Fic: A Batclan Christmas Carol 6
Title: A Batclan Christmas Carol - Part VI
Authors: aiyokusama & vespertila
Prompt: [special prompt #9] Mistletoe
Characters: Stephanie, Cass, Damian, Dick, Tim - mention of Tim/Steph
Genre: fluff/romance/comedy; holiday
Rating: G
Words Count: 3.504
Summary: everybody knows mistletoe help to make the season bright
"I'm wishing you a white Christmas..." the Drifters strike up from the stereo in the kitchen.
It didn't take long before Tim declared himself Emperor of Cookies and kicked Dick out the kitchen, so now there are three busy bats around the spruce.
"Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow..."
Damian addresses Dick an agonizing look which the young man pretend NOT to notice; he already spoke his piece about the Christmas music is and he's NOT willing to recant.
Right at that moment, the doorbell rings.
Cassandra is smiling, just a little. This decorating is fun, she's decided. But when the door bell rings, she carefully picks her way among the boxes to get it. Opening the heavy teak wood slab, she blinks and smiles.
"Hey you!" Steph beams, launching her arms around Cassandra's neck and giving her a tight hug. The tip of her nose is red and icy and there's a dusting of snow on the top of her mauve wool took. "Merry Xmas!" she exclaims.
Cass gives a her a startled huff, though she's hardly surprised by the typical behavior. "Not 'Christmas'?" she asks with clear puzzlement. Isn't that what all this activity is about?
This draws a fit of hearty giggling out of Stephanie. "Same thing" she assures, unlacing the hug.
"Cass?" She is hailed from down the hall. Dick looks to the entrance and asks, "Who's there?"
"Two names?" This confused Cass further, but she was saved from having to think on that by Dick's question. "Stephanie," she calls back.
Oh great. Here comes the former girlfriend of the "surrogate son"; the second Robin to make it back from the Land of Dead. So now he has another NUISANCE around the house, a SPRUCE in the living room and that ignoble LAMENT in his ears. Damian rolls his eyes at it all. So far, this Christmas thing is a pain in the neck.
"Good to see you, blondie." Dick smiles warmly, dodging the scattered boxes as if he was dancing and walks toward the house door. He offers his arms to the newcomer for a warm welcome hug.
"Good to see you too," Steph grins back. She returns the hug and finally takes some steps inside the Manor, pulling her hat off.
Okay, Cass knows this part. She moves behind her friend and takes the hat, then tugs at the parka. Ummm...there! She pulls it off and moves to the coat closet. Alfred said that you take a guest's hat and coat and they go in the closet. It's clearly a sneaky butler trick to make sure that guests stay awhile.
Cass is finding she's rather fond of sneaky butler tricks.
"Is it snowing?" Dick asks, peeking out of the front door as Steph lets Cass take the wintry apparels off her.
"Just started" the blond-haired girl answers, darting a first searching glance to the hall and to the Christmas tree and so spotting the child at its feet. Damian, for his part, gives Stephanie nothing more than a blasé look. Oh yes, that's Bruce's son out of any doubt - Steph takes a mental note to self - with the same identical kind of self-conceited look...
Cass shivers. She doesn't like snow. It's cold and hard to move in.
"Cool," Dick beams, unable to resist the easy pun. His exclamation turns into a pale puff of vapour which gets quickly lost in the chilly wintry air as he stands in the doorway, studying the darkening sky. "We could have a snowball fight!" he offers eagerly, turning to the two girls.
"Yeah, maybe," Steph shrugs, stealing a glance at Cass's eloquent and evidently unenthusiastic expression.
"Snowballs..." Damian grouches in disapproval, as he hangs another ornament to the nearest branch.
Cass blinks and gives Dick a very skeptical look that clearly asks a question.
"What?" Dick blinks innocently back at Cass. What had he said now? "Snowball fights are fun..." he speaks in a defensive tone, finally deciding to close the door.
Stephanie take the opportunity offered by the exchange between the two to take a short walk around the, by now, half decorated tree. It looks simply gorgeous but... as expected, Tim is not in sight...
"You didn't manage to pull the mini-bat out the cave?" she jokes casually.
"Kitchen," Cass supplies helpfully, smiling a little. It has been very nice to watch Tim bake. Especially since he seems to enjoy it a great deal. Maybe she could ask him to teach her....
Steph revolves to deliver Cassandra an amazed look, which Dick sees.
The beautiful lips of the young man ripple with amusement. "Miracles do happen..." he jokes back, as he tilts his head at the blond girl, blue eyes sparkling.
"Wow" Steph simply spells out, eyebrows still well arched.
Cass gets behind Steph, plants her surprisingly strong hands on the girl's shoulder blades and gives a solid push. "Go. Go see," She tells her disbelieving friend.
"See?" Steph protests, as she gets vigorously driven toward the door kitchen. "What is it that I have to see? Cass!?"
Cass pushes Steph through the swinging door and into the kitchen, which is strewn with spoons, bowls and an assortment of baking ingredients.
Tim has his back to the door. "Don't even think about it, Dick," he growls under his breath.
Steph regards Tim and she HAS to slap one hand over her mouth to suppress a chuckle, unless she wants to spoil the surprise effect.
Is Tim REALLY wearing an apron? Alfred's favorite? And she really can't believe he's preparing Christmas cookies.
Tim? ROBIN? The ever-serious, level-headed mini-bat? Gradually, the fit of hilarity gets tamed and Stephanie can exposes the sweetest smile.
He's SO cute - as always, however...
"What shouldn't I think about, Wayne?" she finally teases.
Tim's head snaps up and he turns around, his face a comical mask of surprise. "Steph?"
"In person." The girl arranges a lock of her blond hair behind her ear and approaches the boy to peek over his shoulder, with evident familiarity. "What are you making?" she enquires.
"Uh...." the boy actually blushes. "They will be.....gingerbread....bats."
Steph finds the sudden flush of Tim's face VERY pleasant; her smile spreads just a little more as she comments, “Brilliant. Can I have one?”
Tim takes one of the first batch off the cooling rack and hands it to her. Unconsciously he stands defensively between the bowl of batter and his companion. Taking a breath, he answer s the original question. "It doesn't' mater what kind of dough it is, Dick keeps trying to steal it."
The girl accepts the offer and regards it appreciatively. "Cass's right," she opens, grinning a little at the thing, "You baking is definitely a MUST see."
Tim gives a little shrug. "Why? It's just chemistry," he comment in a eminently reasonable tone. "Put in the correct amounts, use the correct procedure and you get the desired results."
The girl snorts out aloud at that. Tim and his dorky side...
"Well," she banters in the end, turning her back on the boy and taking a seat on one of the chairs. "You'd sound very convincing, if you didn't have such a gorgeous spot of flour on the tip of your nose."
Tim goes crossed eyed trying to look before he wipes at the tip of his nose. "Uh.....Hmmmph!" he tries to look stern, but the little smile that keeps trying to come through just isn't cooperating.
Steph politely keeps her eyes, which have been sparkling with silent glee, pointed to the floor for the moment.
"So...uh... it's nice to see you, but...." Tim has no idea how to ask this delicately.
"But your overactive bat-mind is already trying to figure out a reason for my being here," the girl completes practically, finally raising her gaze and biting her gingerbread bat.
Tim deflates and nods. Damn. It's easier to kick super-villain ass then it is to talk to Steph.
“I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write...” the Drifters keep doo wop-ing in the background.
Sitting around the neat and clean (well, not really neat and clean now) kitchen, with a piece of gingerbread in her hand feels VERY nice. It might sound cliché, but to a girl who has grown with an alcoholic as mother and a petty criminal as father, simple things are the most enjoyable.
"You're an amazing cook," the girl admits as she swallows the first morsel.
"Baker. Cook is something else and belongs entirely to Alfred," the boy says as he looks up at her and lets the smile come through. It feels really good. He probably hasn't smiled as much in the last three months as he has to day.
“Tch. First the Chemistry lesson, now an English one.” Steph shakes her head, but the amusement in her voice is palpable. “Watch out, you're being a DORK.”
Tim huffs and tries to glare but it just doesn't match the apron he's wearing.
*
Cass is smiling as she walks back to the others. Tim and Steph will talk.
"What are they doing?" Dick wants to know, there's... a certain light in his eyes now.
"Talking," Cass explains. And there is definite pleasure in her voice at that.
Having a conversation is definitely a GOOD first step, given all the awkwardness those two have been going through since Stephanie's return, but Dick thinks that the situation might need a little bit more help. He eyes the frame of the kitchen's door and then he aims to one of the boxes of ornaments which still lay scattered around the tree.
Damian plants one of his small - yet deadly - fists on one of his hips and stares suspiciously at the first Robin. What's now?
Cass has to agree with Damian. Dick is clearly up to something.
"Will help them?" she asks The Asian girl doesn't think Dick would be cruel, but some times his ideas of what is appropriate really isn't.
"A lot." Dick grins in response, finally finding what he was looking for and victoriously pulling a sprig of mistletoe, adorned by a fire-red ribbon, out of a box.
Damian's expression darkens. Okay, now he's had it for real. "Grayson," he growls gloomily, "I bore with the tree in the entrance, but I
will NOT tolerate a WEED..."
Cass ignores Damian and looks to Dick, waiting for an explanation of how that was going to help. At this point she's rather worried.
Dick chooses to ignore Damian as well, at least for the moment, and turns to study the door again which gives access to the kitchen. If he used the ladder they've been using to dress the tree, Tim would more than likely hear the metallic noise. Well, there is a way around that with some good teamwork; they've been trained to worse than hanging a sprig of mistletoe above a door, right?
Cass moves closer and pokes Dick in the ribs. She gives him a mildly annoyed glare. Is she really going to have to use WORDS to get him to explain?
"Ouch!" Dick moans at Cassandra and, right at that moment Damian tears the mistletoe off of his hand.
"Give me a valid reason for THIS," the child growls, holding the twig firmly between thumb and curled index finger, eyes snapping.
Jeez, Dick thinks, massaging his ribs. Never a Christmas had been SO toilsome to him EVER.
"Okay" better to make the whole explanation short and sweet. "That's mistletoe, the plant of peace," he says under his breath, tossing a
conspirator's look at the swinging door.
Cass glances back at the kitchen and yes, she should see how peace would be a good thing for those two. However, she still doesn't see how particular bit of foliage is going to help. Surely they weren't going to make a tea out of it, seeing as mistletoe is poisonous.
"So?" Damian mumbles skeptically. Peace is not a good enough reason to him to hang MORE stinking greenery around...
Dick smirks at his youngest brother. There is something decidedly -- mischievous?--about the expression. "So the best way to do that is to get them to kiss and make up."
The child's lips twist into a clearly disgusted pout.
"Which of course, Tim isn't inclined to do...." Dick elaborates meaningfully.
Damian's face still displays the purest indifference to the whole matter; but his brain, secretly, has ALREADY started to elaborate the concept. So the "surrogate son" has some kissing issues with his former girlfriend, uh...
"C'mon. It'll be fun to watch him blush and stammer!" Dick is positively bouncing on his toes with barely restrained excitement.
A frown crosses Cass's lips, this doesn't sound like a good idea. It will probably make Tim mad and that wouldn't be "peaceful" at all.
As Damian appears still busy processing the first Robin's plan, Dick catches Cass's doubtful expression and tosses a sly wink at her.
Cass purses her lips in disapproval, but finds her misgivings slipping away in the face of Dicks' good humor.
"So here is what we have to do," Dick begins...
*
Tim finally abandons his attempt at a glare and gives the girl the tiniest of smiles. "You say it like it's a bad thing..."
Steph gives back a half-smile and then steals another morsel from her gingerbread bat. "Mom was called out for an emergency," she finally explains, intentionally skipping the sugary part. She'd like to be... sugary with Tim. Some days, everything seems like it was back then, before her "death"; other days instead is like walking barefoot over broken glass... and Steph still isn't sure she whether should let go or not. Or if TIM is disposed to let himself try again with her...
This is exactly what people must call a tangled teenage relationship, right?
Tim nods. He can imagine what that means for a nurse. "Sorry to hear that," he apologizes to her, "But it's nice to see you." He tries to smile, tries to not let this one day devolve into...something else.
There he goes again, she muses with a purely mental sigh. And, dang, he's REAL cute with the apron on. "No need to be sorry, it's mom's job," she shrugs. "On the other hand Alfred gave me this VERY lucky call. He has a VERY good timing..."
Tim grins at her. "He's magic."
"He really is," Steph agrees. It might be one of those old good days...
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos...” Celine Dion starts to sing dreamily from the radio, accompanied by the clear and ringing song of flutes.
"And it's nice to see you too," the blond girl finally hazards softly.
Tim blinks at Steph, feeling uncomfortable and uncertain. He's almost pathetically relieved when there is a slight twitter of sound and then a
hissed, not quite word coming from the vicinity of the closed kitchen door. The one that leads to the formal living room where the tree is. The room which he now notices is far too quite. Shouldn't Damian be screeching bloody murder or something? And Dick should be singing along with the music.
Stephanie frowns a little at Tim and gives a backwards glance to the swinging door. "What's up?" she asks in the end, returning to face her former boyfriend.
“Not sure," He admits. then he puts a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. His socks make no sound on the heated linoleum as he heads over to the door.
Steph puts down her gingerbread and strands - very silently - to be hot on Tim's heels, just in case he needed help with whatever it is.
Suddenly the boy pushes the door outwards.
Dick yelps as the door swings into him and he habitually tries to get out the way, but with Damian on his shoulders they quickly become over balanced and no amount of training is going to prevent his going down, taking the youngest Wayne with him.
"DAMNIT!" Damian snarls as he hits the floor; but his eyes are up, pointed on a certain point above the kitchen door and...YEAH, there it IS, the bloody peace bringer twig! His very young face brightens with a triumphant, wild light.
Cass walks up calmly, tsking at the fallen man and boy. Her eyes danced with amusement at their predicament. Of course neither is actually hurt but that might change given the suspicious glare Tim is turning on them.
"What are you two doing?" Tim demands incredulously. Dick being up to something is a given, but enlisting Damian? Now that worries him. The little brat is next to impossible to convince of anything, let alone helping one of his brothers.
From behind Tim, Stephanie can't help but bursts into a sudden, powerful laughter at the sight of Damian trying to disengage his legs from Dick's neck and the latter sending Tim a sheepish smile.
"Er..." Dick tries, but all he can give back to his younger brother is a wordless, extremely cute grin.
Tim gives a gusty dramatic sigh and takes a step into the door way. He offers a hand to Damian, since they have to get him untangled before Dick can get up.
“BAH!” Damian slaps Tim's hand away and finally manages to stand by himself, polishing imaginary dust off his clothes and smoothing them, trying to strike an attitude; his visage a mask of annoyance, his eyes glaring at the mistletoe. Okay, Timmy-boy is right under it now, according to plans. And the formerly-dead-former-girlfriend of his had better quit laughing if she doesn't want to return to the Land of the Dead anytime time soon... this time for GOOD.
Tim sighs again, but he really hadn't expected anything different from the kid. So he holds his hand out to Dick instead.
Steph, who has practically doubled over, straightens-up, rolls her watery eyes to the ceiling as she tries to catch her breath and...
OH!
Now she thinks she knows why Dick and Damian offered them such an amusing tableau. Only the mini-bat seems totally oblivious to the twig of mistletoe which hangs right over them.
Dick sits up with Tim's help and the blond-haired girl takes a silent step out of the room, so now she too is under the mistletoe.
Maybe, that's not properly a bright idea - the rational part is telling her - but Steph has never been one to listen to good advices... not even when they come from herself.
As Tim helps Dick up, he almost bumps into Steph. When had she gotten so close? But really, it's a negligible question as he focuses on making sure his eldest brother got to his feet. Preferably without doing something embarrassing to Tim in the process.
"I think I know what they were doing..." Steph offers, with a bright smile. Better take the lead, or else Tim -- the world's finest teen detective -- will most likely NEVER notice...
There, Dick is standing so Tim feels reasonably safe turning around to look at Steph. "Oh?" He raises an eyebrow, urging her to continue with her explanation.
"Hanging decorations," Stephanie grins as she cups Tim's face in her hands and leans in to kiss him.
"Yes!" Damian crows between his teeth, waiting for the third Robin to turn into a giggling, love-smitten idiot - as he should, according to Dick's scheme.
Tim's eyes widen as he's kissed, then they slide almost closed as the kiss continues. He feels the blood rushing to his cheeks as the blush begins. "Uh...." time to get the brain engaged here. "Uh...Merry Christmas?" he stammers when the kiss ends.
"Merry Xmas to you, too," Steph chuckles, letting Tim go and exposing his red-hot cheeks to the pleasure of the rest of the family.
Dick beams at them, a VERY self-satisfied smirk playing upon his lips: a well-conceived plan and some good teamwork ALWAYS pays off.
“And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety two
Although it's been said
Many times many ways
Merry Christmas to you
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
To yo...”
Authors: aiyokusama & vespertila
Prompt: [special prompt #9] Mistletoe
Characters: Stephanie, Cass, Damian, Dick, Tim - mention of Tim/Steph
Genre: fluff/romance/comedy; holiday
Rating: G
Words Count: 3.504
Summary: everybody knows mistletoe help to make the season bright
"I'm wishing you a white Christmas..." the Drifters strike up from the stereo in the kitchen.
It didn't take long before Tim declared himself Emperor of Cookies and kicked Dick out the kitchen, so now there are three busy bats around the spruce.
"Where the treetops glisten and children listen
To hear sleigh bells in the snow..."
Damian addresses Dick an agonizing look which the young man pretend NOT to notice; he already spoke his piece about the Christmas music is and he's NOT willing to recant.
Right at that moment, the doorbell rings.
Cassandra is smiling, just a little. This decorating is fun, she's decided. But when the door bell rings, she carefully picks her way among the boxes to get it. Opening the heavy teak wood slab, she blinks and smiles.
"Hey you!" Steph beams, launching her arms around Cassandra's neck and giving her a tight hug. The tip of her nose is red and icy and there's a dusting of snow on the top of her mauve wool took. "Merry Xmas!" she exclaims.
Cass gives a her a startled huff, though she's hardly surprised by the typical behavior. "Not 'Christmas'?" she asks with clear puzzlement. Isn't that what all this activity is about?
This draws a fit of hearty giggling out of Stephanie. "Same thing" she assures, unlacing the hug.
"Cass?" She is hailed from down the hall. Dick looks to the entrance and asks, "Who's there?"
"Two names?" This confused Cass further, but she was saved from having to think on that by Dick's question. "Stephanie," she calls back.
Oh great. Here comes the former girlfriend of the "surrogate son"; the second Robin to make it back from the Land of Dead. So now he has another NUISANCE around the house, a SPRUCE in the living room and that ignoble LAMENT in his ears. Damian rolls his eyes at it all. So far, this Christmas thing is a pain in the neck.
"Good to see you, blondie." Dick smiles warmly, dodging the scattered boxes as if he was dancing and walks toward the house door. He offers his arms to the newcomer for a warm welcome hug.
"Good to see you too," Steph grins back. She returns the hug and finally takes some steps inside the Manor, pulling her hat off.
Okay, Cass knows this part. She moves behind her friend and takes the hat, then tugs at the parka. Ummm...there! She pulls it off and moves to the coat closet. Alfred said that you take a guest's hat and coat and they go in the closet. It's clearly a sneaky butler trick to make sure that guests stay awhile.
Cass is finding she's rather fond of sneaky butler tricks.
"Is it snowing?" Dick asks, peeking out of the front door as Steph lets Cass take the wintry apparels off her.
"Just started" the blond-haired girl answers, darting a first searching glance to the hall and to the Christmas tree and so spotting the child at its feet. Damian, for his part, gives Stephanie nothing more than a blasé look. Oh yes, that's Bruce's son out of any doubt - Steph takes a mental note to self - with the same identical kind of self-conceited look...
Cass shivers. She doesn't like snow. It's cold and hard to move in.
"Cool," Dick beams, unable to resist the easy pun. His exclamation turns into a pale puff of vapour which gets quickly lost in the chilly wintry air as he stands in the doorway, studying the darkening sky. "We could have a snowball fight!" he offers eagerly, turning to the two girls.
"Yeah, maybe," Steph shrugs, stealing a glance at Cass's eloquent and evidently unenthusiastic expression.
"Snowballs..." Damian grouches in disapproval, as he hangs another ornament to the nearest branch.
Cass blinks and gives Dick a very skeptical look that clearly asks a question.
"What?" Dick blinks innocently back at Cass. What had he said now? "Snowball fights are fun..." he speaks in a defensive tone, finally deciding to close the door.
Stephanie take the opportunity offered by the exchange between the two to take a short walk around the, by now, half decorated tree. It looks simply gorgeous but... as expected, Tim is not in sight...
"You didn't manage to pull the mini-bat out the cave?" she jokes casually.
"Kitchen," Cass supplies helpfully, smiling a little. It has been very nice to watch Tim bake. Especially since he seems to enjoy it a great deal. Maybe she could ask him to teach her....
Steph revolves to deliver Cassandra an amazed look, which Dick sees.
The beautiful lips of the young man ripple with amusement. "Miracles do happen..." he jokes back, as he tilts his head at the blond girl, blue eyes sparkling.
"Wow" Steph simply spells out, eyebrows still well arched.
Cass gets behind Steph, plants her surprisingly strong hands on the girl's shoulder blades and gives a solid push. "Go. Go see," She tells her disbelieving friend.
"See?" Steph protests, as she gets vigorously driven toward the door kitchen. "What is it that I have to see? Cass!?"
Cass pushes Steph through the swinging door and into the kitchen, which is strewn with spoons, bowls and an assortment of baking ingredients.
Tim has his back to the door. "Don't even think about it, Dick," he growls under his breath.
Steph regards Tim and she HAS to slap one hand over her mouth to suppress a chuckle, unless she wants to spoil the surprise effect.
Is Tim REALLY wearing an apron? Alfred's favorite? And she really can't believe he's preparing Christmas cookies.
Tim? ROBIN? The ever-serious, level-headed mini-bat? Gradually, the fit of hilarity gets tamed and Stephanie can exposes the sweetest smile.
He's SO cute - as always, however...
"What shouldn't I think about, Wayne?" she finally teases.
Tim's head snaps up and he turns around, his face a comical mask of surprise. "Steph?"
"In person." The girl arranges a lock of her blond hair behind her ear and approaches the boy to peek over his shoulder, with evident familiarity. "What are you making?" she enquires.
"Uh...." the boy actually blushes. "They will be.....gingerbread....bats."
Steph finds the sudden flush of Tim's face VERY pleasant; her smile spreads just a little more as she comments, “Brilliant. Can I have one?”
Tim takes one of the first batch off the cooling rack and hands it to her. Unconsciously he stands defensively between the bowl of batter and his companion. Taking a breath, he answer s the original question. "It doesn't' mater what kind of dough it is, Dick keeps trying to steal it."
The girl accepts the offer and regards it appreciatively. "Cass's right," she opens, grinning a little at the thing, "You baking is definitely a MUST see."
Tim gives a little shrug. "Why? It's just chemistry," he comment in a eminently reasonable tone. "Put in the correct amounts, use the correct procedure and you get the desired results."
The girl snorts out aloud at that. Tim and his dorky side...
"Well," she banters in the end, turning her back on the boy and taking a seat on one of the chairs. "You'd sound very convincing, if you didn't have such a gorgeous spot of flour on the tip of your nose."
Tim goes crossed eyed trying to look before he wipes at the tip of his nose. "Uh.....Hmmmph!" he tries to look stern, but the little smile that keeps trying to come through just isn't cooperating.
Steph politely keeps her eyes, which have been sparkling with silent glee, pointed to the floor for the moment.
"So...uh... it's nice to see you, but...." Tim has no idea how to ask this delicately.
"But your overactive bat-mind is already trying to figure out a reason for my being here," the girl completes practically, finally raising her gaze and biting her gingerbread bat.
Tim deflates and nods. Damn. It's easier to kick super-villain ass then it is to talk to Steph.
“I'm dreaming of a white Christmas
With every Christmas card I write...” the Drifters keep doo wop-ing in the background.
Sitting around the neat and clean (well, not really neat and clean now) kitchen, with a piece of gingerbread in her hand feels VERY nice. It might sound cliché, but to a girl who has grown with an alcoholic as mother and a petty criminal as father, simple things are the most enjoyable.
"You're an amazing cook," the girl admits as she swallows the first morsel.
"Baker. Cook is something else and belongs entirely to Alfred," the boy says as he looks up at her and lets the smile come through. It feels really good. He probably hasn't smiled as much in the last three months as he has to day.
“Tch. First the Chemistry lesson, now an English one.” Steph shakes her head, but the amusement in her voice is palpable. “Watch out, you're being a DORK.”
Tim huffs and tries to glare but it just doesn't match the apron he's wearing.
*
Cass is smiling as she walks back to the others. Tim and Steph will talk.
"What are they doing?" Dick wants to know, there's... a certain light in his eyes now.
"Talking," Cass explains. And there is definite pleasure in her voice at that.
Having a conversation is definitely a GOOD first step, given all the awkwardness those two have been going through since Stephanie's return, but Dick thinks that the situation might need a little bit more help. He eyes the frame of the kitchen's door and then he aims to one of the boxes of ornaments which still lay scattered around the tree.
Damian plants one of his small - yet deadly - fists on one of his hips and stares suspiciously at the first Robin. What's now?
Cass has to agree with Damian. Dick is clearly up to something.
"Will help them?" she asks The Asian girl doesn't think Dick would be cruel, but some times his ideas of what is appropriate really isn't.
"A lot." Dick grins in response, finally finding what he was looking for and victoriously pulling a sprig of mistletoe, adorned by a fire-red ribbon, out of a box.
Damian's expression darkens. Okay, now he's had it for real. "Grayson," he growls gloomily, "I bore with the tree in the entrance, but I
will NOT tolerate a WEED..."
Cass ignores Damian and looks to Dick, waiting for an explanation of how that was going to help. At this point she's rather worried.
Dick chooses to ignore Damian as well, at least for the moment, and turns to study the door again which gives access to the kitchen. If he used the ladder they've been using to dress the tree, Tim would more than likely hear the metallic noise. Well, there is a way around that with some good teamwork; they've been trained to worse than hanging a sprig of mistletoe above a door, right?
Cass moves closer and pokes Dick in the ribs. She gives him a mildly annoyed glare. Is she really going to have to use WORDS to get him to explain?
"Ouch!" Dick moans at Cassandra and, right at that moment Damian tears the mistletoe off of his hand.
"Give me a valid reason for THIS," the child growls, holding the twig firmly between thumb and curled index finger, eyes snapping.
Jeez, Dick thinks, massaging his ribs. Never a Christmas had been SO toilsome to him EVER.
"Okay" better to make the whole explanation short and sweet. "That's mistletoe, the plant of peace," he says under his breath, tossing a
conspirator's look at the swinging door.
Cass glances back at the kitchen and yes, she should see how peace would be a good thing for those two. However, she still doesn't see how particular bit of foliage is going to help. Surely they weren't going to make a tea out of it, seeing as mistletoe is poisonous.
"So?" Damian mumbles skeptically. Peace is not a good enough reason to him to hang MORE stinking greenery around...
Dick smirks at his youngest brother. There is something decidedly -- mischievous?--about the expression. "So the best way to do that is to get them to kiss and make up."
The child's lips twist into a clearly disgusted pout.
"Which of course, Tim isn't inclined to do...." Dick elaborates meaningfully.
Damian's face still displays the purest indifference to the whole matter; but his brain, secretly, has ALREADY started to elaborate the concept. So the "surrogate son" has some kissing issues with his former girlfriend, uh...
"C'mon. It'll be fun to watch him blush and stammer!" Dick is positively bouncing on his toes with barely restrained excitement.
A frown crosses Cass's lips, this doesn't sound like a good idea. It will probably make Tim mad and that wouldn't be "peaceful" at all.
As Damian appears still busy processing the first Robin's plan, Dick catches Cass's doubtful expression and tosses a sly wink at her.
Cass purses her lips in disapproval, but finds her misgivings slipping away in the face of Dicks' good humor.
"So here is what we have to do," Dick begins...
*
Tim finally abandons his attempt at a glare and gives the girl the tiniest of smiles. "You say it like it's a bad thing..."
Steph gives back a half-smile and then steals another morsel from her gingerbread bat. "Mom was called out for an emergency," she finally explains, intentionally skipping the sugary part. She'd like to be... sugary with Tim. Some days, everything seems like it was back then, before her "death"; other days instead is like walking barefoot over broken glass... and Steph still isn't sure she whether should let go or not. Or if TIM is disposed to let himself try again with her...
This is exactly what people must call a tangled teenage relationship, right?
Tim nods. He can imagine what that means for a nurse. "Sorry to hear that," he apologizes to her, "But it's nice to see you." He tries to smile, tries to not let this one day devolve into...something else.
There he goes again, she muses with a purely mental sigh. And, dang, he's REAL cute with the apron on. "No need to be sorry, it's mom's job," she shrugs. "On the other hand Alfred gave me this VERY lucky call. He has a VERY good timing..."
Tim grins at her. "He's magic."
"He really is," Steph agrees. It might be one of those old good days...
“Chestnuts roasting on an open fire
Jack Frost nipping at your nose
Yuletide carols being sung by a choir
And folks dressed up like Eskimos...” Celine Dion starts to sing dreamily from the radio, accompanied by the clear and ringing song of flutes.
"And it's nice to see you too," the blond girl finally hazards softly.
Tim blinks at Steph, feeling uncomfortable and uncertain. He's almost pathetically relieved when there is a slight twitter of sound and then a
hissed, not quite word coming from the vicinity of the closed kitchen door. The one that leads to the formal living room where the tree is. The room which he now notices is far too quite. Shouldn't Damian be screeching bloody murder or something? And Dick should be singing along with the music.
Stephanie frowns a little at Tim and gives a backwards glance to the swinging door. "What's up?" she asks in the end, returning to face her former boyfriend.
“Not sure," He admits. then he puts a finger to his lips in a shushing motion. His socks make no sound on the heated linoleum as he heads over to the door.
Steph puts down her gingerbread and strands - very silently - to be hot on Tim's heels, just in case he needed help with whatever it is.
Suddenly the boy pushes the door outwards.
Dick yelps as the door swings into him and he habitually tries to get out the way, but with Damian on his shoulders they quickly become over balanced and no amount of training is going to prevent his going down, taking the youngest Wayne with him.
"DAMNIT!" Damian snarls as he hits the floor; but his eyes are up, pointed on a certain point above the kitchen door and...YEAH, there it IS, the bloody peace bringer twig! His very young face brightens with a triumphant, wild light.
Cass walks up calmly, tsking at the fallen man and boy. Her eyes danced with amusement at their predicament. Of course neither is actually hurt but that might change given the suspicious glare Tim is turning on them.
"What are you two doing?" Tim demands incredulously. Dick being up to something is a given, but enlisting Damian? Now that worries him. The little brat is next to impossible to convince of anything, let alone helping one of his brothers.
From behind Tim, Stephanie can't help but bursts into a sudden, powerful laughter at the sight of Damian trying to disengage his legs from Dick's neck and the latter sending Tim a sheepish smile.
"Er..." Dick tries, but all he can give back to his younger brother is a wordless, extremely cute grin.
Tim gives a gusty dramatic sigh and takes a step into the door way. He offers a hand to Damian, since they have to get him untangled before Dick can get up.
“BAH!” Damian slaps Tim's hand away and finally manages to stand by himself, polishing imaginary dust off his clothes and smoothing them, trying to strike an attitude; his visage a mask of annoyance, his eyes glaring at the mistletoe. Okay, Timmy-boy is right under it now, according to plans. And the formerly-dead-former-girlfriend of his had better quit laughing if she doesn't want to return to the Land of the Dead anytime time soon... this time for GOOD.
Tim sighs again, but he really hadn't expected anything different from the kid. So he holds his hand out to Dick instead.
Steph, who has practically doubled over, straightens-up, rolls her watery eyes to the ceiling as she tries to catch her breath and...
OH!
Now she thinks she knows why Dick and Damian offered them such an amusing tableau. Only the mini-bat seems totally oblivious to the twig of mistletoe which hangs right over them.
Dick sits up with Tim's help and the blond-haired girl takes a silent step out of the room, so now she too is under the mistletoe.
Maybe, that's not properly a bright idea - the rational part is telling her - but Steph has never been one to listen to good advices... not even when they come from herself.
As Tim helps Dick up, he almost bumps into Steph. When had she gotten so close? But really, it's a negligible question as he focuses on making sure his eldest brother got to his feet. Preferably without doing something embarrassing to Tim in the process.
"I think I know what they were doing..." Steph offers, with a bright smile. Better take the lead, or else Tim -- the world's finest teen detective -- will most likely NEVER notice...
There, Dick is standing so Tim feels reasonably safe turning around to look at Steph. "Oh?" He raises an eyebrow, urging her to continue with her explanation.
"Hanging decorations," Stephanie grins as she cups Tim's face in her hands and leans in to kiss him.
"Yes!" Damian crows between his teeth, waiting for the third Robin to turn into a giggling, love-smitten idiot - as he should, according to Dick's scheme.
Tim's eyes widen as he's kissed, then they slide almost closed as the kiss continues. He feels the blood rushing to his cheeks as the blush begins. "Uh...." time to get the brain engaged here. "Uh...Merry Christmas?" he stammers when the kiss ends.
"Merry Xmas to you, too," Steph chuckles, letting Tim go and exposing his red-hot cheeks to the pleasure of the rest of the family.
Dick beams at them, a VERY self-satisfied smirk playing upon his lips: a well-conceived plan and some good teamwork ALWAYS pays off.
“And so I'm offering this simple phrase
To kids from one to ninety two
Although it's been said
Many times many ways
Merry Christmas to you
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
Merry Christmas
To yo...”