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boldlyanxious · 9 months

Text

From the Start

ttt 2023

Masterlist

Based on comic by @serenescribbles

Marinette bumped through the crowd to check the posting for who she would be paired with for the literature assignment. She quickly darted away after. She could already hear others in the crowd talking about who they got as a partner and very loudly hollering and laughing about their opinions on who no one would want to be paired with. She could do without their opinions on her own pairing.

She saw that Jason Todd, her assigned partner, had walked up but he hadn’t gotten to looking for his name yet. She preferred to be away from the crowd when her name was discovered listed with his. He was rich and popular so everyone would be sure to have something to say about the quiet French girl who had come in a few months back. She had felt bad that Callie had already been publicly ridiculed for being paired with Samuel. He was nearly as popular as Jason but not nearly as nice.

She had managed to meet both of them on her first day here. She had no clue that they were among the popular boys at the time but Jason had stopped her in the hallway and pointed out her first class. He had seemed nice as they walked the same direction but he went ahead of her and to the back of the class while she spoke to the teacher. She muttered an introduction to the class and then headed to the assigned seat. Samuel helped her find her footing by tripping her on the way. She picked herself up quickly but the whole class was already laughing. She didn’t look around for anything, she just pulled out her notes and kept her head down.

She reached her locker without incident but jumped as something brushed her shoulder. Jason had draped his arm over her shoulder and pulled her close.

“Looks like we get to work together for this, that should be fun, right?” he asked.

“Um, yeah. That sounds fun.”

The words stuck in her throat a bit. Neither a literature project nor working with him sounded like much fun to her. But that wasn’t exactly something she could say. She was becoming very aware of how close he was. He had her shoulder pressed against his chest as he squeezed for a moment but he released her quickly with a grin. She smiled back hesitantly at his charming smile.

—

They went over to his place to work on the project. He dragged her in the door but she craned her head around in awe at the interior of the house. He stopped suddenly and she slammed into him with the momentum. He caught his arm around her back and held her there for a moment. She looked up at him and paused because he was looking right at her. She forgot to look away and he seemed to as well.

They pulled apart slowly and Jason’s hold loosened but Marinette could still feel where his arms had gone around her. She was surprised that she missed the feel of them. She was probably just cold. It was roomy in the foyer and the air outside was cold. But he didn’t take her hand again, put a hand hovering at the space between her shoulders with feather light pressure. He pointed out the piece of art that he had seen when he stopped and wanted to show her. Then he pressed gently to nudge her along, deeper into the house while he continued pointing out his favorites.

They arrived at the library. It was the coziest place that she had seen since arriving. If she thought Jason was a bit too excited to work on a literature project before, that was nothing compared to how he was when they entered the library. He showed her his four different personal copies of Pride and Prejudice, but the Wayne Library also had a few copies. There was a table ready for them to work at together and it was set up with snacks and drinks.

“I didn’t know what you would like so I just got some of everything,” he said, gesturing to the offered snacks. He paused to pull out her chair and then reached for a plate of cookies to pull it closer. “I made cookies too. I hope you like them.”

She took a cookie and showed him a small smile when she tasted it. He was smiling when he sat down across from her. She didn’t know what else to do so she pulled out the assignment sheet and they started working on that. They only talked about the project until an older gentleman came in to tell her that her ride was there. They moved quickly to make their notes so they could have a good starting place for next time. They would be going to her house then.

He walked her to the door which felt awkwardly formal. It seemed to make sense for the style of the house. She was tucking her notes into her bag and zipping it as she walked but when she slung it back by the strap, she knocked into a vase. She threw herself forward but there was no way she would catch it. She was going to land right in the remains of it.

The air pushed out of her lungs as Jason caught her around the middle and the vase in his other hand.

“I’m so sorry. I’m not sure what happened but I think it would have taken the rest of my life to pay that off.”

He pushed the vase back in place on the table and then looked down at her and grinned. He had such a nice smile and his arm was around her again. She probably shouldn’t like it this much.

“I will always protect the priceless art. Pretty sure Bruce likes that vase too.”

He winked at her and then let her go. She rushed away and out to the car. She didn’t look back until they were pulling away but he was still watching from the door.

—

School was getting easier. She was learning her way around and how to manage getting herself to the class in the short amount of time between classes. There were just so many other kids. It wasn’t actually so many more than were in her previous school, she had just gotten so used to knowing them all by sight that it was jarring to know so few. She only had a couple close friends here but with the jumble between classes she didn’t always see them until shared classes.

She put her bag in her locker and found the right books for her next classes. She turned at a loud laugh. It was Samuel but he was watching Jason walk on his hands down the hallway. She didn’t look away soon enough when his shirt slid down. His muscles were exposed and she couldn’t breath for a second. Jason flipped back up and she looked away quickly but she had seen Samuel laughing at her.

She slammed her locker closed and moved away quickly. Hopefully they wouldn’t even remember by the time they had class together again. Literature wasn’t until after lunch so hopefully something else would distract them. She went off to her math class and didn’t even think about Jason’s exposed stomach the whole time. She took decent notes and headed off to lunch only worried about her own stomach. Unfortunately when she went to find a table, Samuel was watching for her.

She was waved over by another student. She didn’t really know him but she was pretty sure they had some classes together. She chose that over struggling to find a different table while risking walking past Samuel. Hopefully her other friends would find her here. She smiled at Aaron, grateful that he gave his name. When she said her name in response, he said he already knew it. Of course he did. It seemed like everyone already knew her. But it was nice to be asked about art. She excitedly talked about her plans to be a fashion designer and he said he wanted to be an animator.

“Maybe I’ll come up with a few characters and you could work with me to design them a few outfits. I’m not very good at choosing clothes,” Aaron said.

Marinette craned her head around to see better when he pulled out a notebook he had made some sketches in. She laughed when she saw the notes next to the drawings.

“That’s the same lesson I just came from,” she said.

“I’m actually in the same class. I’m just on the other side of the room and one row back.”

“Oh, I probably should have known that.”

She would have said more but the moment and person she dreaded had come just then.

“Marinette, did you get yourself a boyfriend?” he asked.

He grabbed a chair nearby and flipped it around, sitting down with them. She could feel Aaron crumple in embarrassment beside her, trying to tuck his notebook away before it was spotted. It seemed he had done this before too.

“I’m not sure how it could matter to you,” she said. “You wouldn’t have a shot with me either way.”

There was a ripple of oooos that went through the crowd. He jumped up in anger and stood over her.

“You think I want that? But you wouldn’t want your new boyfriend and everyone else to know that you were staring at Jason Todd.”

She pushed herself up out of the chair and stood in front of him. He was still taller than her but it felt better than being seated. She could hear the sounds of Aaron shoving everything in his bag so he could run when he got the chance.

“Again, he is not you because,” she paused and emphasized every word, “no thank you.”

She didn’t wait to see his reaction. She picked up her books and walked away without looking back. There was the sound of a scuffle and she found herself flung around to face him. She hadn’t yet caught her breath from the confrontation. She knew it was too much to hope that he would just let her walk away after that.

But as soon as she was facing him she saw Jason push to the front and put his arm out in front of Samuel.

“Just let them go. If you do anything now, you won’t be allowed to play in the game and if Coach hears you hit a girl he will make you run laps all of practice.”

Jason turned to look at her for just a moment but Aaron grabbed her hand and pulled her away. The crowd parted and then closed behind them. She turned back after they got to the open hallway and she could still see Jason over the crowd. He was watching her.

—

She was nervous for Jason to come over that afternoon. They hadn’t talked again at school. She had intentionally avoided seeing him during their shared classes later that day but now they had to work on their project. She was really nervous so she ended up baking to calm herself. She looked over at the clock when she finished. It was five minutes before he was supposed to show up but just then, the doorbell rang.

She could hear her aunt letting him in. She wouldn’t have any time to change. She just grabbed her bag and headed over to the table with a plate of lemon tartlets. Jason’s eyes lit up when he saw her.

“Is that for me? He asked, reaching for the plate.

“I made them to share but I put some up for my aunt so I guess if you ate them all, it would be fine. I’ll just grab a couple first.”

He took the plate from her and held it high over her head.

“I just heard you say I could eat them all. You can’t take them back now.”

Marinette reached out for them but he just lifted them higher. She didn’t really want them to dump everywhere so she gave up quickly. She turned to get their project, and when she turned back, Jason took one of the tartlets and held it in front of her mouth. She looked at him confused but he pushed it against her mouth so she just took a bite. He popped the rest of it in his mouth.

“Wow, these are really good. I am definitely going to eat them all now.”

“Fine, but only if it helps you focus. We have a lot of work to do.”

They turned to focus on their work and it went really well. They managed to get a lot done but they also paused to talk about themselves too. Jason told her that he wasn’t always considered a rich kid and that he had also lost his parents. She reached out for him and took his hand. She hadn’t even thought about it. The boundaries here felt so stiff and formal. It wouldn’t have meant anything in France to offer comfort but the line here seemed to be very little contact. Before she could pull back, Jason put his hand on top of hers. He opened his mouth to say something but her aunt came in and he jumped up and away from her.

She pretended to see nothing when she told Jason it was time to go. He grabbed his bag and left without looking back. Her aunt watched him go and then just looked back at her. She looked away.

“I’m gonna take this to my room and then I can help with dinner,” she said.

—

She was too nervous for this.

She had packed up the rest of the lemon tartlets and brought them to school. She just had to wait until no one else was near Jason and then she could hand them to him. Easier said than done. He was never alone. Finally, he turned back to get something and she saw her shot. His friends had gone on ahead and there was no one else in the hall. He even looked over and made eye contact with her. She smiled and walked that way.

There was a squeak and someone ran up from behind her and jumped on Jason. She didn’t see who she was. Just a mess of blond hair in front of his face. She veered off the other way and speed walked to her class. They were headed the same way but she didn’t bother trying to walk with him. She felt like everyone was staring, like they could see exactly what she had planned and they were laughing about it.

She was in her seat early but she just focused on her phone until she had to put it away. Her friends in Paris had sent lots of messages today so she took some time responding to them. She should have stopped by the drinking fountain on her way. Her throat was really dry but it was too close to the bell to run there and back. She cleared her throat and then coughed. She tried to ignore it after that but when she cleared her throat again, she looked through her purse to see if she had anything to help. All she had were the tartlets and those wouldn’t help. She coughed again when she stopped and everyone was looking at her.

The bell rang to start class and the teacher was starting to take attendance when Jason walked over from the back of the class. He put a cough drop on her desk and smiled at her. Thanking him quietly, she quickly unwrapped it and put it in her mouth. It seemed to help. She was relieved and happy to not have everyone staring at her. But after a couple minutes, she could feel the tickle in her throat again. She tried clearing her throat as quietly as possible, but it just caused the worst coughing fit yet.

After a few minutes, the teacher suggested she go and get some water. She tucked her head down and made a beeline for the nearest fountain. She spit the cough drop out on the way. She had thought maybe he liked her but now she thought he was just messing with her and that he had given her a fake cough drop. When she got back to the class, the others were whispering and laughing. Luckily, it was near the bell so she could go on to a new class. She ended up avoiding Jason until the next time they were meeting for their project.

—

She arrived at Jason’s but she did not want to go to the door. She hadn’t talked to him since the day he gave her the fake cough drop. She had still been coughing some but her aunt had given her allergy medicine and that might be helping. She was probably just allergic to something around here. She had never gotten allergies like this but everything was foreign to her. Unfortunately it seemed to happen every time she saw Jason. It was so embarrassing, but at least it gave her the chance to duck away.

He didn’t come to the door this time and she was not led to the library where they had studied before. She was led to a den. It was set up with drinks, popcorn and other snacks. There were a few others there that she didn’t know, including the blonde that she had seen with Jason before.

“Marinette, you are here!” Jason said when he saw her, “I hoped you wouldn’t mind watching the movie. We could include a comparison to the book with an analysis of why we think the changes were made.”

She considered it. It would definitely be easier than working alone with him.

“That should round out the section nicely. I think the teacher will hate it, but if we do it well, he will have no choice but to give us high marks for it.”

“I love your brain,” he said with a smile.

He flopped down onto the couch next to the blond girl. After grabbing a few snacks and a drink she sat in one of the stand alone chairs and pulled out her notebook. Her throat was getting scratchy again. She thought she might have forgotten to take the allergy medicine today. Luckily if she kept drinking it wasn’t as noticeable. She hoped she wasn’t disturbing them with her scratching notes and constantly clearing her throat. She glanced over at Jason and wished she hadn’t. He was whispering and laughing with the other girl.

She ended up sneaking out near the end. She slipped away to the bathroom. She had drunk enough that it wouldn’t look odd. She just needed to be able to fully cough without bothering everyone. She let loose once she was in the bathroom. It took a few minutes but she finally ended up coughing something into her hand and it relieved the feeling. She went to wash her hands to get the wet off them and saw that it was bloody and looked like a rose petal.

She rinsed it off carefully. It was nearly the color of the bit of blood she rinsed off and was definitely a rose petal. She knew this was bad. It was bad enough to catch feelings for a boy like Jason. But to know that he would never feel the same way and that he had a beautiful, bubbly, blonde girlfriend so she couldn’t even tell him.

She threw the petal away and snuck back into the room. Jason looked over and smiled as she came back. He had moved to her chair and was taking notes.

“Sorry, I missed the end,” she said.

“It’s not a big deal. I probably should have been taking notes too. I’ve just seen the movie a lot of times and I wanted to see it with you. We will actually work on the assignment next time.”

“We will have to,” she let out a nervous laugh and looked down. “We’re running out of time.”

—

Her symptoms were getting worse at school and away from it. She had researched the flowers and their meanings but that didn’t tell her anything she didn’t already know. Dark red roses were for unrequited love and the most common flower to be seen with hanahaki disease. The red lilies that had been showing up more recently were romantic love and sadness. They seemed more common at school where there were signs everywhere to send candy grams to the one you loved. She nearly knocked over the table selling them on her way to the bathroom to cough up more flowers.

When she came back out of the bathroom, she saw Jason there at the table buying one. Presumably for his girlfriend. It made her feel like running right back in the bathroom but instead she pulled out her thermos of hot tea. She made it every day now. It was a special blend that was supposed to calm the symptoms and soothe but with the way she had been looking it was easy enough to tell others that she was feeling sick and that is why she had tea.

She was now stopping by the bathroom or a quiet corner several times every day. If this didn’t let up soon, she didn’t know what she would do. She was afraid to tell her aunt. She knew that taking her in was a huge change for her but with so little school left, it was better for her to be here with access to fashion programs and get used to using English that was likely used in whichever fashion school she ended up attending. Her family in China would have gladly taken her in as well but it wouldn’t have the same opportunities.

She kept reading up on it, trying to find a way to fix it. She was carrying the book of flowers in her hand when Samuel pulled it away from her.

“What is this?” he asked. “Are you actually hoping someone will get you flowers?”

“It’s for art, duh,” she said. “But if you were thinking of getting me flowers, just don’t.”

She wasn’t sure what it was about him but she had been mostly quiet when she moved here. Her parents' deaths weighed heavily on her. But he just really crossed the line and she loved to leave him sputtering about how that wasn’t what he meant. She took her book back and walked away while he shouted after her.

The candy grams were to be delivered in math class. She nearly skipped but the current work was really hard for her to follow if she didn’t take detailed notes. It was nearly the end of the class when someone came by with the candy grams. She was very surprised that she got two. One was from Aaron. She smiled and waved at him, feeling bad that she hadn’t sent any to her friends. She hadn’t even considered it. The other was not signed. She initially hoped that it was Jason, but he had written in her notebook and this was very different handwriting.

She could feel the itch coming back to her throat so she drank more of her tea. She hoped it would last through the day.

—

Unfortunately, Jason was coming over right after school so they could finish their project. It wasn’t due until Monday, but they wanted to have everything put together so they could read it and make any needed changes. She was very happy that he felt the same way about this. She had heard some horror stories from some other friends about their project partners. None worse than Callie who was having a nightmare of a time working with Samuel. She had ended up refusing to go to his house or let him come over so they only worked in the school library but it was pretty much her working while he was just a jerk to her.

Jason arrived only minutes after she had so she hadn’t had time to make any extra tea or anything. He opened his bag and it was full of chocolates from the candy grams.

“That’s a lot of chocolate,” she said.

“It is. Probably too much. I kept going to send one to a girl I’ve been crushing on but every time I put my own name instead. I should have just given her the whole pile. Do you want any?”

She reached out and took one, “You didn’t send them to your girlfriend? Does she not know you have a crush on her?”

“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he said quickly.

“Oh,” she said. “I just thought. Never mind.”

“You must be thinking of Stephanie. Blonde girl. Only owns purple clothes.”

She nodded, “Yeah. I just assumed, I guess.”

They turned to pull out their assignments. Jason paused halfway through.

“You got a lot though, I’m sure. Maybe even sent a few?”

“I did get two. One from Aaron. He’s a good friend and one wasn’t signed. I didn’t send any. I didn’t realize they were for friends until I got one from Aaron. I guess other people sent them to friends or themself,” she laughed.

They turned to focus on their work and made a lot of progress. Marinette stretched out and then started digging through her bag for the book to check a quote. She ended up tossing the candy gram onto the table as she did. She didn’t see Jason pick it up.

“This is Samuel’s handwriting,” he said.

“I–whaat??”

“He sent the candygram. He told me he didn’t send any.”

“So it’s fake then? That’s fine. I don’t want anything from him.”

She stood and took the candy from him and threw it away.

“I guess if you want any more, you will just have to take more of mine.”

She laughed at that, but then she suddenly felt her throat closing. She moved quickly out of the room and grabbed the small trash can in the living room. She was trying to force the flowers up quickly, knowing Jason could hear her.

“Are you taking out the trash then?”

She looked up and he was right there watching her.

“I’m sorry. I’ll just be a minute.”

He walked across the room and took the can from her. He looked in it and back at her.

“Marinette, this is severe. It can’t go on,” he put the can down and moved towards her. “Who is he?”

She shook her head, but he turned her to face him.

“You have to tell him or it will get worse.”

“I don’t think I can. I waited too long.”

He turned her and moved her to a chair and took her hands in his.

“I will teach you how. It is really easy. You sit the person down, just like this. You look deep into their eyes and say ‘I love you’.”

“I just say ‘I love you’?”

The scratchy feeling was lessening. She needed to take a deep breath and try it for real.

“That sounded sincere,” he said. He was still looking into her eyes. He reached up a hand to her cheek. “It could be worse, you know. You could be sitting in front of her with a backpack full of chocolates that you couldn’t send to her, coaching her how to say ‘I love you’ to someone else.”

She was nearly ignoring him when he started rambling but then she thought about what he said and his meaning hit her.

“Jason, I love you.” He continued looking at her but seemed to not take anything in. “It is you. I couldn’t tell you and now I am.”

“I-” He started and then stopped. “Will you go on a date with me?”

She squeezed his hands in hers. “Yes, but only after we finish the project.”

#jasonette #ttt 2023 #book design #hanahaki #boldlyanxious #maribat

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anjuschiffer · 6 days

Text

Even with Time Traveling, the Fates Will Still Laugh at Your Face

Do I have WIPs to work on? Yes. Did I see Coffee was hosting another Hanahaki Hour and decide to write for it? Absolutely. Do I know self control? No I do not, so here is Day 1 for Hanahaki Hours 2024: "We don't all have happy endings"/Poppy/Revival as requested by @the-coffee-fandom

Enjoy :D

Thank you Veggie and Coffee for beat-ing this fic!

Tags: @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha

AO3

To think he would actually find his younger self the minute he stepped out of Fluff’s portal.

Before he could even explain his presence, Robin started to attack him, about to call Batman for backup only to end up muttering a “Second chance”.

He held in a smirk as he heard Robin yell a “what the fuck” when he realized Jason was now in behind him instead of getting elbowed in the groin.

“Robin.” Jason said sternly, tipped off at the fact that he just addressed his younger self.

When Robin held his guard up, Jason couldn't help but be both pleased and hurt. Pleased because that means Robin didn’t let his guard down around anyone, even those who knew Robin. Hurt because, damn. Did he really look unfriendly in a fucking rabbit themed outfit?

Well, not completely rabbit themed. The slightly plunging v neck of a sweater didn’t exactly sell rabbit theme. “Listen, I’m not going to hurt you. I just…I want to chat.”

Oh god, did he really say that right now?

“You say you’re not going to hurt me, but how can I trust you?” Robin asked, a batarang pointed towards him. “I don’t know you.”

“Because I’m you. From the future.”

“You could be lying for all I know.”

“Then ask me something only you would know.”

“How about you tell me something only I would know then. It should be easy for you if you’re from the so-called future.” Robin countered, Jason noticing a smirk threatening to form.

Oh, was that how it was going to be?

“Remember that gala you went with Bruce last month in Paris because he didn’t want you patrolling Gotham without him?”

“Yeah? What about it?” Robin wasn’t going to like this.

“You met a girl over there. What was her name again? Wasn’t it Marinette or something like that?” Jason held in a snort as he saw his younger self stiffen at the sound of Marinette’s name, noticing how his cheeks and the tips of his ears burnt pink.

Damn. Was he this obvious about his crush on her? No wonder Bruce and Alfred liked teasing him about her. Oh. Is that why Dick kept calling him Rosy Cheeks at one point?

“Wh-what about her?”

“Oh nothing…just that you have a crush-”

“She’s just a friend!” Robin shrieked out, throwing the batarang towards Jason who dodged it with ease. “A very good friend at that!”

“Yeah,” Jason found himself agreeing, smiling at the thought. “Mari really is a good friend of ours, isn’t she?”

Robin blinked a few times to make sure he was indeed seeing a soft smile on the man who said was his future self. It looked just like the type of smile Bruce would have whenever he remembered a nice memory or after spending a full day at an amusement park with him.

Robin watched as the man sat down on the roof, patting the place next to him. Robin sat next to him, only then really realizing how big his future self was. He was taller than Bruce and Bruce was tall. Like, tall tall. But what really took the cake was how muscular he looked. He bet his future self could easily throw criminals around like sacks of rice!

“So you really are an older version of me from the future, huh.” Robin asked his older self.

But because he was so close to him, his older self’s choice in clothing caught his attention.

Robin looked at his older self from top to bottom. “What’s with the outfit choice? A shirt like your- wait. It’s not a jacket? I thought it was a jacket.” Robin found himself trying to open up his older self’s ‘jacket,” only then realizing it was a sweater with a plunging v neckline. “Is this an actual part of our vigilante outfit? A plunging v neck? Seriously?” He asked in disgust only to wrinkle up his nose. “Holy shit, did Dick’s Discowling outfit influence us? Oh god, it did, didn’t it?”

“Oh God no squirt.” Jason replied, revolted by Robin’s conclusion. “This outfit is just…temporary. My usual outfit looks way better than this one. And for your information, we’re waaay cooler than Dick.” Jason answered with a smile, Robin’s eyes lighting up upon hearing this. “But you should cut down on the cursing. Pretty sure Bruce already warned you about it, am I right?” Robin grumbled at those words, Jason hearing a ‘so does Alfred’ somewhere in those grumbles.

Damn.

He really was an unfiltered child, wasn’t he? Then again, this was around the same time he was still getting used to living with Bruce and being Robin. Getting used to being just that- a kid.

“So, I know you can’t talk too much about the future because of paradoxes and stuff but-“ Jason watched as his younger self thought about his next words. He looked around as if to make sure no one was listening over them. Or maybe he was hesitating due to the matter of his next sentence. “Are we okay? Are we, you know, happy? What about everyone else?”

“I changed my mind. I was still fucked up as-“

“Why are you allowed to curse and I’m not? You’re practically me! Scratch that, you are me!”

Should he let his younger self know he’s technically not this timeline’s Jason? Should he tell him that he was the original Jason and that his younger self is a completely different Jason from a different point in time?

Jason internally sighed.

What kind of question was he asking himself?

“Not exactly.” Jason ended up answering, looking out towards the city skyline, wondering where Bruce was at the moment. Would he recognize him like this? “And to answer your question: we don’t all have happy endings.”

He watched his younger self become serious and if he paid attention, he could see the way his lower lip quivered a bit before calming down.

“Is that why you’re here? Are you here to warn me about something bad that’s going to happen later on in the future?”

“Nope.” Jason threw his hands in the air. “ You said it yourself. It would create a time paradox if I did.”

“You talking to me- shouldn't that have already made one?”

“Nope.”

“How can you be so sure? There are many theories that suggest that even talking with an alternate version of yourself can create paradoxes. Sure, talking might not seem like much, but some scientists agree that even walking past your past self will alternate a future ever-

Oh, that’s how you know…this isn’t your first time, is it?” Robin gasped, surprising Jason at how fast he managed to piece things together.

He was a perceptive little shit, wasn’t he? “We can time travel? How many times did we time travel? Did WE invent the tech to do so? Can we do it freely or is there like, a limit to-”

“Wayne Enterprises has yet to make a tool that would allow us to time travel.” Jason cut Robin off. “That being said, there are people who can time travel at free will.”

Some are even villains he wanted to add but decided to keep it to himself.

“And we’re one of them?”

“Villains? No. Able to time travel freely? Not exactly by choice.”

“Is it related to our vigilante work?”

“Nope.”

“No?” Robin frowned, furrowing his brows as he thought. “So, personal?”

“And you’ll never guess why.” Jason internally smirked as he watched Robin think of an answer.

“For fun?”

“Because of a girl.” Jason laughed as his younger self wrinkled up his nose and started to gag.

“Eww, a girl? We time traveled because of a girl?”

“Remember how I said not everyone has a happy ending? I was traveling to stop something from happening to her…”

“Oh…then she must be someone very important to us then.” Robin concluded, Jason watching as Robin stared off into the distance. “How bad is it? Is she dying?

Is it our fault?” Oh all the things Robin had to say, did he have to say something that hit too close to the truth? “It is, isn’t it?”

“No.” Jason managed to croak out, feeling a lump form in his throat before it went away. He rubbed his eyes a bit to get rid of the stinging in his eyes. “It wasn’t our fault. It wasn’t her fault either. But it was destined to happen anyways.”

“Was that the case in every timeline you went to?”

“They all ended up that way.”

“So there’s nothing we can do to help her?”

“Unfortunately, no.”

“I see.” The two sat there in silence until what sounded like a toaster timer rang, Robin watching as his older self took out a pocket watch and sighed.

“Seems like my time is up.” Jason said as he tried to get, feeling a tug on his wrist.

“What else can you tell me about the future?” Robin asked, but Jason knew all too well that look.

Don’t go.

“I can’t say much else lad, but I’ll just tell you one more thing.” He ruffled Robin’s hair. “Don’t act so tough, okay? Bruce, Alfred and Dick are there for a reason. Say what’s on your mind, okay?”

Robin watched as Jason brushed himself off and opened a portal. “And that goes for Mari too, okay?”

Jason waited for Robin’s response, feeling the portal wane behind him. Robin lowered his gaze.

“Alright.” Robin promised, lifting his head back up. “I’ll try to be more honest with her too.”

“And don’t go on solo missions on your own, alright. Because, trust me, getting revived doesn’t look as easy as in video games, okay?”

“Revived? What does- hey! What- wait!” Robin’s voice stopped Jason from going further into the portal. “Why did you really come here?”

Jason looked at his younger self one last time.

Should he tell him the truth?

It’s not like he will see him again.

“I just wanted to see if Bruce was right about me being a little piece of shit.” Jason said with a grin, not waiting for Robin’s response.

Stepping out of the portal, Jason’s foot made contact with his living room floor.

“Counter clockwise.” Jason muttered, but the minute the transformation dropped, he was overcomed by a migraine, Jason having to walk to the nearest chair only to collapse to end up on the floor.

He cradled his head as the migraine worsened, Jason pushing himself off the floor, shutting his eyes to stop the room from spinning around him.

Once the symptoms cooled down, he was hit by another and this time, it wasn’t from the side effects of time traveling.

This time, it was from his fucking chronic illness.

Immediately, Jason felt his throat swelling up and locked itself, Jason quickly picking himself up and rushing himself to the nearest trash bin. He sat himself beside it, hacking whatever was clogging his throat.

Four minutes passed and nothing, Jason knowing he had to get this out fast, the edges of his vision blurring. He watched as tiny orbs started to appear in his vision, which was not a good sign.

He made a fist and placed it between his ribcage and navel, making sure his thumb was outside his fist. With his other hand, he jabbed his fist into his upper abdominal area, attempting to dislodge whatever was suffocating him.

He did this several times until he felt something loosen up, feeling bile rise up his throat. Jason listened as a heavy load hit the bottom of the can with a thud, Jason coughing up saliva as his vision started to clear up, only then seeing the culprit of his almost second death.

Bloody poppy petals.

Jason wiped off the saliva that dripped from the corner of his mouth, heading to the bathroom to rinse out the bile taste from his mouth.

As he brushed his teeth, a petal accompanied the foamed up toothpaste, Jason staring at the blasted thing. He walked away from the bathroom, deciding it was just best to sleep it off.

Yeah, this should all be behind him by tonight.

That’s when his phone went off.

“Jason! I’ve been trying to-”

“If this is about the wedding. I’m not go-”

“You can’t just not come to my wedding Jason! You’re my best friend! I can’t -”

“Mari.” Jason stopped her, feeling something start to form in his throat. Oh. It was happening again. “I…I can’t go. I know what this wedding means to you, but I can’t-”

“If this is about having to watch over Gotham again-“ he heard her let out a heavy sigh. “-you can’t keep making excuses to not-”

“Marinette. I don’t think you understand. It’s not that I can’t make it because of my job as a vigilante but be-” Jason let out a cough only for it to get worse when he tried to suppress it.

“Jason? Hey, are you alright? Jason? Jason? Oh god. Jason, are you-”

Jason hung up and focused on the situation on hand, coughing as he searched his room for an all familiar red container.

Jason continued to cough as his eyes finally landed on a white cross logo and quickly flung the container open and yanked out a fluorescent white vial. He quickly attached it to a needle and stabbed himself with it, feeling the swelling of his throat subside.

He closed his eyes as he felt his body slowly return to its regular rhythm. He dared to open them when he was no longer heaving for air.

“Jason, listen to me. This is the last serum we were able to successfully make. Last one. And once you use this one…your body will get used to it just as quickly as its previous versions…

Jason, we can’t keep making stronger dosages…they’re going to kill you just as fast as your illness already is.

Jason…you’re suffering far too much for something that can easily be removed with-”

Leslie’s words rang in his mind as dragged himself into bed, the adrenaline in his system starting to wear off, his body catching up on the soreness his vomiting had left behind. He groaned with each breath he took, his diaphragm reminding him the severity of it all.

Not like it was anything new.

If he had been able to survive all these symptoms for the past decade, what’s another one? Oh right…he doesn’t have that time…

His condition had turned for the worse ever since he started wielding Miraculi to help Mari take down Hawkmoth….

He was in his final stages…

Damn…he’s only in his late twenties…

“Jason.” Fluff spoke up, Sass right next to her. “How are you feeling? Should we get Marinette to come and heal-”

“We promised to keep this a secret Fluff.” Sass reminded her, flying up to Jason, placing a paw on his forehead before quickly retracting it. He turned to Fluff with a worried face. “His life force is fading Fluff. Jason, we need to let Marinette-”

“No.” Jason retorted. “She’s busy…making sure everything is perfect…for the wedding…”

“Jason, we can’t let you di-”

“I just need to sleep it off…all that time traveling…made me tired…” Jason let out a weak laugh.

All that sneaking around and bribing the Kwami’s…all that time traveling and for what?

He couldn’t get the ending he wanted.

No matter what decision he made on his end or what event he changed to get his past self to reconnect with Marinette…

It was all for not…

It didn’t help to find out that it was his stubbornness as a kid that caused him to develop a rare condition where one would spit out filaments of blood in the shape of flower petals.

And not just in one timeline, oh no…in every. single. one…

A condition with no treatment besides a risky surgery to remove blood vessels that grew over the heart and greatly resemble plant roots. A surgery where the most common side effect was memory lost. More specifically the loss of memories of the person you loved most…

“-not good Sass. We need to get Marinette, and now!”

“Jason…hang on just a bit longer, okay? We’re going to get Mari, okay?”

“Hmm,” was all Jason was able to say as he felt the soreness in his body become tiredness, feeling his eyelids grow heavy. Maybe…maybe he should just rest his eyes for a bit…

Yeah… for just a bit…

Maybe he wouldn’t feel this tired if he had just listened to the Kwami in the first place. They had already warned him that it was impossible to change the fates already written in the stars…

That he wasn’t destined to be with Marinette…

And now he knew he didn’t…

He saw the fate that awaited her in all the timelines where he thought he succeeded in being with her: death.

Death caused a tragic accident, a power struggle over the Miraculous or from the same illness that was killing him now…

Maybe that’s why he was okay with his fate now.

He couldn’t bear to think of causing Marinette any harm when all she had ever been to him was kind.

Feeling himself drift further into slumber, Jason thought of his younger self, glad to be able to see his younger self before returning home.

At least he was able to take one more thing off his bucket list before he had to return Fluff and Sass back…

Fluff…Sass… he forgot to thank them for going with his selfish decisions…

He should’ve apologized for taking advantage of their own love for Marinette.

Marinette…

He found himself smiling as he remembered what she looked like in her wedding dress she picked out just a few weeks ago.

At least she will be happy after he’s gone.

Jason!

Oh. Someone was calling him.

Jason!

Jason tried to open his eyes, but his tiredness wouldn’t let him. They’ll probably stick around. Or if it’s Dick, he usually would.

He’ll just see him in the morning.

With that, Jason let his mind go quiet, the beating of his heart slowly drifting into the silence that succumbed to him.

“Jason!” Marinette screamed, stepping out of Kaalki’s portal, rushing to Jason’s pale body. “Jason, wake up!”

One minute she was panicking over Jason’s sudden coughing followed by him hanging up. The next, Fluff and Sass flew right up to her, holding in tears as they gave her the news of Jason’s condition.

He was dying.

She quickly ordered Kaalki to open a portal, needing to see it for herself.

She saw him just a few weeks ago.

He was fine! He was up and about, healthy as a horse!

He helped her choose her dress, the bridesmaid’s dresses, his suit for the wedding! He was standing on his two feet perfectly fine…why, how was he on the verge of death?

Marinette didn’t expect to see him passed out on his bed, his face as pale as a ghost.

“Jason?” She had called out and when she didn’t get a response, didn’t see the rising and sinking of his chest, she became worried.

It wasn’t until she got closer to him and tried to wake him up that she knew he was leaving her. His soul was fading fast.

“Jason!” She yelled, trying to shake him awake, trying to ignore the way he felt cold to the touch. “Jason, you need…you need to wake up!”

She decided to look for a pulse. “Jason, don’t go! I still need you!” She found nothing.

Who was going to remind her to take a breather? Who was going to be there at 3 am, helping her calm down after a nightmare from her heroine days? Who was going to tell her that everything was going to be alright? “Jason.”

He was gone.

Her best friend…

Marinette let out a wail, collapsing to her knees as she began to cry her heart out.

He promised to be there! He said he’d be there! He pro-

Marinette began to cough, wondering if maybe her throat was sore from all the crying, irritated from all the scream. It wasn’t until she realized that this coughing felt off.

Something was stuck in her throat.

Marinette continued to cough until she decided to take matters into her own hands.

Reaching for a trash bin nearby, she forced herself to gag, when she felt bile rise to her mouth, disgusted by its sour taste.

She let herself catch her breath and when she did, she was embarrassed at knowing she was choking on her own spit. Really? Spit? Wait…what was that swimming in her saliva?

Curious, Marinette reached for it, watching as her saliva dripped off of it as she brought it closer to herself. Without a doubt, Marinette knew what it was…but how was it possible?

How did she cough up a poppy petal?

And…what did it mean?

Fluff and Sass looked at the poppy petal in horror, looking at each other, wondering what they should do.

At who they should be angry at.

Because this wasn’t fair.

This wasn’t supposed to happen.

Not in this timeline.

One of them had to be happy. Just one.

For Kwami’s sake, they lived through all of the other timelines, watching as their favorite humans died for the sake of the other’s happiness! Jason sacrificed his own for Mari’s just moments ago!

So why her? Why does Marinette have to suffer too?

Wasn’t taking Jason enough?

But they knew nothing could be changed.

If it was the will of the Fates, then so be it…

If all they could do was just support her, then so be it.

They’ll make sure to protect and love Mari as much as Jason did.

It was all they could do to honor his death… even if it was done in vain.

#maribat #hanahaki hours 2024 #hanahaki au #jasonette but its not endgame #:p

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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 2 months

Text

Broken Hearts Are Contagious

Summary: If Marinette doesn't learn to love Tim back before the end of the week, he will die. She is not the victim... so why does she feel like crying?

Written for @maribatserver 's Maribat March

Day 1: Origin Story (for Poison Ivy)

Marinette sips at her drink. It’s non-alcoholic, of course, she isn’t intent on openly breaking the law when Commissioner Gordon is within sight. But that doesn’t change the fact that she is oh-so-tempted to try. She eyes the champagne pyramid not too far away. It is entirely decorative – it would be impossible to get a drink without everything toppling over, and even if you do manage to get one there is a high chance that the drink will be flat.

Then again, she really hates Wayne Galas, and that was a surefire way to make sure she would never have to go again…

Before she can commit to that particular bad idea, a hand taps her on the shoulder.

She whirls around to find a fortunately familiar face. Tim was always one to sneak up on people. He insists it’s accidental, and that he doesn’t mean to, but she has her doubts, because he always smiles so widely whenever he manages to catch her off-guard.

Regardless of his possibly evil ways, he is now leaning against the wall next to her. His hair is brushed, for once, slicked out of his face with far too much gel. She is sorely tempted to mess it up, purely as a petty form of revenge, but considering he is her ticket out of here… it seems like a bad idea.

She can always do it later.

“Tim,” she says, her bitter expression falling away in favor of a faint smile. “Thank the gods you’re here.”

“I’m here to save the day,” he says with a sarcastic little bow, his lips curling in a smirk. “Let’s run away together.”

She doesn’t wait for another second before gathering up her dress in her hands. The air is cloyingly sweet from all of the intermingling perfumes, and she wants out. “Absolutely. How do we escape?”

“Depends, are you down to climb a drainpipe?”

“There’s no way that’ll hold our weight,” Marinette says, her eyebrows raising.

He huffs, but he doesn’t actually seem all that put out. “It might. But, fine, guess we’ll just have to leave the normal way.”

So, hand in hand, they make their grand escape.

Okay, that might be a little dramatic, all they do is find their way to a higher balcony so they can talk without fear of being forced into conversations about stocks and taxes and ooooh, I just LOVE your dress, DO tell me where you got it.

No, they have much more interesting conversations in store for them, like gossip.

“They say there’s a new assassin on the loose,” says Tim.

She has heard that. Quite a few rich people had suddenly been found dead – poisoned, to be specific. But, as she looks out over the Gala below them, she is sorry to say that the assassin is not going fast enough.

Marinette hums absently. “There’s always another assassin.”

“It’s a good line of work. Business is booming. If only I didn’t have those pesky morals,” sighs Tim.

Marinette can only nod along. One day she, too, will have a terrible accident that leads to her becoming a supervillain, she is sure her time will come eventually.

But, for now, she is much more interested in chatting with her best friend.

“I heard Cobblepot is secretly a Rogue,” Marinette says, leaning over the railing so she could properly squint at the man. She opts to ignore the rest of that particular rumor, because not even their friend Bernard would believe that the umbrellas the man carried were all secretly insane gadgets.

Tim snickers as if he can hear her thought process. “Yeah? Are you gonna tell me you believe in The Batman, too?”

She grins. “And what if I do? What would you do?”

“Well, stop you from hanging out with Bernard, for one.”

Marinette gasps. “You would never! My mental health would shatter if I was not allowed to talk to my emotional support delusional friend.”

“I need you to repeat the last four words of that sentence for me.”

“... emotional support delusional friend?”

“Yeah, thanks for proving my point.”

“You’re no fuuuuuun.”

“I’m practical. I go out at night all the time. If he existed, I think I would have seen him by now.”

Okay, does Marinette actually believe in Batman? No, absolutely not. But damn if she wasn’t going to defend his honor. “Well, yeah, if he’s a hybrid half-man, half-bat being, it makes sense that he would be trying to hide himself as much as possible!”

“And that’s how I know you’re not a true bat-fan. Any true believer knows he is three-fourths bat and one-fourth man.”

Alas, she has been caught.

She leans back against the banister, pouting. “How was I supposed to know you were actually paying attention to Bernard’s rants? I always thought you were lost in your own head. You never speak!”

He lifts his hands in a sheepish little shrug. “I like listening to you guys talk.”

“Ha. Simp.”

He rolls his eyes. “Yeah, okay. Real mature.”

“I am, thank you for noticing. This is why I should be allowed to drink underage —.”

She never finishes her sentence, because her eyes stray to the champagne tower, and that particular train of thought is derailed. For a woman stands at the base of the pyramid. Which is already strange, but her outfit is even stranger. A dress that appears to be made out of leaves, rustling behind her as she walked. Red hair is threaded with thick green ribbons that remind her of vines.

Dully, Marinette thinks she might actually want to know where the woman had gotten her dress.

A hand reaches out and plucks a champagne glass from the pyramid.

It topples faster than you might expect, the glasses clinking against each other briefly before they’re sent to the floor, shattering in a messy display. Glass shards and liquid gold spilling across the tile.

If people weren’t looking at the mysterious woman before, they certainly are now.

She smiles.

“Hello, Gotham,” she says, her voice echoing. Is she hooked up to a mic? Or is she just that good at projecting? “I’m the newest assassin, Poison Ivy.”

Understandably, most people back up a few steps. Even Tim and Marinette, who are safely on a balcony she could not reasonably reach anytime soon, flinch backward.

She smiles wider.

“You’re kinda a bad assassin, though,” Brucie Wayne speaks up, and everyone in the vicinity immediately cringes. “I mean, why tell us now? Why not – like – after you kill us?”

“Easy! Because you’re all already dead!”

Brucie looks down at himself, as if to confirm that he has legs.

The people who have two functioning brain cells to rub together, though, immediately blanche at the news. They’re already doomed? How? Her name more than implies that her killing method of choice is poison, so… where is it? It can’t be the food, people hardly eat at parties like this (despite how good the food is), and it’s not as if she could poison every single drink without anyone noticing.

“There is poison in the very air you breathe.”

Wait, what?

Her hands come up to cover her mouth and nose, as if it is still something she can fix. She has been smelling that sickening sweetness for well over ten minutes now, she can’t uninhale it.

“It’s slow-acting… not that slow-acting, you all have around a week, max, but…” she shrugs, her eyes gleaming. “I figured I should give you all the time to say goodbye to your loved ones.”

That was… surprisingly generous.

For some reason, Marinette can’t bring herself to trust it.

Indeed, Poison Ivy continues on: “Well, your loved ones. I’m sure all of you know that you are unlovable, that they only love your money… I’m sure they’ll all be very pleased to learn of your sudden passing.”

Unsurprisingly, this is not what people want to hear immediately after being told that they are going to die in a week or less.

“In fact, I’m willing to bet on all of you rich people being unloved – so much so that my little plants are based around it! If any of you love someone, and find it to not be reciprocated, the plant will take root, and you will die.”

It is deathly silent.

A… plant?

“Wait! How?” Marinette is the first one to speak up. She isn’t scared, not really, just confused beyond measure.

And Poison Ivy seems to be experiencing the same strange emotion, because she balks a little bit upon seeing Tim and Marinette. She hesitates, briefly, her confident posture wavering, before she brings herself back to the present, outright laughing at her.

“You are all going to die, and you want to know how?”

Marinette just nods. Call it denial and bargaining mixing together into one very unfortunate cocktail (she really should have drank earlier), but she has to know.

The woman considers her for a moment, before sighing. “The plants should have already taken root in all of your brains. They feed off of certain nutrients. As time continues on, they will run out of room and begin pushing their way down, through your heart, into your lungs…” She waves a hand. “I’m sure that I don’t need to continue, we all get the idea.”

Brucie looks like he absolutely does not.

But Poison Ivy does not seem to care enough to explain anything to him.

“Get your affairs in order, everyone!”

No one even tries to stop her when she leaves.

Someone laughs, but it is nervous. A woman tucks her hair behind her ear. “Well… it’s a good thing that I’m married, now, isn’t it?” she asks her husband.

Said husband looks like he would much rather be anywhere but there. “So – so true, honey.”

Marinette remembers, dully, that both of them are cheating on each other. She wonders if they know. She wonders if either of them will be around next week.

She will live, though.

“Thank the gods I decided I wasn’t going to date anyone until college,” Marinette jokes lightly.

Tim wheezes.

She didn’t think that the joke was that funny.

“Yep, isn’t that… convenient?” he says, sounding pained.

She looks over at him, frowning, and finds him leaning against the banister. His hands grip the marble, his knuckles turning white. She is pretty sure that this is the palest she has ever seen him.

Dread begins to trickle down her back.

“Tim?”

He winces.

“You like someone that doesn’t like you back, don’t you?”

He nods ever so slightly, his gaze determinedly pointed at their feet.

“It’s not Bernard, is it?” she tries.

He shakes his head.

And Marinette can’t help it – she bursts out laughing. Until she is gasping for breath between peals of laughter. She laughs so hard she feels tears begin to well in her eyes.

Tim jolts to look at her. “What the hell is funny about any of this?”

“I was just thinking…” she quickly swipes her fingers beneath her eye in fruitless hopes that her mascara won’t run, still giggling. “I was wondering if this was going to be the start of my supervillain arc or something.”

Tim gives her an incredulous look.

This, of course, only makes her laugh harder.

One week to live, max.

It is… an interesting stipulation. She assumes that ‘Poison Ivy’ wants her victims to suffer, but why only for a week?

It could be that the ‘disease’ (Marinette refuses to believe that plants can be in any way sentient) is fast-acting, but it also might be a safeguard of sorts. Maybe there is a way to counteract the disease, some sort of cure.

Maybe that was hopeful thinking.

Maybe that would be worse for her in the long run. It is probably easier to give up – like Tim seems to have, it has not escaped her notice that it is lunchtime and he still hasn’t attended any of their shared classes – and accept that there is nothing you can do instead of trying fruitlessly to find a solution.

After all, she is just a random high schooler. Even if there is a cure of some sort, there is nothing that she can do. She is only passing her biology class by the skin of her teeth! She can’t deal with a bioweapon!

She presses her face into her hands. The cafeteria is silent. Basically no one is attending classes today. They’re all stressed about the bioweapon thing and don’t want to spend their last moments in a classroom.

She gets that.

And yet.

She doesn’t want to be alone right now.

She wants her best friend.

But, while he is her best friend, she isn’t his. And the thought makes her want to be sick. For once, the fact that her skin tinges green in the school cafeteria isn’t actually due to the food. She hasn’t eaten any, and she can't even smell it thanks to the horrible sugary smell that has been trapped in her nose since the Gala.

She pushes her plate out of the way and sinks to rest her head against the table, as if it might soothe her headache.

It doesn’t.

Most likely because the headache is more metaphorical than literal.

It’s a bit literal, too, though. She’s probably gritting her teeth.

How could she not?

She doesn’t want to talk to Tim. She doesn’t want to know how many of their interactions over the years they hadn’t been on the same page for. Doesn’t want to have to think about all of the joking flirting they had done, and how it had only been a joke for her.

She understands that he has feelings, and that he can’t help them, but that doesn’t make her feel any less violated.

Because, ultimately, if she had known she wouldn’t have behaved in all of the same ways, and it feels like that is part of the reason why he hadn’t told her.

He probably didn’t want things to change in their relationship, but why doesn’t she get a say in that?

Things had changed. She just hadn’t been told about it.

So, why does she still want to go to him? She feels betrayed. By him. He is the very reason she is upset, and yet she still wants to seek comfort in him.

She hates emotions. Can she have a refund? Yeah, she’s lost the receipt and all, but…

She can’t bring herself to care enough to finish the joke, even in her own mind.

It was stupid, anyway.

The silence in the cafeteria is almost oppressive.

A hand taps her on the shoulder and she hesitates, considering playing dead to make them go away. Then she realizes that she might actually convince people that she was dead, considering the current circumstances, so she lifts her head.

Bernard takes a seat beside her, smiling. The prick had been out of town during the Gala. Lucky him. If he had gone, he would currently be dying due to his unrequited crush on Tim’s stepmom.

“You should go visit him,” he says, as if it’s really that simple.

She gives him a flat look. He had always been an airhead. You’d think that watching your friend die in front of you in a mob-related school shooting would wisen you up some, but Bernard remains entirely without a brain.

She supposes she should have expected this. After all, Brucie Wayne exists. Clearly, it is possible.

“It’s not that easy,” she says, sinking back against the table again, wondering if she can meld with it and avoid the conversation.

“I know. But you’re going to regret it if you don’t.”

Marinette pauses and lifts her head to meet his eyes.

She hates it when the dumbest person in the room makes a good point.

Because doesn’t that make her the new dumbest person by default?

Still, she is also the most stubborn, so she glares at him. “I’m sorry, if I was dying because I secretly had a crush on you this whole time, would you want to come visit me?”

Bernard, to his credit, actually considers this. And then, in true Bernard fashion, just shrugs.

She groans. “I’ll be fine.”

He snorts. “You’re not even fine now. Mari, no offense, but have you seen yourself?”

“Sorry for not looking great after finding out my best friend of several years is going to die because I can’t reciprocate his feelings,” she says flatly.

Bernard sobers, if only slightly.

He sighs, matching her posture. “You’re going to regret it if you don’t,” he repeats.

Marinette glares at the tray in front of her like it has personally offended her. To be fair, it has – who decided that melted cheese on bread is a good entree?

“I’m going to go grab something else for lunch,” she says, pushing the tray over to him. “No one is doing classes today, anyway.”

Bernard doesn’t say a word about her dumb excuse. Maybe he is too concentrated on the terrible ‘food’ that has been forced upon him.

She can’t bring herself to care. As long as no one questions her, she will be fine.

Marinette stares up at the wooden lattice that she can use to reach Tim’s window. It is supposed to house flowers, she is pretty sure, but they have long since shriveled up and died. It wasn’t due to neglect, the Drakes had always made sure that the outside of their house, at least, was always well tended to. No, this, she was pretty sure that she had just trampled over the plants so many times while visiting her friend that they just stopped bothering to grow.

She supposes that it could be ironic, that the flowers are dead because of her, and flowers are killing her friend because of her, but she can’t seem to find the energy to wax poetic right now.

For a moment, she doesn’t move, her hand resting against the wooden lattice.

Should she hang out with him? If he is going to die, she wants to spend time with him before he goes… but would that make him die faster? Would constant, tiny rejections make the flowers – the disease – take over faster?

How does this stupid fake flower disease even work? What are the stipulations?

She hates being helpless.

She clambers up the lattice and makes sure she is fully seated on the windowsill before she raps her knuckles against the glass. She peers into the dark room, wondering if anyone is even there, trying to make out shapes in the dark.

A lump on the bed slowly shifts, an arm reaching out to flick on a lamp. Tim sits up slowly. He blinks bleary eyes open.

And then he bolts upright.

Tim stares at her, as if he is half convinced that she’s a hallucination.

For a moment, she wishes for that to be the case but, when his otherwise pale cheeks flush with the slightest bit of color upon seeing her, her stomach lurches in a way that assures her that all of this is very much real.

He scrambles to his feet so fast he almost slips on his blanket, and she almost huffs a laugh at the sight. He manages a sheepish smile.

The window latch unlocks and she is allowed to make her way inside.

Tim… doesn’t look great. His pajamas swamp him and his hair is almost painfully messy, but all she can really focus on is how gaunt his face looks.

He looks frail.

A week… max.

Marinette can’t bring herself to speak, not even to say hi.

“I – I didn’t know whether you would come,” he admits.

Marinette manages a ghost of a smile. “I considered not.”

He gives an aborted little laugh. “... well, you’ve always been brutally honest, I guess.”

… was she?

Marinette would say quite the opposite, that she usually beat around the bush for most things, so long as they weren’t vitally important.

But here he was, defending her rudeness with ease, in fact he almost seemed fond. So much so that she almost began to wonder whether he was right and she was the one that was wrong.

Or whether he didn’t even know her. Whether the ‘Marinette’ that he had fallen in love with wasn’t even actually her, but instead some idolized version of her.

She was no angel. She had flaws. She was just a regular person.

She wonders if Tim would agree if she said those words aloud. But, ultimately, she isn’t the type to say that, to bring those things out into the open, so instead she gives a laugh – it is late, and it does nothing to clear the awkward air, but it is already out there, so it’s not as if it can be taken back.

Tim’s smile wavers, if only slightly. “... how about a movie?”

She almost jumps at the opportunity to have something break the silence.

But she soon realizes her mistake because, once the movie is on, there is really no reason to talk anymore. Tim hadn’t put on a purposefully bad movie they could laugh at together. He had opted for Howl’s Moving Castle. The subbed version, they aren’t plebs… but this also meant that they have to concentrate on the movie somewhat in order to keep track of what is going on.

Not that they don’t already know it all by heart. They’ve rewatched it dozens of times over the years.

Marinette had always thought the romance between Howl and Sophie was a little bit forced, but she liked the movie regardless. And, even if she hadn’t, it wasn’t as if she was going to stop Tim from watching the movie he chose when he was going to die soon.

Still.

They are both quiet, as is standard for watching a movie, and yet… this time, it is different. Now, she is aware of the way Tim’s eyes stray to her more often than not.

The silence isn’t the fond, loving kind that people always talk about. It is uncomfortable. It is an unspoken acknowledgment that things have changed.

Marinette wishes, silently, for things to go back to the way they were.

She wants her best friend back.

But it looks as if she is going to have to settle for the next best thing.

She looks at Tim. He’s lying against the pillows in a way that would seem casual if it were not for the sunkenness of his eyes. His lips are curled into the slightest of smiles as he looks at the screen, but he is quick to turn his attention onto her.

She takes on deep breath, steeling herself.

It doesn’t help.

But she still grabs him by the shirt and drags his lips up to meet hers anyway.

She fights down a wave of revulsion.

He can’t die. He can’t! She can bear to live in discomfort. She is not going to live without him, not if she can help it.

He kisses her back. He is, objectively, a good kisser. His hands cradle her face like she is something precious.

She wants to be sick. Her hands ball tighter in his shirt.

She just needs to think of all of those movies. The ones where the girl realizes that she actually loved the guy all along, and was just too stupid to not realize it before.

She swears she can taste copper. She nearly chokes on it.

She does love Tim. He is sweet, and kind, and intelligent, and her best friend. Don’t people talk about how a good friendship leads to a good relationship?

Right?

He pulls back (finally).

His thumbs swipe beneath her eyes. Had she been crying?

It might not work if she cries.

She doesn’t want to open her eyes. Doesn’t want to see Tim’s face. Doesn’t want to know whether she had accidentally doomed him.

This is all so unfair.

Why is she the one who has to change?

Why can’t he love her in the way she loves him?

She can’t breathe.

She opens her eyes to find his lips stained a deep red. His eyes are wide with horror.

Marinette feels a strange wave of satisfaction. At least it isn’t her, for once.

When she keels forward, coughing into their laps, bloodied flower petals spill from her lips.

#maribat #maribat march #timari #timinette #timmari #as an aroace person hanahaki aus are the fucking worst #so i decided to do a deconstruction

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ja50nt0ddwa5h3r3 · 12 days

Text

Mayday Poems

Submission Form: Title: Lady Luck Points: 30 Type of Poem: Free Verse Ship: Timari

@official-timari-server

Luck flew him by just like everything else Pain, anger, hurt? He was all too familiar She flew him by Just like the luck she represents Rejection, shattered frames of what he was? She, Lady Luck, made sure he was all too familiar

#Mayday Poems #Timari #maribat #timari server #Is this me gearing up for a connected Hanahaki poem for Hanahaki hours? No. Totally not.

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serenescribbles · 10 months

Text

confess i loved you from the start

For the Tag Team Tournament 2023

Day 1 Prompt: Is that for me?

Hanahaki AU | This is my attempt at drawing a comic... | Lineart under the cut | Comic title from the song "From the Start" by Laufey

Masterlist

一

The flowers pictured here are:

Dark red roses (unrequited love)

Red lilies (romantic love, sadness)

Pink lilies of the valley (love, understanding, admiration)

#maribat #ttt2023 #jasonette #mlb x dc #day 1 #dc x mlb #Book Design #hanahaki #my art

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ggomos-maribat · 2 years

Text

Camellia japonica

TW: Blood and coughing

“Marinette?”

Tim’s lips parted when he recognized the girl working behind the counter as his assistant. Surprise painted her face in a similar fashion, fingers hovering above the register.

“Mr. Drake—er, Tim! Hey.” She tucked her hair behind her ear.

“What are you doing here?”

“I work part-time on weekends,” Marinette explained, plastering on a smile. “May I take your order?”

Tim leaned forward and lowered his voice. “I heard you were serving a cure for, um, flowers?”

He had found that coffee shop from late night research: a cafe that served drinks for those who had Hanahaki disease. It was hidden away in one of the streets of Gotham, but it was fairly popular too.

Marinette’s eyes widened. “You have—?!”

“Shh, yes I do. The petals started coming out a few days ago.” He’d be dead if the media somehow got hold of the news.

“Right, okay.” Marinette nodded frantically. “The drinks don’t actually cure Hanahaki, but they alleviate the effects for a short period of time. Should I get you the caffeinated one?”

He managed a weak smile. “Yes, please.”

The hot, frothy drink was served to him in no time. Tim coughed and covered his mouth, catching a few petals of delicate gardenia. Small itchy sprouts scratched his lungs at every breath. As he took a sip, he felt the relief spreading in his chest, accompanied by a sweet taste lingering in his mouth. Whatever was in the drink, it worked wonders.

He snuck glances at Marinette every now and then as he drank and worked. It was definitely cruel luck that brought him there.

---

Marinette was worried about Tim. So worried that she fixed up an anti-flower drink for him when she came into work that morning. She made it similar to his favorite coffee, making sure to put it in his favorite mug.

“Is your pay here not enough?” Tim asked when she brought over the drink.

“Sorry, that sounded rude,” he apologized before she could answer. “I was just wondering why you were working there.”

“My salary is more than enough.” She laughed a little. “I introduced the Hanahaki drinks to that cafe, so I drop by every week to help make them.”

He nodded, picking up his mug. “And this one?”

“The same as the one you ordered before.” Her face lit up. “I thought you might want to have some before your meeting later.”

“Thank you.” At the moment he brought the drink to his lips, he started coughing. White petals spilled out of his mouth and fluttered to his desk, followed by a round of yellow tulips after. Marinette rushed to get a cloth and a small broom to clean up the mess.

“If I may ask, sir, who is your . . .?” She questioned nervously while gathering the soft petals in her hands.

Tim wiped the corner of his mouth, immediately downing his hot drink to stop coughing. “That’s a secret. As long as I drink this all the time, I’ll be fine, right?”

She chewed on her lip. “I’m afraid it doesn’t work like that. If you keep drinking, your body will get used to it and it can lose its effects. The only way to get rid of Hanahaki is—well—the normal way.” Either you die or your unrequited love is returned. “I suggest only drinking this only when you absolutely need it.”

Tim paled for a brief second. “I . . . I see. If you don’t mind, can you keep quiet about this?”

“Of course I will!” She breathed out. “Just let me know if you need help, okay?”

“Okay.”

She wished she could help. Tim was admirable, an overall amazing person to be with. Ever since she started working for him, he’d been nothing but kind and considerate.

Whoever it is he likes, I hope they see him for who he is.

---

There was petal inside the folder.

A pink petal.

Tim didn’t cough out pinks. He had pure gardenia petals, yellow tulips, and blue salvias. Not anything pink.

And there was only one person who touched the folder aside from him.

“Marinette,” he called out to the girl, who was about to exit his office. “What’s this?”

She froze all over when he held up the petal, pinching it between two fingers. His voice softened. “Do you have one too?”

Her hand fell from the doorknob. Coughs suddenly rattled from her reddened face and she hunched over, slapping her palm over her mouth to catch pink and red petals. Tim ran over to her to rub her back and offer a glass of water.

“I didn’t want to worry you,” she said hoarsely.

“You should’ve told me.” No wonder she knows the recipes for the Hanahaki drinks. His chest squeezed at the thought of her suffering over a one-sided love. Who does she like? Why don't they like her back?

“I’ll be okay, I promise.” Marinette bent down to gather the stray petals that fell on the floor.

Tim stared at her. If . . . say, she were to fall in love with someone else, would it stop? He mentally shook his head. No, love doesn’t work that way.

“If there’s anything I can do for you, I’ll be right here,” he told her, gaze downcast.

“Thanks, Tim, but mine’s a lost cause.” She clutched the folders tightly against her chest.

“Why do you think so?”

“There’s no reason for him to love me back. And even if he did, it wouldn’t end up nicely for both of us.” Those were her last words before she slipped out of the room.

Tim wanted to tug at his hair. What did she mean there’s no reason? She’s beautiful! Talented! Good-hearted! And why couldn’t they be together?

Head muddled with thoughts, he retreated back to his computer. He had to figure out that recipe.

---

“You’re distracted tonight.” Red Robin bumped his shoulder on Ladybird’s after they both settled on top of a rooftop.

She yawned, side-eyeing him. He picked up on that? “Too much work in my civilian life.”

“I bet I’ve got more work than you do.” He stretched his arms.

More work, huh. She wondered what he did in his civilian life. If they had similar occupations. If he had to wake up early the next day as well, or whether he worked on the field or in a cramped office. She swung her legs aimlessly.

“Are you sure you’re okay?” He asked.

No, I’m not. I don’t know how long I have left to live. I’m getting more blood red petals than pink ones. It’s getting harder to breathe whenever I see you. I’m seeing chrysanthemums and columbines in my nightmares.

“Yeah, I’m okay.”

“I’m not buying it.” Red Robin scooted closer to her. “What’s bothering you?”

A pang shot through her chest, making her breath catch. She turned her head away to hide the tears pricking the corners of her eyes. “I don’t feel like talking about it.” She prayed her voice didn’t waver.

This isn’t good. If I stay here longer, he’s going to find out. Ladybird threw her yoyo and zipped away out of his sight. She made a note to herself to apologize to him during their next patrol together.

She reached a safe spot, detransformed, and collapsed to her knees, hacking out all the flowers blooming in her lungs. Tikki nuzzled her side as piles of petals formed on the ground.

Drip.

A crimson liquid lined the petals that came out of her lips.

---

“What’s this?” Marinette raised her eyebrows at the paper cup Tim placed on her desk.

“I tried making a Hanahaki drink,” he responded sheepishly. “For you.”

She popped the lid open and took a sip. “Mmm, not bad.” She licked her lips. “I’m the assistant, you know. I should be the one making you coffee, Mr. Drake.”

His cheeks turned pink. “It’s the least I can do for you.” He frowned. “Unless . . . The drink doesn’t have an effect on you anymore?”

“It does. Just a little. The petals come back after ten minutes or so.”

“Oh.” He wasn’t helping her much after all.

“It’s okay. I appreciate it.” Marinette beamed.

Tim took a seat in front of her. Hanahaki was a difficult illness (he, of all people, would know) but he refused to accept that there weren’t other ways to make it disappear. “By the way.” He played with his suit jacket. "Have you tried—If . . . if you stopped loving that person, would it make it stop?"

She touched her fingertips to the cup. "I've tried. I tried my best. But it's just not something I can stop."

"But you know what?" His heart did a flip seeing her put on a sad but beautiful smile. "As long as I can stay close to him, I don't mind dying. I've done what I can."

"Have you told him how you feel?" He gulped. "Maybe he'll learn to love you if you're honest with him."

Just like how I learned to love you.

"I don't want to guilt him into it if he finds out. That's not love. It won't work."

"But Marinette . . ." What can he do? "I don't want you to die. You can't die."

"Don't worry. I'll find you a new assistant before I go." She chuckled. An attempt to to lift the mood. But his stoic expression didn't falter.

"That's not the point—"

"I'm fine, Tim, really." Her firm tone indicated finality. "I've made up my mind."

---

"Red Robin, have you heard from Ladybird?" Oracle's voice crackled through the comms.

Red Robin stopped on his tracks. He and Ladybird had split up to take care of two separate locations. She should be nearby. Did she run into trouble? But this is Ladybird we're talking about. She's more than capable in defending herself.

But his gut was telling him that something was wrong.

"I'll go check on her," he said, changing his route.

He kept his comms open when he reached the warehouse. It was quiet inside, with no sign of Ladybird anywhere.

"LB, if you can hear me, I'm coming to you," he whispered into his earpiece.

"No, don't come here!" Her voice echoed against the walls. He immediately examined the surroundings for any traps, but there wasn't anything suspicious.

"Just—just go and leave!" Ladybird yelled out again. "I'm fine!"

He took another step forward and heard a cough from her.

"Lady—"

She coughed a few more times, wheezing and gasping for air. "Go! I'm about to detransform! Don't you dare come here!"

He didn't listen. Those coughs sounded familiar, and he couldn't leave her alone in a vulnerable state. He ran, rounding a corner to see Ladybird slumped on the floor, clutching her chest tightly. A layer of crimson and pink petals surrounded her figure. Her earrings beeped loudly.

He stiffened when he saw the blood.

"I told you not to come," she whimpered.

He rushed to her side. Where had he seen those flowers before? Her hair was matted against her sweaty skin, and she was deathly pale. He let her lean against him. A million thoughts flitted in and out his head.

Red Robin opened his mouth to speak but she fell into unconsciousness. Her Miraculous beeped its last and her transformation wore off. He didn't get to close his eyes. He couldn't.

"Marinette," he whispered.

He couldn't focus. His heartbeat thumped against his ribcage as he picked her up in his arms. I have to get her home. Which home? My apartment? Which safe house is nearer? He could faintly hear a tiny creature speaking to him but he couldn't register anything else. Have to get her home. Have to get her to rest.

---

Marinette slowly cracked one eye open. She wasn't in her apartment; she could feel a cushion that wasn't her bed. She tried to move her body, but it wouldn't budge.

"Marinette," a voice said. "Thank god, you're awake."

She groaned. Marinette. Red Robin said 'Marinette'. Her eyes flew open as she gasped and sat up. I detransformed in front of him!

"It's okay, you're okay now." Red Robin soothed. "I brought us to my apartment. Here, drink this."

Her head was still spinning. Wordlessly, she took the drink from him, smelling the familiar flavor of coffee and anti-Hanahaki ingredients. "How do you . . ." she croaked out. "How do you know my name?"

He visibly deflated, seemingly hesitant to give her an answer.

Wait.

She touched her lips.

"It's gone." Marinette rubbed her chest.

"What's gone?"

She tried to breathe. In. Out. In. Out. Nothing obstructed her lungs. "The flowers," she said softly. "They're gone."

"What do you mean? What happened?"

"I don't know. I'm not coughing anymore." Have I stopped loving him? Or . . . She stared at him. Does he . . .? "Did you fall in love with me?"

"It was me?!"

"Of course it's—" She shook her head. "Wait, I don't understand. You've never shown interest in me before. Why now? What changed?"

A shaky, weary laugh escaped him. He tugged on his cowl and then his mask underneath, revealing Tim Drake. As shock passed over her, he tackled her into a hug, burying his face in her hair.

"I was worried," he murmured. "I was so worried."

"What . . .?"

"Mine's gone too," he said. "Now that you know."

Their identities. We fell in love with each other's alter egos and that's what set off the petals?!

She rested her hand on his cheek, rubbing his skin with her thumb and looking into his eyes. For so long. I thought I'd be gone because I carelessly fell in love with him.

"I'm so sorry, I should've told you sooner." He kissed her palm. "I love you so much, Marinette."

In turn, she pressed her lips on the edge of his jaw, closing her eyes. "I love you too."

a gift for @the-coffee-fandom

Cross posted on AO3

Permanent Taglist: @tinybrie

#maribat #maribat fanfic #timari #timinette #maribat marinette dupain cheng #maribat tim drake #hanahaki au #for coffeeeee #slight angst #happy ending dw

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newdog14 · 2 years

Note

Flowers Are Supposed To Be Romantic

When she met up with Chat Noir for patrol that night he seemed a little off, but she couldn’t pin down why until halfway through the night, when he started coughing up red petals. Marinette had frozen, unsure of what to say. She’d always thought that Chat hadn’t been serious about his crush on her because he never coughed up flowers for her, but if he’d just been hiding it this whole time…

#maribat #hanahaki disease #fic #current wips #ask game

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the-coffee-fandom · 1 year

Text

❀。• *₊°。 ❀° 。。° ❀ 。° ₊ * •。❀

𝙷𝚊𝚗𝚊𝚑𝚊𝚔𝚒 𝙷𝚘𝚞𝚛𝚜

❀。• *₊°。 ❀° 。。° ❀ 。° ₊ * •。❀

Calendar drawn and made by @the-coffee-fandom inspired and encouraged by the wonderful @boldlyanxious

Welcome to the first Hanahaki calendar event! Hosted in the month known for its showers bringing flowers; May!

A week dedicated to a popular troupe, Hanahaki Disease, which came along in 2008, August 9th. It is a fictional disease in which a character coughs flowers which grow inside them from unrequited love.

How you use the prompts is up to your own creative interpretation! You can use the quotes, flowers, word, or all of them! Do one day, the entire week, do a poem, a masterful piece of art, drabbles and incorrect quotes, or even just a quick doodle. Have fun with it!

Need inspiration? Don’t feel like researching flowers? Flower symbolism has been premade! Just click here to view!

While created with the Maribat fandom in mind, any fandom may use it. But I do hope to see some of my Maribat fans!

Tags for Tumblr:

#Hanahaki Hours 2023 #Hanahaki Hours

Tags for Ao3:

Hanahaki Hours 2023 Hanahaki Hours

Ao3 Collection:

https://archiveofourown.org/collections/HH2023

Tag @the-coffee-fandom and reblog for others to see too! I will reblog any I’m tagged in as well.

Please feel free to reach out to @the-coffee-fandom however you’d like if you have any questions! Especially if you need more information on flowers.

Written out prompts below the cut!

May 7:

Quote: “Everything is temporary, this was merely one of those things.”

Flower: Hyacinth

Word: Wither

May 8:

Quote: “I never thought I’d be the one to hurt you.”

Flower: Butterfly Weed

Word: Acceptance

May 9:

Quote: “Why do you hate me?”

Flower: Lily

Word: Dose

May 10:

Quote: “You know I’m always right here for you, right?”

Flower: Cyclamen

Word: Excuse

May 11:

Quote: “They don’t love me, they’re not that stupid.”

Flower: Lily of the Valley

Word: Term

May 12:

Quote: “I don’t care if you don’t want my help, I’ll do it anyway.”

Flower: Rhododendron

Word: Courage

May 13:

Quote: “Lie to me then.”

Flower: Rose

Word: Cover

Substitutes:

Quote 1: “I’m not going to cry, it isn’t worth crying over.”

Quote 2: “How much of that did you hear?”

Flower 1: Petunia

Flower 2: Begonia

Word 1: Smoke

Word 2: Clear

#Hanahaki Hours #Hanahaki Hours 2023 #hanahaki #hanahaki au #maribat hanahaki #hanahaki disease #prompt calendar #the-coffee-fandom #prompt list #flowers #flower symbolism #maribat #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #writing stuff

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bunathebunny · 2 years

Text

have i posted about the jasonette star tear idea i have???

the idea is that Jason is a merman and Marinette this girl who visits the sea every summer. you could say they are childhood friends and every time they meet, Jason gives her a mermaid's tears.

Marinette thought they are just colored glasses but she keeps them nevertheless because they were Jason's gifts to her. meanwhile, those were actually the tears Jason cried because of his crush that he wouldn't tell Marinette

so yeah every year Marinette got new rocks and every year Jason's vision got a bit worse. until one summer, Marinette came to where Jason and her usually meets but however long she waited, he did not come.

#anyway it's late for mermay and i'm positive that this idea has been around for more than a year so i'm releasing it into the wild :P #soo star tear is like hanahaki but instead of coughing out flowers it's crying colored tears and going blind. very much angst potential #also you know about mermaid's tears? they're thought to be the tears of mermaids but in fact they're just colored glasses eroded by waves #(nowadays they can mean resin pallets a.k.a plastic pallets)#going blind because of unrequited love is lame so i'm making it going blind because jason is a stubborn bitch who won't confess his feels #the idea is that repressing feels makes them fester and in the long run not good for oneself #oh yeah the star tear thing is a thing in the mer world and bruce got it too and he was lucky he only went colorblind rather than blind #maribat #jasonette #apologize for the chaotic form change from present to past and vice versa #i'm having a headache

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disaster-biraven · 4 months

Text

Sorry doesn't fix everything - Daminette Hanahaki Drabble

Masterlist

As Damian took in his surroundings, he rushed over to Marinette on the floor. This was a simple drug bust they had done a thousand times, and yet the men were able to take Marinette out. Tim was able to cover for her, taking them all out while Damian came in from the roof. Looking over for injuries, and finding none he looked at her confused.

She was gasping for breath, and coughing every time she exhaled. She grabbed his hand and sat up, still coughing. He quickly realized she was trying to cough something up. Turning cold with dread he desperately hoped it wasn’t what he thought it was. Unfortunately he hoped in vain as a whole yellow flower was finally expelled. His stomach dropped. An entire flower meant the hanahaki was further along than he thought, at least a few months along. He looked back up at her betrayed.

“Ladybug, why didn’t you say anything! You shouldn’t be fighting, let alone in the field!” He wanted to continue, but didn’t want to upset her.

“I’m sorry, I wanted to say something but I kept losing my courage-” Another fit of coughing cut her off.

“Sorry doesn’t fix everything! You let yourself get hurt and didn’t think to tell your team so we could get you the help you need!” Damian ran his fingers through his hair, almost ready to curl up and cry. Marinette was in love with someone else and didn’t even trust him enough to say something. “Who is it? Maybe we can solve-”

“Robin, stop! It’s- It’s you, I didn’t say anything because I thought there wasn’t any chance of you feeling the same way. And it seemed easier to keep it to myself-” She was stopped by Damian putting his hand on her cheek, tilting her face upward. As he kissed her, she was able to take a full breath without pain or coughing for the first time in months.

author's note: if you like this feel free to check out my ao3!

https://archiveofourown.org/users/disaster_biraven/works

#hanahaki #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #daminette #maribat #mlb x dc #hanahaki disease #light angst #fanfic

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boldlyanxious · 3 months

Text

Keep up on your reading for the maribat awards

Nominations are in and voting is on going

Art by Little from her goblin core coloring book

My jasonette hanahaki based on comic by serenescribbles was nominated. Cheech it out of ao3 here

#feels really weird to do self promo #but apparently I was nominated so 🤷‍♀️

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anjuschiffer · 10 months

Note

for hanahaki week (since you mentioned requests) may i request daminette as a pairing? they just give me very strong “i would rather suffer through this than admit my feelings” vibes

Ask and you shall receive...hope you enjoy this fic :D

Also, I had a more "morbid" ending but scrapped it :p

Pair of Fools, Don't You Know Loving Someone Can Kill You?

Tags: @toodaloo-kangaroo @vixen-uchiha @elijahcrevan

-AO3-

“Love? Where did this come from?” Ladybug laughed as she looked out towards the city of Paris, Robin once again noticing the weary look in the older hero’s eyes.

True, their patrols lately have been going long into the night, but Damian had seen that look before, or rather, he’s never seen that look ever leave her eyes since the day he met her.

In the short three months in which they have been together, that was the only look in her eyes that Damian had ever seen in them. Even when she would grin from ear to ear or wake up from a nap an hour before patrol started…that look haunted her eyes.

In the three months Damian was paired with Ladybug to help with her mission to take down Hawkmoth, she always looked tired and distant despite her sunshine persona she held whenever she was around him, talking to his father or the Justice League and even fellow older teens.

But it wasn’t the look you would see on someone after a long day of patrol or after winning a long standing battle against a villain…

It was a look he had seen once before…

In his father…

And even his mother…

A melancholic look of reminiscence…or yearning… “Why the sudden interest in love talk?” She gave him a grin, a grin Grayson would give him whenever he would tease him. And even if they were the same type of grin, hers made his gut flip a bit. “Got a girl you like? Is it that girl who wanted you to join their detective club at school? I know there may be a two year gap between our generations, but I think I can still give you some solid advice if you need any.”

Damian scoffed.

“That’s the same thing Gr-Nightwing told me.” He turned his head to see the city quietly bustle beneath them. “But that’s besides the point. There’s no one. Love is just a distraction and a weakness. I’ll never allow myself to fall in love if it means endangering the mission and making me incapable of doing my job properly.” He said, knowing he was just saying that to keep himself in line.

He doubted she would ever agree with him.

“Got that right.” Or maybe not.

“Are you saying that from experience?” When he turned to look at her, he didn’t expect her to look at him with sorrow in her eyes.

“I guess you’re right…Evil never rests, so our jobs require all of our attention, no distractions allowed.” Damian continued to look at Ladybug, watching how the night slowly breezed by her, her short low ponytail swaying ever so slightly with the wind. “You’d think I would’ve known that from the amount of heartbreaks I’ve been through,” Ladybug gave out a soft chuckle, “but what can I say?” He felt his heart stop when her eyes softened ever so slightly. Her eyes seemed to have recovered a bit of a glow to them as she looked at him. “I’ve always been a hopeless romantic after all.”

Oh…is that…is that the reason behind that look? Because of love? Is that what she wanted so badly?

“You’ve been in love before?” Robin asked, causing Ladybug to whole heartily laugh louder, Robin feeling heat crawl to the tips of his ears.

“Who hasn’t been, Robin? Pretty sure everyone has fallen in love once or twice in their lives…I sure have.” But shortly after she said that, her smile fell, Robin noticing the spark in her eyes fade away. “Haven’t you?”

“No.” Robin confessed too quickly for his liking. “Although, my brother says it’s like a blanket, like an extra layer of warmth that envelopes you…Did it feel like that to you as well?” He dared to ask, hoping it would bring back that spark into her eyes. It suited her better than the yearning in her eyes.

He watched as Ladybug opened her mouth agape to speak, only to shut it and take a deep breath. She looked back to the cityscape.

“It depends on the person, really.

My second love felt like a bag of butterflies swarming my insides whenever I saw him. When I tried to speak to him, it felt like I could not breathe, my heart beated so loudly in my ears that I couldn’t even concentrate on my thoughts and fumbled on my words like an idiot.” She smiled, an actual smile. “And yet, he felt just like how your brother described love to be.

Warm.

Gentle.

And when we dated…it was blissful…” Her smile faded. “Or at least the first few times it was.”

“Was?”

“We broke up after a few weeks. We couldn’t stay with each other due to some difference in our ‘principles’…even if he claimed to still have loved me despite my opinions on his views.”

“That’s absurd!” Damian yelled, causing Ladybug to jump and turn to him. “What kind of imbecile does that?”

“What are-”

“If you truly wanted something, someone, wouldn’t you do anything to try and obtain it? To keep it? Fight for it? Or at least come to a compromise to stay together?” Damian raged, realizing that was unbecoming of him. “At least…that’s what I gather from the talks I would have with those in relationships…”

He watched her blink a few times before giving him a small smile.

“If only that were always the case, but…love doesn’t work that way.” Ladybug placed a hand on his shoulder. “In love…sometimes…sometimes, even if the two individuals love each other…it doesn’t always work out.”

“So they just give up on the relationship? On each other?” Ladybug shook her head.

“Even if the two of you do understand where you come from, even if you try to talk it out, if neither party points out the elephant in the room, if there is no sense of trust in the relationship, someone is bound to get hurt…sometimes both.” A gloss covered her eyes. “They may be your rock when things get hectic in your life, your lullaby after a hard day at school…but they should never feel as if they’re the only ones trying to keep an effort of making the relationship work while you try to balance your two lives…especially when they didn’t have a way to protect themselves from your nemesis any more.” Damian’s eyes widened when he connected the dots.

“You dated one of your partners?”

“Yea. Although, he didn’t know my identity until after the break up. Although, to be honest, I think he was onto me when we were dating.”

“Onto you?”

“He pieced it himself, actually.” Ladybug said with a smile. “He figured I was hiding something after analyzing the amount of times I would flake on a date, and be late to otherwise easy-to-walk-to places. When he confronted me about it, I simply told him I couldn’t tell him what it was.

That one question…that one doubt led to us breaking up.”

“But then how did he figure out your identity?”

“Funny enough, during an akuma attack. He never told me how, but he knew. And because he knew, he endangered himself and became a target…almost got captured for knowing my identity… and that’s when I realized…I wasn’t meant to fall in love…

If I want to save Paris…I can’t afford to be in a relationship…not until we’re done dealing with Hawkmoth, that is. And even then, dating while being a hero doesn’t seem possible for me…not even now.” Ladybug admitted, looking back at the city.

The two stood there in silence, Damian feeling more awkward by the second, deciding to speak in hopes of filling the void.

“You mentioned a second and third love…whatever happened to your fir-“

“He, on the other hand, was a complete jerk!” Ladybug immediately spat out, causing Robin to jump. “Just thinking about what he- ugh!” Ladybug huffed. “You know what he did?” She didn’t wait for Robin to respond. “So I invited over to the neighborhood pool, because I kinda had a crush on the guy, you know? And we were in what would be considered in the US as middle school, so there weren’t many places we could spend time in. Anyways…

We’re having fun swimming, splashing about, the regular games you play at the pool, right? That’s when we decided to dive from the highest diving board they had, which for the record was pretty high for middle school me. While it was roughly 5 meters in height, which is kind of around 16 feet - besides the point!

We’re on the top and mind you everything was going well, Kim was being very nice to me, being a gentleman. Just as we’re about to dive, he stops me and kneels.

And of course, I’m panicking because not only is he kneeling, he’s got a small box in his hand and has the shyest face on as he stretched it out towards me.

He starts talking about how much fun he had today, how happy he was spending time with me…he asked me to be his girlfriend. And before I could answer him, he opened up the gift.”

Damian watched an unshed tears pooled into her eyes, a dry laugh escaping her. “You know what was inside that box?

Fucking spiders. A dozen tiny spiders crawled from out of the box and jumped onto my arms and body and because I was frantically trying to get them off of me,” Ladybug laughed again, a tear slipped down her face. “I slipped off the diving board, water filling my lungs the moment I hit the water.

A lifeguard had to help me out because of how frantic I was the minute I submerged, my arms flailing about as I clawed at the surface and gulped water into my lungs.

The funny part of it all? I wasn’t mad about falling off the diving board. I was angered at the fact that Kim did it because Chloe told him to do it because it would be “a funny prank,” even though he knew I've been deathly terrified of spiders since we were toddlers.

He was suppose to be my friend, he knew about the things I hate and yet…yet he took-”

“So he’s the reason you declined the pool invite those months ago,” Robin snarled, recalling her great deference to attending a pool party held by Garfield. “If it weren’t for him-” Robin didn’t expect to get tackled by Ladybug, freezing upon feeling her arms wrapped around him.

Despite the girl being older, she just barely passed his shoulders.

“Thank you.” He heard her softly whisper. “Out of all the people who I’ve told this to, you’re the only one who has gotten angry for me…” He attempted to hug her back, but instead awkwardly just placed a hand on her back. “Everyone else told me I should’ve seen it coming since it was Kim…so… thank you.”

All Robin could do was hum in response, fearing his voice would crack if he were to tell her that he would make sure he would not allow that to happen to her as long as he was by her side.

“-reason why she didn’t go to go was all because of that damned-”

“So you like her?” Dick asked with a Ceshaire grin, Damian whipping his head to look at his brother as if he’d grown a second head.

A week had passed since his conversation with Ladybug, Damian catching Dick up on the important news of the week while they hung out in Damian’s room.

“Didn’t think you’d be into older girls. Don’t blame you. They certainly-”

“I tolerate her!” Damian corrected, feeling the tips of his ears burn. “And she’s only two years older than me!”

“You said it, not me.”

“And apparently you can’t listen because if you had been paying attention, you would have known she doesn’t have time to fraternize. Not with Hawkmoth being her main concern.” Damian went silent, Dick only then realizing he might have pushed it a bit too much.

“Actually, I was listening. For example, you mentioned an art gallery and how you were applied to have some of your arts displayed. Any luck on that?”

Hours passed until Dick had to leave to go back to Bludhaven to cover for a colleague at the precinct, leaving Damian all on his own and with his thoughts.

So you like her?

The question kept replaying in his head, Damian struggling to find an answer.

While it was true that he did indeed tolerate her, it was different from his other forms of toleration.

He didn’t mind her random spurts of humming when they would take a break during patrol, the way she would take over a mission when she would notice that something is off with him.

He liked the way she would confidently take over briefings when the adults would take too long squabbling over deciding which members would take on the mission, the way she would take the time to train anyone who wanted to improve their skills…

He…he…he liked

Suddenly, he couldn’t breathe.

Quickly sprinting off of his bed, he ran to the bathroom.

Damian grabbed the sides of the sink with dear life as his head jerked forward, feeling his lungs push out all of the air within them. The air hacked itself out of him, Damian feeling the dryness in the back of his throat as something tried to come out.

The lump in his throat remained there for what seemed to be minutes, Damian panicking with each second that passed.

He could see his vision blur as he felt tears trickle out of his eyes as he stood over the sink, waiting for something, anything to come out of his mouth because this…this wasn’t normal.

He hated every second that passed by that he spent feeling like this.

Finally, after what seemed like an hour, something came out.

A single pink petal landed at the base of the sink, a single speck of blood adorned it.

Finally feeling the constraintment in chest lighten up, Damian looked at himself in the mirror, saliva running down his mouth. His eyes were puffy and red tears pooled at the corners of his eyes.

Gently picking the bloodied petal to distract himself from his appearance, Damian inspected it.

How did this come out of him? When did he ever consume a flower? Was this even possible?

And why now?

The last thing he could think of was realizing what Richard had said clicked something in his mind regarding Lady-

Ladybug.

Damian stared at the petal.

No.

No way.

Throwing the petal into the trash, Damian thought it to be best to ignore this.

To forget the dots he had just then connected about himself.

To try and forget that it ever happened.

Even when the episode happened again two weeks later when an old partner appeared under a new disguise to help them take down Hawkmoth.

When more petals poured out of his mouth a week later when she confessed she had a slight crush on a League member but wouldn’t tell him who.

When breathlessness started to happen more quickly, when her concern over him caused the pain to grow more in his chest.

When the internet couldn’t help him out while trying to ignore the flirting she was doing in front of him with his older brother once he joined their patrol.

He couldn’t ignore it any longer when the episodes started to become more frequent as they got closer to identifying Hawkmoth.

He finally had to address it when after taking down Hawkmoth, the pain in his chest became unbearable to the point that he collapsed as soon as they got back to their base.

He stared at the white ceiling above him, wondering why this had to happen to him of all people.

Why did he fall in love with her?

And why…

Why couldn’t she have fallen in love with him…

Why his brother?

Perhaps…he could ask her when he wakes up…or maybe after the surgery…but for now, he wanted to sleep and forget about the ache in his chest.

Jon sighed, still trying to take in the sight of his best friend of five years.

Never did he ever think he would see Damian in a hospital bed. Hell, he never thought Damian would ever be in a hospital.

Needles were taped to his arms, leading towards the IV bags hanging near his bed. The sound of the ventilator filled the room, unnerving Jon as he stared at the tubes covering Damian’s face while he drifted to sleep once again. “Why didn’t you say anything? Of when it first started?” Jon ran his hands through his hair, trying his best to keep his tears in.

Why did he have to go through this alone? Didn’t he trust him? Weren’t they friends? “Are you going to let this kill you? What about Marinette? Don’t you plan on telling her how you feel, you idiot?”

The sound of metal clanging filled the room, Jon quickly picking up his head to see Marinette walk into the room, her wide eyes staring at him.

“Marinette…what are you-“

“Damian…Damian-“

“How much did you hear?” Jon asked.

“I- just the last-“ Tears ran down her face, Marinette attempting to wipe them off as more continued to run.

When she heard Robin had been rushed to the hospital after the fight with Hawkmoth, she could only think that he must’ve gotten badly wounded from the fight that couldn’t be treated back in the base.

Her plans to ask if he was free the next week were completely cast aside, Marinette knowing she would have to apologize to Nightwing for wasting his time and helping her arrange the damned hangout after finally confessing to him that she had feelings for the younger Bat…

Then again, she could always ask another day.

After all, Robin’s well being came first.

When she rushed to the Tower, she asked if she could see him, where he was, but she was denied. But that didn't stop her from trying every day for a week, only to be told no each and every time.

It wasn’t until another few days that she was finally asked to leave, benched from every mission until she calmed down.

It wasn’t until another week later when Nightwing stopped by her balcony to tell her the news.

That Robin was suffering from some unknown disease that he had been dealing with for the past half year.

A disease that no one could place a name onto, that no one knew of. Or at least no one but her and Master Fu. When Nightwing heard this, he started to cry, using her shoulder to ground himself.

Perhaps she had the solution to help Robin, his little brother… so with his permission, Marinette was able to find out where Robin was this entire time…where Damian was this entire time…

Seeing him on the brink of death was not something she thought she would ever see…ever…

Nor how she would come to find out was his identity under the mask…

“He didn’t want you to know.” Jon softly stated as he watched Marinette crouched to pick up the metal flask she dropped earlier. “Never did. He’s scheduled for a surgery later this week to-“

“They know what he has?” Marinette asked with hope brimming her words.

“They don’t know what exactly it is he has, but from what Dick told me, it seems like something in his lungs-”

“Flower petals.” She interjected, tripping Jon. “His lungs are filled with flower petals, aren’t they?”

“How do you know-”

“Because it happened to me.” Marinette said, placing the flask on a nearby table. “Or rather, I have it as well.” Jon jumped off his chair and grabbed her shoulders.

“What do you mean you have it too? When did- how-”

“I’m not sure when I got it, but when the first flower petal came out of me, I ran to my mentor and told him about it. He told me he would look into it. A month passed when he finally found an answer. It doesn’t have a name but it has been documented a rare amount of times.

A disease that causes flower petals to grow inside one's lungs and when left untreated, fills them to the point of suffocation and eventually…death. Til this day, no one is sure of the actual cause of the disease.”

“You said ‘if left untreated.’ So it’s curable? Are you cured?” Marinette shook her head.

“Thankfully, the disease has to do a bit with magic so there was a method developed to help reduce the effects of it, so my mentor has been able to suppress a few of the side effects with tea.” Marinette looked at the flask she brought in. “When Dick told me about what was going on, I begged my mentor to make a batch for Damian, thinking it might help, but to be completely honest…I don’t-”

The cardiogram in the room started to go off, the machine beeping rapidly with each passing second.

Marinette could only stand and listen as Jon ran outside, screaming for help, watching as someone pushed past her and towards Damian while someone else had grabbed her and tried to pull her outside. But the minute they grabbed her, she refused to move from her palace in the room, standing her ground.

She watched as they tried to bring him back to life, but when the sharp ringing that emitted from the cardiogram filled the room…she knew it was too late…

He wasn’t going to come back…

She wasn’t going to be able to tell him that she-

Marinette felt as something quickly rose to her throat, Marinette lurching forward as she hurled out a handful of small narrow and curved purple flower petals, horror filling her up when she saw blood glittering them as her mind was able to remember where she had seen that petal before.

Without a second thought, she screamed.

She had been walking through Wayne Botanical Garden, trying to clear her head after another failed attempt to visit Robin. She knew he was Gotham, but the answer was where. What hospital could he even be in?

Deciding to sit down and just sketch to further clear her mind, her eyes drifted to a small patch of purple flowers, Marinette getting up to further inspect the tiny flowers. As if waiting for her, Marinette noticed the sign next to it.

Hyacinthus orientalis, or the common hyacinth, is a fragrant flowering plant that blooms early to mid-spring. Hyacinths produce showy flowers in shades of blue, purple, white, pink, and red. However, despite their vibrant colors, they are mostly associated with youth, beauty, and short lives cut tragically short. Especially purple hyacinths.

Purple hyacinths can symbolize multiple things, including sorrow and a desire for forgiveness. They are mostly given to let someone know you recognize you messed up or are looking for forgiveness.”

A few days passed by, Bruce standing before Damian’s grave, wondering where it went all wrong…why Damian?

Why was he taken away from him?

Why didn’t he notice something was wrong with his son until it was too late?

Bruce jumped when a hand touched his shoulder, making him turn to see who it was.

“Dick.”

“You have to stop blaming yourself Bruce. No one could’ve known what he was going through. He did an excellent job of hiding it from everyone…even me…”

“But I should’ve noticed. I’m his father.” Bruce argued. “And,” he felt his heart churn, “and yet I failed him. I failed you, my children, yet again.”

Dick opened his mouth to speak, but chose to shut it when he couldn’t think of anything to try and console his father. Seconds passed by as neither of them dared to speak, only for the notification of a phone cut through the tension.

It took a moment for Dick to realize that it was his phone that pinged.

“Oh, it’s Luka. It seems like Marinette’s surgery went well…should we go and see how she’s doing?”

Bruce didn’t know what to do nor what to think when he heard Marinette’s laughter ring beyond the door that stood between the two, his grip tightening on the doorknob.

How dare she laugh.

She was there minutes before Damian died.

She had a remedy to help with the side effects of a disease he didn’t know of but she did.

Why didn’t she help Damian?

Why?

Why couldn’t that be Damian?

Why couldn’t he be the one on the other side of the door?

Why was she the one to survive the illness that plagued the two of them?

“Mr. Wayne, are you okay?” Luka spoke up, causing Bruce to loosen his death grip on the doorknob.

“Luka.” Bruce wondered what expression he had on to make the usually aloof teen to be on his guard. “Dick told me that Marinette’s surgery…went well.”

“Or at least, that’s what we thought when we first talked to her after she woke up from surgery.”

“What do you mean by that?” Luka turned the doorknob, signaling Bruce to follow him.

“You’ll see what I mean when you see her.”

Upon Bruce entering the room, he could feel the atmosphere shift, noticing her parents acknowledge him with a curt nod while Marinette herself just stared at him with large eyes.

“M.Wayne, wh-what are you doing here?” She let out a gasp, Bruce seeing the blood drain from her face. “Oh, is…is this about the commission pieces you ordered from me months ago?” Marinette hung her head. “I know I’m behind and I know the suit just needs a bit more of embroidery, but I promise-”

“Marinette. This isn’t…this isn’t about my commission. I came to- is that the last thing you remember about me?” Bruce asked, wondering why his gut was starting to turn.

“Umm…yes?” Marinette guessed. “I also remember about a few fittings with you and your fiance, a few other meetings regarding a few alterations to the suit…but…but that’s all that I can recollect at the moment…”

Bruce walked closer to the hospital bed, noticing a scar peaking past the collar line of the hospital gown she was wearing.

“Marinette…do you remember…do you remember the other person who would accompany me to these fittings besides Selina?” Bruce couldn’t help but notice Sabine let out a quiet sob, turning her head away in shame into Tom’s shoulder.

Even Tom looked away from Bruce, causing alarms to go off in his head.

“Well…there was Richard…”

“Don’t…don’t you remember Damian?”

“Damian?” Marinette tilted her head, her mind in deep thought before looking straight at Bruce. “Who’s Damian?”

#maribat #daminette #hanahaki au

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