⁺˖ ࣪⊹ sweet 🪞 delusion ⊹ ࣪ ˖⁺

his voice rings out like an angel. but you don't hear it over the shower water and the sounds of your own whimpering as you shake like an abandoned baby doe.

"Your phone kept going straight to voicemail and I got … Well, in any case I wanted to see with my own eyes that you were okay. Are you in the shower? Perhaps I could join …"

he doesn't know. he doesn't know that your body is actively betraying you. this isn't the time.

you don't hear the pattern of his knocks rapping against the opposite side of the door. you don't hear the door opening, his velvet tone sneaking into the room before he even invites himself in. you don't even notice the way he goes quiet for a beat before shutting the water off.

"Sweetie," he murmurs. "What happened to you?"

your eyes shoot open, Sylus' scarlet gaze remaining soft yet steady, pushing down any hints of concern. you can't both be panicking right now.

the hand covering your mouth slides down just enough for you to whisper something unintelligible to him. you try so hard. you want to explain but what is there to say that doesn't sound ridiculous, even if you could find your voice to begin with.

only for a moment more does he search your eyes before scanning the rest of your body — and swiftly finding the culprit.

"Ah," he remarks, a miniscule sigh behind it. relief. you're not injured, just … hurting. "Once again, I've found you just in time, hm? I think I just might be more in sync with you than your own cycle."

he steps away for a brief second to grab your towel, which he presses against your face and body before completely swaddling you. as if you weighed nothing, he lifts you with one arm until your shivering against his sturdy chest. he hums with satisfaction.

you are safe.

he kisses the apples of your cheeks. your forehead. the tip of your nose. your lips.

"There, there. All is well."

he sets you on the edge of the bed, unwraps you. he curls a knuckle under your chin so you don't look down. more gentle kisses before he guides his hand to the back of your head to press your forehead to his.

"You're a little early, hm?"

you nod. "Y-yes …"

"Just by a bit. I'll update my notes when I'm done here."

you look at him with wet eyes, brows furrowed. this expression of yours always manages to break his heart, even if he doesn't show it.

he pulls away a short distance, only to wrap his firm arms around your body, pulling you into him for a hug. your fingertips trace over his muscles and your eyes flutter closed, peacefully. you sigh once more. this is what it feels like to come home, even when you're already home.

the hug ends when he feels your body becoming slack. the exhaustion is winning. he straightens, gathering sides of the towel to pat you down one more time, making sure your entire body is completely dry.

a light chill hits your body, but other than that … you've calmed down quite a bit. you hear his voice firmly command you to lie back and you do. your head hits the soft expanse of the clean sheets, your lower body still resting on the towel. Sylus returns, asking you to lift your legs to slide your underwear up. he hands you your period care item so you can apply it yourself.

he stands in front of you, holding up two different kinds of pajamas — one is your favorite matching set that had a cute pattern on it, the other a soft-textured over-sized tee that was a solid but pretty color. you silently lift a finger, pointing at the one you want.

Sylus offers a light smile, his eyes crinkling a bit, showing off his sexy crow's feet that bracket them perfectly. "I knew you'd pick that one. Just thought I'd give you the illusion of choice in these trying times."

you giggle, lifting your arms for him to tug the pajamas onto your body for you. your head pops out of the top of the shirt and he kisses your scalp.

he throws the towel into a nearby laundry bin, then lifts you up before tucking you in. one of your stuffed animals makes eye contact with him, sending him a psychic message that it's the one you usually cuddle with. Sylus firmly nods before picking it up and settling it next to you. you smile, pulling it closer to your chest.

" … You're adorable," he purrs with adoration, a hand finding the top of your head and raking through, sending warm shivers down your body.

the overhead light comes off in exchange for the smaller lamp that sits on your night stand. he disappears for a little while, coming back with a liddle cup of water. he puts it near the lamp, arranging your pain relief meds right next to it. he crosses his arms, focus suddenly covering his expression. he checks over everything one more time, glancing over your relaxed figure. you can barely keep your eyes open now, but you want to keep watching him. you love him so much. what would you do without him?

he thinks the same of you.

you reach up.

"Hm? Cuddle?"

you nod.

he laughs softly.

he only strips himself of his jacket, shirt and belt. his shoes have long been abandoned at the front door. he invites himself into bed, ontop of your sheets. you frown. he explains that he has some business to attend to in a couple of hours but he would be more than happy to keep you company until you've arrived safely in dreamland.

of course you want him to stay the whole night. he's lucky you don't have the energy to fight back at the moment.

━━━

sleep has you in its clutches now. Sylus had been keeping an eye on you, listening to your heartbeat through the pulse in your neck with his fingertips. Focusing on the way your breathing changed, minute by minute. he silently jabs a finger at your plushie. keep her safe or i'm sending my men to your location. i know where you live.

he sneaks out of bed and heads to your bathroom where he manages to quietly rinse the blood off of the shower floor without waking you. all of your things are back where they belong, arranged neatly. like the horrors of tonight never happened.

before leaving your room, he watches you for a moment more, capturing the sight of your sleeping body and the sounds of your little whimpers, coming now from a place of happiness as you slumber and dream.

you are safe.

alfred shoots you an exhausted look. you can't help but giggle while mentally planning a design with his measurements in your head

you get to work on something warm and functional, your fingers working deftly like parts of a well-oiled machine. you space out while watching your favorite pastime or listening to music or a podcast, and before you know it you have something in your hands that'll keep that birdbrain well-insulated because … well …. how could he turn down something you made for him?

he couldn't. he would never. he wears your gift without needing to be reminded. you earn a single knowing nod from alfred and a batch of your favorite baked goods

4. floral arrangement ✦ an ikebana arrangement.

something simple, perhaps with dark colored flowers accompanied by more delicate brighter flowers. on nights that he returns home late from work, shoulders slumped, pain wrapping its tendrils around his body, he sees the vase. he leans in, eyes closed, fingers gingerly tracing over the petals. peace and warmth blossom in chest before he begins to decompress for bed

5. paper craft ✦ jar full of origami paper star nightwing symbols

with some faffing and fussing and many a pinterest tutorial, you've successfully mastered creating little paper stars — except they're shaped like nightwing symbols. yeah. hell yeah.

once you're really confident you can do it with your eyes closed, you fill an entire jar full of 'em. navy blue, baby blue, black, shimmering gold. your fingertips feel raw and your wrists are about to snap off but you don't feel it until some time after the 150 mark. you glance at yourself in the mirror. you flex. you could lift a car with those guns

jar filled, pretty ribbon tied around the top, and gift tag with sweet message written, you hand it over to him. he holds it very preciously, turning it around in his hands as if it's filled with literal magic

"do i even wanna know how long this took you?" he asks, happiness crinkling his eyes and showcasing his dimples

"a kajillion and a half years," you quip. "i almost thought about writing little messages on each one but i'll be damned if you undo all of my hard work just to read my chicken scratch, grayson"

he laughs, setting the jar down on a surface where anybody and everybody who enters his space can see it. "i wouldn't dream of it, i promise. all the little nighty stars will stay perfectly intact as long as i'm around"

sometimes he comes up to it and shifts it around to watch the gold stars twinkle. maybe he makes a silent wish in his head for every nighty star he can see. maybe he takes them out one by one and counts them like sheep when sleep escapes him. maybe he wakes up surrounded by paper stars and painstakingly puts them all back

6. olfactory craft ✦ custom solid cologne

you sign up for a new workshop at the community center after seeing a flyer for it at the coffee shop. it's not something you would've regularly picked up, but there's something about the cologne that dick's been wearing as of recent that inspires you to make something similar but unique for him

you feel like an alchemist as you melt shea butter and wax, experimenting with the combination of essential oils. something sexy, something musky, undertones of floral or aquatic would suit him. something with ingredients that won't dry his skin out. something that hopefully won't remind him of his middle school days of dousing himself in old spice, hoping to become irresistible to the ladies

out of all the containers, you find one in a sleek, matte black colorway and have his initials engraved on the side in a very serious-looking font

you do have to tell him it is not lip balm and that it in fact goes on his body instead. he excitedly starts dabbing it onto his neck, wrists, collarbone, behind the ear —

"it smells soooo good wow wow wow. shit. i should put this down before i use the whole thing —"

7. doll making & felting✦ haley plushie hand warmer or a needle felt plush of her

haley is an incredible and very cute muse. she must be immortalized

it's hard to decide how though, there's a lot of great ways to portray the little pooch. like sewing a hand warmer made of upcycled socks and stuffed with rice would be useful for him, an adorable reminder of his beloved companion and that someone out there wants him to stay safe and warm wherever he is

he often lies tummy down, taking deep, slow breaths, settling the warm haley doll on the middle of his spine or the back of his legs to soothe any aches

but a needle felt plush doll … yes, time consuming but to make a soft replica of the three-legged pitbull … why, something like that could bring a grown man to his knees, holding her with care in the middle of his hands as he holds back tears and all sorts of "AWW"s and "SHIT THAT'S SO CUTE"s fall out of his mouth

( bonus points for also making a tiny removable felt bitewing mask and cape )

8. food stuffs ✦ beverage crafting and baking can be creative argue with the wall

earl grey infused french hot chocolate ;

he probably has some variety of coffee every day — why not switch it up and introduce him to a new concoction? something sweet, warm and nostalgic with a hint of elegance and so many added health benefits from the tea (including but not limited to increase in alertness and energy, reduction of anxiety and stress, and supporting bone health*)

the hot chocolate itself is special because of the way it's prepared — giant bars of dark chocolate chopped into tiny shards by hand ; milk, cream and sugar carefully whisked to silky perfection in which the lone tea bag will simmer before the shreds of chocolate are slowly added

the ingredients integrate in harmony into a rich, thick liquid suited for royalty or a very, very tired vigilante who could use a pick me up. the scent of it alone invades his nostrils from the porcelain tea cup. one sip in and he feels damn near as though all his bones are already patching themselves up

powdered and jelly-filled heart shaped donuts ;

once you learn how to make donuts, they're pretty easy and fun to make

once you realize you can make them into fun shapes, you are unstoppable

the hardest part of it all is waiting for the dough to rise, second only to wanting to eat them fresh out of the piping hot oil. they only take a couple minutes for each side before you pluck them out. powdered sugar clings to each one before they're pipe-filled with some delicious fruit jam that you also handmade fresh that week

"this is the real reason i left the bludhaven police department, if you were ever curious," he jokes, leaning against your bedroom entryway, snacking on a donut with powder and jam smattered across his lips. "because my coworkers wouldn't stop stealing these li'l things. it was absolutely ridiculous. and who am i gonna call about it — the cops ???"

cherry tiramisu ;

you promised to make some of your famous homemade cherry tiramisu when you discovered, to your shock and horror, that dick grayson had Never had it before. no tiramisu. Ever. criminal

he hovers around you like a hummingbird, watching your every move as you get to work. you wanted it to be a surprise but since it's new for him, he wanted to very closely observe. for science research, of course. the kind of science research that has him quickly dipping a finger into the pot of cherries, lemon and sugar and sticking it in his mouth

you shoo him away. "you're just as bad as wally. go over there until i'm done before you inhale all the ingredients. or burn yourself."

"waiting for food to cool down is a psyop, trust"

"GO AWAY, RICHARD, YOU'RE SMOOTH PISSING ME AWF"

"ok ok fine, i'll behave. but i'm right —"

you whip, peak, fold and dip before it's time to start the fun part — layering! ladyfingers, mascarpone, cherries. ladyfingers, mascarpone, cherries. lady—

"ladyfingers? is that really what they're called? hahahahaha no way" "dick, PLEASE"

the completed confectionery goes into fridge jail for about 5 hours. you prefer it to chill overnight but he keeps asking "is it done yet. is it chilled. now? yeah? yes" so you choose the slightly shorter option

you use a fancy, cursive capital 'D' stencil to create an alabaster silhouette, which sits proudly in the middle of the generous layer of chocolate powder — his own little bat signal in the middle of a dessert that definitely needs help being devoured

Wally West

1. clay ✦ key tray or tic tac toe board with cute food game pieces

we all know he misplaces his belongings … often. can't really fix that for him but you can sculpt a sweet little key tray for him to keep by the front door ! even has a pretty glaze finish to make it catch the light so he'll be more likely to use it

or a tic tac toe board to keep his hands busy — one shaped like a waffle, while the game pieces are blueberries and pads of butter. or a charcuterie board with pretzels and cheese blocks. hopefully the glaze on these will remind him these are fake instead of tempt his impressively perma-empty tummy

2. traditional animation ✦ flip book

a tactile piece of art for him to flip through and be utterly fascinated with, both in regards to the mere concept of being able to hold a cartoon in his hands and the fact that you have patience to create something like this. for fun. the flip book you give him features him running, arms pumping like there's no tomorrow. it's secretly his favorite, not that he can easily choose

3. crochet ✦ bucket hat

it's not that he won't put the sunscreen on. it's that he keeps neglecting to do so, much to everyone's chagrin

"yeah yeah i'll get to it in a sec"

he does not. and then complains that he looks like a tomato cryptid by the end of the day

it's not like anybody can catch him while he's zooming around like a hyper puppy, so you gift to him a fun bucket hat to at least keep him cool under the burning sun. it's a brightly colored little number that suits his hair color and skin tone. he tugs on it, pats it on top of his head, rests it on top of his face while he lies down in the shade, won't stop showing it off to anyone within earshot

"ooh i should put some sunscreen on while i'm at it —"

4. floral arrangement ✦ an ikebana . . . but with pipe cleaners.

no tea no shade but we do not trust wally to maintain the life of multiple living flowers. the pipe cleaners are neat-o though, fun and bendy while still looking realistic … if you stand back far enough

you might have to make him more because he tangled and ruined the last bouquet while he was absentmindedly fidgeting with it. maybe it became a casualty because he zoomed past it to answer an emergency call. he looks genuinely remorseful, bottom lip jutting out. you don't really gaf because it's just pipe cleaners. he watches you make another batch. you make two pipe cleaner flower crowns this time, one for him one for you, much to his glee

5. upcycled prop ✦ monster energy gun

wally has been banished to the shadow realm from drinking anymore energy drinks after The Incident. should've been banished earlier but he swore up and down he could handle it, that it would improve his performance. raise your hand if you knew that was a bad idea

you cringe at the thought of all those empty cans going to waste, so you did what you do and slaved over your desk with duct tape and hot glue and made a decorative rifle out of them

it is. *thee* coolest thing he has ever seen and cannot stop laughing at it. he pretends to shoot it at donna and roy, who play along with their hands up in surrender. they feel like they're babysitting a toddler playing pretend ( they are )( it'll be good for his interpersonal development )

he takes a lot of snapchat pics with it. he look very badass. good job, wally

6. traditional dry medias ✦ completed sketchbook full of your messy, raw art

you never understood why he watched you scribble in this garbage sketchbook. they were garbage. on purpose. unfinished doodles, smudged charcoal before you learned how to stop it from doing that with hairspray, ideas jotted down, anatomy sketches, thumbnails … the book itself is barely holding itself up with all the beatings it took

he thinks they're all masterpieces, the scribbles and whatnot. well, it's not that he thinks they're literal art, but … something about watching your disorganized, chaotic thoughts spill out onto the pages with such practiced control that speaks to him

one day, you make it to the last page and are about to toss it somewhere to the side before realizing … this would be better in his hands. he'd definitely appreciate this more than you

"whattt you're really givin' this to me ??? you don't want it anymore ???"

"it's all done. no more pages to scribble on," you reply simply, shrugging. "onto the next one. you can keep that as one of your little souvenirs."

he holds it up like simba

"this," he murmurs with utter reverence, "is my magnum opus of shit that's not mine. i will guard it with my LIFE"

" ok buddy "

7. upcycling ✦ decorated altoid wallet

he's a collector of things, a bit of a sentimental klepto, if you will. surely, it's not the same as him bringing home an artifact from his many adventures at work but altoid wallets are so much fun. it still reeks a bit of cinnamon mints, which to him is a nice little added bonus

it's a shrine of scintillating trinkets and random treasures, some of them being yours that you've decided to part ways with for him to have forever that he takes out to admire or adds onto

8. food stuffs ✦

iced banana latte matcha with cold foam and intricate latte art ;

it is nothing short of imperative that you use the matcha set you were recently gifted. making matcha is such a calming ritual, and you get the idea to spread the joy to wally after learning that matcha can assist in combating some adhd symptoms* since coffee doesn't necessarily do anything for him

but what flavor of matcha for the speedster? the options are never-ending if you're a crafty bug ( you are! ) but after much much deliberation, you decide he may enjoy a banana-flavored matcha, as bananas are not only rich in nutrients but they also famously filling due to them slowing the digestion process and being high in fiber*

the banana, brown sugar and whipping cream immediately get fucked in your fancy mini blender. your hands automatically flow through the matcha process; scraping the powder around in the sifter over the chawan, expertly maneuvering the whisk to combine the tea and water; syrup and oat milk are then poured into a large cup full of ice, the banana blend following suit. the matcha layer comes last, and you take a deep, deep breath

your hand hovers over the beverage, a dollop of cream patiently sitting in your spoon. you so very badly want to make an elaborate design. but you settle for doodling a sweet little fat ass kirby — complete with puffy, blushy cheeks

protein cookie dough chunks ;

you take ( very irritated ) note that wally cannot physically stop himself from sampling your cookie dough on baking days, no matter how hard you smack him with the spatula. "wally, you're gonna eat all the dough before i can even make any cookies. then you're gonna whine that there's no cookies because there's no dough. and then you're gonna get sick from eating raw dough because we're americans and our eggs are bombs"

"… perchance" he says, thoughtfully. unthoughtfully, actually

quick fix: cookie dough chunks that are edible on purpose and chock full of protein. baking soda, peanut butter, vanilla protein powder, greek yogurt, dark chocolate chunks, sea salt. it seems pretty straightforward to the untrained eye, but you do have to experiment with how much of what goes into the concoction so that it mimics the texture and taste of cookie dough to temporarily trick the goofball's brain

that way he can have his bowl of Wally Chow to blast through and also hopefully gain some kind of meaningful nutrients from while you peacefully guide the real rolled-up balls of raw cookie dough into the oven

pistachio cinnamon rolls ;

he seems like a sweets for breakfast guy. you could make pancakes with syrup and call it a day but you're a crafty cook and we gotta spice this hoe up. you're making pistachio cinnamon rolls drizzled with cream. most certainly they take longer than pancakes, and more time to prepare. but the end result is more than worth it

the light dusting of flour on the counter top ( and your apron. and your cheeks ) keeps the dough from sticking to it while you evenly spread the pastel green filling all around. the scent of it already begins to draft up and around you as you roll the flat mass into a log and begin slicing them. the aroma only grows stronger as rolls bake, painting the air of your home in soft hues of sugary brown and earthy green

looks a little fancier when you throw some leftover toasted pistachios on top of the cream cheese glaze

he bites down and hums happily, the tasty, gooey pastry treating his taste buds to an experience like no other

Both ( i am very tired. these are much shorter. i'm sorry/you're welcome )

1. eye color bracelets

inspired by the tiktok trend, you haul ass to a local art supply store and dig through the colorful beads. emeralds, embers, golds for wally. indigos, onyx, and silvers for dick. an easy project making friendship bracelets. they clip easily around the boys' wrists

now wouldn't it just be so funny if they happen to surprise you back with their own bracelets for you in your eye color? you take cute pics of your hands showing off your new bling, arranging your hands and fingers in a multitude of heart poses

2. physical mixtape cds

they both bow to your impeccable taste in jams. you did forget they need some sort of apparatus to play the cds on though so dick buys a used cd player at a pawn shop and wally fixes it up. it sucks a little bit but it does work. for a while. at some point you begrudgingly just send them spotify playlists over text

3. polaroid scrapbook

so many memories. dick compliments your eye for the rule of thirds and catching everyone in the perfect light. for a rare moment, wally is quiet with admiration as the three of you flip through

4. custom calico critters made to look like them

dick and wally will not stop making their little dudes fight. guys come on thats not how you play toys grow tf up ugh

5. brown butter chocolate chip banana bread mug cake

apparently if you don't know what to get the man in your life as a gift, the consensus states that you make him banana bread. the way to their heart is their stomach, etc. etc.

that being said, everything is tastier with chocolate chips and everything is cuter in a mug

6. homemade face, hair and hand masks

spa niiiight. you apply face masks to each other while blasting aforementioned mixtapes and talking shit. nothing like a hot gossip sesh with the 6 foot tall, muscular, deep-voiced girlies

7. customized matching game controllers

so you can wreck them stylishly at switch and pc games

𓏵 ┊ no AI is ever used for any reason in the crafting of my works as i am fully against generative AI in creative fields & endeavors. all rights reserved to tumblr user @bijouxmisu

𓏵 ┊ do not repost, translate, modify in any way nor feed my works to AI. thank you in advance for your compliance

ⓘ ﹏ pearl chain divider by @uzmacchiato ノ lace fringe divider by @kthice .ᐟ 🦢

extra.

ⓘ ﹏ pearl chain divider by @uzmacchiato ノ lace fringe divider by @kthice .ᐟ

𓏵 ┊ no AI is ever used for any reason in the crafting of my works as i am fully against generative AI in creative fields