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Story Link :
https://batsandbugs.tumblr.com/post/625005351737147392/the-great-ikea-game-authors-note-oh-my-gosh
Masterpost Link :
https://batsandbugs.tumblr.com/post/644566288413392896/great-ikea-game-masterlist-you-can-read-it-here-on
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Disguises and Calling Cards
They skirted along the edges of the showroom. Damian explained his brothers were tech wizzes and would no doubt be watching the security cams if they already had access.
"Our first line of business is to mess up their ability to track us," he said, taking out his phone, "we need to disable the cameras completely."
Marinette blanched, could he disable the security cameras with his phone alone?
"We can't do that! What about the rest of the customers? They need to be watched. Those cameras are used for safety."
Damian rolled his eyes. "Great I've landed myself with a partner who had no sense of the bigger picture."
Marinette huffed, "I do too, but we need to think of consequences. The security team will shut the system down and restart everything. Which leaves us at square one again."
"Well I'm not hearing any ideas from you," he snarled. Damian pointed to a small corridor out of the way. "Let's go there until we figure out a plan."
Squeezed between two displays, their chests inches apart from one another, Marinette realized how tall and muscular Damian was. He could easily command a room with his presence alone - her designer brain, constantly on as it was, nearly drooled. He'd make a superb model.
She shook those less than useful thoughts away.
He peered at her with a tilt to his head, a glint of curiosity in his eyes. "So... what's a girl from Paris doing moving to the most dangerous city in America?"
"I thought that was Bludhaven."
Damian rolled his eyes, "Depends on your definition of dangerous. I'll take the drugs and gangs over the Joker any day of the week."
She shrugged. "Gotham University has a good fashion and design program."
"Other cities have better ones," he responded.
"I wanted a change of scenery."
"Prettier cities exist which aren't villain infested."
Marinette didn't know what else to say without sounding like a loon. 'Oh, I came to Gotham because an ancient magical box full of tiny gods pinpointed this location as a well of chaos and misery. It needs the attention of the wielder of the powers of the universe, which is me, by the way. Hi!' She was sure that would go over just swell.
"I guess it was luck."
"Bad luck, perhaps."
She smiled. "I'm not one for having much bad luck."
"I would say you do, your shopping trip has turned into a showdown between very competitive brothers. And you happened to get stuck with me."
Marinette laughed. "I don't consider that bad luck." She dropped her voice to a tone she would use for flirting. For a reason she couldn't place, this guy intrigued her and drew her in. Damian's face turned red in the fluorescent light.
Marinette dragged her eyes over Damian again, watching his muscles flex even through the fabric of his shirt...
Oh...
She looked at what they were wearing - her outfit consisted of a fluffy pink sweater with a long brown coat. He, in black slacks, a black turtleneck, and a black blazer. She surveyed the room beyond their hiding spot and saw a rack of clothes.
"How morally adverse are you to modifying products before we buy them?" she asked, a plan forming in her mind.
Damian was startled at the change of conversation, but he scoffed in response to her question. "Assume I have no morals."
Marinette paused. "Do you not have morals?"
"I do, but winning trumps everything but murder today."
"Are you open to murder other days?"
He raised his eyes to the ceiling. "The universe sure likes to tempt me." His tone was joking, but when he looked back at her the glint in his eyes was anything but. Hardened steel and mired guilt swam in them. Marinette recognized that look well.
In Chloe's eyes when Sabrina had been stabbed by an Akuma.
In Adrian's eyes when he realized his father was Hawkmoth.
In Kagami's eyes when half of Paris had burned.
In Luka's eyes when he had to restart the fight over and over and over again so they could have a chance at winning.
In her own eyes when faced with the well-being of an entire city besieged by a madman.
The creeping panic and anxiety which had been her constant companion since fourteen was ruthlessly squashed.
They had won.
That was what mattered.
"Fair enough," she croaked. Damian peered at her quizzically, but she ignored him. "Can your brothers cross-reference height and skin color to search for you, or are they searching for a person with your general look?"
"Well, Drake didn't bring his computer; with only his phone, I don't think he has that specific program available."
Marinette nodded, although she wondered why on earth they would have programs like that even on their computers. "Perfect, give me your jacket."
He unbuttoned the blazer. "Why?"
"Because they're looking for a tall boy in black. We're about to become masters of disguise." Marinette casually strolled out of their hiding place and over to the rack of clothes. She winced at the prices of the poorly made garments - highway robbery.
Taking what she thought she would need, she motioned for Damian to follow her to a corner showroom. She put the clothing on a butcher block table.
"We'll need to pay for this later."
Damian shrugged. "I have it covered."
Marinette started to protest, but he reminded her they were running on borrowed time. Reluctantly shelving the argument, she opened her bag and brought out her travel sewing kit.
Less than ten minutes later - they both ducked behind the table when a passing employee came by their display - they walked out with radically different clothes - and a hat and fake glasses for Damian.
"Why do you have these in your bag?" He said pushing the glasses up his nose.
Marinette remembered the times fans would mob Adrian in the streets and the increasingly convoluted lengths she and their friends would go through to disguise themselves. "You'd be surprised how many times they've come in handy. So, where to next?"
"We need to find something to mark our presence - a symbol my brothers would notice and figure out the fact they've missed us. Our calling card to frustrate them." They weaved through the crowds ducking their heads anytime they thought they saw dark hair - as he informed her all his brothers had.
"You could write your name?"
"Too plebeian."
Marinette thought for a moment, "Is there a shared memory they would recognize, something they would know was from you?" They stopped in front of a display of hand towels. Beautiful nature designs decorated the fabric. Damian stared at them thoughtfully before grabbing an armful.
"May I borrow those scissors of yours?"
"Sure?"
They settled in another display room, pink and delicate and covered in fairy lights - exactly what Marinette hoped her apartment would have looked like by the end of the week.
She ran her hand over the soft fabric of the couch she sat on, remembering the lonely chair which she had been using since she'd arrived in Gotham. Her skin tingled, and she looked up; Damian watched her in fascination, when he realized she had seen him, he looked like a deer caught in the headlights and quickly turned back to cutting out fabric, his cheeks and ears turning red. She smiled; he was cute.
"What are you doing?" She asked Damian, as he cut into the hand towels without blinking an eye.
"They're covered in robins," he told her, his voice a little scratchy. "This is Gotham."
"Oh, that makes sense. Are you sure they'll understand it though? It's broad for a city that knows exactly who its' heroes are."
"First off, they're vigilantes," he said, not looking up. "Second they'll definitely get it. We've had too many run-ins with them not to."
"I thought people generally didn't interact with them too much?" At least not unless you were a criminal, not for the first time since meeting Damian, Marinette wondered who exactly she had teamed herself up with.
"My family's a bit... special," Damian said sneering, fully over his earlier embarrassment. He finished cutting out the last robin. He handed her the cutouts and swept the scrap fabric into his hands. "Place one here in full view, and I'll find a place to dispose of these."
He walked out of the room.
Marinette sighed and tacked the fabric robin to the couch she'd been sitting on. She glanced around the room and tried picking out different pieces she liked, she'd have to see if any of the thrift shops near her house had anything similar to it - the prices for even the small items were way too expensive.
"Trying to shop?" Asked Damian coming back into the display room.
"Nah, I'll have to come back on a different day. Besides, it's too expensive anyway. I was mostly here for inspiration anyway." She ran her fingers over the fluffy couch. "Pity though, it's a nice couch."
Ducking out of the room, she expected Damian to follow her, but when she looked behind her, he still stood in the room with his phone out.
"Come on we need to go - they'll be on our trail soon."
He clicked his phone off, with a small genuine smile on his face, the first she'd seen from him. "Alright, I'm coming." Marinette put the tiny little exchange out of her mind, as they headed deeper into the store. Intent on winning, whatever the cost.
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This is not My Story.
Creator of the Story :
batsandbugs/
@Damien Wayne x Marinette Dupain-Cheng