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liquid-luck-00 · 2 months

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Red Binding 1

Maribat March Day 1: Origins

@maribat-calendar-events @maribatserver

Trigger for implied neglect, blood, and violence towards a minor

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Marinette was, what most would consider a normal, happy, child. But that was far from the truth.

She was ten when she finally noticed something was off.

Her parents as much as she loved them and they said that they loved her. Never made time for her. Never asked more than how was her day, so she would ramble about anything and everything. She never had a curfew and her parents never seemed to worry. That's when the bullying began.

She was eleven when she recognized that the bakery was the top priority and not her.

Her school life was in shambles. Her friendships were strung by a thread, with even a whisper from Chloé, they would abandon her.

So when a small box appeared in her room, at the age of twelve, and from it a small red creature asked her to leave with them she agreed. They talked for hours, extending for days (a bit over a week in total), before she was truly good and ready to leave Paris. They spoke about their lives (existence in Tikki’s case), the powers and responsibilities that would be placed upon Marinette, but most of that time they enjoyed one another’s presence.

The creature listened to her, actually listened to what she had to say, gave her a choice, so she agreed to follow the creature.

In the middle of the night she packed a small bag and stood in the center of her room. "Are you ready, Marinette?" The creature, Tikki they called themselves, chirped. "As much as I can be." She looked the creature in the eyes and everything spun. It felt as if she was floating, or not, as she slammed onto the stone floor.

When she stood up, she dusted herself off and looked around. She was in a well kept garden, the air was thin, but the moon was bright over head.

"ལགས་སོ། ཁྱེད་རང་ཕེབས་བྱུང་།" A voice startled her as she jumped from the sound.

"Who are you?" She questioned. "Where am I?"

The man was still, he didn't seem to hear her, or maybe he didn't understand.

"ང་དང་མཉམ་དུ་ཤོག" The man turned and walked into a building that looked like some sort of temple. She stood there staring where the man used to be before he turned back. His even strides carried him right to her. "ངས་རང་ཉིད་ལ་བསྐྱར་ཟློས་མི་བྱེད།" The man's tone surprised her, she jumped to her feet, following him at a brisk pace.

Lanterns lit the walls of the hall, no doors or even windows could be seen. The two of them walked in silence for what seemed a half hour, but she couldn't tell. She tried to remember the path, but there were too many turns and steps to remember.

They stopped at an ornate circular red door, that was roughly twelve meters in diameter. Golden knots were carved expertly into the wood.

He stepped aside as if she was supposed to do something, but she didn't know what. So Marinette stepped forward and placed a hand on a golden vein.

A flash of golden light erupted from where her hand touched the wood, as it swung open on silent hinges.

She had turned away, in an attempt to shield her eyes.

"Welcome, child." A voice from inside was warm and she stepped forward.

She wanted to say something but thought better. Yes she understood this new voice, but the man before she still has no idea what he said. She just followed him and he led her here.

"Do not fear to speak child." The voice came from everywhere, echoing through the large cavern. What looked like an island garden sat in the middle. A giant oak tree with flowers blooming in complete darkness sat at this center. Chimes rang thought the branches without any wind.

"Who are you?" She finally asked, voice small, as she looked around. "Where am I?"

Chimes rang almost resembling laughter. "I am known as the supreme. As to where you are, you are with the Order of Miraculii, my child of creation."

"Order? Creation? Where is Tikki?" She started rambling questions in the hopes of at least one being answered.

"All will be answered in time." Chimes once again filled the cavern.

"སུའུ་晗་ང་ཚོའི་ན་གཞོན་སྲུང་མཁན་ལ་བཀའ་སློབ་གནང་རོགས།"

"ཁྱོད་ཀྱིས་བཀའ་གསུང་གནང་བ་བཞིན་དུ་ངའི་བླ་ན་མེད་" The man spoke with a bow, before placing a hand on her shoulder and leading her out of the cavern.

He led her to a room that was somewhere deep in the temple, at least she assumes it is. The room was simple, a four poster bed sat against the far wall. A desk was set next to it with a bookshelf that was carved into the wall above it. A dresser was next to the door, and a thick rug was spread underfoot.

"Tikki."

"Yes." The little god appeared in front of her with a poof.

"What’s going to happen now?"

"There is a lot for you to learn, but for now rest. The morning will come soon."

•••

Jason didn’t know why he left that night.

Scratch that he knew exactly why.

Bruce and Dick were arguing again, and no matter where he was at the manor he still heard them. But it wasn’t them it was Cathrine and Willis fighting for the uptenth time. So he did what he always did, he snuck out.

He was running roof tops trying and failing to get the voices out of his head. The weather was starting to change and a sludge of rain and snow fell around him. If only…

He shot out to grapple to the next building but with the semi frozen and slick exteriors the hook slipped. He began to free fall, as the line retracted, and everything was quiet. He heard his heart flutter then a sharp click. The line was back and he shot it again, this time it landed. He was yanked and thrown into a graceful arc before landing on another roof.

He stood in the middle of the high rise roof. Completely soaked but he didn’t care, he just wanted to stay in this quiet for a little while longer. He sneezed, breaking him from his stupor, sure the suit helped keep him relatively dry, but it didn’t do much for the cold, less still for his head that was completely out to the elements.

He kicked a few rocks that were strewn in the roof in an attempt to warm up, but stopped when some sort of metal glinted underfoot.

He reached down and found a ring, and when his fingers wrapped around the metal a flash of green illuminated the rooftop.

"Finally!" A nasally voice echoed around him. "I thought you were never going to notice it."

"Who are you?" He half whispered half yelped. "Show yourself." He reached for a batarang.

"No need kitten." A tiny cat like creature floated up to his eye level. "Names Plagg, and you are?"

He didn’t answer, he’ll he didn’t know if this was real or if he might actually be asleep. He gripped the batarang, feeling as it sliced through his glove straight to his hand.

"Not asleep." He whispered to himself. "So what are you?" He attempted to poke the creature with his finger, but it easily evaded him. It took hold of the ring and dropped it on to his finger.

"I am a kwamii, specifically of chaos and destruction." They puffed their chest, watching as the ring emanated a soft glow before it stopped. "And you are my kitten."

"I’m not your anything." He didn’t want to be involved with magic, it only seemed to cause problems, if the reports Bruce had was anything. "It started with that ring, right?"

"Yes an…" He didn’t let him finish speaking, he tried to pull the ring off, but it was gone.

"What did you do?" His attention snapped to the supposed god, or whatever it was.

It was about to say something when his vision started to blur. Something heavy slammed into his head. He felt himself starting to crumple forward, laughter ringing behind him.

When he woke up, Jason was tied and laying face first in a dingy old storeroom or maybe a warehouse. There wasn’t much light except for three industrial lights towards the center of the room. And under the furthest one was the silhouette of a person.

"Is the birdie awake?" The voice was tinged with laughter, it sent chills down his spine. He knows who that voice belongs to.

I’m sorry.

"Let’s have some fun now!" Joker came into his view and then he noticed the item in his hand, but he couldn’t stop him. The crowbar swung down and it connected with his upper arm. He was thrown into a box to his right. The next hit was to his stomach, as he coughed up blood.

I’m sorry. He heard again, but Joker didn’t react to it. So he knows Plagg is in his mind.

Stop apologizing and talk. He thought, and he did.

Plagg told him a story. He tuned out best he could, but it was difficult whenever he would be thrown around. It even felt like Plagg was holding his breath at times, waiting for his attention to continue.

"Well it’s been fun, Boy Blunder, but you should go to bed. Don’t forget to brush your teeth and say hello to the Big Bad Bat." He left him there in a heap on the floor, a ringing his ears silenced everything except for Plagg.

"Come on, get up! Please!" He saw Plagg flying in frantic circles over a box.

"There is a bomb, and…" Plagg placed two paws on his forehead before flying back, to where the bomb must be. "You will live, Kitten, I swear it."

A flash of green and black rolled over him, yet the blast of air did however destroy the building they were in. But he saw Plagg fly back to him. He felt him curl into his hair, his purring rhythmic, as he began to loose consciousness.

"What a waste." He felt someone turn him over. Changing the path of the blood on his face to stream into his mouth. It tasted like iron, and dirt, and it burned his throat. "I will see you when you awaken."

His world went black, Plagg’s put was a constant rumble. The next time he opened his eyes it was dark, Plagg was on his chest staring at him, his green eyes glowing in the dark.

Steady breaths kitten. Plagg’s voice echoed in his mind, as he tried to explain what was happening. You’re in a coffin.

"How!?" He began to panic, but Plagg began purring which calmed him.

You need to stay calm, you can get out. Focus my power.

I don’t know how. He thought, not risking wasting the little air he had.

The ring on your finger is a focus for power. Do you feel the space my presence takes up within your mind?

He searched concentrating on Plagg’s voice and presence in his mind. Yes.

Good. Now pull that towards the ring. He pulled at it but there was a resistance, like a rubber band being stretched too far.

Slowly. He made the connection and his palm glowed with a faint black and green light. Now touch the area in front of you.

He did and as soon as he did the rubber band snapped back. But a hole big enough for him to pass though was above him, along with a foot of dirt above it. He was tired but he tried again. It was harder this time, but he managed. He touched the top of the dome, but only a few inches disappeared this time. He was about to try again when Plagg stopped him.

Don’t kid! You’re exhausted. Channeling magic requires energy along with training it, like any other muscle. We have to dig the rest of the way.

Fine. He huffed.

The ground was wet and soft from all the rain. But he knew if he didn’t hurry that would be an obstacle. It was starting to freeze. That’s how he knew he was getting close to the surface. Plagg had been moving the dirt into the casket, allowing him to stand. Yet he flew up to him this time with a broken piece of wood, and he knew just what he needed it for. He finally broke through the surface and pulled himself up. He laid back, legs still in the hole, but he stared at the cloudy sky, taking giant gulps of air.

"I knew you could do it, Kitten." Plagg stiffened and his hackles rose before disappearing. Guard yourself.

What do you mean?

"You were quicker than I thought." A feminine voice carried through the cemetery. He stiffened, knowing what Plagg was warning him of. "Now let us be off."

Someone grabbed him and he tried to fight them, but he was exhausted and they weren’t.

~~~~~~~~~~

Permanent Taglist:

@jennifer-rose123 @toodaloo-kangaroo @joydone07 @mizzy-pop @starling218 @crystalqueertea

#maribat #Maribat March 2024 #Plagg is actually helpful #maribat Tom and Sabine salt #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #dc x miraculous #miraculous x dc #maribat marinette #maribat jason todd #Mari was originally kidnapped by the Order so this would have been a villain origin #but I didn’t think it would have fit with Jay maybe Damian or even Bruce

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ggomos-maribat · 2 years

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arranged marriage daminette but instead of being lovey dovey they're just chill about it but they never tell anyone

like one day mari goes "oh my husband likes this shade of green" and adrien's like "ur husband??? you're married??" and mari doesn't even bat an eyelash, "yeah i got kidnapped by assassins and was forced into a magical blood-bound marriage contract with their heir. we meet like a few times a year to clobber each other with swords and sewing needles. pretty fun."

meanwhile, the batfam can't figure out if damian's joking about his wife or not because there is no way he made it all up just to mess with them

also dami would just randomly go "i miss my wife"

"YOUR WHAT-"

#maribat #maribat prompts #mlb x dc #dc x mlb #miraculous x dc #maribat fic #daminette #maridami #i know there are fics that are kinda like this #but i need them to be extra nonchalant #Mari: *strolls inside the manor* HONEY IM HOME #other batboys: who r u??

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jun-03001 · 1 year

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Tim as a black cat miraculous user 💚

#maribat #mlb x dc #mlb x batman #miraculous x dc #timinette #izzy gave me the idea and now it’s stuck in my head

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adeva-eira · 1 year

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Ladybug(to her com): Tikki, call Daddy.

Nightwing: What? You still call your Dad 'Daddy'?

Jason(via com): Heya Pixie!

Nightwing: o-o

Ladybug: ôwô

#dc x miraculous #maribat #marinette x batfam #miraculous x dc #miraculoustalesofladybugandcatnoir #marinette dupain cheng #jasonette #dickinette #nightwing #dick grayson #miraculous ladybug #merry fucking christmas #dc fanart #batfam #jason todd #red hood

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justrandomfanfictionskh · 6 months

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(Almost every Maribat fic I read has the akuma class going to Gotham. But tell me which is more likely, a class touring the city of crime, or a class touring the city of lights? So here it is, the Daminette fic that only I asked for, where Gotham goes to Paris, and the poor students have to grapple with the fact that they have competition for the most dangerous city in the world. I wonder what will happen?)

Taglist @tails-and-scales @the-ghost-trader @kanamexzeroyaoifangirl @the-dumber-scaramouche @yoonjae20 @robyalix @iglowinggemma28 @taewinterbear95 @heretopasstimebi @littleblue5mcdork @quotesandanime @komatsuna-yuki @attractivemyfoot @deathssilentapproach-blog @vel-vee @vixen-uchiha @lady-bee-fechin @qualityhistorygamingwinner @its-maemain @meira-3919 @raven-ette @doglover82 @plz-excuse-my-inner-gay @laurcad123 @crazylittlemunchkin @iamablinkmarvelarmy

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subacctformaribat · 11 months

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A Challange Worth Takeing On!

It has been four years since Hawkmoth’s defeat (Chat gave up his Miraculous after the defeat and then disappeared) and Marinette traveled to Gotham to get away from her past. After Hawkmoth’s defeat Marinette, being the guardian of the miraculous, decided to take the miraculous elsewhere(and also get away from Lila and her old friends). Where she found herself was in Gotham where she met a tall dark haired boy that she now calls her Husband, his name is Damian Wayne. Now after three years of marriage (even though Damian’s brothers still don’t believe that their younger brother could find love and keep a girl long enough to marry) Marinette and Damian now have another challenge ahead of them.

This is one challenge that they both are new too but won’t be as hard as fighting a villain and one that will bring much joy to them both and the family.

Marinette is four months pregnant and the only person who knows that are the Kawmis and Damian the challenge they have is that they have still yet to tell either of their families and still live in the Wayne manor which was quite a feat to keep the news from Alfred and Bruce for as long as they have. Damian and Marinette found out in the first month of her being pregnant and have kept it a secret for three months ,and now they have to tell their families before they find out for themselves and have to deal with another mess. The reason they have kept it a secret is because they wanted a chance to prepare for the smothering of the family once they found out about the soon to be new addition to the family.

Which brings us to now where they have gathered the family in the dining room full of shenanigans and two expecting parents wondering if they should keep their secret or not.

XXXXX

“Hey little D why does pixie pop look like she is about to run away , did you finally scare her off.”Jason teased

“No Todd, if anything would deter my Angel it would be you being rambunctious ” Damian glared at Jason.

Tim decided to pop up in the conversation a little intrigued by Damian’s response “Why would us being rambunctious be the cause when she has never been bothered by it before unless you are hiding something from us?”

“Yeah baby bird , ‘Nette has been avoiding seeing anyone besides Sabine, Alfred , or Bruce for about three months now!” Dick exclaimed

Marinette decided now was a good time to speak up and give a glare to her three brother-in-laws “ I have not been avoiding anyone Dick , I was simply protecting myself from being in a crushing hug or someone crashing into me”

From that the room went silent as everyones’ worries began to grow as this was an unusual statement from the girl.

Everyone was worried about their favorite little designer and demon tamer wondering if she was injured somehow or if something bad happened.

Sabine was the first to speak “ are you okay honey why are you avoiding crushing hugs?”

Her mother was properly worried because she knew her daughter was never one to shy away from hugging a family member.

“Well mamma the reason why Dami and I have stayed after the monthly dinner and joined everyone in the living room this time around is because we have big news for everyone.”Mari said

***Damian’s family and Marinette’s family have a monthly dinner to catch up and whatnot with each other , then they usually gather in the living room after to play games or to try and embarrass one another ,which it was usually the latter so Marinette and Damian did not hang around after dinner often.*****

Jason popped up and said “ You're not finally leaving demon spawn are you?”

Damian was about to retort to Jason when Marinette jumped up and yelled at Jason, surprising and worrying Damian due to how fast she got up ,and the others worried due to her actually yelling at all.

“No, Jay, I will not be leaving Dami as I am four months pregnant and don’t enjoy you calling the father of my unborn child demon spawn!” (that nickname always hit a cord with Marinette and she has not corrected it but she is hormonal due to being pregnant and just sort of lashed out at Jason)

“Angel! You should not get up so fast! You could hurt yourself and our baby!”,Damian scolded

Mari for her rashness and that did not go unnoticed by the family and put it away to tease him about it later for when he was not around Marinette. Which was wise on their part as they did not want to aggravate the pregnant Mari more.

After they got over the shock of Mari yelling at Jason and Damian scolding her they finally let what was yelled at Jason to sink in!

#maribat #maridami #daminette #wote fic no editing #wrote long time ago #might not finish #A Challange Worth Takeing On!#pregnant Mari #dc x mlb #miraculous x dc #miraculous ladybug x dc #you don't have to read

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marsrize · 9 months

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The unexpected stepfather

I have this idea in mind:

We've already seen Bruce have so much love interest. What if Talia got married, too? Why does she have to stay faithful to Bruce? There are other men on Earth than this guy…

So I thought: what if Adrien Agreste became Damian's stepfather?

*****

I can just see the kid's face when he gets an invitation to the mansion: he's invited to his mother's wedding to a guy he didn't even know existed.

He decides to confront his mother.

Talia simply explains that he's the one who cut her off first. She had tried to talk to him about it, but he was never around to listen.

Damian then meets his mother's future husband. He comes face to face with a Golden Retriever. The guy is kind, extremely polite and smiles. WHAT'S WRONG WITH THIS GUY? Even Jon isn't that cheesy! Most important : How on earth did his mother fall in love with such a guy? He was the antithesis of his father.

Damian decided this guy was a murderer in disguise who had brainwashed his mother. He was determined to prove it. So he stayed with his mother for a while. He informed his father beforehand, but told him he'd take care of the problem himself. Bruce wasn't sure, but decided to trust his son.

Three months later, the wedding took place. Damian was present. He informed his father that he needed more time.

It's almost the end of the year. Damian still hasn't returned. Bruce decides to go and see what's going on.

He discovers that Damian is still with his mother. Even more intriguing, he's getting on well with Talia's new husband.

Bruce needs to investigate this new guy. His son is in danger.

So…. What happened?

#adribat #dc x miraculous #maribat fic #maribat #miraculous x dc #mlb x batman #dc x mlb #mlb x dc #maribat fanfic #miraculous x batman

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kawaiichibiart · 2 months

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...*sighs* Miraculous x DC AU where instead of being left out, Adrien actually fights and helps defeat his dad, but that doesn't matter because people still want someone to blame and who better than the villain's son? Because obviously he must of known, who cares if Ladybug is giving him an alibi, he probably paid her to say that.

It gets to a point where he can't stand to stay in Paris, let alone France, so he says fuck it and leaves after ending his relationship with Marinette because honestly he just can't be in a relationship right now. He doesn't even pay attention to where his plane ticket is going, so long as it's far away, that's great.

Queue a long flight and he's in America. Specifically Gotham City. He makes do with what little he took with him and eventually he decides to transform again.

But he decides to leave Chat Noir behind. And he wasn't going to be Catwalker again. It was time for a new cat to arrive: introducing, Matagot. And who happens to stumble upon him while he's out an about in a new costume? One Catwoman, who decides to take him under her claws.

Time goes by and Gotham has gotten used to Catwoman's new partner in crime. The cat and her kitten are as well known as the bat and his birds/baby bats.

Well, imagine Batman's surprise when the Parisian hero he'd agreed to help train (under Wonder Woman's insistence/orders) tells him about her old partner, Chat Noir. How she knew who he was outside the mask, how he disappeared after being hounded for months on end, how she didn't know where he was but she was hoping, maybe he (Batman) could help her find him?

He eventually tells her about a new vigilante who had appeared in Gotham a while back. A catboy who went by Matagot. Catwoman found him first and took him in. No one knew where he was from, he just showed up one day. Then he shows her a picture of Matagot, and Ladybug feels her heart clench.

Because despite the costume change, despite having black hair with a green sheen to it, despite him having a mask that covered the lower half of his face whilest makeup covered the upper half, despite everything, she could recognize her partner. Her kitty. Her friend. Chat Noir. Adrien. She can only hope that he's willing to talk to her if they see each other.

#miraculous #miraculous x dc #miraculous dc au #miraculous au #adrien agreste #chat noir #cat noir #marinette dupain cheng #ladybug #batman #catwoman #dc

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duskyashe · 9 months

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I DID MARIBAT/DAMINETTE ART FOR THE TTT EVENT THE MARIBAT SERVER RAN THE PAST WEEK and COMPLETELY FORGOT TO POST IT Ó⁠╭⁠╮⁠Ò Luckily, I posted everything in the server and that counted for the event, so now I'm just playing catch-up (⁠；⁠^⁠ω⁠^⁠）This post will have everything I submitted for the TTT event for convenience sake lol

The two drawings at the top and the two just above are my Fae!Daminette au portraits, I spent a day and a half on them and I'm really proud of how they turned out (⁠ ⁠ꈍ⁠ᴗ⁠ꈍ⁠)

Next, I did Dickinette, Jasonette, and Timari as silhouettes/shadow couples, doing various couple-y things. I also did Daminette again, but theirs is a bit more special (⁠｡⁠•̀⁠ᴗ⁠-⁠)⁠✧

I have three versions of Daminette's silhouette/shadow couple piece, simply because I couldn't decide which one liked better ╮⁠(⁠＾⁠▽⁠＾⁠)⁠╭

I also submitted some screenshots from an upcoming vampire!Jasonette fic that may or may not count, but it wasn't finished in time to post, so that'll be coming out some time soon ¯⁠\⁠_⁠༼⁠ ⁠ಥ⁠ ⁠‿⁠ ⁠ಥ⁠ ⁠༽⁠_⁠/⁠¯

And that's all, folks! Have a good morning/day/night!

#maribat fanart #maribat #ttt2023 #dickinette #jasonette #timari #daminette #digital fanart #dc x mlb #miraculous x dc #dusky draws

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tinybriewrites · 2 years

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Parfum - 1

"A triple quad black eye but make it ristretto," Marinette mumbled with her eyes half closed, thrusting a ginormous tumbler into the hands of the aghast cashier.

She stumbled her way to a counter seat and promptly collapsed onto the marble surface. The chill of it was sharp enough to keep her on the knife-edge of lucidity while waiting for her dose of sweet, unforgivable addiction.

A chuckle rang through the vacant shop amidst the whirring of the espresso machine.

"Didn't think there'd be a free range one of you nutcases out there," a baritone voice said with undisguised mirth.

Normal Marinette would've ignored the weird voice. Normal Marinette was smart, usually. Even Sleepy Marinette knew better than to jeopardize everything. Unfortunately, the only Marinette left running the show was One-Foot-Into-A-Grave-Slash-Coma Marinette.

And this Marinette was a downright idiot.

She opened a striking blue eye for a moment before turning the other way and mumbling, "...Ngh bad stranger."

"Name's Julian. Not a stranger now, am I?"

Marinette's current slower-than-a-turtle brain took a hot second to process the words and string them together before slurring out, "Mah-ree-nettie," squinting at Julian afterward like a satisfied housecat.

"Well, Nettie, what brings you to Gotham? Secret Wayne? You have the looks for it, that's for sure." The barista couldn't help but let out a snort at that. If there was anything Gotham was known for, it must be the gaggle of black-haired blue-eyed children with wildly tragic backstories.

Marinette slow-blinked like a lagging computer at Julian before sluggishly reaching to the top of his head.

"Flatcap."

"It's Paper Boy Day, y'see."

"...Weird."

"Kid, this dude's one of the resident crazies. This," the barista gestured to all of Julian, "is what happens when you live here too long. God knows, the air here reeks of insanity."

"Don't forget the water too," Julian snickered.

He eyed her up and down before adding, "And you, kid, scream visitor. Your outfit is drab enough to pass for a gargoyle here, but your scent— It's a dead giveaway. You smell too nice to be here. All lavender and cinnamon and puppies."

Before Marinette could begin to muster up a response, the barista came back and placed her filled-to-the-brim tumbler down with practiced caution.

Marinette cared not for anything but her preferred dose of insanity, immediately gulping down the still steaming drink to the resigned and amused eyes of the duo.

"Even after all that, not even a hint of hesitation, huh? Just like that Tim kid, I swear."

"Uncannily so, indeed."

Three straight minutes of inhaling the more-caffeinated-than-should-be-legal drink later, Tired-As-All-Nine-Hells-But-Still-Pulling-Through Marinette took the stage.

With scrunched brows, she turned to look at Julian then the barista then back to Julian.

"...Wayne?"

Guffawing, Julian replied, "The growing brood of Bruce, Playboy Prince of Gotham. You one of his? Last name Wayne?"

With the caffeine charge belatedly rebooting her critical thinking skills, Semi-Dead-But-Not-Quite Marinette realized how much shit pre-coffee Marinette could have already landed herself in. Idle chatter with strangers was a privilege not granted to a newbie runaway.

"...No. And I- I think I have to go now."

Marinette rushed out of the coffee shop, tumbler clutched like it was her life, under the indecipherable gaze of the odd stranger.

"Hey, Nettie," the barista greeted, moving to make her drink the moment she walked in.

Over the course of a week, Marinette had kept running into the strange man on her coffee runs. After the second meeting, she indulged in the newfound paranoia her journey had encouraged. Under Tikki's disapproving gaze, she casted no less than thirty-seven different spells to be absolutely, beyond any doubt certain that he was in no way a threat to her. Her actions were morally ambiguous, sure, but that coffee shop was the only place in Gotham that didn't stink of corrupted energy.

Marinette could only either take the plunge or go coffee-free, and she's seen how well that would go.

"Hello again, little bean. Need another death drink already?"

Silently acquiescing to that, Marinette admired Julian's newest garb. "...National Bride Day?" she guessed.

He wore an ivory wedding gown, the skirt billowing out around his seat in heaps of tulle and lace. A white camellia rested on his right ear, pinning back part of his flowing blonde wig, pearls hanging from it like a star-lit waterfall.

"Tsk, tsk, Nettie, close but not quite." He bopped her on the head with a bouquet of fake carnations, eyes gleaming with an odd affection. "World Marriage Day, actually."

"What do you think, I'm rocking this one, aren't I?" he wiggled his eyebrows.

Marinette rolled her eyes at his antics. "Felix put it all together, didn't he? You and Mitch together can't measure up to a pinky of his fashion sense."

"How dare you speak to your father like that, young lady!" he gasped in mock offense.

"Thought you called me a Wayne, Jules," Marinette teased back, brow raised.

"You could be both," he joked. "I don't mind being called father-in-law."

"Ju-"

Her righteous indignation was interrupted by the clink of porcelain on marble and the chuckles the barista didn't bother holding back, much to her dismay.

"You- I- Just- No! You guys, no! Felix and I aren't anything even close to that," she exclaimed. But unfortunately for her, her reddening face hid nothing.

"...Sure, kid, sure. But hurry it up, will you? I've got a hundred bucks on the line."

"You bet on me?!"

"I want in. Twenty bucks Felix makes the first move." The barista held out a crisp fifty, adding, "Thirty Marinette avoids him after."

Julian grabbed the bill, pulling up a purse from his fake cleavage.

Before Marinette could protest more, a loud siren blasted from her phone speakers. Her eyes hardened instantly as if a switch was flicked, and without another word, she left like Cerberus himself was on her heels.

By the time Ladybug had arrived on the scene, half of Collège Françoise Dupont was up in flames. Chat Noir was nowhere to be found, but from a cursory glance, the students stayed a distance away from the burning building, seeming neither harmed nor controlled or otherwise affected aside from the bone-deep fright.

"Marinette! Where is Marinette!" the akuma—Manon—screeched.

"We don't know a Marinette," a student cried out in fear of the looming figure.

"Stop. Lying. To. Me!" She flung around her wand-holding arm in her rage of a tantrum.

Staunchly ignoring the rabbit hole of implications of Manon's demands, the heroine came up with her gamble of a plan. Trying to take the most efficient route, she cautiously approached a pastel pink Puppeteer, hand at the ready on her yoyo. From behind the akuma, she nabbed her wand and broke it in half on her knee.

But, nothing changed. Instead, her move only served to incense Manon, not unlike pouring water on sizzling oil.

"LADYBUG!" Manon yelled. "You remember Marinette, right?"

"N-" Ladybug moved to shake her head, but the akuma was quick to cut her off. "You wouldn't lie to me, right? Not you, the perfect sweetheart of Paris, right? Our darling heroine would never lie to a little kid? Right?"

Marinette weighed her options. It was an innocent child versus the entire world. Faith against fate.

Manon stared at her with the same hope-filled gaze she had once had when she wanted her plush dolls. It plunged her into memories she once resolved to forget. It made her weak.

She bit her lip.

"No. I've never heard of a Marinette."

But not weak enough.

"LIAR," she screamed, flinging tiny pink sparks from her fingertips in all directions.

Spinning her yoyo into a shield, Ladybug managed to repel all but one, the littlest of the bunch. But that was enough to damn her.

With its landing point as the origin, it spread from the soles of her feet to the tip of her waist at an alarming speed. The heroine was protected by the magic of the suit, but even through that, she could feel the burn of the pink flame. It was beyond what words could describe. She felt like she was bathing in a hearth straight from Tartarus. She could feel the conflicting magics tearing her apart and putting her back together, tendon by tendon.

In her haze, she could hear Manon roaring out, "If you won't reveal the truth, then just go reveal everything else. Hmph!"

Manon shot out a pink beam from her index finger, but before it could hit her, someone jumped in the way.

Adrien.

Gritting her teeth, Ladybug aggressively blinked her way into focus. Her former friend was in a similar blazing state. His face was deathly pale and covered with a sheen of sweat. His brows were scrunched tight, but still, he held on.

"S-Storyteller! I- I-" he stuttered out, jaw clenched and eyes shut tight.

Looking closer at the school, the brightest flame within came not from the objects set ablaze but from a group of teenagers—her old classmates—writhing in pain on the ground yet unable to escape from the fires of akuma-delivered retribution. They were beneath a fallen column in the innermost part of the building, crawling like worms to hide from the akuma's line of sight.

"I never wanted to be a model." The confession was pulled from Adrien's throat, word by word. "But it's the only I can do to remember maman."

The heroine had seen plenty of gruesome scenes in her time. From a city drowned and silenced to the screams of young children being beheaded, there was no shortage of such scenes in Paris.

But Manon—Storyteller—was a first. She didn't kill, no. She kept everyone alive in a perpetual cycle of torture.

It was cruel.

And it was her fault that this happened at all.

"I have hundreds of pictures of Ladybug on my phone. My... friend says I'm obsessed. I imagine meeting her, dating her, kissing her." Words spilled from Adrien's mouth like air escaping a punctured balloon, and at that, the flames licking at his torso eased an inch.

A sliver of repulsion shot through her at the admission, but she put that aside at her newest theory.

"Manon!" she yelled, shielding Adrien behind her. "I have something to say."

Her eyes darted around, looking for the akumatized object, but her mouth never stopped.

"You want to hear secrets right? I'm adopted," she said, but there was no change to the pink flames.

"No, no!" Manon stomped her feet. "I don't want your secrets, I want Marinette! I'm not the liar, it's everyone else!"

"Manon..." Ladybug slowly approached, hands held out in appeasement.

"It's a consh-pirah-see," the child screamed, and the flames burned brighter at her rage.

As the child spun in her agitation, a flash of unblemished white caught the heroine's eye. It wasn't visible from the front, but a ribbon gleaming like arctic ice trailed from Manon's hair.

Ladybug's eyes flashed.

"Marinette..." she enunciated slowly, catching Manon's attention. She approached the child at a snail's pace, careful not to startle her. "Did she go to school here?"

Manon's eyes flashed brighter, "Yes, yes! Marinette is real. You believe me, right?"

The heroine inched her right hand to her side, but the motion attracted the akuma's attention.

"Liar! I hate you! Give me your miraculous!"

Faster than the beam could reach her, she moved to seize Manon's ribbon.

Ladybug felt words bubbling in her throat, but she resisted. Who knew what sorts of world-ending secrets could escape her lips? The list was far too long, and the risk, magnitudes too great.

With veins throbbing on her skin while her heart and lungs burned with the desire to reveal, she ripped the ribbon straight through the middle, releasing the akuma and leaving behind a child with stained cheeks and puffy eyes.

Gasping for breath, the heroine caught the akuma before collapsing onto the pavement. Her city burned around her, but for once, she wanted to take a small, selfish break. Even if only for a moment.

Sprawled out on the ground, her chest rising rapidly, she heard the whimpers of a child who couldn't know better. She tasted the flames of desperation in the air, smelled the burnt ashes of hope. She saw Manon's heart break, and she felt her lose her faith in the world.

Marinette closed her eyes.

Another failure.

Preventable, necessary, agonizing failure.

Later, she would get up and be the hero Paris needed her to be. Later, she would be Ladybug. Now, she just wanted to be what she was— a child.

---

Prev | TOC | Next

AO3

@maribat-bdbwm

#tinybriewrites #maribat #ml x dc #mlb x dc #mlb x batman #dc x miraculous #dc x mlb #miraculous x dc #mbdbwm2022 #bio!dad bruce wayne #bdbwm #felinette #ml Felix #felix x marinette #mild salt

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calico-kiwi · 4 months

Text

The Coffee Trials

Chapter 4: Quest Unlocked: BananaJam in the Target

Fandom: Maribat (Miraculous Ladybug x DC)

Tags: Tim Drake/Marinette Dupain-Cheng, Original Character, fluff & Shenanigans, no plot & no update schedule

Work Summary: Both Tim Drake and Marinette Dupain-Cheng are incredibly successful and busy people. Two people who both view coffee as their lifeblood. When they find themselves needing each other to obtain ultimate coffee rights at their favorite cafe, two total strangers become allies. And friends. And perhaps eventually… something more.

Chapter Summary: Skye reveals the quest Tim and Marinette must complete in order to earn their first hint. Shenanigans ensue, as they always should.

Links: ao3 work, ao3 chapter, First Chapter, Previous Chapter

Read below the Keep Reading!

“Your quest,” Skye begins, “is…”

“To film a video in the cereal aisle of a Target with one or both of you dancing in a banana suit wearing sunglasses.”

Tim and Marinette are left standing there, speechless.

“Tim, I’m never letting you spin the wheel again,” Marinette deadpans.

“How the fuck did you manage to come up with that idea!?” Tim asks Skye incredulously, ignoring Marinette’s comment.

Skye simply shrugs, answering, “My sleep paralysis demon is easier to deal with if I imagine he’s a funny silly goofy little guy doing funny silly goofy little things.”

“I guess?” Tim says. “Ok,” he continues, “where the fuck are we supposed to get a banana suit though?”

Marinette sheepishly raises her hand. “Um-” she starts. Thinking to herself, ‘Oh my kwami I can’t believe I’m about to admit this,’ she tells them, “I… actually already have a banana suit somewhere in my apartment.

This, at least, seems to be the first piece of information to visibly shock Skye, and Tim too holds a certain look of bewilderment.

‘Damn Adrien and his stupid Banana Noir costume that he managed to get shipped with the rest of my things when I moved to Gotham. I can’t believe that mangey cat’s prank actually paid off,’ Marinette thinks. ‘Damn you Agreste, but also thank you.’

“It’s… a long story,” she says, wincing. “But the face is covered. Would it still count?”

Skye, over their initial shock, smiles. “Hey, I’m not one to judge. I think the fact you have that lying around is hilarious, regardless of the reason. And yeah, even with the face covered, that’ll work. Add the sunglasses on top of the costume in that case. Just make sure you address the camera at some point in the video so I can hear your voice and confirm it’s one of you. You don’t both have to dance in banana suits, so if one of you chooses to be the person taking the video instead, just be in-frame for a portion of the video so I can confirm you’re there as well.”

Steeling herself for the embarrassment to come, she sighs out, “Alright then. I guess we’re doing this.”

Tim leans over to show her his phone, and looking down, Marinette can see the Target website pulled up. “There’s a Target a couple of blocks away from here that closes at 11:00. It’s only 9:30 right now so that gives us an hour and a half if you wanted to just get this done tonight.”

Marinette elects to ignore the chill that goes down her spine at having Tim speak so close to her ear.

“I don’t live too far from here, so I can grab the costume and sunglasses to meet you there at like 10:15ish?” she offers.

Nodding, Tim answers, “Perfect. I’ll text you the address. If you don’t mind, can I be the one to wear the banana suit? I, uh, would rather have my face covered. Honestly with my reputation I don’t think too many people would question it, but I’d rather not draw attention to myself at the moment.”

“Sure,” Marinette agrees. She’d done her fair share of research about Gotham before moving, so it hadn’t taken her long to realize Tim was pretty famous here in America. She wouldn’t bring it up because, quite frankly, she knows enough famous people at this point to not really care.

Turning back towards Skye, who is currently erasing the “Q#3” option from The Wheel of Punishments and writing “spin again” in its place, Marinette announces, “I’m gonna head out now Skye. We’ll probably be back to show you the video, “ she looks back over at Tim, “around elevenish?”

Tim gives a thumbs up, confirming, “Yeah, around 11:00.”

With that, Marinette says goodbye and heads back to her apartment. It’s not until she’s finally back home and staring at the closet with the banana suit that the full absurdity of the situation reaches her.

Tikki, who had been sitting idle in her purse, flies out. Giggling, she asks, “Having fun? You look a little shell shocked.”

Slowly running a hand down her face Marinette mumbles, “What even is my life…”

Floating higher to gently pat Marinette on the head, the kwami states, “It’s all a part of the universe trying to balance out the energy you emit. Having such prolonged contact with the Ladybug miraculous and being my holder has imbued you with my creation energy and good luck. So the world around you tends to be filled with chaos to balance out the luck you pour into whatever space you’re in.”

As Marinette sighs Tikki adds, laughing, “You also happen to be drawn to very chaotic people. Though I’m not sure if that’s a side effect or if it’s purely you.”

Thinking back to her earlier childhood and the mischief she, Nino, and Kim would get up to, she admits, defeated, “I think it’s just a me thing.”

Nudging her towards the closet Tikki urges, “Hurry up now, don’t want to keep Tim waiting.” There’s a knowing glint in the kwami’s eye as she says Tim’s name. Marinette thinks it’s best not to dwell on that particular detail.

Sifting through the things in the closet, Marinette finally finds the banana suit buried behind boxes of umbrellas which Adrien had also managed to ship to her apartment.

Her relationship with Adrien has been a bit of a roller coaster. Eventually though, they realized both in and out of the suits, they preferred to stay just friends. After everything they’d been through, not even their identity reveal was enough to persuade either of them to pursue a romantic relationship with each other. Hell, even Alya and Nino admitted that they acted more like siblings than anything else.

The comfort from working as partners for so long, finally having revealed their identities, realizing they were already close friends out of the suit, and the fact any romance between them had effectively been thrown out the window had led to them confessing how they each came to fall for the other. And, consequently, un-fall for each other.

She almost smothered Adrien in pillows when he wouldn’t stop laughing at her for an umbrella being the cat -alyst for her past crush on him. He, even now, refused to let her live it down.

Smiling at the memories, Marinette pulls the banana suit out of the closet.

“And here it is in all its bright yellow glory,” she mused, looking over to Tikki.

Flying back towards her with sunglasses, Tikki laughs. “Ever think this would come in handy?”

Shaking her head and taking the sunglasses from Tikki, she replies, “Didn’t have the faintest clue. I swear though if Adrien finds out I actually needed this god awful costume for something I’ll never hear the end of it.”

Stuffing the sunglasses in her purse and folding up the suit as best she can, Marinette motions for her kwami to follow her. “Alright Tikki, let’s get going. I have a feeling this’ll be a long night.”

Twenty minutes later she finds herself in the mostly empty parking lot of her local Target. She’d sent a text to Tim letting him know she was there.

As she was absentmindedly drumming her fingers against the steering wheel, she felt her phone vibrate in her pocket. Taking it out and glancing at the screen, she realized Tim was calling her. Raising her eyebrow, she hit the accept button and held the phone to her ear.

“Hello?” she asks.

“Ok so,” Tim starts. The way he says the words has Marinette already feeling like face palming. “I’m here, but I realize we didn’t really think of the fact I still need to change into the banana suit. We could meet up at the cafe instead, have me change, and then we come back here, but that’s cutting it close to when Target closes… By any chance would your car have tinted windows?”

Tentatively, Marinette asks, “… You’re telling me your car doesn’t have tinted windows?” She made sure the disbelief was clear in her voice. Honestly, she’d thought one of Gotham’s well known elites would’ve taken more precautions.

“Well it does,” Tim says, and Marinette can already hear the unsaid ‘ but ’ in his sentence. “ But ! I didn’t really take my car here…”

Furrowing her eyebrows in confusion, Marinette questions, “How did you get here then?”

“Motorcycle,” was his simple answer.

“Ah,” was all she said in reply. “Lucky for you that the car I’m leasing has tinted windows, then. I’m basically five rows away from the front of the Target. There aren’t any other cars around me so you should be able to find me pretty easily.”

“Yeah I think I see you. Your car’s dark grey, right?” Tim asks.

As Marinette tells him, “Yep,” she sees someone with Tim’s same outfit, hair, and build walking towards her car. “I think I see you too,” she tells him.

As the person takes a few more steps towards the car, Marinette can see it’s Tim and rolls down her window. “You can change in the back while I stand outside. The suit’s already in the second row, and I can give you the glasses when we get inside Target,” she says in lieu of greeting.

“Y’know,” Tim says as he climbs into the back seat, “you’re weirdly trusting to let someone you’ve known for less than a month be left alone in your car. “Not that I would do anything,” he adds hastily.

As she steps out of the car, Marinette smiles at him and says, “I tend to trust my intuition when it comes to people and their intentions. Something tells me you won’t steal or vandalize my car.”

Closing the door she bites back the unsaid part of that statement, which was, ‘One of the side effects of being the Guardian lets me see if people have harmful intentions through their aura, and you’re in the clear.’

When Tim steps out of the car Marinette chokes back a laugh. The suit, which had fit a previously teenage Banana Noir, looked laughably small on Tim. Tim wasn’t necessarily a very tall man, but it was obvious that the roughly 180 centimeters of him was far too big for a children’s costume. The yellow tights and the long sleeve undershirt were all but abandoned, presumably too tight for Tim to fit into.

Marinette had guessed as much, which is why she’d made a quick alteration on the gloves using the little time she’d had. Somehow they looked even more ridiculous as fingerless gloves.

Instead of the yellow tights, Tim wore his faded jeans, and instead of the undershirt, the sleeves of his white t-shirt could be seen. The rest of his arms were exposed, but Marinette elected to ignore that. She wasn’t sure she had enough self control to not switch from laughing at his ridiculousness to drooling at his muscles.

“How bad is it?” comes Tim’s muffled voice through the banana suit.

Still trying with all her will to not die on the spot from laughter, Marinette wheezes out, “It’s perfect.” Still smiling ear to ear and biting on her tongue to stop herself from losing it, Marinette pulls out the sunglasses and places it over the banana’s soulless, all seeing eyes.

Stepping back, Marinette doubles over in her attempt to not collapse into a laughing fit. “Oh my Gods,” she breathes out in a small voice.

“Ok, well while you have fun losing your shit over this, let’s head for the Target so I can take this potassium monstrosity off as soon as possible.” Gently pulling her along by the wrist, Tim drags a (still hysterical) Marinette towards the entrance of the store.

By the time they’ve walked through the door, Marinette has gathered herself enough to walk normally (though she would giggle every few seconds before slapping a hand over her mouth.

As they make their way towards the cereal aisle, Marinette is suddenly struck with a brilliant idea. “Tim,” she whispers, coming to a sudden stop and yanking on his arm so he does the same. He slowly turns around to face her and Marinette forces herself to look at his Converse instead to stop from bursting out laughing at the ridiculous banana face.

“I know exactly what song you can dance to,” she says mysteriously. She quickly tugs him the rest of the way to the cereal aisle (dutifully ignoring the bewildered stares of the other shoppers and various employees they pass) before depositing him in the middle of the aisle.

“Can I borrow your phone to record? I need mine to play the music,” Marinette asks. Wordlessly, Tim hands over his phone, already opened to the camera app, and Marinette takes a few steps back.

“Ok, just stand there and be ready,” she instructs. “As soon as I play the song you’ll know exactly what to do, don’t worry.”

Once she gets a muffled and confused, “Sure?” from Tim, she holds the phone vertically, makes sure the front facing camera is on, and hits record.

Making a show of holding her own phone next to her mouth with her other hand and visibly fending off laughter, Marinette says clearly, “Hey Siri, play the macarena-”

When the first note hits, Marinette flips the camera so it’s recording Tim. The phone speaker rings out, “Dale a tu cuerpo alegría Macarena-” and Marinette can be heard manically laughing in the background as banana Tim dances to the song.

“Que tu cuerpo es pa' darle alegría y cosa buena-” Tim continues to dance and the camera is visibly shaking as Marinette breaks down in a fit of laughter.

“Dale a tu cuerpo alegría, Macarena-” Tim’s movements are unnecessarily exaggerated and Marinette can still be heard maniacally cackling as the camera tilts, presumably because Marinette is leaning against the shelving of the cereal aisle to stay upright.

As the final line of the chorus rings out, “Hey Macarena, ay-” Tim sassily places both hands on his hips and slowly rotates them in a circle, still using exaggerated movement.

Just before the song finishes, a random shopper from behind Marinette can be heard shouting, “GO WHITE BOY GO!” which leads to Tim, with one hand still on his hip and the other pointing at the stranger, exclaiming, “Thank you random citizen!” in an attempt to copy the voice of Metro Man from Megamind.

The video ends with Marinette crying laughing, having fallen on her knees, sinking to the floor.

Tim shakes his head in exasperation (or at least Marinette thinks that’s what he’s doing, it’s hard to tell with the suit on). But seeing as how the head of the banana suit doesn’t turn, all that happens is the whole banana body shaking.

This, of course, does not help Marinette’s laugh attack, and Tim is forced to hoist her up and be used as a human (banana?) crutch for her to lean against as they exit the target.

Once they make it to the car, Marinette, who is thankfully no longer hysterical, unlocks her car so Tim can change in the back seat. Thankfully by the time he emerges, she’s calmed down enough to only be smiling.

“I want you to send me that video, because I honest to gods don’t think anything else has ever made me laugh so hard ever. It’s probably partially from the lack of caffeine but oh my gods .”

She’s so glad Tim doesn’t seem the slightest bit off put that he's just done something most people would find mortifyingly embarrassing, or that she’s laughing her ass off at him.

“Sure. On the condition that whatever crazy quest Skye sends us on next has you be the main focus,” Tim bargains, giving a teasing smile.

Smirking, Marinette says, “Easiest deal of my life. Meet you back at the coffee shop? I got a feeling Skye’s gonna get even more of a kick out of this than me.

Still smiling at her, he says, “See you there.”

Marinette really hopes Tim turned away fast enough to not see the blush that crept up her face after he smiled at her like that. If he looked at her so softly again she wasn’t sure she’d be able to muster up enough denial to ignore the beginnings of the feelings she was starting to have.

When they got back to the cafe and showed Skye the video, the barista took even longer to stop laughing than Marinette.

It got to a point where the two were genuinely scared for Skye’s health, because when he heard ‘go white boy go’ he collapsed on the counter rasping out things along the lines of ‘can’t breath’ and ‘oh my god I’m gonna die’.

Once Skye recovered, the smile stayed on their face the rest of the night. “I want you to send me that video,” she said. “Also, congratulations you’ve passed the quest! The first ingredient hint is espresso shots.”

Marinette saw Tim’s eye twitch out of the corner of her eye. “We did that to get the hint espresso shots as an ingredient for one of your most caffeinated drinks ?!”

Raising an eyebrow Skye shrugged. “Hey man, you spun the wheel, that’s your fault. The hints are in a predetermined order, so that’s the hint you would’ve gotten regardless of what you were saddled with in order to earn it.”

Tim sighed as Marinette reiterated her sentiment from earlier in the night, “Never letting you spin the wheel again.”

Stealing one of the uneaten cookies from a display case, Skye says, “You guys only have tomorrow to show me your weekly attempt before things are reset, by the way. Once Sunday hits it restart the week, and you’ll have access to earn another hint and another attempt at showing me what you guys’ve created.”

Looking over at Tim, Marinette suggests, “Well, I don’t know about you but I don’t think I have enough general knowledge on the making of drinks or of the ingredient list to throw together an attempt.”

“I don’t think I do either,” Tim adds, “How about we reconvene on Sunday to see whatever ludicrous thing Skye plans for us to do to get a hint.”

Smiling tiredly, Marinette nods. “Sounds good to me. I’m gonna head home.” She says goodbye to Skye and Tim, then heads to her apartment.

Flying out of her purse once Marinette’s inside, Tikki giggles. “Quite an adventure today,” the kwami muses.

“It certainly was-” Interrupted by the chime of her phone, Marinette pulls it out of her pocket and looks at the screen. It’s a message from Tim, with the video of him dancing in Target attached. Marinette snorts, screenshotting a frame in the video to set as Tim’s contact photo.

She takes another screenshot of Tim’s updated contact and sends it to him. ‘Would u believe me if i told u ur the second person to need to use that banana suit’ she texts to him.

‘ur jokling’ he replies. ‘wish i was, that thing is, as you so eloquently put it, “a potassium monstrosity”’ she sends back.

‘Idk i think i pulled it off’ Tim sends. Marinette laughs before sending, ‘no clue how u managed to do that tbh. but hey if u ever wanna model smth hmu. if u can pull off a banana suit i can only imagine how well ur modeling career would be’

Marinette could almost hear the smirk in his next text. ‘Oh so ur imagining me now r u?’ Marinette rolls her eyes before responding, ‘Oh, so ur getting cocky now, r u? If ur in my dreams it’ll be as a dancing banana, don’t get ahead of yourself’

Tim’s message after that made Marinette’s heart melt a bit, though she’d never tell him that. ‘Well i hope u have sweet ones’ ‘dreams that is’

‘gn my dancing banana’ she sent, smiling down at her phone.

‘gn coffee thief’

Marinette collapsed and was unconscious the second her head hit the pillow. She chalked the fact that she fell asleep so easily up to the overexertion from laughing so much and the general craziness of the day.

It definitely had nothing to do with the ball of content that sat comfortably in her stomach, which was warming her heart. And that content certainly had nothing to do with the unfairly attractive dancing banana she’d somehow found herself stuck with.

AN: Forgive my many spelling mistakes, I have the horrible tendency to only write for this fic in the dead of night. i have this fic on ao3, but I realized I never posted it to tumblr as more than a link. if you wanna keep up with it, but dont wanna subscribe to it on ao3, just ask to be added to the taglist either through this post or an ask to my blog and I'll keep you updated!

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liquid-luck-00 · 2 months

Text

Red Binding 2

Maribat March Day 2: Signals

@maribat-calendar-events @maribatserver

First *** Next

~~~~~~~~~~

He hated this!

He hated the fact that he woke up, by being dumped into a burning liquid. Hated that he was wrapped and bound so he had to claw himself out. Hated how the water forced itself into his lungs as he tried to break the waters surface.

Why does this all keep happening to him?

He hasn’t seen or even heard Plagg since the cemetery. And now he was coughing up acid green liquid, as every inch of him burned.

Someone charged at him and he attacked on instinct. He was able to take the knife from his attacker, and he stabbed them. He made sure that they couldn’t get back up, but he didn’t kill them. No they were alive, severely wounded, but alive.

Behind you, duck.

He did as he was told and a second assailant flew over him. He never saw them, but trusted Plagg’s words. Once he did have eyes on them, he quickly defeated them.

Step right. Turn.

Again he trusted Plagg’s instructions and a pair of people emerged this time. They continued to fight, Plagg’s warnings and signals aiding him. He wasn’t perfect, as the kick to his ribs, and the blade that dug into his arm, proved, but he was good enough to stay standing.

He fought for what felt like hours, bodies strewn all over the floor, but he hadn’t taken a life. The knife in his hand started to slip, as it did he flicked it back firmly in his palm.

"We must work on your inability to kill, but overall." A woman, the same voice he heard before, stepped out of the shadows. "You have potential."

Jason watched her. She didn’t approach further, she didn’t look like she would attack him, she stood there waiting.

Lazarus. Plagg's normal drawl was replaced with a hissing growl was terrifying it nearly scared him enough that he would have flinched, but he faced the woman. She is an Al Ghul.

"Al Ghul." He whispered, his voice hoarse from coughing up the water, and maybe even from the beating he took from Joker. The woman smiled, an evil glint in her dark brown eyes.

"Now how do you know that name?" She waited for him to answer, but he wasn’t about to tell her. "No matter follow me."The momentary astonishment gone, replaced by nothing.

The woman turned on her heels and started to walk away, a small motion with her hand the only indication she wanted him to follow her. But she’s given him no reason to trust her so he just stared at her not moving an inch. Plagg’s tone still rang in his head, although he’s begging him to say something, he staying quiet. He wishes that Plagg would say some thing, any thing. To give hima signal of whether he could trust this woman, but now he’s quiet. The woman turned around having not heard him follow, quick even steps walked up to him.

"I promise you, you will not die tonight. They have already let you die once, but I was there to help you." Her voice and words were sweet, but they didn't sit well with him.

"That doesn’t mean you won’t kill me." His temper was beginning to flair, his words pointed at her. Jason looked up at her, staring right at her gripping the knife, challenging her. But she did something unexpected, she laughed.

"You are more interesting than I originally thought. You will do well to serve as a shadow."

"Why did you bring me here? Why go through all this trouble? What is this place?" It pissed him off, like she could know what will happen and he can't do anything about it. The woman slightly crouched forward to look at him straight in the eye.

"You are with the league of shadows, I will make you into a shadow that will rival even the Batman himself. I can make it so that no one can hurt you ever again." The woman’s voice was sweet,luring him into a sense of safety, Plagg’s warning still echoed in his mind getting softer, as she placed a light hand on his shoulder. "I can make it so no one can ever abandon you again."

He wants to believe her, her words make total sense, except they don’t.

He was never abandoned, at least not by those he cared enough to let into his life. Bruce didn’t abandon him, he was the one who took him off of the streets. Alfred never abandoned him, in fact when Jason arrived at the manor he made sure that Jason was welcomed. Dick never abandon him either, Dick accepted Jason not only has his little brother, but evenas Robin. They didn’t abandon him, he ran away, he abandoned them. He ran away, and he died, and now this giant separation makes him feel guilty. He knows he survived Joker, Plagg made sure he survived the bomb, after that. But after the bomb, before the coffin he has no memory of anything.

Yet this woman claims she had a hand in it.

"Even if I were to believe you." He spoke up looking past her, to where he knows the exit, to where he can run free himself. "How did I survive all that?" He tried to stall, to make a plan.

He knows it’s a longshot, but it’s one he’s willing to take right now.

The woman sighed and stood back up. "It was a gamble, one that did pay off, it was the waters of the Lazarus pit that were able to heal you, I’m sure you were close to death. The waters making it appear so, that way no one would question the funeral. Yet you were still alive, still healing, and all we had to do was wait."

"So what if the Joker beat up another kid and you would’ve taken them?"

"This is neither the time nor place to discuss this." She grabbed him by the scruff of his shirt collar and started dragging him out of the cave. He dug in his heels, but she was stronger than she looked. "To answer your question, no, you were the target."

He stopped fighting in that moment.

Why me why go after me? Was it for the money, are they after Bruce? No Robin, they went after me as Robin. So they are after Batman?

You need to ask the right questions, kitten. Plagg then decided to start talking once again. If you are where I think you are, you have to be ready to fight like your life depends on it.

But…

No buts. Plagg’s voice absolute in his mind. Learn what you can, and use that to make your escape.

"This will be your room." The woman opened the door, and let him inside. The room is small with a bed tucked into the corner, a dresser was next to it with a single lamp on top of it. "Tomorrow you will meet your teachers, they are the ones responsible for your training, but it will be your own prerogative to stay alive."

The woman promptly closed the door behind her and left on silent steps.

Jason wanted so badly to fall asleep, but question just kept swimming in his mind.

"Plagg, I’m scared." He was barely able to whisper, as tears started to burn his eyes. He’s not sure if it’s because he was just uprooted from the only place he knew, the fact of his death finally catching up to him, or the fact that he knows everyone who cared for him thinks he’s dead.

You have every right to be scared kitten, I get it, this place can kill you if you show emotions, if you show any weaknesses. Plagg floated in front of him, his paws resting on the tip of his nose. This place might not have been ideal, but it might be possible to get you to the order from here.

"Order? Like the one from the story?"

The same one kitten. If there is ever any chance that I can get you there, I'll take it, you just need to follow my signals.

Jason climbed into the bed, sleep already overtaking him. "Plagg, promise me you’ll never leave me alone, that you will help me."

You are my kitten. I'll be here for you.

"I like to know that you’re with me Plagg, I trust you." Jason mumbled, his eyes were already closed and sleep was quickly taking over him.

Plagg curled up next to the boy, every fiber of his being telling him he was doing the right thing. That this child, no his chosen, will live. He will make it through this hellhole and will escape.

"Not even the Supreme themselves can take me away from you." He promised as he watched his kritten fall fitfully into sleep.

~~~~~~~~~~

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