#MaribatMarch2021

[lady-literature]

Found Family

holy shit did this one get way out of hand. Don’t expect them all to be this long because hot damn this is a monster compared to literally everything else but it just wouldn’t stop

(should I have expected this? probably. we all know how I am about found family.)

anyway enjoy 4.5k words ig

based on this post | @maribatmarch-2k21 | find more here

***

When Marinette had been chosen to intern with Monsieur Wayne’s PA, she hadn’t been expecting anything special. Sure, the Waynes were an odd breed and generally considered strange, but Marinette hadn’t actually expected to have much contact with them—if any at all.

She was here to earn credit for her business degree.

Instead, she has… well. She thinks she’s been somehow inducted into the Wayne family, mostly on accident and kind of as a joke.

That is, until it very much wasn’t.

***

Her first mistake, she supposes, was being too good at her job.

Marinette is an old hand at keeping track of multiple moving parts and riding herd on stubborn people who’d otherwise be too distracted or goofing off. (She was the Court’s leader for more than just being the latest in a long line of Ladybugs, after all.)

After the first two days shadowing Selina—“please, darling. Ms Kyle is so formal”—and learning the broad strokes of the job, Marinette felt confident enough to dig her nails in and get to work. Selina spent most of her time dedicated to international tasks and arranging Monsieur Waynes’ private affairs—all of which was highly classified and not discussed with Marinette—so she turned her attention to inter-company affairs.

Her first order of business was personally meeting with as many people in managerial positions as she could get. Not a requirement for the job per se, but these were people she’d have to interact with often and Maman had always stressed the importance of building connections in the workplace.

“People,” she would say, “are far more willing to do what you want them to when you’ve endeared yourself to them.”

So Marinette takes that advice and spends her breaks and lunches charming employees and giving baked goods to security guards and learning the names of the cleaning crew. She doesn’t speak to the department heads, because Selina handles their correspondences, but everyone else is free game as far as she’s concerned.

She becomes a well-recognized face astoundingly quickly.

***

Marinette probably should’ve seen the rumors coming.

It’s common practice in not only the Wayne family, but in most business conglomerates, for the children to quickly rise through the ranks of their company—if not just handed a high position right off the bat.

It took barely a month before the eldest was all but running Human Resources, and the second was placed as Head of Security practically out of nowhere. Monsieur Drake is the youngest (and most terrifyingly calculated) CEO to ever hold Wayne Enterprises, even if he does share the title with his father.

The other three are still too young or have yet to express an interest in the company, but people say it’s only a matter of time.

The track record speaks for itself, even if Marinette wishes it didn’t.

As a girl who’d come mostly out of nowhere and found herself with far more divisive sway in the company than she had any right to, it’s no wonder everyone thinks she’s some sort of secret Wayne finally coming out of hiding.

Marinette had nearly choked on her coffee when Selina dropped the bomb of that particular tidbit of company gossip.

“Most think you’ve been unofficially adopted,” Selina tells her, looking far too amused for Marinette’s liking. “Seeing as you’re too old for official avenues now.”

Marinette looks up warily from the schedule she’s rearranging. Selina had all but shoved the thing at her a month ago when she started suggesting more efficient ways of managing the CEOs’ valuable time.

“Only most? Does that mean the rest have common sense?”

Selina’s grin widens even further, if that’s possible, and Marinette regrets her question even before the older woman starts speaking.

“Oh, of course not!” she laughs delightedly. “The rest are hoping to hear news of wedding bells. It’s high time someone swept a Wayne off the market, don’t you think?”

***

“So you’re the new little sister I keep hearing about.”

Marinette stares up through narrowed eyes at the brightly smiling Dick Grayson. In her stomach, there are already the beginnings of resignation starting to form. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you!”

This man is going to bring her nothing but trouble. She can tell.

***

Dick takes a liking to her. And she, against her better judgment, finds herself doing the same to him.

It’s a little hard not to, if she’s being honest. He’s bright and bubbly and brings her bagels during his morning break without her ever having asked.

It takes practically no time at all before Marinette considers him a friend, relaxing when he’s near and laughing openly at his ridiculous jokes. Despite being the head of HR, he’s not great at the whole ‘professional’ thing and often employees will walk by to find him draped across a chair or balancing precariously on the edge of her desk while she tries and fails to get some work done while he’s around.

It really doesn't help all of the ‘Marinette is a Wayne’ rumors running around. Especially when Dick starts pointedly calling her every variation of ‘little sister’ that he can think of just to annoy her (and, she knows, because he thinks the entire situation hilarious).

***

Three weeks after befriending Dick, Selina all but shoves her into Monsieur Drake’s office and, in no uncertain words, says, “He’s your problem now.”

Marinette blinks at what she can describe as nothing other than a disaster area and just… sighs.

Tim blinks back at her.

The motion is somehow both completely blank and filled with an uncomfortable amount of knowing at the same time. There is also, she notices, a frankly ludicrous amount of concealer caked beneath his eyes and more coffee cups scattered on every flat surface than Marinette has ever seen in her life.

She knows his schedule like the back of her hand seeing as she spends hours of her day pouring over it to make sure everything runs smoothly. He has no prior engagements for the next three hours.

“You’re not going to take a nap just because I ask, are you?”

He snorts. “Absolutely not.”

She nods, having expected the answer; her phone was already at her ear before he even finished speaking. “Hey, Dick!” she greets, sounding brighter than she feels at the moment, and watches as Tim stiffens in front of her. “Yeah, no. I was just wondering if you’re busy right now.” She pauses. “Oh, good! Can you come up to Tim’s office for me? Yeah, I need you to knock him out so I can fix his dumpster fire of an office.”

Tim has since started waving his hands frantically at her, panic setting in behind his eyes.

Marinette stares at him, unmoved. “Thanks, Dick! You’re the best!”

The silence after she hangs up is deafening.

“I don’t know if I should be impressed by the ease you’re manipulating me or pissed off that you’re doing it in the first place.”

She hums thoughtfully. “Does your decision have any bearing on my future employment?”

His eyes squint. “…No.”

Marinette shrugs, mind already whirling with what she’ll need to get done first and calculating how long she’ll likely have to get it done. “Then I think you should skip right over both of those and land on resignation as quickly as possible, Monsieur, because you’re going to have to get used to it regardless.”

It’s silent for a long moment, and she worries for just a second that she’s severely crossed some sort of line. Then Tim bursts out laughing instead of, you know, firing her like he probably should have.

“Oh, yeah. You’re going to fit right in here.”

Marinette doesn’t ask where the ‘here’ is. She’s pretty sure she already knows.

***

It takes ten days for Marinette to wrangle Tim’s life into something resembling order. His office is clean and organized to his liking. She’s developed a system of filing so that all paperwork goes through her and is quickly sorted into ‘can be handled by Marinette’, ‘forge his signature and tell him about it later’, and ‘actually important enough to have Tim read through’.

His schedule is the most efficient it’s ever been and Marinette is quickly honing the skill of getting him properly dressed and out of his office in under thirty minutes. (Dick is, thankfully, a great teacher and has little to no qualms about giving her the key to all his little brother’s weaknesses.)

Selina stares at her when Marinette all but drags Tim from his office, a folder tucked neatly under his arm and the sugary monstrosity of a caffeinated beverage she’s bribed him with in her own, with a whole ten minutes to spare before his meeting with the Board.

“My dear,” she says solemnly, “you are positively magic.”

She doesn’t even look up from where she’s simultaneously wrangling Tim’s hair into submission and laying his tie down flat. “You have no idea.”

***

She knows Tim is capable of professionality. She’s seen the cool facade he pulls up in front of the Board members and the kind but impersonal smile he uses on the employees of Wayne Enterprises. (He is not the Ice Prince of the Wayne family, but Marinette believes he should have some equally ruthless sounding title.) He is aloof and sharp and every inch the businessman people praise him to be.

She’s seen it. And yet… 

“Monsieur. Why are all the Lexcorp contracts I gave you done in crayon?”

Tim doesn’t stop messing with his Rubix cube or even look up at her when he says, “Cause deadbeat fathers don’t deserve the respect of a pen.”

Marinette is very tired. She does not have time for this. “What are you talking about?”

“Lex is a bitchass absentee dad and I live to inconvenience him.”

“What about inconveniencing me?” she all but whines. “I can’t hand him these!”

That does make Tim look up at her, eyes wide with false innocence and mouth pouting up at her. “But sister dearest, I’m your little brother. It’s my job to inconvenience you.”

Growling in frustration is probably an inappropriate reaction to the situation.

But, Marinette thinks, so is the fact that both of the Waynes she associates with regularly seem hellbent on convincing the world that she too, is a Wayne, so.

(Is this how Alya felt dealing with the twins? Cause if so, Marinette takes back every joke she ever made—little siblings are a bitch.)

***

She meets Damian without warning.

Honestly, she never really expected to meet him at all but, well.

She finds him in Monsieur Wayne’s office, sitting at his father’s desk and doing something that she thinks is vaguely illegal, but she’s not about to tell her Boss a dozen times over how to parent his children.

Damian is a near-perfect copy of his father with darker skin and calculating green eyes. There’s also a more potent aura of danger around the child than there is around his father, like Damian hasn’t yet learned how to hide behind his public persona as his father had.

Or, Marinette looks at the teen thoughtfully, perhaps he just chooses not to.

“Monsieur Wayne,” she greets. Children like to be treated like adults, she knows, and Marinette doesn’t think this one is any different. “Selina hadn’t told me you’d be in the office today.”

“I don’t run my schedule by her,” he says flatly. A response she expected considering Dick’s stories.

“Of course not,” she agrees.

He finally deigns to look up at her and something flits across his expression, too fast for her to pick up on it. “Are those for Father? Bring them here, I’ll deal with them in his absence.”

Marinette raises her eyebrow. “I’m not sure that’s wise Monsieur.”

Damian scowls and sticks his hand out. “I’m perfectly capable of forging Father’s signature. Give them here.”

She does not move and, instead, lets her lips quirk up into the smile she’s been fighting since she stepped in here.

“I don’t doubt it,” she tells him, and she doesn't. Forgery seems exactly like the kind of skill a child who broke into the CEO’s office of a multi-billion dollar company would have. “But you’ll find that all forging of signatures has been finished for the day and that these,” she shakes the sheaf of papers lightly, “actually require your father’s attention.”

He snorts disbelievingly and it says a lot about Marinette’s life up until now that the blatant display of disrespect doesn’t piss her off but instead reminds her of Chloé and of the fact that she still needs to reschedule their spa day. It's been too long since they spent time together in person.

“Well,” she pauses and eyes the papers thoughtfully. “‘Requires’ in the sense that its information needed to trounce the Board when they start spouting off greedy bullshit about cutting corners on our humanitarian efforts. I’m not sure how much of it is actually useful for anything besides that.” She shrugs. “But homework is homework, yes?”

That gets her a thoughtful once-over. His hand lowers and he then turns back to whatever he’s messing with on his father’s computers.

“Very well,” he concedes. “Father will be back in approximately thirteen minutes. You can leave the papers and I’ll inform him of their… importance.” He smirks, but it’s more like he’s letting her in on a joke than anything else.

Marinette smiles back as she sets the folder on the desk, feeling, oddly, like she’s passed some sort of test.

***

The day after, both Dick and Tim are waiting for her with what looks like an entire bakery laid out in her workspace.

“Uh,” she says eloquently, setting her purse down on her chair because there’s not a single open space on her desk not filled with some kind of pastry. “What’s all this?”

She looks up to find neither Dick nor Tim has stopped staring at her since she walked in. “We heard you met Damian yesterday,” Dick starts warily, like he’s scared of her reaction.

The response does not abate her confusion. 

“Yes, I did,” she says slowly. “That does not explain all… this.” She waves a hand, trying to encompass them as well as the state her desk is in.

The two brothers share a look.

“It’s a bribe,” Tim tells her simply and Marinette is taken aback for all of a second before her eyes suddenly narrow.

Dick cuts in hastily before she can say anything. “It’s more of an apology, really. For Damian’s behavior.”

But Marinette is confused and frustrated and just a bit offended by the apparent not-bribe at this point. She closes her eyes and takes a deep breath, but it only does so much.

“Damain’s behavior was fine,” she tells them with measured neutrality. “You two, on the other hand, are being weird and it’s freaking me out.” She crosses her arms expectantly. “Seriously, what’s going on?”

Appearing from out of nowhere, Selina drapes herself along Marinette’s shoulders and snags a raspberry scone. “I do believe,” she says as if sharing a secret, “That they are trying to keep you from quitting, kitten.”

Marinette wrinkles her nose. “Why would I quit? I like this job.”

She also likes the Waynes (in general, if not right then) and she likes Selina. The woman was a good mentor who didn’t shy away from the dirtier parts of the job and taught Marinette all she knew. (Even the bits, she noticed, that had little to nothing to do with being a personal assistant and were more likely to be found in the repertoire of a thief.

But, Marinette is in possession of her own sticky fingers and knows how to not ask questions, so. You know—curiosity killed the cat and all.)

She doesn’t voice any of that, but Selina, at least, knows it anyway. Marinette isn’t quiet about her gratitude after all.

“First meetings with the youngest Wayne don’t often go well,” Selina tells her. “In fact, I think he has a habit of making the interns cry.”

Dick makes some kind of offended noise. “Hey! He hasn’t done that since he was twelve!”

Tim elbows him in the ribs and Marinette makes a vaguely skeptical face at all three of them before deciding it wasn’t worth it. She has actual work to get done today and pastries to get rid of before she can even start.

She pats affectionately at Selina’s hand before grabbing as many boxes as she can hold. “Come on you two,” she says to the brothers. “You’re going to help me hand these out to the rest of the company.”

Dick immediately starts doing as told but Tim hesitates, humming thoughtfully. “You know that’s not going to help your whole ‘I’m not actually a Wayne’ thing, right?”

She glares at him. It doesn’t stop Tim from grinning like the utterly unrepentant little shit he is.

***

Things are quiet after the Damian Incident for a whole two weeks. It’s the longest lull Marinette has had since she first started and became somehow involved with the Waynes.

It ends because Dick finds out about the crush Marinette has been nursing on the Head of Security for three months now.

The Head of Security who is Jason Todd: second eldest Wayne sibling and Dick’s brother.

He takes it better than expected.

(Almost, she thinks later, a little too well.)

***

Despite her friendship with Dick and Tim—or perhaps because of it?—Jason had never seemed very interested in her. At first, Marinette had shrugged and counted it as a win; there was one Wayne, at least, who neither found her situation funny nor used it to poke fun at her.

They were on friendly terms, she supposed. Security has always been one of her more regular stops in the building, so she’d spoken to him often enough. He liked complaining that she spoiled his team rotten with all her treats.

But she also noticed that he likes her cherry danishes, so.

And then she noticed how crooked his grin was when he smiled. And how he seemed to have an arsenal of nicknames for everyone he knew. And the small collection of classic romance novels filled with sticky notes he tries and fails to hide in his desk. And, and, and.

It was around the time she began unconsciously memorizing his schedule based on when he was and was not there for her pastry deliveries, that she realized she may have made a misstep somewhere.

Jason was stubborn and passionate and flipped between overly proper and crass light a damn light switch. He was also, as stated, very much not interested in her.

Not that she would’ve pursued him anyway. He was a coworker as well as her friends’ brother.

Now if only one of said brothers could understand that.

“You should ask him out,” Dick suggests not for the first time and Marinette sighs, also not for the first time.

She loves Dick—she truly does—but he has been an aggravating level of unhelpful since he found out about Marinette’s latest romantic disaster.

“I’m definitely not doing that.”

Dick groans, like she’s being the unreasonable one. “Why are you being so stubborn about this?”

“Because I don’t like embarrassing myself?” she asks rhetorically. “Not everyone can have a fairy tale romance like you and Wally.”

He throws his coffee stirrer at her. “We are not a fairy tale.”

She shoots him a flat look. She’s heard Dick talk about Wally and Tim’s told her all the stories and she was there when he and Wally finally got their shit together. Dick was unbearable for an entire week with his gooey, lovestruck new lease on life.

“You two are the definition of fairy tale. You two make fairy tales look like trashy romance novels.”

He opens his mouth to argue the point before forcibly cutting himself off. “No. Stop distracting me. We’re not talking about that; we’re talking about you and Jason.”

“There is no ‘me and Jason’,” she reminds him through her clenched teeth.

“Not yet,” he says optimistically. Like it’s a fact, like he knows something she doesn’t.

He makes her want to slam her face into a wall. Truly, he does.

***

Dick stops running his HR papers up to her office. Instead, he’s somehow convinced Jason to play errand boy for him even though he literally never looks happy about it. What used to be a flimsy excuse for Dick to slack off for a few minutes and gossip with her has now turned into awkward silence as Jason drops off the papers and leaves without even a ‘hello’.

During their shared breaks, Dick takes to orchestrating ‘chance encounters’ between her and Jason, all but shoving them into each other (and even actually shoving that one time).  She catches Jason shooting dark looks at Dick every time he does it, and if she’d been holding any iota of hope at this point, it’s been smashed to dust. Jason obviously knows of his brother’s meddling and isn’t happy about it.

But Dick just can’t take the hint.

Every failed plan of his makes him steadily worse about it all—more frantic and frustrated and like he wants to strangle her for her stubbornness. (The last feeling being more than mutual.)

Dick’s meddling starts to make her and Jason’s previously friendly, if distant, relationship awkward and embarrassing. With every pointed comment, she gets closer to just punching Dick in the face. Or, maybe, she’ll just tell Wally who really ate all the chocolate strawberry macaroons she made; it’d certainly be more devastating.

***

It all comes to head on a Thursday, after most employees have left for the day. 

They run into each other in a breakroom, and she watches as Jason suddenly goes stiff, eyes flicking over her shoulder to no doubt scan for Dick. That single action makes her expression sour and she slams her empty mug down with more force than was necessary.

For Kwamis sake, he looks like a cornered animal. An image not helped by the way he jumps a foot in the air and stares at her like he’s worried she’ll suddenly lunge at him.

“Can we agree this is ridiculous?” she says abruptly. “I don’t know what Dick is trying to accomplish with his wingman schtick, but we both know it’s not going to work. Can we just… agree that he’s an idiot?”

A complicated look crosses Jason’s face before he snorts wryly. “Yeah, we can agree on that. Dickie-boy has always been a few sandwiches short a picnic.”

“I know things have been awkward between us lately, and I’m sorry about that, but I hope we can keep being friends?” she says hopefully.

“What in the world do you have to be sorry about?” he asks before she can start catastrophizing about the bewildered expression he makes at her words. “It’s not your fault.”

The smile she shoots him is rueful and she shakes her hand in an ‘ehh’ type gesture. “Kinda is. And I understand if the-” she makes a vague gesture between them that she hopes properly conveys ‘my giant, stupid crush on you’, “you know, is too much for you. Just say the word I’ll try and keep out of your way.”

She’s trying to be comforting or understanding or something like that, but all her words seem to do is make him upset. “Absolutely not,” he insists. “Sunshine, you are not going to change your routine just to make me feel better.”

Marinette crosses her arms, frowning up at him. “Why shouldn’t I? If I’m making you uncomfortable-”

He makes a strangled noise in the back of his throat. “Uncomfort- Marinette. ” She jolts a bit at the use of her name. She doesn’t think he’s used it since her second week at W.E. “I’m not sure who made you think otherwise—and if it was Dick just tell me cause I’ll kick his ass —but barring the fact that I still enjoy your friendship regardless of any… feelings-” Marinette concentrates very hard on not showing emotion when he says that, “-it’s not your responsibility to deal with it.”

Okay, but… that makes no sense. Of course her feelings were her responsibility, that’s the whole point of them being hers.

“If it’s not mine, then whose responsibility is it then?” she asks, wondering where the hell his train of thought is running.

“Mine, obviously.”

She gives him a look, complete with narrowed eyes and thinly veiled judgment. “What? Is this some kind of gentleman’s martyr complex? Is that what’s happening right now?”

Jason huffs a laugh, but there’s no humor in the sound. “If me taking responsibility for my own damn feelings is a martyr complex then sure,” he snarks, not unkindly. More like he’s trying to protect himself by retreating behind a sour attitude.

Her mouth is halfway around a retort when his words catch up to her brain and she freezes.

“Your feelings?” she repeats. “Your feelings for… me?”

His voice is carefully neutral when he says, “Those would be the ones.”

Her mouth opens and closes and opens again. “You like me? Seriously?”

His face spasms at the question, starting at anger before he properly looks at her and the surprised expression on her face. He pales.

“You didn’t know?”

“No!” she squeaks, something she hasn’t done since she was fifteen. “Well Dick said but I didn’t believe him!”

And fuck, she thinks. This means Dick knew the whole damn time, didn’t he? Oh, she is so going to kill him the second she gets the chance.

Jason runs a hand down his face, covering his mouth as he gathers his bearings. Suddenly, his eyes shoot back open and land on her. “Wait. If you didn't know, then what the hell were you talking about just now?”

She blushes to the tips of her ears and buries her face in her hands so she doesn’t have to look at him. It was easy when she thought he’d figured it out himself. It’s harder now that she has to tell him. “I- I was talking about my crush on you.”

He’s quiet for so long that she gets antsy and peeks out from behind her fingers to see his expression. He’s still looking at her, but now there’s a wide, crooked smile on his face. The expression softens something in her chest and she lowers her hands.

“Really?” he asks, leaning closer.

Marinette nods, feeling a small smile spread across her lips.

He jolts forward, hands reaching for her before suddenly stopping just shy of touching. She startles a bit at the motion but doesn’t move away.

Jason licks his lips, smile smaller but no less bright. “I- can I?”

She blinks. “Can you what?”

“Kiss you.”

The blush returns full force, but with it also comes a smile, giddy and bright. She nods and no sooner than she does, is he swooping down to pull her into a toe-curling kiss. His hands cup her face with a tenderness that makes her smile, makes her giddy, and it’s not long before they’re both smiling too wide to actually kiss and are forced to break apart.

His hands fall to her back, practically engulfing her, and his chin drops onto her head. It’s warm and cozy and she thinks she could so very easily get used to this.

Later, they’re going to have to deal with Dick and Tim and Selina and the teasing they’ll no doubt have to endure—not to mention how much worse the rumors are going to get—but right now? Right now Marinette pulls Jason back down for another kiss and very pointedly doesn’t think about it.

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #mlb x dc #jasonette #my typewriter #platonic dickinette #platonic timari

[fridayfirefly]

Warmth - Part One

Read Warmth on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 3 - Warmth

Damian woke the moment she appeared in his bed, her warm presence instantly triggering his well-ingrained sense of danger. It took him only a half-second of looking at her to realize what had happened. Gently but firmly, Damian nudged her awake.

"You just Soulmate shifted," he informed her as soon as she blinked open her tired blue eyes.

"Okay," she mumbled, speaking with a distinct French accent, "I'm going back to bed."

Damian gave her an incredulous look. "You don't have any follow-up questions?"

"None that can't wait until morning." She rolled over, then immediately sat up. Damian was relieved that she had finally come to her senses until she took off the backpack and purse she had on. "It's super uncomfortable to sleep with a backpack on."

"You brought a backpack?"

"It was the night before my sixteenth birthday. I figured there was a 50-50 chance that I would Soulmate shift, so I decided I might as well pack the essentials."

"That's smart," Damian conceded.

The girl pulled Damian's blanket over her, stopping only when she saw who was sleeping on the pillow she was about to steal. “Is that your cat?”

“Yes, that’s Alfred the Cat.”

“He’s so pretty,” the girl cooed, offering her hand out to the black-and-white cat. Alfred gave her outstretched hand a tentative sniff before nuzzling his head up against her and leaping off of the pillow to settle in her arms.

The girl was asleep in just a moment, soft breathing mixing with the sound of Alfred the Cat’s rumbling purr. Damian was left awake to watch her, to try and puzzle out some clues to who she was based on the half-dozen sentences she spoke before falling asleep.

The most important piece of information Damian knew: she was his Soulmate. It was so easy, it was barely a deduction. On the night of their sixteenth birthday, the younger Soulmate of a Soulmate pair shifts into the bed of the older Soulmate. So long as the younger Soulmate continues sleeping in the same bed as the older Soulmate, they will remain together. However, as soon as the Soulmate pair sleeps apart, the younger is returned to their original bed. After that, the Soulmate pair has to physically travel to meet. The only explanation for what just happened (i.e. the girl's sudden appearance in Damian's bed) was that she was his Soulmate.

By the same logic, Damian also knew that today, August 9th, was the girl's sixteen birthday. That made her five months younger than himself. From her accent, Damian believed her to be Parisian.

Damian held off of making any more assumptions about her out of respect for his Soulmate. It wouldn't be fair to judge her before they properly met.

Checking the clock, Damian saw that it was midnight. Figuring that it would do him no good to stay up all night staring at her, Damian pulled a second blanket over himself and went to sleep.

-----

Damian woke up at eight in the morning, the girl still sleeping away beside him. Damian was confused, as the differences in time zone meant that if she were still in France, she would be sleeping at two in the afternoon. Figuring that she had gotten a full eight hours of sleep and that it would be a good idea to stop any potential jetlag in its tracks, Damian nudged her awake.

"Hmm, where am I?" She mumbled in tired French.

"You Soulmate shifted into my bed. You're in Gotham, New Jersey," responded Damian, in English, since he knew she could speak it.

That seemed to wake her up. "America?" she asked again, this time in English.

"Yes."

She blinked, wide-eyed, and shaken. "That isn't at all what I expected. Not that it's a bad thing, I just figured I would stay in Europe, at least. I'm from France - Paris, France. And I'm Marinette, by the way."

"I'm Damian. So I assume you just turned sixteen."

Damian didn't phrase it as a question, but Marinette nodded anyway and said, "Yes."

"Happy Birthday, then."

Marinette smiled nervously. "Thanks. I was very out of it last night, so I apologize if I came off as rude. I was just so nervous about shifting that I stayed up until five in the morning on a caffeine-high and then crashed so hard I think I went into a temporary coma."

"Do you do that a lot?"

"Only on the weekend," she joked. "On weekdays I try to keep it one espresso shot every six hours."

"You'll get along well with my brother, then. He's also a caffeine addict."

"So you have brothers, Damian my older Soulmate from Gotham."

"Five months older. Three brothers and two sisters, though I'm related to none of them by blood. One Father and one butler who doubles as a Grandfather figure. One cat, one dog, and one cow."

"Cow?"

"It's a long story. I'm vegetarian, the cow was on the way to the slaughterhouse, and I decided that I needed to intervene."

Marinette smiled at him like she couldn't believe that he was real. "So when do I get to meet the brothers and sisters."

Damian glanced over at the clock, reading 8:34. "Breakfast starts in twenty-six minutes. That should give you enough time to get ready."

Marinette's eyes lit up. "I have the perfect meeting-my-Soulmate's-family outfit in my backpack." She hopped off the bed and grabbed her backpack, taking it into his connecting bathroom. "I'll meet you in twenty."

Damian watched her shut the door behind her, trying to believe his luck. Marinette was clever, witty, and beautiful, with a smile that could light up a room. He had known that his Soulmate would be perfect for him, but it hadn't really hit him until he saw her up close. Marinette was perfect. Now, he thought as he pulled out his phone and got into the family groupchat, all he had to do was make sure his stupid brothers didn't ruin it.

@maribatmarch-2k21

#maribat #daminette #miraculous ladybug fic #soulmate au #marinette x damian #maridami #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Damian Wayne #MaribatMarch2021

[liquid-luck-00]

Internet Friends

@maribatmarch-2k21 Day 4: Internet Friends

~~~~~~~~~~

You know the internet is a magical place. You can connect with people all over the world in a matter of seconds. You know what isn’t magical, your best friend enrolling you in a ‘coffee seminar’. Like seriously Adrien I love you like a brother so what the hell. I’m busy enough as it is without giving up my Saturday morning on the only day I have free for months.

Sure my school and social life is a flaming pile of garbage thanks to a little liar manipulating almost everyone who was my friend. So why, but if anything this little online seminar may just be the thing I need.

Okay not what I needed. The coffee seminar was apparently a coffee intervention workshop. Big surprise there, what was a welcome surprise was I wasn’t the youngest person there. Through out the entirety of the web seminar they sent private messages back and forth completely ignoring the speaker, only adding in when asked. Buy the end they decided to share emails, and that was how Marinette found herself a, hopefully, friend and at the very least a partner in caffeinated crimes.

She would mainly email Tim rants about school and the akuma. He at first tried to see how open she was to help, from the JLA, to come in and help the Parisian heroes. But she shut that down quickly by explaining how the villains powers work and how many of the heroes tend to be emotional when they fight even if they don’t show it.

He in turn ranted about his brothers and how they tried to hide his coffee and the stress of his work. Which sparked the conversation of what he did. Sure she was surprised when she found out her new friend was Tim Drake-Wayne so she decided to let him into her being MDC after he couldn’t find the designer and that he wanted a commission for a gala in a few months.

They ended up, either video chatting or messaging often to rant or brainstorm for their respective projects. Or just send each other dumb photos or memes to brighten the others’ day.

---

Mari doesn't know how this came to be but it did. She was walking along the second floor railing. She was going to meet Tim face-to-face as he was going to pick her up from school to do a fitting before sending out his suit.

He had messaged her that he was in front of the school. So she said to meet her in the court yard. To her dismay her classmates formed a half circle pinning her back to the railing.

"Seriously Mari, why would you do that?!" Alya screamed at her the eyes of the entire school and of a black haired blue eyed boy, now on their group.

"Do what exactly?" she questioned adjusting the straps of her backpack.

"I can't *sniff* believe you don't *sniff* remember, Mari. It was so mean *sniff*." Lila choked out burrowing her face into Kim's sweater, who looked disgusted with her.

"One, I still don't know what I supposedly did. And two, only my friends call me, Mari, and you aren't on that list." she turned to leave but they closed in on her. Unfortunately, Adrien and Kagami left earlier for a tournament. Luka was out of the country as was Chloe, so she didn't have anyone to break her out.

"You two aren't, but we are!" Alya shouted motioning to herself and the others In the class.

"We haven't been friends for years," she thought, unfortunately she said it out loud.

"What?!?" was chorused by the entire class.

So she took a breath. "There are only two people I consider friends within our class, both of which are not here. Why are you all surprised?" A tilt of her head and a perfect look of innocence crossed her features. "You all claim I'm a bully, why be friends with bullies. I'm just ripping off the band aid you are all to scared to touch."

"You're lying they are still your friends can't you see that!" Lila stopped sniffling and came to the class' defense.

"Really. I want them to think and think hard of the last time any of them sought me out to talk or hangout. Not tell me or accuse me of something, or demand clothes or sweets." They were all silent dead in thought. "The reason you can't is because it hasn't happened since Lycee."

"That's not true Mari, we are your friends," Rose piped in softly.

"DC we've been friends forever, this isn’t like you." Kim pleaded.

"Ya we were friends for a long time, so you should know I hate liars and I never lie." Everyone seemed to register her words.

"Oh get over yourself!" Lila snapped pushing her backwards.

The bad part, she was already on the edge so she was falling from the second floor. Fortunately for her, her time as ladybug along with being a gymnast since she could stand, her body reacted, her mind catching up a moment later. She grabbed a sprinkler pipe and turned a few times, held herself upside down and then swung again. Letting the bar go twisting in the air and shifting her backpack. Everyone on the first floor scattered to the edges of the courtyard to give her space to land without obstacles. As she finishes in a rollout to protect herself and her backpack now clutched to her chest.

"What was that!?" Lila screamed gripping the balcony railing, her facade completely dropped. Everyone else stood shocked silent, frozen in place, until one black haired blue eyed boy stormed up to the bluenette.

"Mari I swear the first time we meet up and you do that. God I am never going to leave you with Dick." Tim stormed up to her. "You are going to give me a heart attack."

"Hey Tim," she chuckled in response.

"That said I am sending this to him."

"Go ahead. Coffee?"

"You know me too well," he grinned as they began to leave the still frozen, still silent school yard. "So what are you going to do about them?" he jabbed a finger behind them.

"Dunno how much did you record?" she pointed to the phone clearly in his hand still.

"Since the first scream, but audio is kinda off from that far."

"I got that part covered," she took out her phone from her jacket pocket. Now her class started to move so both coffee addicted teens started to record again in case of anything.

"Who is this Mari?" Nino genuinely asked.

"He is a friend, and he can use that name unlike any of you."

"Best friend actually."

"You will have to fight Adrien for that title." she teased.

"I got Gami's approval. I can take Sunshine on."

"That was an acknowledgment and we all know it."

"Why haven't we ever seen him before then?" Alya snipped.

"I'm not from Paris, much less from France, if the accent didn't give it away. I'm visiting on a trip with my father and wanted to stop by." The two just walked away after that.

Who would have guessed that being forced into a coffee intervention seminar would result in gaining one friend and loosing a class worth of dead weight. And oh did it feel good to walk away from that toxicity. Unfortunately she still has to finish this last year of school before University. At least she has people she knows will stand beside her. All thanks to the magic of the internet.

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist: @itsmeevie01 @miraculouspenta @adrestar @vixen-uchiha

#maribat #dc x miraculous #miraculous x dc #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #ml marinette #tim drake #platonic timari #timari #maribatmarch2021

[j3ssisam3ss]

This idea won’t leave me alone...

In short: A Dickinette/BioDad!Bruce/Enemies to Lovers fic featuring:

Marinette “If God gave me strength you’d all be dead” Dupain-Cheng

Dick “Don’t make me use my Batman voice” Grayson

Tim “Give me coffee or give me death” Drake-Wayne

Damian “I’ll gladly give you death” Al Ghul-Wayne

Jason “It’s not trauma it’s humor, quit looking at me like that” Todd.

I can’t write a Dickinette fic at the same time that I’m writing a BioDad!Dick fic. I just can’t. But this idea won’t get out of my brain, so here I am writing it down and hoping it’ll leave me alone after this.

Marinette finds out she’s Bruce Wayne’s biological daughter when she’s summoned to Gotham for the reading of his will.

Because apparently the universe can’t give her even a single month to deal with the fact that her boss was a secret supervillain. Or the fact that the partner that had betrayed her, attacked her, sexually assaulted her, repeatedly, was the same guy she’d spent years crushing on.

It’s fine though. She’s fine. She’s not fine. No trauma or trust issues here.

She’s expecting money from her absentee father, maybe a cool car or something. Instead, she’s made co-CEO of a multi-billion dollar company and co-guardian of two kids.

Because apparently her biological father was something of a serial adopter. Apparently, he had no interest in reaching out to her, but adopted four boys and served as a mentor or guardian to countless other kids. She’s not bitter about that. Really, she’s not. She is.

Nevertheless, dealing with things she didn’t sign up for is practically Marinette’s calling card by now, so she takes to running Wayne Enterprises and raising her siblings like a duck to the water. Half the WE employees jumped ship after Bruce’s death? Not a problem, she’ll bring in new hires and inspire cult-like loyalty with her professionalism and efficiency. Her kids charges (and the rest of the Wayne family) moonlight as Gotham’s vigilantes? We’ve all been there. She starts immediately on new suits - ones that will have some magical extra protection and won’t make her barf every time she looks at them. The dead sibling is actually alive and just as salty with Bruce and his family as she is? She’ll make friends with him and force a reconciliation sweeter than the macaroons she used to bribe him.

The only issue she can’t solve is one Richard John Grayson. As Bruce Wayne’s far too attractive eldest ward - not son, apparently that’s a sore spot - the executors of Bruce’s will have named him her partner in this whole kid-raising, business-running mess. Which would be fine, except for the fact that he seems to have made it his life’s mission to oppose anything and everything she suggests or does. Marinette is running a fashion empire, trying to teach centuries-old monks what the internet is, raising two kids, and leading a multinational corporation. She doesn’t have time for this nonsense. And yet it’s her problem.

And then Gotham decides that she and Dick are in love and everything gets so much worse. Is it too late to take the Miracle Box and fake her own death?

Dick, on the other hand, has spent the last six years trying to break out of the shadow of Batman and Bruce Wayne alike.

With Bruce’s death, it feels like he’s taken three steps forward and fifty backwards. He’s twenty-four. He’s a police officer, with hopes of becoming a detective. He’s not prepared to run a multi-billion dollar company. Not prepared to raise his siblings. Not prepared to abandon his identity as Nightwing to become the Caped Crusader.

And yet, he has to. Because Tim and Damian need him. Because family comes first. Because it would destroy his siblings to become Batman. It will destroy him too.

When the court introduces Marinette Dupain-Cheng as Bruce’s biological daughter and his partner in sibling-raising and company-wrangling, his immediate reaction is relief. Maybe now he can get a little sleep. Maybe Damian will actually listen to her and will have a semi-normal childhood. Maybe she’ll be able to convince Tim to ingest something other than coffee. Maybe he won’t have to completely give up being Nightwing. Maybe between him, Tim, and Marinette they’ll be able to convince the world that yes, two young adults and a kid can run a successful business. Maybe one day she’ll grace him with a date.

These dreams are brought to a screeching halt when Dick realizes: Marinette Dupain-Cheng has no understanding of what a partnership entails.

She speaks for both of them to the board, to the media, to the kids, without so much as asking his opinion. She makes decisions and changes and informs him when it’s too late to protest. When he tries to bring it up, she gives him an innocent look of confusion and changes the subject. It’s infuriating maddening frustrating. Somehow, he’s doing more work trying to keep up with her than when he was running WE by himself.

And that’s not even getting started on the secrets she’s keeping. Her personality is all sunshine in public, but at home she’s as cynical and distrustful as Bruce himself. He hears voices coming from her room when she claims to be asleep. She has too many skills that don’t match with her background or age. Skills like disarming a gunman before the security guards even realize he’s there. Like successfully running a multinational corporation with no prior experience. Like knowing exactly how to deal with the media, despite being raised as a baker’s daughter.

Dick is taking on the mantle of Batman, raising his siblings, trying to learn how to run a multi-billion dollar company, and making regular appearances as Nightwing. He doesn’t have time to deal with this drama. And yet it’s his problem.

And then Gotham decides that he and Marinette are in love and everything gets so much worse. Is it too late to dump Bruce’s body in the Lazarus Pits and force him to deal with this mess?

@maribatmarch-2k21

Maribat March - Day 23 - Enemies to Lovers

#maribat #fic ideas #dickinette #marinette is so done #cynical marinette #guardian marinette #dick grayson is batman #everyone is traumatized #just realized this works for MaribatMarch #MaribatMarch2021

[ur-favorite-queer-queen]

Second Chance

For Maribat March day 12 theme second chance

Master List

Sometimes Marinette really wished Penny and Jagged hadn’t adopted her. It’s not that she didn’t want to be a Rolling-Stone, no that wasn’t it. In fact, she was grateful that they had saved her from the horrors that Paris now held for her. It’s just they dragged her to stuff like this, some rich man’s gala. 

She had slept for a full 12 hours after finishing Penny’s dress, only to wake up to the news she was coming with them. She probably should’ve seen it coming. Although she was hoping this would be one of the lucky cases where she didn’t have to go. Despite her protests they insisted she needed to interact with other humans who weren’t serving her coffee. In Jagged’s words, “Who knows, you might make a rock n roll friend!” 

Now here she was, in her black and purple dress that matched Penny’s and Jagged’s outfits. Letting a bit of her anxiety out as she fiddled with the strap of her matching purse. Watching her parents mingle with the rich folk while she stood off to the side. Every once in a while they would cast her a ‘go make a friend’ look but it never bothered her, she just needed to wait until they stopped turning to look back at her.  

After about 10 minutes they stopped, perfect. She casually asked a waiter where the bathroom was and made her way there. Once inside she slipped off the pearl anklet that was Daizzi’s miraculous, letting the kwami make her way into her purse, before pulling out a familiar nose ring. Now that Jagged and Penny were letting her do her own thing, she could go back to scaring people into not socializing with her. While she would’ve loved to keep Daizzi’s miraculous on so that it could combat Stompp’s miraculous side effects, she learned that it took too much energy to do so. And she didn’t want to explain why she was so tired after the gala if she wasn’t talking to anyone. 

She schooled her features before making her way back out sending a cold look to anyone who tried to come up to her. She pulled out her phone only to see that 2 hours had passed, she still had 4 more to go. Time was moving much too slowly for her liking. 

A clearing of the throat brought her out of her thoughts. She rolled her eyes, putting her phone back in her purse, getting ready to glare at the person who was going to try to talk to her, only to stare in shock at the green eyes that were watching her. The same ones that had bumped into her just days before. The same ones she had sworn she probably wouldn’t ever see again. 

Her mouth moved without her permission, again she blames Stompp, “You.” 

He smiled or maybe it was a smirk, responding with way too much amusement, “Me.” 

She once again schooled her features to look bored, but she’s pretty sure her eyes gave her away with the way he reacted, “What are you doing here?” 

Just like before it took him a moment to reply, his smirk growing just the tiniest bit, “I’m always invited to these things, I’ve never seen you before though.” 

“With any luck this will be the last time you see me.” She remarked. She didn’t mean to be so rude again she blames Stompp but she really hadn’t expected to see him. To his credit he didn’t seem deterred by her cold vibe, if anything he seemed more determined. 

“Why would you say that?” 

“These types of things,” She waved her hand around, motioning to the room, “Just aren’t my thing. My parents make it look so easy, but I’ve never been one for this kind of scene. Plus I leave Gotham in a few days.” 

“Desperate to get out here?” 

“You could say that.” 

“Who are your parents?” 

She raised an eyebrow, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” If this was the game he wanted to play she would play it. Trying to find out who she was by asking about her parents, real subtle. Well Mr. Hot shot, she’s letting Stompp take the wheel now.

“You know, you make trying to have a conversation pretty hard.” 

She rolled her eyes at him, not even trying to stop them from rolling, “Who says I wanted this conversation?” It was a rhetorical question. She turned to leave only for him to grab her wrist. 

Suddenly she was brought back to that night. The night that changed everything. Three pieces of jewelry in her hand, two brooches one ring, her earrings 2 beeps away from her transformation leaving her. 

A pale hand holding her wrist, keeping her from running away. Green eyes and blond hair belonged to the owner of the hand. 

It had happened too fast. One second she was getting ready to run and detransform. Then someone had stopped her, she turned around to meet hungry green eyes. She froze as she felt lips pressed onto her own. It was only the beeping of her earring that brought her back to reality. A knee to the groin, and she pushed him off of her. Letting the police deal with the trio as she fled. 

She turned to the owner of the tan hand that was holding her back and could only register green eyes. She wouldn’t stand still this time. She twisted her hand so that he was forced to let go. A knee to the stomach had him holding his gut and as she raised her arm ready to punch him was when she finally registered that this wasn’t Adrien. It was just some weird stranger who was persistent in getting past her walls. 

She could hear people talking around her and when she dared to glance around they were all staring. She forced the embarrassed blush that wanted to grace her cheeks down, she wasn’t 13 anymore, she was 16 god damnit! Locking eyes with the mysterious yet persistent guy again, she ran. Ran until she found herself on a balcony, the cold air brushing her face as she gripped the railing. 

Why did she react like that? Why did she always have to be so aggressive? Why couldn’t she just let go of the past and take this damn nose ring off so she didn’t have to go and do stupid shit like this?  Why couldn’t she just be normal and let people in? 

Oh yeah, because she had a bunch of shitty friends that all turned on her because of a liar. The same liar turned her already neglectful parents against her. So Jagged and Penny got custody of her in order to get her out. Her parents didn’t even put up a fight about it, too busy gushing about precious LILA! And now she has major trust issues despite wanting to open and trust people again. Man, she is a wreck. 

“Hey, are you out here?” The mystery guy spoke from the entrance of the balcony. 

“No, I’m not.” She didn’t see the point in not acknowledging him, he could probably see her from where he was standing. 

“I’m sorry about earlier, you were obviously uncomfortable and I pushed your limit. So I really am sorry.” He apologized. 

“Yeah, sorry about kneeing you in the stomach. I thought…” She cut herself off, she didn’t need to pour her whole life story out to a stranger. He probably didn’t even want to know either. 

“It’s okay, I deserved it.” He made his way to the railing, he was a good distance away that she still had her own space, but close enough they could still talk. She relaxed a little thanks to the distance, resting her elbows on the railing. He leaned his back against the railing. They stood there in silence and Marinette decided she wouldn’t mind seeing this mystery boy again. Wait she didn’t even know his name. 

It seemed like he had the same thought since he spoke up, “I don’t think we ever introduced ourselves.” 

“We didn’t.” Damn her being so cold, she should probably take this nose ring off. So that’s what she did, took the nose ring off and placed it in her purse. Maybe this would be good for her. 

“Well, I’m Damian Wayne.” He stated, holding his hand out to shake. 

“Wait, Wayne as in Bruce Wayne? As in the Ice Prince of Gotham?” She questioned, shocked. 

“Oh, so you’ve heard.” He seemed a bit disappointed. 

“Yeah, but I won’t judge if you don’t judge.”

He raised an eyebrow at that before she continued, “My name is Marinette Rolling-Stone.” Now he looked surprised. 

“You're the elusive Diamond Stone?” He asked, disbelief made its way into his voice. 

“That’s what they’re calling me now. At first it was Sapphire Stone. Guess that’s what happens when I stay out of the media too long.” She chuckled a small smile making its way onto her face. 

“Wait, where did your nose ring go?” He looked around as if expecting it to magically appear. 

“I took it off.” 

“Why?” 

“Well at first I wore it to scare people off. People are scared of people that have piercings. I was thinking of getting a tattoo but I’m too young and they’re too permanent.” 

“Why would you want to scare people off?” 

“I have a complicated past. Sometimes putting your trust in someone takes too much risk, I tried to avoid it altogether.” She pulled her sketchbook as she wrote something down.

“Tried?” 

“Why do you think I’m talking to you?” She tore the paper out.

“You're putting your trust in me?” 

“No.” She quickly answered, “But maybe one day.” She handed him the paper and left. 

As she walked away she released a breath she didn’t even realize she was holding. Maybe giving people a second chance wouldn’t be such a bad thing. But right now she just needed to find her parents so she could head home. 

-

Damian hated galas. He hated having to talk to the stuck-up rich folk who thought they were better than everyone just because of their wealth. The girls who would try and flirt with him in order to gain his last name. And their parents who tried to push them together. 

Yes, he definitely hated galas. What made this worse was that his family wouldn’t stop teasing him about the girl who he knocked over that one time. Threatening bodily harm did nothing but amp up the teasing. It was times like this where he truly wished there was a not a no kill rule. If only to give Jason Todd some revenge. 

2 hours into the gala and he was already done. 4 girls had already tried to drape themselves over him and it took all his self-control not to hurt them. He was ready to storm out of this gala when he caught sight of her. 

The mystery girl he had bumped into days before. She was here, at a Wayne gala. Her outfit certainly looked the part of a rich socialite, She wore a long halter dress that flared out at the waist. It started out black at her neck before turning purple at the waist. The bottom of the dress had black music notes dancing across and she had a matching black and purple purse hanging off her shoulder. 

Her hair was down and she seemed to be wearing a little bit of makeup. The only reason he was able to tell it was her was because of the black nose ring that stood out against her fancy look. It looked so out of place compared to everything else. 

He watched as a man tried to approach her only to receive the same glare he had gotten days before, quickly moving on to someone else. Seems like he wasn’t the only one who didn’t want to be here. 

He made his way over to her, perhaps to give himself a second chance at a new impression. She proceeded to pull out her phone and look at something before deflating the tiniest bit. 

He cleared his throat to grab her attention, she looked at him with the same glare once again before her eyes took on a look of shock. 

“You.” She seemed surprised that she had stated this as well. 

He couldn’t help the smirk that spread on his face, she remembered him and still had the same spunky attitude, “Me.” 

Her features took on a look of boredom, but her eyes looked only curious yet cautious, “What are you doing here?” 

The fact that she didn’t recognize him as a Wayne was surprising. He thought that she was only in a hurry before that’s why she didn’t register it was him, but now he knew she truly didn’t know it was him. Perhaps he could use this to his advantage. “I’m always invited to these things, I’ve never seen you before though.” 

“With any luck this will be the last time you see me.” She said it with such confidence he felt inclined to believe. It was strange. He seemed to be the last person she wanted to talk to and yet he still wanted to talk to her. He didn’t want her to leave. So the next best thing is to get answers.

“Why would you say that?” 

“These types of things,” She waved her hand around to motion to the room, “Just aren’t my thing. My parents make it look so easy, but I’ve never been one for this kind of scene. Plus I leave Gotham in a few days.” 

Well that sucked for him. “Desperate to get out here?” 

“You could say that.” 

“Who are your parents?” Maybe he could try to get his father to arrange a meeting with them.

She raised an eyebrow, “Wouldn’t you like to know.” Nevermind. 

“You know, you make trying to have a conversation pretty hard.” He didn’t mean to say that, that was rude. 

She rolled her eyes at him, it looked like he was meant to see that, “Who says I wanted this conversation?” She turned to leave, but he grabbed her wrist. He didn’t want her to go just yet. He felt her freeze then tense when he touched her, her breathing became a little more forced, and she seemed to shake a little. 

Suddenly she twisted out of his grip and kneed him in the stomach. She raised her arm and looked ready to punch him. Her eyes looked far and distant and afraid. They seemed to refocus on him as she dropped her arm and glanced around the room. Of course, people were talking about them.

She locked eyes with him once more before running. He ran after her before his path was blocked off by Dick Grayson. “Damian what-” He didn’t get to finish that question as he dashed passed him, determined not to lose the one girl who wasn’t a stuck up brat. 

He thought he had lost her but then he heard someone taking deep breaths from out on one of the balconies. He was about to go up to her, but from the way she reacted to his sudden hold on her arm earlier, it was probably best to give a warning. “Hey are you out here?” 

He walked out onto the balcony. “No, I’m not.” She likely didn’t want to talk to him. 

“I’m sorry about earlier, you were obviously uncomfortable and I pushed your limit. So I really am sorry.” He apologized. Which was so unlike him because here Damian Wayne was apologizing to a stranger. The weird things she made him do. 

“Yeah, sorry about kneeing you in the stomach. I thought…” She cut herself off, it looked like she wanted to say more but wasn’t going to. 

“It’s okay, I deserved it.” He walked over to the railing, making sure he was a good distance away that she had her own space, but close enough so they could still talk. She seemed to relax a little thanks to the distance, resting her elbows on the railing. He leaned his back against the railing. He quite liked the silence, her company was nice. Oh god he didn’t even know her name.

“I don’t think we ever introduced ourselves.” 

“We didn’t.” She stated in what he was pretty sure was a cold tone. Maybe she wanted to stay mysterious, so he would just introduce himself. 

“Well, I’m Damian Wayne.” He held his hand out to shake. 

“Wait, Wayne as in Bruce Wayne? As in the Ice Prince of Gotham?” So she recognizes the name, not the face. Great.

“Oh, so you’ve heard.” 

“Yeah, but I won’t judge if you don’t judge.” Why would he judge her?

He raised an eyebrow at her before she continued, “My name is Marinette Rolling-Stone.” 

“You're the elusive Diamond Stone?” He asked, disbelief accidentally made its way into his voice. He couldn’t help it. She was claiming to be the adoptive daughter of famous Jagged and Penny Rolling-Stone. The girl that made Jagged’s stage outfits from scratch and managed to get the ferocious Fang, Jagged’s pet crocodile, to love her. The media could only ever get a hold of the back of her head, but those that had talked with her said she shined as bright as a diamond. Hence the nickname, Diamond Stone.

“That’s what they’re calling me now. At first it was Sapphire Stone. Guess that’s what happens when I stay out of the media too long.” She chuckled, a small smile had made its way onto her face. Sapphire Stone, he hadn’t heard of that nickname but he could always do some stalking research. That’s when he noticed. 

“Wait, where did your nose ring go?” He looked around trying to see if it had fallen off her face and she hadn’t noticed.

“I took it off.” 

“Why?” He was truly baffled. 

“Well at first I wore it to scare people off. People are scared of people that have piercings. I was thinking of getting a tattoo but I’m too young and they’re too permanent.” 

“Why would you want to scare people off?” That seems like something he would do.

“I have a complicated past. Sometimes putting your trust in someone takes too much risk, I tried to avoid it altogether.” She pulled out what looked like a sketchbook as she wrote something down. Wait what did she mean by ‘complicated past.’

“Tried?” 

“Why do you think I’m talking to you?” She tore the paper out of the sketchbook.

“You're putting your trust in me?” He asked, she didn’t seem like the type to trust people quickly.

“No.” She quickly answered, he thought so, “But maybe one day.” She handed him the paper and left. As he looked down at it he saw it was her number. There was a message attached below ‘My number. Maybe we can meet up somewhere before I leave.’ He certainly wanted to take that opportunity. 

He tucked the paper into his pocket and made his way back to the gala only to be met with his annoying family. By the curious look in their eyes they wanted to know what just happened. This was not going to be fun to explain. 

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

Hi, I have not disappeared, just didn’t want to write for prompts 8-11. I was honestly going to do prompt 8 but then stuff came up and I didn’t have the time to write. I was also planning to write something for tomorrow’s prompt but then I found out I have something I need to do tomorrow so nothing for tomorrow either. Because I had a specific thing I wanted to write for tomorrow I’m changing it to fit day 14′s prompt. Which means it’s not going to be mega angsty like I originally thought was gonna be 14. You have escaped mega angst and now it will only be medium angst. 

On another note that was a bitch to write and edit. And the fact I had originally planned to write more for it baffles me. I feel like I left it kind of open ended so if you want a part 3 to what I have going on here go ahead and tell me. I’m still trying to decide if I should do a part 3 yet. For those who are confused today was a part 2 to day 6′s prompt, miraculous side effects. Go to my master list and you can find it. 

You can also see on my master list that there are days that are crossed off, which means I won’t be doing those days. I can’t do every single day if I want to still get decent grades. Why I skipped days 8-11. Sorry for that long explanation/rant. Also sorry for posting so late again. I do these things all the way to the last minute. Let’s see if I can break that habit throughout the month. Probably not but a girl can hope. Anyways hope you enjoyed. 

@maribatmarch-2k21 @birdiesthings @buginetye 

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #maribat march #marinette dupain cheng #damian wayne #damian x marinette #daminette #tell me if you want a part 2 #i'm still deciding

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 30: Goodbye

ao3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

At the beginning Marinette's 12 and Damian's 9. And by the end she's 14 and he's 11.

Damian was arguing with his sister as she haphazardly threw things into a bag. She was leaving, not on a mission but for good.

“Not for good Damian. I’m just leaving the League you’re at liberty to join me. I’m not against it.”

“But Mother and Grandfather wouldn’t want you to leave,” trying to sound as convincing as possible even though he wasn’t sure if he believed it himself.

Marinette scoffed, “if it was up to Grandfather, I wouldn’t be alive. You and me both know that. I wouldn’t be shocked if half the League knows it. Mother probably wants me alive for whatever long twisted plan she has in mind. Though, I doubt she still does with my refusal to kill.”

“Mother said she might take me to meet Father soon-”

She inhaled sharply, “That's half the problem here. You know more about him then I do. You are actually told things about him. All I know is what Mother thinks of him. Mother’s opinion does not matter to me. Nor do I actually know if she is right.”

“But you’re a much better fighter than I am, they wouldn’t want you to go.”

“I’m also a girl. The League doesn’t want a female heir, otherwise Mother would have been named heir long ago and we wouldn’t be here.”

“But-”

“You’re grasping at straws here Dami. Like I said feel free to join me.”

“Mother-”

“I know Damian. You don’t have to come. But I am leaving.”

He holds back tears, Mother says al Ghuls don’t cry.

She continues, “If you ever do get out of here, I’m going to try to find Sabine Cheng, remember her?”

He nods mutely. He remembers the woman. He hadn’t seen a lot of her. But she had taken care of Marinette from birth. He remembers Marinette once telling him she was more of a mother to her than Talia would ever be. It makes sense that she would try to find her.

“It won’t be hard to find me with the Batman’s resources after all. And I promise you I’ll be there the second you call. This isn't goodbye.”

Damian doesn't believe her.

She hugs him tightly, murmuring an, “I love you little brother,” into his hair. He feels her grip loosen around him and before he can look up, she’s disappeared into the shadows.

.oOo.

Marinette makes it to Paris. Sabine had told her once that she had always dreamed of going there. When she walks into the Dupain-Cheng Bakery for food the last thing she expected to find was that the Cheng in the name was from Sabine’s. An understandable mistake really, anyone who had known Sabine during her time in the League wouldn’t have expected her to open up a Bakery.

Sabine sees her first. She freezes when she’s swept into a hug. Her assassin instincts telling her to injure the offending person. And then Marinette realizes it’s Sabine and melts into the hug. Her tiredness taking over as her months long search comes to an end. There are tears all around. Leaving her husband to take care of the bakery, Sabine takes her upstairs into their home and plies her with sweets.

Marinette is enrolled in the near-by school. She makes friends with the students there. Then she gets the Ladybug Miraculous and for the first time in her life is grateful her League training. She creates a plan for Cat Noir’s training and they both work on making sure they don’t accidently end up busy during those times, to the best of their capabilities. Sabine figures it out almost immediately and offers any help she can. And Marinette with the support of her friends and family, embraces the responsibility of the Ladybug mantle.

.oOo.

There was a coup in the League. Mother had left him with Father so he could continue his training. Damian had to find Marinette. This was all that ran through Damian’s mind when he first was thrust upon the Wayne Family.

He knew he needed the Batcomputer to conduct his search. But his Father was yet to accept his existence, let alone allowing him access to the batcomputer. Damian decides he has to prove his worth. So, he attempts to kill Drake, surely if he can defeat him Father would consider him acceptable and help him find his sister.

He is reprimanded. Told that this is not the League and that, “Bats don’t kill.” He remembers ukhti’s face then, frowning in disgust at the thought of killing. And his father looks him in the eye and asks him if he understands, Damian realises Marinette shares their father’s eyes.

He thinks about it a lot more after that, what ukhti would consider acceptable and what she would not. Grayson says it’s a massive improval and Damian can’t bring himself to say, “I’m only doing what my sister would do.”

Then Father dies, and while Damian now has access to the Batcomputer he can’t bring himself to introduce the topic to Richard. Knows Richard will see Father in Marinette more than he ever will in him, the same way Damian sees his sister in Father. So, he looks into Sabine Cheng. Finds that his sister is living with her and is using the name Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She seems fine, so Damian doesn’t call. He remembers her promise, knows that she’ll be there the second he needs her. He’ll give it time and then he can bring it up with Richard.

.oOo.

Lila appears a year after Ladybug. But Marinette was trained to be an assassin, and quite literally has lady luck by her side. And while her friends find Lila’s stories wonderful in the beginning, they slowly realise that’s all they are. Stories.

A few months after Lila’s appearance. Hawkmoth is taken down. But Marinette and Adrien keep their miraculous. Master Fu takes the rest of the Miracle Box with him to London, so he can spend his days with the love of his life.

Adrien and her become closer friends than before. Fighting for their city's safety everyday would do that. Tom and Sabine take him in and it’s like having a brother again. And Marinette wonders if Damian’s still in the League. Maybe she should bring it up with Sabine, if they could take him away from the League.

.oOo.

Before Damian can talk to Richard, Drake comes back with proof Father is alive. Damian’s first worry was that he’d have to start from the beginning yet again but when Father comes back, he acknowledges Damian’s presence and calls him his son.

Father’s busy. Damian keeps trying to bring up Marinette but he never seems to catch Father at the right time.

He notices Damian trying to talk to him more often, and invites him on a mission to Paris to check out some relatively new heroes.

Ladybug shows up almost as soon as Batman and Robin take to the roof tops of Paris. She looks annoyed and says to Father, “I don’t know what you think you’re doing here-“

Damian doesn’t register the rest. He knows that voice. It’s been years since he last heard it, but he’d never forget. The next thing he knows he’s darting forward from where he’s hidden behind his Father and has tackled ukhti in a hug. He hears their father’s confusion behind him but he couldn’t care less.

.oOo.

Marinette lands on the rooftop, annoyed. She has no idea what Batman’s doing in her city. Father or not, he doesn’t know that anyways, but it doesn’t give him an excuse to come to the city uninvited. Marinette has barely begun to speak when she’s tackled into a hug. Familiar arms wrap around her, and she can hear Damian sobbing as she brings him closer once she gets over her initial shock. She’s crying too. Well, all the plans for getting Damian out of the League won’t be necessary now.

Marinette leaves the League mainly because of

1) The way she was treated by Ra's and Talia as a pawn, she didn't want to play along with their schemes

2) She didn't want to kill

a continuation (it’s only on ao3)

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #bio siblings!au #platonic damianette #sibling!damianette #my writing

[ali-kitkat]

Maribat March Day 2 First Time

Damian was conflicted. He had been in Paris for nearly two and a half months now and for the first time he didn’t know what to do, didn’t know what to think. He knew what his mission was, what he was expected to do.

His mission was to gain the favor of the newest Guardian of the Miraculi to retrieve the miracle box from their possession and then kill them. His grandfather decreed it, explaining that the only way to establish his place as heir of the Demon’s Head.

It hadn’t taken him long to discover the newest Guardian’s identity, she was skilled but he was better. Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the newest Guardian and the current holder of the Ladybug miraculous.

Damian had integrated himself into her life fairly easily. She was enrolled in a nearby University that had a coffee shop that she frequented quite often and he planted himself there every day at the same time she was there. It hadn’t taken long for her to strike up a conversation with him as he usually sat alone in a corner booth with a sketchbook. He had taken to drawing still life of the cafe and the bustling people. Marinette was often a common subject of his. 

He had been leaving the cafe and hadn’t noticed that someone was leaving as well and they had collided into each on the way out the door. He had dropped his sketchbook and turned around to chastise the person who knocked into him when he met her eyes. Marinette was staring at him in surprise, she started apologizing furiously and picked up his sketchbook. 

Marinette froze, her face becoming flushed. It had taken him a moment to realize that the page the sketchbook fell open to was a drawing of her. 

It was a spring morning and Marinette was sitting in her usual booth. She had her hair tied back in a long braid that had draped over one of her shoulders and was wearing a pale pink sweater. The sunlight had cast a golden hue around her and made her look practically angelic.

Marinette, still flushed, returned the sketchbook to him while complimenting his abilities and just like that the opportunity had presented itself. He had introduced himself and reassured her that no harm had been done. 

Only now did he realize that by gaining the Guardian’s favor he had fallen in love with her. He did the one thing that his mother always warned him not to do, never fall in love with your mark. 

Marinette Dupain-Cheng, his mark and the woman who held his heart.  

He was ordered to kill her but he couldn’t. He’d never be able to live with the guilt. Except if he didn’t kill her, his grandfather would kill her himself. Only her death wouldn’t be quick and painless than if he had done it himself. His grandfather would punish him for growing weak. 

His grandfather would torture Marinette and he would be forced to watch her die a slow, painful death. Only for her to be revived using the Lazarus pit, driving her more and more insane until he himself pleaded and begged to end her suffering.

Damian couldn’t do that to her, Marinette had already been through enough. She had become a hero, enduring an emotional terrorist, as well as a partner that had emotionally manipulated her. She didn’t deserve to be put through more harm from him or his grandfather. The only way to keep her safe was to kill her and he couldn’t do that. 

Marinette deserved more than pain. She deserved the world. She deserved to see the world and all of its beauty, and he would show it to her. 

Damian decided then and there, for the first time that the League was wrong. 

@maribatmarch-2k21

#maribat #daminette #maribatmarch2021 #ali kitkat's writing #im alive

[lifeexperience]

MariBat March 2021 - Story

Masterlist

*

Vicki Vale from The Gotham Gazette

March 24., 20XX

In the latest Wayne gala we all saw how many adoptive or biological children Bruce Wayne has. But they all attended? Or is some ‘lost’ Wayne out there?

My answer is no, not everyone was present at that luxurious gala.

And yes, there is some ‘unclaimed’ Wayne out there. At least one sure.

As you can watch this interview from the Ladyblog (a prominent Parisian blog about the resident heroes in french with English subtitles) you will learn about how our playboy billionaire did it again. Lila Fiorenza Rossi, an Italian ambassador, Violetta Maria Rossi’s only daughter never knew his father. As like Mr. Wayne’s youngest son, Lila was born from a one-night affair.

Maybe our native ladykiller doesn’t even know about his teenage daughter?

Maybe he doesn’t want to?

The story would begin on a faithful day in Venice, when our resident play-boy started flirting with an Italian diplomat. The young lady was charmed by the bachelor’s personality and their tension blossomed to a beautiful young woman who is - despite her young age - already successfully building her model career. Lila Rossi is a prominent youth with connections to Jagged Stone and Gabriel Agreste.

Lila is a student at the illustrious Françoise Dupont High School (collège in French) where she is trying to follow her mother's footsteps to a bright future. Maybe she will bring a more positive light to the Wayne family, not like the youngest heir, Damian Wayne who is notorious for his rude behavior and cold personality.

And other children in the family… Maybe they didn’t even know about their new sister, however I am quite worried about the second adoptive son’s reaction. In contrast to Damian, Jason Todd does not show up in the public that much. Since his miraculous (and questionable) return (more about He is back and alive, or he was a crime lord here) he has only attended the mandatory Wayne galas.

As to mention Richard Grayson and Timothy Drake-Wayne, will they think they are replaced again? Since Timothy is one of the WAYNE Enterprise’s CEO, will he welcome this prodigious young woman in the family business? Or will Richard throw again a tantrum as he did at the first Elliot galas five years ago (with video about A spoiled young adult's fit here)?

And not forget about the young Cassandra Cain, who is the only girl in this male dominance. Will she be envious of Lila because she is also a girl?

Finally but not lastly Bruce Wayne, himself, is really capable of raising that many children or young adults with his playboy lifestyle? As the billionaire, himself is a man-child (read more about The richest man TOP10 most embarrassing moments here) and not really responsible about his own behavior. Will be a good father figure for this quite stunning young lady?

More: Bruce Wayne - Wayne family - Secret love child - Scandals

*

@maribatmarch-2k21

Next

#Maribatmarch2021 #maribat march #maribat #bio dad bruce wayne #ml fanfic #lila rossi #2021

[khneltea]

Tim, Tim, timmity Tim, I said Tim Tim timmity Tim (Tim Tim Tim)

@maribatmarch-2k21 "internet friends"

Marinette and Tim are shit posters, ok

They need an outlet

And they are gen z kids high on caffeine

So they post shit online

They don't meet in real life

And they don't know each other

Why?

Because:

Tim is strictly a twitter shit poster

And mari is a tumblr shit poster

Tumblr and Twitter give each other shade, they should never meet

But what happens if

An anonymous twitter AND tumblr poster (same person with a twitter and tumblr) decides to do a "conversation" and edit shit posts made by Tim and mari together to make it seem like they had an intense rivalry

It was all fun and games

Til the two discovered it themselves

And got themselves into a twitter/tumblr war

They both got accounts on each other's respective platforms

And had a square off

It was meme war

They were trending for 2 weeks

And then it became dead silent

Everyone on the platforms were in chaos, wondering what happened

One tumblr kid says:

"lmao, they probably eloped in Vegas"

And 2 hours later, DuePAIN on twitter tweets

Shit my font went wrong tf

#dc comics #maribat #marinette dupain cheng #marinette #dc #platonic #romance #writing prompt #headcannon #tim and mari need to stop drinking coffee #timari #timothy jackson drake #tim drake #maribat march #maribatmarch2021 #internet friends

[eat0crow]

Maribat March 2021

A couple people have asked me if I’d be willing to make the Maribat March Calendar a little early this year, and, since I’m super excited to see what you all come up with, here it is!

Rules under cut

Maribat March is a month long event dedicated toward the crossover between Miraculous Ladybug and Dc Comics.

This event is open toward works both Gen and Romantic, NSFW and SFW, under a ship and let ship, different strokes for different folks policy. All you need to do, is create a work that merges both ML and DC together and you’re golden.

Slash and poly ships are more than welcome! The rarer the pair the better!

Just like any event I help out with, Dc tags and salt are both allowed and completely up to you to include or not.

You can participate in as many or as few prompts as you would like, in whatever order you want! The point is to have fun, don’t stress!

You have free reign to create anything! Fics, art, edits, headcanons, amvs, podfics, whatever your heart desires. You can even collab if you want to.

Once again I will moderating a collection on Ao3! Collections are a great way to showcase your work and make them more visible. You’re free to submit your works to Maribat March (Maribat_March)

When submitting your works please include in your summary:

For Maribat March day___ theme___

*This is so I’m able to organize everything all nice and pretty, and so your work doesn’t get buried! If you attempt to submit to the collection without the tag line, you will be asked to reformat. 

Our tag for this year is #Maribatmarch2021, please tag the blog @maribatmarch-2k21

If you have any questions please don’t hesitate to ask!. 

#maribat #daminette #timari #jasonette #Maribat events #maribatmarch2021 #ml x dc #maridami #miraculous ladybug #dcu #CrossOver #fandom event

[lady-literature]

Protect

royalty au? royalty au.

@maribatmarch-2k21​ | find more here

She was eight years old when she gained her first Wayne as a personal guard.

His name was Richard and Marinette remembers the bright smiles he always gave her when on duty. All the other guards tasked to her were so formal and grim, but Richard was always friendly and treated her with a simple sort of kindness, something she was rarely privy to from those outside her family.

The whole castle knew Richard was Marinette’s favorite, for she rarely made any effort to hide her affection.

When she was nearing thirteen, the aging D'Argencourt was transferred to the teaching of knights and Sir Jason Wayne was appointed to replace him. He was far more familiar with her than was proper, but Marinette delighted in his gentle teasing and ridiculous nicknames. Whenever he could, he taught her commoner’s tricks and told her stories about the lower town and living on the streets.

(It had been the first time she’d been faced with the privilege of her birth so blatantly. Jason had only told her stories of humor and levity, but she was clever for her age and could hear all the things he wasn’t saying.

She was melancholic for a whole week following the revelation, guilty about her ignorance and unearned luck of birth. When she emerges from the end, she swears to protect her kingdom from such hardship as best she can. She may not always succeed, but she will try, and sometimes, that is enough.)

By the time Tim is added the month after her sixteenth birthday, Marinette is starting to think this is all something of a tradition. (Or at least, with the way the siblings talk, a competition of sorts.)

She’s practically expecting the day Cassandra is sworn in, pledging her sword to the protection of the throne. And when Duke follows behind not even a month later, well. There are more than a few whispers of favoritism floating about the castle halls.

(There is, after all, not a single knight on her detail that isn't a Wayne at this point.)

The proper number for a royal escort is five during times of peace, so Marinette does not expect any new additions until Richard decides he wants to retire or finally take her father up on the offer of joining the Justice League, those privileged knights in charge of protecting the King and Queen themselves.

Of course, they all overlooked one important detail.

Damian.

***

They are attending Court. Her parents are sat in their thrones, crowns atop their heads and looking regal and kind as they see to the many needs of their people. Farmers and merchants and families bring to them their problems, and they solve them as best they can.

Her mother sits to the right of her father, and Marinette stands at his left and just a step behind.

They are a united front to the people of their kingdom and this is not an accident.

So, of course, when Damian strides up to the dais, he promptly throws it out the window.

He bows first to the King and Queen, deep and textbook perfect, but when he turns to her, instead of the slightly shallower bow that is afforded to her, he drops to his knees.

The Court gasps and Marinette’s hands twitch where they are clasped in front of her.

The hall has fallen deadly silent and all eyes have turned on her and the knight at her feet.

He is only a few summers older than her and a well-known prodigy on the dueling grounds, easily rivaling the skill of knights twice his size and age.

Marinette has known him nearly as long as she has known Richard, and up until this very moment, she had believed him to be indifferent to her in the highest regard.

Oh, how wrong she had been.

“I, Damian Wayne, pledge my sword and skill to the service of her Royal Highness, Princess Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Should she accept this humble knight, I shall be the obedient weapon that which she wields. This vow I take, for as long as I breathe.”

For a long moment, Marinette does nothing.

He has offered the pledge to her and her only, which means it should be her choice alone to accept or deny it. But that is not how being Princess works and Marinette has responsibilities to more than just herself.

Damian has chosen to make this public, has chosen to cause a spectacle, and Marinette cannot afford to play along if it will place the people she has sworn to protect in danger.

Her mother eyes him with the critical shrewdness that had made her such an excellent spymaster before she married and was crowned Queen. After a long, drawn-out moment, Marinette watches the look melt off her face and the barely-there nod of approval makes the air rush from her lungs.

Should her mother have found that this action would cause more problems than they could handle, Marinette would have turned him away. She must, even if it would break her heart.

(Royalty must be united. There can be no lines drawn in the sand between them and Marinette cannot go against them without undermining the power she herself will one day hold as Queen.

She has responsibility to more than just herself.)

But Damian is lucky. Lucky he is young, lucky that the castle is already rife with rumors of where, exactly, the Waynes’ loyalties lie, lucky that he is a prodigy too valuable to scorn.

And perhaps, most of all, he is lucky that her parents are kinder people than rulers should be.

(How else could one explain his continued existence when he has so blatantly committed treason by pledging to serve an individual rather than the crown?

Marinette would laugh at his bravery if she did not think him an utter fool.)

Her mother has given her blessing, but Marinette does not yet reach for the sword Damian holds out for her to take. She has been privy to enough of the trials of Court and whispers of the castle to know this must be nipped in the bud.

Damian has made this a public affair, and so now Marinette will twist that to her advantage.

“To serve me is to serve Miraculi,” she says, voice clear and firm so that none may misunderstand her. “On behalf of the citizens I protect, and whom you shall as well, I shall accept if only you swear to them as well.”

There is not even a moment of hesitation. “I swear, Your Highness.”

She would smile had it been in any form appropriate.

“Then let your vow be accepted.” Finally, she takes the sword from him and taps the blade against either shoulder. “Rise, Sir Wayne. May you live long and fight well.”

Once on his feet, he bows to her once more and catches her hand as she returns his sword to him. Then, in front of her parents and all the Court, he presses a kiss against her knuckles and smiles.

Distantly, Marinette comes to the realization that she may have misjudged precisely how much of a handful her new knight shall prove to be.

#maribat #maribatmarch2021 #mlb x dc #daminette #my typewriter

[fridayfirefly]

Sunrise on Gotham

Read Sunrise on Gotham on AO3

Masterlist

Written for Maribat March Day 29 - Wait!

Gotham wasn’t Marinette’s first choice for the location of their class trip. In fact, the grim American city hadn’t even made her top ten list. Marinette wanted to go to Amsterdam, a city rich with history and culture. But when Mm. Bustier announced that a vote for the class trip location would be held, the class voted almost unanimously. After all, Lila’s long-distance boyfriend, Damian Wayne, lived in Gotham. Wouldn’t it be great for Lila to be reunited with him? And Lila traveled so frequently that she had already visited all of the other cities Mm. Bustier suggested. Would it be fair to make her go visit a city she had already been to? Marinette scoffed as she overheard the class discussion. She knew that this was just another one of Lila’s lies, perfectly designed to manipulate the people around her into doing what she wanted.

Marinette kept her mouth shut while her classmates all decided to vote for Gotham. But that didn’t stop her from putting her checkmark next to Amsterdam on the ballots Mm. Bustier passed out. Maybe that would have been the end of Marinette’s bitterness if Lila hadn’t “accidentally” glanced at the ballots on Mm. Bustier’s desk she was leaving the classroom. Marinette could still remember Lila’s sickeningly sweet voice, feigning concern for Marinette, asking why Marinette wanted to go to Amsterdam so badly.

As Marinette scrambled for an answer, Alya turned to her with cruelty in her eyes. “I can’t believe you’re trying to sabotage Lila and Damian’s reunion. You’re so selfish, Marinette.”

Marinette didn’t bother replying - it never helped. As she left the classroom that day, she could see the disappointment in Adrien’s eyes. Her crush on the blonde model had long since faded, and alongside it went the rose-colored glasses she used to see him through, back when they were both thirteen. Now, four years later, all she saw was a selfish boy who cared more about avoiding conflict than actually solving problems.

Four months later, the plane landed in Gotham just as the sun began to rise. As her class walked from the airport to the hotel, Marinette felt herself zone out. Even though it wasn’t her first choice, Marinette could still appreciate the sight that was the Gotham skyline. Looming silver skyscrapers were framed by the gray, cloudy sky. As Marinette took in her surroundings, she began to wish that she could stop and get her sketchbook out. Ideas for a Gotham-themed fashion line popped up in her mind like weeds, and she needed to stop and pick them before she could properly zone back in. Gray was a color she had never properly worked with, which would make incorporating the color a nice way to challenge herself. In her mind, shades of gray instinctively started organizing themselves into the different ways she could pair them together.

“Wait!” A hand grabbed Marinette’s arm, pulling her back. Marinette gasped as she realized that she was about to walk onto the street, straight into traffic. She whipped around to face her savior.

The first thing Marinette noticed was his height. She was used to feeling short, at 5′2″, most people were taller than her. But he seemed to dwarf her. She figured he was 6′0″ at least. The second thing she noticed was the look of concern in his eyes. “Are you okay?” He asked.

Marinette nodded jerkily, trying to control her breathing. Having a panic attack alone in the middle of downtown Gotham would be just about the worst thing for her to do. She was supposed to be Ladybug, the savior of Paris, yet she was so unaware of her surroundings in a completely foreign city that she almost got killed in traffic. “I’m okay, I was just daydreaming,” she babbled, “Usually I’d be more aware of my surroundings, but I just got off of the plane and I’m not used to jetlag.”

The stranger had a bemused smile on his face as he walked her talk. Marinette blushed as she realized how dumb she must look to the handsome stranger. “Your accent, is it French?”

Marinette nodded. “I just got here from Paris. I’m on a class trip.”

“Where’s the rest of your class?”

Marinette looked around, trying to figure out which way her class went, but they were already gone, out of sight. “I’m not sure...” She trailed off. “But I have the address for the hotel on my phone, so I’ll be able to catch up with them there.”

“Gotham is known for being difficult to navigate. I can take you there if you’d like.”

“Sure,” said Marinette, pulling her phone out to check the address. “It’s called the Gotham Grand Hotel. It's on the corner of 7th Avenue and 22nd Street.”

“That’s about twelve blocks away. It’s pretty far. Are you sure you’re up for the walk?”

Marinette nodded. “I’m sure I can make it."

His smile returned as he introduced himself. “I’m Damian, by the way.”

“I’m Marinette,” Marinette introduced herself as Damian led the way.

A moment later, Damian's phone started to ring. He answered it while still walking. "Hello.”

A brief pause, then. “I’m on 4th Avenue, by the Starbucks.” Another pause as he listened to the person on the other end of the phone conversation. “I’m not free right this moment, but I will be in a few minutes." Another pause. "I'm helping someone get around the city. She got a little lost on her school trip, and you and I both know that the city isn't exactly safe when you don't know your way around it."

Marinette was beginning to wonder who exactly Damian was talking to, but she didn't want to be rude and interrupt. Instead, she got her phone out of her pocket and sent a quick text to Alya, telling her that she would be a little late because she got disoriented on the hectic Gotham streets.

"I'll be free until five tonight. Father's insisting that I come and have dinner with the family, and I have my internship afterward, from seven to nine." Another pause, this one longer. "I suppose that would work. I was planning on going out to eat at some point, anyway. I'll just have to ask Marinette if she's okay with it."

Damian put the phone down and turned to face Marinette. "My boyfriend, Jon, offered to pick us both up and drop you off at your hotel on our way to get brunch. If you don't feel comfortable with that, I understand."

"Oh, it's perfectly fine," Marinette assured him.

Damian frowned slightly before replying to his boyfriend. Marinette knew that Damian probably thought she wasn't being cautious enough, but she didn't care. After four years as Ladybug, Marinette was confident that she was capable of taking care of herself.

A minute later, a car pulled up beside them. “This is Jon’s car,” said Damian as he grabbed the door for her.

“Thank you,” Marinette smiled in return as she pulled her suitcase in after her. "Hello, Jon. I'm Marinette."

"Welcome to Gotham, Marinette." Jon leaned past the driver's seat to shake her hand. Marinette noticed that he had a very friendly face: a nice smile and kind eyes. "How are you enjoying the city?"

"It's nicer than I expected, I suppose, but I didn't exactly have high expectations. Gotham has a reputation in Europe for being the worst tourist destination in America."

Damian nodded. "That sounds like Gotham. It'll grow on you, though."

"Like a fungus," added Jon.

"If you say so." Marinette cast a distasteful look out the window of the car at the gray streets.

"Do you have any plans for lunch?" asked Jon.

Marinette shook her head. "Not really. The hotel has a restaurant on the ground floor, but their lunch menu is pretty limited. I'm vegetarian, so my only option is a salad."

"Would you like to come to brunch with us?" offered Jon.

"Are you sure you want me there?" Marinette didn't want to be a third wheel if brunch was supposed to be a date between Jon and Damian.

"Of course," said Damian.

"Alright. I don't think I'll be missing anything if I go with you. Our itinerary keeps us pretty busy at the beginning of the trip, but we were given today to rest up, to help get rid of the jetlag. I switched my sleep schedule a week ago, though, so my body is already running on Gotham time.”

Damian nodded thoughtfully. “Do you want to check the itinerary, just to be sure?”

Marinette shrugged. “It can’t hurt to check it one more time.” She pulled the paper out of her suitcase. “Our class doesn’t have anything planned until tonight. We have dinner at a restaurant called..." Marinette consulted her itinerary, "The Coast, and then we’re seeing Wicked at one of the theaters downtown.”

“I've been to The Coast before with my family. They have very good vegetarian options. It is very expensive for a high school class trip,” Damian noted.

“I go to an accelerated school. The school has a very large budget, due to the amount of tuition, and the number of alumni who give back to the school.” Marinette shrugged, a nervous tick. She didn’t like talking about how much her tuition cost. Even with her 50% scholarship to Francois Dupont, tuition was still a struggle sometimes. Her parents didn’t make that much money from the bakery, and compared to the elite professions of some of her classmates' parents, Marinette was often considered to be poor. It left her feeling out of place, guilty every time she felt embarrassed by her working-class parents.

“That sounds-“

Marinette continued to babble. “I’m grateful for the opportunities that François Dupont gives me. Much more grateful than a lot of my classmates, anyway. Some of them only read the itinerary for the first time on the plane ride to Gotham. One of my classmates, Chloé, threw a fit because she believed that the entire trip would be a shopping spree through Gotham. Other students got mad for other reasons. One of my classmates made some promises that she had no business making - telling everyone that we would be getting way more free time than we were actually given. It’s a shame. I used to love being a part of Mme. Bustier’s class, but everything fell apart after...”

Marinette stopped half-way through her sentence and stared down at her hands as she realized that tears had sprung to her eyes. She felt the red flush of embarrassment begin to overtake her face. "I'm sorry."

"You don't need to apologize. It sounds like you have a lot going on with your class at the moment."

"That's putting it mildly," said Marinette. "It's been... difficult, to say the least."

"Do you want to talk about it?" asked Jon.

Marinette shook her head. "Not really. Even if Gotham wasn’t my first choice for our class trip, I still want to at least try to have a good time.”

“What was your first choice?” asked Damian, a hint of curiosity to his voice.

“Amsterdam,” said Marinette longingly. “But Lila wanted to visit her boyfriend in Gotham, Damian Wayne, so the whole class ignored the fact that Gotham is the most crime-ridden city in America, all so that Lila could visit her boyfriend.”

Damian looked shocked. “Did she say her boyfriend is Damian Wayne?“

Marinette nodded. “Uh, yeah.”

Jon snorted. “I know that you like girls too, Damian, but I figured you would tell me before adding a third to our relationship.”

Damian rolled his eyes, quipping back something just as clever. Marinette was too stunned to listen, as she realized that the rich and powerful Damian Wayne whom Lila claimed to be dating was the same Damian who helped Marinette on the streets of Gotham. Marinette stuttered out, “I didn’t- I didn’t realize that you- you’re Damian Wayne.”

Damian chuckled. “I can tell. I have to admit, I’m not used to not being recognized. I'm pretty famous around Gotham."

“The Billionaire Bisexual Ice Prince of Gotham,” quoted Jon with a grin on his face. “The tabloids love Damian.”

“It’s unfortunate, but it can’t be helped. The tabloids obsess over everything even slightly unconventional, and to them, the bisexual bastard son of billionaire Bruce Wayne is the perfect target. Even more so when he started dating another man.” Damian's voice was smooth, but there was an undercurrent of bitterness to it. Marinette got the sense that he didn't often open up about his relationship, for fear that the media would not be kind about it. Marinette sympathized. Françoise Dupont had been a progressive school: they had a GSA and a no-tolerance policy (not that the policy was ever upheld). She hadn’t been bullied, per se, for being bisexual, but she had experienced the all too familiar feeling of being othered for who she happened to love.

“Nice use of alliteration,” said Jon. His words would have lightened the mood if it wasn’t for the slight strain to his voice.

It was obvious to Marinette that this was a sore subject between the boys. “So how long have you two been dating?” asked Marinette, hoping to lighten the mood.

“Two years, but we’ve been friends since middle school,” answered Jon. “Damian was the world's most uptight twelve-year-old, so I took it upon myself to get him to loosen up. We became friends and everything since then just sort of fell into place.”

“An apt recounting, even if it omitted some pertinent details.” Damian conceded.

“Like what?”

“Like the fact that I was the one to ask you on a date, and you were so shocked that I had figured out that you were bisexual that you dropped the glass in your hand, shattering it,” teased Damian.

“I thought I was being subtle about it,” Jon defended.

Marinette giggled. If she could just spend all of her time with Jon and Damian, rather than her class, she might just have fun on her class trip.

Damian turned to Marinette. “He had a pride pin on his jacket and listened to Carly Rae Jepsen. Subtlety is not, and has never been one of Jon’s string suits.”

Marinette noted that she had a pride pin of her own attached to the front strap of her backpack. Most people never took any note of it - Marinette had quite a few pins on her backpack - but Marinette got the feeling that Damian was aware of it.

"We're here," said Jon, parking the car in front of a little café.

"Café Carlisle has good vegetarian options," Damian assured her as he opened up her car door and helped her out. "They make a superb gourmet grilled cheese sandwich and tomato basil soup. I would recommend it to anyone."

"That's pretty high praise. I get the sense you don't give false compliments."

"I don't." It was a simple answer. Marinette was beginning to get a clearer picture of Damian, who didn't waste unnecessary words but was never afraid to speak his mind.

"Then it had better live up for expectations," teased Marinette.

Damian smiled at her as he held open the door to the restaurant. "It will."

As Damian led Marinette to a booth in the back of the restaurant Marinette caught sight of the reflection of her little group in one of the windows. There was a look on Jon's face that Marinette wasn't sure how to interpret. He had a smile on his face, but it wasn't the joking smile Marinette saw a lot of in the car. It was more of an indulgent smile, giving Marinette the sensation that Jon knew something that she didn't. Marinette wanted to turn around and ask him what it meant, but part of her brain begged her not to ruin this budding friendship before it had even begun.

Marinette had only known Damian and Jon for twenty minutes but already had the strangest feeling that there was a connection between them, some sort of relationship that needed nothing more than a little bit of shown vulnerability to create a deep bond. The only thing Marinette could think to liken it to was love at first sight, but it was beyond that. This wasn't infatuation or obsession (both of which Marinette knew well from her days of crushing over Adrien). This was deeper. This was the knowledge that Damian and Jon had seen her vulnerability and had embraced it, showing vulnerability in their own way. Neither boy had said it out loud, but given that they had both closed themselves off from physical affection as soon as they were in public, Marinette made the assumption that any sort of public display of affection was off-limits to them anywhere that the tabloids could see. It put the fact that they had been incredibly open about their relationship in a new light. It reassured Marinette that she wasn't just imagining their connection. Damian and Jon must have felt similarly about her to be able to talk to her about their relationship.

"Marinette?" Damian spoke her name, snapping Marinette out of her thoughts.

Marinette blushed. "Sorry, I tend to daydream a lot."

Damian smirked. "I'm aware. You almost wandered right into traffic the last time I caught you daydreaming."

Jon stifled a laugh. "What could you possibly be thinking of that would make you so focused that you managed to ignore the traffic right in front of you?"

Marinette launched herself into a spiel about her newest design inspiration, explaining as she went that she was incredibly passionate about fashion and designs and that her designs often had her zoning out for hours at a time. Jon and Damian looked so interested in her explanation that Marinette blushed, not used to having anyone's undivided attention.

Marinette wasn't yet certain where she stood with Damian and Jon in terms of the relationship between the three of them, but she couldn't wait to find out.

@maribatmarch-2k21

#maribat #Damian Wayne #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #daminette #maridami #marinette x damian #MaribatMarch2021 #miraculous ladybug fic #my work

[liquid-luck-00]

When Two Coffee Addicts Unite

Part 1

@maribatmarch-2k21 Day 8: Texting

Ao3 *** Part 2

Okay so this can either be a continuation of Internet Friends or the beginning of something new. But if you want to read this as a continuation of Internet friends then you should know:

The police department is almost as bad as Damocles when dealing with powerful figures. They take the video and audio footage and simply put it in the file. Because at the time Lila still had most or in fact all of the class under her thumb, they all supported Lila’s claim that it was an accident. Lila claims that a sudden dizzy spell struck her, and she fell forwards towards Marinette. And as Mari was already on the edge of the balcony it was an accident. The fact that the file sat in the police department until well after any claim could be valid it wasn’t looked into more. Mari, her friends, and Tim did have backups of the footage, complete records for every interaction with the police, and recorded calls and interactions when dealing with the police. But as they didn’t want to involve the embassy as this would become an international affair they didn’t bother with the case.

That said the police don’t bother with the Miracle Court to avoid work. However, with the Mayor, Medical responders, and the Fire Department all aid the heroes, the police only do the bare minimum.

Marinette’s class has begun to watch Lila, but they didn’t look into her lies because except for this incident it’s just she said she said with occasional ‘injuries’ on Lila. Most of them are wary of Lila but they aren’t converted to Marinette’s side, but there is an increased tolerance between them.

~~~~~~~~~~

Marinette had just sat back at her seat after eating lunch, while the classroom was still empty. There was still half an hour left. Alix, Kim, Nino, Sabrina, and Max walked in as she sat down.

"Marinette you got the time?" Alix called out. They were on somewhat okay terms since Lila’s claims were a total 180 from the Marinette that they have known for forever.

"30 minutes left." she announced looking of her phone and in turn her missed messages.

Tim:

       Mari

       Mari

       Mari

       Nettie

       Marin

       Bean

       Bug

       Marinette

Marinette:

       What's wrong.

Tim:

       I have back to back meetings starting in 3 hrs. until 5.

       and

Marinette:

       Let me guess haven't slept.

Tim:

       Exactly

       Help me please

Marinette:

       How many reports can you send me?

Tim:

       Quite a few

Marinette:

       Send me what you can.

       Review the rest.

       Take a nap!

       And I'll be a little voice during your meeting.

Tim:

       Thanks, I owe you Bean.

Marinette:

I'II hold you to that.

Tim:

       Sent

Marinette:

       Just make sure you wake up.

Tim:

       I make no promises.

       On second thought I don't want to find out how you are mad

She made it through the 15 minutes of class because Lila was akumatized. Lila had burst into the class followed by Alya, Nino, and Adrien. She claimed Mari cornered her in the bathroom and beat her a few minutes ago, showing everyone the 'bruises' on her arms. Chloe handed something to Sabrina who walked up to Lila.

"Oh, you poor thing," Sabrina consoled, Lila only whimpered. "Here this has a salve that helps bruises." She gently took Lila's wrist and wiped a 'bruise' which disappeared instantly.

"That's amazing what is it called?" Alya commented. "I should get some for Nora."

"Make-up remover." Sabrina and Chloe spoke together.

"Besides." Alix butt in. "Marinette's been here the past half hour and hasn't left."

"What?! How do you know?" Lila cried.

"Cause we've been here the whole time with her." Sabrina commented.

Marinette for her part didn't know or hear the conversation around her.

"Marinette. Marinette. Earth to Marinette," Kim shouted.

"Present!" She jolted practically standing. "Wait," she looked around, "class hasn't started."

"What are you hyper fixated on?" Adrien asked innocently.

"Just some reports, don't think you'd like them too much Kit-Kat."

"Fair," he shrugged sitting next to her. "So how were you in two places at once?"

"I can't," her head tilted to the side confusion clear on her face.

"So, if Mari hasn't left, can't be in two places at once, and your 'bruises' came off with make-up remover. How do you explain that Lila?" Adrien around, the class slowly draining their conclusions. However, Marinette spoke up. "She lied, obviously..." she stated having gone back to the reports.

"Um you said that out loud, Cake Pop, and loud at that."

"Huh?" sure enough when she looked around some were shock still, others typed furiously into their phones.

That was when Mrs. Bustier walked in, fifteen minutes late to the class. Which was also when the bandy contained restraint ended. Lila was akumatized, school let out, and the rest of her night went smoothly.

Tim woke up, and with her help survived his meetings. Some while on patrol she would constantly mute and unmute herself. Luckily, it wasn't more than twice, and they didn't run into anyone. Chat didn’t ask questions, figured it out since she was pouring over Wayne documents earlier. Tim would call her back after the private meetings and ended around 10.

At around 11 Tim text her back.

Tim:

      Thanks Bug you saved me today.

Marinette:

      No problem Draco

      You owe me though.

Tim:

      I remember.

      Go to bed it's like midnight over there!

Marinette:

      Yeah Yeah

Tim:

      Ooh

      Congratulations 2x!

Marinette:

      What???

      Please explain.

      Tim

      Tim

      Timothy

      Timothy Drake-Wayne answer me.

      Dragon please

      Ugh fine I'll sleep.

Which is what she did when he wouldn’t answer her.

She woke up the next morning to two emails from W. E.. The first was for a collaboration between W.E. and MDC for a show featuring Wayne Tech accessories and their new climate fabrics. She immediately responded and accepted. The second was that her class was one of two to be accepted as transfer students to Gotham Academy and intern slots at WE, she forwarded that to her teacher and the school.

Marinette:

      You Gremlin

Tim:

      Like I said congrats

      Oh, I need you to give me three names.

Marinette:

      What for?

Her mind was racing at the possibilities.

Tim:

      You'll find out.

Marinette:

      What’s the other school?

Tim:

      Some Prep school in the UK.

Marinette:

      Give me a Sec.

She opened another contact and typed.

Marinette:

      Hey, did you get a spot in the Wayne/GA internship?

Mystery:

      Yes.

      Why?

Marinette:

      Tell the others we are hitting Gotham with style.

Mystery:

      Very well.

Mari then sent three names to him and smiled. This was going to be fun.

Next

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist: @itsmeevie01 @adrestar @miraculouspenta @vixen-uchiha

#maribat #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #dc x miraculous #miraculous x dc #ml marinette #tim drake #platonic timari #timari #adrien agreste #lila salt #maribatmarch2021

[bunathebunny]

in the corner of the eyes

Three times Marinette sees a boy who should be dead and the one time she finally meets him.

For Maribat March 2021 Day 12 - Second Chance

@maribatmarch-2k21

AO3 link

Nightmares are, Marinette has found out, dreams that leave an unpleasant taste on her tongue and a fragile tremble in her heart. They come and go with a pattern that she has yet to pinned down.

Sometimes, there is nothing but the unending darkness accompanying the deadly silence. Sometimes, the ticking of a clock – a bomb, she would always realize, sooner or later. Sometimes, laughter that feels like nails on the blackboard and the barest glimpses of the monster under the human skin.

Sometimes, there are eyes that seem to be the most beautiful shade of blue and green, weary but watching. Sometimes, the heart wrenching coughs that seem to always ring in her ears even hours after waking up with cold sweats and heaving lungs. Sometimes, the unmoving body that would haunt her every time she closes her eyes in the next few days.

This time, she finds herself wandering the empty streets dissimilar to those of Paris. The warm orange light of the streetlamps does nothing much to lighten up the darkened streets.

There is the sudden whispering of foot being dragged against the cement that pauses her steps. The shadows seem to twist and turn before her very eyes, as if stretching out for something.

Or someone, she corrects herself at the approaching shadow of a person.

The suit is dirty, caked with dried mud and torn in several places. The person seems to take note of nothing around, continuing on their way with the aimlessness of someone lost and drifting.

The last thing she remembers before jolting awake is the familiar face that regularly haunts her sleep.

(There are rules about life and death. Those might or might not, Marinette has learned, hold in the dreamscape.

The dead cannot come back to life. And death is a one-way, and permanent, trip.)

-

Gotham grows on her, eventually. It takes time but the streets seem a little bit more recognizable every time she goes out.

This city is, in some ways, similar to Paris. Monsters roam the streets, shadows twisting at the corner of her eyes. This city, in strange ways, feels familiar – as if she has wandered the streets times and times before.

Maybe that is why she finds herself on often trips to Robinson Park – the oasis in the midst of these strange, strange feelings.

Her hostess never seems to mind. Red can be spotted amidst the beautiful green as Marinette strolls through the park, unconcerned of the dangers that might befall any other person.

“This is no place for such a tiny sprout like you,” Ivy tells her, lips quirking up in the faintest ghost of a smile, “Insanity, I heard, is one of the rumored consequences of trespassing.”

She has always laughed at the teasing. Or at least until she is making her way toward Robinson Park in the late afternoon with her shadow behind her back.

The dying light of dusk does not help much with the features of the man standing just before the entrance to Robinson Park. Neither does Marinette spare him any mind, walking a straight line toward the gate with the confidence that she would come to no harm.

It is only when she is passing him that she catches a stray glance at his features.

She is well into the heart of the park when her brain starts working again.

(There are rumors about how extended time around Robinson Park can lead to bouts of insanity – one of the consequences of being in close proximity of a legacy of Dionysus. Ivy does admit to have driven some insane, sometimes just by her mere presence and hardly ever by the power she inherited from Dionysus.

Or maybe that is a sign. That it is time for her to leave Gotham and continue her travel.)

-

Her return to Gotham is a quiet affair and it is fine. She is only there to visit old acquaintances.

Metropolis is a wonderful city, so much different from Gotham. For example, it lacks certain people that Marinette has grown, more or less, attached to.

Besides, the recent news in Gotham is quite a source of worry. The anxiety can be felt from Metropolis.

The hotel that she finds is not the best she can afford but it is close to Robinson Park. They also offer breakfast, which is always a bonus.

From the news she can get her hands on, neither Harley nor Ivy is in Arkham. Yet neither of them has been seen around Gotham.

Going straight into Robinson Park would be foolish for anyone to attempt. But Marinette has never had a great record of doing what is expected of her, has she?

(Ivy is fine. And Harley too, from what she has heard.

Changes are happening. The tides are shifting. According to Ivy, things can either get dirty and bloody or peace will be restored. Or at least the barest resemblance of peace that Gotham knows of.

And as she is turning the last corner to return to the hotel, once again, she catches sight of the familiar ghost that seems so keen of following her around.)

-

Paris is the familiar ring in her bones, calling to her wherever she might be. It is the echoes of warmth that fills her belly with nostalgia as she walks the streets that she had walked times and times in the past.

Wherever one might wander to, they would have to return home. Eventually.

Her parents welcome her back with open arms and relieved smiles. Everything is just as when she left.

She settles back in as easily as if she has never left. It is strange feeling and yet, not the strangest.

And then, the door to the bakery chimes open on a beautiful noon.

Suddenly, she comes face-to-face with the eyes the shade between green and blue and features familiar and yet not, twisted by surprise rather than the agony that she has witnessed countless time in her sleep.

(He left before she could learn his name.

Marinette would have thought of this as nothing but a hallucination if not for the accidental brush of their hands as he paid for the pastries.)

Tagging list: @vroomtaka​

#maribat #maribatmarch2021 #jasonette

[ur-favorite-queer-queen]

New Start

For Maribat March day 15 theme new start

Master List

Marinette was lucky, she could admit that. Not because of the pocket-sized goddess of creation and luck she carried in her purse, but because of where she is. Sure, living with a magical emotional terrorist isn’t ideal, but it’s better than what her fate would have been had she never been found. 

Growing up on the streets of Gotham had been rough to put it lightly. Very lightly. In her time she had seen many good souls come and go, some to their deaths, some to better lives. She was grateful she was the latter, not many she knew had the opportunity she had to have a new start.

In other circumstances, Tom and Sabine would be horrible parents. After all 90 percent of the time they left her to her own devices. However in this case, it’s fine. For one, she was once a street kid, she knows how to take care of herself. And she is also Scarlet Luck, protector of Paris, wielder of the Ladybug miraculous, and newly appointed guardian of the miraculous. So them turning a blind eye to her sudden disappearances did wonders for her. 

All she needed in this life was a roof over her head and some decent food. Having her adoptive parents be bakers was a plus too. 

The only downside to this life was school. Not because she hated learning or the places school provided. No, she loved sitting in the silence of the library and doing her schoolwork or reading a book. And she especially loved the art room, where she found her love of designing and sewing. 

The problem was the people, the staff that mattered to her and her future, were all pushovers and she wasn’t allowed to transfer into Ms. Mendeleiev’s class. Ms. Bustier was the type to let the kids figure it out on their own, rather than step in when she was most needed. And Principal Damocles shouldn’t even be a principal with how much he caves in when it comes to the Mayor’s daughter or Rossi. 

She was thankful, however, that within her first month the students at Francoise Dupont learned not to mess with her. Or speak to her. Or be near her in general. And she was perfectly okay with that. She quite liked her spot in the back with Nathaniel, one of the only people she considered a friend. 

They had a silent agreement, which was to be silent and leave the other alone. Nathaniel would draw while Marinette would sketch and the 2 had each other's backs. Like when Marinette would whisper Nathaniel the answers during English and he would do the same with history. 

He along with Marc, Ondine, Aurore, Mireillie, and Kagami were the only ones she considered friends. Which means they were the only ones that knew why she was so on edge with the Wayne family being in Paris. Not only did none of them know how to control their emotions, but she was sure that Jason Todd-Wayne was bound to be akumatized. Why? Because every kid that was ever on the streets of Gotham knew his story. 

He was street smart, a dork, but most importantly aggressive. On the streets he picked fights with any who tried to cross him, and when he was adopted he fought the rich kids that went to Gotham Academy. That was another thing everyone knew, he hit it big when he got adopted by the billionaire that was Bruce Wayne. While she wasn’t on the street when he was she knew he was trouble. The whole Wayne family was, whether they knew it or not. 

She already had to deal with Chat every battle, she did not want to have to deal with one of the Waynes becoming an akuma. Not only would it cause an international affair considering how important they are to America, but it could get the attention of American reporters and then the Justice League might want to get involved. She didn't want to deal with the Justice League. 

Kagami was the only one brave enough to point out how she might be afraid that people from her hometown were coming to Paris. But she was wrong and Marinette made sure she never brought it up again. Through whatever means necessary.

Now one reason that Kagami was her best friend was because they agreed on something. Never hesitate. If you have an opportunity, take it. Something important that every street kid knows. 

Well here she was, standing in front of her classroom, hesitating. She could hear her classmates talking away, whichever Waynes were here trying to gain control of the situation. She guessed her teacher was either doing something out of the classroom or not bothering to get the class in check. 

With one final wish that today wouldn't be as shitty as she hoped she opened the door. According to Nathaniel she threw it open. 

And she was right, at the front of the classroom were 3 Wayne's trying to get her class to quiet down. Buster was nowhere in sight. 

Since Nino and Adrien were closest to the door they noticed her first, stopping their conversation and trying to 'subtly' stare at her. The others quickly following their lead. All eyes, including the Waynes, were staring at her. Wonderful.

Literally all she had to do was roll her eyes and everyone averted their eyes. It was always like something out of a movie. She made her way up the stairs up to Nathaniel and her seats. Grabbing a couple of macarons out of her bag she handed them over to him before setting her notebook and pencil on her desk. 

It looked like Lila was about to say something, but a glare had her swallowing her words back down her throat. Staring straight ahead she raised her eyebrow at the Waynes that were still staring, wondering if they were going to try and continue what they were originally trying to discuss. 

After a moment the oldest among them started talking again, the other two joined in, however she could tell when they would all cast her glances. She simply acted blissfully unaware, writing notes down for her and Nathaniel while he drew. She had no idea what his grades would be like if it weren't for her. 

-

This whole week had been full of surprises for Bruce. First the League finds out that there has been a magical terrorist in Paris for 3 years that they didn't know about, and these past 3 years children have been fighting him. 

So his family being detectives, they were sent to try and get information on the ‘akuma class’. He wanted it to just be him, Dick, Tim, and maybe Cass, but of course Dick wanted the whole family to come. Try to make a family vacation out of it despite the fact that there was a magical emotional terrorist that they were trying to track down and they needed to keep their emotions in check. He means no offense but that is something neither Jason nor Damian can do. 

But somehow Dick was able to get the whole family to come because only Dick can do that. And now he had Tim and Dick with him to try to talk to the akuma class about a presentation on starting a business a ploy to try and subtly get information out of them. 

They had already done background checks on them all and their families just to be safe and were thoroughly impressed by what they saw. Many of them were gifted in sports, arts, and academics, so perhaps they were just unlucky. 

The only one that concerned him was Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Only Alfred was aware that the girl was from Gotham, she was specifically a street kid. Adopted 6 years ago by Sabine Cheng and Tom Dupain the girl seemed quite bright. She had excellent grades and was in the art club. However he feared what his children might do with this information. And if another reason was because she had black hair, blue eyes, and a guaranteed tragic backstory being from Gotham that set his adoption instincts on fire NO ONE HAD TO KNOW! 

So here he was with Dick and Tim, trying to get this ‘akuma class’ to quiet down so they could start the presentation. The teacher has stepped out of the room to check something with the principal and ‘give them the floor’. She probably wanted to get a reason to escape this class, he might try to get an investigation done on this school and their faculty. 

From what he observed, Marinette seemed to be absent while most of the class had seemed to be paying attention to this one girl with brown hair in a sausage hairstyle, Lila Rossi, a pathological liar, although the class didn’t seem to know that. All except a redheaded boy in the back, Nathaniel Kurtzberg, a pink haired girl on the second row, Alixandra Kubdel, and a boy with a green shirt and glasses on the third row, Maxton Kante. There was also a blond boy, Adrien Agreste, who seemed to be listening to what the girl was saying with a fake smile he knew all too well. Poor boy. 

His sons weren’t having much more luck trying to gain the attention of the class. The redhead looked to be drawing, the green shirt and glasses boy was working on what appeared to be a robot, while the pink haired girl was on her phone. Every once in a while it seemed like she sent them a sympathetic glance, the other two boys too involved in what they were doing to give them any sympathy. 

Just as he was sure his kids were about to reach their breaking points in walked the one person he hoped not to see. She slammed the door open and suddenly the whole class quieted down immediately. Now his sons were looking at her as well. She couldn’t have been more than 5’3 and she was only 16, yet she managed to silence this whole class just by appearing. 

The class also seemed to be staring at her before she rolled her eyes and they all averted their gazes. It was one of the most movie-like things he had ever witnessed. 

She walked up the steps to the back, with each step she seemed to command attention before digging into her bag and handing Nathaniel who had once been doodling a bag of macarons. He seemed to appreciate them as he gave her a small smile before proceeding to munch on one. 

Lila who had once had the attention of the class seemed to be fuming now that the attention was off of her. It seemed like she was about to say something but stopped when she caught sight of the glare Marinette was giving her. 

Marinette then proceeded to turn her attention to him and his sons, raising an eyebrow as if to ask if they were going to start. Out of the corner of his eye he could see his sons exchange a look he knew all too well, before starting the presentation. And if he or his sons casted looks over to Marinette one too many times, no one noticed. 

Bonus - 

“WE FOUND A NEW WAYNE!” Dick shouted, far too happy with his discovery. 

“Tt, what are you on about Grayson?” Damian scoffed, curiosity and jealousy bubbling in his mind at the thought of a new Wayne. 

“There’s a girl in the akuma class, Marinette Dupain-Cheng. She had black hair and blue eyes, both things needed to be adopted by Bruce.” Tim stated. 

“Does she have a tragic backstory?” Jason jokingly asked. 

“Do not look up anything on Ms. Dupain-Cheng. She has a family and I will not be adopting her. Am I clear?” Bruce demanded, waiting for everyone to agree before going to take a shower. 

“Babs?” Cass questioned, knowing the girl had to have found something. 

“Looking,” Babs replied, “Oh.” She stopped typing and just stared at the screen. 

“What’d you find?” Steph asked the question they were all wondering from Babs’ unusual reaction. 

“Guys,” Babs started, turning the screen to face them, “She’s from Gotham.” 

And from there all hell broke loose.

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

Inspired by this post I saw a while back: 

Marinette being a street kid from Gotham but had no previous connection to any of the Waynes was intriguing so I did it. I’m probably going to do a backstory chapter later on, just unsure which day I’ll do it on. 

Of course yesterday I was early so today I was late. The universe needs its balance. So sorry for the late post guys, I blame the universe. 

@maribatmarch-2k21

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #maribat march #new start #will do another chapter #promise #just unsure when #past street kid Marinette

[verymuchimmortalcat]

Maribat March Day 25: School Dance

ao3

@maribatmarch-2k21 

Marinette was sitting on the front steps of Collège François Dupont, staring out at the city of lights in all its glory. She had left the courtyard, where the dance was happening in exchange for some silence. Not that she minded her friends’ exuberance but Marinette wasn’t in the mood the listen to Ladybug this and Ladybug that. The dance was more of a welcome party for the exchange students they had from Metropolis. After Hawkmoth’s defeat, in an attempt of showing goodwill between France and the U.S. they were hosting an exchange programme. Metropolis was picked with it being the home of Superman.

The Dance had been great, the Girls had all come together to plan their outfits. Unsurprisingly, they were hero themed. Subtly, but they were still hero themed. Marinette had used the same colour schemes, the Kwamis had also provided lots of input. She had spent days arguing with Alya about dressing up with a Ladybug theme. Alya thought Marinette would look extremely like Ladybug but Marinette was not going to risk her identity for this, so she reminded Alya of the picture of the mouse hero that had been caught in the security footage of the TVi building. So, Marinette had ended up going in a poufy light grey dress with pink and white designs covering it, a Marinette original obviously. But she had joined the others on their several shopping trips. (Rose and Juleka had ended up with Carapace and Rena Rouge themed outfits, Marinette had taken a picture of the actual Carapace and Rena Rouge’s reaction and sent it to Adrien. He replied with a crying laughing emoji.)

Marinette had not been there during the day when the students from Metropolis had arrived, she could have easily gone and introduced herself but if she had to talk to one more person about Ladybug Marinette would go home.She had told Alya that she was tired and she’d be outside if anyone needed her and had left before she could be interrogated.

Her train of thought was broken by a boy who had walked out, he had black hair and the most beautiful blue eyes under his glasses. He seemed to be looking around. He finally spotted her and walked towards her, “hi, I’m Jon Kent. I'm looking for Marinette Dupain-Cheng, you are her, right?”

“Yup. You’ve got the right Marinette. Nice to meet you Jon. You’re one of the exchange students, right?”

“Yeah. Actually, um, Alya asked me to talk to you about the schedule and said that you were outside.”

Marinette groaned, “She could have called me, not sent you looking.”

“I might not have waited.”

Marinette laughed then, surprising both herself and Jon.

“I have the schedules printed out, they’re in my locker. We can go now if you want.”

“That would be great. I’m sorry for bothering you.”

“It’s ok,” at his look of doubt she added, “really, it wasn’t like I was doing anything anyway.”

“If you don’t mind me asking but why were you sitting out there all alone when there’s a Dance going on?”

“I don’t mind. It’s just it gets too much sometimes. We’ve been under the control of a man who exploits our emotions for years now. It’s sort of tiring in a way to deal with emotions anymore.”

His mouth formed a soft oh, “I’m sorry.”

“For what? None of this is your fault, and we’ll get used to the new normal eventually.”

“Talking about it can’t be nice though.”

“Talking about emotions is never nice.”

Jon laughed and said, “you remind me of my friend, he has a similar habit.”

That was interesting. “Did he come along with you?”

“He goes to a different school, so he couldn’t join us.”

“Oh. He sounds interesting, it’d be nice to meet him.”

.oOo.

Their conversation halts as they reach the locker rooms. Marinette opens her locker and takes out the schedules she had printed. Going through the names until she finds Jonathan Kent, she hands him his schedule.

“Thank you.”

“You’re welcome. Have any sight seeing plans for your stay in Paris?”

“The Eiffel tower and maybe a few more places.”

“Cool. Oh- me and my friends are going to Place des Vosges tomorrow, you could join. I think you’d get along great with them. If you have no other plans that is. We’ll have loads of fun”

“I don’t have plans, you’re sure your friends will be fine with me tagging along?”

“Of course. We’re going after school tomorrow. We’ll probably meet up at the Bakery-“

“Bakery?”

“Right, I missed that. My parents own the Bakery nearby we usually take some sweets before we go anywhere so it kinda became our meeting spot.”

“That’s sweet.”

She groaned, “please tell me that was accidental.”

He blinked in confusion and then he realised he had punned accidentally and laughed. “That was an accident.”

“Thank God, I can’t deal with anymore punners in my life.”

“Oh?”

“My papa and best friend both love stupid puns. It’s going to kill me someday soon.”

“It can’t be that bad.”

“It is, anyways who’re you staying with you can just tag along with them to the Bakery tomorrow.”

“Nino Lahiffe.”

“Great,” she said instantly brightening. Jon chuckled at her cuteness. “He’ll be coming tomorrow so that won’t be an issue. Do you mind if I add your number to my contacts?”

“Nope,” taking her phone he added his contact. Handing the phone back to her, the two of them head back to the courtyard.

.oOo.

She had lots of fun with Jon, he was sweet and funny. Alya had wiggled her eyebrows at her when the two of them had returned. Marinette ignored her and proceeded to talk to Nino and Jon.

She had returned home an hour ago. Once she had gotten ready for bed and Tikki had fallen asleep, Marinette took her phone and opened up the contact that Jon had saved as his in her phone, she sent him a text.

Marinette: Hey Jon!

Marinette: This is Marinette…just wanted to let you know that this is my number

Marinette: Good Night!

A moment later her phone buzzed with a notification.

Jon: Thank you Marinette!

Jon: Good Night!

Marinette smiles and puts her phone down.

Little does she know it’s the start of a beautiful love story.

Jon's totally there because Batman thought he could use the exchange programme as an excuse to get more information on the parisian heroes. Adrien's in London with his aunt because its after Hawkmoth's defeat.

#maribatmarch2021 #maribat #ml x dc #marijon #my writing