pillow forts and covert operations
Title: Pillow Forts and Covert Operations
Author:
saboteurist
Rating: PG
Pairing: Mostly gen; slight kf/robin and superboy/mgann
Summary: Fluff fluff and more fluff
A/N: Sure this fic just happened and i'm posting it and why is it 11PM i'm really tired
TIRED WRITING AND POSTING IS NOT A GOOD IDEA
HERE YOU GO achromaticscale GO NUTS THIS IS FOR YOU MY LOVE
i.
Artemis comes home late and stands in the doorway for a minute, contemplating how the cave has somehow become home. The team is gathered around the TV: Kaldur is napping quietly in an arm chair, Conner has his arm along the back of the couch, almost touching M'gann's shoulders, and Wally and Robin are whispering to each other about their Adventures in Gotham and Central City. They're the strangest bunch of people she's ever seen. It makes something swell inside her, to be a part of this team, to have everyone care about her and want to spend time with her. And so she throws on a smirk and makes room for herself on the couch by pushing Robin into Wally's lap, grinning against their complaints and bumping shoulders with M'gann, who launches into a summary of the movie they've been watching. Kaldur finally stirs to give Robin and Wally a despairing look, but he smiles at Artemis before resting his cheek on his palm once more. Conner accidentally dents the couch with his grip as M'gann puts her hand on his knee. Wally shoots to the kitchen and back to get another bowl of popcorn, which Robin promptly steals.
It feels like home.
-
ii.
"So," Conner says awkwardly, fiddling with his fingers, "hot doesn't refer to temperature."
"Sometimes it does," Artemis tells him as she sharpens her arrows.
"But not always?"
"Not always," she confirms.
Conner sighs and leans back against his motorcycle. "I don't like this. I can't tell if she means that my temperature is irregular or if she finds me attractive."
"It's the latter, trust me."
"And is it, um. Normal to paint your nails."
Artemis furrows her brow. "Of course, I do it all the ti-- Oh." She looks up to see Conner's nails, which are alternating colors of the rainbow. "You didn't do that, did you?"
"No. M'gann said it was normal for sleepovers." His cheeks are red and splotchy with embarrassment. "It's not normal, is it."
"No, it's normal," Artemis says, biting back laughter. Conner will do anything to please M'gann, even if it means sacrificing his dignity.
He glares at his nails. "No matter what I try it won't come off."
Artemis puts her arrows back in her quiver and stands, taking Conner's hands and leading him toward the bathroom. "C'mon, this is why nail polish remover exists."
-
iii.
"You're kidding me," Artemis groans, shutting the empty cupboards (Wally's fault) and stooping to see if there's anything left in the lower ones. There's a wide variety of almost empty cereal boxes (also Wally's fault), but M'gann used the rest of the milk last night to make a celebratory cake for no apparent reason.
Robin's voice floats into the kitchen. "Can I tell you something?"
Another set of footsteps follow, but Artemis doesn't bother to stand up and see who it is because she's too invested in deciding between a crumpled box of Captain Crunch (Conner doesn't seem to know how to eat without destroying things) and Fruit Loops, just because they're Wally's favorite.
"Sure," Wally says, "What's up?"
There's a long pause, a shuffling of feet. Artemis scowls at the boxes and pretends she doesn't exist.
"...I think I like y--"
"Nope," Artemis announces, standing up and holding the box of Fruit Loops above her head. Robin looks mortified and Wally just looks confused. "Nope," she repeats, walking directly between them and making sure Wally sees that she's eating his Fruit Loops. "Nope," she says one last time, before exiting the kitchen to go see what's on TV.
-
iv.
"But how did you get gum in your hair in the first place?" M'gann asks curiously, tugging gently at Artemis' hair.
"Freshman. That weird one that tried to take a picture with me-- ow."
"Sorry!" M'gann squeaks, "It's almost out, I promise."
Artemis grits her teeth and folds her arms. "Sometimes I really hate school."
M'gann pets her head sympathetically.
-
v.
(Dick Grayson apologizes later, and tells her he will make peace by purchasing her anything she wants. Artemis now has seventeen new pairs of shoes and Batman is particularly bitter this week).
-
vi.
"I know it has been a while," Kaldur begins, and Wally drags everyone together into a huddle, "But we are still a team, and we can still do good out there."
"As long as I don't mess up," M'gann laughs.
"You won't," Superboy says firmly, and Robin squeezes her shoulder.
"We do not need to think on the past, our failures or our successes. The road ahead may seem impossible, but we are strong. We have each other. I have faith in all of you, and I promise to be the kind of leader you can count on."
Artemis looks around at their eager faces, sees the pride in Kaldur's. "So what are we waiting for?"
M'gann brightens. "One last thing," she sing-songs, and pulls everyone into a great big bear hug. There's laughter and words of encouragement and too many body parts, and people mussing up Artemis' hair. She kicks Wally in the shins a couple times but it's friendly and perfect and she knows this is family.
-
vii.
"What's this?"
She inspects the package carefully, because it's wrapped in Happy Birthday giftwrap and tied in a large red bow. "Are you sure this is from you? Seems kind of... I don't know. Happy. You're not gonna start singing or dancing or, god, please don't tell me you're in love."
"Very funny," Roy snorts. He sits down beside Artemis so that his legs are dangling over the edge of the building. "As angry as Green Arrow makes me, I actually listened to him when he told me to get you something for your birthday."
Artemis blinks at him. "That's. Really nice, actually."
"Don't look so surprised."
She unwraps the present warily, like it's a bomb about to go off, but instead she finds a pair of gloves. "Gloves?" She asks flatly.
Roy grimaces. "They're good gloves. Better than yours."
"Thanks," Artemis says belatedly. She tries them on, flexes her fists. "Y'know Roy, you're not so bad."
When she looks up, Roy's already gone.
"You could at least say hi to Wally!" She yells after him. "And Robin! I think they're in love with you!"
Judging by the surprised shouts and excited laughter she hears in the distance, Roy heard her.
-
viii.
"It was good to see him again," Kaldur says, beaming calmly at Artemis (which shouldn't be possible, but somehow he manages to look ecstatic and mild tempered at the same time).
"Well," Artemis says, not even trying to hide the fact that she was the reason for Roy's little visit, "it had absolutely nothing to do with me." Kaldur smiles at her.
They reach a corner as they walk through the corridors of the cave, and Artemis flings her hands up, one to hold Kaldur back and the other to hold a finger to her lips. She peeks around the corner and then signals for Kaldur to stay put.
Artemis steps into Wally's room, hands in pockets."What's going on here?" She asks nonchalantly.
Wally and Robin look up in alarm. Robin lets go of the pillow he was holding and their blanket fort collapses. "Uh," Wally blurts. He blinks a few times, glances at Robin for support, and then looks at Artemis again. "We were making a blanket fort."
"I can see that," Artemis says, and Kaldur appears over her shoulder.
"I think that we will need more pillows if we want everyone to fit," he offers helpfully.
Author:
saboteurist
Rating: PG
Pairing: Mostly gen; slight kf/robin and superboy/mgann
Summary: Fluff fluff and more fluff
A/N: Sure this fic just happened and i'm posting it and why is it 11PM i'm really tired
TIRED WRITING AND POSTING IS NOT A GOOD IDEA
HERE YOU GO achromaticscale GO NUTS THIS IS FOR YOU MY LOVE
i.
Artemis comes home late and stands in the doorway for a minute, contemplating how the cave has somehow become home. The team is gathered around the TV: Kaldur is napping quietly in an arm chair, Conner has his arm along the back of the couch, almost touching M'gann's shoulders, and Wally and Robin are whispering to each other about their Adventures in Gotham and Central City. They're the strangest bunch of people she's ever seen. It makes something swell inside her, to be a part of this team, to have everyone care about her and want to spend time with her. And so she throws on a smirk and makes room for herself on the couch by pushing Robin into Wally's lap, grinning against their complaints and bumping shoulders with M'gann, who launches into a summary of the movie they've been watching. Kaldur finally stirs to give Robin and Wally a despairing look, but he smiles at Artemis before resting his cheek on his palm once more. Conner accidentally dents the couch with his grip as M'gann puts her hand on his knee. Wally shoots to the kitchen and back to get another bowl of popcorn, which Robin promptly steals.
It feels like home.
-
ii.
"So," Conner says awkwardly, fiddling with his fingers, "hot doesn't refer to temperature."
"Sometimes it does," Artemis tells him as she sharpens her arrows.
"But not always?"
"Not always," she confirms.
Conner sighs and leans back against his motorcycle. "I don't like this. I can't tell if she means that my temperature is irregular or if she finds me attractive."
"It's the latter, trust me."
"And is it, um. Normal to paint your nails."
Artemis furrows her brow. "Of course, I do it all the ti-- Oh." She looks up to see Conner's nails, which are alternating colors of the rainbow. "You didn't do that, did you?"
"No. M'gann said it was normal for sleepovers." His cheeks are red and splotchy with embarrassment. "It's not normal, is it."
"No, it's normal," Artemis says, biting back laughter. Conner will do anything to please M'gann, even if it means sacrificing his dignity.
He glares at his nails. "No matter what I try it won't come off."
Artemis puts her arrows back in her quiver and stands, taking Conner's hands and leading him toward the bathroom. "C'mon, this is why nail polish remover exists."
-
iii.
"You're kidding me," Artemis groans, shutting the empty cupboards (Wally's fault) and stooping to see if there's anything left in the lower ones. There's a wide variety of almost empty cereal boxes (also Wally's fault), but M'gann used the rest of the milk last night to make a celebratory cake for no apparent reason.
Robin's voice floats into the kitchen. "Can I tell you something?"
Another set of footsteps follow, but Artemis doesn't bother to stand up and see who it is because she's too invested in deciding between a crumpled box of Captain Crunch (Conner doesn't seem to know how to eat without destroying things) and Fruit Loops, just because they're Wally's favorite.
"Sure," Wally says, "What's up?"
There's a long pause, a shuffling of feet. Artemis scowls at the boxes and pretends she doesn't exist.
"...I think I like y--"
"Nope," Artemis announces, standing up and holding the box of Fruit Loops above her head. Robin looks mortified and Wally just looks confused. "Nope," she repeats, walking directly between them and making sure Wally sees that she's eating his Fruit Loops. "Nope," she says one last time, before exiting the kitchen to go see what's on TV.
-
iv.
"But how did you get gum in your hair in the first place?" M'gann asks curiously, tugging gently at Artemis' hair.
"Freshman. That weird one that tried to take a picture with me-- ow."
"Sorry!" M'gann squeaks, "It's almost out, I promise."
Artemis grits her teeth and folds her arms. "Sometimes I really hate school."
M'gann pets her head sympathetically.
-
v.
(Dick Grayson apologizes later, and tells her he will make peace by purchasing her anything she wants. Artemis now has seventeen new pairs of shoes and Batman is particularly bitter this week).
-
vi.
"I know it has been a while," Kaldur begins, and Wally drags everyone together into a huddle, "But we are still a team, and we can still do good out there."
"As long as I don't mess up," M'gann laughs.
"You won't," Superboy says firmly, and Robin squeezes her shoulder.
"We do not need to think on the past, our failures or our successes. The road ahead may seem impossible, but we are strong. We have each other. I have faith in all of you, and I promise to be the kind of leader you can count on."
Artemis looks around at their eager faces, sees the pride in Kaldur's. "So what are we waiting for?"
M'gann brightens. "One last thing," she sing-songs, and pulls everyone into a great big bear hug. There's laughter and words of encouragement and too many body parts, and people mussing up Artemis' hair. She kicks Wally in the shins a couple times but it's friendly and perfect and she knows this is family.
-
vii.
"What's this?"
She inspects the package carefully, because it's wrapped in Happy Birthday giftwrap and tied in a large red bow. "Are you sure this is from you? Seems kind of... I don't know. Happy. You're not gonna start singing or dancing or, god, please don't tell me you're in love."
"Very funny," Roy snorts. He sits down beside Artemis so that his legs are dangling over the edge of the building. "As angry as Green Arrow makes me, I actually listened to him when he told me to get you something for your birthday."
Artemis blinks at him. "That's. Really nice, actually."
"Don't look so surprised."
She unwraps the present warily, like it's a bomb about to go off, but instead she finds a pair of gloves. "Gloves?" She asks flatly.
Roy grimaces. "They're good gloves. Better than yours."
"Thanks," Artemis says belatedly. She tries them on, flexes her fists. "Y'know Roy, you're not so bad."
When she looks up, Roy's already gone.
"You could at least say hi to Wally!" She yells after him. "And Robin! I think they're in love with you!"
Judging by the surprised shouts and excited laughter she hears in the distance, Roy heard her.
-
viii.
"It was good to see him again," Kaldur says, beaming calmly at Artemis (which shouldn't be possible, but somehow he manages to look ecstatic and mild tempered at the same time).
"Well," Artemis says, not even trying to hide the fact that she was the reason for Roy's little visit, "it had absolutely nothing to do with me." Kaldur smiles at her.
They reach a corner as they walk through the corridors of the cave, and Artemis flings her hands up, one to hold Kaldur back and the other to hold a finger to her lips. She peeks around the corner and then signals for Kaldur to stay put.
Artemis steps into Wally's room, hands in pockets."What's going on here?" She asks nonchalantly.
Wally and Robin look up in alarm. Robin lets go of the pillow he was holding and their blanket fort collapses. "Uh," Wally blurts. He blinks a few times, glances at Robin for support, and then looks at Artemis again. "We were making a blanket fort."
"I can see that," Artemis says, and Kaldur appears over her shoulder.
"I think that we will need more pillows if we want everyone to fit," he offers helpfully.