[DC Comics] Airplane Parents and School Projects
Written for littlemissgriff as part of the DCU Remix challenge. ♥ I don't know if it's exactly what you're looking for - but when I realized this could be awesome from Lian's perspective, I just had to go with it.
Title: Airplane Parents and School Projects (Come Hell or Highwater Remix)
Fandom: DC Comics
Relationships: Dick/Roy, Lian/OC (implied), Lian/OC
Rating: PG
Summary: She's thirteen years old! God, she doesn't need her dads stalking her every single move... even if she's not sure if this Mark's as gay as he claims to be.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fic... unless details about Mark Russel count? I doubt it, so. Mostly everything in this fic is property of DC Comics. I'm just playing with these characters for what should hopefully be a great fic.
Most kids don't have to worry about their parents stalking their every move. Lian knew of helicopter parents - lots of them had only kids - but hers? They were worse: they were airplane parents. Not content enough to simply watch their daughter grow, they had to be super-involved in everything their only daughter did. Lian normally didn't mind. They were her built-in fans at soccer games and her adoring audience at every band concert (even if she butchered Beethoven's Seventh with her flute)... but when it came to boys? Boys that she needed to work with for school?
Her dads were surprisingly firm. Her real dad - her first dad - was much less strict about it, but Lian could tell from the shaky fists and the forced laughter that it mattered to him too. Come on! She's thirteen now. The days of "eww, boys have cooties" are long over. She should have the right to pick out her first boyfriend.
... Not that she really knew who to look for. She really didn't like anyone - not beyond Mark, and he was gay (or so he claimed) and taken - and god, she shouldn't even be saying "all the good men are taken or gay" yet. The point is, her dads should trust her! Especially since she'd nicely laid out everything before them: Mark's dad took her home from soccer practice and brought her to Mark's house. Mark's mommy and older sister would watch Lian and Mark work on their Social Studies project together (along with whatever else they needed) before dropping Lian home at 10.
Anna - Mark's older sister - would even let Lian take a shower and change in her room! By merit alone, the Russel family was amazing. Lian thought her speech, plus the emergency numbers and Google map and even the GPS coordinates of Mark's house, would've been more than enough to dissuade her parents from following her. She should've guessed wrong.
Her second father had ridiculous trust issues. (Could she blame Grandpa Batman for those? Please?) She'd even pleaded that she and Mark needed to finish this stupid project and get an A before they presented it in school next week. They had to outdo stupid, insensitive Senel and Leslie or they'd never hear the end of it! She wasn't exaggerating, either. School projects were serious business for her grade.
Mark was a nice, if freakishly smart, kid. She couldn't help the fact that they were consistently paired up for projects and group tests and the like! So there, Dad. Stop being overprotective. Mark was even dating Jeff from their Latin class! He wouldn't hit on her.
... Why hadn't Dad texted her a million times? He normally did this every time she was at a friend's house - much to Jodie's amusement that one time they had a sleepover - and the lack of "you doing okay, sweetheart? <3" texts were worrying her. They meant that he was far away! That he trusted her to take care of herself! Not texting her meant... that he probably wasn't very far away. (Or he was working on JLA business--- please be on JLA business.) For the first time in her life, Lian wished that her dads were off fighting some freakish sea creature from Atlantis.
She nibbled on her pencil, then scribbled down answers to some math problems. Leave it to math homework to distract her from even the big issues at hand. Nearby, Mark got up from the table and knelt down before their large - and neon-colored - poster board. He knelt down, glued pieces of paper to it, and added some stickers to the side of their double-layered pieces of paper. Glancing back at her, he grinned, "Doesn't this look great so far?"
Nodding, Lian smiled back at him. "Yeah! I think we're gonna beat them---" Staring past him - and the rain-stained window - she could barely make out the shadows of someone sitting on the roof. Two someones, actually. Lian narrowed her eyes and hastily returned to her paper. So that's where her fathers went. They couldn't trust her with one measly gay guy? Who also happened to be her usual partner for school projects? (They just never knew it since most of them were done at school.)
Covering her eyes, Lian grimaced and dropped her pencil.
Mark glanced over his shoulder at her, "Lian?"
"I'm fine!" She hastily replied, laughing nervously as she avoided his gaze.
She should've known that she was being watched. Even in the middle of a downpour, her fathers managed to stalk her every move. They claimed it was 'in her best interest.' But did they have to make out in the middle of the storm too? Honestly, they were sucking face like it was going out of style.
Mark wouldn't take no for an answer. He sat down beside her and innocently tapped her shoulder, "Need some help?"
Thank god he had no idea of what she had just seen. Taking this as a miracle, Lian slowly picked up her pencil and smiled at him, "... Actually, yeah, that'd be awesome."
If they weren't so busy making out, her dads would've flipped at the sight. Mark kept his hand on her shoulder as he walked her through the problem. "Dick hiked up a mountain trial at 3km/h and returned at 4k/h. The entire trip took five hours 10 min including the half an hour he spent at the top. How long was the trial? Okay, well..." Gently taking the pencil from her, he worked his magic: rate x time = distance.
Unfortunately, Lian just couldn't stop staring at her parents. This was so, so bad... the project wasn't done and she had another hour and... whoa, Mark was already done with the next two problems. Lian beamed at him, "Thanks. I think I can do the rest from here, so let's get this project finished."
Mark nodded, getting up and taking the glue gun with him. For some reason? His face was slightly redder than normal... huh. Lian blinked, but didn't say anything about it as she followed him and knelt down beside him.
"Thanks for letting me come after practice," Lian said shyly. "I know it let out later than normal..."
"It's no problem," Mark laughed. "We've gotta beat stupid Senel, right?"
Lian nodded energetically, pumping her free hand in the air. "Definitely! I don't think I can deal with his complaining for another hour!" She paused, slowly bringing her hand down. Wait. She probably shouldn't even mention Senny right now - especially since her parents could hear every word - and god, why was she even worrying about this? (Oh, right: because she didn't want poor Senel to suffer a smackdown like Mark did. Even if he didn't say why - and claimed he tripped down the stairs - Lian knew.)
Peering at the rain-stained window, Lian squinted. Good. Her dads were still going at it. They weren't paying attention to her. Mark noticed her hesitance, "... You like him, don't you?"
He went there. Lian squirmed, staring at their now-finished posterboard to avoid looking at him. How did he know her so well? This wasn't fair! "Maybe," She grumbled. "But you can't tell anyone! My dads'd beat him up if they knew."
Giving her a lopsided smile, Mark unplugged the glue gun and set the posterboard aside to dry. "I'm not stupid, Li. I promise, I won't tell."
"Good." She giggled, going to the table and packing her things. Mark helped her - it was a little hard, getting the backpack and the soccer bag and her lunchbox ready in five minutes - but even she noticed just how close he was getting. Even after that fight with whoever-Dad-sent? He must either be incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.
Anna was waiting for her at the garage. "Ready to go, Little Willow?"
"Yep!" Lian energetically waved, following Anna out. Glancing over her shoulder, she waved good-bye at Mark before he - and his cozy house - were out of sight. The ride home was (thankfully) much less eventful, and Lian was dropped home promptly at 10 PM... just like the Russel family promised.
She rang the doorbell and waited. When her dad opened the door, she energetically flew into his outstretched arms. "Dad!" She giggled, dropping all her stuff in the hall. Sideways glancing at her father, she then gently pulled water out of his black hair. "... You were in the rain."
He looked suddenly pale, "I. Uh. I... had to get the mail!"
Lian shook her head as she wandered up the stairs, "You suck at lying. If you wanted to supervise me and Mark, all you had to do was ask... unless you intended to suck face with Daddy and leave me high and dry the whole time."
For the first time in her life, Lian suspected that she had truly left her father dumbfounded.
Title: Airplane Parents and School Projects (Come Hell or Highwater Remix)
Fandom: DC Comics
Relationships: Dick/Roy, Lian/OC (implied), Lian/OC
Rating: PG
Summary: She's thirteen years old! God, she doesn't need her dads stalking her every single move... even if she's not sure if this Mark's as gay as he claims to be.
Disclaimer: I don't own anything in this fic... unless details about Mark Russel count? I doubt it, so. Mostly everything in this fic is property of DC Comics. I'm just playing with these characters for what should hopefully be a great fic.
Most kids don't have to worry about their parents stalking their every move. Lian knew of helicopter parents - lots of them had only kids - but hers? They were worse: they were airplane parents. Not content enough to simply watch their daughter grow, they had to be super-involved in everything their only daughter did. Lian normally didn't mind. They were her built-in fans at soccer games and her adoring audience at every band concert (even if she butchered Beethoven's Seventh with her flute)... but when it came to boys? Boys that she needed to work with for school?
Her dads were surprisingly firm. Her real dad - her first dad - was much less strict about it, but Lian could tell from the shaky fists and the forced laughter that it mattered to him too. Come on! She's thirteen now. The days of "eww, boys have cooties" are long over. She should have the right to pick out her first boyfriend.
... Not that she really knew who to look for. She really didn't like anyone - not beyond Mark, and he was gay (or so he claimed) and taken - and god, she shouldn't even be saying "all the good men are taken or gay" yet. The point is, her dads should trust her! Especially since she'd nicely laid out everything before them: Mark's dad took her home from soccer practice and brought her to Mark's house. Mark's mommy and older sister would watch Lian and Mark work on their Social Studies project together (along with whatever else they needed) before dropping Lian home at 10.
Anna - Mark's older sister - would even let Lian take a shower and change in her room! By merit alone, the Russel family was amazing. Lian thought her speech, plus the emergency numbers and Google map and even the GPS coordinates of Mark's house, would've been more than enough to dissuade her parents from following her. She should've guessed wrong.
Her second father had ridiculous trust issues. (Could she blame Grandpa Batman for those? Please?) She'd even pleaded that she and Mark needed to finish this stupid project and get an A before they presented it in school next week. They had to outdo stupid, insensitive Senel and Leslie or they'd never hear the end of it! She wasn't exaggerating, either. School projects were serious business for her grade.
Mark was a nice, if freakishly smart, kid. She couldn't help the fact that they were consistently paired up for projects and group tests and the like! So there, Dad. Stop being overprotective. Mark was even dating Jeff from their Latin class! He wouldn't hit on her.
... Why hadn't Dad texted her a million times? He normally did this every time she was at a friend's house - much to Jodie's amusement that one time they had a sleepover - and the lack of "you doing okay, sweetheart? <3" texts were worrying her. They meant that he was far away! That he trusted her to take care of herself! Not texting her meant... that he probably wasn't very far away. (Or he was working on JLA business--- please be on JLA business.) For the first time in her life, Lian wished that her dads were off fighting some freakish sea creature from Atlantis.
She nibbled on her pencil, then scribbled down answers to some math problems. Leave it to math homework to distract her from even the big issues at hand. Nearby, Mark got up from the table and knelt down before their large - and neon-colored - poster board. He knelt down, glued pieces of paper to it, and added some stickers to the side of their double-layered pieces of paper. Glancing back at her, he grinned, "Doesn't this look great so far?"
Nodding, Lian smiled back at him. "Yeah! I think we're gonna beat them---" Staring past him - and the rain-stained window - she could barely make out the shadows of someone sitting on the roof. Two someones, actually. Lian narrowed her eyes and hastily returned to her paper. So that's where her fathers went. They couldn't trust her with one measly gay guy? Who also happened to be her usual partner for school projects? (They just never knew it since most of them were done at school.)
Covering her eyes, Lian grimaced and dropped her pencil.
Mark glanced over his shoulder at her, "Lian?"
"I'm fine!" She hastily replied, laughing nervously as she avoided his gaze.
She should've known that she was being watched. Even in the middle of a downpour, her fathers managed to stalk her every move. They claimed it was 'in her best interest.' But did they have to make out in the middle of the storm too? Honestly, they were sucking face like it was going out of style.
Mark wouldn't take no for an answer. He sat down beside her and innocently tapped her shoulder, "Need some help?"
Thank god he had no idea of what she had just seen. Taking this as a miracle, Lian slowly picked up her pencil and smiled at him, "... Actually, yeah, that'd be awesome."
If they weren't so busy making out, her dads would've flipped at the sight. Mark kept his hand on her shoulder as he walked her through the problem. "Dick hiked up a mountain trial at 3km/h and returned at 4k/h. The entire trip took five hours 10 min including the half an hour he spent at the top. How long was the trial? Okay, well..." Gently taking the pencil from her, he worked his magic: rate x time = distance.
Unfortunately, Lian just couldn't stop staring at her parents. This was so, so bad... the project wasn't done and she had another hour and... whoa, Mark was already done with the next two problems. Lian beamed at him, "Thanks. I think I can do the rest from here, so let's get this project finished."
Mark nodded, getting up and taking the glue gun with him. For some reason? His face was slightly redder than normal... huh. Lian blinked, but didn't say anything about it as she followed him and knelt down beside him.
"Thanks for letting me come after practice," Lian said shyly. "I know it let out later than normal..."
"It's no problem," Mark laughed. "We've gotta beat stupid Senel, right?"
Lian nodded energetically, pumping her free hand in the air. "Definitely! I don't think I can deal with his complaining for another hour!" She paused, slowly bringing her hand down. Wait. She probably shouldn't even mention Senny right now - especially since her parents could hear every word - and god, why was she even worrying about this? (Oh, right: because she didn't want poor Senel to suffer a smackdown like Mark did. Even if he didn't say why - and claimed he tripped down the stairs - Lian knew.)
Peering at the rain-stained window, Lian squinted. Good. Her dads were still going at it. They weren't paying attention to her. Mark noticed her hesitance, "... You like him, don't you?"
He went there. Lian squirmed, staring at their now-finished posterboard to avoid looking at him. How did he know her so well? This wasn't fair! "Maybe," She grumbled. "But you can't tell anyone! My dads'd beat him up if they knew."
Giving her a lopsided smile, Mark unplugged the glue gun and set the posterboard aside to dry. "I'm not stupid, Li. I promise, I won't tell."
"Good." She giggled, going to the table and packing her things. Mark helped her - it was a little hard, getting the backpack and the soccer bag and her lunchbox ready in five minutes - but even she noticed just how close he was getting. Even after that fight with whoever-Dad-sent? He must either be incredibly brave or incredibly stupid.
Anna was waiting for her at the garage. "Ready to go, Little Willow?"
"Yep!" Lian energetically waved, following Anna out. Glancing over her shoulder, she waved good-bye at Mark before he - and his cozy house - were out of sight. The ride home was (thankfully) much less eventful, and Lian was dropped home promptly at 10 PM... just like the Russel family promised.
She rang the doorbell and waited. When her dad opened the door, she energetically flew into his outstretched arms. "Dad!" She giggled, dropping all her stuff in the hall. Sideways glancing at her father, she then gently pulled water out of his black hair. "... You were in the rain."
He looked suddenly pale, "I. Uh. I... had to get the mail!"
Lian shook her head as she wandered up the stairs, "You suck at lying. If you wanted to supervise me and Mark, all you had to do was ask... unless you intended to suck face with Daddy and leave me high and dry the whole time."
For the first time in her life, Lian suspected that she had truly left her father dumbfounded.