This is my favorite Demonfire headcanon of all time so I had to write a fic about it! I'm also kinda basing this of me and ThePoorKing 's RP whoops 😅
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Damian had only been dating Mar'i for a few months and, if he was being quite honest, he hoped there would be many more to come.
He was surprised by how much he enjoyed her company. They oddly complimented each other well. He adored her bubbly, compassionate nature and, though he would never admit it, it started to make him go soft.
Currently, he and Mar'i were on another date. They were at the pool and Mar'i had been softly repeating the phrase "Just keep swimming" to herself.
"Is that some sort of swimming mantra?" Damian asked her, confused.
Mar'i looked at him for a moment, puzzled. "You don't understand the reference?"
"Should I?"
"I mean, almost everybody knows that. Have you never seen Finding Nemo?"
Damian had no clue what his girlfriend was talking about, but he assumed it was a movie.
"No," he answered with a shake of his head.
Mar'i's eyes bulged. "Have you ever seen any Disney movie before?"
Ah. So Disney was a movie franchise. It did sound a little familiar now, but Damian had never seen any of the movies she's referring to.
"No," Damian said again.
Mar'i gasped loudly and dramatically clutched her heart, as if this was physically affecting her. "Never?"
"I believe I've established that already, Mar'i."
Instantly, Mar'i got out of the pool and ran a starbolt-lit hand through her wet hair to dry it.
"Start drying off," she told Damian. "We're heading to my place."
He obeyed, but still raised an eyebrow at her. "Why?"
"We're going to binge watch Disney movies so you can see what you've missed out on your whole life."
"Mar'i, I don't think that's necessary," Damian started.
"It's completely necessary. Now come on and put your dry clothes back on so we can go," Mar'i interjected.
Dejected, Damian sighed and did as she said. He allowed Mar'i to take his hands and fly them back to her apartment.
Upon arriving, Mar'i looked for her collection of Disney DVDs and grabbed a couple of different movies to view.
"Alright, I only grabbed a few, but there's The Lion King, Peter Pan, The Little Mermaid, and Beauty and the Beast. Which do you wanna watch first?" Mar'i asked, presenting the movie cases.
Damian looked them over and discovered that these Disney movies were children's cartoons.
He raised an eyebrow at her. "Are these children's movies?"
"Well, they're made for kids, but a lot of adults enjoy them, too," she said.
He wasn't sure how any adult, let a alone teenager, would find animated cartoons entertaining. But, Mar'i seemed to really like them, so he'd do this for her.
Damian randomly selected one and ended up picking The Lion King.
"A very good choice for your first Disney movie," Mar'i said. "You can sit down, I'm gonna put this in the DVD player."
The movie began and as it played, Damian was quite confused.
"The animals can talk?" He questioned.
Mar'i nodded. "The animals always talk in Disney movies."
"But animals don't talk."
"Here they do," she insisted.
Damian attempted to interject again, but Mar'i shushed him.
"Just try to pay attention," she said.
He tried. The movie progressed and Mufasa had just been caught in the middle of a stampede.
Damian leaned forward a bit, suddenly interested.
"The father survives... right?" He asked Mar'i.
His girlfriend went wide-eyed. She hesitated before answering him. "Um..."
Damian turned and stared at her, stunned. "I thought you said this was a children's movie!"
"It is!" Mar'i responded.
"Then why is there a dead father and a blood-thirsty uncle?"
Mar'i shrugged. "I don't know. That's just how the story goes. But it's still a kid's movie, so it won't get any worse than that."
"Disturbing," he said. While the plot may have been a tad bit disturbing, he couldn't help but be more intrigued by the movie. He payed closer attention and even found it enjoyable.
Once the movie had ended, Mar'i turned to him and asked, "So, what'd you think?"
Truthfully, Damian enjoyed it very much. Though it was filled with inaccuracies, he was eventually able to look over them. Cartoons were actually quite interesting.
"...You do have more of these films, correct?"
Mar'i let out a surprised laugh. "You liked it?"
"It was surprisingly enjoyable," Damian admitted, sheepishly.
Mar'i giggled happily and pressed a kiss on his cheek. "See? I told you Disney is the best!" She said.
"Do you want to pick the next one?" Damian asked her.
"Sure," she nodded and got up to open another movie case and place the disc in the DVD player.
"Which did you pick?" He asked her, once she sat back down beside him on the sofa.
"The Little Mermaid," she responded.
"What is this one about?" He inquired.
"You'll just have to watch to find out," Mar'i told him, moving closer so she could snuggle against his side.
They watched the movie and Damian didn't have any interjections about it, until Ariel got her legs.
"Wait so how is she going to communicate with the prince? I assume she'll just write it down?"
"Well, no, she kinda just uses her hands," Mar'i started, gesturing to the TV as Prince Eric tried to decipher Ariel's odd hand motions. "But writing it down would've been smarter, though."
Damian furrowed his eyebrows, puzzled. "Then how will their relationship work out once she becomes human forever? She must have to write down something, how else would she convey—"
Mar'i pressed a finger to his lips and giggled softly. "Don't overthink it. Just watch."
He managed a small smile and kissed the tip of her nose. "Alright."
The movie continued on and Mar'i was currently cuddled against Damian, her head on his shoulder and his arm around her.
Within the film, Ariel and Prince Eric were on a boat and the animals had begun to sing.
"And you don't know why, but you're dying to try. You wanna kiss the girl," the crab sang on the screen.
Hearing those words, something within Damian clicked. He glanced down at the beautiful girl beside him, whose attention was on the movie playing.
He held back a smirk and leaned down to gently kiss her lips.
Mar'i blinked, a bit surprised and confused by the kiss. But then, she realized and a knowing smile spread across her lips.
"Was that because they're singing Kiss The Girl?"
"Well, it did seem like a convenient time," Damian said, not bothering to conceal his smirk this time.
Mar'i giggled and sat up to kiss him again, her hands cupping the sides of his face. He kissed her back, his hands moving to rest on the small of her back, pulling her a bit closer. Mar'i deepened the kiss slightly and Damian ran a hand through her hair.
To be honest, Damian lost track of time after that. It wasn't until he noticed the lights on the TV screen flashing that he stopped kissing his girlfriend.
Onscreen, Ursula— now much bigger— had been stabbed by a ship while being simultaneously struck by lightning, dying a violent death.
"Wait, what happened?" Damian asked confused.
"You tend to miss a lot of the movie when you distract yourself with other matters," Mar'i laughed.
"How much of it did we miss?" He inquired.
"Well, it's about to end, so a lot," she answered.
Mar'i was correct. Within a minute or two, the credits began to roll.
"We'll rewatch it another time," Mar'i assured him. "So, one more or do you wanna call it a night?"
Damian glanced at the clock. It was almost nine, it wasn't terribly late yet.
"It's not late yet, we can watch another one if you'd like," Damian said. He paused, suddenly realizing that Grayson hadn't come home yet.
"Won't Grayson be home soon?" He asked his girlfriend. "Should I go before he—"
"He won't be back until tomorrow," Mar'i interrupted. "He texted me earlier. Bruce sent him on some stakeout with Tim."
Damian vaguely remembered his father mentioning that mission, but assumed that Drake would do it alone.
"So," Mar'i continued. "It's just you and me. You don't need to worry about my dad."
Damian smiled and brushed a strand piece of hair out of her face. "That's good."
The two ended up picking Beauty and the Beast as their last movie of the night. As the film began, Mar'i cuddled closer to Damian and he put his arm around her waist, keeping her close.
Noticing the throw blanket on the opposite end of the sofa, he grabbed it and spread it across them, in hopes of making Mar'i more comfortable. She looked up at him and smiled, leaning up to quickly kiss his cheek as thanks.
As they watched the movie, Damian couldn't help but look down at Mar'i. She was starting to get sleepy, her eyelids occasionally drooping. He smiled. She looked so cute when she was sleepy, so peaceful.
It really was sweet of her to show him these Disney movies. She gave him a piece of childhood he never knew he could have. He was very thankful to her for that. He'd thank her, but at a later time. She seemed too tired now.
He was thankful to have Mar'i in general, really. He wanted to spend every minute of every day with her. He loved being with her more than anything. He loved—
Damian's eyes widened slightly at his own revelation. He loved her.
He glanced down at Mar'i again to find that her eyes were closed and he smiled.
"Mar'i," he said softly, checking to see if she had completely fallen asleep.
She hummed in response to let him know she was still awake and listening.
Damian leaned down and whispered, "I love you."
Mar'i's eyes fluttered open immediately and she sat up to look at him, looking both bewildered and delighted.
"You do?" She asked, unable to contain a grin.
Damian nodded, smiling as well, tucking a loose strand away from her face again. "I do. Very much."
She let out a joyous laugh and kissed his lips, her hands framing the sides of his face.
"I love you, too," Mar'i said, once she parted his lips from his.
Damian couldn't hide the grin spreading across his face. Hearing that she loved him too made him feel like he was on top of the world.
He kissed her once more, reaffirming his previous declaration of love for her.
When the kiss ended Mar'i sighed happily and snuggled back against his side, adjusting the blanket and closing her eyes again.
"You're not going to finish watching this with me?" Damian asked.
She shook her head. "I'm too tired. Plus, I've seen this plenty of times." She opened her eyes and looked up at him. "Will you stay here with me if I fall asleep?"
Damian nodded, smiling down at her. "Of course," he told her, pressing a soft kiss to her forehead.
Mar'i returned his smile and snuggled herself against him once more. "I love you," she told him again, closing her tired eyes.
"I love you, too, Mar'i," Damian responded, brushing hair away from her face and gazing down at her lovingly.