scathing opinions. He’d get off scot-free. He’d—

“(Y/N).” Someone’s hand rested on her shoulder, and she blinked, suddenly brought from her stupor and she looked over at him; his gaze was full of worry. “Are you okay?”

Instantly, she felt angry, and she jerked away from him, standing to her feet. “Am I okay!” she shouted. “You got me pregnant! Do you have any idea what this is going to do to us! To our reputations! To mine!”

Irritation etched across his face, and he stood to his feet, getting in her face. “It takes two to tango, (Y/N). We both did this—not just me.”

Her mouth opened to retort sharply, but damned if he didn’t have a point and she shut her mouth, tasting something bitter as she looked away. “I’m going home.”

She turned and his hand shot out, grabbing hold of her arm. “Wait, I don’t want you going alone.”

“Let go of me.” She hissed, trying to pull away, but he tightened his grip.

“No. It’s too dangerous for you to be out alone.”

(Y/N) scoffed. “I think you’re forgetting who you’re talking to Jordan. I’m—”

“The mother of my child.” Hal declared and she gaped at him. “I know what you and your family think of me. I know you think I’m an arrogant asshole and yeah, I’ll admit that I am.” He pulled her to him and wrapped his arm around her waist. “But if you think for a second, I’m going to let you wander around this bat-shit crazy city alone while pregnant, then you’re the one who’s being arrogant.”

He searched her gaze. “I’m many things, (Y/N). But I’m not going to abandon you or shy away from whatever this is.”

She swallowed thickly. “What do you mean ‘whatever this is’? Parents?”

“Us.” Hal said. “Maybe it’s just my big head, but I see the way you look at me. Yeah, I annoy the hell out of you, but you care for me.” He reached up, cupping her cheek. “And I care about you too. More than just what teammates should for one another.”

(Y/N) didn’t know what to say, because he did have a point. Hal was an annoying prick who at many times provoked her into physical confrontation, but on the other hand, there was nothing she loved more than fighting with him, because she knew he found it just as amusing.

Her gaze lowered and she felt tears well in her eyes. “I’m scared, Hal.”

“I know. I am too,” he murmured. “But we’re going to get through this.” He tipped her head up, catching her eyes once more. “We will get through this. Together.”

(Y/N)’s lips wobbled, and she tried for a lighthearted comment. “Isn’t fraternization against the rules?”

Hal grinned. “Only in the military.” He winked. “Last time I checked—we’re not in it.”

She laughed, leaning forward, and pressed her forehead to his. “How’s everyone going to react to this?”

He shrugged. “Probably with shock. I mean about me getting a girl pregnant? Not likely. Getting you pregnant? More likely.”

“Shut up.”

“I think we should consider getting married though.”

(Y/N) pulled away and stared at him. “Excuse me?”

Hal looked at her. “(Y/N), we should think about getting married. I mean, we’re gonna have a kid together. Might as well tie the knot while we’re at it.”

She merely blinked and spun, walking off. “Nope. Not happening. I’ll be your baby-mama, but I am not marrying you.”

“Hey! Wait up!”

[jankwritten]

Jasico hockey au you say????! 👀👀💖

OHOHOHOH YEAH BUDDY You've got no idea. It's so far 72K, 20 chapters, 262 pages, I've been working on it for over a year. It's funny because it actually started as fanfiction of my own fanfiction, because ORIGINAL hockey AU is a PJO/OMGCP crossover that focuses on Percy. But then Nico and Jason appeared in it and I realized I really wanted to tell THEIR story, and so the beautiful behemoth was born. There are still OMGCP characters in Nico's side of the story, but they're not quite as involved as they are in Percy's side.

Short summary: Nico di Angelo is a newly drafted goalie for the Falconers who's SOMEHOW making his way through his rookie season without crashing and burning. After a rough loss in Vegas, though, he winds up meeting the up and coming golden boy of the hockey world, the guy who's tearing up the USHL like it's his job, Jason Grace.

As he will soon find out, he's not the only one starstruck - Jason Grace, somehow, is his fan. And thus the story ensues.

Relevant things to note: I have screwed ALL the ages of the PJO characters up. Percy is in his mid twenties, but Jason and Nico are only 18. Will is also in it, but he's from Percy's side of the story, and he's in his lower twenties. Hazel is 16, Annabeth is around Percy's age, and then there's Piper and Leo who aren't in the main story at all, but they are also 18.

I do also ask for a fair bit of suspension of disbelief because Nico is, essentially, a prodigy, which I know is far fetched but I just wanted to do it. He and Snowy tend to "share" games; some games Snowy will be out the whole time, some games Nico will be out, but generally they switch mid-game. I don't know if that's a thing that ever happens in the NHL, I haven't watched enough non-cup games to have a good idea, but it's what happens in the story, so *shrug*.

When (if) I start posting it, which I do want to, there will be some TWs because, I mean, they're kids, really, and when you take two kids who're already a little fucked up and put them in a national spotlight, it's not always happy shiny nice times.

BUT!!!!!!! JASICO HOCKEY AU!!!!!!! oh my god I want people to ask me about this I wanna TALK ABOUT IT SO MUCH!!!!!!

the amount of research i've done for this story is literally unreal, because i was NO a hockey fan when I started writing it, but now I am. it's consuming my life fr fr

[invisibleanonymousmonsters]

Civilian

Character: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader

Summary: Jason Todd is used to saving the innocent. But he’s not used to them saving him. 

Word Count: 3,100 – One Shot

“Fuck me,” Jason groaned as he stumbled across the rooftops.

How he was able to even walk right now was beyond him.

He had Slade on the ropes. Just one more punch to put him off balance and Jason would’ve shoved a knife into his jugular and be done with him. But Slade had a few more tricks up his sleeve and decided to flee instead of finish a losing battle, so he ran like a coward. 

It left Jason utterly irritated and with a huge gash in his side, amongst other various injuries. 

He could’ve called one his “friends” or someone in his “family.” But he was stubborn. He wanted to be stronger than that. He wanted to prove that he didn’t need any of them. He was better than that. He was the best. And he’d risk bleeding out to prove it to them – or really…himself.

But his body wasn’t on the same page.

And it finally had enough.

Jason stumbled to his knees on a rooftop. He groaned as his vision became hazy.

His helmet had a protective system in place so no one could take it off if he was unconscious. They’d get a nice little shock if they tried. His identity would be safe even if someone stumbled upon his injured body… or corpse.

Jason managed to roll onto his back and was met with the smoggy Gotham sky.

“Get the fuck up,” he told himself aloud.

He blinked, trying to straighten and clear his vision.

But it was useless.

The last thing Jason remember seeing was the Bat signal reflecting off of the cloudy sky. Somewhere in the city, there was more crime to fight and he’d just be another asshole who thought he could put a stop to it.

Dying didn’t scare Jason anymore. He’d done it once before, and he could do it again. What did it matter now anyway?

But Jason didn’t die.

He woke up on a couch. Well, if one could even call it that. His 6’4 frame could barely fit on the thing. His legs were hanging off the end, not able to comfortably fit on the thing.

His head felt like it was having the worse hangover of his life. When he opened his eyes, he blinked at the incoming sunlight. Then he realized he wasn’t looking through the programming of his Red Hood helmet.

Then he touched his face to realize that his backup domino mask had also been removed, leaving his identity exposed. 

His eyes widened in slight panic as he looked around.

He appeared to be a in a small apartment – normal, no threats detected.

Then Jason looked down to realize he wasn’t in his uniform. In fact, his chest was bare and he was only in his black briefs. His autopsy scars on full display.

But just half a foot away from him, his clothes were neatly folded into a pile on the edge of the coffee table. His two guns were sitting right next to them.

Whoever had brought him here clearly didn’t see him as a threat. Stupid on their part. There were about two dozen other weapons hiding in the crevices of his clothes too.

But the more concerning thing was that Jason didn’t have a single wound on his body. The giant gash to his side that had made him faint and nearly die from blood loss was nowhere to be found. After all these years, Jason was still figuring out the side effects from being dumped into the Lazarus pit. But this couldn’t be related, could it?

Suddenly there was the sound of the apartment door opening.

On instinct alone, Jason shot up, grabbed one of his guns, and found his target.

What he wasn’t expecting to find was a beautiful woman, probably only just a little bit younger than him, standing with a coffees in a carrier tray and a bag in the other hand. She had earbuds in, further disorienting her from such a welcome. Her eyes went wide and the rest of her body was completely frozen.

After a few seconds, she slowly tugged her headphones out.

“Is the gun really necessary?” She asked.

But Jason could tell from her body language that she was scared.

“Who the hell are you?”

She had enough courage to glare at his tone. “I’m the person who saved your life, asshole.”

“Yeah? And how exactly did you do that?”

She seemed to be getting less scared and more angry with every sentence Jason said.

“If you put the fucking gun down, I’ll tell you.”

Jason hesitated before finally putting it down. Then his behavior caught up to him. Here was this stranger, who was clearly innocent and had helped him…and his first thought was to point a gun at the poor thing.

“Sorry,” he finally gasped. “It’s…a habit.”

She just eyed him, neither rejecting or accepting his apology.

She sat on the love seat opposite of the couch that he’d taken over.

With an innocent look, she slowly put a coffee cup on the table and the bag.

“I’m not much of a cook… so I picked up breakfast. It’s just a black coffee. I figured you didn’t like anything fancy.” 

“T-Thank you,” he stuttered out, trying his best not to sound harsh.

Those words were strange coming out of his mouth. And Jason couldn’t figure out if it was because he’d completely lost his manners or there wasn’t anything someone had done for him lately that warranted any sort of thanks.

“I’m sorry about taking off your clothes,” she suddenly said. “I would’ve given you something. But…well…I don’t have anything even close to your size. Even my oversized clothing wouldn’t have fit.”

Jason was about to tell her it was OK, but she continued.

“Not that I would’ve even been able to put it on you. I hardly got your clothes off.”

Jason smirked at that. “Speaking of which, how the hell did you get my helmet off.”

“Yeah…I managed to get you to come to for a minute or so.” Then she shifted in her seat, clutching her coffee tighter as if it was a security blanket. “I honestly just asked you very nicely. I promised I wouldn’t tell anyone what you looked like. You were kind of just…a zombie or something and…took it off.”

Then he took her stature in. Jason knew he was a big guy. He was bigger than the majority of men. He’d only met a few women in his life that were taller than him, and they were all either Amazons or aliens.

This young woman was neither of those things.

“How did you get me off that roof?”

She laughed, seeing that he was trying to add it up in his head. “I’m definitely no Superman. My neighbor doesn’t have any other hobbies besides going to the gym. He owed me a favor.” Then her eyes widened. “Don’t worry, he didn’t see you without your helmet. He’s also sworn to secrecy.”

Jason shrugged. “It’s fine if he did. I can just kill him later.”

He saw her whole body tense up at that.

“Relax. I’m kidding.”

Her tension was released, but she didn’t find his joke very funny.

Then her eyes locked to the floor.

Jason took this chance to study her. 

Her hair was a bit of a mess. But there was still a halo around it as the sun shined from behind her. Her jeans were a bit baggy, but purposely so. She was wearing a band t-shirt that was so worn that there were a few holes in it.

Jason had to acknowledge that she was beautiful. But he had made note of that as soon as he’d pointed a gun at her.

“I ended last night with a life-threatening injury…amongst other things,” Jason said as he looked down at his body. “I woke up with not even a scratch on me. So why don’t you tell me how the hell that’s possible?”

She finally raised her gaze from the floor to him. Then she swallowed and clenched her jaw. It was clear she had been hoping for a scenario where Jason didn’t ask any questions, where he would just give his thanks and move on.

But she wasn’t that lucky. 

“Hey,” he said gently. “You’ve seen my face. You know who I am now. Whatever it is you’re scared to tell me, we’ll be even.”

She stared at him a bit longer before taking in a shaky breath. “I…umm…can do this thing.”

“Uh huh,” he encouraged.

“I can heal people by…umm…touching them?”

Jason sat back, letting the information settle. “Huh,” he said with small nod.

“I saved your life,” she told him. “All I ask in return is that you keep my secret.”

“You don’t have to worry about that,” he told her.

She nodded nervously, but didn’t seem fully convinced.

“What’s your name?” He asked her softly.

She looked unsure if she should tell him.

“I’m Jason. Jason Todd.” He offered to even the playing field.

She tilted her head, probably because she heard that name before. Everyone in Gotham had at some point. The tragic death of Bruce Wayne’s second adopted son. And then the dead son who had somehow come back, his death misidentified. There were hundreds of rumors about what really happened. But they all sounded ridiculous to her.

“Y/N,” she finally told him.

“Thank you for saving my life, Y/N.” He scratched the back of his neck. “But I have to ask why you did.”

After all, the neighborhood she lived in was weary of Gotham’s vigilantes. Some believed they were keeping them safe, while others thought they were just making things worse. It led to a general distrust of the masked heroes.

“They say the Red Hood used to be Robin,” she told him quietly.

“I don’t pay attention to what people say…”

Y/N leaned forward. “But is it true? Were you Robin back then?”

Jason ground his teeth together. “That was a lifetime ago.”

She watched him for a minute, working out whether she wanted to share something or not. 

“When I was a little girl, I was at the bank with my mom when a robbery went down. Things went bad and quick. They panicked, decided a little girl was the best hostage to grab. We barely got a few blocks away before Batman intervened. I was terrified, even of him. But Robin was with him…and he could tell I was scared. He wasn’t that much older than me, but he was so much braver. He held my hand until the police came. But even then I wouldn’t let go of him. So, he stayed with me until my mom got there.” She took in a deep and shaky breath. “It meant a lot to me.”

Jason controlled his expression, but he knew what she was talking about. He remembered that night. How he did was beyond him. But it didn’t feel long ago. He remembered thinking the little girl was pretty. 

Jason didn’t have a lot of friends back then. He came from the streets but lived in a mansion. He couldn’t figure out who he was back then. And it was hard to relate to other children. 

Back then, it was the most intimate interaction he had with someone his age. 

“Would you still have saved me last night even if I hadn’t been Robin?” 

This was all Y/N would get in terms of Jason admitting that he had been Robin that night.

Y/N shrugged and nodded. Then she cleared her throat. “The only thing saving this shit hole of a city is people doing the right thing.”

Jason stood.

The motion startled Y/N and she followed his action without even meaning to.

Now that he was standing on his own two feet, she truly understood just how absolutely massive he was. She was by no means short and she still felt like she was looking at a giant.

However, Jason misread her gawking for something else. “You don’t have to be scared of me, kid. I’m not going to hurt you,” he told her quietly.

“I’m not scared of you,” she said as her face suddenly felt hot.

Y/N didn’t know what she had expected to see under that red helmet last night. But she definitely wasn’t expecting a man handsome enough to be a model.

But then her brow scrunched, “And I’m not a kid.” Jason smiled – like, genuinely smiled. The muscles on his face forgot what that felt like.

He eyed the band t-shirt she was wearing: Fleetwood Mac – the Rumors album, to be precise.

“You’ve got good taste in music,” Jason complimented.

“Thank you,” Y/N mumbled.

A new tension filled the air.

Something neither of them have felt in awhile – if at all.

Y/N cleared her throat again, starting to feel too close to this large and beautiful man who was only standing in his briefs.

“You can use the shower if you want.”

Jason smirked. “Thanks, but I should get out of your hair. You’ve already done enough for me.”

He took a step toward her, realizing that he seemed to like seeing her reaction to his presence.

She stayed in place, but shifted her weight.

Jason lowered his head a bit. “Your secret is safe with me, Y/N. Thank you again…you saved my life.”

——————

Y/N and Jason couldn’t stop thinking about one another since that morning.

Jason had trust issues. And because of those trust issues, he learned not to rely on others. He refused to be anything besides independent. But those flaws were also the reason it was so hard for him to get close to anyone. He kept people at a distance so he could never be rejected or get his heart broken. It was problematic, but that was how he survived.

But Y/N had shown him kindness and then expected absolutely nothing in return. She just hoped he wouldn’t shoot her brains out when he finally came to.

Meanwhile, Y/N couldn’t remember the last time a man looked at her the way Jason had. Just thinking about the looks he gave her caused goosebumps to shiver across her skin. She’d seen the scars across his skin and knew he’d lived a rough life. And that wasn’t even including the scars his mind and heart held. She wondered who was the last person to help him or to just show him that they cared whether he lived or died.

It had been a few weeks and Y/N still couldn’t get Jason Todd out of her mind. Even now, as she sat on the rooftop of her building once again, eating a pizza she’d just picked up and washing it down with cheap red wine.

She almost spilled said wine all over herself when she jumped from the sound of someone dropping onto the roof from behind her.

Y/N whipped around to see Red Hood walking steadily toward her.

“Sorry. I tried to be loud so I wouldn’t scare you.” His voice sounded different from the helmet distorting it.

“Well, most people use doors and stairs…so I think the effort is pretty useless.”

Jason ignored her joke and pulled out a thick envelope that had been tucked on the inside of his leather jacket. 

He handed it to her.

Y/N was confused, but took it from his grasp anyway.

She opened it to find two tickets to see Fleetwood Mac on their reunion tour at Gotham City Stadium.

Her gaze shot up to Jason’s and then she did a double take at the tickets, making sure she wasn’t seeing things.

“How - What - Why?” She finally sputtered out the right question.

Jason just shrugged. “I owed you.”

“T-This is too much. I can’t accept this. These tickets must’ve cost a fortune,” she told him as she tried to hand the envelop back to him.

But he wasn’t having it and simply shook his head.

Y/N knew they cost a fortune because she had looked up tickets. Her heart had broken when she saw how far out of her budget the lowest prices were.

“Take them, Y/N. Please.”

She knew there was no point in arguing.

But she slowly looked up at him. “Would…ummm… Would you like to go with me?”

Jason blinked at the offer. “Seriously?”

Y/N laughed at his surprise. “Yeah, I mean, clearly you’re a fan, too.” Then she shrugged, now self conscious that she’d been too forward. “I don’t know. When was the last time you did something fun?”

Jason was shocked at how right she was.

“Oh, my God!” Y/N suddenly yelped.

Jason immediately jumped into action, grabbing both of his guns and stepping to Y/N in a protective stance.

“Jason, you’re bleeding!” She cried out, not realizing that he had just used his body as a human shield for her to defend an attack that wasn’t even happening.

He relaxed and followed her gaze to his forearm – the small patch of skin between his gloves and the rolled up sleeve of his leather jacket. He had been sliced by a knife. He probably needed to clean it before it got infected and stitch it up. 

“Y/N, it’s just a scratch.”

“Shut up,” she snapped. “Come here.”

Then he let her dragged him to the two fold-out chairs she kept on the roof.

Jason realized suddenly that he didn’t mind being bossed around by this woman. In fact, he kind of enjoyed it.

Without asking for permission, Y/N put her palm over his cut.

Jason watched as he felt a comforting warmth wash over the area of skin that she was touching. Within seconds, his cut was completely gone.

Y/N gave it a satisfied smile. No matter how many injuries she healed, the pride and relief never went away.

“You’re fucking amazing, you know that?” Jason was relieved his helmet hid the dumbstruck look that was surely on his face. 

Y/N didn’t seem to take the compliment very well and slightly folded into herself.

“So, will you?” She changed the subject quickly.

“Will I what?” But as Jason asked for clarification, he knew that he’d probably do anything Y/N would ask of him.

“Will you go to the concert with me?”

He nodded.

The nonverbal answer was enough for Y/N because she gave him a beaming smile.

In that moment, Jason wondered how he could ever push Y/N away like he had done with everyone else in his life. 

And for once, he allowed himself to feel happy.

Maybe he could keep letting himself be happy, as long as it included Y/N. 

---------------------------

Really, really loving writing for Jason Todd. I was a little exhausted with Marvel fandom.  Let me know what you think!

[robinofgothamcity]

♡ prompt: "don’t leave me. don’t you dare leave me.”

♡ pairing: jason todd (redhood) x fem reader

♡ lyric inspiration: "everybody loves somebody sometime. everybody falls in love somehow." 

♡ note: not checked for grammar or spelling mistakes / i wanna note that this doesn’t follow TITANS Jason Todd. you can use whatever version you want. the reason i say this is because the lack of gifs for Jason that Tumblr provides is w a c k.

“don’t bullshit me Jason, I really don’t need you coming up with any kind of excuse on the spot,” you told Jason. he could tell you were being completely serious. you weren’t feigning anything as you looked him straight in the eyes, “i’m done with the excuse and i’m personally done with waiting for someone who doesn’t make time for me.” 

Jason tried grabbing your hand but you immediately took it back. not caring if you were making a scene or not. 

Dick and Tim were in the unfortunate situation of being present for you argument and although they felt kind of awkward being around, they low key wanted to hear the rest of the argument. they felt awful for you but Jason had it coming. 

“don’t leave me. don’t you dare leave me!” Jason screamed. you shook your head, “you did this to yourself, Todd. you don’t get to play the victim in this situation,” you stated before grabbing your bag and exiting Jason’s apartment. 

Tim as well as Dick stood in awkward silence. not knowing whether to comfort Jason or leave. this was the first time in what felt like ages that they have seen Jason so vulnerable. 

you were Jason’s version of normal. although you weren’t a hero or any kind of sidekick, you did help out any of the teams that needed an extra hand at their respective lairs. you had a flair for working computers and knew your way around them when Tim wasn’t available. 

-

a few weeks had passed since your ‘break up’ with Jason. you had helped out the Bat’s a few times within the weeks but you made sure to keep your distance with Jason. whenever he appeared, you went to another section of the Batcave or moved completely to the second level so you wouldn’t even have to run into him. 

today, however; you were hanging around Tim’s team. you were in the mood to bug Connor as you were helping Jon with some of his schoolwork and decided to stick around. you weren’t particularly close with Connor but he did have a soft side with you so you messing with him didn’t necessarily upset him. 

“Tim or Connor, how much would it cost for you to bring me food from the chicken place around the corner?” you asked the two boys. “Connor could probably take you. I don’t think Tim’s moving from his computer anytime soon but I don’t mind piggybacking you there,” Wally said from the other side of the table. 

you huffed, smacking Tim on the side of the head and getting up. 

“well if that’s the case, come on West, you’re taking me,” you said grabbing his shoulder. Tim from the corner of his eye examined your interaction with Wally. you were getting a bit closer to the redhead and he found it a bit weird considering you weren’t close with him while you were with Jason, “hold on,” Wally smirked as he hauled you over onto his back. 

you laughed, holding on tightly as he zoomed out the door. Tim knew it wasn’t any of his business to get involved in relationship drama. he wanted nothing to do with it personally but seeing you close with Wally rubbed him the wrong way for some reason. maybe it was the idea that he still had hope for you to that made him text his adoptive brother. 

“your girl is going out with Wally. they’re going to be at the restaurant by my place if you’re wondering.” 

Jason had been moping around when he wasn’t going on any missions so when he saw Tim texting him, he found it weird within itself. he hardly messaged any of his brothers so receiving one from Tim no less was pretty odd. 

his heart dropped a bit reading the text. he had no idea you were even close with the speedster so to be going on a date with him put him on edge. Jason immediately ran out of his door and booking it on his motorcycle to the restaurant. 

had any police been on the streets, Jason would’ve received copious amount of tickets by the way he was speeding but he could have cared less. he arrived to the restaurant in due time. he saw you sitting down, eating with Wally as the two of you were basically scarfing down the food in front of you. 

Jason felt a pang to his chest as he watched you talk with Wally like nothing was wrong. he had never seen you so care free before. even when the two of you went out for a date or something, he felt so on edge thinking that something could happen to you. 

Jason didn’t want to sound more problematic than he already was but he felt a feeling of possessiveness hit him seeing you with Wally. like he didn’t want you going out with anyone that wasn’t him. his eye twitched every time Wally made you laugh or whenever you reached over to smack or touch him. 

eventually, he saw you and Wally getting up from the table. he quickly hopped on his motorcycle and drove back to his place, more upset than he thought he would be. 

he shot Tim a text back, thanking him for letting him knowing. 

Jason had heard a few days ago that you were planning on going out with a few of your friends with a club in Gotham and that happened to be today. he knew that following you to whatever club you were going too would be wrong but with the way he was feeling, he didn’t care. he was coming along..even if he had to hide in the crowd. 

he inched his way back to your place a few hours later to see you already getting dressed. you were wearing one of Jason’s favorite outfits and that alone made him want to go over to you and remind you that you were his. (WHY DID THIS GO SO YANDERE ALL OF A SUDDEN PFT).

the funny thing in all of this was that he saw you slip in some crocs into your bag. he knew you hated wearing shoes let alone heels so to see you probably change into them through the night made him chuckle. 

once you got into your car and made your way into Gotham to the club you were meeting your friends at, he walked in through the side and stood in the corner as he watched you get ID’d and walk inside. all of you were sitting at a table and ordering your first round of drinks. you downed a shot of whatever you had ordered before grabbing your friends hand taking her out into the dance floor. 

Jason walked in a bit closer but making sure to stay hidden. he saw you just dancing with your friend and couldn’t help but gulp. the way you were dancing and grinding up against your friend would have had him dragging you to the nearest bathroom for getting him riled up. (insert gif above)

he remained watching you until he noticed a guy approaching you. the guy was on the taller side, greasy hair flopping to the side of his face, and his clothes looked like he hadn’t changed out of it in days. 

“really, I’m fine. I don’t dance with people I don’t know,” you stated as you friend pulling you away. the guy quickly grabbed your other hand, “c’mon, one dance?” you shook him off, stating once again that you weren’t interested before walking back to the table. 

Jason, although the interaction was minor, was seeing red. he waited until the guy left to catch him in the single bathroom, leaving him bloody and bruised. he looked down to the guy before chuckling, “you should really learn what no means,” he spat before leaving. 

by the time he entered the floor again, you were already back on the floor dancing. you were dancing with another friend as you sipped on a drink and minded your business. it took a few internal screams to remind himself that he couldn’t just walk over to you and take you by the hand but almost after that, he heard commotion coming from the other end of the bar. 

closer to where you were.

Jason walked slowly to make sure shit didn’t get out of hand. you didn’t even realize that an entire fight had broken out by you as you were too busy singing to the song that was playing. it wasn’t until you heard gunshots that made you flinch and realize that shit was going down. 

you grabbed your friend, screaming at them to forget their things as you took everything the Bats had told you about situations like this and basically run for your life. you ran to the nearest exit before hearing gunshots going off again. this time, you tried ducking but it was far too late. you felt an impact against your left shoulder blade.

the gunshot immediately made you fall onto the ground as Jason practically sprinted to you. you weren’t even conscious enough to realize what was going on anymore but as you tried to get up to run once again, you felt yourself get pistol whipped on the nose as you fell again. 

Jason finally made it towards you after he signaled the Outlaws and even the some of the Bats to make their way to the club. you were trying your best to keep your eyes open but they were slowly starting to fall shut. 

“hey! hey! don’t fall asleep on me,” you heard Jason’s panicked voice. you laughed, leaning against him, “of course you would’ve followed me here but Jay, I’m kinda tired,” you whispered as your eyes fell completely shut. Jason shook you again as he tried to make sure you stayed awake, “don’t leave me. don���t you fucking leave me!” he screamed. 

it took a few minutes but eventually, the paramedics came in and got you onto a stretcher as Tim, Roy, and for some odd reason, Damian walked inside. they saw your state of being and looked to Jason. 

“a fight broke out and one of them shot off with gunshots. she got shot on the shoulder and hit with the gun to the nose,” he explained as he watched the ambulance put you inside. he knew...he hoped that you would make it out okay because he had some business to take care of before he went to visit you in the hospital, “I’ll be back,” he growled, getting up and running out the door. 

Roy, Tim, and Damian looked at each other realizing what he was about to do. they quickly followed him out the door but by the time they reached him, he was already running down the darkened ally, trailing what they assumed were the people that hurt you. 

Jason managed to tackle them to the floor, getting the ring leader as he stepped on the guys throat. he made sure not to make him pass out as he wanted the guy to feel his punches. Jason was big. size comparison to Superman so the punches to the face felt unearthly. 

“JASON STOP!” Tim screamed as Roy grabbed his best friend along with Damian, “if you get caught up in all this, you won’t be able to visit her. stop!” he yelled as he asked Roy to keep him calm, “go to the hospital. Roy can even take you but Robin and I have this,” he continued. 

he wanted to argue but for the first time in his life, Jason actually listened. he knew that he would get nothing by spending the night in a jail cell. Roy let him go when he realized that Jason was calm enough and let him to his motorcycle to follow you to the hospital. 

Jason got to the hospital about a half hour later. he immediately ran to the front desk, screaming your name to the receptionist who flinched back in fear. she walked him slowly to the room where you were at and informed him that you weren’t severely injured and most of the damage was on the nose. the blood you had lost was already getting pumped back into you. 

he saw you asleep on the bed as he pulled the chair up to your bed. Jason had never saw you this way before and frankly, it scared the shit outta him. he never wanted to see you this way again. 

without realizing, Jason had fallen asleep on the chair with his hand holding yours. it wasn’t until you actually woke up to see Jason asleep that you slowly shook him awake. Jason jumped up in fright and when he saw that you were awake, a sigh of relief was released. 

“how are you feeling? do you need anything?” he asked as you shook your head, “why did I know you would follow me to the club tonight?” you said with a tired smile. Jason shrugged, “you know how hard it is for me to quit you,” he confessed. 

while you did want to keep up your anger towards him, you weren’t even in the mood to start arguing with him. “Jason, seriously?” you said, not knowing what to say. Jason checked the door to make sure it was closed before basically hovering over you, “I can’t lose you. I just can’t. you’re the only thing that makes me feel normal. I know I wasn’t prioritizing you but I just can’t see you with anyone else. seeing you with Wally earlier almost made me want to kill him. I swear, I’ll start being better. I’ll make sure to make time for you but please, don’t leave me,” he yelled but softly. 

you had never heard Jason so vulnerable before, “wait, how did you know I was with Wally earlier?” you asked. Jason smiled sheepishly, knowing he was about to rat Tim out, “Tim might’ve told me,” he said. you squinted your eyes, “that asshole,” you said. 

“Jay, it’s hard to believe that when this isn’t the first time its happened. I just, I can’t be put in third or fourth place anymore. I see the way Dick and his girlfriend are and he still makes time for her and I always question why can’t you do the same!” you replied. Jason nodded understandingly, “I know but please, please trust me. one more chance and if I screw this up, you have every right to leave me for good,” he said almost immediately. 

you sighed, thinking for a few moments, “fine. one more chance and if you ruin it, it’s over. I won’t care what you say or do to try and get me back,” you threatened as Jason sighed in relief. 

he bent down for a kiss that had went longer than usual. it was getting steamier by the second but before you could continue, you heard a knock on the door indicating that the nurse or a doctor realized you were awake, “later, I promise. you’ll have enough time for this when you nurse me back to health,” you whispered making Jason laugh, “good because the way you were dancing with your friend might’ve turned me on more than I want to admit,” he said. 

you rolled your eyes as Jason sat back down on the chair as the doctor walked in. 

[thr-333]

Mismatch- Part 24

Bio dad Bruce Wayne Month 2020

Oh dear, oh dear Lila what a shame this is

First< Previous > Next

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The next couple of days are... awkward. Dick keeps calling which is nice, they even go for dinner one day dragging Tim along. Tim seems fine, tired but that's hardly unusual. Jason had just straight up disappeared, but Dick had assured them he would be coming to the Wayne Gala that weekend. Speaking of which they had been invited, well they were already going because of MDC stuff but now they were also invited as civilians. The news would have been happy if Damian hadn't stormed out the room when it was mentioned. The next day and the day after that hadn’t improved anything, Damian was completely ignoring them and they weren't the only ones to notice.

“What did you do to upset Dami so much?!” Lila announces rather loudly to the entire cafeteria, “I told you, you were going too far,”

“Lila, and I mean this sincerely, fuck off,” Marion says flatly, he hears Marinette cover a laugh despite swatting at him lightly.

“How dare you?! I’m just trying to look out for him,” Lila sniffles, basking under the attention of her large audience, looking between the girl and Damian. Marion catches Damian's eye, raising a brow basically saying you’re going to let this slide? Apparently he was as Damian looks away from them, and if anything was going to give Lila more believability it’s that.

“Marion are you alright?” Rose asks gently, having tiptoed after Lila with the rest of the class. Had he been looking so downcast she actually noticed?

“I’m fi-” Whatever assurance he was about to give is mute as he feels tears sliding down his cheeks, “Fuck-I just-”

He tries to wipe away the tears, very aware of everyone watching him. It’s starting to get hard to breath when he feels gentle arms wrap around him. It’s Rose. Rose is actually hugging him! It’s been so long he forgot what her hugs felt like. Well if she was trying to stop him from crying that certainly didn’t help matters. He tries to take a calming breath but it comes out more like a sob and soon enough he can’t hold it back anymore. A fine place to break down Mari, really, truly a testament to your skill.

“I can’t believe you’re doing this here,” Lila scoffs, Marion can feel the arms around him tighten, “After all the work I put in for this trip-”

“LILA WOULD YOU JUST STOP!” Alya’s scream makes them all jump back, Marion turning to face the absolutely seething girl, “This is the first time in YEARS we’ve been allowed to feel emotions! So just leave it alone, they’re allowed to be sad!”

“Well-I-its-they-” Lila splutters looking completely blindsided that one of her puppets broke off its strings, clearly she hasn't been paying attention the last few weeks, funny when you save someone's life they tend to listen and care about what you say a bit more. And if that leads to noticing a few more jibes in their direction... well that's just a happy coincidence.

“What is your problem!? You’ve been nothing but nasty to them since we got here!” Well a bit longer than that but good on you for noticing Alya.

“Oh, it’s just been so hard for me!” Lila exclaims, crocodile tears coming in as Marion still tries to wipe off his own, the genuine article at that, “If you had heard some of the things they’ve said to me-”

Lila jumps as Damian appears next to her. He doesn't look at or acknowledge the twins. In fact, he still looks rather pissed but at least some of its directed at Lila this time. He silently hands his phone over to Alya with some hesitation, Lila's eyes go wide. As quickly as he had come he’s gone, disappearing into the crowd that had formed around them.

“What’s-”

“Give it!” Lila screeches, lunging for the phone. Alya jerks back in surprise, Lila’s nails tearing down her arm. Ugly red marks that had broken the skin and gone in deep.

“What the hell!” Alya shouts through tears, clutching her bloody arm as the class crowd around her.

Instead of apologizing Lila tries to snatch the phone in the moment of distraction, but Alix is a hair quicker. She presses play despite Lila shouting threats that made the rest of the class go pale. The recording plays everyone is glued to it. The class becoming increasingly more hysterical. Marinette doesn't wait for it to finish, she gently guides Marion out of the room slipping through the crowd. They hide in an empty classroom, far enough away they can’t hear the outcry that follows.

“Do you think that’s really it, it’s done?” Marion whispers, Marinette is wiping his face with a handkerchief he had always made fun of her for carrying.

“Maybe, I honestly can’t bring myself to care anymore,” Marinette rests her forehead against his, her standing as he sits on a desk, “I thought I’d feel more…”

“Victorious?”

“Yeah,”

“I don’t think there are any winners here,” He can hear someone shouting their names down the hall, voice wobbly with tears, he doesn't care about any apology the can muster, “How lame did I look crying?”

“In front of the whole school like that?”

“Yeah,”

“I’d say it was pretty brave,” She pulls him into a hug, squeezing tight.

“He was just ignoring us,” Marion admits quietly, Lila hadn’t made him cry in a long time, but Damian? Damian did.

“I know,” Marinette pats his head, the same way she would tease him as Chat Noir, “But he did something in the end didn’t he?”

“Oh, gee look at this lame-ass, better make him stop before people associate him with me’,” Marion does an impression not remotely close to Damian, Marinette pinches him.

“That’s not what he was thinking and you know it,”

“Yeah,” Marion sighs, he can hear doors opening and closing now, apologies cast out through the school in hopes they’ll hear them, “What do we do now?”

“Jump out the window?”

So they did end up jumping out the window. Something Alfred had somehow known they were planning because he was waiting right there to pick them up. The debated on actually going to the manor, but their phones were lighting up with messages and the hotel was not an option. The Manor was silent when they arrived. And it remained silent for most of their stay.

Dick had apparently set himself a mission of making them feel at home, whatever that meant, and was nowhere to be seen. He seemed like the only one actually happy to have them join the ragtag family so without him it was likely the others were just avoiding them. That was fine, really, Alfred set them up with a movie and ice cream that they used to ignore everything else.

Dick was their saving grace and the bane of their existence. When he came back he had apparently made the decision they would be staying at the manor for the rest of the trip, despite it only meant to be a few more days(it wasn't for them but he didn’t know that yet). Alfred had apparently told him what happened and he had brought it upon himself to bring their friends, actual friends not classmates to the manor. This was a blessing and a curse as all they seemed to want to do was fill them in on what had happened.

They listened and ate ice cream together. And yeah Marion kind of wished he could have seen Lila as every lie was torn down but Chloe rejoiced in relaying her reactions with great detail. She had of course tried to lie and turn it all on the twins, them trying to frame her. However, with blood running down Alya's arm that warranted a trip to the hospital it was met with a cold shoulder. Their talk eventually morphed into laughing at all her outlandish lies, which Chloe gladly compiled into a list to share with the rest of the class, ranking them in order of their stupidity. She planned to go through the whole list on the plane ride back where there would be no escape for anyone. It was fun in a way, and if Marion noticed more than one pair of eyes spying in on the conversation he wasn’t going to point it out. Lila was yet to face her dues.

When their friends had to go back to the hotel they promised not to give anything away. Alfred gratefully let them skip over dinner and Dick was overjoyed to show them to their rooms. Marion kind of wanted to laugh when he was shown his, wondering how much of it was Dick, how much was Bruce, and what was Alfred.

There were cat plushies everywhere which he had to guess was Bruce latching onto the detail from the fair and indeed Dough boy is sitting front and center on his bed. Then again wherever he was over he did spend a lot of time with Catfred. It could also be Dick taking note of that because really everything has cats on it. There's blankets, pillows, a rug with kittens over it. There was an armchair shaped like a cat head, and where had they even found that? It only got worse the further he went into the room noticing that the curtains had been replaced to have cats on them and there were pictures of cats hanging on the wall, the lamps in the room even cast shadows of cats. The only thing he could find that wasn't cat-related was a picture of them with Bruce at the fair, each sporting a plushie with Bruce holding a cutesy Batman plush between the grinning twins.

“Nette my defining trait isn’t cats is it?” He walks into her room through the joining door he was willing to bet didn’t exist a week ago. His side, of course, had a cat painted on it, he closes it just so he has less exposure to all the cats.

“Course not,” Marinette grins from her sewing machine.

She had a more, let's say subdued room. Oh sure Bruce had apparently found her all the Ladybug plushies he could but they apparently didn't have the same abundance as cats. Instead, he seemed to have focused on her sewing kit. Mannequins littered about her room that Marinette had already started pinning fabric to. Half of her walk-in closet was dedicated to spools of fabric, the other stocked with clothes. Marion didn’t dare brave his own knowing he would find only cats .

“Did you notice the dollhouse?” Marinette asks as Marion flops onto her bed, at least you could actually see her bed and it wasn't hidden by a pile of cats.

“Yeah mine was stocked with camembert and sugar cubes,” and it had personalized rooms for both Kaalki and Plagg that they were happily exploring.

“Mine cookies,” Marinette hums, more concerned with her design than the topic at hand, “Think we got found out,”

“Probably, whoever it is hasn't said anything tho,” Marion looks over at the large dollhouse in Marinette's room, Tikki waved at him from a window and he waved back.

“Probably Alfred,”

“Probably, that mans a witch,”

“A Witch?”

“I know what I said,” Marion sighs, sealing himself to go back into the cat infestation. How do you politely say ‘thank you so much but what the fuck?’

He knew he had to brave the closet sometime as someone had been so kind as to put away his clothes. Sure enough, it was as bad as he had imagined. Everything from t-shirts with cartoon cats to clothes carefully crafted to have cat ears. I was actually kind of amazing at this point. Giving up his conquest to find his actual pj’s he buttons up a two-piece that is, naturally, covered with cats.

On his way out he notices a bit of black at the very front of the closet not fitting in with the color-coded organization. He pulls it out to find a gorgeous leather jacket that was completely devoid of cats! Huzzah! There was a note hanging from the sleeve which Marion unfolded.

Knew Bruce and Dick would be idiots so I got you something actually decent

I saw the room and yeah it's a fucken mess

If you ever need it gone or I don’t know accidentally set on fire give me a call

Marion chuckles knowing it could be no one else but Jason he tucks the note into the jacket, pulling it on to find a perfect fit. He keeps it on as a shield, something solidly not-cat is comforting at this point. He pushes the piles of cat toys onto the floor and seriously he was going to have to have a talk with Bruce about moderation and interior decorating. He lies down looking up at the ceiling, then immediately getting up and storming into Nette’s room. He was not going to sleep under a mural of cats! Nope not tonight! Not ever!

Marinette doesn't even look up from where she’s hunched over her desk as he flops onto her bed. Can someone be over the moon to be surrounded by ladybugs? Yes provided they have had an overexposure to cats first.

“I know we don’t want to go to school tomorrow but I can not stand a second more in that room,”

“Schools over Mari, it’s the concert tomorrow remember?”

“Goddammit,”

“Jasons having a bad influence on you,”

“Can’t we have just one day of rest?”

“No, now go to sleep,”

“You first,” Marion shoots, back despite curling up under the blankets.

“If you want to wear that jacket tomorrow you better take it off before it gets ruined,”

“I can wear it for the concert?” He shoots back up, excited but takes her advice anyway.

“ No I did not spend weeks designing a new jacket for you to wear that,” Besides it doesn't even have bats on the back,”

“I’ve been thinking about that,” Marion yawns, sinking back into the bed, and wow it’s really soft, “What if we changed them to Robins?”

“... you really don’t want me to sleep tonight do you?”

“Means I get the whole bed to myself, a master plan if I do say so myself,” Marion doesn't even stir as the pillow hits him square in the face.

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Taglist:

@technicallyburninggarden @fusser90  @misslenamooney @superbwhispersconnoisseur @biodad-bruce-month @nalu-ismyjam @the-one-woman-army @rosesandsailboats @blackmagicforever @zeneralla @ivymala07 @tired-butterfly @Ranger-gothamite @A-star-with-a-human-name @enchanted-nerd @trippingovermyfeet

[a-duck-with-a-book]

REVIEW // Nevernight (The Nevernight Chronicle, #1) by Jay Kristoff

★☆☆☆☆

So I’m very late to the party, but I just finished reading Nevernight by Jay Kristoff I had such high hopes for this series based off of what people recommending it had told me and what I read about it before picking up. Dark fantasy? Check. Strong leading lady? I’m here for it. Gays? It’s literally my only personality trait. Sign me up. Unfortunately, this book fell flat in all those categories. It reminded me a lot of Sarah J. Maas’s Throne of Glass, which made me take one point off of to begin with simply for making me think of Maas’s writing. Overall, I just found the book to be too predictable, with bad writing, exposition, and pacing, and too many parts that just made me ~uncomfortable~.

In case you are not familiar with this novel, Nevernight tells the story of Mia Corvere, a girl who lost her family when she was a child after her father was convicted of treason. When the book begins, she is 16 years old and embarking on a journey to join the Red Church, a school for assassins, so that she may one day be able to avenge her father’s death. Along the way she meets a bunch of forgettable characters whose names I can’t be bothered to remember and is taught by the most fearsome killers in the Republic. Here she gains many valuable skills, like how to survive being poisoned, how to fight, and how to get big boobs.

+ Side note: by chapter 3 three I started picturing Mia as the crow guy from RWBY and I could not shake that for the rest of the book

I had many issues with this novel that I will try to summarize in some sort of coherent fashion, but to be honest this book sucked the will to live out of me so I don’t know how much energy I can put into this review.

// image: official cover art by Jason Chan //

FOOTNOTES

The footnotes were probably the most jarring element of the book for me, and, unfortunately, there’s a lot of them. Their function seems to be twofold:

they are the form of most of the world-building, explaining several customs, the history of the institutions and peoples Mia meets, and the mythology followed by the people of the Republic.

they allow for the narrator of our story to interrupt with comical one-liners or cryptic foreshadowing

In my humble opinion, both of these are unnecessary and stupid. The interruptions come off as crass and immature and make the other more textbook, boring exposition come off as a joke, especially when it is dealing with sensitive or serious topics. There is one that explains this brothel called the Seven Flavors, which the footnote explains refer to “Boy, Girl, Man, Woman, Pig, Horse, and, if sufficient notice and coin was given, Corpse.” Now, on its own, this passing mention of pedophilia, bestiality, and necrophilia could very well contribute to the world building and tone of the novel, but when placed side by side with the childish, joking tone of the “cue the violiiiiiiiins” or, regarding the acoustics of a room, “…they were, as it happens, exceptional. Falalalalalalaaaaaaaa”, come off as way too light-hearted for the topic at hand. Maybe I’m being way too sensitive, but I’m pretty tired of authors using serious topics as off-hand remarks as a lazy way to make their world daker and grittier. Plus, these footnotes were just so incredibly cringy that I would recoil from second-hand embarrassment every time. They resemble the things I wrote when I was 14 and trying (and miserably failing) to be funny. Also… there are way too many of them. While at first I appreciated the attempt to deepen the lore of the story (I’m a sucker for world-building), after a while it became evident that the author was just forcing information down our throats without taking the time to actually weave the lore and background into the story itself. It came off as a very lazy way to force exposition.

OVERLY FLOWERY LANGUAGE

This story is BRIMMING with similes and metaphors, like every other sentence is some overly complicated way to describe something that could have been presented in three words. When you include so many metaphors/similes/etc., they begin to lose power. They should allow the reader to extrapolate more meaning and emotion from a sentence, but if the book is bursting at the seams with them, they become increasingly ordinary, to the point of losing all of their luster. One prime example appears on page 30:

“It was a bucktoothed little shithole, and no mistake. Not the most miserable building in all creation. [here there is a footnote about some other inn/brothel] But if the inn were a man and you stumbled into him in a bar, you’d be forgiven for assuming he had—after agreeing enthusiastically to his wife’s request to bring another woman into their marriage bed—discovered his bride making up a pallet for him in the guest room.”

So first of all what the fuck is that supposed to mean? That whole paragraph is a fever dream. Let’s begin with “bucktoothed little shithole”. Bucktoothed? Really? What does that mean. Please, someone explain to be right now what a bucktoothed building is. Is it uneven? Is it awkward? Is it half-finished? Is one side longer than the other? Did they do a bad paint job that only covers on side? Are the windows askew? Is the door too big for its frame? We already know from the paragraph above that it is “disheveled” as well, so why the need for another weird phrasing of its appearance? We then move on to that whole JOURNEY of a sentence, where the inn is compared to a man being cuckolded. That is the most insane tale-can you imagine running into someone in a bar and that story being the VERY FIRST thing that runs through your mind??? I know I’m focusing way too much on this stupid paragraph, but basically what I am trying to get at is that even though we spend half a page talking about how bucktoothed and disheveled and cuckolded this building is, we get no actual physical description of it. Imagine if Kristoff had just written that it was a run-down, ill-kept building that looked as worse for wear as its owner did. Done, one sentence. Great. Let’s move on. Instead, we spend so long reading these absolutely batshit descriptions that ultimately tell us next to nothing. Flowery language is placed over actual context. You may think that a description this long and complex means that this inn is a significant or recurring setting in the novel. Nope. It’s not. Mia leaves and that’s that. The reason that I’m focusing so much on this objectively irrelevant paragraph is because it is so representative of the biggest issue I have with the writing in this book. There are so many unnecessary comparisons that function only to make the author feel clever rather than add anything to the story at all. It’s very à la 2010s Tumblr.

THE (IN MY OPINION, BAD) WRITING

For the first half of the book, we are constantly being TOLD things rather than being SHOWN things. With the exception of one of the teachers cutting off Mia’s arm, we rarely see the ruthlessness that the assassins are so feared for, but we hear about it in nearly every other sentence Where are the consequences? I think this book would have been way more enjoyable if there were actually consequences to the characters’ actions. The inclusion of the weaver and the weird vampire guy completely remove any tension regarding the fate of the central cast. When Mia had her arm chopped off, I was shocked, and pleasantly surprised. How was she going to overcome this unexpected obstacle in her training? Then a couple pages later, its reattached with absolutely no lasting consequences. All of the initial tension and shock value of the loss of Mia’s arm is entirely removed because of the two incest-y siblings. Their entire purpose for existing is just to undo all damage to the main characters. Then suddenly, out of the blue, Mia is willing to take on a ton of consequences and completely throw away her chance at becoming initiated in order to avenge her family just to save Tric from receiving like one punishment??? Like why?? As an aside, the only moment I truly enjoyed was when Ash fucking stabbed Tric to death. I assume that when the reader’s favorite moment is one of the central characters’ death, it does not bode well for their reception of the book.

THE THEMES

TW: rape-y subjects

The author seemed a little too keen to include rape and sexual assault in his story. Mia withdrew her consent in the sex scene in the very first chapter, and even if you read it as consensual (which I do not), it is described as incredibly unpleasant on her end. Tric is the result of a rape, which is brought up several times throughout the story. Further, Mia is constantly facing harassment from men. I understand that this is frames the idea that the world she lives in is misogynistic and ruthless, but there are other ways to push that idea through other than constantly putting in her in those situations. As in, this didn’t need to be the ONLY way we explored this subject. Beyond the uncomfortable propensity for sexual assault, I also very much disliked the sexualization of the 16-year-old main character. Oh. My. Gosh. Mia is CONSTANTLY sexualized. Every single damn character makes comments about her body, how hot she is, how much sex she potentially has. It is so weird and uncomfortable. I feel the need to reiterate that she is SIXTEEN. There is, however, a focus placed on the power Mia can gain from seducing her targets. Girl power? Not to me, really. The issue I have with this is the idea that a woman has to be overtly sexual in order to be considered powerful. This is something that we can see in many female assassins and supposedly powerful female characters in fiction (like Black Widow) especially those written by men. Now, there is nothing wrong with using one’s sexuality as a weapon, and I’m certainly not saying that a strong female character cannot be sexual, but the idea that a sixteen-year-old girl is shown having her body painfully modified tp be more desirable, and in a graphic sex scene with another character, in order to for the reader to read her as liberated and powerful does not sit well with me. I don’t really feel like this aspect of her training should be relevant to the overall story. I wish the time that Kristoff had dedicated to hammering into our heads that Mia is a femme fatale to developing her Darkin powers instead. The way she is written now feels more like she is a faux strong female character written for a male audience.

Secondly, Mia is fully written as “the plain-girl-who-is-actually-pretty”. This whole trope bothers me IMMENSELY. YA is full of girls who are described as plain, forgettable, or ugly while their physical descriptions are just the dictionary definition of conventionally attractive. It seems like a way to market off of girls’ self-consciousness while still being able to market the main character as a hot heroine in official art. And there is, of course, the issue of Mia’s boob job Readwithcindy (just “withcindy” now!) did a whole video about this so I won’t get into it much just to repeat what she already said, but I agree that the idea of a 30-something year old man including this completely unnecessary detail regarding the sexualization of teenage girl, who we have ALREADY seen in a rape and being sexualized by other men in the story, made me really, really, uncomfortable. I highly recommend you go watch her video, as she touches on this in way more detail. [Cindy's video

RATINGS

Worldbuilding: ★★☆☆☆

A lot of thought obviously went into the world-the mythology, society, and politics are well-thought out. But the way they are introduced is annoying and bland. It seems like the author put a lot of effort into constructing this world but realized a lot of it would be left out of the book, so he crammed it into footnotes instead.

Tone and writing style: ★☆☆☆☆ for first half, ★★★☆☆ for second half

The tone of the first half is all over the place, like it doesn’t know if it should be dark and gritty or comical and immature. Footnotes and character dialogue ranges from lighthearted and crass to seeped with themes of torture and sexual assault. It is jarring, to say the least, and often feels like the author doesn’t take these ideas of rape or violence seriously. There are so many instances where the scene is tense or gritty, and Kristoff is actually writing it pretty well, I’m enthralled and on the edge of my seat, and then Mia or some other character (or the footnotes) throw in some stupid comment or make the same “Mia is such an asshole lol” joke for the billionth time and completely ruin the mood of that scene. The second half of the book moved much faster and was helped with way better writing, but it really did not do enough to make up for the horrendous structure of the first half of the book.

Pacing and structure: ★☆☆☆☆

The first half of the book really drags on. Once we arrive at the school, there are constant jumps in timeline, marked with periods when a thousand things happen all at once and the plot moves forward at a dizzying rate, and others when the characters just seem to be going about their daily lessons.

Concept: ★★★☆☆

I found the overall idea of the books to be very interesting, even though it is certainly not the most original or unique concept for a YA fantasy book. The issue is that the potential is squandered with a poor execution.

Characters: ★☆☆☆☆

I truly did not care about any of the characters. The token mean girl, the bumbling nice-guy-who-is-definitely-the-love-interest. too many of the characters just sat nicely within their tropes, doing nothing much to pique my interests. I think my favorite overall was Mister Kindly.

[crash-cinematic-universe]

a sickly satisfaction (ch.4)

pairing: jason dean/reader

summary: a death sentence isn’t the weirdest thing anyone’s ever gotten in high school (by fall out boy)

warnings: bullying, the heathers are Mean as usual.

notes: we are getting close to the end kind of so i actually will not be posting two chapters today. i am evil and fucked up. also friendly reminder that if you know me irl uh. no you don’t. and dont read this

taglist: @stuckysdaughter

            ** 3RD PERSON POV **

            Eyes down. Walk fast. Stay close. Well, actually, their eyes aren’t down. No, they’re constantly flicking upwards to gaze into their companion’s eyes, the fleeting glances sending waves of comfort through their bodies. They’re walking fast, their footsteps in sync as they walk down the hallway to their fourth period class. He doesn’t have class with her, but he didn’t care. It’s not like he had never been late before. The two are certainly close; their fingers are laced together, the soft contact helping each other stay grounded. If it weren’t for this, they probably would’ve floated off by now.

            Jason Dean felt like everything had fallen into place. He found someone perfect-- someone smart and funny and so damn beautiful that it almost hurt to look at her. Her voice is more beautiful than any bullshit Mozart could even hope to write. He would kill for her. He would give his life for her. If she asked him to pull a star out of the sky and hand it to her, he’d enroll in a space program and get the largest rope he could find. Jason’s eyes darted around the hallway, shooting daggers at anyone who dared look at her in a way that displeased him. His stream of thoughts was a constant flow of her, her, her. It was almost overwhelming. 

            Y/n’s entire body was on fire, bright orange flames sprouting from her feet and weaving around her fingers. She feels no pain. The only thing she feels is him, the way they fit together like puzzle pieces. Her brain doesn’t really… work when she’s around him. It’s a whirlpool of adoration and enamorment and a vague feeling of wonder. She’s almost embarrassed that she’s come so smitten with someone-- she used to scoff at the pairs in the hallway that we’re practically eating each other alive. Now? She was counting down the seconds until she could be behind closed doors with Jason. 

            “Alright, I have to go to class,” She sighs. Neither of them want to be apart, but neither of them had a real choice. 

            “Or we could skip and get a slushie…” Jason suggested, his eyes pleading that she’d go with him.

            “Jason, we can’t keep skipping. We’re gonna end up repeating senior year.” Her hand raises up to brush hair out of his eyes. 

            “My dear, I’d repeat senior year a hundred times if it meant I could be with you,” He purred. Y/n smiled.

            “You’re cute.” she pecked him on the cheek. “But I can’t. I’ll meet up with you afterwards-- there are only two periods left in the day,”

            “two periods, seven hundred years-- it’s all the same for me,” He whined. With a final peck on the corner of his mouth, she pulled away from him. 

            “I swear, once school is over, you’ll have me all to yourself. No interruptions.” The shrill ring of the bell shrieks through the hallway, and Y/n hurries away from the beautiful boy she has wrapped around her finger. He watches as she walks away, his heart swelling as he dreamily leans against the lockers behind him. Jason Dean had never been in love before-- he wasn’t sure he would ever be in love. Yet, here he is, calculating how much time there was in between now and the end of the day; calculating exactly how long he had to be apart from her. 

            Y/n’s seventh period class was chock-full of assholes and jocks and the most infamous teenage girls in the school. She sat in the back corner, carefully hidden away from the rest of the class. However, no matter how hidden she thought she was, the Heathers always seemed to find their way into her corner. 

            “Oh, Y/n, how lovely to see you,” Heather Chandler said with faux-happiness. “Looks like they never fixed the electricity in your house, since you obviously got dressed in the dark,” Her clique of brainless followers giggled, their laughter so high in pitch that it was as if only dogs could hear it.

           “I guess she doesn’t care if she looks like she fell out of a plane,” Heather McNamara chimed in.

            “And I guess you three don’t care that you look like clowns. Heather, you’re wearing so much foundation that your face is a solid three shades lighter than the rest of your body,” She wasn’t speaking to any Heather in particular, just the general unit that is The Heathers. Scoffs echoed from the three of them. It was almost funny, their in-sync attitudes and in unison reactions. Y/n wondered if they all get their period at the same time, too. The thought grosses her out. 

            “Listen here, skank, you better watch your mouth or this whole school will throw you out onto the street,” Heather C. growled. I rolled my eyes. The other two Heathers walked to their seats as the teacher strode in, but Heather Chandler stood her ground.

            “Heather, one day you’re going to wake up and realize that you’re never going to have this kind of power again. I think you’re afraid of leaving Westerburg, because then you’ll be nothing more than a sour memory,” Y/n hissed. 

            “Alright, that's it, freak. Savor your last day on this Earth, because come tomorrow morning, you’re done. Might as well kiss you boy-toy goodbye and start packing now, because you’re a dead whore walking,” With that, Heather spun on her heel and walked to her desk. The teacher at the front of the classroom looked uninterested in the interaction, and began droning on about something or other. 

            The cocky attitude Y/n had built up faded, burning within her into a pathetic pile of ash. Heather had the school in her palm, she could absolutely get Y/n exiled from Westerburg like a priest can excommunicate any skeptics. Veronica gleaned at Y/n from across the room, shooting her a smile that was both sympathetic and apologetic. She sighed.

            For the rest of the day, a cloud of dread hung over Y/n head, and Jason noticed it immediately. He appeared at her side within seconds, concern consuming his body like it was fire and he was dry grass. 

            “Hey, doll, why the long face?” His voice soothed the gashes that the Heathers’ pitchy giggles left. 

            “I’m fine, Jason--”

            “No, you very much are not. Last time I saw you, you looked like you were walking on clouds, and now you look like you’re trapped under a cumulonimbus. Just tell me what’s goin’ on and we’ll take care of it,” His hands found hers with ease, his slender fingers gripping her hand tightly. 

            “It’s just... Heather and I got into an argument and now she’s pledged to ruin my life by tomorrow morning. Tonight, she gets to party away at some frat house while I finalize my will and draft my last words,” Y/n sighs, exasperatedly. 

            “Well… I guess that means we’ll have to make the next--” he checks his watch, “-- sixteen hours worth your while,” Jason’s eyes flash with something unfamiliar but certainly welcome. 

            “School is over, after all. I did promise that you’d have me all to yourself, didn’t I?” Y/n smirks, and Jason's face flushes bright red. As the two of them walk out of the crowded building, Y/n forgets about the Heathers and her impending doom. Instead, she thinks about Jason, and how he seems to be the only good thing in this godforsaken world.

[loudsuitlover]

Doctor Harry IV Dulce introducción al caos

A/N: This is pretty much a story. Like a real one. And there are more than two characters and I love them all and I’m excited about this. Thank you to everyone who reads my shit. You’re great. 

Part I Part II Part III

INDIE’S POV

I have avoided Harry today. That’s so silly, I know; because he probably didn’t give the other night much relevance. I mean we just had a pizza, well he did, and I threw up. I threw up a lot; but he’s a doctor, he’s used to seeing people throwing up every day and I’ve had pizza with professor Gibbins before; that day I stayed with him for practice after lunch. But for some reason, after he saw me like that, it’s embarrassing for me to encounter him.

I just had to come over for the clinical session before their day starts because I have class afterwards anyway and Harry’s not here so I reckon I won’t see him today. Maybe I don’t ever have to see him again so I can’t stop this stupid desire I have for him. It’s pathetic really but he’s just so attractive. I mean I know he is, not just for me, because I’ve seen the way girls look at him and I know Olivia would gladly take off her undies if he wanted to take her to bed. Jason’s name appears on my screen after I go out of the clinical session.

“Hey, J.”

“Hi.”

We haven’t talked directly since last Friday when I was a jerk to him. He’s talked on the group chat so I know he’s been alright but the fact that he’s calling me is a good sign. I thought he was mad at me. I know he doesn’t like it when I talk about David like that, but I also think someone has to say something. I worry about him and I only tell him because I love him and I don’t want anyone to hurt him.

“Are you busy?” He asks.

“I just came out of the clinical session we have to attend to.”

“Right.” I hear him breathe in. “Was Harry there?”

“No, he wasn’t.”

There’s a pause and I bet he’s nodding.

“Well, how are you?”

“I’m good. I wasn’t calling you for this.”

“Are you mad at me?”

“I should be.” He sighs. No, he shouldn’t. “But I’m fed up with getting mad at you for the exact same thing every single time. You have your opinion and I think you’re a meddlesome but I know you mean well.”

I choose not to answer to that because I know we’re unable of discussing that without fighting and I don’t feel like confronting him at eight thirty in the morning.

“I was just calling to tell you I can’t go to your Mum’s exhibition.”

“What?”

“Yeah, I’m sorry, I forgot I had promised David I was going to go with him to his hometown.”

“That’s in two weeks.” I tell him. “Can’t you go to his hometown any other weekend?”

“Well, no, we’ve already talked to his family… You don’t mind, right?”

I’m tired of David’s shit. He probably organize the whole thing so that Jason couldn’t hang out with us especially if he was going to “dangerous territory” because he knows it was my mum’s exhibition. I’m beyond mad. I start walking outside and bump into Harry whose eyebrows raised as he looks at me. I’m about to walk away when Mr Gibbins stops me and tells me to wait for him before he disappears inside his office. I talk to Jason under Harry’s attentive stare.

“What do you mean I don’t mind? Of course I mind! You barely hang out with us anymore and that was going to be a special night. You know it means a lot to me that you guys are there.”

He sighs.

“I’m very sorry, Indie. I just can’t cancel on my family-in-law. I’d go if it was any other weekend but…”

I can hear the regret on his voice and that’s what drives me crazy. He wants to come it’s just fucking David.

“You’re not coming because David doesn’t want you to come.”

“No, that’s not it.”

“Listen, J, I know some people forget about their friends when they have a boyfriend because well, you can’t fuck your friends, but I never thought you were going to be one of those people. I thought we were more important to you. You could make some time for us too.”

“Can’t we have a Golden Girls’ day this week?”

“No.”

I want to hang up but for the first time in forever he seems to be listening and I won’t take this opportunity away. Jason is smart and handsome and funny and kind, he could have any partner he wanted to, so I don’t understand why he would settle with such an arrogant controlling toxic prick.

“Tell him to fuck off for once, J. Having a boyfriend doesn’t mean you can’t go out with your friends alone every once in a while.”

“We went out on Friday…”

“Because he had gone out with the team too!” I take a deep breath. “Don’t you want to come with us?”

“Of course I want to go with you. You just don’t get it. He…”

“What? He hits you?”

“WHAT?” He all but yells. “NO! Indie, how can you say that?”

“Well, I don’t know anymore, J. He reminds me too much of Javier.”

“He’s nothing like Javier.”

“He does the exact same things.”

“No, he doesn’t. He loves me.”

“Yeah, Javier used to say he loved me too but that’s a very weird way of showing it.”

There’s complete silence from his end. I start fearing he’s hang up until I hear him take a deep breath. I don’t know whether he’s quiet because he doesn’t want to be rude to me or whether he just doesn’t know how to deny what’s obvious anymore but I can’t keep having this conversation here.

“Listen, J, if you don’t come I just won’t understand it and of course I mind. You know there are two people in a couple and he doesn’t get to decide every little thing. You’re your own person and get to decide your shit too. Just think about it and of course call me if you need anything. You know I love you.”

With that I hang up. I know I have to be on his side no matter what but this topic really gets on my nerves. How they stood by my side when I was with Javier is beyond me but I know he’s gonna need his friends if he’s going to break up with him which I hope he does soon.

“Problems?”

My eyes move up from the floor before me until they meet with Harry’s. He’s staring at me with a worried look on his face. Has he been listening?

“No.”

“Who’s David?” He asks.

“Jason’s boyfriend.”

“And Javier?”

Man, he’s so nosy. My expression is hard but I’m not really mad at him. I’m mad at David and frustrated with Jason but not mad at Harry. I have to remind myself that before I let my anger out on him.

“He’s mine.”

“But you said you didn’t have a boyfriend.” He’s frowning.

When did I say that?

“I don’t.” My eyes hold his and I watch his expression softens. Does he care? “I meant he’s my ex.”

He nods his head.

“Are you always so blunt or is it just with me?”

“I’m not blunt.”

“You didn’t use to be but don’t think I haven’t realized you avoided me today. And yesterday.”

“I didn’t avoid you yesterday.”

“You stayed with Dulce for your practice.”

“Dulce’s a very-”

“You always go with me for practice.”

My mouth opens so I can argue when professor Gibbins stands next to me with a confused expression and a folder on his hand.

“Is everything alright?” He asks having a look at his folder so he doesn’t have to look at Harry or me I suppose.

“Yeah.”

Harry answers for me before he walks away with a frown. I can’t believe he’s actually mad that I didn’t bother him yesterday or this morning? I mean nobody wants to have a student following them around the hospital and asking questions and taking notes. All of sudden he likes teaching?

Professor Gibbins and I walk together to class on a professional silence until he makes conversation asking me about how my study is going. I tell him I like his notes because they’re easy to understand and I appreciate the effort he put at making them and he ends up blushing. Professor Gibbins is very cute. He walks around pretending he’s this cool guy with a big motorbike and a cool leather jacket but you can easily tell deep down he’s like a little boy with a toy. I wonder whether he likes videogames like my brother.

I join Marie as professor Gibbins get the ppt ready for the lecture. There’s no sight of Olivia or Jason obviously because this lecture is not mandatory and on wednesdays we all have hospital practice in the afternoon. Marie tells me they’re both coming to have lunch with us at the restaurant we like. The Chambers is just ten minutes away from the hospital and they have really, really great food at a very affordable price. I reckon the fact that it’s not on a well-known area lowers the prices of the meals but the food is signature cuisine and the staff is great so we love the place.

Professor Gibbins tells us the Surgery and Anesthesia department had decided the hospital practices should end with an essay so that we could actually get a mark on that so all the hours at the hospital would have a more rewarding result. I hate essays but I understand and I think it’s a fair idea.

“I’ll send you the list with your tutors afterwards. I think you all know them but it’s possible that someone has a tutor they’ve never met because we’ve tried not to overload anyone with work.” He states. “Well that’s all guys. See you on Friday.”

Marie and I leave the lectures hall gossiping about Olivia and Mario. Apparently they kissed on Friday night. The girls told me Saturday morning when I woke up at their apartment and Olivia was embarrassed to death. It was funny to see her like that because Olivia is never embarrassed of being sexually free and hooking up with whoever she wants but for some reason she was mortified about this.

Jason and Ollie are already sitting at a table when we get to The Chambers and I set my eyes on Jason’s, trying to get the vibe we stand now, and I can tell he’s sorry. His eyes look at me with regret so I give him a little smile. I still want him to come to my mum’s exhibit but we still have ten days for him to come around. I hold his hand over the table and he gives me a smile back.

“Wait, what’s that?”

Marie’s eyes bulge out of her sockets as she stares at Jason’s neck. I lift my ass off my chair so I can lean over the table and have a look myself.

“That’s a bite clear as day.” Ollie giggles.

Jason blushes.

“It was David…”

“What an animal.”

Marie seems horrified, her green eyes fixed on the bread.

“Did it hurt?” She asks.

“No.” J places a hand on her shoulder as if trying to reassure her. “He did it on purpose.”

“What?”

“I did one on him too.” He shrugs. “So that everyone knows he’s mine and I’m his.”

I’m afraid my eyes are going to fall off from my face.

“You mean he marked you like livestock?”

Jason rolls his eyes but I can tell he’s embarrassed.

“You can twist it as you like, Indigo, but it’s something intimate and romantic.” He defends him. “And if you need to know, it gets me hard as a rock when he does that.”

“Jason!” Marie scolds him.

“It’s completely out of place. The fact that he’s aggressive on bed can be a turn on but he shouldn’t be controlling in your life out of the bedroom and have you marked like a cow. You’re not his property, J. You’re yours.”

“I belong to whoever the fuck I want, Indigo. Why can’t you understand that? And don’t you find it funny that you’re trying to control me by telling me David is controlling?”

I count to ten. I don’t want to punch him in the face.

“I haven’t forbidden you to go to his mum’s exhibition.”

I know he wanted this to stay between us. That’s why he called me instead of saying he couldn’t come on the group chat because we both know the girls would give him some shit for not supporting my mum.

“What?” Marie asks.

“That’s not it at all. I can’t go because we have a commitment to his family.”

“Can’t you have a commitment any other weekend?”

“No.”

“Does it turn you on when he tells you what to do?” I ask him.

“On bed, yes.”

“And out of bed?”

“It’s more complicated than that. Sometimes he gives me orders that ends up on sex and that’s not a bad thing. It’s just another way of understanding sex, Indie. I wish you’d respect that.”

“I would respect that if it was only about sex. You do you in bed, whatever gives you pleasure. I’m just saying you should draw the line. Show him he isn’t in control of your life even though he might be in control during sex. You’re your own person and you should be in control of your own life.”

Jason sighs. I know what I can say isn’t going to solve anything but something tells me, even though he tries to convince me he doesn’t listen to me, that he does. I know I keep him thinking and for now, that’s all I want. I place my hand on his wrist on the table.

“You know I love you.”

His green eyes meet mine and he nods.

“I love you too.”

I know he’s angry at me but that doesn’t change the way we feel about one another.

“Oh my God you won’t believe this.” Marie’s looking down at her phone with her mouth opened in a tiny circle.  

Jason, Ollie and I look at each other without understanding until she looks up from her phone and explains.

“Professor Gibbins sent us the lists as he said he would.”

“Which lists?” Jason asks.

“We have to make an essay for the practice. It’s a couple of clinical cases that a tutor would give us.”

“Do we choose the tutor?” Ollie asks.

“No, that’s what the lists are about. They assign you the tutor.”

“And what’s what we won’t believe?”

“Student Indigo Blue Anderson” I flinch as Marie reads my full name “Tutor Harry Styles.”

My eyes bulge out of my sockets and I choke on my water. Olivia taps on my back as I bring a hand to my throat. What kind of joke is this?

“But that’s not all…” Marie bites on her bottom lip. I’m afraid what she will say next. “Student Olivia Bassot, tutor Mario Matteoti.”

Olivia stops tapping my back to freak out herself and Jason laughs out loud as both Olivia and me look ahead with eyes wide opened.

“There’s no way this was a coincidence.”

“Do you think they got to choose?”

“That or it was professor Gibbins who did the distribution.” Jason laughs. “This should be fun.”

One hour later, after lunch and discussing Mario and Olivia’s fling and the possibility that the same thing happens between Harry and me, I’m making my way towards the Anesthesia doctors’ room where I hope to find Harry. I’m going to tell him he’s my tutor and then I’ll find someone else to do the practice with but I’ll inform him because my friends thought he had the right to get offended when I just disappeared on him without any warning. I still don’t get it but if it’s four against one, they might be right.

I knock on the door and wait for someone to let me in. He’s sitting on the desk typing on his laptop when he sees me. His green eyes set on me as I walk towards him.

“Are you busy?” I ask.

He hums as if considering whether he can give me his attention or not before he points at the chair next to him.

“I just need another minute and then I’m with you.” He smiles.

I take a seat next to him and place my hands on my thighs. It’s crazy I get complete changes of mind every time I’m close to him. This weekend it was easy to decide it wasn’t a good idea to keep up our weird friendship but now I see him and I remember he actually texted me and I feel all sorts of butterflies on my belly. That’s just silly but he smells so good and his skin looks so tight over his muscles and his eyes are so beautiful and he seems so smiley all the time.

There’s another doctor on the room but when she leaves we’re left alone and less than a minute after that Harry turns his body so his corporal language lets me know I have his full attention. He raises his eyebrows as if asking me what I need.

“I just wanted to let you know you’re my tutor for this essay we have to do.”

He smirks.

“I know.”

“Okay.”

My eyes set on his. I want to ask him why he knows, I want to ask him whether it was a coincidence but I would be mortified if he went “of course it was, what were you thinking?” so instead I just shut my mouth and take a deep breath.

“Well I-“

“Wait” he sucks his lips inside his mouth and then he frowns. I know by now that’s his serious expression. “Before you continue, I wanted to apologize.”

I raise my eyebrows. I wasn’t expecting that.

“My reaction this morning was out of line. I don’t want you to feel pressured or like… I mean I’m aware I’m six years older than you, I’m also on a position of… I don’t know how to say this without it sounding bad but.. I guess on a position of power over you in some way so I wouldn’t want you to feel like you have to be nice to me just because I kind of supervise your way around the hospital and… I wanted to apologize if I crossed a line or if I made you feel uncomfortable.”

Why did that sound so sexy? And why do I not want him to say that? He also realized this can’t be and this is not good for either of us but then again that means there is indeed something, isn’t it? I need to tell the Golden Girls this. I feel lots of different ideas colliding in my mind but there are too many for me to focus on any of them and understand what is it exactly what I’m thinking. All I know is I didn’t like him when he said that.

“You didn’t make me feel uncomfortable.” I confess.

I see his green eyes sparkling as they focus on mine and I feel like he’s trying to read me as hard as I’m trying to read him. His shoulders are tensed as if he was ready to run any minute from now.

“So would you stay with me in your practice?” He smiles timidly.

I nod my head, his shyness is contagious.

“We can work on your essay.” He offers.

“Cool.”

“Do you have any ideas?”

“Aren’t you supposed to give me a clinical case?”

“Yeah” Is he blushing? “But if there’s anything that’s interesting to you, we can work on that. I mean if there’s something you don’t quite understand or something you’d like to know more about, I could search for an interesting clinical case about that.”

That’s very nice of him. I bet most tutors would just give students well-trodden clinical cases or clinical cases they’ve solved themselves so as to work as little as possible but he doesn’t mind working double to make things easier for me.

“I don’t know… Maybe we could do something about anesthesia on an epileptic patient? I think that could be interesting.”

His eyebrows raise and he smiles at me.

“You’re very smart, do you know that?” He tilts his head and I giggle. I can’t believe I just giggled. “Let’s see what I have here.”

With that he begins his search and turns his laptop screen to me so I can see what he’s doing too.

“You don’t have patients now?”

“I’m on consultation today.” He answers without looking at me. “I just made a round before lunch so if no one calls us, we still have half and hour or so before we make another.” He looks at me so he can give me a smile and then turns back to his laptop.

After a few minutes of silence as he opens, reads over and closes documents, he speaks again but he’s not looking at me.

“How are things with your mum?” His question takes me off guard. “Did you work it out?”

“She let it be.” I reply.

His green eyes set on mine for a few seconds and I know he’s holding back for asking more questions. I’m glad he knows when to ask and when not to. Trying to avoid his eyes, mine set on my phone that doesn’t stop vibrating on top of the table.

“You can answer.” He lets me know. “I’m just searching for your case anyway.”

Hoping to avoid more questions, I grab my phone and realize the reason behind all the vibrating is The Golden Girls group chat.

Jason: THEY CHOSE THE STUDENT.

Olivia: What are you talking about?

Jason: THEY DID. Professor Gibbins told me.

Marie: Please tell me you did not ask him directly.

Jason: Oh, please, I’m a ninja. There’s no way he noticed.

Olivia: INDIE DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS MEANS?

Jason: Harry Styles wants your pussy on a tray.

Marie: JASON!!!!!!!

Olivia: Give it to him. Everyone knows you want to.

Marie: Ollie, for the love of God, how is she going to do that? He’s her professor.

Olivia: He’s not! And even if he was, so what? They’re both consenting adults.

Marie: I don’t think that’s right…

I block my phone and leave it on the table. I feel so nervous I want to throw up again. Did Harry choose to be my tutor?

“I like this one.” He states before he reads the beginning to me and turns around to check whether I like it too. “Wow, is everything alright?”

I bet my face is a poem. I’m even dizzy and I don’t know why this is affecting me this much. I can’t believe he’s interested in me like that. I mean what does he see in me? He could literally have any woman not only in the hospital but everywhere else. He’s some sort of god and he’s just too much for me. I think I’m going to faint.

“Yes.” I lie.

“I’ll email you the case.” He says. “I think Danny gave me your email with the list and you also have mine” he looks for it on the list “or I could always text you.” He smirks.

My cheeks are set on fire and he chuckles as he sees me. So he apologized for crossing the line just moments ago and now here he is jumping over the line and doing a headstand on the other side.

“Let’s go.”

With that he stands up and waits for me next to the door. I don’t know whether he’s moving too fast or I’m a turtle but I try my best to follow him around and as usual he’s all smiles and puns and jokes and I find myself rolling my eyes at him more than once. We’ve bumped into Peter a few times and he’s picked on him every time.

At seven o’ clock, when it’s time for me to leave, I stop Harry before he enters another patient’s room and take my attendance signatures paper out of the pocket of my white coat. He’s signed all of my practices smiling smugly but this time his smile falters.

“This is your last practice?”

I smile at his disappointment.

“Why didn’t you tell me?”

“I didn’t think it’d make a difference.” I shrug.

“Well, I could have offered you a coffee or something.”

“We’ve been very busy anyway.”

I dismiss his offer with a sincere smile and I see his eyes dropping to my mouth. I raise my eyebrows setting my eyes on the paper he’s holding on his hand for him to sign my paper. Olivia must be waiting for me. She’s taking me home today. Harry nods and presses the paper against the wall so he can sign it. He looks at me once as if he’s considering something and I swear he’s got something to say when he turns back towards the paper and signs. He’s shaking his head. I grab the paper and pull from it but he doesn’t let go so I chuckle and blush and keep pulling until he lets go of it. I’m sad he did.

“You will be missed Sorry.”

I smile. He didn’t say he will miss me, but I know that’s what he meant. I don’t know why I’m not moving but neither is he so I don’t know for how long we stand there just staring at each other.

“Can I ask you something?”

“Is it about practice?” He raises his eyebrows.

I blush and shake my head. He ruined all the courage I manage to gather to ask him that so now there’s no way I can ask him.

“Then” he interrupts me even though I’m not ready to ask him now “since it’s not about practice, how about you ask me outside of here?”

I feel a crease between my eyebrows. Is he saying what I think he’s saying? My heart is beating fast on my throat as Marie’s words resound on my mind. I don’t think this is right either. What would my family think of me?

“Can I take you out sometime?”

I can’t read his expression but he’s looking at me as if he knew I was going to say yes. I don’t know why in the world he would want to take me out. I’m serious, there’s nothing I have that he can’t have in another woman better than me. Probably older and sexier too.

“Why?”

It looks like I gave him the crease to wear between his eyebrows. His green eyes investigate mine.

“What do you mean why?”

“I mean why do you want to take me out?”

He chuckles. I don’t know whether he’s laughing at me, whether he finds me funny or whether he’s just as nervous as I am.

“Why do you think?” He laughs.

“I don’t know. That’s why I asked you.”

“God, Sorry, you’re making this so hard. It’s okay if you don’t want to, just say no.”

“Okay, then no.”

With that I walk away, almost running away from him so that I don’t have to see his face. I have no idea what just happened. Did he just ask me out? Did I just say no? Oh, God, I still have an essay to do with him! That’s going to be so uncomfortable. Just like Frank Sinatra, I want to roll myself up in a big ball and die. I still have to wait for Olivia because to my surprise she’s not here smoking when I walk out as usual. Usually I have to deal with her complaining about my slow ass but today she’s the one making me wait. My phone vibrates on my pocket and I pick up without checking the screen.

“Where are you?”

I hear Harry’s laugh and my breath catches on my throat.

“Miss me already?”

“Sorry, I thought you were someone else.”

“I’m sorry.”

“What?”

“I said I’m sorry.” I can hear his stupid smirk.

“Yeah, but what for?”

“Because I was rude to you. I didn’t want to talk to you like that. You just… It made me nervous that you rejected me.”

“I hadn’t rejected you when you snapped at me.” I correct.

“But you were going to.”

“I wasn’t.”

WHAT?

“What?”

Oh, boy.

“So you’ll go out with me?”

His grin is contagious even through the phone because only that could be the reason I’m grinning too. I’d like to see him now.

“I… Don’t you think it’s inappropriate?

“Why?”

“Because you’re my professor.”

“I’m not.”

“You’re my tutor.”

“Do you want me to tell Danny I can’t be your tutor?”

“No!”

He laughs. What would professor Gibbins think? What would professor Gibbins think anyway? They’re friends. I’m sure he’ll end up knowing and what does that say about me? That my tutor and I went out even before he marked my clinical case.

“It’s just an essay, Indigo.” He reasons. “Danny could always grade it for you. I’m sure he wouldn’t mine. Plus, I’m sure your essay’s gonna be interesting to read so he’d read it anyway.”

I smile at that. I like the compliments he gives me about my work, especially because I know he means them. He’s very honest. If he thinks something I say is silly he’d also tell me so that makes this count more.

“Come on. It’s just going to be you and me. Forget about the hospital. That’s doctor Styles and Sorry but it’ll just be Harry and Indigo.”

“Indie.” I correct him.

“Indie.” I swear the vowels sound different when he smiles. “Harry and Indie.”

“But why?”

“What do you mean why?”

“Why would you want to take me out?”

“Isn’t it obvious? Do I really have to explain it to you?”

“I mean… You could out with anyone-”

“Well I want to go out with you. It’s simple.”

“It’s not. I know you don’t care but I’m still a student.”

“Okay, Indie, stop. You’re on a swirl. Listen to me.” His voice hardens and I feel funny between my legs. “It can’t be that bad. If it goes wrong, I can always tell Danny I don’t have time for your essay and I know he’ll supervise it but that’s not even going to happen. Come on, it can’t be that horrible.”

“I don’t know.”

“Dinner.” He tries.

“I just…”

“Just dinner.”

“Okay.”

What did I just say?

“Tomorrow?”

“Tomorrow is Thursday.”

“So?”

“So I have lectures on Friday.”

“But it’s just dinner.” He chuckles and I thank God he can’t see me because I bet my cheeks are bright red.

Ugh, how smug can he be!

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” He hangs up.

I can’t believe I just agreed on a date with Harry. I try to gather my thoughts as Olivia walks past me with a big smile on her beautiful face. She seems to be on a good mood.

“Harry just called me.” I tell her. “We’re having dinner tomorrow.”

She grins mischievously as she unlocks her car.

“What did you do?”

She shrugs.

“I just talked to him.” She gets inside her car and I open the door and jump on the passenger’s seat.

“WHAT? What did you tell him?”

She laughs like a maniac.

“He stopped me on the hall and asked me if you’re always so hard to get with guys. I said yes.”

“Ollie!”

“I also said it was just a shell and that deep down you love fiercely and with passion.”

“You’re an idiot.”

We both laugh like crazy.

[stareyedmoonchild]

Marinette wiped the blood from the corner of her mouth and chuckled bittersweetly. As she looked into the toilet's continents she wondered how she let her feelings for Tim to get this far. It was never this bad when it came to Adrien.

Inside it, was a mix of blood stained daffodil and pink camellia petals. The first meaning unrequited love and the latter meaning longing for you. It was funny how the disease gave her flowers with these meanings.

"Marinette, you can't keep doing this. You know the longer you suppress your coughs, the worse they get. You need to see someone about this, or tell Time how you feel," Tikki said, worriedly from within her purse.

"You know I can't do that. Besides I'm sure these feelings will fade in no time," Marinette said, with a smile painted on her face.

"You've been saying that for three months now," Tikki countered.

If it were any other day, Tikki would have let it go but now it was serious. Her holder had been spending days and nights hacking up petals and for the past two weeks did the blood start appearing. It wasn't looking very good, because they both knew that if Marinette's feelings didn't disappear or reciprocated then it would would lead to her death. Sure, surgery was an option for its removal, but with it the feelings for that person would disappear. After being with Marinette for years now, Tikki knew she would never with the surgery. That means, her only options were to get over her feelings for the boy or tell him how she feels and hope he feels the same way.

Tikki watched as her holder coughed a few more times, and nearly panicked when a whole daffodils landed innocently into the bowl.

"Marinette plea-"

Tikki, never got to finish her sentence, when the door to the girls bathroom open.

"Marinette, I was sent to check in on you. Are you okay," Stephanie asked.

Her only response was a flush and the sound of one of the stalls unlocking. She watched at Marinette straightened her uniform, and moved toward the sinks to wash her hands. Stephanie gave her a quick once over, and took note of the stain on the collar of her white shirt.

"What happened," Stephanie demanded to know, rather than asked.

"Just a bad nosebleed is all."

Stephanie didn't by her lie, but decided not to pry and just let it be. She figured when Marinette was ready she would tell her. However, if she bothered to look into the stall Marinette came out of, she would have seen the lone blood stained, yellow petal that lay on the tiled white floor.

After that day, Marinette's condition continued to get worse. 

The first to find out about was her and Tim's best friend, Conner. Funny how he was always the first to find out things when it came to her.

"When did it start," he asked, worry dancing in his pretty blue eyes. 

It was an emotion that shouldn't have been there, and it made Marinette feel bad for being the one to give him it. She figured, the least she could do was be honest with him.

"Three months now. Going on four," she weazed, as she held a handkerchief to her mother as she coughed. When she removed it, the saw both a whole bloody camellia and Daffodil. 

He grabbed her by the shoulders and asked, "Why haven't you told anyone?!"

Shoving off his hands, she said, "It's not that big of a deal. Besides it's just a crush, and just like any other crush my feelings will disappear."

"I bet you've telling yourself that from the very beginning. It's been practically four months and nothing's changed! If anything they've gotten worse. Tell me, what are we going to do if one of us finds you dead in a heep of bloody flowers? How will your parents back in Paris react to the news that their only child died of suffocation," Conner said, by the end of his lecture he was full on balling.

Marinette did her best to hold in the petals, that were now consuming her lungs and airways, and she comforted her friend. Never once had she felt so hopeless. Not even when she decided to leave Paris after Hawkmoth's defeat, or when Lila completely turned her classmates against. No, this was a completely different scenario. Her best friend, and the strongest person she ever knew to walk the earth was crying and worried for her life. 

That day, Conner spent the night at her place. He held her hair as she coughs into the toilet, gave her clean handkerchiefs when the one she was using got too bloody, and even cooked for her. This boy was always too good for the world he was brought into, in her opinion.

The next person, well, persons, to find out was Tim's family. 

She went over to the Wayne Manor, to drop off some case reports for Tim. However, when she arrived Dick was the one who opened the door and told her that Tim had an "appointment" he had to go to. Suddenly, he was pushed out of the way and instead, Jason stood before her. Next thing she knew, was one minute she was outside on the doorstep and the next she was seated on the couch with Damian next to her as Jason was about to insert a movie into the DVD player.

"Look, I really should get going," she said, as she felt a wave of coughs coming up.

"Forget it Pixie Pop. We haven't seen you in forever and it's movie night. Damian got to pick, so I hope your good with scary, gory movies," Jason said.

Just as he was going to give a rundown of the movie, Marinette couldn't hold it in anymore. The two in the room quickly surrounded her not knowing what to do. Then Dick came in with a bowl of popcorn, that ended up on the floor. He ran to her side and began to rub comforting circles on her back. 

"Alfred," Dick yelled.

Surely he would know what to do.

"Who the hell, is it," Jason asked, with an edge to his tone.

Dick just looked at him, this wasn't the time for such questions. 

"Don't look at him like that Grayson. Don't deny that you want to know too," Damian said, monotonously.

"Damian."

Damian attention was drawn to his father who stood next to Alfred who already had the tools he needed to remove the disease. It turns out it wasn't his first time operating with someone in this condition.

"Father, I-," Damian began, but was silent when his father shook his head and made his way toward Marinette. 

Bruce crouched down to height, and noted the tail of blood from the corner of lips, and amount of bloodied petals and flowers that now decorated his carpet. He wonders just how long this has been going on, and how much pain she must be in. He considered it a miracle that she was even alive at this point.

"You don't have to go through with it. I want you to know that, however, I advise that you do. From the looks of it, it won't be long until you," Bruce said, tailing off towards the end.

It takes a genius to know what he was implying. 

"Thank you Bruce, but no thank you," she said.

This earned her a loud, "what," from the three young males in the room. They couldn't wrap their heads around the fact that she wouldn't accept the surgery. They could see she was in pain, and now looking at her, when was the last time see got a good night's sleep or a proper meal?! The boys were even more confused when Bruce simply nodded his head, and looked to Alfred.

After nodding his head, Alfred said, "If you follow me miss Marinette, I'll give you some remedies that will help with the pain."

"Thank you Alfred."

Just as she was about to leave with Alfred, she paused and said, "It's Tim."

"I'll kill that little fucker."

"Damian!"

"You can't stop me this time, Father!"

"Don't worry, I'll help this time Demon Spawn."

"Jason!"

"Fuck off Brucie!"

When Tim got home, he was on cloud nine. He and Seph had been going out for a while now, and it was all thanks to Marinette. If she hadn't been there to encourage him and help him plan the first date, who knows what might have been.

His was on such a high that l, he didn't feel the disappoint stare from Dick as he held back Damian, or Bruce practically drag Jason's out cold body to the Batcave. Hell, he didn't even notice that Alfred didn't even greet him at the door.

"Let go of me Grayson!"

Tim's attention was now drawn toward his oldest and youngest brother. 

Raising an eyebrow, he asked, "what's his problem?"

Now that seemed to set off Damian even more. 

"What's my problem?! You funcking bastard! Honestly, she could've done so much better than to choose your sorry ass to give her heart to! Now... Now she's suffering and you haven't even taken the time to notice it. She's put aside her feelings for you and helped you so many times. Not just with your love life but with cases, homework, team ups, and even making sure you eat. You don't... You don't deserve her," Damian said, no longer squirming to be released from Dick's hold.

"Wait. What," Tim asked, not really processing what what happened.

Dicked just sighed, and said, "Just go to your room Tim."

"But-"

"I SAID GO TO YOUR ROOM!"

That caught Tim off guard. It was rare to see Dick angry, but he knew it was best to stand clear.

Realizing what he just did, Dick apologized saying that it's been a long day. Tim nodded, but had a bad feeling. A feeling that this day was a warning of something that was to come.

Two weeks later, the news spread that Marinette was in the hospital. When Tim heard this, he felt his heart shatter into thousands of little pieces.  

"What's this about Marinette being in the Hospital," Tim asked Conner.

To say he was worried was an understatement. However, when Conner couldn't even look him in the eyes, he quickly ran out of the school's doors and got onto his car. Once he was able to find out what hospital she was checked into, he threw all traffic laws out the window. He needed to get to his best friend, and fast. 

In that one day, nearly caused six different accidents. When he got to the hospital, he didn't even bother with properly parking the car. He just left in front of the entrance, engine running, and dashed inside. Screw it if his car gets stolen.

He didn't bother with reception, he went straight to her room. He ignored the yells from the nurses, and the smell of chemicals as he ran. His mind was focused simply on Marinette.

Finally finding her room, he all but threw the door open. Inside her room was his family, all with solemn faces. In the middle was Marinette, surrounded with bloody flowers and petals, meanwhile in her hand was a whole bloody pink camellia.

"Marinette," he said.

Bruce stood up, and placed a hand on Damian's shoulder to stop him from lashing out at Tim. Meeting Tim's gaze, Bruce said, "We'll give you two some space."

"Hey," she said, tiredly.

"Hey," he responded, as he pulled up a chair next to her bed.

"It's not as bad as it looks," she said, and another wave of vicious coughs took control of her.

Tim could only watch helplessly as blood, petals and flowers brush out from within her. 

"Have you talked to Ivy yet," he asked, when she was done.

"Yeah, turns out when it comes to these kinds of things her powers have affect. Kind of sucks to be honest," she said, in between some light coughs.

"Tim."

"Yeah, Mari," he asked. 

Was it just him or was she gasping for air?

"I don't have a lot of time left," she said, in between gasps.

"Mari..."

Tears were beginning to for in his eyes. He could stop them from staining his cheeks as the ran down his face.

"Please listen. None of this is your fault. It's not your fault."

"Mari, please..."

'Why is her breathing becoming more spaced out? God, no. Please, dont. Please, don't take her. Not today. Not any day soon,' Tim thought.

"I love you. You need to know that," Marinette said taking in a few more breaths before fell limp.

"Mari? Come on Mari this isn't funny. Wake up, please. Mari? Marinette? Marinette," Tim called out to her but received no reply, much less a reaction.

He then fell out of his chair, and his knees. Both his hands clasped tightly round the hand that held one big, bloody pink camellia. 

On that day, Tim cried like he never cried before. Meanwhile, outside the halls his family weren't holding up any better.

Over the course of a week, a small memorial was held at the school. Her parents and close friends and family attended the funeral. Upon all the guest that arrived, Tim was the last to leave.

As he stared at the stone, he suddenly felt a cough scratch at the back of his throat. Removing his hand from his mouth, he found the petals of purple hyacinth and forget-me-not.

'I'm sorry, and true love,' he thought, bittersweetly.

Looking up to the gray sky of Gotham City, she whispered, "So this is heartache. I miss you Mari."

Send me a number!

Flowers and their meanings here!

[ragingbookdragon]

I'm Only A Crack In This Castle Of Glass (Hardly Anything Else I Need To Be) PT. 3

Batfamily x Batsis Story!

Word Count: 2.1K Warnings: Explicit Language, Angst! Tags!: @itsnottilly @cloudyskylines

Author's Note: DUN DUN DUN!!!! Y'all enjoy this now, because it's only gonna get so much more angstier soon. -Thorne

Set Three Months After PT. 2:

She didn’t have to look up to know who entered the shop, because his voice carried over the air. “Melisandre!”

Humming, she immediately plated a pastry and a hot coffee, sliding it on the counter just as he sat down. “Good morning, Wally,” she greeted, watching him take a bite. “Right on time, as always.”

He smiled, cheeks puffed out like a chipmunk. “Morming Merisamdmur,” he replied, and she rolled her eyes with a snort.

“Jeez Wally, didn’t your mom teach you to not talk with your mouth full?”

Shrugging, he swallowed and said, “I was trying to be polite.”

“I think it’s more polite to chew with your mouth closed and speak after you swallow.”

They glared at each other before one of them cracked a smile and they fell into laughter. She tossed a napkin his way. “How’s your day going so far?”

Wally groaned and laid his head on the cool marble countertop. “I’ve got so much to do today, it’s not even funny.”

“Well, well, Wally the procrastinator is finally feeling his toes at the fire, huh?” She ignored his glare. “What do you have to do?”

“Barry needs my help with my cousins and my friends are coming over today to hangout and I haven’t bought any food or drinks for that and I have yet to even start cleaning my house.”

She giggled and reached over, patting his head sympathetically. “There, there, Wally. Everything will be alright. Why don’t you just bring your cousins over to your house and watch them while you hang out with your friends?”

“Because my cousins are annoying and I’m not subjecting my friends to that,” he countered and propped his chin on his palm. “Unless…”

She cocked a brow and waited for him to continue and he offered, “You come over with my cousins and help me watch them?”

“No.”

“What! Why?”

“Well for starters, I don’t know your friends and it would be weird for me to just show up.” She countered.

“They’ll like you though!” he cried, and his hand shot out, wrapping around hers. “Please, Melisandre!”

“Wally, I’ll just watch your cousins at my apartment and Iris can just come get them later, that’ll be easier and won’t force me to sit in a group of people who don’t know me.” He tried to speak but she tossed another napkin, hitting him in the face. “I’m watching Dawn and Don so you and your friends can hang out without being bothered, and that’s final.”

His face pinched. “You sure you can keep up with them?”

Something passed between them and she quirked a brow. “I can keep up with you, can’t I, Wally?”

Wally chuckled and nodded. “Yeah, that’s a fair point.” He glanced at her. “They would like you though.”

She ignored the comment in favor of, “Tell me about them. What are they like?”

He inhaled sharply and took a moment to think. “Donna’s strong willed, Roy’s loud, Lilith likes to get in your head, Garth is easy to annoy, and Dick’s kinda the glue that keeps us together.”

“Dick? He get that from Richard by asking nicely?”

Wally barked a laugh. “Oh, I’m definitely gonna tell him you said that.” He nodded. “But yeah, his name is Richard Grayson, but he goes by Dick.”

Her eyes almost bulged out of her head and she was lucky that Wally was looking at his watch then.

Don’t ask. Don’t do it. Leave it alone.

But she couldn’t stop herself.

“Richard Grayson?” she feigned. “Why does that name sound familiar?”

Wally met her eyes. “Bruce Wayne.”

She snapped her fingers. “Right! The ward.” Wiping the counter, she added, “I heard they added a new addition to that family too. A daughter, right? Cassie? Cassidy?”

“Cassandra,” Wally corrected. “Yeah, that’s Dick’s new sister.” He put his elbows on the counter. “She’s nice, doesn’t talk a lot though.”

“The quiet one, then?”

He laughed. “Of them all.”

Don’t dig any deeper, (Y/N). Keep your fucking mouth shut and let it go.

“I always wondered what happened to that other daughter he had,” she murmured, and Wally’s face blanched like he’d witnessed a murder.

“What?”

She met his gaze. “He had another daughter. I think her name was (Y/N).”

He swallowed thickly. “He does.”

“Does? She’s still around?”

“Yeah, she’s in some Italian villa.”

“Wait really? I thought she died or something?”

“What? No! She left—” Wally snapped his mouth shut like he was about to reveal a secret, but she knew anyways. “She left and went to Europe for a mental retreat.” He finalized and she wondered if that was the story Dick told him to say if anyone asked. Or maybe it was Bruce.

“It’s been like three years now, right? You’d think she’d post something on social media.”

“The whole point of a mental retreat, Melisandre, is to get away from social media.”

Oh please, I know plenty of elite who do that shit and still post crap on their socials.

“There’s no way that girl hasn’t.”

“Why do you say that?”

She scoffed. “Oh please, she’s the daughter of a multi-billionaire. There’s no way a girl that wears Gucci belts and carries Prada purses keeps herself off social media.”

Wally’s eyes narrowed like he was thinking hard about something and she internally cursed.

Oh, smooth move you dumbass.

She coughed and waved a hand. “Well, it’s all theory anyway.”

After a moment, he nodded. “Yeah…theory.” Wally got to his feet and handed her the empty plate. “I should go ahead and get back to my place and clean up before they get here.”

“Have fun,” she smiled, and he grabbed her arm.

“Take a pic with me.”

“What? Why?”

“So, I can tell my friends about you and prove I’m not lying.” He pouted. “Pretty please, Melisandre?”

Don’t do it. Dick will know. You know he’ll know.

She smiled despite her internal thoughts. “Sure.”

Wally grinned and raised the camera where she was in the background. She threw up a peace sign and gave a cheesy grin, momentarily blinded by the flash of the camera.

She spun and filled a bag with pastries then handed it to him. “Here, so you can give even more proof.”

Wally took the bag and hopped onto the counter, leaning down to press a kiss to her cheek. “Thanks Melisandre!” And he was dashing out the door.

You’ve ruined it all. This is going to come back to bite you in the ass. And it’s going to come quicker than you think.

She frowned and wiped down the counter again, trying to ignore her thoughts. Maybe. Just maybe, it wouldn’t.

***

Waving Barry and Iris off, she smiled as the twins climbed into the backseat of their car and the taillights signaled their departure. She closed the door behind her and glanced at the mess the two tornadoes had left. Even for the little she had in her apartment, they sure did know how to make a mess.

She sighed as she bent over to pick up one of the cushions when her doorbell rang and she stood up, confusion coming over her as she made her way to the door.

“Hello?” she asked, and a muffled voice echoed from the other side.

“Melisandre, it’s me, Wally. Can I come in?”

She opened the door, surprised to see him. “Wally? What are you doing here? I thought you were with your friends?”

“Yeah, I told them I had to do something really quickly,” he said as entered her apartment. He took a moment to examine her living room. “Man, Dawn and Don did a number here, didn’t they?”

She chuckled. “We had fun building forts.” Nudging him in the side, she added, “I don’t mind the mess.” She looked at him. “Do your friends know? About you being…you know?”

He nodded. “We’re all special in some way.”

Understatement there, Wally.

“So, why tell them you need to do something then come to me? Is everything alright?”

Busying herself with the couch cushions, she waited for him to explain, but nothing could’ve prepared her for his words.

“It will be once I get to the bottom of it…(Y/N).” She froze for a split second, but it was all he needed. “It really is you, isn’t it?”

(Y/N) stood upright and gazed at him. “When did you know?” Her voice was a lot colder than she meant for it to be.

“I had suspicion for a while, but when I showed the picture to everyone, Dick said it looked like you.”

“Really?” she laughed. “I thought I did a good job changing my appearance from three years ago.”

Wally didn’t laugh, he merely gaped at her. “Why?”

“Why what?” (Y/N) knew what he was referring to.

“Why’d you just leave?” He took a step towards her. “Do you have any idea what your family has gone through since you disappeared on them? The grief? The shame?”

She shrugged. “I explained everything in the letter I wrote my dad, Wally. There’s no reason why they should still be concerned with me.”

“They love you!” he shouted, taking her by surprise. “They love and miss you so much!”

“My family ignored me for eighteen years straight, Wally!” She yelled right back. “What was I supposed to do? Sit and pretend being forgotten was all normal?!” (Y/N) couldn’t help but shove at his chest. “I chose to leave because my next choice was taking a swan dive off Wayne Enterprises!”

His eyes went wide, and she shook her head. “I left because the only person who cared about me, was me.” She turned and fixed the final couch cushion while he watched her do so.

“They’re still looking for you, you know. Dick is always staring at his phone hoping there’s a text from Jason or Tim that they’ve found a sign of you.”

(Y/N) sighed. “If you’re trying to guilt trip me, Wally, it’s not going to work.” She shot him a glare. “I got over the fucking guilt the second the flight to Central took off. I got over the fucking guilt the night I laid in a hotel room bed curled into a ball where I cried myself to sleep. I got over the fucking guilt the moment I realized I’ve done so much better on my own than when I was there.”

She marched up to him and got in his face. “I got over the fucking guilt when I realized Barry and Iris Allen were more of a family than four brothers and dad ever were.”

They glared at each other and finally, she let out a sigh. “It doesn’t matter. I’ve already started a new life here and I have no plans of ever going back.”

“At a college that doesn’t have a real name. You know that’s illegal, right?”

(Y/N) scoffed. “What’re you gonna do, Wally? March into four-C and tell them Bruce Wayne’s daughter is going to school under a false name? We both know you wouldn’t.”

“I’ll tell Dick,” he suddenly shot back, and she went rigid.

“You wouldn’t dare,” (Y/N) threatened and he took a step towards her, getting nose to nose with her.

“Try me.”

They stared one another down and she said, “I think you need to leave, Wally West.”

His eyes narrowed. “Yeah, I guess I should.” He spun on his heel and marched to the door, but stopped when she questioned,

“Are you really going to tell him?”

Wally gazed at the ground for a moment then he murmured, “…No…it’s not my place to.”

(Y/N) swallowed and nodded. “Thank yo—”

“Don’t thank me, (Y/N). I’m lying to my best friend about knowing the real location of his baby sister he misses dearly.”

She looked away. “Cassandra is his baby sister now. He should focus on her.”

“You really have no idea about what they feel for you, do you, (Y/N)?” He asked, and she grunted.

“Get out, Wally.”

“Don’t worry, I’m gone,” he spat, slamming the door behind him, hard enough that it shook the walls that held the doorframe.

(Y/N) stared at the door for a few moments then cursed sharply and collapsed onto her couch, eyes directed to the ceiling. Three years down the drain in one conversation.

Way to go, (Y/N). You did a spectacular job of keeping it all under wraps.

She groaned and picked herself off the couch, not caring about the mess as she headed to bed. She’d deal with it all in the morning.