Lady Alatáriel

(lemme know if there's any big mistakes lol)

HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!

Robert is definitely someone who doesn't talk about their birthday. It was probably never celebrated growing up (save for Chase getting him a sweet treat), and rather than Robert not wanting to celebrate, it was more like he simply forgot he even had a birthday. His birthday comes and goes quietly, and it isn't until they start talking about Invisigal's birthday the upcoming month, does Chad suddenly question when Robert's birthday is.

"Oh. It passed already."

The whole room goes silent. They all turn to stare at Robert, making the man squirm uncomfortably. "What?"

"It passed?" Alice screeches, taking her visors off. "Bitch, when?"

"Why didn't you say anything?" Chad demands, suddenly heated.

Robert takes a cautious step back, feeling cornered. "Um, two weeks ago. Why? Does it matter?"

"Of course it matters." Chad nearly facepalms. "Okay, new plan. We book that new karaoke bar for tomorrow and we're throwing you a party."

"What? No." Robert frowns. "You don't have to. It's fine, really."

"Nu-uh." Mal tuts as she wraps her tail gently around Robert's shoulders. "Come on, babe. It's your special day, we should celebrate."

"Cake, cake, cake!" Victor and Colm start chanting. Robert blinks, suddenly overwhelmed by what's happening. Alice is already on the phone booking everything, and things are happening much too fast.

Chad squeezes his nape gently. "You want to celebrate, don't you?"

"I—" Robert swallows, lips twisting downward. "I've never really...celebrated it before."

Chad's brows furrow. "Does this bother you?" He gestures towards the rowdy bunch, overly hyped for the upcoming party.

Robert hesitates, taking a moment to consider this. Finally, he says, "No...no, it's fine. They seem happy, so..." He shrugs.

Chad wants to say it matters that he's happy about it, since it's his birthday, but sometimes Robert is like that. He won't know until he's experienced it, whether he likes it or not.

The following evening comes and the party is already in full swing when Robert arrives. They booked a private room, and when he walks in, he's greeted by Mal and Mandy first, Mal handing him a beer with her tail, then Chase who shouts a half-hearted "happy birthday, kid!" since his true motive was to steal Beef away. Robert slides onto the couch next to Courtney and Golem, taking a swig of his beer.

The bass of the music pulses through his veins and it's...nice. Surprisingly easy.

Alice and Chad arrive a little late—fashionably, as they say—and Alice pulls Robert up for a tight hug before passing him to Chad.

Robert is very clearly underdressed in front of the duo—well, that's no surprise, but Chad really dressed up. He's clad in a maroon, blinged out open-back vest, showing off most of his chest and muscular arms, black leather pants that are laced on either side of his hips. His hair is down, falling over his shoulders effortlessly, and Robert doesn't doubt he spent hours making sure each strand curled the right way.

He swallows, mesmerized.

Chad smiles in his usual teasing, boyish way, tilting his head slightly to the side. He takes in Robert's appearance, amber eyes sweeping down his body, clad in just a dark graphic tee and jeans, and gives a little huff of amusement.

Robert shuffles, suddenly very aware of how he looks compared to him. "So—" He yelps, cut off when Chad tugs him closer by the waist, nearly tantalizing in the way his hand burns over his thin shirt.

"Happy birthday." Chad breathes into his ear, his scarred one, of course, because he knows it's more sensitive. Robert feels his flush go all the way to his ears and down his neck, his breath caught in his throat. He can only give a very faint "mm" in acknowledgement, and Chad holds him there for a beat longer, his thumb rubbing against his ribs, and then lets go.

Robert relearns how to breathe once Chad moves past him to join Alice for karaoke. He plops back down into his seat and Courtney shoots him a very knowing grin, bumping her shoulder with his. He rolls his eyes and hopes the dim party lights doesn't highlight how red he must be.

The rest of the night is fun, actually. Alice finally manages to get Robert to take the mic and sing a song, and from how loud his team is cheering, he must be doing a good job. The more he drinks and sings, the more he eases up and starts to really enjoy it.

They put a silly party hat on him, but he's just tipsy enough not to care. Mandy brings in a lit vanilla birthday cake, and the room is quiet for all of 5 seconds for Robert to make a wish. He's never done this before, he doesn't know how to act, but they're all looking at him very expectantly.

He closes his eyes and wishes for this fuzzy warmth in his chest to never go away.

They cheer when he blows out his candles, and Victor, in his drunken state, nearly goes to smash his face into the cake if not for Colm holding him back.

Janelle cuts the cake, Herm and Katon-Ur helping to pass the slices around.

"Birthday boy gets first bite!" Courtney yells, looking at him expectantly. "Go on."

Robert chuckles and goes to take a bite, perfectly sweet and fluffy. The rest follow and start to enjoy their own slice. Bruno tosses the whole thing into his mouth, plate and all. "Yum."

"Figures you like vanilla cake." Chad sidles up beside him, his slice barely touched on the table. "Basic white bitch."

"Hey, there's nothing wrong with vanilla." Robert defends, taking another bite and savoring the cake. "Vanilla is versatile."

"Psh, I could've made anything. Chocolate, strawberry, fucking tiramisu, even. But no, you want vanilla."

"Wait." Robert blinks down at his cake. "You made this?"

"Of course I did." Chad scoffs and puffs out his chest proudly. "I'm amazing."

"Yeah, and he failed like, 5 times." Alice snorts from across the table. "Bruno and Victor had to take one for the team and eat the failed ones."

"They were still good." Bruno rumbles. "Just more...burnt."

"Wow." Robert's chest squeezes tight, eyes stinging. "Thank you, Chad."

His amber eyes soften, and he very casually stretches to wrap an arm around Robert's shoulders. "It's nothing, I'm just that good."

No one points it out when Robert snuggles up to Chad, resting his head on the taller man's shoulder. It's comfortable, and warm, and happy here, surrounded by people who love him.

"…is your daughter’s new pet project bothering you, my lord? would you like me to dispatch of him swiftly? you are staring at him rather intently."

"actually… call ducra. see if she’ll give him those magic swords."

*jason in the distance, trips over his own feet and faceplants the stone steps*

"what."

"look even you have to admit that seeing what he’d do with them would be interesting. i’ve been in the desert for 600 fucking years oleg, i’m bored."

~

“so what’s new with jason?”

“…he seems to have finally taken to his new body, and is throwing himself into training.”

“…:/“

“…we also have word that he might be starting a coup against his poison tutor.”

“magnificent.”

~

“…my lord… if you don’t mind me asking… why are you crouching in front of those doors?”

“shhhhh, i left gotham newspapers on jason’s nightstand and i wanna see what he does when he realises the detective adopted another kid.”

*distant sobs of rage* *crashes and screams*

“ok now somebody go in there and tell him the joker’s still alive. i’ll wait out here where it’s safe.”

Whose posting all the peter in gotham stuff?? Erin's still on hiatus, no one else is posting, EMC is literally holding up this tag like the goat it is

I saw the fic recommended in the comment section of a Pinterest post about what would happen if Spiderman and Batman swapped villains and I got hooked.

“Ow,” he mutters, bracing himself on one hand to dust the rubble off. He examines the flush of his hand, squinting to make sure the rock hadn’t pierced through the skin. It’s really difficult for him to get an infection, but with how slow his healing factor has been lately because of the lack of proper nutrition, it’s better to be safe than sorry.

The back of his neck tingles right before someone lands on the roof with a light thud.

“You okay there?”

Peter plants his hand back on the parapet and lowers his feet over his head so he’s in a backbend, arching his neck so he’s looking at the stranger upside down. A man in a black and blue kevlar suit stares at him through the white eyes of a domino mask, his dark hair flopping over his forehead as he tilts his head.

“I’m good,” Peter says, bridge-walking closer to the man. Ordinarily, he’d be concerned at how easily he’d been snuck up on, but his spider-sense barely twigs in his presence. Besides, Nightwing is one of this world’s numerous vigilantes, rumored to be Batman’s first Robin. Peter doesn’t know what he’s doing in Gotham, though. He was under the impression Nightwing has been working out of Blüdhaven for a decade now.

“How about doing that on flatter ground, bud?” Nightwing says lightly, but Peter can hear the undercurrent of nerves in his voice. Which isn’t unreasonable, considering he’s on the ledge of a seven-story building.

Peter kicks off into a flawless handstand and handwalks a little closer.

“Why, you scared?” he asks, and like the little shit he is, he tilts so he’s only standing on one hand. The steady thumps of Nightwing’s heart skips a few beats.

“Not scared, no,” Nightwing says, although he’s leaning forward, hands twitching as if he wants to dive forward and pull him from the ledge. “Just a little nervous—that’s a long fall.”

Peter looks down the alley and hums. “There’s a dumpster I can land on,” he says, shrugging with one arm. It makes him wobble, although he quickly catches himself. Nightwing’s breath hitches, his heart pattering a little louder.

“Not even Batman can survive that long a fall, buddy,” he says with a strained smile. “How about you come over here and show me more of your tricks? I saw you do a backflip earlier. It was very impressive.”

“That’s not creepy at all,” says Peter with a pout. He’d thought he’d felt someone looking at him earlier, but the thrum of his spider-sense had been so light he’d ignored it. Turns out he shouldn’t have just assumed it was someone watching him from their apartment. Now he’s on suicide-watch.

“I can show you some tricks?” Nightwings offers. Peter actually considers it for a moment. The few videos he’d seen of Nightwing had shown him performing flips like a trained gymnast. That one aerial kick from a newer video looked kinda cool and it would blend in flawlessly with Spider-Man’s bouncy fighting style. Come to think of it, Spider-Man and Nightwing fought a lot alike. Maybe Nightwing could bestow some wisdom to his fellow vigilante?

Peter handsprings off the parapet and lands lightly on his feet in front of Nightwing, who lets out a barely audible sigh of relief. The man stands from his crouch and extends a hand towards Peter for a handshake.

“I’m Nightwing,” he says.

“I know,” says Peter, like an idiot. Nightwing laughs. “I’m Peter,” he adds, shaking his hand.

“No other name?” Nightwing wonders.

“Nope. Stranger danger, dude.” Peter releases his hand and bounces a few times on his toes. “You said you were gonna show me some tricks?” he asks hopefully.

When your LITTLE brother stops being little (relatable)

imagine how awkward that would be for damian once he got to gotham. like. that's the equivalent of coming home from college and finding out your literature professor has been adopted by your father and is now your sibling. IMAGINE THAT FROM DAMIAN'S PERSPECTIVE.

bruce: damian, i want you to meet jason, my son. he's been through a lot, but he's still a part of the family and i want you to get to know him as your new brother.

damian:

jason, awkwardly refusing to make eye contact:

damian: ...mr todd?

bruce:

bruce: what.

LIKE. JASON IS THE EQUIVILENT OF DAMIAN'S PRIMARY SCHOOL TEACHER (middle school for americans) AND DAMIAN IS JUST. RANDOMLY TOLD THIS IS HIS NEW BIG BROTHER. THAT WOULD BE INSANE FOR HIM.

~

jason: so uh, obviously this is interesting...

damian: you gave me detention two months ago.

jason: *snorts* uh. yeah...

damian: you had a dunce hat.

jason: wELL I'D NEVER TAUGHT ANYONE ANYTHING BEFORE I DIDN'T KNOW WHAT TO D-

~

tim: so what was the league like? i mean, you must have trained a lot since you pretty much didn't need any training from bruce before coming on patrols. what was it like?

damian:

jason behind tim, making cut-throat gestures frantically:

damian: ...

tim: *waiting expectantly*

damian: i got put in time out for disagreeing with my sensei's opinion on jam flavours once.

jason: *abruptly ducks away, putting both palms over his mouth to avoid laughing*

tim:

damian: i had never tasted jam, at the time.

~

*at the breakfast table*

jason: yo dami, pass me the juice.

damian: *not paying attention*

jason:

jason: OI. JUICE OR YOU WONT GET A GOLD STAR ON YOUR CHART.

damain, instinctively, snapping upwards: -YES SENSEI SORRY SENSEI-

damain:

jason:

damian:

damian: *grumpily hands over the juice* i hate when you do that.

What's your favorite slightly-poetic line you've written for fanfiction or something else?

I'll go first :} (Line taken from my fic Clipped Wings)

Dick seemed to be stuck repeating Jason’s name over and over like it was a blessing and a prayer and a knife to the heart. The weight of grief, joy, and redemption was placed on every whispered syllable. He was clutching Jason like he was made of smoke and he didn’t seem to notice the mud that covered Jason’s clothes. 

The two brothers stayed like that, crying together in an empty grave, for somewhere between a few minutes and an hour. It was hard to tell. The only thing that got them moving at all was a sudden, loud crack of thunder that startled them both out of the fog of reunion. 

Dick looked up at the sky and seemed to finally register the now-pouring rain. He laughed aloud and looked back at Jason with utter joy in his eyes. “Let’s go home, yeah?”

Jason nodded slowly. “Home. Yeah, let’s go home.”

I guess this counts as a sneak peek from my upcoming chapter of my fic, Tesoro (Feat. Yet Another Stark Industries Field Trip),

"Every time Tony blinked, he saw it, Peter’s grin before he left the kids alone-Read: Was dragged away- on that damned field trip. The stupid “I’ll see you later” wave. The unspoken trust in his eyes. He never thought that trust would be shattered so quickly, each tiny sliver of glass embedded so deep into his heart, Tony could hardly breathe.

He used to think failure was just part of the process. Build, break, rebuild. Progress. But failure wasn’t living. Failure doesn’t bleed. Failure isn't a living, breathing being, and Tony refused to allow his kid to be added to the list of mistakes he's made."

@dickgraysonmybeloved

Some Thorin practice on the train!

Also Robert: My team trying to kill me was actually not a big deal and I forgive them all regardless

(psst. It's because he sees his father's death as way more important than any harm to himself. Get this man therapy)

Ghosts - Chapter 6 - TheMaidenOfWords - Dispatch (Video Game) [Archive of Our Own]