#tim: he's an absolute loser trust me

[redsray]

i love the (slightly cracky) premise that the newer batkids like duke who weren't around during jason's genuine "i hate the batfam" era would sometimes forget that it even happened so there'd be times where it would go:

Tim: where are you going

Jason: got a call from a friend in the alley, some fuckers need bullets in their knees. tell B and i'll kill you

Tim: no you won't

Jason: i dunno, i almost did it twice, third time's the charm

Tim: boooo you'll have to try harder

Jason, flipping him off as he leaves: watch your back, timmers!

Duke, who was sitting next to Tim the whole time: ??? he almost did it twice???? i thought he's joking when he says that????

Tim: oh, he is joking whenever he says that now. try a few years ago and it wouldn't have been as much of a joke

Duke: ???????????

Tim, snorting: i'd like to see him try again, anyway. once you realise that spends 80% of his free time in the local library he becomes no better than a nerdy loser who happens to be a bit dangerous

Duke: DUDE

Tim: what? do you find jason scary?

Duke: not usually but DUDE?!?!?

[starship--aurora]

episode one liveblog (sort of) let’s go

jon sims you dramatic fucker. /aff

did not miss the four minutes of ads LMAO

you can HEAR the contempt in his voice as he talks about gertrude.

”i don’t count martin” giggling, i love asshole jon.

”tim, sasha, and. yes, i guess, martin.”

ANGLERFISH ANGLERFISH ANGLERFISH.

”recording by jonathan sims, head archivist of the magnus institute, london” DUDE. i don’t know why that took me so aback.

mike. like michael. goddamnit jonny sims, what’s it with mikes and michaels.

THE STATIC.

“can i have a cigarette?”

i love the background music so much.

i remember thinking how much he got into it, how much of a theatre kid he seemed to be.

ANGLERFISH.

”i looked at their feet, and saw that they weren’t quite touching the ground.”

torch. i always forget that torches are the same thing as flashlights.

“statement ends, this was fucking stupid”

sasha mention <3

”look at this drunk creeper, ell-oh-ell.” i hate how he says lol, i don’t know what it is about it LMAO.

episode two!

JOSHUA GILLESPIE <3

i remember one time while rambling to my mother about joshua, she kept thinking i was saying “lesbian” and not “gillespie”.

got bored this is being continued hours later.

joshua gillespie you absolute fucker, i love you and want to kiss you on the mouth.

oh no, what ever shall you do, waking up with the key.

”perhaps a bit elaborate” Joshy Boy Elaborate Is What You Need.

”it’s odd how fear can become as routine as hunger.”

yeah, my living room coffin is making weird noises, Music Time.

ooo, knock knock.

hi john. surprised to see you, shocked to see me.

smash smash on the ground.

breekon and hope, let’s go. i love.

joshua gillespie, the hero. we salute you.

”it’s always nice to hear my hometown isn’t always devoid of odd happenings”

giggle that was great.

episode three!!

tmagp ad, oh em gee (<- this loser listened to tmagp premier today and is very normal about it)

”she sleeps with other women” what is this ad, i want to listen to this podcast. /hj

”rusty quill presents… the magnus archives…” stop with your verbal ellipsis, dude. LMAO

”jonathan sims, head archivist of the magnus institute, london”

GRAHAM!!!!! I love Graham so much.

”hey man, i always see you writing, how’s your notes coming along?” “i. i don’t take notes?”

sexy graham rights.

the amount of times i’ve had to rewind because i didn’t process it.

“hey graham” “HOLY SHIT”

public transport is scary, no judgement there.

i honestly never understood the statement giver’s discomfort with graham. to the point you couldn’t even let him see which building.

yeowch graham what did you do. 😔

“apparently he was gay.”

weird hooks weird hooks weird hooks woo.

graham’s notebooks 🥰.

graham honestly sounds like an interesting guy, i think if i’d ever met him, i’d befriend him.

TABLE. WAIT, IS IT THE TABLE USED TO TRAP NOTTHEM?

wait. wait wait wait. oh my god.

it is i think.

stalking your coworkers is Creepy. jon, please don’t take ideas. (jon then proceeds to take ideas)

driving through ohio at night is fun, ngl.

i saw him take one of his notebooks. he ate it.

wowza, all sexy gay people eat notebooks, do you eat notebooks?

“i even saw him freak out at the ice cream truck” that is honestly me. any loud sound? i panic like there’s no tomorrow

memorizing his pizza order <3

fuck capitalism. (“i had to drop out of the college course to work late nights”)

notthem notthem notthem wooohooo

okay i take it back, ohio backroads are NOT fun at night.

notthem <3

yeah i kinda. just stood there.

the background music slow rising!!

”from my months of watching” haha

not!graham!!

imposter? like…… among…

i love the description so much.

aw man, bye notebooks ✌️

hey amy, i’m going to come to your house.

statement ends!

tim mention ❤️❤️❤️.

“i trust coworker testimony as far as i can burn it.”

ohio hills and sharp turns at night are not fun, my stomach is in my throat.

JOURNAL JOURNAL JOURNAL JOURNAL

KEEP WATCHING.

[silverwhittlingknife]

snippet (pre-Robin 74)

I wasn't going to go out tonight. But the former Boy Wonder called me a wimp. - Tim, Robin 74

“Wimp,” Dick says, and waits.

“That’s not gonna work on me.”

It totally will.  “So you’re admitting you’re a wimp?” Dick says innocently.

“No, I’m — are you twelve,” Tim says.

It’s too bad he’s not here because then Dick could make the L sign over his forehead.  Oh well, maybe when they hang out tonight.

Because they will be hanging out tonight.

Three — two — one —

“This is such a bad idea,” Tim says, which is not the same as no.

It’ll do him good to get out.  Tim’s too serious for his own good.  And besides—

It’s strange.  Being out of No Man’s Land.  Dick doesn’t quite like it.  And the adjustment’s bad enough for Dick, who has his own apartment and his own space, who doesn’t have to also navigate lying to an entire family and national television about what he’s been up to and what he’s been doing.  Tim must be stressed, whether he wants to admit it or not.  And then there’s Jack Drake, who—

It’s not that Dick doesn’t trust Jack Drake.  Exactly.  He doesn’t know Jack Drake.  He doesn’t know what’s going on between Tim and his dad, what made Tim think he could get away with disappearing to No Man’s Land without an explanation, why his dad didn’t do anything right away, why he got himself on television cameras later.  On TV, he looked—sounded—like a concerned, caring parent.  He probably is a concerned, caring parent.  Dick’s probably just jumping at shadows.

Still.

He’d like to see Tim.  Tim’s a good liar, but he’s got his tells, and Dick knows him pretty well.  Over the phone’s tricky, but in-person is easy.  He’ll feel better, if he can give Tim a once-over, make sure he really is okay, that the fallout with his family hasn’t been…

Well.  It’s not like he thinks Jack Drake would beat his son or anything like that.  He’s a big guy, muscular—he could, probably, but he wouldn’t.  Not the type, Dick’s almost sure.  And anyway, Tim could defend himself.  But it’d still be nice to see his honorary little brother, and know, absolutely and for sure, that he’s fine.

And they can take a break.  They’ve earned it, after No Man’s Land.  Do something fun and stupid and irresponsible.

It’s honestly kind of a kick, being the irresponsible one.  Irresponsible-ish, anyway.  Dick’s not gonna do anything risky.  Just—something a little silly, maybe, something that’ll make Tim go all ruffled and huffy, break him out of his self-imposed solemnity. 

(In retrospect: the way that Wally and Roy used to screw around, possibly not unrelated to the way Dick used to rise to the bait?  Food for thought.)

Not that Dick was ever as self-serious and stick-in-the-mud as Tim is.

… Necessarily.

(It’s possible that the Titans would disagree.)

Moving on!  Dick’s probably exhausted the comedic potential of moving vehicles and blindfolds at this point.  Maybe a motorboat?  There’s gotta be a reckless way to use a motorboat.  Or maybe they could break into Wayne Enterprises—now there’s an idea.

“It’s okay,” Dick says, fake-sympathetic.  “Lots of people are wimps, Timmy.  You don’t have to be ashamed.”

“You suck,” Tim says, but there’s the little snort of breath that means he’s stifling laughter.  “Okay, okay, you talked me into it.”

Hah.  Dick: fifty-two, Tim: three.

Still winning.

“Fifty-two,” he says aloud, to get the groan.

“Are you still doing your scoreboard thing?”

“A wimp and a sore loser, huh,” Dick says, in his most pitying tones.

“I’m gonna kick you in the face.”

“You’re gonna try.”  Practicing kicks, not a bad idea.  Though Tim doesn’t really need the extra practice, nowadays.  “Sneak out and I’ll meet you at Third?”  There’s a trash dump there—smelly but isolated, good for a rendez-vous.

“Deal,” Tim says.

[danny-chase]

Do you think that Tim saved Dick in a way? Because we see Dick getting better as he gets closer to Tim and healing and getting back into the family, and ig it’s Tim who initiated that.

I literally don't have a yes or no answer for this... like most things in the Batfam - it's complicated. (Following answer is informed by 90s-00s comics, i can't really speak for new52 because it just... has so many issues one of which being erasing the relationship between Dick and Tim for *checks note* no discernable reason other than possibly *checks note* Didio hates legacy characters and wants only bad things for them so he could have excuses to kill them off or cancel their comics... idk just a guess)

Warnings: for Bruce stans - just look away i'm about to bring up bits of canon you most likely don't like, for Dick stans - Devin Grayson's run is mentioned, for the lovely anon - i wrote an essay, hope you are prepared

Tim coming into the family gave Dick a reason to occasionally hang around Bruce and i'm not sure if this is an exaggeration or not but he did sort of save that relationship - but whether that was a good or bad thing at the time, i can't really say. For sure - it starts off good, Bruce is actually trying to be a good dad (he comes down to Blud to check on Dick, adopts him, trusts him with his own city, calls him for backup, etc.). But we also see throughout Bruce Wayne: Fugitive/Murderer how unhealthy the relationship between the two can be. Dick built his core values around Bruce - if Bruce had actually killed here it would have been devastating for Dick (he was pretty much on the verge of a mental breakdown simply because they couldn't find proof Bruce wasn't guilty). The two literally got in a fist fight during the arc because Bruce was being uncommunicative and Dick couldn't take it anymore, snapped, and punched him when Bruce said "Bruce Wayne is dead only Batman now" - this tied into Dick finally having the relief and validation of being adopted and he couldn't handle Bruce stripping himself (and by extension, his fatherhood of Dick) away. In this era of comics Bruce had gotten physical with Dick before (here's me venting like an annoyed loser), and here's a clip from Bruce Wayne Fugitive that i just, *sigh*, canon Bruce, my detested.

Now on the other hand - getting Dick involved in the batfam more doesn't just mean he was hanging out with Bruce. His relationship with Tim is pretty great and I can definitely see where it was healing for a while - but also - to give credit where credit is due, the healing he goes through during this era of comics can also be attributed to Barbara and the Titans (the fab five specifically). Wally literally joins the Titans to give Dick a "social life" (me - it's because he's gay and wants to spend more time with Dick, actually, screw you DC you know i'm right). Donna plays a major part in keeping Dick's emotional well being in check. So like everything was going fine - Dick was healing, spending more time with friends, spending a lot of time with people he loved, like Tim, except he was neglecting his health and not sleeping - but overall he was in fact, managing, and moving past the deaths of Jason and some of the other Titans. With the current Titans - he was a hardass (which like ~trauma~ so I understand), but like things were going relatively okay.

And then Donna and Lilith died. And hooof Donna dying was like really really bad for his mental health.

Teen Titans/Outsiders Secret Files (2003) #1

[Image ID: Dick sits in a room staring at a photo, the phone rings in the background, and he doesn't even acknowledge it, the voice mail plays: "I'm not here. Leave a message after the beep." The photo is shown closer in the next frame, it's of the five original Teen Titans - Roy kisses Donna on the cheek, tipping his hat his other hand making the okay sign, Donna has an arm around Roy, the other hand on Dick's shoulder, Garth proudly stands beaming with his hands on his hips, and Dick has both his arms around Wally's neck. Everyone is smiling in the photo. A voice plays over the answering machine: "Dick, it's Roy - pick up the phone... c'mon... please... I know you're there... just pick up. Dick, we need to talk... you can't just... please..." End ID]

For context - the previous page noted that this is Dick SIX WEEKS after Donna died. Usually Dick's the one who moves on quickly, but Donna dying broke him in a way nothing else had before - and that could be partly because he was still recovering from everyone else's death.

Up to this point, Dick had been healing and Tim was definitely a part of that, but then DC decided to throw the absolute book, bookshelf, and library at him. Reading Outsiders (2003) it's very clear he's very traumatized, and around the same time, Devin is literally whumping him like it's the whump Olympics, breaking him and Babs up, burning down his childhood home, blowing up his apartment complex (killing all but like two of his neighbors), he's literally sleeping on fire escapes using newspapers as covering because he has nothing, and the bad thing i don't like to think about (i'll let you know if you ask but that one needs lots of tw, but if you know where i'm going you know what it is already), Blockbuster is killed and he blames himself - and loses it over breaking Bruce's one rule, Bludhaven is nuked, and he pretty much tries to kill himself.

So basically, he was on the path to healing (with Tim as part of that) before he got absolutely destroyed (and almost killed off by Didio in one of the crisis). Tim in his own right, was also going through a lot in the meantime, his dad died, Steph died, Kon and Bart died, i don't remember what else happened and i haven't read that era of Robin yet. Things were good until they weren't anymore, and sometimes i think Dick would regret ever exposing Tim to the life they live, and questions whether he should have just sent Tim packing x2. They do get to spend a year together on a mental health cruise, but then Damian comes into the picture, Battle for the Cowl happens, and they have their falling out. But whatever happened on that cruise must have been really healing for Dick because he actually kind of rocks it in this era - he keeps things light with Damian, Alfred notes at one point how he makes things easy because he has lightness in him, and he patches things up with Tim - catching him in that panel of Red Robin - from there they kind of go back to normal, there's a lightness to the way they banter with each other (also here) and Tim returns the favor (from the Red Robin incident) by pulling Dick out of the water.

They've saved each other multiple times over (physically), and in both in the Black Mirror and Gates of Gotham, Tim helps out in a period where Dick is starting to fall apart from the pressure of holding things together for so long (something Tim might feel guilty for, because he did run away from Gotham on a wild goose chase for Bruce). In that period, it's really clear that Dick saves Tim (he reminds him in RR, that someone does actually care for him) and then Tim saves Dick from being torn apart by Gotham.

I should point out - Damian, while starting off as kind of a hinderance, does eventually start helping Dick as well. By the end of their relationship (before the New52 destroys everything i love), Dick has helped Damian grow emotionally, and through that process Dick probably finds meaning and value in their time together, probably a lot like he used to feel with Tim. And of course, physically, they've both saved each other multiple times by the end of the run.

So yeah. I think Dick finds meaning in growth in mentoring his younger brothers, and it's likely a healing process, that healing just has some twists and turns along the way, and sometimes, on bad days, he probably feels like maybe he shouldn't have intervened at all, but i think on most days, he's proud of what Tim's become.

...I hope this is coherent lmao

[woodchoc-magnum]

911:Lone Star 2x06 Hate Watch

I finally watched it! Just in time for tomorrow’s boring ass episode.

Also I typed this as I was watching it so it is literally my stream of consciousness during the episode, apologies in advance.

Eddie to cleanse:

Disclaimer: I hate this show, if you love this show, that’s cool! You do you boo

Hate under the cut:

CONJOINED TWINS

This show is SO GROSS

They're not that close, wow

I mean yeah I would get so fucking sick of having someone attached to my head for sure

This show is the grossest

Naw they're friends again

Aw baby TK is learning how to drive the big boy truck what a good widdle boy

EXCUSE ME how did the guy in OG 911 drive the fire truck if it's this hard to start one?!

"Mom and Dad are having a BABY and they're ANCIENT"

I’m just throwing it out there, this baby ain't gonna be born

Judd is the best

They have to do laundry; why have I never considered this before?

Omg I have seen the lady who plays Paul's mother in so many things!

Oh the sister is straight up transphobic isn't she

I never met a Naomi I liked, just saying

(apologies to any Naomi's on my Tumblr, I'm sure you're great)

Are they going on a road trip in the middle of a pandemic?

Oh wait the pandemic doesn't exist in Lone Star does it

They do know they can't drive to the South Pole right, like you can't actually drive from Central America to South America

Oh no they have to replace zombie Tim

I miss zombie Tim

Remember when Tim got absolutely fucking annihilated by the lava rock that was so funny

The lady in the red sweater is Carla Gallo, she has been in a shit ton of things – but I will always remember her from Carnivale

Omg she headbutted that dude, they should hire her

Ooh potential new paramedic is hot but in a serial killer way?

In that he kinda looks like a serial killer

Some people have serial killer face I don't make the rules

Speaking of serial killer face, here's TK

"I am going to be a father" BITCH

YOU ARE ALREADY A FATHER

YOUR SON IS LITERALLY SITTING RIGHT THERE\

I mean I hate them both BUT STILL

Naomi says Texas is a little dull for her – that's just the Lone Star filter

Yo I watch these YouTubers and they have videos in Texas and there's like, no brown filter? And the sky is blue? But I thought the sky in Texas was blue with a layer of brown over the top?!

Oh biiiitch "you of all people do not get to play the gender card" BITCH

What's your fucking problem Naomi

Uh oh, oh no

Now they're making me feel bad for her

Rob Lowe "he's been a little chilly"

NO I WONDER WHY

GEE

WHAT COULD HE POSSIBLY BE UPSET ABOUT ROB LOWE

Cyanide poisoning

Did the new paramedic… give her the cyanide? No okay it was the flowers, still I am suspicious

See we've got this scene with these two kids and if you'll notice, they're standing outside with a blue sky above them – now my YouTubers tell me that the Texan sky is blue, not a shitty shade of brown

And honestly I’m inclined to trust my YouTubers, they seem like nice people

WHAT IS THE TRUTH

Oh no are these two kids gonna get shot

THEY'RE IN A MINEFIELD????

WHAT

THE

ACTUAL

FUCK

Is the guy with the gun gonna get blown up

PLEASE

PLEASE

PLEASE

PLEASE

YESSSSSSSS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

YES

YES

YES

THAT WAS GREAT

10/10 BRILLIANT

HAHAHAHAHA I WILL NEVER STOP LAUGHING

Why is Rob Lowe going into a minefield?

Oh this paramedic doesn't want to walk into a minefield wooow what a LOSER

I mean… I also wouldn't walk into a minefield

OH HERE'S TK

"I can do this" he says blandly

I hope TK blows up

How the actual fuck are they going to do this

What I love is that everyone else just stands around and watches them, no masks, no social distancing

Because there's no pandemic

Literally NO ONE IS WEARING A MASK

I'd really like Rob Lowe to get blown up

Disappointed that Rob Lowe and TK did not get blown up

Wow TK what a hero

This week in 911: Rob Lowe, Rob Lowe navigates a literal minefield!

Serial killer paramedic is gonna quit

Wow they know about union reps in Austin (that was just a little OG lawsuit-arc burn there)

"A cowboy culture" okay dude

The dude you replaced DID get hit by a lava bomb, it was great

Oh his name is Pearce, why am I only just learning this now

Is Carlos in this show anymore or no?

Oh wow he goes to the hospital and he's WEARING A MASK

The sister has MS???

Someone should have told him

Okay we don't need to compete with each other's traumas now

Wow she got over the transphobia quickly

I mean can he have a storyline that isn't about transphobia

Wow TK is applying to be a paramedic WHO DIDN'T SEE THAT COMING

PLOT. TWIST.

TK is getting even with Dad BY NOT WORKING WITH HIM ANYMORE that'll show you Dad

No Carlos?

No?

K.

Ooooooh Rob Lowe is a petty bitch

"Want to tell me what's going on with you?" "Well Dad you kinda act like me being your son doesn't fucking matter so that's why"

"TK is this really what you want?" yeah I get him not wanting to work with you

"Emotional reaction" TK has emotions?

This guy can't act

Someone needs to tell him that he can't act

"I don't think it's weird you're having another kid at your age" MATE I THINK IT'S WEIRD

HELLO I THINK IT'S WEIRD

Ugh god this is supposed to be emotional isn't it

Let's face it, this baby ain't gonna live

And if it does live I'll be shocked

It's nice that Paul's mother is so accepting of him though, she's so great. I pretty much love this actress anytime I see her in something

Oh they're having a boy wooow

That baby ain't gonna live

UGH "hey little brother I'll see you soon" I AM ROLLING MY EYES FOREVER

Overall verdict:

2/10 BUT a dude did blow up in a minefield and it was great so + 1000 for that makes it 1002/10, specifically - AND ONLY - for that one scene where that dude blew up

Diaz to CLEANSE THE SOUL:

[ethelphantom]

The Greatest Miracle

This fandom does not have enough BartAdrien content like, seriously. They're the cutest thing to ever exist. Two sunshine children. Please love them. Please love my greatest creation. Anyway, have some cuteness and fluff and (possible? I have no idea if it is funny) humour for a change! Maribat March day 22, rare pair

Ao3

This is Maribat -- Don’t like; Don’t read

____________________________

“Please don’t.”

“Oh, Adrien. I totally will.”

❋❋❋

“Hey, Bart, give my tablet back! I need it for my speech!”

“Nooopppe! I may not be able to open it but I know what kind of things there are! Kon, catch!”

“Thanks, Bart. Have fun. You forgot I’m also doing the speech. You literally asked me to.”

“Dang it.”

❋❋❋

Marinette snorted as Adrien took one look at her before burying his face in his hands as she stood up, Tim and Conner following suit. She grabbed the microphone from the stand nearby and blew a kiss at Adrien, winking.

“Good afternoon everyone! It’s a beautiful day, even more beautiful than Adrien’s hair, and we all know how beautiful his hair is, soooo… Anyway, before I actually get to any important part, I need to say that I asked Adrien if there was anything that I shouldn’t say in any case, and well. He didn’t say anything in particular, I swear. To everyone else, I’m sorry if this makes your idea of Adrien’s supposed put-togetherness just vanish in front of your eyes. I can promise you, it never existed in the first place.

“I can’t believe this day actually came, seeing Adrien get married to someone,” Marinette said, smiling when she heard the quiet “rude much?” coming from Adrien’s direction. “Oh yeah. In case some of you didn’t know, I’m Marinette, Adrien’s best friend, though I’m pretty sure the only ones who don’t know that are from Bart’s side as Adrien has somehow managed to introduce me to his entire family, all of his few friends — and Adrien, before you say anything, you met most of your friends through me, don’t try — and we went to the same school so there’s that as well. Honestly, I think he’s even dragged me to a few family reunions during the years.”

There was laughter in the crowd but it quieted down as soon as Marinette began talking again.

“Adrien and I have gone through thick and thin. There have been liars, bullies, gold-diggers, over-eager wannabe journalists… Well, we’ve probably seen anything you can imagine. We’re siblings in all but blood, rather literally. My parents even adopted him after Gabitch — I mean, Gabriel, all parents of little children, you did not hear that, and neither did you, Bart, Wally and Dick, but like seriously, if there's anyone that deserves to be called out for being a terrible, horrible, no good, very bad father in a wedding, it's that man —, was arrested. It was easier since that meant he wouldn’t need to transfer schools.”

Marinette tilted her head and bit the inside of her cheek. “Wait a second. Tim, dear, did you have the tablet connected to the projector already? I want the photos, like, five minutes ago.”

Tim laughed at her. “Cuppie, you started the speech less than three minutes ago. But yeah, it’s connected.”

“Shush, you. Thanks! I’ll say when I want the pictures. Anyway. I met Adrien when we were like, 13, and it really didn’t start great. I hated him at first. Like, honest to God hated him. You can imagine how the rest of the day went. Somehow, he cleared the idea I had of him within a few hours though, so we became friends. He’s the best friend I’ve ever had, always been there for me through everything.

“I don’t think I’ve got too much time to speak even though I’d absolutely love to do that for the rest of the day because Adrien’s gonna murder me if I try, so I’ll just tell you one of my favourite things with him. Who everyone knew him on some level when he was 17?”

Maybe a quarter of the room raised their hands.

“Great. How many of you noticed he had a crush then?”

Less than half of those people raised their hands, though rather hesitant.

“Fine, Adrien, you win, but that just means they didn’t spend enough time with you. Anyway. He had a crush on our dear Bart over here though he kept denying it for ages. Tim, the pictures, please? Because I’ve got a compilation of how he looked like when I felt like pointing the fact out to him and after I had actually informed him of his crush. I have no idea how he didn’t realise it right away.”

There were pictures of clearly lovesick Adrien, looking at something (a lot of the time it seemed to be his phone) the same way he had looked at Bart only some time earlier.

Someone in the crowd yelled “he was so whipped oh my god, did he really not realise?” when they got to the fifth photo.

Adrien had hidden his face in Bart’s hair.

He was lucky Bart’s hair was like it was.

Bart, though, he was laughing.

“Yeah, yeah he was, and me neither. He literally had a gay panic after he met Bart for the first time — trust me when I say that he was royally screwed already from day one. And yet. Yet. Considering Adrien had known me for only a day or two when he decided he was in love with me when we were like 13 and actually declared this in front of a whole bunch of people, it’s so funny how it took him actual months to admit he was actually in love with Bart. Fun fact, the three of us—” Marinette pointed at herself and then at Tim and Kon on her left, “still have a group chat full of plans to get those two together because they were so oblivious, especially Adrien, and also idiots. God, do I love them, but I swear they caused me more grey hair than the wild kid I babysat as a teenager ever did.”

Tim snatched the microphone from Marinette’s hands, pecking her cheek quickly. Marinette stuck her tongue out at him but didn’t complain about the interruption. It wasn’t like she had anything important left to say anyway. For now.

“Yes, listen to my beautiful and wonderful wife over here. They were so frustrating, always talking about the other like they had hung the moon and the stars on the night sky but neither realised they liked the other until it was pointed out to them. Well. According to Mari, it took until Kon and I got Bart to realise he liked Adrien, which eventually led to him confessing, that Adrien recognised his own feelings. It’s ridiculous, but oh so amusing to tell now.

“So, hello everyone, I’m Tim, one of Bart’s best friends — the other is over there being a loser. I met Bart through Dick and Wally maybe half a year after Bruce started watching over me because my parents were never there, so we must have been seven or eight. I had troubles with befriending other people back then—”

“You still do, Tim.”

“Mari, this is my speech, yours ended already.”

“Yeah, because you stole the mic.”

“Technicalities, technicalities. Anyhow, I had trouble with getting friends around that time, but it was somehow easy to befriend Bart. He was so open, friendly, positive, full of light and determined to befriend you that it was actually impossible to avoid it. After I befriended him, though, I noticed I started getting other friends as well because he made it easier. That’s actually also how I met Mari, the love of my life and my wife, which has me forever thankful to Bart, but that’s a story for another time. Right now, I’m here to tell you how great Bart is and also make fun of him, because isn’t that what best friends are for.

“So, like Mari already said, we had a group chat just because of those two. Favourite ship ever. Not gonna lie, we all shipped them together since the moment we realised how well they would fit together and the only reason today didn’t happen sooner is because this guy here—” Tim pointed at Adrien, “—refused to admit he liked Bart and scoffed every time we tried to suggest it. Yet, every time he made a terrible pun, and we all know he makes a lot of those, it was Bart he looked at first to see if it made him laugh. Always. Not his best friend, Mari. It was Bart.”

That was when Tim lost the microphone — Kon had walked up to them, now behind Tim, and just took it out of his hands. Tim tilted his head backwards and frowned at Kon.

“And Bart. Bart laughed every. Single. Time. Like, regardless of how horrible the pun was that time, and how it should have not made anyone laugh, Bart laughed because he knew it made Adrien smile, and happy Adrien equalled happy Bart equalled happy Adrien. This is why it was so strange they didn’t realise, and this is why them dancing around one another drove me up the wall. Tim and Mari too, I suppose. By the way. Here’s a list of pictures and videos where the aforementioned situation is shown multiple times so that you’ll understand what I mean.”

The (seemingly endless, if Adrien’s mortification was anything to go by) videos and pictures were projected onto a big screen and it seemed that no matter what Adrien thought, everyone else thought them adorable and heart-warming. Everyone. Especially Bart, who had not been aware of said pictures or videos’ existence and was now beaming and nearly jumping up and down in his seat. Marinette could almost swear he was vibrating.

Once they were done showing them, and the roomful of people had stopped cooing at Adrien like he was still that starry-eyed, adorable, baby-faced fool so very in love with Bart (he was), Kon brought the microphone to his lips again. “So yeah. We all had to suffer. And because of that, now you two had to suffer a little too,” he said, snorting.

Shaking his head fondly at the newlywed couple, he smiled. “You know, I have known Bart for nearly my entire life, and I never thought there would come a day I would meet anyone that was as much of a sunshine child as he was. Then we met Adrien.”

Tim nodded in the background, clearly agreeing. Marinette hummed. Kon handed her the microphone as she tapped her foot against the floor with her heel. “Yeah, same here, though the other way around — I thought there couldn’t be anyone I’d call sunshine incarnate other than Adrien, and then there I was, face to face with Bart who I swear glowed when I met him for the first time.”

Marinette sighed, smiled, and walked to Adrien and Bart. “So, Adrien, Bart, I am so immensely proud of you two. I can’t help but be happy whenever I think about you both overcoming so much and deciding to dedicate yourselves to one another and believe me when I say, I am so glad I got to witness you exchanging vows today. I wish all the best for you, as do those two dorks, and remember that we’re all going to be there for you both. You have two souls but a single thought, and two hearts that beat as one. This is the day that now belongs to one of the most beautiful things I have seen in my life and I could not be happier to have gotten to see it happen.” She raised her glass. “A toast to these two fools and to their union! May you always be satisfied!”

Marinette returned to her seat next to Tim and rested her head against his shoulder as he ran his fingers through her hair.

“I’m happy for them,” Marinette whispered, watching as Adrien danced with Bart, leading him, before Bart grabbed Adrien and picked him up before running around the room, presenting him like the greatest miracle ever granted for the humankind to everyone. Marinette squeezed Tim’s hand, smiling at their best friends.

“Same, Cuppie. Same here.”

_____________________________________

@kris-pines04​ @thethirdwheelfriend​ @maribat-is-lifeblood​ @abrx2002​ @persephonebutkore​ @rebecarojas07​ @corabeth11​ @kadmeread @silverwhiteraven​ @freshbark @maribat-march2020 @catsandfanfic @fertileleaf @eat0crow @cutechip

[yellowocaballero]

written in 2 hours for $5

my friend: so, in your story, you say that Jon went to see a doctor who DIDN’T diagnose him with anything, despite him thinking all of his employees were trying to kill him...I will give you $5 to write this conversation

me: what’s your venmo.

under a readmore as to not traumatize Bukowski with sloppy depictions of therapy.

                Okay, that ordeal was over with. Jon hated health services. He never went to the doctor if he could help it. It was easy to avoid it, since Elias gave as little healthcare as physically possible, and Jon was of the personal opinion that he never got sick, anyway. Sickness was a state of mind, and Jon’s mind was not in that state. What was a cold but your body temporarily acting funny before going back to normal? Absolutely nothing, no matter what Martin wrung his hands and insisted about. If Jon got the flu, he threw up in the toilet and then went back to work. RIP to the influenza virus but he was different.

                Jon sat anxiously in the waiting room of the counseling clinic, struggling to recall if his mother was depressed or not.

                Like, Jon would personally be very depressed, if he had given birth to Jon. He hesitantly wrote it in, then scratched it out, then scowled at the very nuclear family centric medical history section of the patient chart, then went through the usual rigamarole of feeling self-pity over being an orphan. Finally, he settled on just writing in a big question mark in the mother and father sections. He wrote into the side that his Grandfather and two of his Uncles had schizophrenia, which had to be useful in some sort of way.

                Okay, that ordeal was over with. Jon hated health services. He never went to the doctor if he could help it. It was easy to avoid it, since Elias gave as little healthcare as physically possible, and Jon was of the personal opinion that he never got sick, anyway. Sickness was a state of mind, and Jon’s mind was not in that state. What was a cold but your body temporarily acting funny before going back to normal? Absolutely nothing, no matter what Martin wrung his hands and insisted about. If Jon got the flu, he threw up in the toilet and then went back to work. RIP to the influenza virus but he was different.

                The waiting room for the clinic wasn’t empty, even if that would have made Jon feel better. A tired looking Hispanic woman clutching her purse sat on one couch, an elderly man clutching a cane sitting in an armchair with his wife browsing a magazine beside him. Boring, banal, bothersome. Jon wasn’t like these losers. He wasn’t a weak-willed person who…accused all of his coworkers of murder plots…to the extent where one of his subordinates threatened him into going to a therapist. That hadn’t happened. To him.

                For the record, it wouldn’t have worked if Martin hadn’t been so good at disguising what a manipulative bastard he was. Jon didn’t know people could make their eyes that big. Or that people could be so talented at gathering evidence of workplace harassment, enough that even Elias would be forced to exact some sort of disciplinary action against him. Had Martin always been so terrifying? His ranking on the ‘Possibly Wants To Kill Me’ scale jumped a few notches, but was forced to drop down a few notches due to Jon admitting that someone who wanted to kill him probably wouldn’t blackmail him into therapy.

                Probably.

                He briefly detailed his diagnostic history (none), detailed his list of previous surgeries and health conditions (none, save the anemia in uni), and briefly gave a list of childhood trauma (none that anyone would believe, although he found himself hesitantly writing down ‘Foster system, parental incarceration, orphaned’, as if that was a real trauma or something instead of stuff that just happened to him that had no effect on his brain whatsoever).

                He finally got to the difficult section, the one that always tripped him up and made him sweat. He breezed through the demo questions (Black, male last time he checked, younger than he looked) but stared for an uncomfortably long time at the sexuality questions. His pen hovered over heterosexual, but his Mental Georgie (meaner than the actual Georgie) yelled at him until his pen hovered over bisexual instead. But that wasn’t quite right either, was it? Bad memories of scrolling desperately and shamefully through AVEN at 2am last year flashed through his mind, but asexual wasn’t on the list. He marked in bisexual, although he didn’t think it counted if he’d never had any…relations with male presenting people, although it didn’t quite fit.

                Under alcohol use he very proudly put none, feeling both smug and embarrassed over being smug over it. Under drug use he also was proud to put none. Then it asked for his history and, like, whatever. He hated this list. It sucked. Jon didn’t like admitting to the coke he only did three times. Or was it four? That he could remember.

                Under the ‘Have you ever been hospitalized’ question he put yes, then he remembered that they had technically diagnosed him with alcoholism and depression so he had to go back and put that down in his diagnoses, then he had to put down that he had attempted suicide a few times. Jon felt uncomfortable about nameless strangers knowing this, when he had never told anybody and had never been planning on it. It was a secret he would take to his grave, but he was telling this piece of paper, apparently. Hopefully nobody looked at this.

                Under the section for ‘why he came in’, Jon decided honestly was the best policy. He wrote down carefully, in precise letters, ‘I do not need to come in but my subordinate (who may be plotting murder against me) blackmailed me into it’. There. Honesty was the best policy.

                Finally the accursed intake form was over, Jon was able to hand it to the nurse he suddenly imagined looked very judgmental, and he was able to flip aimlessly through the three year old magazines on the glass tabletop flanking a piece of calming abstract art. He would never admit it to literally anybody in his life, but he enjoyed the voyeurism of celebrity gossip. He loved learning things about people that were supposed to be private, that nobody was supposed to know. It wasn’t a real secret if he learned it off TMZ, but it felt like one, and that was good enough. It was none of his business who was dating who or who had cheated on who, but that was part of the fun. Jon’s thirst for knowledge was absolute. But, still, nobody could ever know about this. Georgie had laughed at him for a week when she found out.

                Still, the magazine was wrong. The pop star wasn’t cheating on her boyfriend with her bodyguard. She was cheating on her boyfriend with her college roommate. Jon didn’t remember exactly where he had read it, but he knew it was true. Must have caught it on a reddit thread or something. Jon snorted. They should really polish up on their fact checking.

                After what felt like hours, but in fact was twenty-two minutes and forty seconds exactly, the nurse called Jon in. They took his height (still too tall), took his weight (ugh….), and took his blood pressure, which seemed to alarm the nurse, who asked him if he had a family history of hypertension. He just explained that his job was very high stress.

                “Ah,” the nurse said, and made a note on his clipboard.

                “The previous holder of my position was murdered,” Jon said helpfully, “and I think one of my employees did it. Either that or my boss. That, or various supernatural entities, but generally I’ve been doing a pretty good job of holding those off.”

                “That’s so interesting,” the nurse said, making another note on the clipboard.

                Then he was directed into the actual therapist’s office. Not his therapist, or at least he didn’t think so – the way they explained it to him, and the way the twenty internet sites he’d compulsively researched said it worked, was that he would get an intake with a trainee, who would then refer him to a therapist that worked for him in the building. It made sense, although very little about this entire process really did. Jon hated doctors. What were therapists, but doctors who made less sense, and did not respect science?

                The intake therapist’s office was overly calming. There was an incense diffuser in the corner, a tea station set up in another corner, and a comfortable looking couch facing a chair. There was a coffee table in the center filled with fidget toys and candy, along with some stuffed animals and other comfort items with some books, and Jon awkwardly shook the hand of the young woman who opened the door for him and sat down on the far corner of the couch.

                She introduced herself as Angela and had a bright white smile. Jon wondered if she had ever killed anybody. Her hair was glossy and black, she seemed to be Hispanic or thereabouts, and exuded a trustworthy and competent yet friendly air. Jon did not trust her.

                “So, Jon,” Angela said, once they both settled down. “I’m just going to give you a quick run-down of this process. I’ll interview you based on your intake form, we’ll come up with a case formulation, and I’ll refer you to a therapist with our clinic who can help you out. You indicated that this is your first time seeing a counselor?”

                “Uh, yes.” Jon clasped his hands, then his knees, then sat up very straight, then slouched. He now understood why the fidget toys were there. “But I really don’t want to see a therapist. I just told someone I’d come in here, so here I am. I can leave right after this.”

                “Who asked you to come in?”

                “Martin. Uh. My employee.”

                She made a note in her notebook. “Does he only know you from work?”

                “Yes.”

                “So your employees have been noticing some behavior from you at work that lead them to ask you to come?” Angela asked delicately.

                “Uh. Yeah.”

                “What kind of behavior?”

                Well, sure, make him think about it. Jon clenched his trousers a little. “I’ve been…well, according to Tim, I’ve been stalking them a bit. Which, perhaps, from a certain point of view, I’m willing to admit to. Also going through their desks. Some verbal accusations. Apparently, I’ve been difficult to work with lately.”

                Scribble scribble scribble. “What sort of accusations?”

                “Someone’s trying to kill me,” Jon said firmly. “I’m just trying to find out who. I’m exploring every option. Nobody is above suspicion. I know it seems…I know it doesn’t seem very usual, but that’s the situation.”

                “Have you talked to the police?”

                God, has he ever. “They’re willing to collaborate with me, but there’s only so much they can do,” Jon said seriously. Even if they had confidentiality, which they had explained to him as he came in, he could hardly admit to Basira doing something illegal for him. “But we are working on it together. At least some officers on the force take murder investigations seriously.”

                “Alright. If you don’t mind, I’m going to refer back to some questions that we asked you on the sheet. Just a little more detail on them.” Angela looked down at what he had to assume was a print-out of his answers on the intake questionnaire. “It says here that you have a family history of schizophrenia?”

                “Yeah,” Jon said blankly, “what does that have to do with anything?”

                She looked further down the list. “And…a history of alcoholism and drug abuse?”

                “Yes, technically.”

                “Alright.” She leaned backwards and opened a file cabinet, rifling through it before withdrawing a piece of paper and passing it to Jon. Jon hesitantly took it, scanning the paper. “Can you fill this out for me quickly, please?”

                Jon read the questions.

                Do you ever hear or see things that others cannot?

                Well, yes, Jon experienced many supernatural phenomena that others could not perceive. He checked off yes.

                Do you ever struggle to trust that what you are thinking is real?

                Frequently. He just knew his mind was being manipulated by the mysterious Watcher. Plus there was that business with Sasha. Something’s off about her.

                Do you ever get the sense that others are controlling your thoughts and emotions?

                That occurred in dozens of Statements, plus his own life. Yes.

                Do you struggle to keep up with daily living tasks?

                Tim did tell him that he didn’t shower enough…

                Do you feel that you have powers that others cannot understand or appreciate?

                Jon thought blankly of all those times that he asked people questions and they almost…had to answer. He checked yes for that too.

                Etc, etc, etc.

                Jon looked up from this test. “Are you under the impression I’m schizophrenic?”

                “I can’t make a diagnosis yet,” the therapist said delicately. “Why don’t we talk after you finish the screening.”

                Jon silently passed it back to her, after checking yes on almost everything. She scanned it quickly.

                “Hm.”

                “Look,” Jon said awkwardly, knowing that this probably looked bad, “I know that I may come off as a paranoid lunatic, but the supernatural is out there and is targeting me personally. I think I may work for it, honestly? Do you ever feel like an accountant for evil in your day to day life, or is that just me?” Jon paused a beat, and found that his hands were shaking. He was scared. Why was he scared? “I always feel something watching me. Something – something in the walls. I’m sitting at my desk, it’s late at night, and nobody’s around, but sometimes when I do my work…I feel something looking over my shoulder. It hates me. It wants to hurt me. I don’t know why I know it, I just do. Something invisible in the walls is looking at me, and nobody believes me when I say it’s there but I know it is.” He found himself speaking faster, almost as if he was begging her to understand. “When you look at a – at this couch, you know it’s there, right? How would you feel if everybody started telling you that it wasn’t there? That what your eyes and ears and body was telling you was fake? You’d feel like it was everybody else who was crazy, not you. Even if your eyes were closed, if you reached out your hand you could feel it. No matter what you might tell yourself, or what other people might tell you, it’s real. It’s there. You can’t deny it. I’m not crazy. It’s there. Something is watching me. You don’t – you don’t have to believe me. But I’m right. And you’re wrong, if you think it’s not.”

                Angela stared at him.

                Then she stood up, clutching her mobile. Jon realized for the first time that it was ringing. “I’ll be right back.”

                She left the room, holding the phone to her ear. Jon felt it was somewhat unprofessional for a therapist to walk out in the middle of a session for a phone call. Maybe it was important? Her husband was in the hospital or something? It was none of his business.

                Jon tapped his toes. Stared at the wall. There was a poster with a sloth on it that said ‘Hang In There!’. He was hanging in there, all right.

                He wondered if he was crazy. If it even mattered.

                Jon had always had nobody but himself to rely on. Well, maybe Georgie, once upon a time, but he had burned that bridge. At the end of the day, it had always been him. In that gutter where he had almost drowned in his own vomit, it had just been him.

                If he couldn’t trust his own mind, who could he trust? If even his own faculties left him, he had nothing. No friends, no family, no support. Just him. If Jon lost his mind, if he went completely crazy, then there was nobody to pick up the pieces ever again. For the first time since coming in, Jon found himself scared. Would he have to take medication? Would it make him dumb? Jon would rather be crazy then dumb.

                The door opened, and Angela returned. But there was something just a little different about her, something Jon picked up immediately. Her eyes were – almost glassy, almost not present. She had been such an attentive, active listener before, but now she seemed far away. Her gait was a little stiffer than it had been previously.

                “Bad news?” Jon breached awkwardly.

                “Nothing to worry about,” Angela smiled. But it didn’t reach her eyes. How strange. She sat back down in her chair, posture perfect and prim. “Well, I took a look at your sheet, and I have some good news for you.”

                “You – you do?” Jon asked, thrown off. Doctors never had good news for him. They always seemed to think he was a medical freak of nature who was alive only through an act of spite against god.

                “Of course. You don’t seem to have any kind of mental illness. Honestly, I just think your problem is that you’re stressed at work.”

                “I – so you don’t think I’m schizophrenic? Despite answering yes to almost every question on that test? And having family members with schizophrenia? And being a black male in my late twenties, the highest risk group?”

                “Yes.” Angela smiled prettily at him. “I think it’s just a matter of adjustment. You’re a transitionary phase in your life, Jon. You’re moving from one role to another. I think all you have to do is accept your new role in life, and your problems will sort themselves out.”

                “I – yes. Yes, of course.” It was like a huge weight had been taken off his chest. Jon felt so relieved. Nothing was wrong with him. His mind was still his own. He wasn’t crazy! “You’re right. I’m just stressed. Thank you so much, doctor. I feel a lot better about this now. I knew Martin was just overreacting.”

                “Martin’s always overreacting!” Angela laughed. She stood up from her chair, clearly signifying the interview was over despite him only being there for less than ten minutes. “Have a great day, Jon. You deserve it.”

                “Thanks, doctor. I promise I’ll work on – just calming down a bit. Wow. What a relief.” Jon stood up too, wiping his sweaty palms on his trousers before shaking her hand. “I knew I wasn’t crazy.”

                “What’s crazy,” Angela said, “but a state of mind? The world is already so bizarre and usual, Jon, it’s strangest to be sane.”

                “I – okay?”

                Jon left the doctor’s appointment feeling very good about everything. Maybe the doctor’s had been a good idea. He would have to thank Martin.

                Wow. Now that was a crazy thought. Thanking Martin! Hah!

                Jon went home, feeling very good about his life and his trajectory in it.

                For the very last time.

[gxenbev]

Reddie Prom AU

Based on this headcanon: https://gxenbev.tumblr.com/post/613860178007326720/hc-that-richie-and-bev-bond-over-reality-tv-and

Hope you enjoy!

“Richie, stop squirming,” Bev said around the pins in her mouth.

“I’m trying, Miss Scarlet,” Richie whined. When he suggested remaking Fashion Runway dresses, he hadn’t anticipated standing in front of Beverly for hours while she pinned layer after layer of fabric over him.

“Patience, Richard,” she mumbled as she stuck him with a pin for the fourth time in five minutes.

“Ouch! Watch it, Bevvie,” he screeched.

“Sorry,” she said, setting the pins down and stepping back to admire her work.

Richie looked down, but all he could see was a mass of ruffles surrounding his lower half. He looked up at her with curious eyes, but Beverly only smiled.

“We’re not even close to done, are we?” he asked.

“Nope,” she laughed, beginning to cut more crimson fabric.

“Maybe Eddie will finally think I’m hot,” Richie giggled. 

“He already thinks you’re hot, dumbass.”

“Is that what he says when he’s talking to you on the phone instead of cuddling with me?”

“Guess he loves me best,” Beverly shrugged.

Eddie wasn’t a fan of Fashion Runway. Richie thought he would love it, considering Eddie was the most judgmental person he knew, and that was ninety-eight percent of the show. Since Eddie wouldn’t indulge in his guilty pleasure show, he and Beverly watched it together.

“Will this eventually look like a dress?” Richie asked. Richie was confident in Beverly’s skills, but he wasn’t sure he would be able to move with the tight layer of fabric hugging his waist when she was finished,

“I sure hope so,” she mumbled.

“Next time, we’re doing this to Stan,” Richie whined.

Beverly laughed. Getting Stan to stand still and be patient wouldn’t be an issue like it was with Richie. Getting Stan to agree to wear something besides neat, pressed khakis and polos was the problem.

“That would be hilarious. I think we could wrestle Eddie into a mini skirt.”

Richie blushed. “Do I want to see Eddie in a mini skirt.”

“Oh, you definitely want to see Eddie in a mini skirt. Straighten your shoulders, I need to work on the bodice.”

“I think Tim Gunn would be proud, Bevvie,” he chuckled. 

Beverly took the red, lacy fabric and pinned it around Richie’s middle. There was a plain white, silky layer underneath the lace. She decided to pin it tight and leave it sleeveless.

“Open back or no?” Beverly asked.

“Damn, I don’t know. I just want it to stay on.”

Beverly called the boys earlier and told them to stop by for dinner just so she could show off her creation, but Richie was even more pumped than she was. 

Beverly continued to work for the next couple of hours while an antsy Richie wiggled around. She placed pins, took them out, sewed the pieces together, ripped seams, ruffled, ripped, and ironed fabric. By the time she was finished, she was exhausted and wiped a line of sweat from her brow.

“Alright, Richie, go look in the mirror.”

Richie carefully walked to the full-length mirror on the other side of the room, cautious of the mass of red layers surrounding his legs. He was absolutely stunned by his appearance. He looked amazing. Better than he ever thought he could look.

“Bevvie,” he started.

“You like it?” 

“I love it,” he told her, turning around to smile at her.

“Yeah, but I don’t know what we’re going to do with it after we show the boys.”

“Its worth just keeping around,” he said, twirling around in the mirror to watch the ruffles fly around him.

“Don’t rip it,” Beverly warned him.

“Wouldn’t dream of it,” he said, still dazed by the dress.

When the others arrived, Richie opted to stay upstairs and make a big entrance.

“Where the hell is Richie?” Eddie asked.

“Scheming,” Beverly deadpanned and Eddie rolled his eyes.

“Gentlemen,” they heard Richie yell from the top of the stairs. “You aren’t prepared for the beauty you’re about to witness.”

Richie walked down the stairs as properly as his lanky limbs would let him, holding his head high and keeping his shoulders as stiff as possible. He did a little wave as all the Losers stared.

“Beverly, how the fuck did you get him to stay still long enough to make that?” Ben exclaimed.

“It wasn’t easy.”

“Hey!” Richie squawked. “You’re supposed to be admiring my beauty right now.”

“It looks fantastic, Bev,” Mike said. 

“It looks great. Even better if it wasn’t on Richie,” Stan laughed and ruffled his hair when Richie gave him a mean look.

They all admired Bev’s handiwork for a little while longer before Bill said, “Its lovely. Such a shame Richie doesn’t have the balls to wear it in public.”

Eddie giggled and Richie glared. “Says who?”

“You wouldn’t,” Beverly laughed, making Richie frustrated.

“Sure I would,” Richie stated, not one to be insulted like this. Of course he had the balls to do it.

“Okay then, how about you wear that to prom?” Stan suggested.

Richie could feel the blood rushing to his cheeks. He couldn’t wear this to prom. He could only imagine all the horrid things Bowers would say, but he also couldn’t back down. He had a reputation to never back down from a dare, and he wouldn’t ruin it for shit.

Richie looked at Eddie. Prom was next week and he asked Eddie a month ago. He gladly accepted, but now Richie wasn’t so sure he even wanted to go. Eddie didn’t seem to care. He was laughing along with everyone else at the horrified look on Richie’s face.

“You won’t,” Stan said, crossing his arms.

Richie didn’t want to, but he would do anything to wipe that smug smile off Stan’s face.

“I will. I’m going to. Just help me out of this fucking thing so I can take it home.”

Richie tried to keep a steady face as Beverly helped him step out of the dress and handed him back his t-shirt and jeans, but he was feeling apprehensive as fuck. What would people say? Word spreads fast in Derry.

He took the dress home and hung it in the closet before going to bed, but it stared back at him through the open door. He couldn’t sleep. He got up and shut the closet door, but it didn’t help.

When Saturday rolled around, Richie knew he couldn’t procrastinate any longer. He had to look at the dreaded thing. He carefully pulled the dress out of his closet and laid it on the bed. He looked around for a pair of dress shoes, and really wish he went shopping earlier. He pulled his cleanest pair of chucks out from under his bed and decided they’d have to do. 

Richie cautiously stepped into the dress. It was mostly open back, so he could zip it up without any help. He turned around and looked in the mirror. He had to admit, he looked pretty nice, but his hands were shaking and his eyes look even bigger than usually behind his giant glasses.

Richie went straight for the hair gel once he stepped into the bathroom. He tried relentlessly to tame his mess of curls, but he didn’t have much luck. He parted it the best he could instead of leaving it in shaggy bangs across his forehead and called it good. It looked better than it usually did, which was the most he could ask for.

Eddie was picking Richie up before going to get their other friends. Richie didn’t have a car, which he whined about constantly, but Eddie bummed one off a family friend once he finally convinced Sonia he was a safe driver. 

When he heard the doorbell ring from upstairs, he rushed to get it, almost tripping on the crimson fabric falling to his ankles.

“Eds,” he grinned as he opened the door.

Richie was silent for the first time since he met Eddie. He looked stunning. His suit was neat and pressed and wore a little red bowtie that matched Richie’s dress. His hair was neatly combed and gelled and his wide smile made him look even better.

“You’re actually going to wear it,” Eddie laughed.

“Of course I fucking am,” Richie replied charismatically. “Ready to get the others?”

Eddie nodded and took Richie’s hand in his own. From inside the house, his mother called, “Richard! Your legs are gonna get cold!”

“I’ll be fine, Ma. Love you!” he called back before shutting the door and clambering into the passenger side of Eddie’s car.

Eddie looked over the console at Richie and frowned. He took Richie’s hand in his own and squeezed it tight.

“You look beautiful,” he reassured. Richie relaxed his shoulders a little, hoping Eddie wouldn’t worry about him. “What are you worried about, ‘Chee?”

Richie shrugged, but Eddie threw him a questioning look. He couldn’t get anything past Eddie, and he usually didn’t try. He trusted him with everything, and he could never lie to him.

“Bowers, I guess,” he whispered. 

“Oh ‘Chee, I don’t think Bowers will even show up to prom,” Eddie said.

Richie nodded. “But what if others tell him?”

Eddie squeezed his hand again. “If Bowers comes at you, I’ll beat his ass.”

Richie rolled his eyes. “Babe, you’re like, almost a midget.”

“Fine, I’ll get Mike to beat his ass. He has ‘farm muscles.’”

Richie laughed. He felt safer with Eddie. He always had. Eddie was never anywhere near calm until he had to be for someone else, and that was one of the many things he loved about him. 

When they reached Stan’s house, Stan walked out the door looking as proper as ever. His hair was gelled neatly and he wore a light blue tie with his simple gray suit.

“Goddamn, Richie. I never thought you would go through with it,” Stan smiled, climbing into the backseat.

“You underestimated me, Staniel. Maybe next time you’ll estimate me.” 

Stan rolled his eyes but continued, “I have to admit, you pull it off.”

They were headed to the dance after Eddie picked up Mike. Bill and Beverly were riding with Ben. Eddie held Richie's hand as they drove across Derry and didn’t let go until they reached the school.

Derry High School was never superly financially stable, but the decorations in the gymnasium looked nice. The room was flooded with blue and purple lights and silky looking drapery hung across the walls. It was more than Richie was expecting. The dark lights made it nearly impossible to pick people out of the crowd from a distance. Richie’s nerves started to evaporate.

Bev, Bill, and Ben arrived just after the others. Beverly’s fiery hair stood out even with the fancy lighting. She looked absolutely stunning. Richie knew she made her dress herself, too, and it was even more beautiful than any other outfit he’d seen that night.

“Wow Rich, I should make dresses for you more often,” she said, admiring how it looked, even with Richie’s beat-up converse.

Richie smiled. He forgot about worrying what people were going to think. He got a few compliments from random students, but he wasn’t truly listening. He was focused on his friends. 

Mike and Bill were dancing together. Richie saw Stan leave, and he thought he saw him on the other side of the gym with Patty Blum. He didn’t know her very well. She was in his calculus class, but they rarely talked. He didn’t even know Stan knew her.

Beverly and Ben were laughing as Beverly tried to convince her boyfriend to dance. Richie shook his head. Shy Ben would do anything to make Beverly smile.

“Whatcha thinking about?” Eddie asked, tugging Richie towards the center of the room to dance.

“How good you look in that suit,” Richie said, waggling his eyebrows. Eddie dropped his hand and turned away, but Richie caught his shoulder and turned him back around. He giggled and bent down on one knee. “May I please have this dance, my spaghetti?”

“You’re so goddamn dramatic,” Eddie responded, pulling Richie up and putting his arms around his neck. He pulled him in close as Richie settled his hands on Richie’s waist. More couples flooded to the dance floor as the songs got slower and slower.

“Remember when you said you would never go to prom in middle school because you thought it was stupid?” Richie teased.

Eddie blushed, looking down at his nice dress shoes next to Richie’s chucks. “Yeah, but I wasn’t expecting someone to go with me then.”

Richie leaned closer to press a kiss to Eddie’s forehead. “I was expecting it.”

He wasn’t lying. He imagined taking Eddie to prom with him for years. 

[thefightingbull]

Well... That Was Unexpected (Teaser)

Thanksgiving. It didn’t seem like much, but since Jason had made amends with the family, it had become the single most important holiday of the year. Spending time at the manor and eating a home cooked meal that Steph and Alfred would likely spend hours working on the day before and the day after was a requirement. Or maybe they’d just cater it this year… He thought he’d heard something about that.

The only problem Jason foresaw with the upcoming event was that he was without a date. The year prior only Tim had a date in Steph. Bruce, Dick, Alfred, and Barbara were all single. Unfortunately for him, Barbara and Roy were dating, Bruce insisted that Selina show up, Alfred and Dr. Thompkins were an item and Dick was officially official with Kori again. Hell, even Damian was “dating” some girl from school and of course all of them would be at the dinner.

He scrolled through his contact list and sighed. He did not want to be the only solo act in the manor. It was hard enough being the undead Robin. Harder being the only one who’d been an enemy to his family at one point. The one who’d nearly killed some of them… He shook off the thought.

He was over the past. So was his family. He just didn’t want to be reminded of yet another way he didn’t fit in. He had to find someone, anyone to date. But who?

With a sigh he pocketed his phone and walked into the diner. He needed to get his head in the game. Some asshat was running around casting spells and causing all sorts of havoc. He’d gotten an alert from Deathstroke earlier that morning asking that they meet up. Apparently, the magician was one of the assassin’s contracts.

He really, really didn’t want to be bait. Magicians, wizards, witches? They all sucked. He couldn’t count the number of times he’d been royally screwed playing bait for a magician. He’d been turned into animals, de-aged, shrunk, aged, and once he’d even been turned into a freaking action figure. Yeah, magic wasn’t anything he liked messing with.

Still, if Deathstroke asked, he would do it. Mostly because he owed the cyclops a massive favor. Nextly, because he actually liked working with him. If Dick had half the brain he claimed to have, he would have watched, listened and learned. He would have come out of the engagements stronger, smarter, and more capable.

Jason was seated in the back of the restaurant in a corner booth, his back to the wall so that he could see the men and women coming inside. He ordered himself a coffee, black. Ever since he’d watched Dick dump diabetes type 2 inducing amounts of sugar in his, Jason had avoided the sweet substance. He didn’t even let people put fake sweeteners in his caffeine.

His eyes glanced upward as a few people came into the restaurant. A few guys and a girl. He looked back down at his coffee and took a sip as a very attractive man approached him. He was taller than most with blonde hair and the brightest blue eyes he’d seen in a long time. His shaggy blond hair and grimace did look a touch familiar but it was the way the man moved that really caught Jason’s attention. He approached with purpose and took a seat at his booth.

“Uh, beach is that way, dude,” he snarked as he pointed toward the coast.

“Shut up, Jason,” the man hissed.

He blinked in surprise as he scowled at the blond before him. “Who…?” He shook his head as he looked over the stranger. Blond hair, like platinum blond hair. The guy had stood at least six foot four and he was built like a fucking terminator, or rather, built like The Terminator. “Holy shit!”

“Took care of a witch a few days ago,” he snapped. “Seems he had a few allies that took offense.”

Jason couldn’t do anything but stare at the man. Did Slade realize how gorgeous he was? Truth be told he’d always had a crush on the older man, but he’d seemed untouchable before. Now, all Jason wanted to do was touch. He tried to refocus on the conversation, but it was difficult.

“What’s your problem?” Slade snapped at him.

“Nothing,” he answered immediately. “Just a little taken back, that’s all.”

Slade sneered. “Yeah, that’s why I need your help.”

“Gotta kiss a real boy to turn back into an old frog?” He couldn’t help but tease the old man.

Those sky-blue eyes rolled as Jason was grabbed roughly by the collar. The speed and the skill warned that despite being a good two or three decades younger than he should be and forced to see out of two eyes, Slade was still very much a dangerous man who didn’t always appreciate the lip.

“Your fairy tales are crossed,” Slade growled low. “I don’t know what the fuck I need, but I do believe the spell will resolve itself eventually.”

As soon as Jason was released, he nodded. “How soon?”

“Couple weeks at least, couple months at the most.” Slade frowned.

“So… What did you need me for?”

“I need to lie low,” he answered quietly. “You’re one of the few capes that owes me a favor and one that won’t drag me to Arkham or Blackgate.”

Jason nodded, but then paused. Wait, did that mean? “Slade,” he whispered as he leaned forward to make sure no one else could hear. “Are your enhancements… you know?”

“Gone?” Slade huffed. It would have been funny if it wasn’t so terrifying. “It’s not something I’m willing to explain.”

“But it leaves you vulnerable,” he reasoned and when he saw the glare added quickly; “Or well, as vulnerable as someone like you can be.”

Slade nodded. “You gonna help me or not?”

He leaned back and nodded. “I’ve got a few places you can hide out, not all of them are dumps,” he explained softly. He noticed a few women were staring at Slade as they passed by, especially the waitress who looked like she was trying to hype herself up. “Do you see the effect you are having on people?”

To Jason’s further surprise, Slade blushed! Like actually blushed. His cheeks turned red and he didn’t even scowl or growl at Jason. Yeah, he was a master of self-control with his enhancements, but it seemed he didn’t have the molecular level of control over his body at the moment.  He wondered if Slade was even aware of the way his cheeks turned red.

He was about to ask when the waitress finally sidled over. “Anything I can get you, handsome?” She grinned.

Slade jaw ticked as his fists clenched on the table. “He’ll have coffee, black and a Denver omelet. I’ll have the biscuits and gravy.”

The woman pouted a little, but made off to get their order put in. “Thanks,” Slade grumbled.

“This is really throwing you off your game, isn’t it?” Jason didn’t smile. He absolutely bit back the temptation to continue pestering the man about his predicament and be an adult about it.

Slade didn’t answer, obviously working on trying to control himself. Whatever he tried; it didn’t work. If looks could kill, Jason would be a dead man. The narrowed eyes, the unholy sneer on his lips? It was intense and not something Slade had been prone to in the past unless he wanted to strike fear into the hearts of any surrounding him.

“Jason,” Slade started, but was interrupted by the shout of another.

“Jay!”

Slade turned and Jason looked toward the front where Dick and his partner Devon Peterson had just entered. His brother was all smiles as he and the other cop approached them. He looked down at Slade and Jason almost wondered if Slade’s non-existent cover had already been blown. To be fair, Dick had the most familiarity with the assassin. They’d been enemies, reluctant allies, and had briefly shared a partnership in which Slade had tried to be something of a mentor.

If anyone had known what Slade looked like as a young man, Dick would make the most sense.

“Who is this?” Dick smiled as he looked down at the younger version of his former antagonist.

Slade looked like he was going to tease Dick as he was so used to doing, so Jason kicked him beneath the table. “Hey Dick, this is,” he glanced at Slade to be sure there would be no retaliation and to try and think. “This is uh… Well, he’s…” Shit. Maybe he should have allowed Slade to speak.

The only problem was that Jason had never trusted Devon. He’d been Dick’s partner for a year and seemed shifty as fuck. He frowned and looked to Slade, trying to impress upon him the knowledge or paranoia he had about the other cop. Not that Slade was a fan of cops anyhow. They usually made his life a touch more difficult than necessary.

“Fuck, you know what,” he stalled as he formed a really half-assed plan. “This is my boyfriend.”

Devon’s eyes widened in surprise. “You’re gay?”

“Wow, Jay, really?” Dick smiled. “How long?”

“C-couple of months. I just… you know how I am with relationships… I didn’t want to say anything until I was sure. You know what vultures the media can be.”

Dick nodded; the poor guy knew better than most, he really did. Jason almost felt bad for the oldest of Bruce’s kids. He’d been under a microscope the moment he turned eighteen. Tabloids ran a story on anyone they thought he might be dating and definitely anytime he’d broken up with them. Hell, there’d even been an article devoted to all of Dick’s one-nightstands a few months back.

“You gonna introduce me to your boyfriend?” Dick smiled, he and his partner still standing beside their table. Devon looked bored and a little irritated, but Dick was practically glowing.

“This is… Lance,” He almost cringed but frowned when he saw the furious expression on Slade’s face.

He couldn’t help it though. Slade looked like some kind of New Kid on the Backstreet or something. He was absolutely gorgeous and the first name that popped into his head was Lance. He was so fucking dead. Slade Wilson, who already had a porn star’s name, was now Lance.

“Hi, Lance, I’m Jason’s brother, Dick,” he offered his hand to Slade.  

Lance hid the rage from his eyes as he looked up at and took the offered hand. “That’s not my name. Your asshole brother just insists on calling me that because he thinks I look like a boyband loser,” Slade sneered. “My name is Liam, Liam Kelly.”

Dick laughed and nodded. “Yeah, Jason’s always been a bit of an ass,” he nudged Jason’s shoulder as he spoke. “Well, we’re just grabbing our breakfast to go, but it was a pleasure meeting you, Liam. I hope we see you at dinner this Sunday.”

“I doubt I’ll be in town,” Slade started.

“He’ll be there,” Jason insisted. “Now get outta here before your partner strangles you or something.”

Devon rolled his eyes before turning from them and walked back to the front of the diner without Dick. Jason really, really hated the guy. He wondered how corrupt the officer was. If he was just an asshole or if he was dirty, or maybe even a mole for someone.

“Sounds great!” Dick grinned to Liam. “Catch you later, Jay!”

As soon as he was out of range, Slade had him by the collar again. “What the Hell do you think you’re doing, Jason?”  

“Protecting you and doing myself a favor at the same time,” Jason explained. “Look, the family is always on me about not taking anything seriously. If they think I have a real boyfriend instead of some throwaway lover, they’ll stay off my ass for a bit. You dump me in front of them, like at Thanksgiving dinner at the end of the month? Dude, they’ll leave me alone for the rest of the season at the very least!”

“So, this will be your payment for allowing me to lie low? Putting my new persona in danger just so that you can have a date to some holiday functions coming up over the next four weeks?” Slade definitely looked against it. Still, Jason could only nod. “Fine, but you embarrass me or fuck me over in any way, and I swear I’ll gut you.”

[vampireharker]

Sunshine and Cigarette Smoke

Nervous Jonathan delays bringing up a relationship changing question by telling his girlfriend Mina of the time he unwittingly ruined a young lady's reputation when he was only fourteen. A writing exercise in relationship dynamic and worldbuilding for my upcoming Dracula webcomic. This series of exercises dig deeper into the details of the world that won’t fit in the comic.

Original universe. Dialogue heavy. Mature. Horny on main. There is no smut but the dialogue is a bit nsfw. 

Something about the sunny weather, the cool breeze, and the fact that there was no-one in this park made Mina feel particularly mischievous. Or maybe it was the wine Jonathan had brought along on their little spring picnic. Or the handsome way he lounged on the blanket against his elbows, head tilted back and cigarette hanging from his mouth as he took in the sunlight.

He was smoking again. He only ever did when he was stressing over something. Mina thought it had been his law exams this past winter, but he’d passed those with such high scores there was no way the Incorporated Law Society wouldn’t accept his Solicitor application even if they were taking forever to make a decision. But it was such a pretty day, and Mina didn’t want to ruin this nice moment by digging up a troubling subject so she sighed instead.

“Something wrong, babe?” Jonathan asked, popping the cigarette out of his mouth. He sat up, staring at her. “You sounded worried just now.”

Said the stress smoker.

Mina’s thoughts raced for an excuse, and then that mischievous mood she had been in came back full force. A proper lady had all the tools she needed in her frills to dig specific information out of a man, it was just matter of applying them with the right amount of effect. She smiled cutely, and her skirts ruffled as she scooted closer to him. The air was warm with late spring, so her gown had short sleeves and a low cut that revealed enough to be teasing, but covered enough to not be the talk of the town. She enjoyed pushing the boundary of modesty whenever she went out with Jonathan, mostly to tease him, and because she didn’t give a hoot about propriety when it came to him of all people. And it was hot out here. Sometimes the girls needed to breathe, too.

Mina snuggled against his shoulder, angling herself just right so that there would be little left to the imagination from his view. He smelled of warm musk and methanol and a natural sweetness just beneath his skin. His dark eyes, appreciating what she offered, suddenly narrowed in suspicion. “You’re up to something,” he said matter-of-factly with a slight frown.

“Mmmm, perhaps,” she replied coyly, not even bothering to feign innocence. Then her lips spread in a wide, playful grin. “I heard you last night.”

“Huh?”

“In the shower.”

Jonathan choked on the smoke he’d just inhaled, dark cheeks brightening with hot red. “I-I-I don’t know what you’re on about,” he wheezed.

“Oh, please. You were loud. Must have been quite the fantasy.” She pouted. “You could’ve invited me. We only get to stay with each other on the weekends, you know, when Tim's away.”

“It was all very quick, you wouldn’t have enjoyed it much,” Jonathan countered. He flicked the ash of his cigarette into the grass. “Sometimes you get the urge and have a go. Besides, you were busy grading essays, and I didn’t want to interrupt.”

“Sure, sure. What did you think about?”

He gasped. “My lady!” he cried in feigned shock. “I hardly think this is proper conversation. Also, nothing in particular. I told you, it was quick. It caught me by surprise.” He took a thoughtful drag, then flicked more ash away. “Damn, I don’t think I had that happen to me since I was in secondary school.”

“Wait, waitwaitwait, you wanked it back then?”

“Yes?”

“But you were so… so proper!”

“Um, I’m still proper, thank you, you’re the one bringing up an indecent subject like a Godless heathen, Miss Schoolteacher.”

She waved him away. “We’re focused on you, Mr. Harker. So bitch the pot. You can't just leave it at that.”

He shrugged. “What’s there to tell? I was your typical adolescent boy with healthy urges. …Why are we even going into this? Is it really that odd for you to picture it?”

“Yes.”

He burst out laughing. “Seriously? We had a tiff behind a dumpster once, the smell was quite awful.”

“That was after I took your innocence!” Mina cried. “Before I got my grubby mitts on you, you were this pure proper little virgin who didn’t know anything about anything, and now you're telling me that you wanked? Can't picture it, not with the way you were when we got together.”

“I wasn’t that bad, was I?”

“No, but that’s because I have fun teaching you. But I can’t help feelin’ a bit sorry for the poor girl that would’ve had to bear that responsibility if I hadn't came along.”

"Rude," Jonathan snorted. “Well, you came at a good time then because I had my eyes on someone else for a moment there, and it was all very humiliating.”

He took another long drag. “Okay,” he said, after turning his face to the side to release some smoke. “This should amuse you. I was fourteen so this was before you transferred to St. Joshua's. One of my mates had this older sister. Rebecca. Very pretty, smart like you; she was, I think, sixteen. Or almost sixteen. Anyway, her coming out was approaching very soon so I think she went a little wild before joining with high society.”

“Wild?”

“Did all kinds of improper things. The guys really liked her.”

“I think I would’ve liked her.”

“You two would’ve gotten on great because it gets worse. You know, I’m a young lad, weird body things are happening that I don’t know what to do with. I hadn’t became popular yet, so I was still a bit of a loser. Before the growth spurt.” It was true. Jonathan used to be below average in height until a growth spurt the summer he turned sixteen. Now he towered over most people at 188 centimeters. The top of Mina's head could barely reach his shoulder.

Mina nodded. “By the time I arrived, you had that gaggle of giggling girls at your heels and leaving notes in your locker.”

“And then you took them all away.”

“That I did. And we were rivals all the way up until our last year when you told me that you loved me.”

“But before then, everyone wanted us to date. They shipped us hard, it was weird. Little did they know…”  

Mina grinned widely. “The football team's shower room.”

“The bleachers.”

“The pool at night where I got that nasty UTI.”

“Sorry about that. Then there was behind the stage near the paint room.”

“And following that, the kitchen when we were on cafeteria duty.”

“The stables, but was that before or after the library?”

“Before the library, because then we moved on later that day to the dean’s office.”

“WE DID NOT.”

Mina laughed. “Oh, but we did, Mr. Harker. Right on his desk. You can block it from your memory all you’d like, but I have pictures to prove it. I wonder if he ever noticed the scratch marks on the wood?”

Jonathan sat there for a moment, looking completely mortified. “He had so much trust in me,” he finally said with a slight sob.

“Well, what else is the girl you’ve been playing at St. George with supposed to think when you invite her into an office alone?”

He paused, cigarette still in his hand. “…I don’t recall you being on top that time.”

“Oh, now the gentleman remembers.”

“I remember you on that desk, vividly, I just blocked out where that desk happened to be and now I know why. Did we clean up at least?”

“We're not animals. But now that we’ve gone over at least half the history of our canoodling, what about Rebecca?” Mina had to bring the conversation back to the original point before they started reminiscing too deeply about their very proper and not at all sexual relationship. “Within a few months, I had you in every way all over the school grounds, but you went absolutely nowhere with this girl?”

“Hey, fourteen-year-old boys are very intimidated especially by older women. Also, we’re getting to that. So there I am, before the growth spurt that would change my life, still kinda awkward and short and completely unnoticed by her. Or so I thought. Turns out, that wasn’t the case at all.”

Read more

[fishfingersandjellybabies]

Favors of Fiery Wits - fic

Characters: Damian Wayne, Dick Grayson, Jason Todd, Tim Drake, Ra’s al Ghul, Maya Ducard, Kathy Branden Pairings: robinpile, MayaKathy Summary: Despite all warnings and threats, Ra’s cashed the favor they all hoped he wouldn’t. A/N: This was never meant to be a series, but then it was and now it’s over. Damian is roughly 30 here, Tim around 40. Dick and Jason are obviously both older by various amounts. I don’t mention it but the older two are probably starting to gray a little bit. They don’t bang at the end, but just cuddle until like noon and then get delivery for every single meal after that. Let’s pretend it was a Saturday or something and they’re all lazy losers. Kid’s name is bad but I’m bad at character naming haha. I made a joke about Dick’s butt and I’m so sorry. Thanks for reading this garbage of a series! :)

All For One, One For All

~~

It was Jason who heard the phone buzzing on the nightstand. One of four, and he waited a minute to listen to the pattern, before lazily calling:

“Damian.”

He blindly slapped around for the phone until he felt his fingers wrap around it, then picked it up and flopped over, holding it in the air over the three lying next to him.

(Tim huffed when Jason’s elbow accidentally hit him in the face.)

A second later the phone was taken, the bed shifted, and Damian quietly mumbled, “This is Damian.”

Jason curled into Tim’s side, trying to drift back off even as he heard the mumbled voice on the line. But without warning, the bed jolted, and he opened his eyes to see Damian, only a shadow in the midnight darkness, sitting straight up.

The voice on the line mumbled for another few seconds. Then there was silence. But when Damian spoke again, it was soft, but wide awake.

“I’m on my way.”

Jason tried to blink away his sleep as Damian stood up. Dick, whom he’d been wrapped around, moaned at the loss, but curled into Tim’s other side to maintain his warmth, probably assuming Damian would be back in a few moments.

But judging by the fact that his first stop was the dresser, where he pulled out multiple sets of clothing, then disappeared into the closet and came back with a duffle bag, Jason doubted that would be the case.

“Dames?” He whispered. He saw Damian stiffen. “Where’s the fire?”

“It’s nothing, Todd.” Damian returned as gently as he could. “Go back to sleep.”

“Where are you going?”

“…Nowhere of importance.” Damian offered. “Go back to sleep, Jason. I’ll…be back in a few days.”

“That sounded less than confident.”

But before Damian could answer, Dick asked sleepily, “Who was on the phone?”

Damian didn’t even offer an excuse.

“Damian?” Dick tried. Tim shifted between them, trying to push up onto his elbow. “Who was on the phone?”

Jason’s eyes were adjusting to the darkness now, and he could see that Damian had turned away from them, refused to look in their direction. He glanced at the clock on the nightstand: 3:41am.

“Damian?” Dick asked again, almost in a whine. He clearly wanted to go back to sleep. Wanted Damian to return to his side. “Who called you? Was it Bruce? Does he ne-”

“It was Ra’s.”

Tim became rigid under Jason’s hands, and Dick jerked up just as fast as Damian originally had.

“No.” Dick growled. “You’re not going.”

“I have to.” Damian pushed back, resuming his haphazard packing. “You know that.”

“You don’t.” Dick shook his head.

“Oh, so you want him to come collect Drake instead?” Damian spit, already stressed and frustrated. “Just let me go take care of this. I’m not asking you to come with me. In fact, I’d rather you didn’t. Now go back to sleep, all of you. It shouldn’t take me more than a few days. When I return, we can celebrate finally being free of that twat of an old man.”

Dick shook his head again in anger, clearly biting his tongue. He glanced back at Tim and Jason. “…What’d he ask you to do?”

“He didn’t say. Just said he was redeeming his favor and to arrive in his company posthaste.” Damian explained, throwing his clothes in the bag. “So the sooner I get this done, the sooner I’ll be home.”

“Yeah, pass on that shit.” Dick hissed, throwing the covers off himself and standing. He stomped over to Damian and took hold of his elbows. The two stared at each other in the dark, Dick’s face stern, Damian’s guilty, silently conversing. Eventually, Damian sighed and looked away, and Dick gathered him up in his arms.

“Damian’s going to finish packing, and I’m going to go get the jet and gear ready to go.” Dick called over to the bed. “Jason, I’ll trust Tim to you, along with any other previsions we may need.”

Jason nodded as Dick released Damian and quickly left the room. Then, after a second of hesitation, he rolled practically on top of Tim, apologetically kissing his cheek. “…You doing okay?”

“No.” Tim said shortly, leaning into Jason’s face. “I hate this. I hate Ra’s.”

“We all do.” Jason soothed. “But we can’t let him go on his own. And, you’re going to be mad, but I agree with Damian – we can’t not answer the call.”

He felt Tim swallow. “…What do you think he’s going to ask him to do?”

“I don’t know, love.” Jason admitted. “I just…have no idea. So, we’ve just got to…hope for the best and prepare for the absolute worst, I guess.”

Damian suddenly appeared next to the bed, yanking the drawer of the nightstand open and digging through it. Jason carefully rolled off of Tim, allowing him to sit up, and reached out for Damian’s wrist.

“I’m sorry I gave you the phone.” He whispered.

Damian smiled sadly, and leaned down to kiss them both.

~~

It wasn’t like the last time they arrived at the compound. The assassins weren’t poised to strike this time. Instead, they just lined the walls, hands on weapons. Welcoming them, but cautiously.

Also unlike last time, it wasn’t Damian storming through the halls like an angry bull, but Dick. Fists tight to his side, and every step a stomp.

Damian didn’t try to comfort him. Just walked side by side with him, glancing at him every few minutes. He understood the other’s anger, obviously.

Jason and Tim brought up the rear, leisurely holding hands.

As they approached the doors, two League members silently opened them. When they crossed the threshold, Damian gently hooked his fingers into two of Dick’s, and gently tugged him to walk behind him. Dick begrudgingly allowed it.

Ra’s was slowly standing from his throne as the four made their way across the floor. Dick, Jason and Tim stopped about three-fourths of the way, watching as Damian stood at his grandfather’s feet.

“Damian.” Ra’s sneered.

“Old man.” Damian returned just as rudely. He crossed his arms. “Let’s get this over with.”

Ra’s chuckled, but turned back to his chair and picked up a folder that had been tucked along the arm. He flipped it through the air and Damian caught it with ease.

Damian opened silently, skimming the front page. Suddenly, his head shot up. “You’re not serious.”

“Very.” Ra’s nodded gravely, like the task upset him.

“What?” Dick stepped forward, trying to peek over Damian’s shoulder. “What does he want you to…”

“I need him to steal a child.” Ra’s called cheerfully.

“What.” Tim called.

“No.” Dick declared. “He’s not doing that.”

“Ah, ah, Mr. Grayson.” Ra’s raised a finger. “You remember the stipulations of the deal – he cannot refuse.”

“And you remember what I promised.” Dick growled, stepping towards the thrown. “If you cashed this favor, I would-”

“Grayson.” Damian called. “Relax.”

Dick spun around. “We’re not stealing a kid.”

“We are not.” Damian agreed. “I am.” A pause, to glance back at the file in his hands. “And it’s not a child. It’s an infant.”

“Damian-”

“Richard.” Damian shot back. “I made an oath. For Timothy’s life and for my own. I have to do this.” Then softer. “Trust me.”

Dick stared at him. God, he wanted to. Trusted him in every other aspect of his life.

“Please.”

And he didn’t know why, but he thought he saw something in Damian’s eye. A secret? Or a plan, perhaps?

He glanced back to Tim and Jason. Tim was just as frustrated as him. Arms crossed and turned away. Jason had his hands in his pockets, watching the scene quietly.

“…Fine.” Dick sighed. He gave one last furious glance to Ra’s before storming past Damian back towards the doors. “Let’s get going, then.”

“Safe travels, dear grandson.” Ra’s hummed. “To you and your lovers.”

He didn’t need to see Ra’s to know he was smiling.

~~

There was silence on the plane.

Dick and Tim refused to speak. Too angry at Ra’s for the favor he’d chosen for Damian to complete. But then conflicted all the same. Because Ra’s didn’t ask him to kill the child, or even the parents. Just steal the child. Steal the baby. No murder, no bloodshed. Just…theft, if they got down to technicalities.

But. Still.

Jason wordlessly flew the jet. Damian sat as his copilot, reading through the file Ra’s had handed him, over and over.

“…I know the other two are pouting.” Jason mumbled after twenty minutes or so. “But you mind giving me the deets on this job at least?”

“Certainly.” Damian sniffed, sitting up slightly. “A baby boy. Almost a year old. Located in Russia.”

He glanced to the back of the plane. Tim was glaring at a wall as he twirled a spoon in a cup of tea. Dick was sitting in a seat, staring blankly out the window.

“Would you two like to hear the next part? It might make you feel better about what I’m doing.” Damian called.

Tim shook his head. “I’m just…you agreed so quickly, Damian. It’s like you didn’t even think about what you were agreeing to.” Tim looked over at him, and looked anguished. “And I know you love me – I do. And I understand you’re doing this to keep me safe, and by extension yourself. But…I’m not worth ripping a child from his family. I’m not.”

“It pains me to say it, but I agree, Beloved. None of us are worth someone else’s pain and suffering.” Damian said plainly. “That’s why I want you to listen to me. Will you do that?”

Tim looked at Dick, who hadn’t looked away from the window, and sighed, stepping towards the cockpit. “Hit me.”

Damian held up the file, like he was reading a storybook to children. “The lab his bio-chamber is being held in is in Chernobyl, along the Ukraine-Russia border.”

“…His what.” Tim whispered. Damian glanced up, and almost smirked. Dick was watching him now, with wide eyes that matched Tim’s.

“His bio-chamber. Like the womb I was grown in, or the tube your friend Kon-El was.” Damian tugged a picture from a paperclip and turned it for the others to see. A long vertical tube, with a tiny baby inside. Scientists standing around it. It was dated almost a year ago, around when the baby would have been born.

Dick stood and rushed forward now, taking the photo. Damian gave it to him, and pulled out another photo. A baby lying on a medical table. More scientists standing around. A needle dragging blood from his arm. It was dated a month or two prior.

“The intel Ra’s gave us seems to think the baby is still at the same lab, being raised underground, more or less.” Damian continued. “And being trained as I was – to be a master in everything.”

“Fuck.” Tim breathed, taking the second picture from Damian.

“Who runs the lab?” Jason growled. He hadn’t attempted to look at the photos, and Damian assumed he wouldn’t. Not when his own anger was growing now. “Or funded the project to create a baby?”

Damian flipped through the pages again. “My guess is the funder is the paternal DNA donor.” He held it up for the three to see. “Lex Luthor.”

“He’s trying to create another human-Kryptonian hybrid.” Tim declared. “Just like Conner all over again.”

He reached for the paper – a DNA test – but suddenly Dick reached out and snapped it away first.

“Damian…” He gasped. Eyes round and sad as he glanced up. Damian watched him expectantly. “The mother…”

“Yes.” Damian nodded. “I saw.”

“What?” Jason glanced back from the controls. But then he looked at Damian, and his gut told him what the answer was.

Tim leaned over, as Dick’s shoulders slumped and he said, “It’s Talia.”

Tim gaped and stared at Damian, who gave him a tired smile. “Now you see why I didn’t need to think too long about retrieving the baby.”

Dick stared at the paper even as Tim pushed past him and dragged Damian into his arms. Damian allowed the gesture. Appreciated it, truly, and thanked Tim for it with a soft kiss to the corner of his lips.

“But why?” Dick asked. “They both tried this decades ago and it didn’t work. Why again, after all these years?”

“If at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.” Jason huffed bitterly. “But with Luthor? That’s out of left field.”

“She’s got the brawn, he’s got the brain.” Tim thought out loud, shifting to let Dick take the whole file from Damian’s hands. “Objectively, their chances for raw talent is good.”

“And it was a consenting deal.” Dick read out loud as he skimmed the folder. “There’s a contract here that they both signed.” He furrowed his brows. “With a pen and blood.”

“Okay, I’m real over these fucking blood oaths, have I mentioned that?” Jason snapped. “God, you al Ghuls are fucking ridiculous.”

“So what’s the end game?” Dick wondered aloud.

“At this point, does it matter?” Damian asked wearily. “Neither of them are suitable parents, not that I believe either of them are actually there. And whatever they created a life for can’t be good. Nothing that an innocent child deserves, at least.”

“So, in a way…” Jason almost sang, smirking as he reached out to squeeze Damian’s knee. “We aren’t stealing anything at all. We’re rescuing.”

“You can’t turn this around and make us the good guys, Jay.” Dick scolded, even as Damian returned Jason’s smile. “It’s just an…overall bad situation.”

“Because we might be getting a baby out of a lab…” Tim sighed, leaned his head on Damian’s. “But remember who we have to give the baby to afterwards.”

Damian leaned his weight back against Tim’s, reached up and squeezed the hand on his shoulder. “I have a plan for that.”

Tim looked at him expectantly. But Damian said nothing more, sliding out of Tim’s embrace and turning his attention back to the plane’s mechanics.

~~

It was decided that Damian would be the one to do the proper heavy lifting. The actual stealing bit.

The other three got to do the fun part. They got to beat up the guards.

And they had fun with it, like they always did whenever they got the chance to work together in the mask. They laughed and hollered. Kicked and punched. They even flirted, and snuck kisses between knocking the gunmen unconscious or breaking their legs.

They were surprised, though, about the true lack of guard. Sure, there were twenty or so for the small lab. But their weapons were average. And even the scientists who appeared mid-battle seemed to have no fighting skill whatsoever. Just watched in fear even as they ran for their lives out of the building.

There were no injuries on them. Damian seemed to have spared them, or they gave up without even an inkling of a fight. Which, in the end, was probably for the better.

Still, by the time they were done their task, Damian had not returned, and there’d been no cry of a baby either, or even any hint that one existed.

It was about ten minutes of waiting before Jason gave it up with a huff, calling out for their fourth as he began to explore the area. Tim and Dick followed, with Tim deciding to dismantle and destroy any machine they passed along the way.

Eventually, in a lull of silence, Dick held his hand out for both of them to stop and listen. There was music. Soft, but coming from nearby. A lullaby, it sounded like. Something sweet and twinkly.

Tim pushed the others out of the way and took lead rushing towards the sound. There was still no childish cries, or voices. Just the music.

It was a room around the corner, right in the middle of the hall. The door was open, they could see soft light spilling out of it, spinning in shapes of animals and stars against the opposite wall.

They slowly walked towards it, their hearts in their throats.

What if they were wrong? What if Talia or Lex were here? What if there’d been more guards around the child? What if Damian had been struck down again? What if this was all a ruse – there was no child?

What if…what if…?

But no. An instant relief washed over them as they reached the nursery. Because Damian was there, right inside the small room, a tiny child looking eerily similar to him in his arms, cooing as it reached up for his nose.

The music was coming from the spinning nightlight on a nearby table, and Damian was swaying to it lightly as he smiled to the baby.

They watched for a moment, and now it was Dick’s turn to lead, as he stepped into the room, and sandwiched the baby between himself and Damian.

“Boy?” Dick whispered. The baby glanced at him and squealed in greeting.

Damian nodded in confirmation. “No name. His caretakers informed me they just called him by pet names.”

“Jesus.” Jason growled. “Any signs of mom and dad?”

“No. They check in every six months. Apparently they’d visited two or so weeks ago, so weren’t scheduled for another visit for ages.” Damian glanced up at Dick, who was looking at the baby in awe. “He has…things. I couldn’t carry him and them, so was waiting for you.”

Dick smiled at him, kissing his forehead. “You got it.”

The other two entered the room as well. Jason took Dick’s place in front of Damian as Dick and Tim began to gather toys, clothing and baby supplies.

They left the small weapons they found on a corner table.

“…He looks like you.” Jason noted quietly, wrapping what he hoped was a reassuring arm around Damian’s waist. Damian was concerningly quiet. Smiling at the child, but showing no other emotion otherwise. That probably wasn’t a good thing. “…You could be his dad, even.”

“I know what you’re implying.” Damian shook his head, even as he leaned into Jason’s half-embrace. “But no, we are not raising this child ourselves.”

Jason sighed, brushing the baby’s hair off his forehead. “We can’t give him to your grandpa, Damian. We can’t. You and I both know what he wants him for. He’s no better than Talia.”

Damian nodded. “That’s why I have a plan.”

“Gonna share with the class?” Jason asked as Tim came up beside them, diaper bag in tow.

“Later.” Damian hummed, twisting out of Jason’s hold and out of the room, as Dick grabbed the last few things. Jason huffed in annoyance as the three followed him out.

The guards were all still down as they reached the outer room once more, but Damian paid them no mind anyway. He was utterly relaxed, and it had the other three on edge.

“We are…saving him, right?” Tim asked as they got outside.

“I have a plan.” Damian repeated simply.

“…Okay.” Tim sighed, coming up to Damian’s side. “Can we…give him a name, at least?”

“It’s not our place to.” Damian hummed. “He’ll get one soon enough.”

As they walked to their plane parked in a clearing nearby, they suddenly came across the huddle of scientists that had run. Damian stopped as they walked by them, looking at them with an emotionless, almost regal, glare.

“When Talia al Ghul and Lex Luthor come calling.” He announced. “You tell them who stole their newest pet project.”

A pause, to let that sink in.

“You tell them Ra’s al Ghul sent his assassins to destroy his daughter’s work and steal the child for a new vessel.” Damian explained. And then, to everyone’s surprise: “And you tell them that the assassins made a mistake, and the child died in transit.”

Everyone, from Dick, Tim and Jason to the scientists stared at each other, bewildered.

“Tell them that, or I will come back and personally haunt you the rest of your days.” Damian promised. “Understood?”

The scientists, some still crying in fear, nodded vigorously.

Apparently satisfied, Damian nodded, and continued his leisurely pace back to their jet.

The rest of the walk was silent. It wasn’t until they were back on the plane, the doors shut and Dick, now piloting, was getting them off the ground, that Dick murmured: “Damian…”

“I have a plan.” Damian sighed as he plopped into the copilot chair once more, the baby still tight in his arms, almost asleep now.

“You’ve said.” Dick snapped. “And now you need to tell us what that damn plan is.”

Damian seemed to consider for a moment, staring out the front windshield. Jason was leaning against the wall beside Dick, and Tim was leaning against him. It was clearly a three-against-one situation, despite no one actually saying so.

After the silence, Damian clicked his tongue, and hit a few buttons. A second later, a screen popped up on his side of the window. Within it, one Jonathan Kent, covered in dirt as he climbed down from a tractor.

“Howdy, D.” He grinned, readjusting his baseball hat. A dog barked in the background. “Whatcha need?”

“Are they still in Costa Rica?” Damian asked.

“Far as I know, living right outside the capital.” Jon sniffed. “That’s where my last letter came from, anyway. Though you said you’d gotten yours from Vancouver…”

“Yours months came after mine.” Damian reminded. “And on mine they said they were on vacation.”

“True.” Jon nodded. Then glanced around and frowned. “Damian, are you holding a bab-”

“We must go. Tell Conner to expect a call from Drake soon.” He reached forward and hit a button. Jon disappeared. “Set a course for Costa Rica.”

“Why?” Dick demanded.

“Because that’s where we’re taking him.”

“What?” Jason barked. “Why are we taking him to Costa Rica?”

“Ra’s is expecting him.” Tim added. “I…kind of thought your plan would be to take the baby there and then fight Ra’s for him. That way he couldn’t say you broke your deal…”

“I’m not breaking my deal.” Finally, Damian smiled. Warm, genuine and so him. “As far as I’m concerned, I’ve completed my owed favor. And now Drake and I are both free of any hold my grandfather and his league have on us.”

The baby suddenly grumbled, and Damian looked down to tend to him. The others waited patiently.

“…Grandfather demanded I steal a child.” Damian said almost cheerfully. “He never said I had to bring him said child.”

Dick, Jason and Tim were all silent, mouths open in shock and realization.

Then, Jason: “You fucking little shit.”

Damian grinned wider, glancing to Dick. “That’s why I was trying to make you shut up when he told me what he wanted. I didn’t want to give him the chance to include that stipulation.”

Tim pushed from Jason’s side, slowly walking up to Damian as he talked. He stared down at him, eyes darting between the baby and the man holding him.

“We stole the baby. My favor has been completed.” Damian said proudly. He looked up at Tim, reached out to tenderly take his hand. “Now we will take the baby to where it will be safe, and then enjoy the rest of our days together.”

Tim continued to stare at him, before mindlessly blurting, “I have never been so attracted to you in my whole life.”

Damian laughed, and kissed his knuckles.

“Yeah, but Costa Rica?” Dick asked. “Who do you know in Costa Rica? Who does Jon know in Costa Rica?”

“Friends.” Damian said, tugging Tim downwards to kiss him proper.

~~

They had almost reached their destination when Damian’s personal cell phone rang. Dick glanced first at the phone sitting on the dashboard, then the chair to his right – where Damian was fast asleep.

Jason had taken the baby – also asleep – a while ago, and frowned at the caller ID. “It’s gramps.”

Dick was going to ask if they should answer it, but Tim appeared from the back of the plane and hit the button to do so before he could.

“Ra’s.” He hummed.

“Timothy.” Ra’s returned, already on speaker. “When should I expect your troop?”

Tim smirked. “Whatever do you mean?”

Ra’s sighed dramatically. “I’m in no mood to play, Timothy. I’m a very busy man.”

“As are we.” Tim sneered.

“Where is my child?” Ra’s pushed.

“We don’t know where Talia is. Didn’t run into her.” Tim mocked. He leaned against the arm of Damian’s chair, softly glanced at him and reached out to run his fingers through his hair. Damian didn’t wake, but shifted unconsciously to lean into Tim’s presence.

“The infant.” Ra’s snapped. “The one you’ve been tasked to deliver to me.”

“Oh?” Tim asks curiously. “Last I checked, our mission was only to steal an infant. Not deliver.”

There was a pause of silence on the line. Tim kept the grin on his face. “Timothy-”

“Think about what you said, old man.” Jason called, almost too giddy. “Think about exactly what you said when you explained what you wanted him to do.”

Another moment of quiet. They could feel the Demon’s anger growing, even through the phone.

“Damian completed his promise.” Tim whispered. “He stole a child.”

“And if you come after him or Tim now, you break your oath.” Jason reminded. “Your motherfucking blood oath.”

“…You bastards.” Ra’s hissed. “You dirty, honorless street rats-”

“Sticks and stones, Ra’s.” Jason yelled over him. The baby stirred and began to cry. “And don’t think for a second that I won’t shoot you in your goddamn face if you break that oath and show up in our lives ever again. That I won’t do it every single time, no matter how many times you throw yourself in that stupid Lazarus Pit.”

Another moment of waiting. Dick forced himself to keep his eyes on the sky around them. Jason turned away to shush the baby. Tim stared at the phone, absently rubbing at Damian’s shoulder.

“…Tell my grandson congratulations.” Ra’s murmured. “He has never been able to beat me. Not ever, in his whole life. Always too weak.” A low, bitter chuckle. “But there is a first time for everything. And I supposed he saved his victory for when it mattered to him the most.”

Dick, Jason and Tim all smiled to themselves.

“I will keep my oath.” Ra’s declared, but with a tone that suggested maybe not always. That the four of them should always be on their toes anyway, just in case.

Then the line clicked, and the call was ended.

~~

It was sunset by the time Dick landed the plane on a grassy hill in the middle of nowhere. The skies were a deep, bloody red, with tinges of a fiery pink and golden yellow.

Damian departed the jet first, the dozing baby tight in his arms. The others exited in a line behind him, looking around the area in awe. Rural, full of hills and animals and just pure, blissful beauty. A perfect getaway from the stresses of the modern world.

There was a single, small house nearby. A livestock pen and vegetable field close by. A few growing apple trees. Damian walked swiftly towards the front door, and paused when he reached it, before knocking loudly.

A few seconds, enough for the others to catch up to him, then the loud twist of an old door knob, and it was swung open.

A woman stood there. Dark skin, short black hair held back by a headband. Taller than Damian by a head or so.

Damian smiled up at her. “Maya.”

“Damian?” She asked, a mixture of confusion and honestly-not-really-surprised-at-all. At the name, there was the sound of someone else moving in the house. “What are you doing here? And why didn’t you call?”

Another woman appeared around the corner. Blonde, with freckles. A single braid draped across her shoulders.

Jon’s old friend Kathy Branden.

“To ask a big favor.” Damian glanced behind Maya, and nodded to Kathy as she approached.

“No Jon?” Kathy asked.

“Not this time.” Damian said apologetically. “Kathy, I don’t believe you’ve ever met my…boyfriends.” He gestured behind him. “Dick, Jason and Timothy.”

“Call me Tim.” Tim offered when it was his turn to shake her hand. “I think we met at Jon’s birthday party a few years ago?”

“That’s why you look familiar!” Kathy laughed.

“Beloveds, this is my old friend Maya, and her wife Kathy.” Damian offered.

“Long time, Maya.” Dick smiled. “Didn’t know you moved down here. Or got married.”

“Eloped. And we travel a lot, but really like it here.” Maya waved off. “But that’s not important. What is important is why Damian Wayne is currently at my front door holding a baby.”

“Long story short, we need you to take him. Hide him and keep him safe.” Damian cut to the chase, shifting to give the women a better look at the infant in his arms. The boy blinked sleepily. “…You two did always say you wanted children.”

“…Whose baby, though?” Maya asked, even as Kathy reached out to take the baby’s hand. The infant wrapped a tight fist around her finger. “I mean, I can’t imagine he’s yours…”

“My mother’s.” Damian said matter-of-factly. “And Lex Luthor’s.”

Kathy’s eyes flashed. Maya frowned.

“He was raised like I was – artificially. Starting to be trained to kill. And my grandfather wants to harm him.” Damian said, even as Kathy stepped forward and held her arms out. Damian instantly handed the child over. “So we stole him from the laboratory and ran away.”

Maya stared at him, even as Kathy began cooing instantly. Her dark eyes silently darted to the three men behind him, questioning.

“He doesn’t have a name.” Damian murmured. “And even if you and Kathy decide you cannot help him, I’d love for the honor of giving him one to go to you both.”

Maya let her eyes settle back on him, then her face relaxed, and she sighed dramatically. “Alright, alright, get your asses in here. Better to talk over a beer or two than on a front porch, no?”

Damian smiled as Maya gestured to the four to come inside, and stepped forward to hug her even as the others followed Kathy into the abode.

When the others were far enough away, Damian squeezed Maya as tight as he could, relishing in her return of the embrace, and whispered a warm, “Thank you.”

~~

It was Tim who heard the phone buzzing on the nightstand. One of four, and he waited a minute to listen to the pattern, before lazily calling:

“Damian.”

He blindly slapped around for the phone until he felt his fingers wrap around it, then picked it up and flopped over, holding it in the air over the three lying next to him.

(Dick huffed when Tim’s elbow accidentally hit him in the face.)

A second later the phone was taken, the bed shifted, and Damian quietly mumbled, “This is Damian.”

Nosy, the other three, in various stages of not-quiet-sleep, listened. Jason flopped his arm across Damian’s hips, nuzzled into his waist. Tim curled around Dick like an octopus, as Dick stretched his arms above his head, dropping them onto the pillow.

There was a time, not so long ago, just like this. Where Damian was handed the phone for an early-morning call, and had to go face his grandfather for both his and Tim’s lives.

But this time, after the pause, Damian…laughed.

“Oh, is that so?”

The voice that answered was female. When Dick glanced over, he saw a smile plastered to Damian’s face.

Another laugh. “You only call him my little brother when he’s in trouble.”

Jason gave a little groan and tugged on Damian’s waist. Damian, surprisingly, fell back into the mattress, turning into Jason’s embrace.

“Well sure, but I should warn you – Todd is incredibly naked.”

The next second Damian’s phone binged, and he held it up, revealing a video call of Maya, holding the baby she and Kathy gladly accepted from him – on the condition all four of them remain in the child’s life as well.

Samuel Cobb Ducard, they named him. Little Sammy.

“Hi, Sammy.” Dick called, leaning on Jason’s shoulder. He waved, and the toddler waved enthusiastically back. “How are you?”

“He’s terrible.” Maya said, but warmly. Kathy walked by in the background. Tim leaned across the pillows to also be in frame. “Kid can barely walk and he somehow snuck a goat into his nursery. A goat, Damian!”

Damian laughed again. “I don’t see how this is my fault.”

“Same DNA, little bro.” Maya scolded. “I’m assuming he also has your love and mystical ability of obtaining animals. So I’m going to need you to tell me how to turn it off.”

Damian snorted.

“…Nah, really we didn’t call for much.” Maya laughed herself. “Sammy was just missing his ‘uncle’ Dami and wouldn’t stop screaming until we called. So,” She glanced at her son. “Happy now?”

Sammy clapped and giggled.

“You boys get back to sleep. Sorry we woke you.” A quick wink. “Please use condoms if you decide to have some morning fun instead.”

“Goodbye, Maya We’ll call later.” Damian groaned. Maya cackled as she ended the call.

“…I like her.” Tim decided, shifting back into their cocoon of a blanket.

“Hm.” Damian mumbled, dropping his phone to the floor and curling into Jason’s embrace, throwing his arm over Jason’s waist. “I like this better.”

“What?” Jason sighed.

“Freedom.” He whispered. “You. This.”

“Don’t get sappy.” Tim mumbled in a whine. “I’m too tired to be sappy.”

“I like to be reminded that you’re all safe, and we’re rid of my grandfather.” Damian continued. “Sammy’s calls always remind me of that.”

“All thanks to you and that brain.” Jason kissed his forehead as Dick silently took Damian’s hand. “You know what I like best?”

“Dick’s butt.” Damian and Tim said in unison.

“First off, no, I’m not a butt guy, you know that.” Jason scolded, squeezing Damian and slapping at Tim’s arm. “And second off, what I like best is the fact that there are no more goddamn blood oaths.”

Damian snorted, and Tim groaned at the bad joke. Dick laughed, as he wrapped his free arm around Tim’s shoulders, gave a quick kiss to Damian’s knuckles and leaned his face against Jason’s shoulder.

“Together. We’re together, safe and alive.” Dick hummed, closing his eyes, tightening his grip on Damian’s hand on the last word. “That’s what I like best.”

None of his lovers could disagree with that.

[nixonsmoviereviews]

"It" (2017)- Non-stop, bloody fun and a great return for the Stephen King classic! Often spooky. Frequently startling. Surprisingly funny. And oddly heartwarming.

For years now, the original Stephen King novel "It" and its subsequent made-for-TV adaptation have lived in the hearts of fans the world over. And for good reason- the tale of a group of children haunted by a shape-shifting creature with a preference to appear as a demonic clown is horror heaven for audiences everywhere. So another adaptation has long been rumored, and even entered production at several points in time. However, it wouldn't be until 2017 that the classic tale of terror returned. This time to the big screen in director Andy Muschietti's long-awaited new film. And as someone who grew up petrified of the 1990 TV-movie and who is aware of the book despite never having been able to read it, I'm very pleased to report that Muschietti's film is absolutely fantastic, and was everything I wanted it to be and then some! Absolutely petrifying, filled with devilish jumps and expertly crafted atmosphere... and also chocked full of a surprising amount of heart and humor, "It" is a winning achievement and one of the best King adaptations since "The Shining!" It's 1988 in the town of Derry, Maine- a place with a checkered and tragic past. A group of young friends collectively known as the "Loser's Club" all begin to independently experience strange and haunting hallucinations and visions... frequently involving a disturbing and twisted figure who calls himself "Pennywise the Dancing Clown." (Bill Skarsgård) As the Loser's Club grows and adds new members, they all slowly begin to realize their common plights, and dig deeper... eventually realizing that whatever Pennywise is has been tormenting the town for generations. And together, the eventually resolve to solve the mystery and stop this treacherous force once and for all... The greatest strengths at the film's disposal are the absolutely phenomenal cast of child actors, and a thoughtful script that delivers consistent laughs and a lot of heart despite also being filled to burst with non-stop scares. Jaeden Lieberher, Jeremy Ray Taylor, Sophia Lillis, Finn Wolfhard, Wyatt Oleff, Chosen Jacobs and Jack Dylan Grazer are all just perfect in their respective roles as a group of children haunted by a common supernatural threat, and they all knock it out of the park and have incredible and highly believable chemistry with one-another. You never for one second doubt their friendship, and they pull you into the film instantly- you can see yourself as a child in each and every one of them. Their banter is also completely adorable. They will certainly remind you of other, similar groups of child actors from classic films like "The Goonies" or "E.T.", and I see promising futures for each and every one of them. The script is also a ton of fun and is extremely well handled, paced and structured. The movie wisely gives us plenty of time to get to know the Loser's Club throughout the two-hour runtime, in addition to pacing out the scares quite well. There's never a single dull moment, and it all flows perfectly. Writers Chase Palmer, Cary Fukunaga and Gary Dauberman also make sure to keep an emotional core for each character- particularly Lieberher's "Bill", whom serves as a sort-of lead amongst the group after his younger brother Georgie was taken by Pennywise. You'll definitely find yourself misty-eyed more than once as you see his struggle to solve the mystery of what happened to his brother. Then there's the scares. Oh, boy... this is one creepy flick! While it was never overtly petrifying, the film does a remarkable job at racking up tension and paying off major scenes with some clever and sometimes subversive jumps and shocks. Director Muschietti revels in piling on nonstop, stylish atmosphere, and he delivers each scare very efficiently and effectively. Don't worry... this isn't a film where every jump is spoiled in the trailer... There are some real shocks here that even as a seasoned horror-veteran I just couldn't see coming. Unfortunately, I do have to bring up the elephant in the room and the reason I cannot bring myself to give "It" a perfect ten... And that is the performance Skarsgård gives as Pennywise. He's not bad. Trust me, he's not. But what he is... is inconsistent. When he's at his best, Skarsgård easily rivals the original and iconic take Tim Curry had in the 1990 film adaptation. Problem is... I think he plays it a bit too safe. He's trying so hard to be the creepy clown for a new generation that I found it a bit bland after a while. Because you knew he was only going to be playing it scary. And sure, it does work about the half the time, when he's actually trying to be overtly threatening. But the other half of the time? It just comes off as a bit forced. Thankfully, this is only a minor problem in an otherwise completely exquisite and sublime horror-film, so I can easily forgive it. With the benefit of a remarkable cast of child actors, a great mixture of horror and heart and a wonderfully eerie sense of atmosphere, "It" triumphs and excels as one of the biggest treats of 2017. It's an absolutely fantastic return to the screen for one of Stephen King's most iconic works, and it comes highly recommended from this fan. They nailed "It!" ...see what I did there? A near-perfect 9 out of 10!

[jaeminlore]

Confidence // Kim Seokjin

-

the prompt: could you please do a prince!seokjin fluffy scenario? au i used: “my parents are hosting a royal ball with neighboring monarchs and you noticed me, heir to the throne, shoving food into a bag to steal.”

words: 4425

category: fluff

author note: seokjin deserves all the love in the world i hope he knows how loved he is.

- destinee

-

Ruffles everywhere. When your mother told you that you would be attending a royal ball, your first thought was the assumption that you would get to pick out your own gown.

Your mother had different ideas, of course, and stuck you in a purple wool dress in the middle of summer. Layers of heavy material caused you to sweat and feel absolutely miserable.

And now you were in a ballroom surrounded a bunch of people, which equaled extra body heat. Your only hope was hiding behind the food table and hoping you could find a way to sneak out.

You stood there, fanning yourself with your palm. Then, a broad-shouldered man walked passed your vision, not noticing your presence.

You watched, amused, as he extracted a leather bag from his tuxedo and began to load pastries into it. Soon, you couldn’t keep in the giggles and you laughed out loud, nearly snorting at the sight.

When he noticed he was caught, the man ran away without looking at you.

“Wait!” You yelled, chasing after him. After all, he seemed much more fun than the party.

You chased him outside the ballroom, up a spiral staircase, and into a large bedroom suite.

The man turned around, and now in the full light, you could see it was Kim Seokjin, the son of the king who hosted the ball. He was also heir to the throne, causing you to wonder why he stole so much food.

“Why did you..?” You pointed to the bag still in the prince’s hands.

“I’m on a diet.” The prince said, rolling his eyes. “Mom says I’m gaining too much weight but if she thinks I’m going to limit myself to a healthy diet than she’s wrong.”

You giggled again. Seokjin looked at you strangely, “Who are you, anyway?”

“Oh!” You held your hand out for him. “I’m Y/n, Princess of the Eastern Kingdom.”

“You look hot,” Seokjin said, before his ears turned red and his eyes widened. “Not like that! Like, you’re sweating. Is your dress on too tight?”

You winced. “It’s wool. My mother wanted me to wear it.”

“I’ve got some clothes you could wear, if you want to change.”

“Really?” Your eyes brightened. “That would be great!”

“It would cool you down, at least.” Seokjin replied. He walked over to his wardrobe and extracted a long dress shirt and a pair of pants, along with a belt.

He handed them to you, “These should fit.”

You accepted the clothes gratefully and walked behind the dressing screen to shed your heavy outerwear.

Seokjin’s shirt reached down to your knees, so you tucked it into the pants he gave you. Even with the belt on it’s tightest notch, it was still a bit big on you.

Still, the fabric was breathable and you felt a million times better. You came out from behind the screen and smiled at Seokjin, who was busy eating a strawberry tart.

“Give me a twirl,” he said, a friendly smile on his face.

You did, twirling on your toes with a smile on your face. “Thanks, Prince Seokjin.”

“Call me Jin,” he said, waving away your formal speech. “Do you want some pastries?”

You gladly accepted, taking a bite of a lemon tart and falling into an easy conversation with the prince.

-

Friendship came quickly after that night.

Your parents had a lot of business with Jin’s parents, so the two of you found yourselves hanging out often. Mostly eating and gossiping, if you were honest.

“I’m just saying,” Jin spoke with his mouth full of chicken. “We should have a national Jin Day.”

“Isn’t that your birthday?” You replied, reaching for a wing. “I mean, the entire kingdom sends you flowers and gifts.”

Jin gave you a disappointed look, “Oh, Y/n…”

“What?” You took a bite of your wing while he picked up a drumstick.

“Flowers and gifts are nice, of course, but the love of the people is what you want.” He said, as if it was obvious.

“But you already have the love of the people,” you argued. “Heck, my people love you more than they love me.”

“Oh well that’s expected,” Jin replied jokingly. He laughed at your expression. “What?”

You threw a napkin at him. “Just eat your chicken, you arrogant loser.”

“Harsh,” Jin whispered as he bit into his drumstick. “Just because you’re insecure doesn’t mean you can take it out on me.”

“Well I’m sorry I don’t have your confidence,” you said, rolling your eyes.

“I can help you get it,” Jin said, a strange glint in his eyes. “Especially since you’re getting married soon.”

“Who says?”

“I overheard our moms talking,” Jin said. “And if you’re getting married, you need to have more confidence.”

“I don’t have any,” you replied. “Besides, who am I getting married to?”

Jin shrugged, “Another prince I assume. Now should we start with clothes or expression?”

“Expression,” you answered immediately.

You weren’t particularly fond of your body, and you knew whatever clothes Jin put you in might accentuate parts of your body that you didn’t want to see.

Jin noticed the waver in your expression, but he didn’t push anything. “Fine. We’ll work on your smile.”

“What’s wrong with my smile?” You asked.

“Absolutely nothing,” Jin said. “What’s wrong is that you don’t smile enough. Your new husband will want to see that pretty smile whenever he can. It’ll encourage him.”

You snorted. “Why can’t he look at his own smile in the mirror and be encouraged?”

Jin sighed, “Because, unfortunately, not everyone is like me.”

You laughed. “Stop, Jin.”

“See? That’s the smile,” he said, reaching his hand out to poke you in the shoulder. “You only show it when you’re laughing.”

Shrugging, you wiped your hands with a wet napkin. “I can’t help but smile when something is funny.”

“Well, learn to smile even when things aren’t funny,” Jin said.

“Fine.”

Sensing your sarcasm, Jin shook his head. “You’re impossible.”

-

“What is this?” You entered Jin’s room the next day, only to see a vanity set up with various make up and moisturizers.

“I’m going to figure out which make up style looks best on you,” Jin answered. “Sit down.”

You slumped onto the cushioned stool, seeing yourself in the mirror.

Jin came up behind you and bent down so he could see you in the mirror as he talked. “See, your stylists give you really dark make up, which is intimidation. Since your personality is far from intimidating, I’m going to give you a softer look.”

Finally realizing what was happening, you cringed. “You mean, I have to take all of this off?”

Jin nodded. “I need a clean slate.”

You hesitantly grabbed a makeup wipe and brought it up to your face. Then you set it back down. “I don’t know if you want to see my bare face. My skin isn’t that clear and my eyes look small without makeup.”

“Don’t worry about anything like that,” Jin said. “You’re pretty no matter what, okay?”

You exhaled. “Okay. I’m trusting you.”

“I know,” he said happily.

Soon all your makeup was off, and Jin was examining your face. He held up various concealers and foundations to find your skin tone.

His face was very close to yours, and you felt horribly self-conscious. Every time he made eye-contact with you, you couldn’t hold it and had to turn away.

“Y/n, be still,” Jin said. He grabbed your chin and slowly brought it in front of him. “You’ll have to look at me while I apply your makeup. No excuses.”

“Right.” you settled for closing your eyes. That way you wouldn’t have to see how close he was to you.

After a good hour or so, Jin finally announced that he was done. You opened your eyes slowly, struggling to gather your surroundings. You must’ve fallen asleep while he was doing your makeup.

“Here you go, Sleepyhead.” Jin handed you a hand mirror so you could inspect his work up close.

You were surprised to see a completely different person in the mirror. Where the usual, dark makeup used to hide your natural features from everyone, this new, light makeup only accentuated your features.

You weren’t sure if you liked it. This look made you look vulnerable to all of the opinions of the court.

What if they saw your true features and told you that you weren’t as pretty as they thought?

Your insecurities showed on your face once again, causing Jin to huff childishly.

“You really don’t see it?”

You looked up at your royal friend, who rolled his eyes at you. He gestured to the large mirror, where you could look at your reflection.

“That face is something to be confident about.”

You blushed, grateful for his words. Still, it would take awhile for you to get used to. You definitely wouldn’t turn confident just because of his words.

“I’ll try,” you said.

“That’s all I ask.”

-

The next month, Jin arrived inside your bedroom with three servants behind him. Each one held a few dress bags.

“What are you doing?” You asked, looking up from your desk.

Jin had the servants set the long bags onto your bed before bidding them goodbye. “I had my personal tailor make you a bunch of custom dresses.”

“How did you make them custom?” You asked.

“I got your measurements from your tailor,” Jin said nonchalantly.

Your eyes widened. “Please tell me you didn’t look at them!”

“Of course I did,” Jin said. “I helped my tailor personally.”

He said this proudly, but you were freaking out inside. Your proportions weren’t very… princess-y.

Your curves were in all the wrong places (if you even had any), not to mentions your boobs were way too small for any royal standard you knew of.

You had to wear a push-up bra and a corset every day just to have the appearance of nice proportions.

“Jin, I don’t wear dresses for my measurements.” You struggled to explain as he unzipped the first bag.

He pulled out the most beautiful gown you had ever seen. It was a one-shouldered dress, long and dark magenta in color.

“Jin, that’s beautiful.”

“I know,” he answered, a soft smile on his face. “It’s my favorite color, and I thought it would look prettiest on you.”

“You really spent a lot of time on this,” you remarked. “I’ll try it on.”

As you reached for it, Jin pulled back. “One condition. Where it without your corset and push-up.”

You stood there, horrified. “How do you know about those?”

“Your tailor told me,” Jin answered. “She told me you should wear them with the dresses. I told her that you would look prettier my way, so I ignored her advice.”

“Jin,” you said, “You’ve never seen me without those on. I look a lot different.”

“I’m sure you do,” Jin answered. “But different isn’t always a bad thing. Now go get dressed because your confidence in this area needs a lot of work.”

You obliged and walked behind the dressing screen. You unclasped the corset and exchanged your push-up bra for a smaller, strapless one.

The dress fit like a glove when you slipped it on. It felt comfortable, the soft cotton hugging your skin in all the right places. You looked down, and realized that your body didn’t look so bad. Albeit small, as if you handed reached puberty yet, it wasn’t all too unpleasant to see.

At least from your angle.

“I’m going to come out now,” you warned Jin. “But if it looks bad let me down gently, okay?”

“Just show me already, Worrywart.”

-

Jin had been lounging on your chaise when you came out.

As soon as he saw you, he felt his mouth go dry. He straightened into a sitting position as your shy figure came closer to him. He looked you up and down subtly, swallowing his saliva.

“It’s bad isn’t it?” Your voice snapped him out of his trance. You must’ve taken his silence as disapproval.

You must not have seen the look of obvious attraction in his eyes.

He cleared his throat and stood up. “It’s not bad at all, Y/n. You look beautiful.”

You shyly tucked a loose strand of hair behind your ear. “Do you really think so?”

Jin blinked and averted his eyes. The longer he looked at you the more his urge to grab you by the waist and kiss you grew.

Unknown to you, Jin had harbored a minor crush on you since the day you chased him up into his room.

Your curiosity only made him curious about you. When the two of you talked late into the night, eating sweets without a care in the world, Jin felt his heart beat just a bit faster.

Seeing all of your insecurities frustrated him. He wanted you to see what he saw. Not just in appearance, but in personality.

You were his best friend, but you were also the first person he had ever fallen in love with.

Seeing you in the dress he had picked out only spurred his feelings into physical desire.

He wondered inwardly if the man you were going to marry would think of you the same way he did.

Jin felt that he should. He thought you shouldn’t marry a man who thought any less of you than he did, and he thought the world of you.

In a short few months, Jin had become attached.

All this time trying to teach you to have confidence, and he had to ask himself if he would ever have the confidence to tell you how he felt.

-

Your mother didn’t like the dresses Jin picked out for you. She didn’t like the makeup Jin had chosen for you either.

When it came for your future husband to arrive at the castle, your mother confronted you.

“I want you to go back to your old look. You don’t look queenly with this new style. You look like a naive girl, not like a queen. Also, all of your late night eating dates with Jin have to stop. You’re gaining weight.”

You frowned and looked down at your outfit. You were happier in the dresses Jin picked out for you. You and Jin’s eating dates always calmed you down. Jin knew how you thought. He knew how to help you feel better about all your worries and fears. “Mother, Jin is–”

“You know,” you mother interrupted, “Maybe it would be best if you stopped hanging out with Jin. He’s really not a good influence on you.”

“Mother…” Hot tears pricked your eyes and you clenched them shut, struggling to keep yourself from crying. “Please don’t say that.”

“You’ve gotten too attached. You need to forget whatever whimsical ideas he’s given you. Now go get dressed in the new dress I bought you. I had a tighter corset prepared for you as well, since your middle has gotten soft.”

“Yes, Ma'am.” You bowed your head and walked back to your room.

You slammed the door and locked it, unable to contain your sobs as you threw open your wardrobe and pulled out Jin’s shirt and pants you had worn just a few months prior.

After pulling them on, you opened your door and ran.

No one stopped you. You ran out of the castle and jumped into a coach, ordering them to take you to the Kim Palace.

-

Jin was in the process of getting dressed when you barged into his room.

He turned around, shirtless and red from embarrassment. He hastily slipped his shirt on; a brown sweater to keep him safe from the chill of the evening. “Y/n? What are you doing here? Are you crying?”

You crashed into him, holding his waist tightly with both of your arms and burying your face into his chest.

Jin immediately held you closer to him, trying to make sense of the situation. “Are you okay? Why are you wearing my clothes?”

You shook your head, only holding him tighter.

“Do you want to lie down?” He asked instead, figuring you might just wished to be held.

You nodded at this.

“Alright, c'mon.” Jin grabbed you hand and pulled you over to his bed, where he let you crawl under his covers. He followed your action. As soon as he lay down, you wrapped your arms around him again, your tears beginning to dry up.

“I don’t want to leave you, Jin.”

“Why would you?” He laughed loudly, thinking that wasn’t a possibility. “Wait, are you being serious? Why would you leave me?”

You played with the fabric of Jin’s sweater to calm yourself down. “Mother says you’re a bad influence and she doesn’t like us being friends. She said the dresses you picked out aren’t good enough and the makeup you taught me how to do was too plain. She said I’m gaining weight from all of our nights when we eat the food you bring. She wants me to stop hanging out with you.”

Jin snorted, not in humor, but anger rather. “As if I’m going to let her take you away from me.”

“What if you don’t have a choice?” You mumbled.

“I’ll find a way,” he replied, wrapping his arms around you and pulling you onto him. His chest was broad enough to be a nice pillow for you, and you let your legs wrap around his lower waist.

“Thanks, Seokjin.” You yawned against his collarbone and closed your eyes.

Sleep came easily with the comfort of Jin close to you.

-

Jin woke up, his arms still wrapped around you. He looked down at your sleeping form. He wondered if you could hear his heartbeat, which hadn’t slowed down since last night.

He ran his hand down your back soothingly, thinking about your mother’s words. He felt more scared than you at the thought of never seeing you again.

His thoughts were already tainted with thoughts of you marrying a prince that wasn’t him. Now he had to worry about you not even seeing him anymore.

Obviously, he would have to stop seeing you after the wedding. It would be rude for Jin to love you while you were married to someone else.

However, he couldn’t help but think how perfect you seemed in the moment, looking small wrapped in his arms. He felt the sudden need to keep you close to him forever. To protect you for the rest of his days.

Which birthed a thought he really should’ve thought of sooner: What if you married him?

It would bring the southern and eastern kingdoms together, wouldn’t it? Besides, it wasn’t like you didn’t love him back. At least platonically, you were much more comfortable around him than a mere stranger.

He would hold back on his true feelings if you only wanted a platonic relationship.

He was sure there was nothing he wouldn’t do to make you happy.

-

You woke up alone, Seokjin’s scent filling your senses as you had his blanket covering you.

In your half-asleep state, you wondered if you had just dreamt falling asleep with Seokjin.

You sat up and ran a hand through your hair to try and smooth it out.

You wondered where Jin had gone, and if you had taken it too far by spending the night together. Of course, you hadn’t done anything questionable, but if your mom found out she would surely have your head. Wouldn’t she?

“You’re up,” Seokjin said, appearing in the doorway. He held a tray in his hands, with a stack of French toast on it, along with syrup and butter. “I brought us breakfast, since I figured rumors would start if people knew you stayed over.”

“Thanks.” You slipped out of the bed and sat on the floor, where Jin handed you a fork. You stared at the toast worriedly, wondering if you should ask for fruit or another healthy alternative.

“Eat as many as you want,” he said.

“But my mom,” you looked at Jin. “I already have to lose weight for the wedding.”

“So?” Jin asked. “French toast doesn’t weigh ten pounds. Besides, if food tastes delicious, it’s zero calories.”

“That is not true,” you said, smiling.

“Is so,” Jin argued. “How else am I so slim?”

“You do a lot of sword fights or something,” you guessed.

“No.” Jin rolled his eyes, “I’m way too uncoordinated for that. I am simply a positive person. My body is perfect, and I gain nothing from eating.”

“I thought you were on a diet when I met you,” you said.

Jin nodded. “Did I follow it? No. Am I still in perfect shape? Yes.”

You reached over the tray to slap him. “You’re not supposed to compliment yourself, you know.”

“If I don’t, who will?” Jin asked, shrugging.

“People don’t compliment you?” You asked, raising your eyebrows.

“Not much,” Jin said. “It doesn’t bother me, of course.”

“What is this?” You asked, noticing Jin’s reddening ears. “Is the Great Prince Jin insecure?”

“No,” Jin shook is head. “I just wonder why people don’t, you know, bring up how handsome I am. You’d think it would come up in everyday conversations between my subjects.”

You stared at Jin for an entire minute before he broke into a smile. “I’m joking, Y/n. I’m not that conceited.”

“Jin, I am this close to throwing a price of toast at you,” you said.

“Try it. My face will not be ruined by a bit of syrup.” He lifted his chin.

You knew he was just teasing you, but it still frustrated you. “That’s it.”

You grabbed the vial of maple syrup and crawled over to Jin’s side of the tray.

“Y/n, I was just joking!” He said, holding in a laugh. He grabbed your wrists and held you at a distance as you tried to spill maple syrup down his shirt. “Y/n!”

“What?” You sent him an innocent smile. “You said it wouldn’t ruin your face.”

Jin grabbed the vial and pulled it from your grip.

“Give it back,” you said, giggling as Jin held the vial high in the air while he was still sitting cross-legged.

Even on your knees, you could barely reach his wrist. You tried the obvious thing, which was to stand up and grab it, only Jin guessed what you were doing and stopped you. He used his free hand to keep you from moving, gripping your hip and pushing you back into a sitting position.

Since there was a stopper on the vial, Jin simply threw it behind him. “There, now try to get it,” he said as his other hand grabbed your hip as well, keeping you from chasing after it.

You held onto his shoulders and tried to used leverage to wriggle free, but Jin only held on tighter.

You looked down, ready to yell at him, only to see that he was already gazing up at you.

Your grip slackened as his stare landed on your lips.

“You know,” he began, “I went to talk to my mother this morning. It was about your wedding, and if I could marry you, instead of whoever your mother chose. She sent messengers out to your kingdom this morning.”

“You mean it?” You asked, your smile growing wider as you dipped your head, letting your forehead fall against his.

He hummed in reply. “It’s not set it stone yet–”

You didn’t let him finish his sentence. Instead, you grabbed his face and pulled him close to you. Your lips met his and you struggled to keep from smiling as he kissed back. You failed, cutting the kiss off far too early.

Jin looked surprised as you pulled away with a breathless laugh. “I love you, Kim Seokjin. I’ve never met someone who makes me feel the way you do.”

Jin opened his mouth to reply, but closed it immediately. “You confessed first…”

“You gave me the confidence to,” you replied.

“C'mere,” Jin said, his eyes clouded in desire.

This time it was him who grabbed your face. As soon as your lips met his, he shifted his hold and grabbed your waist, pressing your body up against his. You gasped at the contact, allowing one of your arms to wrap around his shoulders while the other hand tugged at his hair. He took advantage of your parted lips and slipped his tongue inside of your mouth. You moaned softly at the feel of him being so intimate with you. It felt good, but more importantly, it felt right.

You lavished in the feeling of Seokjin’s arms around you, kissing you as if you were the only person in the world.

He slowly released you, letting his teeth gently tug at your bottom lip before separating completely.

Your chest rose and fell as you struggled to steady your breath. All you could see was Jin’s lips, dark red and swollen from your kisses.

“There is no way I’m letting another guy kiss you like that,” Jin breathed.

“There is no way I’m kissing another guy like that,” you said, suddenly feeling shy.

Jin tilted his head and kissed your nose lightly, eliciting a giggle from you. “I love you.”

A knock on Seokjin’s door interrupted your moment. “Prince Seokjin, the messengers have returned.”

Jin and you looked at each other, both worried for the outcome.

“With good news, I hope!” Jin yelled back.

“Excellent news, Sir. Queen Y/L/N has agreed to your conditions. Only, she has one condition of her own.”

“What’s that?” Jin asked, a smile growing on his face at the realization that the two of you would be married.

“The Queen of the Eastern Kingdom has requested you bring her daughter back immediately. She said something about you making the Princess happy, and that you having managed to make her smile is all she could want in a future son-in-law. After thinking over it, she wants to meet you. I think you’ve gained her favor, Your Highness.”

Jin looked at you, “Will you marry me, Y/n?”

“Of course I will,” you replied. Then you stood up. “But I should probably go back to my castle now, before my mother changes her mind.”

“Right,” Jin said, standing up as well. He grabbed your hand and brought it to his lips, “Till I see you again.”

“Right. Goodbye, Seokjin.” You replied.

“Goodbye, Love.”

[tickletastic]

4 Times Damian Lost Family Game Night, And One Time He Didn't

Title: 4 Times Damian Lost Family Game Night, And One Time He Didn’t

Rating: G/SFW

Warnings: None

Word Count: 1728

Fandom: Batman/Batfam

Ships: None

Characters: Dick Grayson, Tim Drake , Jason Todd, Damian Wayne, Cassandra Cain, Stephanie Brown (maybe more)

Notes: I’ve actually been working on this for a while,,,,, so I hope it’s good!

Summary: Tim is extremely ticklish. Damian finding out is his downfall.

-1-

Every month the Waynes have their family game night. They realized early on, that they couldn’t play board games on this night. It just wasn’t an option. Things tended to get very physical very fast when they played competitive board games, so instead, they found other games.

This month they got into teams, and they had a Mario Kart tournament that lasted the entire night.

Today the teams were Tim, Jason, Steph, and Bruce, against Dick, Damian, and Cass. Damian and Dick had already been eliminated, as well as Bruce and Steph. So currently Cass was kicking Jason’s ass. It was kind of like a relay the way they played. Two people would start, one from each team, and whoever won got to stay on, whichever team went through all of their players first, were the losers. Cass was the only one team blue had left, and frankly, she was their best player.

After she got Jason out however, Tim was on. Tim, was by far, the best Mario Kart player in the house. He’s dedicated. As the round began, Tim had quickly passed Cas, and was almost close to lapping her on his 2nd lap.

Dick stuck his hands forward, a playful grin spreading on his face. He leaned a little into Tim from his position behind him, and began to poke Tim wherever he could reach.“Dihihihick thahahahahats cheheheating” Tim giggled, a death grip on his wii remote. He was trying to avoid the fingers, by scrunching up his various body parts, but he was surprisingly going steady. Dick stopped after a few more seconds, but Damian stared on. What was that? How did Dick get Tim to react like that? Eventually his thoughts were disrupted by Tim’s shouting. Their team had won, and Damian certainly didn’t like losing.

-2-

This month’s game in the Wayne house was hide and seek. Yes, it seemed pretty juvenile, but who doesn’t love a good game of hide and go seek?

It was in the last round, and Cas was it. She looked everywhere, but being trained assassins and ninjas, the Waynes proved to be pretty hard to find.

She walked into one of the libraries in the manor and pulled the secret book. It caused the bookshelf to open like a door, revealing one grimacing Damian.

“How did you find me first?” Damian asked angrily. This meant he would now have to help Cas find the rest of the clan.

As Damian walked deeper into the manner to search, he began to hear giggling. Giggling that closely resembled Tim’s from their last family game night. The closer Damian got to the secret room under the stairs, the louder the giggling got.

Once he opened the latch, it revealed a disheveled Tim getting tickled and prodded by Jason.“Found you.” Damian said in a monotonous voice.“But you still lost” Tim responded with a smirk.

-3-

The next family game night consisted of Twister. In a family full of ninja-trained athletes, Twister got pretty competitive. They had an extended mat so that the eight of them; Tim, Dick, Jason, Damian, Bruce, Steph, and Cas could all fit on it.

They were all in extremely awkward positions as Alfred read out the instructions on the spinner.

“Left foot green Mater Damian,” he spoke, watching as Damian tried to get his left foot over his right even though his hand were both on the mat.

Damian came down hard, toppling Cas, and Steph in the process.

“Damian! You’re such a dildo!” Steph yelled, pushing his shoulder.

“Steph,” Bruce said as a warning “Don’t call your brother a dildo.”

Damian, and Steph walked over to couch and sulked, and Cass sat down next to them (her usual ray-of-sunshine- self).

Quickly after that, Jason was out too, claiming that it’s harder to play twister in jeans. They watched as Dick, an acrobat, Tim, the best fighter of the Robins, and Bruce, the mentor of all of them, battled it out on the Twister mat.

The losers could see the players getting tenser as the time went on, especially Bruce who had trained both. As Bruce’s turns went on Damian noticed that his father would try to skim Tim’s sides every time he had to move a hand.

Eventually Bruce fell over, leaving Tim and Dick to battle it out. Bruce was mad that his kids had beat him at a game based on flexibility, but he went over to sulk with the rest of his kids.

“I was in the circus for most of my childhood Tim, I can do this with my eyes closed.” Dick taunted

At some point, just to show off, Dick did a bridge and held it, but he managed to align himself so that his face was in front of one of Tim’s sides. Tim’s shirt had ridden up from being in such an awkward position, and he giggled as Dick blew, almost losing balance.

“Dihihihik yohohohoure a cheheheahahater.” He giggled, using every ounce of his energy not to move away. Dick extended his bridge as much as he could, and his lips were basically touching Tim’s side. Dick began to blow raspberries on Tim’s side.

“NOHOHO!” Tim squealed, bucking his hips without his limbs leaving the spots. However, his hip bucking was enough to knock over the outstretched gymnast beside him.

Tim got out of the awkward position and began to cheer for his win, but not for very long. Because soon he was sprinting out the door running from an angry Dick.

-4-

May’s family game night wasn’t really a game, but more of a competition. Bruce, Dick, Damian, Tim, and Jason all headed to the batcave’s gym, towards the monkey bars. They were going to have a competition to see who could hang upside down the longest.

On the surface, this would appear to be easy for the bats, but they really weren’t used to hanging upside down. They move quickly, and never stay for too long, so this was a new challenge.

Jason decided not to take part, so he went from person to person and attempted to make everybody crack.

First, it was Bruce. Jason opened his mouth to speak and Bruce climbed down, sighing.

“I’m getting to old for this, I don’t even want to know what you were going to say.” Bruce spoke, walking out of the room.

Next was Damian, who was nearly as easy to knock as Bruce. Jason made ocean noises, reminding Damian how seasick he would get on water, and Jason could’ve sworn Damian turned green. He was off those monkey bars almost faster than the flash.

Damian used his inherited skill, and brooded while he watched Tim and Dick. Jason walked up to Dick and leaned really close to his ear, and simply whispered “The flying Graysons.”

“That was a low blow Jason, but I’m not gonna give up.”

“Fine. So be it…. Heyy Timmy,” Jason said, walking closer to Tim. Jason got a look in his eyes that scared Tim.

Tim’s hands were dangling above his head and Jason was ruthless, he knew what was coming. He felt fingers enter his armpits and he absolutely lost it.

“NOHOHO JAHAHASOHOHON NOHOHOHO!” Tim screamed, falling to the ground beneath him.

Dick won this competition, but Tim sure still beat Damian.

-5-

Tim was bored and it was hot. It was really, really hot, and he was really, really bored.

It was him, Damian, and Jason sitting in the game room of the mansion. He had already beat Dami in air hockey and Jason in Guitar Hero Live, and he didn’t know what else to do.

Suddenly he got an idea and turned on the television, throwing a Wii remote at Damian.

“You. Me. Mario kart.” He spoke, jokingly staring Damian down.

“It’s on Drake.” Damian replied, actually glaring at Tim (because ya know, he’s Damian).

They began the race, 800cc with Tim as Daisy and Damian as Donkey Kong. Tim was surpassing Damian by a whole lot, lapping him once, and almost twice.

As he began to gloat, finishing his 1st lap, he felt pokes to his side. They were small subtle fingers, testing the waters.Tim grit his teeth, quickly turning to look at Damian. “W-what are y-you doing D-Dami?” He questioned, attempting to finish the race.

“Hmmm… Just testing something out Drake,” Damian spoke, a mischievous grin on his face. Tim was going fine for half of the 2nd lap, until Damian kicked it up a notch. He tossed his controller at Jason, knowing that Jason was usually on his side, and began to dig harder into Tim’s sensitive sides.

“Dahahahamihihiahahan! Stahahap ihihit!” Tim tried to speak, his giggles getting louder.

“Try his neck Demon-Spawn,” Jason told Damian, attempting to finish the race (rainbow road is a real kicker).

“Jahahasohohon! Yohohou’rehehe ahahah traiahaTOHOHOR DAHAHMIHIHIAHAN STAHAHAP!” Tim squealed, trying to scrunch in his neck.

“His hips and armpits get him pretty badly too,” Jason continued.

“JAHAHASOHOHON IHIHIHIM GOHOHONNAHAHA KIHIHIHILL YOHOHOU!” Tim screamed, thrashing so hard he lost the death grip on his remote.

“I really never expected you do have such a silly weakness Drake.” Damian spoke, kind of enjoying torturing Tim.

At this point Damian was scratching at Tim’s neck and clawing at his hipbones, overwhelming the older boy. Tim was screaming and squealing, thrashing madly. Tim is really, really ticklish, and at this point he was going absolutely mad. For someone who never knew affection as a child, Damian was oddly good at this. Damian’s nimble fingers and knowledge of the human body’s nervous system were really driving Tim up the wall. He didn’t know how much more he could take.

Tim went into silent laughter just as the congratulatory music began to play. Damian hadn’t stopped tickling though.

“DAHAHAHAHAMIHIHIAHAHAN PLEHEHEHEASE! YOHOHOHOU WIHIHIHIN! YOHOHOHOU WIHIHIN!” Tim laughed out in agony. Damian didn’t stop until he felt a hand on his shoulder.

“You should stop now Damian, we don’t want to kill Tim,” Jason spoke, leaning in to whisper “trust me, i tried. Bruce wasn’t too happy.”

Damian finally got off of Tim, cheering because he had finally won something against the former Robin.

Tim really wanted to give him an ego check and remind him that Tim had won all the other times, but he was definitely not up for a round two.

[nighthood]

Growing Up - Jason Todd x Reader

Summary: You and Jason have a little girl, and watch her grow together. She is sassy and has a surprising amount of toddler drama...and candy fights. Fluffy af. Relationship: Jason Todd x reader Warnings: none

Here is the second part of I Think I’m In Love! I will put a link to it below, and prompts are open for either this arc or for any ideas:) More to come! (Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3)

Every night Jason would cuddle you and put a hand on your growing tummy. He would bring you books to read and even read ‘What to Expect When You’re Expecting’ with you. The best thing was when you’d call him while on patrol at 3 am.

Jason would always answer no matter what, even if he was in the middle of battle. Sometimes you could hear whoever he was fighting ask him who he’s talking to.

“What’s up? You okay? Baby okay?” He’d ask. You’d always laugh because it was always the same.

“No I’m not okay! I’m craving chocolate truffles and a cheeseburger with avocado from the diner on 5th. Babe, could you be a dear…”

You’d hear him sigh then say “Anything for you, doll.”

The perks of having a husband that fights crime at ungodly hours.

He was in the delivery room with you when you gave birth, and you decided to have a natural birth. Nothing could have prepared you.

No stab wounds, gunshot wounds, punches to the face, nothing could have prepared you for this pain.

You gripped Jason’s hand so hard you thought you broke it, and you had screamed so loudly you gave Black Canary a run for her money. While you were in the process of giving birth, Jason watched as your baby was born with wonder and a little terror. It made his stomach a little uneasy, but lucky for you Tim hacked the cameras in the room so you’d be able to look at Jason’s scared shitless face when this was all over.

Your daughter was born happy and healthy, and you both decided to name her Katelyn Rose.

Adjusting to life with a baby was hard, and Jason was going on fewer and fewer patrols to be a dad. Overtime you and him gained dark circles under your eyes and relied more on coffee than you ever had before. Thank god for Tim giving you the best coffee out there. Kid knew his stuff.

During the night when the baby woke up crying you and Jason would argue over whose turn it was to help her constantly.

“It’s your turn, Jay.”

“No, I went last time. It’s your turn.”

“No, I went last time, liar!”

“No!”

“Yes!”

“Well rock paper scissors, loser has to go.”

“Jason! Go!”

But overall it was amazing watching Katelyn grow. Jason was caring as ever and spoiled the little girl endlessly. Her hair was growing in a black shade similar to Jason’s, plus she had his eyes. It made your husband light up whenever he looked at her.

One of your favorites was when Katelyn got fussy and wouldn’t stop crying. Jason would pick her up and hold her slightly in front of him. “Katie, stop.”

She’d continue and he’d begin mimicking her cries. Then she’d stop and begin laughing. When he stopped, she’d start again and it was an endless cycle. You got it on video once and sent it straight to your sister and Dick.

The most annoying part was all the parenting advice coming from everyone you knew. Your mother breathed down your neck and scolded you for things like letting the baby watch Cops with you and Jason. The other tough part was protecting Katie from Jason’s siblings and making sure Dick didn’t try to teach her to walk on a damn tightrope.

Through time Katelyn grew and you were able to go back on patrols like the good ol’ times, leaving the baby with one her many uncles or aunts. Jason and you were able to spend time together like the years earlier and it made you smile with glee. Sitting next to him on the tallest skyscraper in Gotham and watching the sunrise with him hugging you tightly was something you missed.

What you weren’t expecting from being a parent were all the emotions that came with the milestones. You called Jason at work one day crying hysterically and nearly gave Jason a heart attack when Katelyn went to the bathroom all by herself for the first time.

Jason was more emotional than you expected, too. The worst was her first day of school.

“Honey, you’re gonna have an amazing first day!” you said to her after snapping a picture of her walking into the nursery school. She was wearing a blue denim dress with sewn rainbow flowers, and you had put little curls in her dark hair with a pink headband. She looked absolutely adorable.

“Daddy loves you, and Katie, be on the lookout for bullies. Don’t put up with that shi-- stuff, sweetheart. You do what daddy told you if you find any bullies!” Jason said as you all made it to the classroom, correcting his cursing after you elbowed him in the stomach. He gripped your hand tighter as Katelyn waved goodbye to both of you and gave you each a quick hug. Jason and you said your goodbyes and began to walk out of the small school.

Jason ran a nervous hand through his hair as he exhaled loudly. Sure you were upset your little girl was gone and growing up, but you were excited for her to start school and make new friends besides little Lian Harper.

Jason, on the other hand, was a complete wreck.

As you both walked hand in hand back to the house, the school was only a few blocks away, he looked at you with a nervous look. “Maybe she’s not ready for school. I’ll go right now and pick her up and we can try school next year.”

“Jason Peter Todd, don’t you dare. She is perfectly fine, now go inside and have a drink, you’re a mess.”

You did not expect Jason to spend the day on the couch holding your daughter’s favorite Batman bear and watching home videos of Katelyn through the years. You shook your head as Jason teared up. The big bad Red Hood was not good at coping.

Through time Jason let go and Katie began to grow into a sassy little girl. She was manipulative, too. She once convinced Jason to let her put makeup on him, and guess whose expensive makeup was completely destroyed by the end of that day.

She was a great student, and she even began dancing with some of her friends outside of school. Sometimes she’d spend the day at the manor and have Damian teach her different fighting styles, too. Your little girl was well rounded like her parents.

Katelyn would force you both to watch Lady and the Tramp twice a day, then once she got into princesses it got worse. She loved The Little Mermaid and would make you and Jason sing the songs all the time. Her favorite though was watching it with her Uncle Dick and Auntie Barbara because she thought they looked like Prince Eric and Ariel. She once asked if you could make her hair red like Ariel’s and cried for two hours when you said no.

Your favorite moments were the ones when you got to see your little girl spend time with either you or Jason. She loved going to the mall with you, and would be patient as you shopped for yourself. You’d always buy her a soft pretzel, and she’d tell you about things at school.

“Johnny yelled at Miss Green the other day.”

“Oh, really? And what did Miss Green do?”

“She told him he had to go to time out and he had no recess with us.”

“Wow, that’s why you’ve gotta behave in class, baby.” You held her hand as you entered the Children’s Place to buy her new pants. “Anything else?”

You looked down to see your daughter put on a thoughtful face, and you could tell she was having an internal debate. “Well, maybe…”

“What is it?”

Katelyn nervously squished her pretzel a little with her thumb and index finger before answering. “The other day playing house Michael kissed my cheek.”

You looked down to see nervous bright blue eyes, and you had a growing smirk on your face that you were failing to hide. “Really? And you didn’t tell mommy or daddy?”

“Don’t tell daddy!” She yelled quickly. You just chuckled, more than prepared to share this news with Jason. And record his reaction.

“I think you should definitely tell daddy, Katie.”

“I don’t know, won’t he be mad?”

“He’ll be more mad you didn’t tell him. Trust me, it’ll be okay, baby.”

Later while eating dinner, Jason asked about your day, and you looked to your daughter.

“Something to share, princess?” Jason asked, looking at Katie’s nervous face.

“I have to tell you something, daddy.” Katie began.

“Uh huh…” Jason looked to you expectantly, and you just glanced down to Katelyn with a grin.

“The other day Michael kissed me on the cheek.”

Jason put his fork down on his plate and straightened immediately, looking between you and your daughter. You were trying and failing to desperately hold in your laugh.

Finally he stopped on you as you covered your mouth with your hand in an attempt to pull yourself together. “You told me we wouldn’t have to deal with this until she’s older!” He finally exclaimed.

You finally let the laugh out, and Jason looked at you incredulously. Thankfully, Katie was less nervous and began laughing, too.

“Hey, this isn’t funny, little lady. Don’t listen to mommy. You’re too young to be kissing boys!”

“He kissed me, daddy!” Katie stopped laughing and glared at Jason, something definitely inherited from his side of the family.

“You tell me next time so I can talk to Michael.”

“Daddy, you’re being silly.” Katie looked to you and you just smirked at how grown up your daughter sounded at the moment. You really didn’t expect any of this to happen so soon in her life.

Needless to say, Jason had a crisis over how fast she was growing up that night, and spent a few hours on patrol to clear his head.

You loved seeing your daughter spend time with Jason, too.

Coming home from work one day, you found Katelyn and Jason playing Candy Land on the floor.

Except the pieces were scattered all over the floor and the two were having a candy fight across the room.

An M&M hit you between your eyes and you glared at your husband who was hiding behind the couch across the room and sent you an evil smirk. You looked to your daughter, who was dressed in one of her princess outfits with the crown and little blue heels next to her as she knelt behind the arm chair with a pile of jolly ranchers, M&Ms, and sweetarts on her other side.

You sighed as you ran a hand over your face. “You know, I don’t think this is how you play Candy Land.”

“Mommy! Daddy is Gloppy from the game and we need to stop him!” Katelyn waved you over to her little hideout, and you knelt down next to her, giving her a little kiss on the forehead.

“Hand me a jolly rancher, honey.” She handed you a blue raspberry one, and you held it as you waited for Jason to show his face again.

“Come on, Gloppy, come on out. I just wanna talk.” You said as you waited to get your revenge hit on Jason.

“No! I know you’re gonna hit me, you have good aim, [Y/N].”

“Jason, come out here right now before I make you clean this place up yourself.”

His head peaked out slightly and you could see the little white streak in his hair. Before you could throw your piece of candy, a sweetart flew across the room and hit Jason on the forehead.

“Got him!” Katelyn cried. “We got the monster!”

Jason appeared from behind the couch, and scooped up Katelyn who shrieked with laughter. “You think I’m gonna let that fly, little girl?” He plopped her on the couch and began tickling her, making her cry out with laughter.

“Da-daddy! St-stop!!” She got out between breaths and laughs. He stopped and sat beside her, letting her catch her breathe, but occasionally poked her in the side, making her twist and laugh.

“Daddy, if you don’t stop I’m gonna mess up your bed.”

Jason faked being shocked. “You wouldn’t!”

She narrowed her eyes at him. “I would.”

“I’d like to see you try.”

At that she ran off toward your bedroom and you could hear her laughing as she jumped on the bed and more than likely began throwing your pillows and blankets all over the room. You giggled as Jason walked over to you and gave you a quick kiss before running upstairs to the bedroom. Hearing another little scream and more laughing you shook your head and waited for Jason to come back and clean up the house.

[nishantwap]

A timeline of how we got to legalized sports betting

New Post has been published on https://www.hsnews.us/a-timeline-of-how-we-got-to-legalized-sports-betting/

A timeline of how we got to legalized sports betting

The prohibition of alcohol began January 17, 1920, when the 18th Amendment took effect, making the business of booze illegal.

Drinking initially declined, but was of course not eliminated. Those who indulged simply participated in the thriving, unregulated black market that was run by organized crime and bootleggers. Consumer protections were lacking. Industrial-strength alcohol, including the kind designed for fuel, was stirred into some batches of bathtub gin, causing people to go blind and killing many others.

The Prohibition Era lasted 13 years, before the 21st Amendment nullified the 18th Amendment on Dec. 5, 1933, repealing the ban on alcohol.

Another prohibition of an American pastime was put in place in 1992 and lasted twice as long as the alcohol ban.

For 26 years, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act of 1992 made the business of bookmaking illegal in all but a handful of states, most notably Nevada. Much like with alcohol during the Prohibition Era, those interested in betting on sports outside of Nevada simply participated in a thriving black market that’s believed to handle an estimated $150 billion in bets annually.

On May 14, 2018, the sports betting prohibition era ended, with a resounding Supreme Court decision that struck down PASPA and set the country on a path to widespread legal sports betting.

Here is a look back at some memorable moments from the past three decades in American sports betting.

Aug. 24, 1989

Major League Baseball commissioner A. Bartlett Giamatti releases a 225-page report detailing Pete Rose’s gambling and bans the game’s all-time hits leader from baseball.

“The banishment for life of Pete Rose from baseball is the sad end of a sorry episode,” Giamatti says in the statement. “One of the game’s greatest players has engaged in a variety of acts which have stained the game, and he must now live with the consequences of those acts. By choosing not to come to a hearing before me, and by choosing not to proffer any testimony of evidence contrary to the evidence and information contained in the report of the Special Counsel to the Commissioner, Mr. Rose has accepted baseball’s ultimate sanction, lifetime ineligibility.”

Jan. 3, 1991

Here is ESPN Chalk’s one-stop shop of all relevant content, following the Supreme Court’s ruling in favor of New Jersey.

The Supreme Court ruled in New Jersey, opening the doors for states to introduce legislation for legalized sports betting. Ryan Rodenberg checks in on where each U.S. state (and Washington, D.C.) stands.

With every U.S. state now available to offer sports betting, professional sports owners are among the big winners. But what about Twitter, illegal bookmakers and the NCAA? We run through winners and losers.

2 Related

House Bill 74, the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA), is introduced in the House of Representatives. The companion bill, Senate Bill 474, is released the following February and is backed by prominent U.S. Sen. Bill Bradley, a former NBA player, as well as the NCAA and major professional sports leagues.

“Athletes are not roulette chips, but sports gambling treats them as such,” Bradley writes in an academic paper. “If the dangers of state sponsored sports betting are not confronted, the character of sports and youngsters’ view of them could be seriously threatened.”

June 2, 1992

The U.S. Senate votes 88-5 in favor of passing PASPA. The House of Representatives follows with a voice vote — something that normally takes place after bills receive overwhelming support in the Senate — and sends the bill to President George H.W. Bush.

“It was very non-controversial,” recalled then-U.S. Rep. Tom McMillen, a former NBA player, who voted for PASPA. “It was right in the Pete Rose aftermath.”

Oct. 28, 1992

President George H.W. Bush signs the Professional and Amateur Sports Protection Act into law.

Feb. 20, 1993

A team of researchers at the University of Illinois introduce Mosaic, which eventually becomes Netscape, the first popular internet browser available to the public. Soon after, underground bookmaking operations gravitate to the internet, leading to the rise of the offshore sports betting industry that illegally serves U.S. bettors.

Dec. 31, 1993

One year after PASPA was put in place, Nevada’s regulated sports betting market takes an all-time high $2 billion in wagers for the year.

Jan. 27, 1994

Arizona State hosts Oregon State in a Pac-10 college basketball game. It is the first of four games later found to be fixed for gambling purposes by Sun Devils’ star guard Stevin “Hedake” Smith.

Stevin Smith was involved in fixing four Arizona State basketball games. J.D. Cuban/ALLSPORT

Aug. 3, 1996

President Bill Clinton establishes a commission to study the social and economic impacts of gaming in the United States.

“The Commission will help draw attention to the growth of the gambling industry and its consequences,” Clinton wrote in a statement announcing the commission. “Too often, public officials view gambling as a quick and easy way to raise revenues, without focusing on gambling’s hidden social, economic, and political costs. The Commission will report on all of the effects of gambling to the President and the Congress.”

The commission then issues the National Gambling Impact Study in 1999, noting that estimates of the scope of the illegal sports betting market in the U.S. ranged between $80 billion and $380 billion.

“Even when Americans understand the illegality of sports wagering, it is easy to participate in, widely accepted, very popular and, at present, not likely to be prosecuted,” the report states.

Earlier that year, the first online sportsbook to take bets from U.S. customers, Intertops, opened for business.

Oct. 26, 1996

Boston College, a 13.5-point underdog, loses to Syracuse 45-13. Two weeks later, Boston College suspends 13 players for placing bets on college and professional sports. Investigators allege that two of the players — reserves who didn’t play significant minutes — bet against the Eagles in the Syracuse game.

”We have found absolutely no evidence, no indication of any game, the outcome of any game, the score of any game … was influenced or compromised in any way by players for Boston College,” a local district attorney says at a news conference announcing the investigation.

March 27, 1998

Two former Northwestern basketball players, Kenneth Dion Lee and Dewey Williams, are indicted on charges that they took bribes to fix Big Ten games during the 1994-95 season. Prosecutors alleged that Lee and Williams were paid $4,000 to influence home games against Wisconsin and Penn State in an effort to make Northwestern lose by more than the point spread.

“Illegal sports wagering continues to grow and is believed to exist in one form or another on virtually every college campus in America,” National Collegiate Athletic Association’s anti-gambling representative Bill Saum told The New York Times regarding the scandal at Northwestern.

Feb. 10, 2001

UNLV hosts BYU in college basketball. It’s the first UNLV game that Nevada sportsbooks are allowed to accept bets on, ending a 40-plus-year ban on wagering on the state schools.

April 4, 2001

U.S. Senator John McCain introduces the Amateur Sports Integrity Act, a bill aimed at banning betting on college sports, including in Nevada. Facing stiff lobbying opposition from the gaming industry, the bill doesn’t make it out of committee and is defeated.

Dec. 21, 2005

Toledo running back Quinton Broussard fumbles late in the first half of the GMAC Bowl against UTEP. Years later, Broussard admitted in court that, in exchange for $500, he fumbled on purpose in attempt to manipulate the bowl game’s outcome. Six Toledo student-athletes, including three basketball players and three football players, were ultimately indicted on conspiracy to commit sports bribery charges.

Oct. 13, 2006

The Unlawful Internet Gambling Enforcement Act (UIGEA) is put in place, targeting online gambling operations. With support from all the sports leagues, including the NCAA, UIGEA includes an exemption for fantasy sports.

March 30, 2007

Former New Jersey assemblyman and mayor of Union City Raul “Rudy” Garcia surrenders to authorities after a warrant for his arrest is issued in connection with a sports betting operation.

“Rudy, a friend and former colleague, was merely placing a bet for himself and a few friends,” retired New Jersey Sen. Raymond Lesniak said. “Charges were ultimately dropped, but it started my challenge to overturn the federal ban on sports betting.”

July 24, 2007

NBA commissioner David Stern holds a press conference regarding gambling allegations against referee Tim Donaghy. Weeks later, Donaghy pleads guilty to two felony counts, admitting that he passed information to professional gamblers and bet on games, including some of which he officiated.

“I feel betrayed by what happened on behalf of the sport regardless of how protective I’ve been,” Stern said. “This is not something that is anything other than an act of betrayal of what we know in sports as a sacred trust.”

NBA referee Tim Donaghy pled guilty to gambling allegations. Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images

March 23, 2009

Lobbying group Interactive Media Entertainment and Gaming Association (iMEGA), along with Sen. Lesniak and three New Jersey horsemen associations, file suit against the then-U.S. attorney general Eric Holder and U.S. attorney for the district of New Jersey Ralph J. Marra. The suit was ultimately dismissed due to lack of standing.

May 6, 2009

Six Toledo student-athletes are indicted on conspiracy to commit sports bribery.

“Today’s charges shine a light into the dark corner of illegal sports bookmaking and reveals the unfortunate consequences that the influence of money from betting can have on the integrity of both athletes and athletic contests,” U.S. Attorney Terrence Berg said in a statement announcing the indictment.

July 2, 2009

Daily fantasy operator FanDuel offers its first online money contest.

April 11, 2011

University of San Diego guard Brandon Johnson, the program’s all-time leading scorer, is arrested by the FBI and ultimately pleads guilty to conspiracy to commit sports bribery related to a handful of games during the 2009-10 season.

May 23, 2011

On a day known as “Blue Monday” in the gambling world, 10 online gambling domains, including multiple offshore sportbooks, are seized by the U.S. Department of Justice. Several of the sportsbooks simply changed the extension on their URL, moving, for example, from .com to .eu, and continued operating. However, one book — BetED.com — was forced to shut down, leaving players without their funds. The bust occurred after the Department of Justice indicted top executives from the major online poker sites serving the United States: PokerStars, Full Tilt Poker and Absolute Poker.

Nov. 9, 2011

New Jersey voters overwhelmingly support a referendum to legalize sports betting.

Jan. 17, 2012

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signs legislation which would legalize sports betting at the state’s racetracks and casinos.

Chris Christie signed legislation on sports betting in early 2012, starting a legal battle with sports leagues lasting over six years. Alex Wong/Getty Images

Aug. 7, 2012

The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL and Major League Baseball sue New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie over his legislation that would legalize sports betting at the state’s casinos and racetracks.

Oct, 25, 2012

Twenty-five people, including a Las Vegas sportsbook executive, are indicted in connection with an illegal sports betting ring. Owners of Curaco-based offshore sportsbook Pinnaclesports.com were named in the indictment. “The ramifications of this are huge,” an industry source told ESPN. “The guys involved had to be handling millions of dollars a week.”

Dec. 31, 2012

The Nevada sports betting market eclipses the $3 billion mark in handle in a year for the first time.

March 20, 2013

The Department of Justice indicts operators of offshore sportsbook Legendz Sports.

June 3, 2013

Auburn point guard Varez Ward is arrested on allegations he attempted to fix a 2012 game between the Tigers and Arkansas. Ward was accepted into a pre-trial diversion program and avoided conviction.

June 23, 2014

The Supreme Court declines to hear New Jersey’s first appeal in its sports betting effort.

Oct. 17, 2014

New Jersey Gov. Chris Christie signs new legislation, attempting again to legalize sports betting at the state’s casinos and racetracks.

Oct. 20, 2014

The NCAA, NFL, NBA, NHL and MLB again sue Christie, setting off another two-year legal battle.

Nov. 13, 2014

First-year NBA commissioner Adam Silver writes an op-ed in The New York Times, calling on Congress to create a federal framework that would allow states to legalize and regulate sports betting. The NBA’s shift in position with sports betting coincides with the league’s investment in daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel.

NBA commissioner Adam Silver was an integral part of the movement towards legalized sports betting. Justin Ford-USA TODAY Sports

Jan. 8, 2014

Three UTEP basketball players are kicked off the team after having been found to have bet on sports.

Feb. 5, 2015

New MLB commissioner Rob Manfred tells ESPN’s Outside the Lines that the legalization of sports betting needs “fresh consideration.”

“Gambling in terms of our society has changed its presence on legalization,” Manfred said, “and I think it’s important for there to be a conversation between me and the owners about what our institutional position will be.”

Weeks later, Manfred appears at the MIT Sloan Conference and says that he agrees with Adam Silver on the issue.

June 22, 2016

The NHL awards an expansion franchise to Las Vegas. The Vegas Golden Knights become the first major professional sports franchise to be located in Las Vegas.

March 27, 2017

NFL owners vote 31-1 in favor of allowing the Oakland Raiders to relocate to Las Vegas.

June 27, 2017

The Supreme Court decides to hear New Jersey’s second attempt to legalize sports betting.

Dec. 4, 2017

The Supreme Court hears opinions on New Jersey’s sports betting case.

May 14, 2018

The Supreme Court strikes down PASPA, the federal ban on sports betting.

“Congress can regulate sports gambling directly, but if it elects not to do so, each State is free to act on its own,” the court writes in its opinion. “Our job is to interpret the law Congress has enacted and decide whether it is consistent with the Constitution. PASPA is not.”

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