Fic: Through a Mirror... | DCU | Bat Family (Jay/Tim[/Dick]) | R | 1/5
Title: Through a Mirror...
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairing: Overall: Bat Family (w/Jason Todd/Tim Drake[/Dick Grayson]); This part: Jay, Alfred, Dick, Damian
Rating: R (for Jay's mouth)
Word Count: 1,337
Prompt: For dcu_freeforall: Friction; For The 2011 DCU Free For All Autumn Challenge: Mirror, Blood; For bradygirl_12's 2011 DCU Fic/Art Halloween Challenge: Apples, Pumpkin, Jack-o-Lanterns, Slasher/Horror Flicks
Summary: Overall: On the night of October 31st, the Wayne Household puts on a Halloween party, for the first time ever. Little do they know what the night will bring when Zatanna gathers them for a séance in the old parlor. This part: The decorating and costume gathering begins. Damian gets a talking to.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Part 1 of 5, of the Halloween fic that's been driving me nuts, just trying to get it done. Most of the rest of the parts will follow in the next few days, each with their own prompts for the 3 challenges I'm writing this for. Yep, I'm terribly late getting this done. *hangs head* This is also part of the Together-Verse, in which Jay is Batman, Tim is his Robin (though Damian is a little Robin in training), Damian is Jay's kid, and Bruce is still missing. Note to Bradygirl: I'll pop in over at your challenge with all the headers at one time after all the parts are posted, so you don't have to make so many update posts. :p
Through a Mirror...
Cutting out the last piece of the mouth on the jack-o-lantern, Jason eyed the newly-created masterpiece and hummed in satisfaction. “That ought to do,” he declared, standing from the kitchen table to gather up the leftover pumpkin bits and dump them into the trash. “All it needs is some fake blood and a butcher’s knife. Alfred?”
Turning to give Jay an arched eyebrow as he stirred the steaming concoction on the stove-spiced apple cider for the party, if Jay wasn't mistaken-Alfred replied smoothly, “My cooking utensils are not props, Master Jason. Perhaps you have something downstairs in your arsenal that might be more fitting?”
Jay couldn't help but smile at that, knowing that never in a million years would he use one of his working knives as a Halloween gag. “Touché. Maybe Dick and the squirt found something at the Halloween store we can use,” he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. God knew they’d bought out half the store on their outing earlier that week.
“I am not a ‘squirt’,” came a sour retort from the hallway, Damian stepping into the kitchen, his arms laden with decorations and other supplies.
Grinning more widely-and not just because this was his kid, dammit-Jay helped relieve Damian of his load, spreading everything out on the table. There were streamers, boxes of lights, bags of fake spider webbing, packages of various sorts of Halloween confetti and glitter, packages of tiny mirrors that they planned to string up, a fog machine, and even a disco ball. Oh yeah, this was gonna be tacky, and Jay just loved it; it’d be the first time he actually got to celebrate the damn holiday, instead of patrolling and keeping one eye on Arkham all night.
“Damn, kid, d’you leave anything out?” he asked, teasing Damian with an elbow to his side as they started unpacking things to get ready.
Damian just stared up at him. “This was only the first two boxes. There are five more in the garage. That Grayson had the gall to leave for me to carry in,” he finished.
Jay gave him a warning look. “Watch the tone, will ya’? It's Halloween for f-for Pete’s sake,” he said, catching his language at the last possible second. Ever since finding out that the kid was his, he’d done his damnedest to try to straighten up, but it was fucking impossible. Kid was just gonna have to get used to having a father that cursed a blue streak once in a while.
“And just what does this holiday have to do with the way I talk?” Damian shot back, opening the boxes of lights.
A heavy sigh, and Jay plopped down in a chair to meet Damian at eye level. “Look, kiddo, you remember last Christmas, don’t you? How everybody had to be polite to each other for once?”
Damian nodded. “Yes. And?”
“And this is just like that. Except it’s a spooky holiday instead of a sweet one. And since I’m in charge here-”
Alfred cleared his throat from the other side of the kitchen, where he was pulling a tray of pumpkin cookies out of the oven, and Jay corrected himself with a crooked smile, “Since Alfred’s in charge here, and has declared today a no-attitude zone, you’re gonna keep the snippy remarks to yourself. Got it?”
Damian glared at him for a moment, and holy fuck, it was entirely too much like looking into a mirror for Jay’s comfort. Fitting, he supposed, since their party’s theme was ‘hall of mirrors’.
“Well?” he prompted the kid again.
“Fine,” Damian finally spat, folding his arms over his chest. “But I will not wear one of these ‘Halloween costumes’ that you keep insisting on. It’s degrading.”
Sputtering a laugh, Jay shook his head. “Says the kid that wears a mask every night. Forget it; party rule number one, you gotta wear a costume. If you don’t pick one, Dick and I will be forced to pick one for you. And we just happen to have a Lady Gaga costume in storage downstairs, that should fit you just fine.”
At that, Damian went visibly pale. “You wouldn’t.”
Jay grinned widely. “Oh yes, we would. So you’d better pick something good. That little ninja get-up you’ve got in your closet will not pass inspection.”
Another glare, and Damian tutted. “Fine. If I have to. But know this, Todd-”
Jay stopped him with a pointed finger. “You don't get to call me that anymore, remember?” They’d made progress this year, but damn if it wasn’t slow as hell.
Sneering, Damian went on, “Father,” spitting the word as if it was poison on his tongue. “I will not be shown off as some sort of trophy. I will not be your source of amusement.”
“You already are a source of amusement, kiddo,” he replied, standing again and ruffling Damian’s hair affectionately.
The kid tried to duck out from under his hand, but too late; Jason had already mussed his hair pretty good. Heh. Served the kid right.
“You got six hours,” Jay told him. “Better make ‘em count, squirt.”
“Ooohh, we’re already on ‘squirt’? Damian must be doing something right,” came another voice, and Jay looked up to catch Dick coming into the kitchen, a long silver garment box tucked under one arm.
Damian turned his glare on the newcomer. “I am not a squirt!” he insisted firmly.
“You just keep telling yourself that, Dee, and we’ll reevaluate our stance when you’re at least Dick’s height,” Jay said, ruffling his hair again. To Dick, he tipped his chin up in greeting, and explained, “We just had the ‘no attitude, costumes not optional’ talk. I don’t think the former’s quite sunk in yet.”
Dick nodded in understanding, glancing at Damian with obvious affection in his own eyes as he set the box on the table. “I see you’ve got a head start on the decorating, too. Nice hockey mask jack-o-lantern. Friday the Thirteenth? Fitting,” he finished with a nod.
Jay smirked, glad somebody at least got the joke. He really would have to add the knife and blood. Speaking of which. … “You remember fake blood on your trip to the Halloween store?” he asked.
“Oh yeah. Got a couple fake blades that’ll work, too,” he said as if he’d read Jason’s mind.
“Excellent. So what’s in the box?”
A quick grin moving over his face then, Dick just lifted the top off, giving Jay and Damian a good view of his costume, neatly folded, the emblem across the chest clearly visible. “What do you think?”
Jay blinked at the brightly-colored costume for a moment, Damian mirroring his expression before they both looked up at Dick.
“Please tell me you didn’t get that off the rack at the costume place,” Jason said warily.
“Oh, no,” Dick answered with a wave of his hand. “Got it custom made. Never been worn.”
“Custom made? As in, custom made by the same person that makes the originals? As in, he’s not gonna kill you when he gets here and sees you in that get-up?”
Dick nodded as he replaced the box’s cover and tucked it under his arm. “Yup. It was his idea. Wait till you see his costume.”
Jay’s brain came to a screeching halt at that. “Oh, don’t tell me.”
If it was possible, Dick’s grin grew even wider, almost maniacal. “Oh yes. That. It even fits the theme.”
Smacking his palm against his forehead, Jay groaned. “This ought to be interesting. I’m sure you'll both be the life of the party.”
“Ahem,” Damian cut in, “If you’re both quite finished, I could use your assistance.”
Jay and Dick turned to find Damian elbow-deep in tangled holiday lights, unlit blacklight and orange bulbs twined around his arms and tangled helplessly.
Even Alfred laughed at the sight.
“All right, come here, squirt, and we’ll get you untangled,” Jason prompted him, moving to his other side so he and Dick could work in tandem. “We’ll get this stuff hung up, then you can go find yourself a costume.”
“But-”
“No ‘buts’. Lady Gaga, remember?”
Damian only pouted, while Dick and Jason worked on the tangle of lights, the mirth of the holiday actually starting to coalesce and seep into their souls.
~*~*~*~
Fandom: DCU
Characters/Pairing: Overall: Bat Family (w/Jason Todd/Tim Drake[/Dick Grayson]); This part: Jay, Alfred, Dick, Damian
Rating: R (for Jay's mouth)
Word Count: 1,337
Prompt: For dcu_freeforall: Friction; For The 2011 DCU Free For All Autumn Challenge: Mirror, Blood; For bradygirl_12's 2011 DCU Fic/Art Halloween Challenge: Apples, Pumpkin, Jack-o-Lanterns, Slasher/Horror Flicks
Summary: Overall: On the night of October 31st, the Wayne Household puts on a Halloween party, for the first time ever. Little do they know what the night will bring when Zatanna gathers them for a séance in the old parlor. This part: The decorating and costume gathering begins. Damian gets a talking to.
Disclaimer: DC and WB own everything, the schmucks.
Author's Notes: Part 1 of 5, of the Halloween fic that's been driving me nuts, just trying to get it done. Most of the rest of the parts will follow in the next few days, each with their own prompts for the 3 challenges I'm writing this for. Yep, I'm terribly late getting this done. *hangs head* This is also part of the Together-Verse, in which Jay is Batman, Tim is his Robin (though Damian is a little Robin in training), Damian is Jay's kid, and Bruce is still missing. Note to Bradygirl: I'll pop in over at your challenge with all the headers at one time after all the parts are posted, so you don't have to make so many update posts. :p
Through a Mirror...
Cutting out the last piece of the mouth on the jack-o-lantern, Jason eyed the newly-created masterpiece and hummed in satisfaction. “That ought to do,” he declared, standing from the kitchen table to gather up the leftover pumpkin bits and dump them into the trash. “All it needs is some fake blood and a butcher’s knife. Alfred?”
Turning to give Jay an arched eyebrow as he stirred the steaming concoction on the stove-spiced apple cider for the party, if Jay wasn't mistaken-Alfred replied smoothly, “My cooking utensils are not props, Master Jason. Perhaps you have something downstairs in your arsenal that might be more fitting?”
Jay couldn't help but smile at that, knowing that never in a million years would he use one of his working knives as a Halloween gag. “Touché. Maybe Dick and the squirt found something at the Halloween store we can use,” he said, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. God knew they’d bought out half the store on their outing earlier that week.
“I am not a ‘squirt’,” came a sour retort from the hallway, Damian stepping into the kitchen, his arms laden with decorations and other supplies.
Grinning more widely-and not just because this was his kid, dammit-Jay helped relieve Damian of his load, spreading everything out on the table. There were streamers, boxes of lights, bags of fake spider webbing, packages of various sorts of Halloween confetti and glitter, packages of tiny mirrors that they planned to string up, a fog machine, and even a disco ball. Oh yeah, this was gonna be tacky, and Jay just loved it; it’d be the first time he actually got to celebrate the damn holiday, instead of patrolling and keeping one eye on Arkham all night.
“Damn, kid, d’you leave anything out?” he asked, teasing Damian with an elbow to his side as they started unpacking things to get ready.
Damian just stared up at him. “This was only the first two boxes. There are five more in the garage. That Grayson had the gall to leave for me to carry in,” he finished.
Jay gave him a warning look. “Watch the tone, will ya’? It's Halloween for f-for Pete’s sake,” he said, catching his language at the last possible second. Ever since finding out that the kid was his, he’d done his damnedest to try to straighten up, but it was fucking impossible. Kid was just gonna have to get used to having a father that cursed a blue streak once in a while.
“And just what does this holiday have to do with the way I talk?” Damian shot back, opening the boxes of lights.
A heavy sigh, and Jay plopped down in a chair to meet Damian at eye level. “Look, kiddo, you remember last Christmas, don’t you? How everybody had to be polite to each other for once?”
Damian nodded. “Yes. And?”
“And this is just like that. Except it’s a spooky holiday instead of a sweet one. And since I’m in charge here-”
Alfred cleared his throat from the other side of the kitchen, where he was pulling a tray of pumpkin cookies out of the oven, and Jay corrected himself with a crooked smile, “Since Alfred’s in charge here, and has declared today a no-attitude zone, you’re gonna keep the snippy remarks to yourself. Got it?”
Damian glared at him for a moment, and holy fuck, it was entirely too much like looking into a mirror for Jay’s comfort. Fitting, he supposed, since their party’s theme was ‘hall of mirrors’.
“Well?” he prompted the kid again.
“Fine,” Damian finally spat, folding his arms over his chest. “But I will not wear one of these ‘Halloween costumes’ that you keep insisting on. It’s degrading.”
Sputtering a laugh, Jay shook his head. “Says the kid that wears a mask every night. Forget it; party rule number one, you gotta wear a costume. If you don’t pick one, Dick and I will be forced to pick one for you. And we just happen to have a Lady Gaga costume in storage downstairs, that should fit you just fine.”
At that, Damian went visibly pale. “You wouldn’t.”
Jay grinned widely. “Oh yes, we would. So you’d better pick something good. That little ninja get-up you’ve got in your closet will not pass inspection.”
Another glare, and Damian tutted. “Fine. If I have to. But know this, Todd-”
Jay stopped him with a pointed finger. “You don't get to call me that anymore, remember?” They’d made progress this year, but damn if it wasn’t slow as hell.
Sneering, Damian went on, “Father,” spitting the word as if it was poison on his tongue. “I will not be shown off as some sort of trophy. I will not be your source of amusement.”
“You already are a source of amusement, kiddo,” he replied, standing again and ruffling Damian’s hair affectionately.
The kid tried to duck out from under his hand, but too late; Jason had already mussed his hair pretty good. Heh. Served the kid right.
“You got six hours,” Jay told him. “Better make ‘em count, squirt.”
“Ooohh, we’re already on ‘squirt’? Damian must be doing something right,” came another voice, and Jay looked up to catch Dick coming into the kitchen, a long silver garment box tucked under one arm.
Damian turned his glare on the newcomer. “I am not a squirt!” he insisted firmly.
“You just keep telling yourself that, Dee, and we’ll reevaluate our stance when you’re at least Dick’s height,” Jay said, ruffling his hair again. To Dick, he tipped his chin up in greeting, and explained, “We just had the ‘no attitude, costumes not optional’ talk. I don’t think the former’s quite sunk in yet.”
Dick nodded in understanding, glancing at Damian with obvious affection in his own eyes as he set the box on the table. “I see you’ve got a head start on the decorating, too. Nice hockey mask jack-o-lantern. Friday the Thirteenth? Fitting,” he finished with a nod.
Jay smirked, glad somebody at least got the joke. He really would have to add the knife and blood. Speaking of which. … “You remember fake blood on your trip to the Halloween store?” he asked.
“Oh yeah. Got a couple fake blades that’ll work, too,” he said as if he’d read Jason’s mind.
“Excellent. So what’s in the box?”
A quick grin moving over his face then, Dick just lifted the top off, giving Jay and Damian a good view of his costume, neatly folded, the emblem across the chest clearly visible. “What do you think?”
Jay blinked at the brightly-colored costume for a moment, Damian mirroring his expression before they both looked up at Dick.
“Please tell me you didn’t get that off the rack at the costume place,” Jason said warily.
“Oh, no,” Dick answered with a wave of his hand. “Got it custom made. Never been worn.”
“Custom made? As in, custom made by the same person that makes the originals? As in, he’s not gonna kill you when he gets here and sees you in that get-up?”
Dick nodded as he replaced the box’s cover and tucked it under his arm. “Yup. It was his idea. Wait till you see his costume.”
Jay’s brain came to a screeching halt at that. “Oh, don’t tell me.”
If it was possible, Dick’s grin grew even wider, almost maniacal. “Oh yes. That. It even fits the theme.”
Smacking his palm against his forehead, Jay groaned. “This ought to be interesting. I’m sure you'll both be the life of the party.”
“Ahem,” Damian cut in, “If you’re both quite finished, I could use your assistance.”
Jay and Dick turned to find Damian elbow-deep in tangled holiday lights, unlit blacklight and orange bulbs twined around his arms and tangled helplessly.
Even Alfred laughed at the sight.
“All right, come here, squirt, and we’ll get you untangled,” Jason prompted him, moving to his other side so he and Dick could work in tandem. “We’ll get this stuff hung up, then you can go find yourself a costume.”
“But-”
“No ‘buts’. Lady Gaga, remember?”
Damian only pouted, while Dick and Jason worked on the tangle of lights, the mirth of the holiday actually starting to coalesce and seep into their souls.
~*~*~*~