Daminette December-- So Close (And Yet So Far), Chapter ThreeDecorating

Daminette December-- So Close (And Yet So Far), Chapter Three “Decorating”

Marinette needed to shake things up.

She was falling into routine, and as much as she loved having a schedule she liked, she felt stuck. So, she did the second best thing that she could do in such a situation.

She decided to re-decorate her room.

Even though she got to the university earlier than everyone else in her year, she didn’t get first pick of the rooms. She wanted a single, of course, so she could freely talk to Tikki and be able to transport back to Paris if need be. She ended up in a double with Allegra, who was super kind and introduced her to her new friend group, but sometimes she wanted some alone time with Tikki to just vent and let loose.

Allegra was home for the weekend, so Marinette and Tikki had free reign of the room. It was a good thing, too, because everything was an absolute disaster.

Mari put her headphones on and started blasting Jagged Stone’s music (specifically, his newest album), ready to work. She started with the big stuff— taking everything out of the tiny closet and sweeping the floor, moving everything under the bed, taking everything off her desk and out of the drawers and fixing it up, etc. She got into the swing of things, barely stopping for at least an hour or two. She would’ve kept going, too, if she didn’t feel a hand settle on her shoulder.

Marinette let out a scream and spun around, grabbing the person’s wrist and bending it in a way that would cause a decent amount of pain. The person let out a yelp.

“It’s just me!” Damian cried, a frown on his face. “I’m sorry I startled you! The door was cracked open and I heard you singing so I thought I’d say hi!”

Marinette immediately let go and shrunk back. “Oh, no! I’m so sorry, Damian! It’s become a habit to… you know… defend myself… but god, did I hurt you? Is your hand okay?”

Damian looked down at his hand and winced. “I’ll be fine. You have a strong grip, you know that?”

“It’s the self-defense lessons,” she replied, holding her own wrist and rubbing it as if she too could feel pain. “I’ve been taking them for years.”

“You’ve been taught well.”

“Yeah, I guess I have. But still, I’m so sorry! I don’t know what I can do to help you, though.”

“Don’t worry about me,” he replied, putting his good hand on her shoulder. “It was an accident, and the pain is already starting to go away. There might be a bruise, but I get those all the time so I’m used to them.”

Marinette frowned. “You bruise often?”

Damian paled. He’d walked himself into a rough spot. “Uh… you can’t tell anyone this, but I can be a bit clumsy sometimes. I do my best to hide it when around others, but I often run into things and trip on the sidewalk,” he replied. Hopefully that saved him.

Mari didn’t seem totally convinced, but fortunately for him she didn’t question his story further. “I get that. I’m such a klutz, it isn’t even funny anymore.” She paused for a moment before adding, “Um, I don’t know what you’re up to, but if you want to come with me, I’m going to a gaming club meeting in an hour. It’s in the basement of the science building, and apparently it’s really fun.”

Damian considered this for a minute, but he eventually nodded. “That sounds wonderful, Marinette.”

“Yay! I promise it’ll be worth your time.” Marinette grinned. “And if it isn’t, we can always play on my console some other time.” She motioned to a gaming console on the floor, which she’d taken out to wipe off and check to make sure all the games were in the right cases. “But until it starts you’re welcome to stay here. I just have to clean up a little more, but I don’t think it will take much longer.”

“I’d love to, but I should probably go do some homework before we go,” Damian replied, frowning. “But I will meet you here and we can walk over together, okay?”

Mari nodded. “Sounds great! I’ll see you soon!”

Damian headed to the door, but turned around as he opened it. “Good luck with your cleaning,” he said before giving her a quick wave.

She waved back. “Thanks!”

Damian didn’t say anything else, just stepping out into the hall and closing the door behind him.

Neither of them knew that they both sighed after the door clicked shut. They also didn’t really know why they sighed, either.

———————————————————————————————————–

All chapters are also up on Ao3!

Tagstagstags:

@daminette-december2019 @ozmav @maribat-archive @dawnwave16 @bluerosette23 @18-fandoms-unite-08 @northernbluetongue @latinawithbooks @blue-peach14 @weird-pale-blonde-person @astridflies @annabellabrookes @iloontjeboontje @abrx2002 @valeks-princess @interobanginyourmom @vixen-uchiha @sofmimis @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thesunanditsangel @crazylittlemunchkin @caffeinetheory @rebecarojas07 @kris-pines04 @mooshoon @winter-gardenflower (comment/send me an ask if you want to be added! Also, please feel free to lmk if the notifications aren’t working and I’ll my best to fix it!)

COMING UP NEXT: Chapter 4 “Gaming”

Kagami: Life is like a game of chess.

Chloe: I don’t know how to play chess.

That last reblog I did reminded me I didn't post today's prompt

Oops

T-minus 5 minutes and it'll be here I swear 😂

Daminette December-- So Close (And Yet So Far), Chapter Two “Blind Date”

———————————————————————————————————– Marinette absolutely adored Gotham University. She felt free there, away from the responsibilities and drama that she’d been sucked into in Paris. Ever since the defeat of Hawkmoth a few months before, Mari had found that the only tie she had to the city was her parents. Luka was touring with Jagged as an intern, Kagami had gone to Japan for pre-Olympic training and University, and Chloe was planning to move to New York with her mother after her father lost his job as Paris’s mayor. She had no contact with anyone else in the class, but she did hear what some of them were up to through Luka, who was told from Juleka. Apparently, Lila and Adrien had started dating a few weeks into the summer (Marinette had left for Gotham just a few days after graduation, staying at the university for a summer program specifically for foreign students; where she met Damian, actually, even though he wasn’t a foreign student of course), and Alya and Nino had broken up yet again soon after. They got together for the first time during their last year in college, but the relationship had always been rocky. Alya was under Lila’s command, and Nino didn’t appreciate that. Luka said that this might be the real end for them, though. Nathaniel got into a prestigious art program at the Sorbonne, and Sabrina became one of Lila’s new cronies. The rest of the class didn’t do anything that Marinette or Luka found noteworthy. As much as thinking about her old class angered her, she felt comfort in the fact that she was able to escape and find such amazing friends.

Chloe, Luka, Kagami, Allegra, Felix, Allan, Claude. And now Damian, too, as difficult as it was for him to admit.

Marinette really appreciated Damian’s sobering and serious presence. He brought her back down when she spiraled, and he actually listened to her, which she really appreciated. He wasn’t the type of person Marinette ever expected to be friends with, but she’d found their personalities really complemented each other. Tikki even thought he reminded her of a black cat, and Mari agreed.

The duo was quiet on their walk, as Mari expected they would be. Mari waved as people she knew passed by, but Damian kept walking. She had to take quicker steps to keep up with his brisk pace, but with her extra endurance she wasn’t out of breath.

It was outside one of the academic buildings that a club had set up a table covered in newspaper-wrapped books. The sign in front of the table said “BLIND DATE WITH A BOOK: $2.00”

“Oh, look!” Mari said, pointing at the table. “Let’s go over!” She grabbed Damian’s hand, an act that he surprisingly didn’t recoil from as he would have if it was anyone else who’d done it, and headed over to the table.

“Hi! Want a book?” a boy sitting behind the table asked. “Some general info is written on the front, just so you have a general idea of what you’re getting into, but all the titles are hidden.”

Marinette picked up a thin book, reading the notes on the cover. “SUPERHEROES, BIRDS, WITTY BANTER”

“Can I take this one, please?”

“It’s all yours! Just two dollars, please.”

Marinette fished through her bag and frowned. “Any chance you would take euros? I need to convert some more cash…”

“I’ve got it, Mari,” Damian said, pulling out some money from his wallet.

“No, it’s--”

“It’s only two dollars,” he replied. “No big deal.”

“I’ll pay you back,” she said, making it clear that she wasn’t going to let him get away with that.

“If you say so. Want to keep walking?”

“Yeah!”

As they walked, Marinette started to unwrap the book. “Superheroes, birds, witty banter,” she told Damian. “Any guesses?”

“Comic book?” he suggested.

“Right you are!” She held up a copy of “Batman and Robin: Bad Blood.”

Damian scoffed. So it was one of the fake stories. There was no ‘bad blood’ between him and his father, and even when Dick was acting as Batman he was sure to keep things professional.

“--are so cool!” Mari said, flipping through the pages. Damian watched to make sure she didn’t trip over anything on the ground. “Who’s your favorite?”

Damian’s favorite hero? He couldn’t say Robin; that would be conceited, and on the slight chance she ever found out his alter ego she would think he was a raging narcissist. Definitely not Todd, and he would rather die than have Grayson find out he said something nice about the eldest brother. That only left--

“I guess Red Robin is pretty cool,” he replied calmly. “What about you?”

“I really like Robin,” Mari said. “Even though he has terrible fashion sense and his costume could use a serious update.”

Damian felt an unnatural blush forming from her first comment, but her second one sobered his thoughts. “What do you mean, ‘bad fashion sense’? His costume is tasteful, and timeless!”

“More like ‘lost in time,’” Mari told him, flipping to a page in the comic that had his full outfit on display. “The cape is old-fashioned and a bit too long, and the color blocking just gives you a headache, you know? The colors work, but they’re also very bright and… violent, maybe? I can’t find the right word, but you know what I mean, right?”

“Sure,” he muttered, staring at the page. He never really thought about any of the things she said, but now those critiques were all he could see. He’d have to talk to Alfred or one of his brothers about potentially changing it.

Wait, why did he care so much what she thought of his alter ego’s outfit? For some reason, he now craved her approval. He didn’t like that feeling at all. At least she looked happy, though. He always saw a light in her eyes when she talked about fashion, and this was just the distraction she needed to get over the stress of getting so many unsolicited calls.

Damian found himself wishing he could stare at that smile forever.

———————————————————————————————————–

BONUS #1:

“So, could you find out who the number belongs to?”

“Yeah, it’s a guy named Adrien Agreste. Age eighteen. Son of Gabriel Agreste; big fashion guy. Kid’s a model, currently living in London and attending University there. Business school, of course.”

“Any chance you can make it so his number can’t call this one?” Damian asked, handing Tim a piece of paper with Marinette’s number on it. “But you aren’t allowed to look up the holder of this number. You have to promise me.”

“Yeah, sure,” Tim replied, already typing away. “Okay, so now whenever he tries to call this number he’ll get one of those ‘why are you harassing women?’ messages. That good?”

“Perfect. Thank you.”

Tim blinked. “Did you… did you just thank me for something?”

“I take it back.”

“Too late! I’m going to cherish this moment forever, Demon Spawn. I hope you know that.”

“I’ll stab you, Drake. So help me, I’ll do it right now.”

“So that is a knife in your sock! Isn’t that uncomfortable?”

“Not as uncomfortable as it would be to be stabbed by it.”

“Touche.”

———————————————————————————————————–

BONUS #2:

In the Batcave:

Damian: Do you guys think my suit is outdated?

Dick: It’s a classic!

Damian: That’s what I thought too, but recently someone I know from school said that it was ‘lost to time,’ and that the colors were blocky and too bright and I’m starting to see it.

Tim: Is it the same person whose number you gave me to block from that creep?

Jason: What person? What creep?

Damian: Drake, I swear to all that you hold dear, I will stab you.

Tim: Do it. I’m calling your bluff.

Bruce: No stabbing anyone! We’ve talked about this!

Damian (mouthing to Tim): Watch your back!

Bruce: But yeah, the outfit can be a bit much sometimes.

Dick: *indignant noises*

Damian: Alfred, can we make some changes?

Alfred: Of course, Master Damian. I’ll have some new sketches ready in the next few days.

Jason: Hope your mystery friend likes it!

Damian: *scowls at Jason* You’re next.

———————————————————————————————————–

Hope you enjoy the bonuses! They're my favorite parts that I've written so far. Also I was planning to post this earlier but I’m dumb and accidentally deleted ALL of my tabs I had up and had to reorganize everything which took a WHILE so yeah.

Tagstagstagsallthetags:

@dawnwave16 @bluerosette23 @18-fandoms-unite-08 @northernbluetongue @latinawithbooks @blue-peach14 @weird-pale-blonde-person @astridflies @annabellabrookes @iloontjeboontje @abrx2002 @valeks-princess @interobanginyourmom @vixen-uchiha @sofmimis @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @thesunanditsangel @crazylittlemunchkin @caffeinetheory  (comment/send me an ask if you want to be added! Also, please feel free to lmk if the notifications aren’t working and I’ll my best to fix it!)

@daminette-december2019 @ozmav @maribat-archive

All of the prompts are available to see on @daminette-december2019 on Tumblr, and that might give you a general idea of how this fic is going to go (but there will definitely be some twists, I promise you that!)

COMING UP NEXT-- Chapter 3 "Decorating"

Me watching the new Doctor Who trailer

yall haven’t written the next chapter of ur fanfic and it really shows