Marinette POV: Friday, May 1st, 2024
I've been at the manor for nearly a week, and so far, it has been... a disaster.
I love the Wayne family and everyone in it, except one parson. And when that one person is constantly near me, I might not have the best of times. Other than that, one person, it has been amazing here.
Steph took me around Gotham, giving me a tour of all her favorite places. Duke has been really sweet; he takes me out to lunch occasionally to show me his favorite spots to eat. Cass has been attempting to teach me ASL, American Sign Language, but I'm about as good at is as I am with Mandarin. Babs and Tim have been teaching me about tech, I don't find the subject all that fascinating but they enjoy talking and teaching about it, so I just listen and learn.
Jason has been attempting to get me to shoot a gun. I absolutely refuse to even hold the thing, let alone shoot it. I simply don't believe guns are needed, maybe as an absolute last solution, but never at the beginning of a fight. When Dick comes by the house he teaches me more training skills, mostly gymnastics stuff. He saw how 'elegant' my flips were back in Paris and he wanted to fix them until they were perfect.
Bruce has been working on sparring with me, trying to improve my techniques. Selina has been teaching me to be sneakier. I'm not even sure anymore, she keeps on testing me by telling me to sneak out of the house without being caught. I have only failed once, which was on the first day. Kori took me to meet the Titans yesterday, it was amazing!
Rachel, better known as Raven, is a little strange. but she's kind. Within the first two minutes of meeting her she said I was 'a ray of sunshine but there was a clouds blocking the light' I still don't understand what she was trying to say, but it was definitely memorable moment.
Gar, Beast Boy, is a very fun person. As soon as I walked into the door, he greeted me with a hug and a huge welcome. He was the one to drag Rachel over to introduce herself. They were a cute couple that complemented each other amazingly.
Jaime, Blue Beetle, was kind although slightly reserved. I didn't have to guess why, though. Gar told me what Damian did on the second day he was staying at the tower. Damian antagonized Jaime until the Scarab took over and nearly killed Damian. Rachel saved him, thankfully.
So, that was a wonderfully experience to go with an interesting week.
Today I was going with Selina to her friend's house for dinner. No matter how many times I asked her who the friends were, she kept giving me vague answers, I did not like it. At all.
I was currently getting ready; it was a little chilly out, so I left my hair down but put a peach headband in it to keep it somewhat out of my face. I put on a jean jacket over my long sleeve light blue turtleneck, some peach jean pants, and switched out mt usual bag for a tan and gold one. I put on some mascara and lip gloss, opened the door, and ran straight into a wall.
A wall that should definitely not be where the exit of my room is. I fall back on my butt with a groan, then look up at the person in my way. Damian.
"Damian? What in the world are you doing outside my door?" More importantly why are you even near me?
"I-uh, sorry, I was going to knock before you opened your door." He offers me a hand. I look at it in shock. Why was he being nice to me?
I knock his hand away and het up on my own, he's probably just tricking me again. More than likely just needs something from me.
"What do you want, Damian?" I didn't want to be ridiculed right before I went out to enjoy a nice evening with new friends.
"I wanted to speak with you."
"Clearly."
"I lied-"
"Yes, repeatedly, I know."
"No. Let me finish. I never lied to you when I was in Paris. I have lied to you all week. I never needed to use you, I genuinely enjoyed spending time with you. I was never forced to be around you, I liked it. I started to really like you, to the point I considered courting you." Courting? Did he mean dating? "The night we defeated Hoaxer, when I saw my family's mangled bodies floating, I also saw yours. It scared me, and it made me realize that I fell for you. I pushed you away because I was scared that you would make me weak." He bushed a hand through his perfect hair, messing it up.
"What are you trying to say Damian? That I made you weak?"
"Yes! You made me weak! You are my weakness! I pushed you away in order to stop myself from falling for you. It didn't work, I still fell. So, I needed to push you away again, harder. That was why I have been such an asshole! That is why I lied to you! I wanted you out of my life so nobody could use you to get to me."
"I never asked to be in your life Damian, I never wanted to be a weakness for you." I didn't know what else to say. This was the most improper conversation I have ever had with him. He was speaking so normally and full of emotion. It was unsettling.
"I know! I know! But now I want you in my life! I want to be near you! I want to have a normal conversation again! I want us to be... us." He releases a breath, "I'm sorry I was such a jerk to you. I'm sorry I pushed you away."
"I forgive you. But that doesn't mean I will forget about it."
"I don't want you to forget about it. I want you to hold it over my head for the rest of our lives. I want you to constantly remind me of what I did that forced us apart for so long. What I did to keep myself away from the woman I love."
Did he just say love? That he loves me? That I was the woman he loved?
"W-what did you just say?" I stutter, my cheeks flushed.
He smiles down at me, grabbing my hands he pulls me closer to him until our faces are mere inches apart, "I love you Marinette Dupain-Cheng. And I hope that after all of my idiotic actions and unforgiving words, you love me too."
"I-"
"Mittens! Time for dinner with the girls!"
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Damian spoke somewhat normally for once, that's a slight improvement. And he confessed his love! Kaalki really works magic with her words. Hopefully Marinette will say the three big words back to him.
This was when Jason was struggling to find the right jacket that made him look badass.