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oh-for-fic-sake · 4 years

Text

My Mothers Recipe Book

You see your bosses true colours and quit.

Masterlist

warnings:swearing

A/n: so here is my next Bruce Wayne one shot hope you like it xxx

Taglist: @125bluemachine125

My Mothers Recipe Book

Alfred sighed walking into the master bedroom tray carrying two large coffees and a few sheets of paper printed from the computer. He was not looking forward to this. Not one bit he had managed to keep the boys quiet about it for the time being but now was the time, there had been...articles online from uncredited news outlets which he knew both you and Bruce avoided with a passion things could be said online which couldn't be printed, cruel and vicious things. But this time they had slipped up big time and he had a name. There had been personal things mentioned in these articles, things that only someone close to you would know at first this online tabloids scoop had been harmless or coincidence, stating the area where you grew up, school you went to and your previous apartment then it became more personal silly things at first, favorite brands, hangouts previous jobs and qualifications and where you work now that caused a few problems now you had to be picked up after shifts by either him Bruce or Dick. you'd mentioned that it had become worse somehow they knew where you were most of the time when you were out on your own places become overrun with the paparazzi having to be picked up by Dick from your favorite take away joint a few days ago when out of nowhere there was camera's everywhere then the next day horrid articles over your nonexistent weight gain and the 'cravings' for the pregnancy that also didn't exist. But this....this was worse probably the worst article to come out, it was an article on how your parents died and how you took on Jack... Going in to detail on how you 'blamed superman' for their death, which could blow up in everyone's face. Alfred was livid but vindicated this time their source was named accidentally he had managed to print it off before it was corrected, a statement was already being circulated that this was fake news, you did not blame anyone for the death of your parents and this was the doing of a vicious woman trying to cause you trouble. Thankfully Clark had got wind of it and was already working on something to help. But Alfred will not be settled until everything was cleared up in the courts. Sighing he opened the door to the master bedroom you was curled up in bed tears streaking your face Bruce was trying to comfort you but Alfred could tell he was furious.

"I suppose you have seen it? then I am already on it I've taken the liberty to have a statement sent out that you don't blame anyone for their passing, Mr Kent is also already working on something to show the truth." Bruce nodded stiffly you just sniffed rubbing your eyes making Alfred gripped the tray tighter this was not going to be easy to say.

"Who? WHO WOULD DO THIS?" you threw the tablet down on the bed Bruce tried to calm you down

"We will find out who sweets I promise-" Alfred crossed the room placing the tray down then lifted the paper

"It was your boss Y/n" you and Bruce snapped your gazes to the Englishman

"What- How do you know?"

“She was named as their source then it quickly changed I managed to print it off before it was changed tho...I have been watching these articles, Damien and Jack found them just after your kidnapping at first it was harmless but then it got more and more personal here see for your self this is the first one they put up before they corrected it" you took the paper from him with a shaky hand glaring there in black and white was your bosses name as there close source.

"Why would she do this? you know what don't answer that I'm going to work" you strode past the two men Bruce followed you over to the dresser.

"Sweets we can handle this-" you turned abruptly to him making him flinch when he saw your face you was seething

"I know that I'm going in to talk just talk and there is something there that I need t pick up before anything happens nothing more I promise"

"I can come with you-"

"Bruce honey you have to be at the tower today I will be fine....okay I will be calm but shes done a lot of damage here, I'm getting death threats on twitter! she doesn't get to breeze through this no fucking way shes going to look me in the eye and tell me why!" Bruce nodded knowing that you wasn't going to let this go.

"Alfred can take you....take Tim just in case" you nodded pulling your pajama top off ignoring the way Alfred shielded his eyes with the article just in time making Bruce scoff

"Tim why whats he gonna do?....oh yeah I forgot" you quickly slipped on a black pair of leggings and oversized sweater and left the room calling for Tim to get his ass out of bed.

"I will look after her sir and I will have eyes on the whole thing" Bruce nodded"Thank you Alfred I know you will take care of us you always have" Alfred smiled at him leaving the room with your coffee taking to the kitchen. twenty minuets after Bruce left you was in the back of the rolls Royce sitting wound up Damien was as stiff as a board next to you Jack had tagged along to looking just as angry fists clenched, Tim was supposed to come but once Damien heard what had happens he had....insisted Tim tried to reason with him but...apparently when it come down to it Damien is the one in the family not to fuck with as Tim had backed down pretty fast and by pretty fast you meant as soon as he looked into the younger boys eyes.

"Boys please relax your making me nervous, we are just going to talk I want answers"

"That’s such a bitch thing to do tho, to bring mom and dad into it..." you looked to jack he was as sad as he was angry it made you worse...you were out for blood today no one fucks with your family. Damien was worrying you, he was quiet calm and you could feel waves of....well you didn't know what it was but it was making you want to run ad hide from him yourself, killer instinct or just pure unadulterated wrath and violence coiled tight in the small teen your blood would have run cold if you hadn't been so angry yourself.

"Dami? you alright there bud?" he turned stiffly his eyes said it all he was not alright he was pissed biting at the bit to fuck this woman up. Shit. you didn't have all the details but you know Damien was raised to be , well putting it bluntly a killer and from little bite you heard he was pretty good at it.

"I'm fine, this woman how long have you worked for her?"

"Shit its gotta be five years nearly six" Damien nodded then looked back out of the window you was here her car was out the front. you took a deep breath seeing the barrage cameras out the front all of them held one of the cafes takeaway cups in hand.

"Would you like me to pull around the side?"

"No I am not afraid, I wont let her see me run its time to grow up...If I want to be with Bruce this is what it means,I have to let them know me and I will stand on my own two feet" Alfred faltered stopping the car you cleared your face and before the butler had a chance to get out to open the door you were out of the car Damien and Jack close behind the Alfred who tried pushing to catch up as the paps smothered you. You bit your lip moving forward willing them all away as it got to much then Damien locked his hand in yours squeezing Jack held your arm, you locked eyes with them and smiled you wasn't alone. With a deep breath you turned around abruptly holding your head high and spoke clearly to the manic reporters who was shouting questions waving and yelling to get your attention.

"EXCUSE ME! that's better I apologize for shouting like that, I just wanted to get your attention, I promise to answer all your questions in a few moments but I've left something important at work and would appreciate you allowing me to pick it up first if that's okay with you" You felt a burst of confidence when you managed to get their attention quieting them one man scoffed

"What are you going to get?"

"My mothers recipe book" they all looked stumped a ripple of whispers surrounded you all

"How do we know you'll come back out?" you blinked looking at the other man who had asked and then nodded to the car

"My rides out here I wont be getting far without it" they all quieted down nodding letting you pass. Alfred stood a little stumped the confidence you had used he hadn't seen before he quickly jogged to catch up behind you entering the cafe. as you made your way in you headed straight for the kitchen Alfred lingered by the door making sure the small hidden camera in his jacket had a clear shot of what was going to happen in the small kitchen. as you walked in you noted that your boss was milling about the kitchen you smiled like nothing was wrong and walked over to where your mothers hand written recipe book was and tucked it into your bag .

"Y/n where are you going with that?" you faced her smiling

"Oh Damien likes the blue berry marzipan muffins so going to try and convert it into pancakes that way Alfred technically whine about muffins for breakfast." you said motioning to Damien who looked at you confused but nodded anyway you winked at him, then handed your bag to Jack who was standing behind Alfred.

"Ooh they would be good tell me how they turn out and we could do them here" you laughed a little at the woman, she had no idea

"I might just do that, tag you in twitter or face book...Bruce was talking about me getting my own shop around here after I made some at home" she looked at you from the top of her eyes

"Oh really?" you laughed and leaned forward

"Yeah but you know me no head for business...but I have got a head for other things you know I'm an overthinker its quite good actually I can figure things out pretty quick" sensing something was wrong she gulped and stopped doing the order forms leaning on the counter

"Is everything okay?" you moved a little and leaned back crossing your arms letting you smile fall into what must have been a nasty face as she swallowed

"I don't know how about you tell me" she laughed nervously trying to wave you off

"What do you mean whats happ-"

"Why did you do it?"

"Excuse me?"

"How much did they pay you? I hope it was a lot." you said looking around the kitchen slowly as if really seeing it for the first time, falling apart tiles, a tap that leaks, flickering light and dirty grout could do with being ripped out and starting again.

"Do what?"

"You know what? that articles online I know it was you" she laughed shaking her head

"I haven't done any articles I think your getting a little big headed aren't you? not everyone cares about you, " you nodded slyly

"They didn't tell you did they? you were named yesterday in the one about my Parents" the color drained from her face and she stuttered.

"Wh-what?! they said they wouldn't do that!" you stood tall smirking at her the smug feeling didn't last long as you realized this woman who had been like a second mum to you had betrayed you, literally put a price tag on your trust and sold it.

"So you have been giving out information about me...gossiping about me to the tabloids..Why Why would you do that?" she had the decency to look a little ashamed of herself.

"I'm sorry, they offered money for an interview when I was seen at the Restaurant with you...At first it was harmless and I thought I could ramp up business if I let people know where you worked...it escalated from there" you closed your eyes trying to calm yourself down Damien growled loud at the woman but you placed a hand on his shoulder pushing him back a little.

"Escalated your damn right it escalated You gave out my old address! what if me and Jack was still there and better yet why was you telling them where I was? they followed me for days! and rumors of pregnancies?" She flinched going to walk around the center island in the kitchen making to hug you but you took a step back, eyes searching hers for remorse but all you saw was the panic of a woman caught out.

"Do you know I had to talk Bruce down from that one he wasn't even angry that he was the last to know! he was over the moon that we might have a child on the way and I had to break his heart and sit him down in our room and explain to him I wasn't pregnant that it was a lie! only to find out it had come from one of my closest friend's. Do you know what its like to do something like that to someone you love? to upset them like that he was crushed ...And if that wasn't enough you had to bring up my parents! you didn't even know them and you know how I feel about the whole thing and about superman!" she shook her head

"I know you don't blame him for their death, I never said you did I swear I just said that you still found it hard without them here, that you wished they were here to see jack grow up that's all I swear" you shook your head.

"I'm sorry but I don't believe you...these five years how much was it worth? you put a price on my trust..." she ran a hand threw her hair huffing anxiously

"I'm sorry I never meant for it to go this far...I needed the money" you laughed "You needed the money nearly eleven hundred a day goes in that till and you needed the money? sorry if I don't buy that." she got defensive looking you up and down

"Well its not like you would understand" you shook your head

"And what is that supposed to mean?"

"Well we can’t all be sugar babies like you? I've got bills to pay you know rent , tax water that kind of stuff you going to tell me if someone wanted a few comments from you for a few thousands dollars you wouldn't do it" you clenched your jaw, Damien growled at the woman trying so hard not to pounce her.

"No I wouldn't have because we were friends!....Is that what you think of me? a sugar baby?"

"Well that seems to be your claim to fame doesn't it? fucking a billionaire then suddenly you've been given everything? the poor orphan girl who heroically took on her brat brother, one night on your back and your set for life. House,money boyfriend rewards for loosing your dignity no class at all!" you froze that hurt, the venom and spite in her words

"No class...It would seem I have more then you. I haven't ever done anything to you, so all this came from what jealousy? having the paparazzi follow me spreading rumors? for what a few more coffee sales and a bit of revenge? because I got everything you'll never have, A Family and someone to share my life with.... That’s very sad" you moved to got to the door she smiled nastily no point in her continuing with the nice girl act now she had shown her true colors. "you know your not famous? walking around like you are but your not" you smiled widely at her leaning in.

"No I'm not truly famous...but I'm more famous then you, I quit by the way and I do hope you have money for a lawyer because this is slander and invasion of privacy"

"You've got no proof it was me." she said snidely

"Oh but I have, a recorded confession smile your on camera" she froze knowing she was utterly fucked you smiled and leaned in to her ear.

"I am going to sit back and watch you fall, you tired to destroy me and my new life and failed but most of all you hurt the ones I love so now I am going to destroy yours, I’m going to take you to the cleaners, your going to lose everything" she gasped no one fucked with your family she hurt you but more importantly she hurt Jack and Bruce and she was gonna have to have deep pockets to settle this one cos you was out for blood. You did one final sweep of the kitchen wanting to rub salt in the wound.

"You know...I always liked this place...Think I will buy it once you go bankrupt after our court battle" she stood there mouth agape as you turned walking through the door. Jack and Alfred was let you pass then quicker than you could register you heard a loud shout turning you saw her charge at you making to attack you but Damien was to quick for her capturing her throwing her back you winced hearing her back hit the metal counter in the kitchen

"GET THE FUCK AWAY FROM MY MOTHER!" you all froze as he shouted not knowing what to do Alfred nodded his head in Damien direction.Get him out. you placed a hand on his shoulder he panted shaking he was angry very angry then looked at you

"Dami, thank you but we have to go now okay? come on Dami go to the car for me please"

"Are you hurt Ummi?" you shook your head not understand what he called you, or why Alfred had gasped so loud at it but didn't care all you wanted was to calm him down and get him out of here.

"No honey you stopped her before she could get to me"

"A-are you mad?" you smiled at him shaking your head again

"Of course not, you protected me just like you said you would now come on out to the car that's enough excitement for one day"and you looked at Alfred he knew what you was asking and nodded he had caught that on film thank fuck.

"She isn't your mother you little brat!" you somehow managed to pull Damien from the kitchen behind you.

"Shut your fucking mouth!!" you you shouted at her livid ushered the others out taking a few breaths as you walked out into the crowd.

"Boys in the car, Jack you got my bag still?" he nodded but Damien was quiet as you pushed him thought the crowd stopping half way taking a deep breath this had to be done, you had to get used to the public side, dick had said something the other day making you stop and think, if you don't interact with these people then you cant ever prove them wrong, you wont be able to ever stand up for yourself and that's what you had to do.You cant let Bruce do this for you all the time, not anymore.

"I'm going to make a statement are you all ready?" most nodded getting cameras ready for pictures and holding out recorders.

"I'm am sure you have all been listening and reading to recent rumors circulating about me in recent weeks. I have been following these myself tho had to be discreet about it, you see these rumors have been started by someone I was close to and I wanted to try and find out who, this is why I have been quiet about it.Last night there was a typo in the article about my parents passing nameing and shameing this woman,she has been handing out details of my personal life, selling my information and been telling lies one of which cause heartache for both myself and my family and has caused many problems for me in the past weeks telling online papers and paparazzi my location anytime she knew. this is a woman who I considered a dear friend and who I have worked for for the past five nearly six years I came here today to confront her, she has admitted to me today about her behavior and revealed to me and my family today that it was done out of spite and jealousy and also thought she would make more money if customers knew I worked here and would come in to try and get a glimpse of Bruce in the cafe. Today I quit my job here and over the next few days will take action threw the courts. I don't not blame anyone for the death of my parents at all, they heard the threat the world was given just like the rest of us but still chose to got to metropolis for their anniversary, they ignored the warnings and paid for it with there lives they were at the wrong place at the wrong time. And no I am not and have not ever been pregnant, this particular lie of hers caused myself and Bruce a lot of heartache which I can not forgive her for, The address she gave out as my residence is not my home any longer I moved nearly six weeks ago so please stop going there I'm assuming the new tenants would like a rest, I'm not really sure how I'm supposed to end these things but I just wanted to clear the air and explain to you exactly what was happening" there was a few chuckles echoing across the crowd person shouted out

"So do you Hate superman or not?" you laughed

"No of course I don't, he has done a lot for us even saved myself once a long time ago and I am forever great full to him for that, I am only sad that he has been dragged into this woman's lies and I can only apologize for that I'm sure he has more important things to worry about.Now if that's all I'd like to get going...Its a bit chilly out here and I'm sure the boys are getting board in the car." you turned and headed to the car and amazingly enough they let you, opting to take photos of the cafe you smiled smugly as Alfred pulled away speaking

"Well she wanted fame now she has it" Jack laughed

"Yes something like that....was that alright? I've not done it before on my own...Oh my god what if Bruce is mad? do you think he will be mad I did that? What if I said to much or not enough or-"

"It was perfect miss Y/n you explained yourself with dignity and respect, you were straight to the point and covered everything Bruce wont be mad if anything I think he will be extremely proud of you for handling it the way you did." you sighed and slumped

"Oh thank god all I was thinking was 'be like Bruce, be like Clark, be like Bruce, be like Clark" Alfred through his head back a little laughing and Damian shuffled closer looking down fiddling with his fingers

"You okay there Dami?" you watched Alfred tilt the rear view mirror

"I-I'm sorry I called you mother...and Ummi it wont happen again" you sighed dragging him towards you.

"Hey,Look Damien Your father and I are really serious you know that right?" he nodded slowly waiting for you to rant at him.

"And Because we are serious ...we have already spoke about you boys and this...Mother issue, I would be delighted if you called me mother or mom or u-ummi? but you don't have to...But if you do then I would be so happy, so so happy. But as far as I'm concerned we are a family already either way so you call me what you like okay? and that goes for your brothers to." you watched as Damian's face lit up he looked so young.

"R-Really you don't mind?" you shook your head pulling him in for a hug. Once you all got home you moved everyone into the kitchen and started mixing batter for muffins using your mothers cook book

"Are you really going to make me some blueberry and marzipan muffins?" you nodded to Damian

"Absolutely you liked em right?" he smiled nodding sitting at the counter watching you and Alfred zigzag across the kitchen like a well oiled machine the boys including Tim and Jason sat watching nibbling on the left over marzipan.

"Tim flick threw that book and find coffee walnut muffins" you called out as you placed the current batch of muffins in the oven Tim was quick to take the book from the side and look for the recipe.

"Coffee walnut? that's different for a muffin?" Alfred asked you smiled nodding

"Yep when mum found a flavor combo she liked we had all sorts of it thought Tim would like it... that book there is every Cooke family recipe its why I had to get it quick before all this kicked off" Jason peeked over Tim's shoulder.

"All that fuss for a book?" Jack smiled slyly

"Yeah but more then that...everything in the cafe was mum’s recipes, all the baking anyway without that book they don't have nothing they never made copies, can't make nothing that's why when we took it she asked for it back, she probably hasn't even realized yet. My sister is a bitch never ever piss her off y/n has destroyed her business with out lifting a finger!" they all gasped then laughed loud.

"Holy shit! you go girl!" Jason high fived you making you giggle

"I see now why dad calls you mama bear your scary" you frowned

"He still calls me that?" they all nodded humming you blushed you didn't know that, you looked up as Bruce came through the door dropping his coat on the floor pushing past everyone you frowned thinking something was wrong until he swooped you up into a long kiss pressing you against the counter making you moan the boys cringed and left the kitchen fast.

"EWW THEIR GONNA DO IT NEAR THE MUFFINS!!" you laughed pulling away

"And what was that for Mr Wayne?" Alfred cleared his throat moving to mix the new batter

"Saw the footage then sir? I told you to wait until later to view it we all know you cant help yourself when she gets... what was it again Mama bear?" you whined throwing a tea towel at Alfred making him smirk

"Yes Alfred I did and I'm afraid I'm going to steal her away its urgent" he said a smile in his voice you sighed

"Urgent huh?" he smiled hoisting you up onto his hips making you gasp feeling him grind his erection onto your core

"Oh yes very urgent, urgent enough in fact that I had to cancel the rest of my meetings and probably have a few speeding tickets in the post" you laughed loud at him

"Oh my god!" he quickly spun around making his way to the stairs

"FOR FUCK SAKE PICK A ROOM AND FUCK!!! STOP WANDERING AROUND!!JACK TELL YOUR SISTER"

"FUCK OFF TELLING MY SISTER YOU TELL YOU DAD HE'S THE ONE RUNNING IN WITH A BONER TIM!"

"STOP FUCKING YELLING!!" you rolled your eyes as they continued shouting and screaming at one another.

"You gonna parent them or no?" Bruce shook his head wincing as Jason screeched indicating that someone had hit/pushed/jumped on him

"A little preoccupied Sweets maybe after I've sorted you out....Besides Alfred wont let them kill each other" you laughed as he made it to the top of the stairs and rounded the corner hearing Tim's scream of

"FINALLY OI! THEIR OUT THE KITCHEN QUICK!" and multiple footsteps running back to the kitchen where the baking was happening .

#bruce wayne x reader #bruce wayne x y/n #bruce wayne imagine #batman x y/n #batman x reader #batman imagine #dc x reader #dc x you #dc x y/n #dc imagine

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fearfulkittenwrites · 4 years

Text

Pull you out of the dark

Summary:Dick is working an important case. Damian sees straight through his bullshit.

If his brother wants to die so bad then the only way he can do that is over Damian's tiny, cold, mean dead body.

Or: Someone's finally taking care of Dick Grayson.

“Grayson,” Damian called, walking into the cave “What are you doing up?”

“What are you doing up?” He shot back, not looking up from the screen.

“I just woke up. Did you get any sleep?”

“I’ll lay down in a minute.”

“It’s six thirty in the morning. The sun is up.”

“Oh.” He straightened his posture “Guess I lost my chance then.”

“What?”

“I’m fine, Dames. Just working a case.”

“Grayson...”

“Let it go, okay?” He warned, finally looking at his brother, eyes dangerously serious. Damian left with an unsatisfied ‘-tt-.’

Dick sighed and rubbed the back of his neck. He still had too much to do. It was important. Maybe the most important one yet (But aren’t all of them?). He ran test after test, looked for connections between crime scenes, tried to triangulate a location... And when he ran out of things to test and look for, he tested the same materials, and looked at the same scenes, because he knew he couldn’t sleep yet. He wouldn’t be able to.

After a few more hours, he finally got up from his chair, even if he still had to check security camera footage. He decided could do that from his laptop, because soon the cave would be a little more alive, with his sibilings and friends training and doing their own research. Usually, he wouldn’t mind that. He would actually prefer it. Today, however, wasn’t usually, and he needed to be left alone. He needed to focus. This is important.

He climbed up the stairs, meeting Tim on his way up.

“Morning.” He waved. Dick retributed the compliment and kept walking. Tim quirked an eyebrow but decided not to ask.

The man went straight to his room, picking up his laptop so he could work again. He reviewed hours of footage that he couldn’t surely say were necessary. But if there was a chance he could find something that matters, then he would waste as many hours as necessary on this. Sometime around noon, his computer’s battery died, and, after almost tearing apart his own room, he was certain his charger wasn’t there anymore. He walked out of the room, fuming, and went to the kitchen, finding the charger thief sitting at the table.

“Damian,” He said, staring at the boy as he got up “Where is it?”

“I’ll give it back. But first,” He placed a glass of water in front of him “Drink.” Dick huffed, but chugged the water anyways. He hadn’t realized how thirsty he was “Good. Now,” He set two bowls in front of them “Sit down and let’s eat. It’s lentil soup, my recipe. I know you like it.”

“Damian I swear to God...”

“Eat.” He repeated, more serious, but the other didn’t budge “Sit your ass down and eat right now or your charger will be diced and scattered in the front lawn.”

Dick begrudgingly complied, pulling the bowl closer to him and sitting down in front of the chager kidnapping devil he called brother.

“This really is good.” Dick muttered under his breath, sighing after the first bite. Damian smirked.

“Of course it’s good, I made it.” Dick smiled at that, taking another spoonful to his lips “I know why you do this.” Damian stated, and the man looked up “Father does it too, and far as I can tell, Todd also does it.” Dick raised an eyebrow, but the other didn’t notice “I belive the only reason why Drake doesn’t do it is because he is always overworked. But the three of you have a clear pattern.”

“What do you mean Dames?” He asked.

“It’s an anniversary.” He affirmed, as if it cleared averything up “I don’t know wich one it is, but I can tell something bad happened around this date.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Dick lowered his spoon.

“-tt-.” The boy rolled his eyes “Do you take me for a fool, Grayson?” He crossed his arms. Dick remained silent “You stayed up all night working in a common murder case.”

“It’s important.”

“Sure. But it doesn’t warrant an all-nighter.”

“You don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“I do.”

“You don’t.”

“I may not know what this date represents to you Grayson, but I do know it’s painful. And you overwork so you don’t have to think about it. You tire yourself out so that you can just pass out on occasion without having to deal with the thoughts that come before you drift off.” Tears gathered in his older brother’s eyes, and his jaw was clenched “Look at me and tell me that I’m wrong.”

Dick’s head dropped.

“You’re right.” He whispered “It’s... My parents’ death.” Damian pursed his lips. That explains why he didn’t know it before hand.

“Well, I’m not telling you not to grieve. I’m telling you not to ruin your health in the process.” He looked down at his own bowl and murmured “Please.”

“Okay.” Dick whispered back. He wiped his eyes and they resumed eating in silence. Once they finished, Dick asked “Can I get my charger now?”

“When was the last time you slept?”

“Damian...”

“When?”

“I... Think I had two hours the night before the last? I’m not sure.” He replied, looking defeated. Damian sighed.

“Follow me.” He said, leading both of them into Dick’s room “Wow, you really are messy.”

“It’s your fault.” The man shot back, frowning.

“Well, this calls for a change of plans.” He turned on his heels and went to his room instead “Take your shoes off before you enter, please.” Damian had that habit from his time with his mother, but his family wasn’t used to a no shoe household and he was only able to inforce the rule in his own room. It would have to do. “Now, the charger is not here. I’m not stupid.”

“Then why did you bring me here?”

“Because your bed was buried under piles of clothes and you need to sleep.”

“Damian, I need my charger.”

“Wrong.” He pushed him gently to his bed “What you need is sleep.”

“Fine.” He sat on the bed “But I can’t sleep in jeans.”

“Oh.” Damian looked down at the other’s legs “Wait.” He searched through one of his drawers and pulled out a pair of black sweatpants “Here. They are yours.” Dick raised his eyebrows “I... I don’t have many pajamas. You were gone and I had spilled stuff on my last pair of bed pants and... I stole them.”

“I’m a little weirded out by the fact that I didn’t notice, but okay. You can keep them untill we get you new pajamas.” Dick got up “Is it okay if I just...”

“We’re both men and we’re brothers.” He said, climbing into his bed “Go ahead.”

Dick changed into the sweatpants and sat on the bed again before laying down next to Damian.

“You’re... Staying?” He asked.

“Are you trying to kick me out of my own room Grayson?”

“No, I’m just surprised you’d sleep with me that’s all.”

“I thought... I mean, we do this a lot.” Damian asked, confused.

“Yeah, it’s just... Usually we do this when you have nightmares. And I didn’t think you’d sleep during the day either.”

“Dick,” He supported his head’s weight in one elbow “If I were to leave you alone, would you be able to sleep, or would you overthink yourself into a panic attack?” He didn’t answer “Exactly.”

They kept quiet for a while, the older man tapping his fingers against the back of his own hand.

“Damian,” Dick started “Why are you doing this?”

“You weren’t taking care of yourself, so somebody had to.”

“Yeah, but... You said B does the same. And Jason too. But... I’ve never seen you do this to them.”

“You always take care of me. I had to take care of you. Besides...” Damian pursed his lips again “It’s scary, seeing you like that. I don’t have to take care of father and I don’t worry about Todd because you always do. You are the one who pulls us out from the dark Dick. And this time, you were the one getting lost in those shadows. So I did what you always do for me.” He turned to the side “I... I hope that worked.”

“It did.” Dick offered him a weak smile “Thank you Dames.”

“Don’t mention it. Now turn around and sleep already.” The older man obeyed, turning his back on Damian, assuming he wanted some privacy. Instead, he felt his arms wrapping around his torso, mimicking the way Dick held him after his nightmares woke him up. He looked over his shoulder “Shut up. I know it feels nice. Sleep.” Dick smiled.

“Dames, you’re the best brother in the world.”

“Wrong again Grayson.” Damian smiled too “That title is yours.”

#dick grayson #damian wayne #damian and dick #Batfam #batfamily #nightwing #robin #nightwing and robin #hurt/comfort #but hurt is only mentioned #fanfiction #fanfic #writing #Damian takes care of Dick #I wrote this bc dc doesn't know how to properly care for my boys #so i'll just have to do it myself #also if i may add #fuck canon #all my homies hate canon

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iwritethat · 4 years

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Dick Grayson: Fine Cuisine

Summary: Fluff

• Dick is unprepared for a family meal but your offer your fine expertise and have the whole family asking questions about you.

Warnings: Mature language

A/N: Hello lovlies! I’ve missed you all so much, I hope this helps a bit and there’s so much more I could add onto this so please enjoy and lemme know how you all are~

>>>>—————————>

It started with a family dinner.

As many curious situations do in retrospect, but with a family of vigilantes whose relationship ties have frayed, intermingled and been resewn makes for more interesting get-togethers compared to most.

One thing they could all agree on though? Dick Grayson cannot cook.

"I can't believe that, they just assume it's going to end in a takeout?" Came your amused voice as you placed a coffee on your kitchen island that Dick was currently seated - or rather slumped at.

"It's because the last two times I've hosted something like this, takeout has saved my ass." The ravenette embarrassingly clarifies, voice trailing off toward the end and did his best to avoid looking at you.

Dick Grayson was technically a neighbour, albeit living a few floors below your more lavish (and expensive) apartment suite. After moving into the complex on the same day, you quickly excavated the common ground to build a solid foundation for friendship - as such, meet-ups like these became a regular thing, switching apartments each time.

"Then, I'll help you out." You proudly confirmed, gesturing to your grand kitchen which was the sole reason you’d brought the place - one of the many things Dick envied about your luxurious living area compared to the standardised version of his own, though on an Officers salary he couldn’t afford something like this.

"Ah (Y/n) no, I can't let you do that!” Came his instant reply, hands waving defensively as he adamantaly brainstormed another excuse. “Plus you'll be working that night."

"True, but that doesn't mean I can't set you up beforehand. We'll start tomorrow, I'll teach you a recipe."

———

As previously planned, Dick turned up at your door rather nervously even though he’d been around you many times - not once had he demonstrated a serious negative flaw to his character in order to impress you, but cooking was one of them and you were about to witness chaos that’d likely dispel any romantic inclination he hoped you held for him.

“Ready?”

“No.”

With a playful laugh, you rolled your eyes and pulled the male into your kitchen noting how he was likely tired from his shift at Blüdhavens Police Department earlier that afternoon so a good meal should do wonders. Maybe it’d give him a better nights sleep too? The acrobat never seemed to obtain many of those for some unknown reason, apparently it’s ‘too noisy’ in the city.

“Oh and you can host in my apartment, it’s bigger and I’ll have all the equipment you need. You already have a spare key anyway.”

“You’re really amazing, I don’t deserve you - y’know that?” There were deeper feelings involved in that seemily offhanded thank you, ones relating to his role as Nightwing and his past mistakes which all remained a hated secret from you.

It started well, Dick following along with ease and you concluded that he picked things up fast with how observant he was which sped up the process. The main course he’d nailed with your guidance and so, you decided to move onto dessert.

“Now we add cocoa powder to th-“ You’d froze, mouth open out of surprise with the substances dusting your lips, cheek and part of your left collar bone - the offender in question mirroring your expression, albeit holding back his laughter due to his colossal misjudgement.

“I - I didn’t think it’d go everywhere when I ripped the packet open...”

“You don’t ever rip the packet, you tear it gently!” Came your dangerously mischievous correction, licking the sweet substance from your lips before flicking the currently non-chocolate brownie covered spoon at him with flecks landing on the side of his face.

“Oh, it’s on!”

This ensued an all out war, the two of you ducking and dodging oncoming attacks as you danced around the kitchen island with varying results of accuracy until Dick decided to slide over the marble surface and capture you in his arms.

His embrace faltered slightly as your back hit the island during your feeble attempt to get away, finding yourself trapped between him and the cool surface too enthralled in the carefree antics to notice the proximity. A beat of silence passed once the atmosphere had settled, Dick releasing a breathy chuckle with his grip around your waist loosening slightly as you looked up with a victorious smirk - he took the opportunity to lean forward slightly as if testing the waters and careful to note any kind of reaction you replied with.

However, there was a lack of trust as all is fair in love and war, hence your devious reasoning to close the gap some more and with the softness of his warm breath dancing on your lips you swiftly leaned past his whilst dragging your tongue across his cheek. Dick pulled back instantly, a mix of disgust and offence in his eyes as you spoke.

“Needs more sugar.”

“I’m sweet enough as it is thank you, you’d know that if you’d have just kissed me instead of betraying me like that!” Dick wittily snapped back, admiring the melodious laughter that escaped you at his response.

“I’m sure you do, speaking of - these brownies should last until the dinner so you won’t have to make them again on the day alright? I’ll get everything ready so you don’t have to worry about a thing.”

“I guess you’d taste pretty sweet too.” Though referencing your kind nature, you couldn’t help but lightly punch him in the shoulder.

———

Regardless of Dicks wistful prayers, the deadline had finally arrived and his family would be sporadically arriving in a matter of hours - so help him.

"All the ingredients are on the counter - do not use anything else - and I've detailed the instructions on the whiteboard in case you forget anything." You pointed to each item as you spoke, donning a jacket before barely making it past the kitchen doorframe due to your neighbours dramatically desperate pleas.

"Can't you just stay? And do it with me?"

"I have to go to work." You laughed at his antics, the man looking like a lost puppy amidst your vast collection of kitchen utensils.

"Work will survive without you, c'mon you wouldn't lose out on much - I'll even pay for the trouble."

That, truly caused you to hesitate with a look of sheer bemusement, a mischievous glint dancing in your irises that mocked his claim almost as much as your sardonic tone.

"If you truly knew my job and paycheck then you'd take that back.” With that, you were quick to flip to a more cheerful voice as you waved goodbye to a pouting Grayson. “Anyway, you'll be fine and tell me how it went once I get back~"

"Wait (Y/n) h-"

The slam of the front door echoed your departure leaving a Dick feeling more lost than ever, the kitchen seemingly quadrupling in size now.

Bruce arrived first along with Damian, Cass, Duke and Alfred. Then there was Tim who’d apparently travelled from Titans tower and finally Jason who’d sauntered in fashionably late as predicted but only by 5 minutes. Each baffled by the sudden change of location which only intensified when the host brought out plates of home cooked dinner.

"..."

"This... this isn't take out..."

"No, it's actual food.” Dick confirmed almost offended and words laced with a hint of underlying sarcasm. “That I made myself."

"Okay, so uh - is it edible then?" Jason quipped back, smirking at his elder brother in a smug manner that only he could achieve.

"Would you just eat it? I went through a lot of stress and effort for this."

Dick encouraging everyone as he sat down, the action only bemusing the members of his family more as they complied to his wishes with varying degrees of hesitance from each of them. Damian trusted Dick the most, but he patiently waited for his father to finish his mouthful before even touching his own dish.

"Wow, this is incredible, the flavour and everything - Dick what happened to you?!" Duke enthusiastically mocked and continued to devour the meal with a sense of radiance which contrasted to Cassandras pure silence as she savoured every tasteful mouthful.

"Grayson, there is no way you are solely responsible for this cuisine." Damian suspiciously raised a brow at the older hero, tentatively laying his cutlery elegantly on the now clear plate.

"Thank you, and maybe I had some assistance from my neighbour."

“Thank you for dinner Dick, it was surprisingly delicious and please give our thanks to your mysterious friend too.” Bruce knowingly added, proud of his protégés accomplishments - though minor in comparison to Alfreds glowing exterior.

“I told you there was hope Master Bruce.”

"Bro, they left a whole list of instructions so you wouldn't mess up and hey, call if you need anything. Sounds like a plan -" Jason, who had waited until everyone was finished explored your kitchen in hopes of finding some evidence as to who their saviour was.

"Jason no! They're working!"

"It‘s an emergency, you’ve been replaced by a clone with adequate cooking skills!” Tim wittily added once leaning against the kitchen doorframe to observe the scene with Damian inspecting the whiteboard before questioning it’s purpose.

“Why leave this if they couldn't answer then?"

"That's the point, she will answer and I don't want to disturb her right now. They've done enough for me already." Dick painfully sighed, strategically slapping Jason’s phone into the air and catching it with his other hand in one swift motion much to the irritation of the latter.

"Hold up - she?" Duke cut in now, holding his hands out for emphasis and subtlety fishing for elaboration.

"Are you dating...?” Jason hummed, taking a moment to analyse Dicks reaction prior to cementing his assumption. “No, but you want to, right?"

“We are not -“

“You want to date someone?” Cass innocently inquired now walking in with a pile of plates, Bruce and Alfred following in afterwards with clean up of their own.

“I mean I -“

“I’ve seen enough of your crushes to know you have one, you’re already flustered by thinking about them romantically.” Bruce effortlessly deducted, Alfred nodding in agreement whilst commencing the washing up.

“You can’t just call me out like that Bats, after everything with been through too.” Dick feigned betrayal, a hand on his heart whilst Bruce shook his head.

“Oh yeah, how long did he wait for Starfire and Barbara though?” Tim jokingly nudged Jason who chuckled at the small dig, though charismatic and charming - when real feelings were involved, Dick Grayson wasn’t one to straightforwardly act on them.

“Real mature guys.”

“I think you should tell her.” Was the sincere voice of reason, Cassandras kind smile enough to silence the devilish remarks of his brothers who now shrugged in defeat.

“We could help...”

———

Miraculously, you'd attained reservations at the most eloquent restaurant in Gotham, located in the more luxurious district of the wealthy. As a result, it served only the finest gourmet cuisine and had waiting lists longer than any other, so much so that even Bruce Wayne had yet to successfully book a place at the establishment.

You had given him the news when he’d recounted the events of his family dinner (skipping over certain discussions) and how they were grateful for your generosity.

Now, you'd asked Dick for how many he'd like seated at the table so you could finalise the arrangements - he knew you worked there, meaning staff privileges were likely applied in this situation but he was still left speechless.

Gawking at the skyrocketing prices, Dick now understood how much missing one day of work would seriously cost you - he definitely couldn't have afforded your time that night after all.

"So, you say you're paying for this?"

With a painstaking hum of agreement, the eldest nodded with a hint of concern detected on his features, fortunately Bruce had come prepared with his own credit card (just in case). Although his family could be provoking and frivolous toward one another, they were also respectful in situations like these and wouldn't run the bill up too high like certain members would if Bruce had been footing the bill. Dick had a charismatic bond with all of them in that sense.

Meanwhile, you handled everything in your kitchen of organised chaos as the orders came pouring in, including that of Dicks table who you had yet to formerly greet.

"This is cereal..." The head waiter meant it more of a question than a statement, looking to you with upmost uncertainty due to the simplicity of the dish compared to those on your signature menu.

Did they even stock Lucky Charms with the ingredients? The answer was no, you’d intentionally bought them purely for this very day and scenario.

"I know, I know - please serve it to my neighbour on Table 12, he'll get it." You humourously assured the man who seemed to have more to say but didn’t wish to argue with higher authority.

"Ah, Chef..." Your sous chef called moments later, overlooking the scene with mild skeptism before realising the nature of your scheme.

"Hm?"

"You do realise he is currently seated with Mr Bruce Wayne, don't you?" Upon processing that unprecedented information you immediately bolted - hot on the trail of the waiter with a weak promise in your wake.

"What?! I thought he'd bring his friends along not his- oh god, I just sent them cereal- shit, I'll be right back!"

With strategy and precision, you carefully intercepted the tray only seconds before it’d be placed in front of the empty seat of Dick Grayson - the man in question probably taking a bathroom break.

"Aha, pardon me, this was an incorrect order on my part, please forgive the interruption." You bowed with an apology, disappearing in hopes the remainder of the party hadn’t the time to fully decipher the mistake.

Of course, unbeknownst to you, this was a table full of detectives who constantly observed even the most trivial of details.

"Was that... cereal?"

The night followed on as planned, yourself wrapped up in cooking and supervising throughout the night with the only interruption coming from the waiting staff informing you that Table 12 would like to meet the Chef. Such a gesture was commonplace for you, customers regarded as strangers being much less intimidating than your neighbours family - you couldn’t comprehend why, it’s not like you were dating him or anything but their auras just radiated strength.

"Good evening, I'm glad to hear you -" Arriving at the table, you weren’t given the chance to finish before Dick had stood to greet you with a warm smile gently brushing your upper arm once deciding against hugging you out of habit.

"Hey, (Y/n). You didn’t come over this morning, everything alright?"

"Yeah, it's fine Dick I just had to readjust a menu." You waved his worries off with a grateful nod, hands on your hips in accomplishment as you expected to resume natural conversation with him.

"Okay okay, compliments to you, the food was immaculate - but how do you know our brother?" A youthful male bearing a white streak through his hair cut in, genuine sincerity in his tone when offering his praise before incredulously gesturing to Dick.

"He's my neighbour."

"I - he's a what now?" Duke shook his head in disbelief, looking between you both rather unconvinced.

"Are you kidding me Grayson?!" Tim was next, the most exasperated out of the whole table as he pinched the bridge of his nose whilst Dick quizzically scanned each of his company for insight.

"What...?"

"You got cooking lessons from one of the top Chefs in the whole damn country, you're friends with her, and you didn't even know who she was?!" The slimly built youth exclaimed, apparently knowledgeable in regards to the culinary world and had read of your famous reputation.

“(Y/n) (L/n) owns this restaurant Dick. Also, thank for the other week, the recipe was lovely.” Bruce politely added, nodding to you with a smile.

“You didn’t say that, you only said you worked here.” Dick turned to you now, in a feeble attempt to justify his lack of acknowledgment to your renowned status.

“Well, I do. In my defence you never asked, I mean my apartment and kitchen are rather fancy - that didn’t come on minimum wage.” You replied a matter-of-factly with an air of confidence to your voice.

"Are we forgetting that this is also the chef who was going to serve Richard cereal?" At the remark from Duke, a heated flush adorned your skin due to the embarrassment of being caught - the whole table breaking into collective chuckles.

"You were? - Wow that's such a dick move!" Dick was openly laughing at your failed attempt at humour, lightly nudging your side as you pushed him away in playful defence.

"Shut up! I didn't realise you were with your family, or else I wouldn't have done it."

Jason immediately waved that claim off, cheekily smirking at you as he spoke. “Oh no, I'm so glad you did, honestly it's the main reason I like you right now."

“That and you spared us the horror of Graysons cooking.” Damian conviently inputted, conniving grin sent to his favourite brother.

“You’re welcome, ah I apologise but I should get back to work so please excuse me. It was a pleasure meeting you all.” Taking a calculating glance over the expanse of exquisite tables and order exchanges you thought it best to return to your duties with a gracious smile and started toward the kitchen.

“Can I drop by tonight, I won’t be able to afford any thank you gifts after this but I’ll bring you a coffee?” Dick cheerily inquired, causing you to spin on your heel with a shy laugh and confirmation of his proposal.

“Don’t worry, this is my treat. You guys don’t have to pay for anything so enjoy the rest of your evening.” With that you were once again swept up into the busy atmosphere beyond the kitchen doors.

The table remained quiet for a few moments, Dick sitting down and looking to them almost as if searching for their impressions of you only to be met with bemused, impressed and mischievous gazes.

Not for you, oh no - these were shamelessly directed at a now enamoured Dick Grayson.

“Please marry her.”

#dick grayson #dick grayson imagine #dick grayson x reader #dc #dc imagine #nightwing #nightwing x reader #nightwing imagine

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nightwang96 · 4 years

Link

Chapters: 1/1 Fandom: DCU, Batman - All Media Types Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings Characters: Dick Grayson, Slade Wilson, Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd, Tim Drake Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, SladeRobinWeek 2020, Day 2: Merfolk, I know nothing about boats, and you can tell, ambiguous ending Series: Part 2 of SladeRobin Week 2020 Summary:

'“Deathstroke,” Bruce said finally.

“What?”

“That’s what he’s called. Or at least what we call him anyway.”

Dick’s head was swimming. He’d heard of mers being given names before, usually old mers who showed up in the same places over and over. But he’d never heard of Deathstroke.'

For the SladeRobin Week prompt Merfolk.

Dick had seen mer before. It was pretty unavoidable when you spent as much time on the ocean as Dick did. Most sailors didn’t particularly care for mers. They were inquisitive, smart creatures that enjoyed interacting with humans, but this often led to mishaps. Mers had been known to grab things off of ships, to tangle rudders and even sink smaller boats. They never hurt anyone on purpose, as far as they were aware, but often they couldn’t help it.

Dick had never really had a problem with them. In fact, he quite liked the mer. He liked to watch them streak through the water beside the ship, playing in the surf, breaching the water with a flick of their powerful tails. He liked listening to their curious chitters, and on rare occasions, the beautiful sound of their songs.

He never tried to interact with them though. That was always a recipe for disaster. Bruce had told him once about a young crewmate who had reached out to touch a mer’s tail and instead had been dragged into the water by the creature. According to Bruce, it had looked like the mer had only wanted to play, chittering excitedly as the crew desperately tried to pull him back on board. It had let him go once he had drowned, perhaps no longer interested once he had stopped moving, and they had managed to drag his body back onto the ship.

Bruce told the story often, not to incite violence against the mers, but as a cautionary tale. They were wild creatures, and though they looked like humans, they were not. They were something else entirely, and they were dangerous. You were better off leaving them alone.

Dick had been a crewmate on Bruce’s ship ever since his own parents had been murdered by pirates when he was eight. Bruce had taken him in, given him a job, and saved his life. He’d been sailing with him ever since, and in all that time, he’d never forgotten Bruce’s warning.

So when he saw the mer, floating quietly a little ways away from Dick’s post, he’d simply watched, curious. The mer was huge, easily the biggest one he’d ever seen, with a thick tail covered in gleaming orange and black scales. He was drifting on his back, white hair fanned out around his head, and Dick realised that he was missing an eye, thick scars a tangled mess over the socket. The mer was watching him too, gaze sharp as he lazily kept pace with the ship.

Dick was tempted to call someone over, maybe Jason or Tim, so that they could see the mer too, but something stopped him. Most mers tended to hang out in pods. They were incredibly social, and those that were alone tended not to draw attention to themselves, keeping away from boats and humans.

This mer was definitely not in a pod, or at least, hadn’t brought his pod with him to check out their ship. Dick slunk closer, leaning his elbows on the edge of the ship so he could try to get a better look. The mer tilted his head, turning over slowly to swim a little closer.

“What are you doing alone out here?” Dick murmured. The mer couldn’t understand him. They mostly communicated through chitters and clicks, and occasionally, wordless songs that carried across the salt air.

The mer made a strange clicking noise in his throat, and splashed his tail a little. Dick grinned, and the mer tilted his head, before peeling his lips back in an imitation of a smile, showing a row of sharp, deadly teeth.

“Yo Dickface! Get over here!” Jason’s shout obviously startled the mer, because with a flick of his tail, he dived beneath the dark waters, disappearing from view. Dick was a little disappointed, scanning the waves for any sign of it before giving up with a sigh, and going to see what Jason wanted.

He’d forgotten all about the mer by the next time he saw it. Orange flashes had caught his attention, bringing him over to the edge of the ship to peer into the frothing waters. The mer poked his head up, and Dick almost fell back on his ass, letting out a surprised laugh. The mer grinned at him, rolling over to float on his back, tail twitching.

“Hello again,” Dick said softly, pleased for a reason that he couldn’t quite put his finger on. The mer chittered back at him, eye half closing, face turning towards the afternoon sun. Dick watched him for a long moment as the mer sunbathed, examining the pattern of his scales, and the litter of scars that were dotted across the mer’s torso.

“You’re a fighter hm,” Dick said. Mers often got involved in territorial disputes so it wasn’t unusual to see scars, but this many? Dick couldn’t help but wonder what had happened. Had he been forced from his pod? Bullied? Hunted? Were those scars from other mers, or humans?

There were people who would kill a mer. Either to protect their ship, or to prevent them from overfishing certain areas, or for their meat and scales, or even simply because they found them annoying. Dick had always found it distasteful. Mers were intelligent, beautiful creatures, and the thought that some people would kill them simply because they got in the way, left a bitter taste in his mouth.

The mer seemed to sense his souring mood, because he sunk a little in the water, tail flicking in agitation. He chittered loudly and splashed a little, and Dick stepped back enough to avoid getting sprayed.

“Wow look at that thing.”

Dick had been so distracted, that he hadn’t noticed Jason coming up behind him. He spun around, the insane urge to hide the mer from view making him step in front of Jason.

“What are you doing here?”

Jason gave him a look, like Dick had grown an extra head. “I’m doing my job. Obviously you have more important things to be doing.”

Jason leaned over to get a better look at the mer, whistling when he eyed the thick, muscular tail. “That thing could probably do some serious damage.”

“It seems pretty docile,” Dick defended, not sure why it was so important that Jason not think badly of the mer.

“Docile? Have you seen the scars on it?” Jason made a sharp gesture and the mer, who had been watching him carefully, gave an agitated hiss, teeth bared.

Jason stepped back, discomfort clear on his face. “That thing is dangerous Dick. Leave it alone and get back to your job.”

Shooting him a glare, Jason gave one last assessing look to the mer and then stomped away. Dick sighed, rubbing a hand over his eyes. Jason was right. The mer seemed docile and friendly, but he was a wild creature. He was unpredictable.

A soft chitter drew his attention back to the mer. He was almost within touching distance of the ship, gaze sharp as he eyed Dick. A swish of his tail, lifted him up in the water, and for a moment Dick was tempted to lean down and meet him halfway.

“I’m sorry,” Dick croaked, even though the mer couldn’t understand him. He turned away, and hurried across the deck, trying to put all thought of the mer from his mind. Dick would forget all about it, and the mer would lose interest, and everything would be fine.

Dick was woken by a haunting song, drifting through the salt air. He listened for a long moment, blinking into the dark of the cabin, an indescribable emotion swelling in his chest. Then he pulled his boots on and made his way up onto the deck.

Bruce was stood at the wheel, a dark shadow in the soft moonlight. He turned to look at Dick as he came up beside him, face drawn and serious.

“What’s that noise?” Dick asked, hushed. The melody was louder now, out in the open. It was beautiful and sad, and Dick wanted to close his eyes and fall into the smooth, low tones.

“It’s a mer,” Bruce said, just as quietly. His grip was tight on the wheel, eyes gleaming as he scanned the mirror glass surface of the water.

“You’re worried.”

Dick knew that Bruce was wary of mers, but he hadn’t realised that he would be so concerned, just hearing the song. Bruce had seen mers hundreds of times, and never looked like this.

“How many times have you heard a mer sing?” Bruce asked, and Dick was confused by the subject change.

“I don’t know, once maybe?” Once in the wild at least. It had been much more distant than this, higher and still beautiful, and far enough away that there was no hope of seeing the mer that was singing. Later that night there’d been a storm. Two ships had been lost at sea. Dick had been lucky that they’d made it out alive.

Bruce’s gaze was heavy. “Hearing mer song is never a good sign.”

Dick had never taken Bruce to be superstitious, but then Bruce had far more experience with mers than Dick did. His stomach squirmed, anxiety creeping beneath his ribs, as he scanned the horizon. Somewhere out there, somewhere close, was the mer, its mournful song echoing across the waters.

Tim appeared beside him, rubbing sleepily at his eyes, closely followed by Jason. “What’s going on?” Tim asked, voice thick.

“It’s a mer,” Dick parroted.

Jason shot him a look. “You don’t think it’s that mer that’s been hanging around do you?”

Dick hadn’t even thought of that. This bone-chilling melody, echoing through the still night, was so far removed from the mer that Dick had seen, that he hadn’t even equated the two together.

“What mer?” Bruce snapped, his focus suddenly laser sharp on Dick and Jason.

Jason shrugged. “It was some big, scarred up mer. Dick was messing about with it the other day.”

“I wasn’t messing about with it!” He knew better than to mess around with mer. He’d just been watching it, talking to it a little. That was all. “It was just kind of, floating around by the boat. It didn’t do anything.”

“Have you seen it before?”

“Yeah, once I guess. Why?” Dick got the feeling that he was missing something. Mer hung around the boat all the time, they were harmless for the most part. He didn’t get why Bruce was so bothered by this.

The music cut off suddenly, and Bruce’s jaw tightened, ignoring Dick in favour of scanning the waters again. The silence was almost eerier than the music had been, only the soft sounds of the wind and the gentle lap of the water as the ship cut through the surface.

There was a bang and the ship shuddered through a hit, rocking with the force of it. Dick cried out, startled, and staggered not to lose his footing. The rest of the crew spilled out from their quarters, shouting in alarm and hurrying to their posts.

“What the fuck?” Jason shouted.

“There,” Bruce said, pointing into the dark. Dick squinted into the water and, yes there, a flash of orange, the surface of the water breaking. It was the mer. But what was it doing? Another thud, and the boat listed like it was riding a wave. Dick couldn’t believe the sheer power behind it, the strength it must take to rock the ship like this.

Bruce grit his teeth. “It’s going to bring the whole ship down.”

Dick ran to the edge, leaning over to try and get a proper glimpse of the mer. Behind him Bruce shouted in alarm, but Dick ignored him. If he could just get the mer’s attention, maybe calm it down, then maybe it would stop attacking the ship.

“Hey,” he called out. The wind whipped at his hair, his clothes, carrying his voice out into the water. Another thud, followed by an ominous groaning sound. Dick gripped the edge of the ship for all he was worth, riding out the shudder. If the mer kept hitting the ship like this, it would breach the hull. The whole ship might sink.

“Hey, stop! It’s okay!” he called again.

“What are you doing you idiot?” Jason shouted, close behind him.

Dick ignored him, leaning a little further over, and there just beneath him, orange scales and then a flash of white hair. The mer floated up to the surface, his one sharp eye fixed intently on Dick. And that was good, as long as it was focused on him it wasn’t destroying the ship. Dick smiled and the mer smiled back, sharp teeth gleaming in the moonlight.

The mer disappeared, diving beneath the waters. Dick scanned the still surface for a long, anxious moment. Then the mer was breaching, lunging up towards him, and Dick pulled back in surprise, but he wasn’t quick enough to avoid the grab, the mer’s sharp claws digging into his wrist, dragging him out over the edge of the ship.

For a moment, Dick seemed suspended in motion, too surprised to scream as he fell overboard. Then hands grabbed the back of his trousers, halting his fall, and more hands gripped the back of his shirt, his hips, hauling him backwards. The mer bared his teeth, snarling furiously and tugged painfully on his wrist. Blood dripped down his arm and splashed onto the mer’s cheek, but the mer didn’t even seem to notice.

Then Bruce was there beside him, leaning over the edge to thrust a pike down at the mer. It twisted away, but the sharp end still caught its shoulder, and it shrieked in pain. A great heave, and Dick was falling backwards onto the deck, the mer releasing him with a howl. He collapsed in a tangle of limbs, heart racing, the blood roaring through his ears.

“You fucking idiot!” Jason was yelling, but he was still holding onto Dick, hands grabbing at his shirt as though Dick could slip away at any moment.

Dick leaned back against him, gasping in desperate breaths. He couldn’t believe how close he’d come to being overboard, in the water with a mer. Tim crouched beside him, hands fluttering in the air.

“What was that?” Tim’s voice was high pitched, strained. “Why did it grab you?”

The hits on the boat had stopped, maybe because the mer had lost interest, maybe because it had failed to grab Dick, maybe because Bruce had injured it. Bruce himself was a taut line in front of him, pike still clenched in his fists.

“I don’t know,” Dick gasped. “It’s never done anything like that before!”

“Deathstroke,” Bruce said finally.

“What?”

“That’s what he’s called. Or at least what we call him anyway.”

Dick’s head was swimming. He’d heard of mers being given names before, usually old mers who showed up in the same places over and over. But he’d never heard of Deathstroke.

“Why Deathstroke?” Tim asked.

“Because he’s dangerous,” Bruce turned to look at him then, and his face was pale in the moonlight. “He’s got a reputation for attacking ships, sinking them, and then slaughtering anyone in the water.”

He hadn’t felt malicious, when he was drifting lazily beside the ship, but then again, he had just attacked them.

“I’ve never heard of him grabbing people off the ship before though.”

Jason snorted behind him. “Trust it to be you Dick.”

“But I didn’t do anything. Bruce I swear,” Dick said. All he’d done was watch it, talk to it a little. The mer couldn’t even understand him.

“Jay go check if there’s been any damage done. The rest of you can go back to bed,” Bruce said, rubbing his temple like he had a headache coming.

Dick clambered to his feet, feeling strangely unsteady. Tim hovered by his elbow, hands out like he was worried Dick was gonna fall.

“I’m fine,” Dick said, giving Tim a wry smile.

“You’re bleeding.”

Huh. Dick had forgotten about that. Now that Tim had pointed it out, his arm was throbbing, bleeding all over his shirt from punctures and scratches in his skin. He examined the deep claw marks with a morbid curiosity. Mers were predators after all, and their claws were huge, and sharp enough to rend the flesh from your bones.

“It’s not too bad,” he said, but he let Tim fuss over him anyway, cleaning and dressing the wound.

When he climbed back into bed, he found himself thinking again of the mer. Why try to grab him? Had it been trying to drown him? Kill him? He’d thought that the mer had liked him.

It was an uneasy, restless sleep that night.

He didn’t see the mer again for a couple of days, and he’d been watching out for him. He’d hoped to catch a glimpse of him during the day, maybe try and see if the mer was hostile, or if he was back to his lazy curiosity.

When the mer did return, it was night again, and Dick was awake, taking a turn keeping watch. Orange scales caught the moonlight, and Dick was instantly alert, heart racing. The mer’s head broke the water surface, his gaze unerringly meeting Dick’s and the mer tilted its head and chittered, splashing his tail. Dick edged closer, cautiously and the mer reached towards him, as though beckoning him. Dick stepped back instinctively, shaking his head, and the mer bared its teeth with a strangled hiss.

“Bruce!” Dick shouted, just as the mer lunged down, smashing against the hull of the boat with his tail. The cabin door flew open and then Bruce was running towards him, Jason and Tim hot on his heels.

“It’s back?” Bruce snapped, then grit his teeth as another smash resonated up the hull He grabbed up his pike and rushed to the edge, peering over in an attempt to get the mer in his line of sight.

“It’s going to sink the ship,” Tim said quietly, and Dick realised suddenly that he was right. Under the water, it was almost impossible to hit the mer, and the ship couldn’t take the repeated battering. He moved to stand beside Bruce, chest clenching at the older man’s expression, fear and grim determination.

“Get away from the edge,” Jason snapped. “It’s you it wants.”

Dick blinked, Jason’s words sinking into his brain. Dick wasn’t sure if giving the mer what it wanted would stop it from attacking the boat, or killing the rest of the crew, but at this point they were kind of out of options. The ship groaned and shuddered, and they couldn’t even see the mer, let alone hit it. If they didn’t do something, they were all dead anyway.

Dick climbed up onto the edge of the ship. Bruce made a startled noise beside him, and as Dick dived, he made to grab him, fingers brushing against Dick’s ankle. The water, when he hit it, was ice cold, stealing the breath from his lungs. He kicked up to the surface, looking up at the ship as the waves buffeted him.

Jason was yelling, leaning over the edge, and Bruce was holding him back, face devastated. For a moment they tussled together, shouting, until Tim grabbed Jason around the middle and Jason slumped in his hold.

The water broke in front of Dick, the mer breaching the surface to regard him with a tilted head. Bruce shouted something, but Dick couldn’t hear what he said, all of his focus on the dangerous creature in front of him. His teeth chattered, fear flooding his veins, instincts telling him to swim away fast. But that would be pointless. The mer was faster, stronger, deadlier, than Dick. He just had to pray that whatever happened, if he was killed now by the mer, that the ship would be safe. That his family would be safe.

The mer chittered, swimming close enough that Dick could reach out and touch him if he wanted. Dick was treading water as the mer floated in front of him, and Dick couldn’t tell what exactly the mer wanted. Tentatively, he brought a hand up. The mer copied the movement, touching their fingers together.

Dick smiled, and the mer grinned back at him.

#sladerobinweek2020 #day 2: merfolk #dc #dick grayson #slade wilson #bruce wayne #jason todd #tim drake #merfolk au #fanfiction #my writing #ambiguous ending

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dato-potato · 4 years

Text

Under the Stars

So I know I didn’t include the whole family in this but like, I didn’t want to make it too long. Anyways, this one one that I was asked to do, a jaybabs engagement party with dickkori and timsteph side pairings from @incorrectbatfamiliaquotes so here ya go!

——————————————

Jason paced back and forth in the sitting room of Wayne manor. Had he missed anything? Was he sure that everything was ready? Should he run out and grab some more drinks? No, he could always just steal from the manor’s supply, he knew where the good stuff was and which ones weren’t half water from him sneaking drinks when he was younger. Jason sighed heavily, his hands raking through his hair as he exhaled shakily.

Hands snaked around his waist, his instincts itching to throw the person off, “What’s wrong?”

Jason took a deep breath of relief, “Just nervous, I guess.”

Barbara chuckled, “Why are you nervous, it’s not the wedding or anything. It’ll be fine,” she said as she took his hand and led him to the couch.

“Yeah, but what if it’s no good?”

Barbara chuckled again, the sound making Jason’s chest hurt, “Well I’m curious to see what you’ve planned,” she paused and tilted her head side to side, “I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous as well as to what you’ve planned. I mean, you won’t even tell me where the party’s being held.”

Jason smiled softly down at her, “You’re not the only one, I didn’t tell anyone. Except for Alfred.”

Barbara raised her eyebrow up at him and Jason sighed, “You know I’m clueless with this type of thing,” he groaned.

“I can assure you, Miss Gordon, it will be an evening to remember,” Alfred commented as he entered the room with some cups on a tray.

“Well, now my interest is peaked,” Barbara said leaning forward to take a cup from Alfred, thanking him as she did. Jason nervously sipped at the tea Alfred handed him.

Tim and Stephanie were the first ones to arrive, an awfully wrapped gift in Tim’s hands. Barbara glanced between the gift and Tim, as he looked away with an awkward smile on his face.

“Stephanie said my gift wasn’t good enough,” Tim told Barbara as he glared at Stephanie who was too busy to notice as she chatted with Jason.

“What was your gift, Tim?” Barbara chuckled as she took to box from his hands with a sigh of relief from Tim.

Tim shrugged, “It was a coupon saying that I’d give you a discount for me to take the pictures for the wedding.”

Barbara smiled, “That’s sweet, Tim, I’d still like to take you up on that if that’s ok?”

Tim nodded, “Yeah, of course! Though Jason still has to pay full price,” he grinned to his big brother as Jason made his way over to the two of them.

“Oh come on, Timberly, I’m your actual family,” Jason tried, giving Tim his most pitiful look.

Tim shook his head and shrugged. He looked around, “So where is this engagement party?”

Jason sighed, “We have to wait for everyone else to get here.”

Stephanie made a show of falling onto the couch behind her, “Oh my gosh, seriously? We’re gonna be here forever. Dick always takes so long to get ready.”

Tim started to attempt to defend his eldest brother, but there was nothing he could say.

As if on cue, “Sorry we’re late!”

Dick and Kori entered, “Richard had a difficult time deciding which shirt to wear,” Kori explained.

Stephanie looked pointedly at everyone else and they all just nodded in understanding.

“And you decided to go with one with palm trees and,” Jason squinted at Dick’s shirt, “Flamingos in hats?”

Dick nodded enthusiastically, “Yeah, flamingos in hats.”

Jason stared at his brother for a solid three minutes before Dick turned to Kori, “See I told you I should’ve gone with the other one.”

Jason shook his head and put his hands on Dick’s shoulders, guiding him to sit down, “Nope, this one is bad enough.”

Tim sighed, “So? Where are we going?”

Jason smirked, “We have to wait, surprisingly Dick isn’t the last one.”

“Well, I’m still hoping you took my idea,” Dick said from behind the teacup Alfred handed him.

Jason shook his head before Barbara could ask him what Dick meant, “Dick wanted to do Roller Disco.”

Barbara laughed, “We are not,” she half asked Jason.

Jason shook his head, “No, we are not.”

Alfred excused himself as the kids continued to talk amongst themselves, Dick and Kori telling the other two couples that they were going to start trying for kids, and congratulations going around the room.

Jason kept glancing next to him at Barbara, watching her. Having the others there certainly helped to distract him but he couldn’t help the butterflies in his stomach when he saw her smile or the way his chest hurt when she laughed. His mind was racing, not even noticing Barbara now looking at him.

“Jay, you ok?” she asked softly. Jason stared at her for a few more seconds before smiling softly and nodding. He planted a quick, gentle kiss on her forehead as he wrapped his arm around her waist. She smiled and leaned into him.

Stephanie was elbowing Tim in the ribs and pointing to the couple and whispering to Tim who just shook his head. Dick smiled at his younger brother, he had seemed to calm down since being with Babs.

“This is horrendous,” Damian spoke from the doorway, his face twisted in disgust at all the couples sitting around the room.

“Ah, Demon spawn, so glad you came,” Jason chuckled as he checked his watch, “You guys are a little late though, aren’t you?”

Damian scoffed and sat down a safe distance away from any of the couples, “Usually patrol lasts even longer, you should know, Todd.”

Jason laughed nervously, “Right.”

Bruce entered the sitting room, “Yes, usually patrol lasts at least a few hours, minimum. For whatever reason, the criminals of Gotham have seemed to be quite calm tonight,” Bruce said, eyeing Jason.

Jason’s mouth twitched, “Weird, huh? Well, shall we?”

Jason stood up from his spot next to Barbara who grabbed his wrist and pulled him back to her, “You did something, didn’t you?”

Jason smirked down at her, “Well, I may have suggested they’d lose limbs if they didn’t keep quiet tonight?”

Barbara smiled back up at him and swatted his arm, “Could’ve told me, I’d have helped,” she said as she followed behind him.

“I know.”

Jason led everyone outside and into the woods. He kept looking back at Barbara who looked confused and slightly concerned.

“Is it some sort of sacrificial ritual? Like we have to send the spawn of Satan back to the underworld?” Tim asked, glancing at Damian who glared back.

Jason rolled his eyes, “No.”

Tim sighed and Stephanie pinched his underarm, making Tim yelp.

Finally, the group came to a clearing in the woods, Alfred already standing and waiting for them next to blankets set up with food and drinks around, fairy lights twinkling around the clearing.

Jason turned to Barbara who looked absolutely stunned, “Jason,” she breathed, “This is incredible.”

“Maybe you should plan the wedding,” Tim nudged Jason as he walked past him.

Jason frantically shook his head at Tim and then towards Barbara, “No no no no no no, please don’t make me do it,” he begged.

Barbara laughed and held her stomach, making Jason’s stomach do flip flops as he watched her, “Ok, I won’t make you do all of it, but after this, you’re helping.”

“It was really mostly Alfred,” Jason told her sheepishly.

Alfred scoffed behind Jason, “I didn’t think you were ever one to lie, Master Jason.”

Barbara took Jason’s hand and they sat down at one of the blankets. Everyone started in on the drinks and food, laughing and enjoying the company.

“Presents!” Dick announced, holding the box he had brought above his head.

Everyone laid the gifts out in front of the couple, waiting for them to open the presents. Barbara looked over at Jason who shrugged and picked up Tim and Stephanie’s monstrosity.

Stephanie squealed when Jason finally opened it and without even giving him the chance to unfold the gift. She held a pair of socks in front of their faces for them to take.

Barbara and Jason examined each other’s socks, “They’re socks,” Jason paused, turning his pair over, “With our faces on the socks.”

“I wanted to get shirts, but someone said no,” Stephanie narrowed her eyes at Tim who put his hands up in defence.

Jason handed a flat gift to Barbara to unwrap. She thanked him and started to tear the wrapping paper, but stopping halfway through.

“Damian,” Barbara softly breathed, “This is gorgeous.”

Damian attempted to suppress the small blush that crept up onto his cheeks, “Yes, well, I wasn’t sure what one got as an engagement gift.”

Jason took the canvas from her hands and examined it. It was definitely gorgeous. It was Barbara and Jason together by the fire in the manor, probably from a picture Tim had taken last Christmas.

“Ok, ours next,” Dick said handing his and Kori’s gift to Barbara.

“It’s a cookbook,” she said, slightly confused.

Dick leaned in, “Jason is like, a really good cook, but he usually uses the excuse that he doesn’t have any recipes to cook, so now he has no excuse.”

“Actually, Dick,” Barbara started.

“I cook for her all the time, that’s just when you guys show up at my place unannounced that I use that,” Jason finished.

Dick held a hand to his chest and gasped, offended.

Bruce held out a box for Jason. He eyed the box suspiciously but took it anyway. After opening it, he examined the glass inside, “It’s an engraved decanter set. That was one of the first things you eyed when you had come to the manor,” Bruce said with a faint smile on his lips.

Jason smiled back, “Thanks, B,” he looked back down at the decanter, “Though the only reason I’d been looking at it was the alcohol inside and this one doesn't seem to--”

Jason was interrupted by Babs sending an elbow into his gut, “Thank you, Bruce.”

Alfred handed Barbara a book that wasn’t wrapped, “My apologies, Miss Gordon, but I didn’t have the time to wrap your gift.”

Barbara gasped a little at the book, “Alfred, it’s perfect.”

Jason leaned over, “What? What is it?”

Barbara smiled over at him and opened it up, it had pictures of the two of them when they first met, when they spent holidays at the manor, when they told the rest of the family they were dating, when they announced their engagement and blank pages saved for their future together.

“Of course, that’s just a copy of the original,” Alfred told her.

“I expected as much,” Barbara smiled at him.

The others continued to drink and chat amongst themselves when Barbara leaned over to Jason, “Hey.”

He leaned over to her as well, heads nearly touching, “Why’d you pick this place?” she asked him in a whispered voice.

Jason looked offended, “You don’t remember? Our passionate night under the stars?”

Barbara rolled her eyes, “I remember it differently. I remember you nearly bleeding out but refusing to go back to the cave because you’re a stubborn asshole.”

Jason opened his mouth and then closed it again, “You’re not wrong, but that’s not exactly what I was talking about.”

“Was there another time?”

Jason shook his head.

“Then why?” Barbara asked as she titled her head.

Jason studied her face, the tilt, the way one of her eyebrows was higher than the other, the sharpness of her eyes, the way her lips pursed when she was in thought, the crease between her eyebrows, everything.

“This is where I knew,” he said softly, looking up to the dark sky, littered with stars, “This is where I knew I loved you.”

Barbara was silent for a long moment, processing what he said. He never was one to express himself at all, so when he insisted on planning the engagement party, she was more than a little surprised. The actual engagement was less than romantic, so perhaps this was his way of making up for it.

“Jay,” she started.

“So this means we don’t have to get wedding gifts, right?” Tim asked from behind Jason.

#dick grayson #barbara gordon #tim drake #jason todd #bruce wayne #alfred pennyworth #stephanie brown #timsteph #dickkori #koriand'r #jaybabs #batfamily #fanfic #idk i thought it was cute #theyre cute #they all deserve the world #i can do the actual engagement if people wwnt idk

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awhitehead17 · 4 years

Text

30 Days of Domestic Fluff: Day Twelve - Cooking Together

Summary: Tim attempts to teach Kon how to make a cake, attempts being the key word.

Enjoy! :D

“So this is a table spoon?”

“No. That’s a desert spoon. This is a table spoon.”

Kon looks extremely confused and it makes Tim laugh. He places the spoons all next to each other and points to them individually, “Tea spoon, desert spoon, table spoon. They’re your most common spoon types. Then of course you have the whole soup spoon, sugar spoon, coffee spoons…” Tim trails off and ends up snickering at Kon’s expression.

He leans over and presses a kiss to the corner of his mouth, “Don’t worry about it Kon, just know that right now you need a table spoon of coco powder okay.”

Kon looks away from him and at the three spoons laid out in front of them. He hesitates before picking up the correct spoon and shooting Tim a questioning look, at his smile Kon grins and proceeds to place a table spoon of coco powder into the mixing bowl.

“And now for three eggs,” he states reading from the book, “then followed by another lot of coco powder.”

Tim hums in agreement. He knows this recipe off by heart, it’s his grandmother’s chocolate cake recipe, when he was a kid he used to bake these when he felt lonely or when his parents were due home from their travels, so he ended up knowing the recipe off by heart. Once he became Robin he stopped doing it as much but he once brought it up to Alfred as an offhand comment and now they make it occasionally together.

At this moment in time he’s teaching Kon how to make the cake.

He watches as his boyfriend attempts to break an egg on the side of the bowl. He enjoys watching Kon’s face as the meta concentrates so hard on the task, it amuses Tim that his tongue sticks out with the concentration.

Tim snorts when the egg explodes in Kon’s hand, his boyfriend huffs and grimaces at the mess it’s now caused. For as long as Tim has known him, Kon has never been great at breaking eggs, while he’s better at it now compared to when he was younger he still wasn’t brilliant. His super strength not allowing him to handle something so delicate (though Kon can be extremely delicate when really needs to be, this just isn’t one of those times).

Taking pity on his boyfriend he moves around and grabs a cloth to give to Kon so he could clean his hand and gently nudges him to the side, “Here, let me do this bit.”

He takes an egg in his hand and expertly cracks it against the edge of the bowl and carefully allows it into the bowl without any shell getting in there and repeats the method. From there it’s like clockwork as he automatically moves into the next step of the recipe.

He got so into it that he had completely forgotten Kon was the one that was supposed to be doing it and not him. It wasn’t until the meta’s arms wrap around him that he freezes and guiltily looks over his shoulder.

“Uh sorry…” He starts pulling away, “Guess I kinda got carried away…”

Kon holds him still, placing his head on Tim’s shoulder, “No, no, it’s okay. You looked really comfortable doing it, so like in the ‘zone’ that it’s fascinating to watch.” He feels Kon shrug, “it’s probably best that you do it anyway, I can just watch.”

Tim smiles but shoots him a look, “I thought you wanted to learn how to make this cake?”

Kon leans in and presses a kiss to his jaw, “I do, but I think I’d rather observe instead of participate. You know what you’re doing.”

Tim rolls his eyes at that, of course he knows what he’s doing, the entire point of this was to help Kon learn how to make this cake. But fine whatever, he’ll take it, and as a bonus his boyfriend’s presence behind him was warm and comforting, making him feel safe and not wanting to leave his arms.

“I know what I can help with,” Kon starts when he’s nearly done with the mixing.

“Oh? What’s that then?”

“I can help clean the bowl afterwards!”

A smile breaks a way onto his face and Tim shakes his head, “Of course you would. That’s probably all you’ve been interested in this entire time!”

He feels Kon grin against the skin of his neck, where he had leaned in to kiss him there, “I’m not confirming or denying that.”

Tim turns his head and gets a kiss on the lips, he grins against Kon’s mouth, “You’re predictable, I hope you know that.”

“Yeah…” Kon murmurs, “What you going to do about it?”

“Absolutely nothing, that’s what.” He knows Kon like the back of his hand by now, he’s just been around Kon too long now and there’s no changing that. Not that he would want to anyway.

He turns away from Kon to finish up making the cake, “Now all we have to do it put it in the cake tins and let it cook for 40 minutes. After that we let it cool and can move onto decorating it!”

#timkon #Tim Drake #Kon-El #30 days of domestic fluff #Cooking Together #cakes #its more baking than cooking #oh well #baking #hugs #fluff #kisses #spoons #fanfiction

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sassycassie-s-series · 4 years

Text

All My Fault 33

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam - Damian Wayne/Batman

Rating: PG-11/T- (for violence)

Notes: (Masterlist) This one jumps around a bit. Hopefully it’s not too difficult to follow.

Tag List (Open): @batboys-and-other-messes @welovegroot @probsjosh @spooder-moon @lostredrobin @haylo4ever @na-n-na @rachelmorganroth @reclusive-chicken-nugget

Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4, Ch 5, Ch 6, Ch 7, Ch 8, Ch 9, Ch 10, Ch 11, Ch 12, Ch 13, Ch 14, Ch 15, Ch 16, Ch 17, Ch 18, Ch 19, Ch 20, Ch 21, Ch 22, Ch 23, Ch 24, Ch 25, Ch 26, Ch 27, Ch 28, Ch 29, Ch 30, Ch 31, Ch 32

^^^^^

“So, what do we do, Damian?” I asked quietly as Damian and I sat in my room on the floor across from each other. Jon had left to go home to Metropolis so we were alone to have our private discussion.

Damian reached across the distance between us and took one of my hands in both of his. “I want to be with you more than I’ve ever wanted to be with anyone else. However I don’t believe we should go public with any sort of romantic relationship immediately. As far as the rest of the world is concerned, you’ve been back nearly two weeks less than you have actually been in this future, which would make it seem as though you haven’t been back long enough to be in a romantic relationship—perhaps.”

“What about Bruce?”

Damian’s eyes dropped to our hands. “He returns from Metropolis tomorrow,” Damian said. “As I said earlier, he could look between the two of us and make an accurate estimate of what we’ve done while he was gone if he believed we had something to hide. I can tell him that we’ve fallen in love and intend to pursue a relationship—”

“No,” I interrupted. “Let… let me tell him.”

“Nora?” Damian asked, using my name instead of why?

I sighed. “If I tell him he might… freak out less. You know what I mean? Like, if I say I don’t want to go back to the past and explain why… I doubt he’d drop his coffee.”

I set my other hand on top of Damian’s hand holding my other one. I looked up and met his eyes.

“I love you, Damian Wayne. Strange as our situation is, it’s true.”

He gave me the widest and most genuine smile I’d ever seen from him—or either blood Wayne for that matter. “I love you as well, Nora McCloud.” He leaned forward. I closed the distance and pressed our lips together.

It was a far less heated kiss than the night before. Instead it was simple and tender, full of softer emotions than passion.

Damian pulled away first. “I believe you’re correct. You informing Father would be far safer.” He squeezed my hand. “And in a few weeks—perhaps even a month—we will announce that Nora McCloud and Damian Wayne are officially together.”

I snorted. “Press can finally have their field day about us,” I said.

Damian bounced an eyebrow. “S’pose so,” he agreed.

I smirked. “Let them,” I said.

Damian tutted. “Tt. Alright then.”

“But in private, are we officially together now?”

“Only if you agree to be.”

“I do. Heartily.”

We both snickered.

^^^^^

WHAM! My foot connected to the mugger’s chest—and I was fairly certain I heard a rib separate from his sternum. Yowch.

“Batman’s smitten,” Jason said in the open channel. Tonight it was all of us out on patrol except Tim, who volunteered to be on monitor duty. Dick and Jason had told Cass and Tim that Damian and I were in love and semi-officially a couple while we were in private.

I glanced around to see Damian standing on top of a building that made up one of the walls of the alley I was in, looking down at me. Even from my distance below I could see him grinning. I smiled back at him, whacked the mugger again and effectively knocked him out, and nodded to the man he’d been trying to steal from. “Are you alright, sir?” I asked.

He nodded.

“GCPD is on its way,” Damian supplied to me.

“The cops will be here soon,” I said to the man. “They’ll take your statement.” As I spoke I tied up the mugger. “He’ll be out for at least an hour.”

“Are you leaving?” the man asked me, looking a bit spooked by the mugger.

I gave him a smile. “Not if you don’t want me to,” I said, rocking back and forth on my heels. I realized how that could sound if taken the wrong way and quickly amended, “Not if you feel unsafe alone here with this man.” I didn’t need this guy hitting on me or trying any funny business when Damian was literally only a few stories above me. That being said, most of the creeps and misogynists in this city knew that trying anything rude with a girl in a mask and body armor—Batgirl, the Spoiler, Orphan, Batwoman, Cloudburst, and any visiting female heroes—was a recipe for getting several bones broken and sometimes a verbal smack-down.

Didn’t always discourage them from trying, but I’d dislocated eight shoulders and paralyzed three sets vocal chords in the first two years of being Cloudburst and had since lost track of injuries I’d dealt to creeps who grabbed my backside or hands or other places or made disgusting comments.

As it was, this guy didn’t say anything rude or try to touch me.

I touched my comm-link. “By the way, Hood?” I said.

“Yes Cloudy?” Jason asked.

“Shut up,” I said.

I heard lots of snickering from the rest of the Bat-family.

After a few minutes of waiting, the cops came. Once they turned up, the mugging victim thanked me. I nodded and shot a grappling hook to the roof, whizzing out of sight. Once I swung onto the same rooftop as Damian, I felt his arm ensnare my waist and pull me closer to him. He tapped his comms to mute his microphone and smirked at me. “That was attractive,” he whispered.

I snickered and muted my mic too.

He leaned closer.

I put my hand between our lips before he could kiss me. “Batman and Cloudburst can’t be together, Damian,” I said quietly.

He closed his eyes and sighed with complaint. “Why not?”

“Because as far as civilians are concerned, Cloudburst is still between five and ten years older than Batman. That would be weird. And the coincidence of Nora McCloud returning only a week-and-a-half after Cloudburst can be ignored and forgotten. But Cloudburst and Batman getting caught kissing on a rooftop a month before Damian Wayne and Nora McCloud announce that they’re together is downright suspicious,” I said. “Especially coupled with Cloudburst and Nora’s reappearances.”

Damian pursed his lips and stared at me, his green eyes glinting through the eye holes of his cowl. “Alright,” he relented. “Batman and Cloudburst have a professional relationship.”

“You can kiss me in uniform when we get back to the Batcave,” I said quietly.

^^^^^

“Their mics are muted,” Jason remarked to Dick, Tim, and Cass on a private channel. “I can see them talking through my scope but I can’t hear them.”

“What do you mean, ‘scope’?” Dick asked. “Hood, you don’t have a sniper rifle, do you?”

Jason hesitated. “… No?”

“Hood!” Dick protested.

“Hey, wingding! Now is not the time! They’re being lovey-dovey and you’re complaining about me?!” Jason snapped.

“Okay. So their mics are muted so we can’t hear them. What do you mean, lovey-dovey?” Tim asked, interrupting the argument.

“Well Damian’s got his arm around her waist and she just stopped him from kissing her. She’s got this goofy type of lovestruck grin on her face and Damian is grinning. Grinning,” Jason told the others.

Tim and Dick both “Wow”ed Jason’s description.

“Who wants to bet twenty bucks on how long they date before Damian proposes?” Jason asked.

“Me!” Dick and Tim said at the same time.

“I will too,” Cass added.

“I bet six months and under,” Dick said.

“Whoa. Cutting that one fine, eh?” Tim wondered.

“Well it’s not entirely unheard of—especially if both parties know each other well before becoming a couple,” Dick said, a shrug in his voice.

“Which they don’t,” Jason deadpanned.

“Shut up,” Dick retorted. “Sure they do. Cloudy probably knows Damian better than anyone except B, Alfred, and maybe me. Heaven knows she put forth the effort to do so.”

“Mm,” Jason grunted, unconvinced.

“I will bet six months to a year,” Cass said.

“Hmm. A year to two years,” Tim put in.

“Then I guess I bet two years or any amount longer,” Jason said.

Dick scoffed. “Oh please. I know them. Marriage is an important concept to Cloudy and Damian was raised with the League of Assassins where I'm relatively positive arranged marriages for political reasons aren’t uncommon. I doubt they’ll date that long before getting married.”

“Well twenty bucks says we’ll see, then, hmm?” Jason challenged.

“Guess so,” Dick agreed.

“Yup,” Tim said.

“Yes,” Cass added.

^^^^^

“By the way, we should probably sleep in separate rooms when we get back tonight,” I said. “Because Bruce will be back in the morning and I don’t want to have to edit more security camera footage.” I’d already told Damian that Jason and Dick had taken care of the night before’s recordings. “Plus I don’t know when he’ll be back and I don’t want him to come check on you and find us, y’know, in bed together.”

Damian thought for a moment, still holding me close. “You are… correct. We should probably stay in our own rooms anyway, for as much as we can help it. As though we’re a couple who does not live together yet,” he said.

I nodded. “I agree,” I said.

Damian let me go with a little smirk and jerked his head toward the highest buildings in Gotham. “Let’s go finish this patrol,” he said.

I smiled. “Sounds good,” I agreed. He squeezed my hand before letting go. We took off running over the rooftop and leapt off the side at the same time, unmuting our comms as we went. My hair streamed behind me in the wind as we swung off toward the deeper parts of Gotham. I whooped. I’d never get tired of this.

^^^^^

Damian and I climbed out the Batmobile, beating everyone else back to the Batcave. Except Tim. Who was no longer sitting at the bat-computer and probably up in the shower. Damian and I met at the front hood of the car. Damian rested his hands on my waist, tugging me gently closer. My hands found his shoulders. “May I give you a kiss goodnight, my darling?” Damian asked.

I smiled. “You absolutely may,” I replied.

Damian bent down and pressed his lips to mine. I felt a small grin in his lips. “Everything will be alright,” he breathed when our lips parted but our foreheads rested together. “No matter how Father reacts. Everything will be alright.”

“I know,” I said. “I trust this. I trust you.” My hands slid up from his shoulders and around the back of his neck, my fingers sliding over the short hair on the back of his head.

“I would wait forever to be with you.”

“I would too. But let’s hope that doesn’t happen.” I tilted my head forward and kissed his cheek.

—

#All My Fault #Damian Wayne #Robin #Batman #damian wayne imagine #damian wayne fanfiction #robin imagine #robin fanfiction #batman imagine #batman fanfiction #DC #BatFam #dc imagine #dc fanfiction #batfam fanfiction #batfam imagine #All My Fault Chapter 33 #Chapter 33

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sassycassie-s-writing · 5 years

Text

Playdate

By: SassyShoulderAngel319

Fandom/Character(s): DC, BatFam - Jason Todd/Red Hood feat. the SuperSons!

Rating: PG/K+

Original Idea: I saw a fanart of Jon asking Jason if he could do the flippy thing with his guns that cowboys do.

Notes: (Masterlist)(By Character)(About Me) I love Jason so much. @jason-redhood @jason-todd-squad @welovegroot

^^^^^

Jon Kent—ten years old, Superboy, son of Lois Lane and Clark Kent.

Damian Wayne—thirteen years old, Robin, son of Talia Al Ghul and Bruce Wayne.

Jason Todd—twenty-one years old, Red Hood, so-called “Son of No One.” Also my boyfriend.

The three of them together in a room was a recipe for disaster.

For one, Jon is an absolute sweetheart with a heart made of the purest gold. Damian and Jason are brothers with major issues. If either of them get out of hand, directed towards the other, that’ll upset Jon.

For two, Jon and Damian are best friends. Somehow. I have no idea how that happened. The two of them together can be a bit of a show. If they get out of hand, Jason might lose his cool and flip out. Or shoot something. Which would be bad.

For three, Jon—for some reason—is absolutely loving Jason. Asking him all these questions about being the Red Hood and pretending to be a bad guy while actually being a good guy. If Jon gets a little too buddy-buddy with Jason, Damian is sure to get jealous and freak out.

Great idea for a playdate, huh?

^^^^^

I leaned against the doorframe to the parlor that Jason, Damian, and Jon were occupying. Jason had hidden his loaded mags and was in the process of cleaning his guns sitting on the floor next to the coffee table while Damian and Jon discussed comic books on the sofa. Damian didn’t see the point of them. Jon was explaining why they were awesome.

Grinning, I tugged my phone out of my pocket and texted Jason. Hey, I sent.

His phone buzzed on the table. He glanced at it. Then looked up at me, confused.

I typed another message, sent it, and pointed at my phone, still smiling. You have your safeties on right?

He looked up from his phone and cocked an eyebrow at me like, Duh! Even though they were also unloaded.

I texted him again. Ask Jon if he likes cowboys.

That was the first time he texted me back. Why?

You’ll see.

Jason twitched his eyebrows at me and turned his attention to the boys. “Hey Jon?” Jason asked. The ten-year-old perked up and looked over.

“Yeah?” He looked curious, bright, and excited.

I still had no idea how he and Damian became such good friends.

“Do you like cowboys?” Jason continued, still cleaning the barrel of one gun.

Jon beamed. “I mean, yeah I guess. Oh. Oh! Oh! Can you do the flippy thing?”

Jason shot me a look over Jon and Damian’s shoulders, finally understanding my strange suggestion.

Jason grinned and shoved some empty clips into both of his guns for weight and balance, checked the safeties despite the fact that both clips were unloaded, and spun both guns around his fingers simultaneously with the loop of metal around the triggers. Like a cowboy in an old western movie. He caught them perfectly by the handles, almost striking a pose.

Jon gasped like someone brought a unicorn into the room and clapped. “That was so cool!” he exclaimed.

I snickered and looked back down at my phone. What was that you were saying the other day about you think you’re a bad brother?

Jason looked down at his phone, set his guns down, and texted me back. Jon is not my brother, princess.

I shrugged when he looked at me and sent him, Well, he’s Dami’s best friend so he’s basically family, right?

You’re as bad as Dick and Bruce: adopting everyone in sight.

“Are you two texting while in the same room?!” Damian demanded.

“Duh, half-pint,” Jason retorted, resuming the gun cleaning. “Don’t want you two to eavesdrop.”

“Todd, so help me! I swear to—”

“Damian,” I interrupted. “How about you show Jon the library? Dick and Tim have a collection of their old comic books in there. He might like to see them.”

Jon gasped again. “That’d be so cool! Can we?” he asked Damian.

Who sighed and got to his feet. “Yes, we may. Come along.” He got off the sofa. Jon hopped up and followed after Damian, looking a bit like an excited puppy.

Jason set his guns down and got up to follow them. He took my hand at the door and we started walking behind the two younger boys. “So what was that about? Why are you smiling like that?”

“They’re both just cute kids,” I said. “I mean, despite Damian always being a bit of a grouch, he’s still a kid who should be allowed to act like one. And I know Jon breaks down his barriers so, yeah. Anything that makes Jon laugh or smile might get a similar but smaller reaction from Damian.” I shrugged. “Also proving a point to you that you’re a great brother.”

Jason rolled his eyes dramatically. “You’re still smiling,” he said.

“Yeah. You’re actually really good with kids and it’s adorable.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “Are you implying something, darling?” he teased.

I shrugged. “Maybe just that you’re not the big, scary, intimidating crime boss everyone thinks you are,” I returned playfully.

Jason captured my shoulders in his dirty-from-cleaning hands, stopping us as Damian and Jon pulled even farther away from us. “I thought you were implying that I’d make a good dad.”

“You will make a good dad, one day. But for now, I don’t think either of us are ready for that.”

He set his forehead against mine, going cross-eyed just a little to keep looking at me. “I think you’re right. About the second part. About the first… I don’t think so.” He let me go and we went back to following the boys to the library.

Ahead, I heard Jon whooping and shouting, “WHOA!” They must have reached the library.

“Jay,” I complained, following him and taking up a seat on the sofa. “What’s got you playing a Negative Nathan today?”

“Babe, we both know, really, that I have too much of Willis in me to be a good dad.”

Huffing, I leaned all the weight of my upper body against his arm. “That’s not true. You have some of your father Willis in you. But you have more of your dad.”

“My da—oh. You mean Bruce.” He didn’t look particularly impressed as we ducked into the library.

Jon was hovering six feet in the air at the top of the bookshelf dedicated to Tim and Dick’s collection of comic books while Damian stood on the ladder next to Jon.

“Babe,” Jason continued, “I don’t want to talk about it now.”

“That’s fine. We don’t have to now,” I said. “I'm just saying, you’re good with kids. And there’s nothing more attractive to me than that.” I teasingly pinched his chin and tugged it down so I could kiss the tip of his nose.

Damian gagged. “Todd, if you and your partner must engage in displays of affection, please refrain from doing so in my presence.”

“Hey, she started it,” Jason said. I shrugged unapologetically, smiling at Damian.

Who, thankfully, didn’t mind me—in fact, he kinda liked me since I was always nice to him and occasionally bought him a new sketchbook when I noticed his old ones were all full or new pencils—so he just rolled his eyes. “Alright,” he relented.

Jon swooped over to Jason. “How come none of these are yours?” he asked, hovering a few feet off the ground so he and Jason were at the same eye-level.

Jason just looked at him for a second, deciding on what to say. “Because I took mine with me when I moved out,” he finally said. “And I didn’t have very many anyway. I was more of a classic novel reader.”

“Hmm,” Jon said. “Are those good?”

“Depends on your taste,” Jason said.

“Can you show me?”

Jason shrugged. “Sure kid,” he said. He turned around. “Hop on.”

Without hesitating, Jon latched onto Jason’s back and let him carry him through the library to some of his old favorites while Damian and I followed behind—after Damian dropped off the ladder. Damian muttered under his breath in Arabic from a few feet to my side. I tsked and looked over at him. “Don’t talk about your brother like that,” I said.

Damian stared at me in surprise. “Forgive me. I did not realize you understood Arabic,” he said.

I started laughing. “I don’t,” I said. “I just made an educated guess.”

Damian shot me a glare—but it was a softer glare than the one he usually dealt to literally everyone else except Jon and maybe Alfred when he was in the right mood. “I admire your intelligence,” he admitted, grumbling.

“Thank you, Damian,” I said.

Jason was excitedly describing Pride and Prejudice to Jon when me and Damian finally caught up to them—the library is huge. Jon was listening with rapt attention, even if he didn’t appear to be the most interested in the book, he was enjoying the way Jason was describing it while bouncing around and doing dramatic twists that caused Jon to go, “WHOA!” and squeal with laughter.

Jason noticed Damian standing next to me with his arms crossed, scowling to curdle milk.

A mischievous, brotherly smile tugged on Jason’s face.

“No. Todd! No!” Damian exclaimed, noticing the look on Jason’s face.

“Toooooooo late!” Jason retorted, snatching Damian around the waist and hoisting him up.

“UNHAND ME, TODD!” Damian snapped as Jason started spinning around the library, cackling while Jon laughed and Damian shouted. I chuckled and backed away so I wouldn’t get hit by any flying limbs.

“You’re gonna be such a good dad, one day, Jason,” I said quietly, more to myself than to him. “You might not see it now, but you will.”

#Playdate #Jason Todd #jason todd imagine #jason todd fanfiction #Red Hood #red hood imagine #red hood fanfiction #DC #DC Imagine #DC FanFiction #BatFam #batfam fanfiction #batfam imagine #featuring #Damian Wayne #Robin #Jon Kent #Superboy

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business-as-usual-bats · 5 years

Text

Tim's First Christmas as Robin

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Merry Christmas, Tiny Tim!"

"It's not Christmas yet."

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

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

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

"Dick-"

"I'm gonna hug you again-"

"Don't you dare!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

And he waited

And waited

They were late.

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

"Yes? Tim, honey?"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"No."

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

"Yeah."

"You seem... off."

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

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

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

"Well, alright. See you later!"

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

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

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

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

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

The next day was Christmas. Yay.

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

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

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

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

What if...

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Africa."

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

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

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

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

"Indeed, I did, sir."

"But, Bruce-"

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

"Really?"

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

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

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

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

Oh.

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

The end.

#tim drake #batfam #batfam headcanons #batman #bruce wayne #dick grayson #alfred pennyworth #one shot #fanfic #my writing #long post

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shattersstar · 5 years

Text

fake dating | part two

Pairing: Tim Drake x Reader Prompt: fake dating should be all fun and games, until gossips starts spreading and parties get overwhelming. Warnings: fluff, lil angst, a/n: such an original title lmao also this was way longer than intended whoops

part one

“Don’t you think you should tell them the truth?” You asked, stretching out on Tim’s couch. He had received a phone call from Bruce, letting him know there was going to be a party at the manor. He had brushed off the importance of the phone call till his father said, “You can bring a date if you’d like.” Tim’s eyes went wide as he realized that the consequences of this little game had extended outside of the intended audience. You had mentioned it casually before that he should tell them the truth, but he waved it off. “I’ll tell them we broke up at some point.” He had shrugged, finding the words left a bitter taste in his mouth. It didn’t bother you to keep it up, it was occasionally anyways. You had take stride with teasing Tim about it, to the point you found the term boyfriend rolled off your tongue seamlessly.

Sometimes you felt too caught up in the little charade you were acting out, you forgot how much fun it was to just talk to Tim. Or, even not talk. Often silence would fill the air, your music flowing from your earbuds was the only sound that echoed around Tim’s apartment. His large, way too expense for a college student apartment you had found yourself staying at more. When you had first met him was so hesitant about letting anyone into his apartment, especially his room, now he was considering giving you a key. When that thought first crossed his mind, it scared him enough to call Dick, suddenly remembering that you two were in fact not dating, and that this was a huge step in your not so real relationship that he had shared with his brother. Great. Tim had yet to mention that little event, because explaining that story meant telling you about the key, which started this whole thing anyways. Well in truth it was started by Tim’s lie, but yeah.

“What--no way they’d probably kill me if I did.” Tim explained, pacing as he decided to lay down some ground rules. No talking to his siblings alone, no talking to reporters, no talking to Bruce alone (the interrogative bastard), and no talking to Damian at all. “So shut up and be arm candy?” You questioned, sitting up. Tim opened and closed his mouth a few times, shoulders raising in an nervous shrug. “I mean I guess?” He said, voice getting a little higher. You rolled your eyes, hand reaching out and yanking Tim beside you.

“Eh, it’s fine. Any other rules? Like P.D.A wise?” You wondered, your legs extended over his lap.

“No?”

“Just thought your apparently ‘nosy as hell’ family might get suspicious if, y’know.” You watched realization wash of his face as he nodded along. There already was a casual platonic affection that suited you two well, but you wondered if it was enough. It was simple things, your hand meeting his when there wasn’t really a need to, you always had some limb touching him, he’d toy with your hair or the hem on your shirts. It was...nice, sometimes it felt like the lines were blurring, but it wasn’t the touches or the habitutations of lovers.

“Oh, yeah. Well I guess we need some ground rules. And a congruent story.”

“I think an adjacent story will do just fine.” You snorted, laughing harder at Tim’s deadpan expression. Once again you had him wondering what the hell he had gotten into.

The party started a seven o’clock promptly, so you two showed up half an hour later. Tim’s hand found the bend in your arm, helping you up the manor steps. He had already told you five times how nice you looked, a little awestruck by it all. You smiled each time, returning the compliment, while also reassuring him it’ll be fine. Tim wanted to believe you, he really did, but he swore he was going to pass out when Alfred opened the door. He greeted you warmly, quick to get to business. “So, how did you two meet?” The older man asked as you shrugged off your coats. The story you had come up with quite easy to remember as it was essentially the truth. “In class, I needed help with an assignment and someone suggested I asked Tim.” You explained, fingers finding his innately. “And how is school going for you Master Timothy?” Alfred inquired, someone must of told him about Tim missing school. “Fine, Y/n’s been helping me catch up on what I missed.” Alfred hummed thoughtfully, excusing himself.

You both let out loud sighs, laughing as you did. You made your way through the party, leaning close as you spoke in hushed voices. You were stopped on occasion by someone complimenting the house or the party or asking some general question. You always wondered if Tim had some socialite alter ego, but he seemed genuinely uncomfortable as the minutes rolled by. You knew that this was a recipe to overwhelm, and you hoped that the way your hands would wrap around his arm, head resting on his shoulder wasn’t making it worse Or how brushed your nose against his cheek didn’t add unneeded anxiety. And in truth Tim couldn’t decide either. There was always something comforting about your presence, your smile stopped the hurricane of thoughts that rushed his mind, and your voice soothed over everything that made him dizzy. Yet those thoughts were of you, and you were the reason he was dizzy in the first place. Tim had blamed a lot of things on what your relationship had become, but only now he realized it was him that instigated this all, and made you two whatever the hell you were.

He was grasping at straws for some answer when you nudged him. You had avoided his family for the most part, although Bruce had seen you. Tim’s hand clammed up against yours, his jaw clenching. You stopped in front of him, chests facing each other as you grasped both his hands. “Just breathe you idiot.” You chided, bringing his intertwined hands to your lips. You kissed his knuckles, lipstick staining his skin. Tim nodded, forcing out a few deep breaths. “You ready?” You asked, pulling his arm around your waist.

“I am now.” He hummed, leading you towards his adoptive father. You introduced yourself, forcing your nerves out the window for Tim’s sake. Bruce eyed the two of you in a way that went over your head, but Tim could see the gears turning in his head. “Tim can I talk to you for a second?” Bruce suddenly said, nodding towards the kitchen. “I’ll be in the bathroom.” You stated, about to drift from his arms, but turning back to press a kiss to the corner of Tim’s mouth. It wasn’t something you agreed on, but it felt right. Tim eyed you for a moment, only snapping back to reality when Bruce cleared his throat.

You made it passed the other guests, enjoying a small breather. You smiled smally at the women chatting by the mirror. You ducked into a stall just to get away from everyone. You scrolled through your phone, texting a few friends while wondering what Bruce had to talk to Tim about. It made your stomach lurch at the thought of it being you, Bruce telling Tim how he didn’t approve of you. As that thought danced across your mind you swallowed heavily, that would be the perfect way to put an end to this facade, yet it left your heart yearning for something beyond its grasp. You buried your face in your hands for a moment, acutely aware of your makeup. You shook off the racing thoughts, and tried to ignore the blood thumping in your ears as you slipped out the door. You wandered back in the direction you last saw Tim, walking straight into someone.

“Sorry about that.” You forced a laugh, your erratic heartbeat not slowing when Dick turned around.

“It’s alright--oh hey Y/n, how are you?”

“I’m fine, and you?” You said, putting on a smile that anyone could see through.

“Good, looking for Tim huh?”

“Yeah have you seen him? This really isn’t my crowd and I think Tim said he was tired.” Dick hummed in response, checking his watch.

“Last night was pretty rough.”

“Uh yeah I guess.” You were about to ask what he meant when you felt someone grab your arm. You nearly toppled over as you bumped chests with the man who was just on your mind.

“Excuse us.” Tim said to his older brother, who raised a brow at you. Tim had let go of you, but you still followed behind him, his shoulders tense.

“Are you alright?” You asked, stopping him.

“I wanna leave, I just--I can’t think.” You nodded, turning him to face you. And in truth Tim was anything, but alright. A few nights ago while on patrol Dick had asked Tim if he had told you about his vigilante life. Tim couldn’t bring himself to say no as it felt like he was really shutting you out. But, Dick being the gossip he is, had somehow allowed the information to get back to Bruce who had just spent the last ten minutes lecturing his son. Tim still couldn’t bring himself to tell the truth, because that truth had now died. You and Tim weren’t just friends, and you both knew at some point the line of pretending you had drawn was erased. You brushed his now disheveled hair from his face, hand slipping to his cheek. “I don’t want you to drive when you worked up.” You mumbled, knowing that Tim’s focus tended to scatter when he was overwhelmed. “Can we go outside at least?” You nodded, letting Tim lead you to the backyard. He shrugged off his suit jacket, he felt overheated, and he also knew it was cold tonight.

You sat on the steps, his jacket hung over your frame as he rested his head on your shoulder. The moon hung high in the sky, illuminating the pristine garden. It’s normal vibrant green was replaced with a dark one, almost black. Your eyes trailed over the sky, letting Tim calm down. You wanted to ask what had happened, but decided to leave it be. He’d tell you if he needed to. “Things have changed huh?” You found yourself saying, the sound of the party faint.

“Yeah.”

“For better or worse?” You asked, staring ahead. You felt Tim’s head raise, and his gaze shift to your side profile. You two had been dancing on a fine line, and it seemed useless to act like it hadn’t been crossed. Especially since Tim didn’t say anything after you kissed him. Tim sniffled as a breeze blew passed, your shampoo caught in the wind.

“For better.” You relaxed, that same ever calming grin pulling at your lips. You hadn’t imagined you’d end up here, in love with the quiet boy who drove you insane when you had first met. You let the night wrap you up with hearts so full it was almost sickening. You ducked out of the party before anyone could stop you, slipping into his car. You flicked the radio off halfway through the drive back to Tim’s place, turning to face him.

“Hey can I ask you a question?”

“Uh huh.”

“When I was talking to Dick he said last night was pretty rough, what did he mean?”

Crap.

#anfakfnaknf #i realized now that i fucked up the title #three hours later #tim drake x reader #tim drake imagine #red robin x reader #red robin imagine #dc x reader #dc imagine #dc #writing

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thefuriousstarlightstudent · 5 years

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Batfam Christmas Stocking 2

Here’s my other fix for the Batfam Christmas Stocking gift exchange! This one is for @hellyeahniccage and I chose to use their prompts “How does it feel... being back?”

It’s a little rough, so sorry for that! I hope you enjoy it anyway!

Jason shifted nervously. He couldn’t believe he was doing this. Considering this. He was the black sheep of the family, the ‘bad guy’. No one really liked him - or wanted him - anymore. But it was fine. He could live with that.

Except for Dick bleeding-heart Grayson. His ‘older brother’ who’d insisted he come to the Manor for the holidays. Jason hadn’t been planning on going. He was originally just going to stay home, eat some pie, maybe patrol later.

Hell, even after Dick had asked him, he’d been planning to stick to his original plan. He still wasn’t exactly sure how he’d gotten here. He’d just went out on his motorcycle to ride around and clear his head and here he was.

Jason turned on the step to get back to his motorcycle. This had been a mistake. He wasn’t welcome here. He never would be.

Then the door opened.

“Jason!” Dick exclaimed. “You came!”

Jason grimaced. So much for a easy escape.

“Yeah, I did.”

Dick smiled brightly. “Well, come on in. Everyone’s looking forward to seeing you.”

Jason snorted. Dick looked strangely hurt.

“I’m coming, I’m coming,” Jason muttered after a moment.

Dick practically bounced back inside. Jason followed at a much more sedated pace. The Manor really hadn’t changed a bit from when he was a kid. It filled him with a warm and fuzzy feeling. Nostalgia?

Finally, Jason arrived with Dick into the dining room. The massive oak table was covered with a feast fit for a king. Bruce was at the head of the table. On one side Damian sat and the other had Tim. Duke and Cass were there as well, Cass next to Tim and Duke a seat away from Damian. Dick had already sat in between Duke and Damian.

“Ah, Master Jason, I see you made it,” Alfred said.

Jason jumped slightly and turned around, smiling widely. “Alfie, it’s good to see you again.”

“You as well, Master Jason. Why don’t you take a seat next to Miss Cassandra?”

It was phrased as a question, but Jason had the feeling it was more of a command. Well, so much for making an escape. He’d be here until after dinner, at least. So Jason sat.

Alfred smiled at him before disappearing into the hallway again, presumably to get more food from the kitchen. Everyone was staring at Jason. Jason stared back defiantly. And then Bruce smiled slightly at him. Smiled.

The world had to be ending, because Jason sure as hell hadn’t expected that. A smile. It was nice, not that he’d admit it.

“So, how’ve you been, Jason?” Bruce asked.

“Fine,” Jason said cautiously. “You?”

Bruce nodded. “Good. Busy right now, especially with some new upgrades to the cave.”

“You aren’t even doing them, father,” Damian snapped, though Jason could tell it wasn’t meant to be rude. “I’m the one fixing the computer and other electronic devices.”

“I’m providing all the equipment for it though!” Tim exclaimed.

Damian scowled at Tim. “But you couldn’t put any of it together if there were instructions for everything.”

Tim tilted his head. “Probably true.”

“How about we just agree it’s both you,” Dick suggested. “And not Bruce at all.”

“Hey now,” Bruce said. “Who’s paying for all of it?”

Damian smirked.

“I think it’s Dick and I,” Duke said. “Remember, it’s your Christmas gift from all of us.”

Cass nodded, glancing at Jason briefly before adding to the conversation.

“I put new lights on the cases and made upgrades to the suits.”

Bruce laughed, like, actually laughed. Oh god, what had happened to Bruce in the last few months. Last time Jason saw him they’d been yelling at each other. A lot. There was no way Bruce had changed this much in half a year. It just wasn’t possible.

Then Alfred was there with dinner and Jason didn’t have any more time to think about how chill Bruce was being. Instead, he was busy eating ham, turkey, green beans, and Alfred’s pumpkin pie, a pie Jason still hadn’t found the recipe for, and not for lack of trying.

Then dinner was over and before Jason could think he was being dragged to the Batcave. Bruce, he noticed, stayed upstairs with Alfred.

“What are we doing?” Jason asked.

“Showing you the Batcave,” Cass said simply, tugging his arm again. “Hurry. We need your help.”

“What do you need my help for? Cass, tell me,” Jason demanded.

Cass laughed. “Secret.”

“I can’t help if it’s a secret,” Jason said.

“Too bad,” Duke said. “Cass is right. You’ll find out in a minute.”

Before he knew it, they had entered the Batcave. It was messier than Jason could ever remember it being. Things were taken apart, the cases were open, the dinosaur was missing… missing!? How had they even managed that?

“You need to complete the Batmobile,” Damian ordered. “I am busy with the computer.”

“Why?” Jason asked warily.

“Because this refurbished Batcave is our gift to Bruce,” Dick explained.

“And you want me because…”

“Oh my god, Jason, it’s a gift from you too,” Tim explained. “We’re all contributing.”

“Even though some of us obviously don’t care enough to think of it themselves,” Damian muttered, with a particularly vicious glare at Tim.

Tim ignored him, or didn’t hear him, but Jason would guess he was ignoring him. It wasn’t like Damian was that quiet when he muttered.

Jason looked around at everyone’s hopeful faces, or in Damian’s case, his obvious lack of concern or care that Jason was helping. It was amusing, in it’s own way. The kid looked just like Bruce, really.

Finally, Jason shrugged. “Yeah, okay. Where are the tools and how long will it take?”

“They are next to the vehicle,” Damian said imperiously. “I assume you can figure out the amount of time it will take to complete on your own while everyone else continues with their tasks.”

“You’re a bossy brat, you know that?” Jason told Damian.

Damian ignored him. Tim patted Jason on the shoulder and fixed him with a sympathetic look.

“It’s okay. You get used to it eventually.”

Tim followed Jason to the Batmobile, and as Jason took in the thing - it was in pieces! - he mentally calculated the amount of time and effort it would take to complete with the upgrades Damian obviously had planned. Not more than a couple of hours, probably.

Jason got started, and as the hours passed by he lost himself in the engine grease and the feel of all the machinery that went into it. So much so that by the time he was finished, he realized the Batcave was empty save for Tim reading a book while sitting cross legged on the floor.

“They finish their jobs?” Jason asked him.

“Yeah,” Tim said without looking up. “Everyone’s hanging out upstairs now. I stayed to make sure you didn’t escape as soon as you were done.”

“I wouldn’t have done that,” Jason said, affronted.

This time Tim looked up with sad, old eyes. Older than any teenagers had a right to be.

“Yeah, you would have. That’s okay though. I wouldn’t have stopped you. I understand.”

Jason snorted. He really doubted that.

“Well then, you tell me. How does it feel… being back?” Tim asked.

Jason paused.

“Not like, from the dead, because you’ve been back from the dead for a while. I mean how does it feel being back at the Manor. It’s the first time since you came back to life years ago, right?” Tim asked. “You’ve been in the Batcave, but not the Manor. I don’t think you’ve really seen Alfred either.”

“It’s… weird. Nothing’s really changed up there,” Jason finally said.

“Well, no matter whether you wanted to be here or not, I’m glad you came. I think you made Alfred and Bruce’s months.” Tim smiled sadly. “You can leave, if you want. I’m heading up.”

With that, Tim left. Jason was left alone in the Batcave. So different from when he’d been Robin, and yet still the same. He could leave, if he wanted. Sneak off and not have to see them again until they inevitably fought over morals. That might be safer, really.

But Jason was sick of doing what people expected of him. He was the Red Hood and he was Jason Todd. And Jason Todd had never been predictable. He followed Tim upstairs.

Besides, seeing Alfred’s face when he realized Jason had stayed of his own volition would be worth it.

#jason todd #dick grayson #damian wayne #tim drake #duke thomas #Cassandra cain #bruce wayne #alfred penyworth #holiday fluff #jason loves everyone even if he acts rough #kind angst?#hurt/comfort maybe? But probably not a ton #Batfamchristmasstocking2018 #bcs2018

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toytalesindia-blog · 4 years

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8 Baby Essentials for a 7 Months Old Baby

My boy just turned 7 months old this April 2020 and I have seen sudden changes in his behaviour. For example, he smiles back when you smile at him. He has started lunging forward towards his mom, me and my mother. His sleep patterns have changed, grasping power has increased and my baby suddenly prefers my wife over me these days. He has started crying when he is separated from his mom. There are a few essentials for the baby this age.

1. Solid Food Diet Plan

Babies generally start solid food at around six months. We feed our son three solid meals a day. It is generally a mixture of fruits like papaya, banana and pumpkin. We have also started giving Ghiya ( Bottle gourd in english) and the baby seems to like it. My wife has also prepared a baby cerelac mixture by mixing some rice, almonds, cereals at home. The mixture is then roasted and grinded finely. I recommend that you do some research on which baby food to give before deciding on a diet plan. This very popular recipe site is a good starting point. Apart from the recipes there are many other items that you would need to be ready for when the baby starts to eat solid foods. Here's a list: A Baby High Chair: A high chair will help you feed your baby properly and without hassles. We have a Chicco High chair and it is fantastic. We have written a detailed post about it and given the best recommendations here: Top 5 Baby High Chairs in IndiaA Blender to mash foods like bananas and papayas. Baby Spoon Usually the grandparents gift a silver spoon and a Katori to the baby but I have found that the silver spoon is really isn't very suitable for feeding because the baby leaps forward and latches on to the spoon and the hard spoon may hurt the baby sometimes so it's better to get a silicone spoon. Dish Set: Prefer a steel set to a plastic one. Steel doesn't impart flavour to the food and is safe. Bib: Get some nice bibs for your baby so that you don't have to change his clothes every time you feed him. There will be a lot of spillages and you would want a cute bib so you can click some cute pics after the meal. A sipper: Though you wouldn't require it exactly at 6 months eventually you will require it.

2. Baby Sleeping Kit

Baby sleep patterns will change once the baby turns six months old. I understand that this is different for every kid but I am talking about the general trend. Baby will sleep more at night and the first six months of erratic sleep patterns will get better. You would want to ensure that your baby gets enough rest. You will want a list of items such as a mosquito net, good quality baby beds etc. I have written a detailed post on baby kit for a good night sleep. In a nutshell you will require: Baby BedsBaby PillowsBlanketsDry SheetsA cribMosquito netsStory BooksBaby MusicToys

3. Child Safety

As your kid completes his sixth month you will start seeing changes in his behaviour. You will need to start preparing for times when he will be crawling and walking because only when you start now you will be ready for when you really need it. Baby proofing your house should be your number one priority Starting at 6 months will allow you enough time to be ready when the baby walks. The perfect baby proofing list tells you exactly how to baby proof your house. In a nutshell you should look at these babyproofing items: Baby GatesElectrical outlet coversBed RailsCorner safety guardsDrawer LocksDoor LocksCord Shorteners Furniture anchors

4. The Outdoors Kit

I am writing this post on the 9th April 2020, when we are already 2 weeks into the covid 19 lockdown and there is nothing more I want than to take my kid out. In the winters he was too small to go out and in the summers we haven't been able to take him out due to the pandemic. Anyway, you would invariably go for walks with your baby in your society, malls or in the parks. Here are a few things that you would require: Strollers: At the onset let me tell you that most stroller companies in India get their strollers manufactured in China. I am at a loss of alternatives to this situation. I have written two posts detailing the best value for money strollers in the Indian market at the moment. Luvlap strollers & R For Rabbit strollers. Both companies are Indian but they get their strollers manufactured in China. Read the above-linked posts to know the advantages that a stroller brings. Baby High Chair: So you can enjoy little picnics with your baby. Make sure your high chair is portable and easy to carry.Snack Cup: Babies this age can eat/drink fruits through these cups. Put in some watermelons and let the baby suck on the cup while outdoors. Keeps the baby hydrated and full. Diapers: Obvious. You don't want to be changing the baby's pyjamas when outside. We use supples baby diapers and quite like it. There is this diaper that promises 98% water-based. I will try it once I finish this lot of diapers. ( Although we have stopped using diapers at night now because the baby has better bladder control now and does not pee as often. If he has to peer, he'd wake up and cry. He will then pee and go back to sleep. Hat, Sunglasses and sunscreen if you plan to take the baby outside during the day.

5. Toys

Between 6 to 12 months kids are super active and lay their hands on practically anything that they can. It is important to buy age-appropriate toys for kids at all times. All toys come with a minimum age recommendation from the manufacturer. Teething toys are a superhit and more of a necessity than a toy. Kids are getting new teeth and they absolutely love to chew anything including toys, shoulders, hands etc. Get them a testing toy. Stacking and nesting toysShaking toys such as rattlesPushing toysSorting toysMake sure these toys are safe to chew on. Again Try and avoid Chinese toys.

6. Books

Storybooks are a great way for you to bond with your child. Bright coloured illustrations attract child and you can read these stories loudly and with a lot of dramatic expressions to your baby. Remember loud and more dramatic is better. Baby will laugh and enjoy. I recommend the following baby books for this age Soft Crinkle BooksMy First LibraryCaterpillar

7. Audio Books

101 Panchtantra Stories Amazon Audible is an audiobook service from Amazon that offers free audiobooks for the first month and then one audiobook each month. You can try their free trial and see if it is of interest to you. Audiobooks are a good way to relax and something to put on while working with the baby. Try it, It's fun (and free) Get a free audible account here

8. Youtube Videos & Youtube Kids

Ok, first of all this is not what it seems like it is. Your baby will love your mobile/tablet screen and will smile as soon as you put on a video but avoid the temptation. We are in a similar situation now and our baby will smile at the mobile scree like it is his best friend. He forgets that his mom or dad are holding him. He just wants to see the mobile. Thankfully he does not cry when we take away the mobile. Ok, We do not let our baby watch the mobile but I do like a couple of songs that I sometimes let him watch. These songs are: Hathi Raja Kahan Chale and Snowflakes. The most use for you tube is when the baby wants to sleep. I have noticed that the baby recognizes music and responds well to it. My Son's favourite song for sleeping is Tim Tim Karte Tare. Even if my son is fussy he will sleep 8 times out of 10 whenever we play this song.

Conclusion

I have compiled this list of baby essentials at seven months from my experience as a father of a seven month old baby boy. I hope you liked this post and I invite you to comment below and tell me your stories. To know more about me see our About us page. To get in touch send us an email here. If you liked this blog post and would like to get updates on baby development adn receive exciting brand offers, Subscribe to our newsletter. Finally, Share our content with your friends and support me in reaching more people. Read the full article

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fearfulkittenwrites · 4 years

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Damian needs help - Super Sons

"After pacing in his room for a while, Damian came to the painful conclusion that he’d need help. Unfortunately, the only people who could offer him said help were... For lack of a better term, irritating. Still, he swallowed his pride and went hunting for the three men he lovingly calls brothers."

Or: Damian asks his brothers how were they able to turn their friendships into romances, because he wants to do the same.

Word count: 1971

Link for it on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25812319

Or read it below the cut!

After pacing in his room for a while, Damian came to the painful conclusion that he’d need help. Unfortunately, the only people who could offer him said help were... For lack of a better term, irritating. Still, he swallowed his pride and went hunting for the three men he lovingly calls brothers, finding all of them in the cave. Dick was exercising his acrobat skills, Tim was mindlessly kicking the crap out of a punching bag, looking bored, and Jason cleaned his guns while humming “Highway to Hell”.

“I need your help.” He exclaimed, from the top of the stairs. All of them immediately stopped what they were doing. Jason seemed amused, Dick seemed worried and Tim seemed... incredulous.

“You... What?” He asked, stilling the bag.

“I need your help.” He repeated, frowning.

“Something bad happened Dames?” Dick inquired, carefully.

“What? No.” Damian shook his head and climbed down. Dick picked up a towel to remove the sweat from his hair and face, then hanged it around his neck. Jason reassembled his weapons, watching from a safe distance while the rest of them got closer to the boy “I need your help because... I...” His voice became an inaudible mumbe.

“Because what?” Tim inquired.

“Because I want to ask...” Once again, his words became mushed up, hurried and quiet. Dick raised an eyebrow and smirked.

“What?” The teen insisted.

“It’s about Jon, isn’t it?” Dick stated. Damian scowled and nodded.

“What? How did you know that?” Tim stepped in.

“That’s not the point, Drake.” Damian interrupted “I need to ask him out.”

“And what do you need us to do?” Dick asked, reaching for the water bottle on his table.

“I need advice. You have been in situations very similar to mine, and you had a good outcome. How can I achieve that with Jon?”

“I don’t know man, just ask him out.” Tim said, headed back to his punching bag “It’s not like Jon would ever be mean to anyone. Even if you yourself are the incarnation of mean.”

“-tt-.” Damian rolled his eyes “Grayson, what did you do to get West?” He inquired.

“Well, I guess that at first we had like, a bromance, right?”

“Yes. And then what?”

“Then we slept together.” He shrugged. However, as soon as the words came out of his mouth he regretted them, straightening his posture “But, uhm, maybe that’s not the best advice for you to follow.”

“I figured that out on my own.” He scowled in disgust. Damian turned to Tim. He was also with a super, so he’d probably be of use to Damian now “What about you, Drake? How did you get the clone?”

“Actually,” He gave a high kick to the bag “Kon was the one who asked me out.”

“And why did you say yes?” He twisted his nose.

“Uh, because I wanted to?” Tim responded, an implied ‘obviously’ in his tone “Anyways, I don’t think I can help you so much in that department. Hey, Jason,” He said “You should be able to help. What did you do to be with Roy?”

“What?” The man answered “Me and Roy aren’t together.”

“Really?” Tim laughed “Then why do you always cuddle when you’re watching a movie together?”

“And why is he always lingering around in the manor?” Damian asked, crossed arms.

“And didn’t you two went out together the other night?” Dick chimed in, biting the end of his bottle.

“We went to a bar, that’s normal.”

“Yeah, except for the fact that I accidentally caught you two in the middle of a heavy makeout session when you came back.” Dick shot back.

“Consider yourself lucky.” Tim said “I caught them doing worse.”

“It’s not like we’re exclusive or anything.” Jason explained.

“Have you been with anyone else lately?” Dick smirked as the other glared at him “Well, he hasn’t either.”

“He...? Wait.” Jason stopped for a second “Shit. Shit. I need to call Roy.” He rushed out of the cave, picking up his cellphone.

Tim chuckled.

“Ugh, clearly, the three of you are useless. As usual.” Damian scowled.

“Oh, c’mon Little D.” Dick said, ruffling his hair “We’re not useless. You’re the one expecting something that doesn’t exist.”

“And what would that be?” He groaned, setting his hair back in order.

“A formula. There’s no such thing as a recipe when it comes to romance. You just have to try whatever feels right.”

“Nothing feels right.” He complained, throwing his small body in a chair.

“That’s because you’re nervous.” Dick pointed out “Just... Ask him if he’d want to go out and have some ice cream this weekend. Then see what happens.”

“This seems like an awfully unprepared date.”

“It doesn’t have to be elaborate Damian.” Dick rolled his eyes.

“Yeah,” Tim chimed in, still torturing the poor bag “I mean, Jon’s a farm boy and he’s the literal personification of sunshine. You could probably take him to a convenience store on a first date and he’d be excited about it.” Damian groaned.

“Fine, I’ll consider it.” Damian said.

Jason ran into the cave in an euphoric state, practically falling down the stairs.

“Guys!” He yelled “Guys you were right! We’re together now! He really is my boyfriend!”

Damian scowled in disgust while Tim and Dick laughed. The boy pushed his brother out of the way as he went back up into the manor, knowing what he had to do, as unpleasant as it might be. He made his way into the ballroom, where Alfred coordinated the cleaning for the incoming gala. Getting the room ready always took at least three days; the butler was a perfectionist.

“Alfred.” He called “I require some assistance.” The man seemed surprise. He nodded, turning his attention to a blushing Damian “Say I intended to ask someone on a date.” His face got redder with each word “What... Where should I take said person?”

“Well, master Damian,” Alfred started “That depends. Who is this girl we’re talking about?”

“Not a girl.” He couldn’t keep eye contact.

“Oh. Then who is this boy we’re thinking of?” Damian couldn’t answer “Is it safe to assume we’re talking about young master Jon?” He shoved his face in his hands and nodded “Very well then.” Alfred had the faintest of smiles on his face “Might I suggest a picnic sir?” Damian peeked through his fingers “I can arrange a meal to be eaten in the garden.” He removed his hands from his face, placing them on his chin.

“Maybe. But I have a better idea.”

...

Damian paced on the roof when he saw a blue blur coming in his direction. He smiled. Jon landed next to him, Superboy outfit on.

“Hey D.” He greeted, smiling “Why aren’t you wearing your costume?”

“They’re not...” He bit his tongue “Wait. What did the clone tell you?”

“Kon told me that Tim told him that you asked him to tell Kon to tell me that you’d be waiting in the roof for me tonight.” Jon tilted his head a little “Why?”

“Did that idiot tell you why I’d be waiting in the roof?” Damian was fuming. He wished he had simply asked Jon himself.

“No? I assumed it was hero stuff.” He looked past him. There was a picnic basket and a checkered red tablecloth set on the ground “Oh.” He blushed.

“Yeah. Oh.” Damian said, huffing “Stupid clone. You should leave. I won’t force you to...”

“No! No, it’s a good kind of ‘oh’.” Jon extended his hands, stopping Damian “I... Liked it. I just wish I had a better outfit on.”

“Well,” Damian shifted his weight from one leg to the other “In that case, maybe we should sit.”

“Yeah. Sure.” Jon swallowed, unsure on how to act. Damian pulled out the food Alfred had prepared for them.

“I, uhm, I asked Alfred to make these.” He placed two sandwiches in front of them “They’re chickpeas ‘tuna’ sandwiches. If you don’t like them, I’m certain Alfred would be happy to make you something else.”

“I’ve never had those before,” Jon said, examining it “They seem good.”

“They are.” Damian watched as Jon bit into his sandwich, hopeful.

“Hum.” He exclaimed, mouth full “I like it.” Damian let out a breath. He pulled out two glass bottles.

“Orange juice?”

“Yes, please.” Jon took one from his hands.

They ate quietly. Damian noticed how Jon’s blue eyes looked beautiful under the moonlight, how his hair framed his face perfectly when it was ruffled up by the wind, how his smile still knocked the breath out of his lungs, no matter how many times he’s seen it before. Jon stared at the stars.

“This is so nice.” He said “It’s been so long since I last saw them this bright. The lights in metropolis get in the way.” Damian looked up “I thought they’d get in the way here too, but I guess that the manor is far enough from the city that it doesn’t.” He sighed “It makes me miss Hamilton.”

Damnit. Damian planned this so carefully. How could he have missed something so obvious? Now Jon was sad, and it was his fault. He should’ve just taken him for stupid ice cream.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to upset you.” He said, head low.

“Upset me?” Jon asked “You didn’t upset me. This is perfect, D.”

“But you just said...?”

“That it makes me miss Hamilton? That’s not a bad thing.” Jon smiled, biting his sandwich again “It means that you gave me back something I thought I had lost for good after I moved.” He inched a hand closer to Damian’s. He retributed the movement, fingers touching slightly. None of them wanted to pull away.

Once they were done eating, Damian reached into the basket again, pulling out...

“Cookies!” Jon excitedly pointed out. Damian smirked.

“I knew you’d like them.” Jon fished one out of the bag.

“Oh, they’re still warm!” He nearly moaned as he bit into one of them “These are so good.”

“I’ll let Alfred know you appreciated them.” Damian watched his satisfied munching.

“Mmm, please do!” He licked his lips, getting the crumbs away from them and into his mouth. Damian swallowed.

Jon ate the cookies at record speed, and now they were both laying on the roof in silence, looking up at the sky. It was a warm night and the full moon was as bright as it could be, lighting up the distant Gotham streets.

“Now what?” Jon nearly whispered.

“You have your suit. I could put on my suit and we could patrol in Gotham tonight.” Damian said, eyes fixed on the sky “Or we could stay here.”

“I like the second option better.” He answered, pushing himself up. He floated over Damian, blue eyes piercing through his soul. Damian reached up, setting a hand behind Jon’s neck, playing with the hair growing there, slowly bringing him down into a kiss. They closed their eyes for a second, lips pressed together until Damian pulled away.

“Was it... Good?” He whispered.

“Yeah.” Jon answered “Can I land on top of you?” Damian nodded. Jon laid down again, tangling their legs together, supporting his head on the other’s chest “This feels like a dream.” His voice was almost inaudible.

“Tell me about it.” Damian’s hand moved to comb through his hair gently, voice nothing but a whisper. Jon made an approving hum and he smiled.

“I’ve wanted this for so long.”

“Me too.”

“I guess we’re both idiots then, huh?” Jon looked up at him “Waisting our time bickering when we could’ve just... Said it.”

Damian swallowed.

“This is the only time you’re ever allowed to call me an idiot.” He wanted to scowl, but he grinned instead. Jon chuckled.

“Okay. Please don’t stop playing with my hair.”

“I won’t.”

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metawitches · 4 years

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Episode 6 of Stumptown is about ghosts. The characters work through their ghosts while the show tests out new character combinations and expands backstories.

After their falling out in episode 5, Dex and Grey both spend time with new love interests, causing other cast members to feel they’re being left behind. Ansel and Miles take steps to ensure their interests haven’t been forgotten. Dex takes a PI job that has her tracking down the stalker of an old flame.

Meanwhile, Tookie continues to have business issues with his food truck. This time he closes up and goes to visit the highest ranking member of the police force he knows, Lieutenant Cosgrove. This is a friendship I never knew I always wanted. They bond over their love of mole sauce and experimental cuisine.

Dex gets a female love interest this episode, her former flame and punk rock star client, Fiona X. Meanwhile Detective Kara Lee makes a second appearance and this time she acts more like Miles’ police partner. The women of Portland do exist and it’s good to get to know them. But I’m still waiting for quality friendship time between women that isn’t between Dex and a woman she wants to have sex with or who’s a business associate.

I usually say the Bechdel test is a low bar to jump, but Stumptown is proving me wrong. Maybe the women on the show have technically had conversations about something other than men and relationships, but, for the umpteenth time, there are no female friendships on this show, despite the fact that it’s a show with a female lead.

Why not? Dex doesn’t hate other women. Why wouldn’t she and Ansel have female friends? Why are other women only love interests and business associates, as if Dex is a misogynist “man’s man”? And it’s not like the other women are getting scenes with each other, either.

Are they afraid a group of women will turn into a coven of powerful, scary witches?

In the minds of ABC and the writers, does bisexual, aka a woman willing to have sex with a woman, code as “might as well be a man”?

Recap

Dex and Miles are at the Labyrinth for a punk concert by Fiona X. Dex wanted to thank him for letting Grey go and introduce him to something she likes, while they relaxed after the tension of the last few weeks. Miles figured sex might be on the table, even though punk isn’t really his scene. Dex agrees that they both might get lucky after the show.

Fiona X starts the show with a song dedicated to the one who got away. She specifically namechecks Dex as the one. Awkward. Later, at his place, Miles asks how long Dex and Fiona dated. Dex tells him that they dated for 5 or 6 months, ten years ago, right after Dex got out of the military. Then Fiona got signed, went on tour, picked up the X (real name: Finklebocker), and Dex hasn’t seen her since.

Miles asks Dex out on Friday, but this time he wants to bring her into his world. His world inexplicably involves bowling shoes. Which he owns rather than rents.

I think we need to consider the theory that Miles is a time traveler from the 1950s.

Also, it’s become very clear why this good looking, decent guy, who has a steady income, is so, so single. Ladies, apparently the bowling alley is where you should be trying to meet men on Friday nights. Or maybe he’s just saving himself for Grey. YES, I SAID IT. WHERE IS MY FAN FICTION? Don’t make me write my own.

The next day at the bar, Grey wants to know all about Dex’s night out with Miles, but gets frustrated that she won’t spill all of the juicy details. She tells him that she doesn’t know who he is anymore, so she can’t trust him with the details of her sex life. He’s going to have to get his own sex life now.

At that moment, Fiona X struts into the bar, along with her full entourage, to give everyone’s sex life a little help. Fiona’s in town for three nights and wants Dex to act as PI and security that she can trust. She has a stealthy stalker who hangs on the fringes threateningly, but Fiona has never even gotten a good look at him before he melts back into the shadows. For that reason, her manager doesn’t take him seriously and she hasn’t gone to the police.

The health inspector finds a few violations in Tookie’s food truck and shuts him down until they’re rectified.

Grey talks to Ansel about his hidden past and if it going to come between them. Ansel is here to be an angelic, blonde disabled saint, the Tiny Tim of Portland, so of course he forgives Grey without a second thought. But Ansel, who has already been abandoned by his birth parents, is worried that this argument between Dex and Grey, his replacement mom and dad, is going to cause them to get a divorce and he’ll lose one of them.

Before Grey can reassure Ansel that he’ll always be his dad big brother friend, no matter what happenes with Dex, an intelligent brunette brings in a group of people on a tour of the most haunted bars of Portland. She tells Grey that 50 years ago, when the building was a cannery, a fishmonger named Dunk Henry was tragically killed in a sluicing accident. Grey is skeptical, until the tour guide, Liz Melero, points out how much new business she’s just brought him.

Ansel notices them flirting and isn’t happy about it. Mom and dad Dex and Grey may be platonic right now, but he knows they’re endgame.

At Fiona’s concert that night, Dex spots a man rushing the stage. She follows, while she’s having PTSD flashbacks, worried he’s the stalker, and tackles him before he reaches Fiona. He turns out to be innocent and Dex is blamed for ruining the show, which ends early. Fiona’s manager, Nick Tallarico, tells Dex that the stalker isn’t real, just a product of Fiona’s overactive imagination. He thinks Fiona just needs a friend.

Condescending much?

Det. Kara Lee, the detective who brought the files to Miles at his apartment last week, is back this week to help him with his lady troubles. But first, everyone needs to make sure we understand that he’s the superior detective and she’s a glorified secretary, there to further Miles story and nothing more.

Once she’s been put in her place professionally, Miles gives her the chance to be a good woman and give him advice on his dating life with Dex. She actually is a good detective, because she quickly figures out that one issue is that he and Dex aren’t on the same page as far as agreeing about whether they’re actually dating or just acquaintances who occasionally have sex. She tells him he has to use his words like a grown up when it comes to communicating with women.

I start to think that maybe I should actively be shipping Grey and Miles, rather than just tongue in cheek. These are two grown men who have no idea how to speak to women about what’s important, who had no problem talking about dating each other and communicated just fine when other men needed to be rescued. Maybe Dex isn’t the only bisexual character.

Tookie brings his problems with the health inspector to Lieutenant Cosgrove, hoping that dropping Dex’s name will help him. She supposedly doesn’t like Dex and has nothing to do with the permit offices he needs help with, but decides to talk to him anyway. They discover that she used to love the mole sauce that he made early in his career at Arturo’s Restaurant, until Arturo stole the credit for it and Tookie vowed never to make it again. Cosgrove has such fond memories of that mole sauce from the time when she’d first moved to Portland that she promises to help Tookie.

We’re just going to take this unlikely scenario at face value and move on.

When Dex is done with the manager, they go back to Fiona’s hotel room. Dex is impressed with how much nicer the hotel is than where Fiona used to stay. Dex clarifies that she’s a PI, not a bodyguard, which requires a whole different license. She intends to continue her investigation even if she’s with Fiona most of the time. Fiona clarifies that she wants to resume her relationship with Dex. Dex clarifies that she isn’t clear about what she’s doing with Miles.

Fiona wants 24 hour protection while they’re in town. She’s not sure where the next leg of the tour is going. Her manager keeps track of the logistics for her. Dex calls Grey to arrange for him to watch Ansel while she’s with Fiona. He teases her, but then apologizes.

Liz, the tour guide, comes back to the bar to see Grey again. Grey is happy to see her, but Ansel purposely drops a bottle of wine to show his displeasure.

Fiona and Dex drink and reminisce. Fiona reminds her that she considered getting a degree in psychology, which Dex had forgotten. Fiona remembers every little detail about Dex and their time together. Dex thinks about Fiona, too, whenever she sees her on TV.

A doorman brings an envelope that was dropped off at the hotel which contains a photo of Fiona and Dex in the hotel room. It had to be taken that evening. There’s a message written on the photo saying that Fiona is safe.

The next day, they take the photo to the police. Miles interviews Fiona while some cop-fans take souvenir photos. Fiona notes that the stalker could be a cop. They discuss any suspicious fan interactions Fiona’s had.

Fiona warns Miles that women like her and Dex are too much woman for him. He’d never be able to figure them out or keep up with them. He keeps her phone to look through her social media. She tells him to be careful, because some of her photos aren’t safe for work. Wink.

Lol. It only took her 5 minutes to get his number.

Tookie brings Cosgrove a special delivery of his famous mole recipe that he almost never makes anymore to thank her for her help with his permit extensions. The food takes her right back to the era when she’d just met her husband.

Back at their hotel, Dex suggests they change rooms, but Fiona thinks the stalker will just find her again. She has confidence in Miles’ competence.

After Miles put Kara in her place, I love how down on him Fiona is.

Fiona sings to Dex, then makes a move on her. Dex says that she could lose her license for sleeping with a client, but Fiona doesn’t think anyone will find out. They kiss.

One of the hotel room curtains is still open and they know the stalker was watching through these very windows the night before. This seems like a purposeful set up for blackmail material against Dex, maybe just on the part of the writers, maybe by the stalker or Fiona. We’ll find out in some future episode.

Kara fills Miles in on the stalker she found through her research into Fiona’s social media. Martin Newtlander had created multiple accounts, but analyzing language patterns showed they all belong to the same person. Miles and a uniformed cop visit the hotel room. Newtlander isn’t there, but a scope and a creepy shrine to Fiona are.

As Dex and Fiona lie in bed and enjoy the afterglow, Dex muses that this is what being on tour with Fiona would be like. They’re interrupted by Miles, who calls to fill Dex in on the stalker. She correctly guesses that he’s white, doughy and very alone.

Cosgrove brings one of her own specialties to Tookie’s truck for him to try, a Phillie cheesesteak eggroll with her own special touches. He’s skeptical, but gives it a try. He loves it so much that it inspires him to take the recipe even further. She gives him the go ahead to play with it.

Liz and Grey have spent the entire evening at Bad Alibi. Now that it’s closing time, Grey asks what comes next. Liz suggests some full moon activities, such as vampirism, but settles on radical honesty to jumpstart their relationship.

The women in Portland take no prisoners.

Grey is up for the challenge and reels off his basic history. After his recent past with Dex, he’s throwing a challenge back at Liz to see if she can handle his baggage.

I don’t think that Dex’s problem was his history so much as the fact that he lied about it, and she’s told him that. This time he’s going to be honest and put everything that might drive someone away out in the open right from the start.

Grey: “My Mom left when I was 6 years old.”

Liz: “I’m sorry.”

Grey: “I’m not. She wasn’t strong enough to save herself. And if you ever met my father, you’d understand. Is this too honest?”

Liz: “Actaully, I’ve never done this before.”

Grey: “My father was a crook, but he was low-rent. He was a hell of a teacher, though. By high school, I was making bank, stealing cars. But grand theft is a gateway crime and by 18, I was a boxman. There was not a safe I couldn’t get into. I did a few stints in prison and met some pretty bad dudes. And that’s actually how I got the money for this bar. Tell me what you’re thinking and be radically honest.”

Liz: “My place or yours.”

Grey tells her that he lives upstairs. Ansel drops an entire tray of silverware and walks away. Grey goes to talk to him.

Liz never confesses her radically honest life history.

When Dex and Fiona get to the concert venue they run into the stalker, Newtlander, in a hallway. He has a knife, so Dex sends Fiona to hide safely in an elevator while she subdues him. Newtlander insists that he’s the one protecting Fiona.

Once Miles has Newtlander in an interrogation room, the stalker still insists that he and Fiona are friends and that she asked him to protect her. He tells Miles to look in his hotel room for the letters he’s been exchanging with Fiona.

Miles gives Dex an update and brings up their Friday night date, but then decides that she probably has too much going on to get together.

Grey makes Liz his famous morning after eggs. Ansel catches them kissing at the breakfast table and questions why Liz is still there. He runs out of the room, upset that Grey is replacing Dex.

Dex stops by to see Fiona, who is very grateful that Dex is the one who rescued her. She wants to do drugs together to celebrate their victory, and calls Dex a bore when Dex says she doesn’t do drugs anymore. Dex’s phone rings before the argument can escalate.

It’s Grey, calling Dex to help with Ansel, who’s locked himself in the office. Back at the bar, Grey and Dex quickly fall into aguing over Ansel, Grey’s lies and their respective love lives. Ansel opens the door to make them stop. They all sit in the office for a family meeting.

Ansel wants to know if Grey is leaving the family, now that he and Dex don’t like each other anymore, just like his Mom and Dad left them. Grey is shocked by the question. He and Dex assure Ansel that Grey is part of the family, no matter what. Nothing is going to scare him away, no matter how mad anyone gets at anyone else.

😭😭😭 This right here is why Grey is endgame. He needs Ansel as much as he needs Dex, and Dex needs someone who understands that Ansel is the center of her universe, not them.

Dex gets called to the police station to finish up with the case. Grey tells her and Ansel that he’s still here, and it’s no problem for him to stay with Ansel. But he and Ansel both admit that dropping the tray of silverware was OTT.

Miles found a stack of letters from Fiona in the stalker’s hotel room, encouraging him to follow her. Dex figures out that it was Fiona’s manager who wrote the letters, not the singer herself. The stress of being stalked inspired her to write more intense songs for her album. Miles arrests the manager.

Fiona repeats her request for Dex to go on tour with her, and Dex suggests that Fiona take some time off and stay in Portland. Fiona gets a little insulting about Dex’s life, yet we’ve been shown all episode that Fiona doesn’t know where she is or where she’s going most of the time, she just goes from plane to hotel room to venue and it all looks the same. What would be in that life for Dex? More alcohol and drug abuse, when she’s just gotten her life together?

Tookie serves Cosgrove the new special on his menu: Tacos a la Cosgrove. They’re both married, so they agree this is just a friendly cooking collaboration. Cosgrove gets called back to work before she can eat her tacos, so she asks for them to go. But before she leaves, she tells Tookie that her friends call her Bobby.

Did we even know she has a first name?? I hope this is the beginning of a beautiful friendship.

Grey and Liz have a picnic in a park and take the oportunity to clarify that Dex and Grey are just friends and Grey won’t let Dex or Ansel’s feelings dictate who he dates. Liz tells Grey that she understands why the thought of losing someone like Grey would be unsettling. He says that’s the nicest thing anyone’s said to him in a long time.

I hope she’s for real, but something about that conversation makes me worried that she’s been planted by Kane’s people. She didn’t even blink at Grey’s history and the first thing she did was talk about death. Now I feel like eventually he could be forced to choose between the Parios sibs and her, which would leave him more vulnerable to underworld influence. He was only rescued last week because of Ansel and Dex.

Dex gives bowling a try, even though she’s terrible at it and Miles is a bowling supernerd. He tells her he likes the game because, “No matter how badly you screw up, you always get a second chance.”

Okay, that was really sweet.

Commentary

In two weeks, Ansel has to suffer through the worst Thanksgiving ever. Someone send Mama Cosgrove and Tookie to rescue him.

Since when do rock concerts end because someone fell down or had to be carried out? Especially a punk show? The first clue that the manager is the culprit is the fact that he yells at Dex for doing her job as security.

I believe that tonight was the first time we saw Dex linger in bed after sex.

Fiona really cares about Dex. Dex had a thing for Candace Tapper, who is the same physical type as Fiona. Does Dex have a disappointingly mainstream and patriarchal preference for tall blondes, or did Candace remind her of Fiona?

I could handle Fiona becoming a recurring character and her relationship with Dex continuing. There was a warmth to their chemistry that Dex doesn’t have with Grey or Miles. They just have a lot lot of obstacles to overcome because of their different lifestyles, despite their strong feelings for each other.

Since Kara’s been alone with Miles in all of her scenes so far in this episode and the last, they all could have easily been shot and inserted into the episode after the rest of it was finished and they began to realize how few women there are in this show. (But hopefully I’m just paranoid.) Kara also gives Miles a chance to act superior to a woman at work after spending several episodes under Cosgrove’s thumb, and adds another person of color to the cast. She potentially resolves several notes from the network.

It’s Complicated

Did Kara Lee really have to say that she could set Miles up with someone who could take care of him in every way and wouldn’t play games? Miles might as well hire a hooker who’d wear an apron for him him. But then, Miles decided that Dex is playing games because she’s not all over him, despite her complete openness and honesty about their lack of a relationship.

He’s the one who said he liked complicated women. I don’t think that word means what he thinks it means. He seems to think it means it’ll take a few dates to get her to commit to a relationship and for her to let him save her.

What it really means, in this case, is that she’s in love with both a dead guy (Benny) and a living guy (Grey). And as it turns out, there’s a woman who got away, too. Dex has a big heart.

She doesn’t want to screw things up with the living guy and also mess up Ansel’s life, so she keeps it platonic. She’s bisexual, so when she dates outside her platonic relationship to get her sexual needs met, she dates men and women, but she’s not interested in anything serious.

She and Miles have sexual chemistry, but they don’t gel on a deeper level, the way Dex and Grey immediately did, or have many interests in common. He’s a good choice for a nonserious date.

So while Dex superficially appears messed up and potentially available, in fact, now that she has her PI license, Dex has her life together, knows who she is, and is taking some time to work through her emotional stuff. She does not need a man, or a woman, to save her. She’s busy.

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Images courtesy of ABC.

Stumptown Season 1 Episode 6: Dex, Drugs and Rock & Roll Recap-Dex & Grey spend time with new love interests, causing Miles & Ansel to worry they're being left behind. Tookie & Cosgrove strike up a new friendship. #Stumptown Episode 6 of Stumptown is about ghosts. The characters work through their ghosts while the show tests out new character combinations and expands backstories.

#ABC #Camryn Manheim #Cobie Smulders #crime drama #Dex Drugs and Rock & Roll #Jake Johnson #metacrone #Michael Ealy #recaps #review #Stumptown

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