Jan 31
Маринетт: ..Ты со мной флиртуешь?
Тим: Уже три года, но спасибо, что заметила.
Маринетт, удивлённо моргая: Мы столько не знакомы.
Тим, вспоминая кучу фото на стене, расписание, пути передвижений, теории заговора: ...я так не думаю.
seen from China
seen from Maldives
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from Hungary
seen from Canada
seen from Malaysia
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from China
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Yemen
seen from United States
seen from Türkiye
seen from United States
seen from United States
seen from Aruba
Маринетт: ..Ты со мной флиртуешь?
Тим: Уже три года, но спасибо, что заметила.
Маринетт, удивлённо моргая: Мы столько не знакомы.
Тим, вспоминая кучу фото на стене, расписание, пути передвижений, теории заговора: ...я так не думаю.
Timari January 2026 / Coffee is Overrated
Chapters: 1 2 3 4 5 6 7
Day 7 and the last day of Timari January 2026! the prompt was We're All Going to Die!
As always, huge thanks to @maribat-calendar-events for doing such a fabulous job putting together prompts and keeping me motivated to write <3 honestly, I wouldn't get half as much done if I didn't have the prompts to go on, so I'm so grateful for everything you do!
Link to AO3
“Are you sure you’re good to leave Gotham today? Dick keeps calling you,” said Marinette as Tim pulled her determinedly towards the train station.
“He’s only doing that because I told him I had today off, like an idiot,” he grumbled, buying her ticket before she could so much as pull her purse out of her bag. She protested but he simply shot her a cheeky grin as he rushed them to the platform. If they were fast enough, Dick wouldn’t be able to find them until they were well on their way to New York, and then it would just be a case of putting up with his pouting later. “The world isn’t ending, there’s no emergency, he’s just dramatic. But getting out of Gotham is the only way we’ll get to spend time on our own, so it’s worth getting gone now.”
“Alright, if you’re sure,” she laughed, settling into their seats and resting her head on his shoulder. He was pretty sure she was asleep within minutes and he smiled to himself as he pulled out his phone to take a picture to capture the moment. It wasn’t as good as using a camera but this way he could look at it whenever he wanted, so that was a plus.
Somehow, just before they arrived in New York she woke up, stretching and smiling at him again. He'd silenced his phone to make sure it didn't wake her but he could see that his missed calls had jumped in the first ten minutes of the train ride before cutting off abruptly. Dick must finally have checked his tracker and seen him heading out of town. Good, he didn't need to be interrupted again while he was showing Marinette around his other city, not that she knew what it was to him.
“So, any sights you wanted to see today?” he asked as they made their way from the station, arm slung over her shoulder and feeling as relaxed as he possibly could. Which, of course, is why they were immediately accosted by his so-called friends. How they knew he was going to be there today…well, he could take a guess.
“Tim! Hey, we’ve been trying to get hold of you for a while,” said Kon, shoulders slouched as he gave Marinette a once over before grinning widely at her. “Well, hello there little lady, nice to meet you. I’m Kon, Tim’s best friend.”
“Sorry, I had to turn my phone off because of Dick,” frowned Tim, pulling the phone back out and scrolling through the missed calls, wincing when he saw the change from Dick to his team. Meanwhile, Marinette was giggling and holding her hand out to Kon to shake it.
“I’m Marinette,” she smiled, turning to Tim with a curious look. “You didn’t mention that your best friend lives here! We could have organised to spend the day with him.”
“Because he doesn’t live in New York,” he muttered, reading the extra messages he hadn’t realised had come through at lightning speed. Swearing quietly, he locked eyes with Kon and nodded shortly. “Okay, let’s go. Marinette, I’m so sorry but Kon needs my help-”
“Go, it’s fine,” she interrupted, far too understanding but Tim didn’t have time to question it. Kissing her briefly, he heard her say something about finding a coffee shop before he took off towards the Tower to get changed.
_ _ _
The battle was going badly. Toyman’s minions were relentless and Robin couldn't get close enough - or just hold still for long enough - to hack into their server and shut them down. They seemed endless, every time Superboy took out a wave, another appeared. And Superboy and Wonder Girl were managing to hit them back only for them to come rushing back in, leaving Robin and Impulse to try and get to the source. At the rate it was all going none of them were going to survive this.
Just as Superboy looked to be losing his current battle, a blur of red swung into view. The toys that were about to bring Superboy down were kicked down, the stranger smoothly moving through them to launch onto a ledge of the nearest building. Once she’d stopped swinging, Robin had to fight to contain his confusion; since when had there been a polka dot heroine in New York? He thought he knew everyone that operated locally but here she was, smiling and waving at him like she knew him.
“Bonjour!” she called, jumping across to him and sweeping another row of toys as she went. If he wasn’t so relieved to see someone helping out, he would have been warning her away and telling her to leave it to them. “I assume you need assistance, non? I am Ladybug, superheroine of Paris, and I'm here to help.”
“Who the fu-” Superboy began, only cutting off because a fresh line of toys was jumping to get to him. But Robin had to agree with his sentiment because what? Why was a French heroine appearing in New York of all places, apparently at random? And he would have said as much if she hadn't raised an eyebrow, hand propped on her hip sassily, and spoken first.
“Are you truly in a position to - qu'est-ce que l'expression? - peer into a gift horse’s mouth?” she asked drily, flicking her weapon out and knocking down another row of toys. “And surely this is more time sensitive-”
“Look a gift horse in the mouth,” said Robin, unable to help himself when she'd said it wrong. “The phrase is ‘look a gift horse in the mouth’ not-”
“Mon dieu, I have shown up to aid you and you think it is appropriate to correct me?” she said, tone now icy as she narrowed her eyes at him. She looked personally offended, which was ridiculous because he certainly hadn't ever met the Parisian heroine before, but he raised his hands in surrender. “Do you want my help or not? I would like for this to end so I may return to my date.”
Glancing around, Robin admitted defeat and nodded jerkily, motioning for her to come closer so they could plan.
_ _ _
Robin hated to admit it but the fight against Toyman went much smoother once Ladybug was involved. Her ingenuity - and her lucky charm, which she used in ways that defied logic - made the defeat of the toys…well, child's play. It didn’t hurt that she was frighteningly competent, and seemed to take charge without meaning to. She would ask for their opinions - or their objections, if he was feeling grumpy about it - but she could plan quickly and adjust on the fly, which made her the perfect lead for their impromptu team-up.
“That was awesome,” said Wonder Girl, offering her fist to Ladybug and pulling Superboy into a hug. “That Miraculous cure? Fabulous, I can’t believe we have no clean up! You are so welcome to fight with us any time you want. Are you busy right now? Because we would be happy to have you join us for some post-battle chill time over in the Tower, right boys?”
“Oh, I should get back to my date,” she replied, though her eyes shifted towards Robin before she smiled more brightly and said, “Unless you’re planning on hanging with everyone, Monsieur Robin?”
“No, I have my own date to get back to,” he said after a brief pause, where he squinted at her confusedly. Didn’t she just say she had a date to get back to? “I just have to go and change, so if you’ll all excuse me…”
“D’accord,” she beamed, waving to the others before throwing her yo-yo (how such a ridiculous weapon was so effective boggled his mind) and zipping away from them. Robin waited briefly before following suit, grappling towards Titans Tower.
Once he was changed and he’d escaped the others, he was so busy looking at his phone, trying to think of a way to apologise to Marinette that he didn’t spot her waiting outside the street entrance to the Tower. It wasn’t until she grabbed his elbow that he realised anyone was there, which was sloppy of him especially straight after a fight.
“Marinette? How- when-” He tripped over his words as he tried to make sense of her being nearby when she should have no idea where he was. They hadn’t shared locations with each other because he didn’t want to have to lie about why he was in certain places but…
“Wonder Girl pointed it out to me during the fight,” she shrugged, though her eyes were glittering with amusement. And, dammit, he still couldn’t connect the dots. The fight? But why had she been anywhere near… “Tim, are you alright? Did the little marionettes hit you in the head? I would have thought the cure would have fixed that, though…”
“Holy sh-” he half shouted, eyes popping wide open as he looked at her, reassessing everything he knew about her in the new light of knowing she was a superheroine. “You- You’re- You know that I’m-”
“-running around Gotham dressed as a bird?” she finished, stifling a giggle. “Oui, I ran into Dick while he was taking care of a convenience store robbery and he called me by my name. Tried to play it off but…there aren’t many people that know who I am that do not go to school with me. After that…it made a lot of sense. I was planning on telling you today, if it helps, the fight with Toyman just gave me a good opportunity. Is…is it okay, that I know?”
“Okay? This is the best news!” he declared stoutly, pulling her into a kiss that made his head go light. “My girlfriend is a badass. And now I don’t have to try and keep secrets from you, this is the best case scenario I could possibly have imagined. But forget that - for now - are you ready to continue our date?”
Day 6 of Timari January is Career Day
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
“Ugh, I can't believe we have to do career day - don't they know most of us already have it planned out?” someone behind Tim pouted, drumming their fingers against the school desk. “Plus, they're making us go to the Heights career day? It's ridiculous, like anyone there has the same chance of progressing as us. Making it mandatory when we could be doing something that actually furthers our careers.”
“Hey, the Heights isn’t that bad,” Tim retorted, turning back in spite of knowing there was no point. Sure, he attended Gotham Academy now but there was a good amount of time he’d spent at the other school that meant he didn’t appreciate people badmouthing it. “And just because you think you’ve got it all worked out doesn’t mean everyone does. And if they make it mandatory, anyone that doesn’t want to admit they need it because of people like you,” he added pointedly when the kid scoffed, “making it seem like it’s beneath everyone.”
“Whatever,” they muttered, turning their nose up at him even as a blush took over their face.
Meanwhile, Tim pulled out his phone and messaged Marinette to find out what time she would be going to the career fair. If he was going to be forced to go, he might as well get something out of it. After all, even if he argued with the other kid, part of him agreed that it was pointless for him. He was going to run his dad’s company eventually, and there wasn’t really anything he needed to worry about since he was good friends with Bruce as well.
Hey! Well, I’m going to look around the different booths to see if anyone’s offering an apprenticeship in fashion but my parents are running a booth about bakery! So I’ll be there all day
Smiling again, he decided it wouldn’t hurt to spend the whole day there.
_ _ _
“Tim, you made it!” boomed Tom, making several heads turn in their directions as he made his way over to the stand. He grinned sheepishly and glanced around quickly to see if Marinette was with them, and was only mildly disappointed when he couldn’t see her. “Ah, mon chou will be back soon, she’s just speaking to a couple of other stands to see who can assist her with her future.”
“Of course, she said she wanted to,” he nodded, looking over their stand so he didn’t look out of place. At the very least, he’d have plenty of answers for his teachers when they inevitably asked about it after the weekend. “You use rice flour along with wheat flour?”
“Yes! One of the changes we made after we married, and it gives the bread a different texture,” Tom beamed, smiling at another Gothamite that approached from the other side. They didn’t stick around, but they did take one of the free samples of macarons before scurrying away which seemed to please the larger man. “Are you thinking of getting into the baking business? Because, you know, Marinette is our only daughter so we would love to be able to keep it in the family-”
“Papa, please tell me you aren’t trying to give the bakery to my boyfriend again,” came Marinette’s exasperated voice. Tim whirled around, smiling as she slipped an arm around his waist and pressed a kiss to his cheek. “Sorry, Tim, Papa always thinks he’s funny trying to test any potential sons- or daughters-in-law by offering them the bakery. Come on, you can walk with me and stop me from accidentally becoming a henchperson.”
“Be safe, and put some thought into the idea, son!” Tom hollered after them, making Marinette mutter under her breath and Tim’s neck flush.
“Really, pay him no mind,” she said when they were far enough away that there was no way she was going to be overhead by either parent. “Unless you want to give up your future as a mega-important head of a company to make bread?”
“I’ll pass, thanks,” he laughed, throwing his arm around her shoulder as they walked. “Though I wouldn’t mind baking lessons from you sometime,” he added slyly, laughing again when she gave an adorable squeak. “We could trade expertise: business talk from me and cooking tips from you. We’ll be an unstoppable team.”
“Hmmm, I’ll consider it,” she hummed, giggling when he poked her shoulder playfully. “Seriously though, if you want to learn how to cook something just let me know. I’ve been around enough hapless rich kids that I don’t trust you to have any skills in the kitchen.”
“Oh, so I’m just the latest in a long line, am I?” he asked with a raised brow. She made a seesaw motion with her free hand and he was instantly sceptical. Was she trying to mess with him? Or was she serious? She had been weirdly chill about his wealth… “Really? Because if I’m only the second, that can’t be held up as evidence.”
“Eh, maybe the fourth or fifth?” she answered, no deception coming across in her voice. It only made his eyebrows raise higher and she elaborated with no further prompting. “I mean, there was Chloé, who I knew from école matérnelle, and she was pretty hopeless at everything except bossing people around and bullying them into doing what she wanted. Then there was Adrien and Félix, cousins who were both raised without any practical skills. Oh, piano, sure, but cleaning and cooking? Forget it. Then…”
She hesitated then, her eyes cutting to him and her teeth making an imprint on her lower lip. He didn’t push her, though his curiosity was burning now, and he wasn’t sure he was capable of leaving it be. Thankfully, she seemed to decide that it was fine to tell him whatever she was considering leaving out.
“Okay, so I can’t confirm this one, but there were two heroes in Paris,” she said, letting her voice drop until she was less likely to be overheard in passing. “And one of them just seemed…hapless in all things not rich. Sometimes, he would come by my balcony and chat, and once he asked me if he could buy some macarons. When I went to tell him the cost, he held out a hundred euros and asked if that would cover it. He was buying five,” she added gravely, shaking her head.
“Oh, I see, he definitely could have got at least…seven?” he asked innocently, managing to keep a straight face until she glared at him mutinously. Then he cackled and kissed the top of her head. “Sorry, I couldn’t resist. But you were friends with a hero, huh?”
“Yeah, kind of,” she said, eyes going slightly distant as if remembering that friendship. Then she shook her head and started steering him in the direction of a local business that boasted less than minimum wage for an apprenticeship in design - which, sadly, was still better than other places.
As she talked to the stall owner, Tim made a note of the company so he could research it in detail later. It wasn’t giving him henchperson vibes but you could never be too careful in Gotham.
Timari January day 5 ❤️ An Ordinary Boy with an Ordinary Life
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
Three months into dating Marinette, Tim finally gave in to Dick's pestering to meet her. Not that he'd told Dick that yet. No point in letting him build the event up to something more than it was - or think up a bunch of embarrassing questions. So he just asked Marinette to come over the Sunday after he'd been at Titans Tower for the week - he'd told her he was on a school trip and felt bad about lying but there wasn't anything else he could do - because Dick was bound to show up then.
“I missed you so much this week!” she squealed as she threw her arms around him and let him hold her up and she peppered his face with kisses. “Do you want to play video games? Or do you have homework to do from the trip? Ugh, you’d better not have invited me over to do homework because I’ll cry-”
“Tim! How was the Tower-” Dick asked excitedly, bursting through the front door of the manor only to pull up short as he took in the scene. Marinette immediately dropped to the floor, looking alarmed, and then he made an impression of a teakettle, his hands flapping happily as he jumped towards them. “Oh my gosh, this must be Marinette! It’s so nice to meet you at last, Tim’s told me all about you-”
“No, I didn’t-”
“-and I know we’re gonna be best friends,” Dick beamed, as if Tim hadn’t tried to deter him in the slightest. “What do you think of Gotham so far? How does it compare to Paris? What school are you studying at? I heard you’re a fashion designer, have you-”
“You talk really fast,” Marinette blinked, looking bemusedly at Tim who just shrugged. There was no preparing for Dick Grayson when he wanted to be involved in things, only surviving the storm. “Um, Gotham’s okay, there’s no comparing them because they’re so different, and I’m at {Blank School}. Who exactly are you?”
“Oh, I’m Dick, Dick Grayson,” he said, holding out his hand politely only to receive another blank look in return. “Uh, I lived next door with Bruce Wayne for a few years. We run in a lot of the same social circles, he’s kind of like a little brother to me. That’s why I’ve been so excited to meet you!”
“That’s so sweet,” she smiled, seeming to relax fully again but remaining close to Tim. “I don’t have any brothers or sisters, but I always wanted one! Are we all hanging out together? If I’d known you would be here, I would’ve brought some macarons! My parents have the best patisserie in Paris- well, had, now that they live in Gotham. I haven’t tested all of the bakeries here so I couldn’t say for sure but…they’re very good.”
“A bakery? Oooh, Tim, we have to go! You said the macarons are the best in Paris?” he cooed, making Marinette giggle again. And if Marinette was happy…Tim supposed he could put up with Dick’s overbearing behaviour.
_ _ _
“I liked him,” Marinette said once Dick had finally left them to enjoy their afternoon together. Tim huffed a laugh, closing his eyes as he lay his head in her lap. She was sketching while a tv show played in the background, some stupid detective series about a teenager that got shrunk into an elementary school child. It was ridiculous, but it was so ordinary that Tim didn’t ever want it to end. Not that he didn’t like being a vigilante but sometimes it was nice to be treated as just a normal kid with a normal life.
“I’m pretty sure he likes you, too,” he murmured, the background noise turning into a blur as her hand settled in his hair. The thought that he could fall asleep there, easily, made him lean into the touch and practically purr when her nails scraped his scalp lightly. “Thank you, for being so cool about him crashing our date.”
“Like you didn’t know he was going to be here,” she laughed, leaning down and kissing the tip of his nose before returning to her work. He opened his eyes, startled at how easily she saw through his plotting but she wasn’t looking at him as she drew in big bold lines. “Next time, a little warning, okay? And I want to know more about him before I see him again; he seemed to know loads about me and I had nothing to share.”
“Yeah, that’s fair,” he sighed, closing his eyes again and letting himself drift. His time at Titans Tower had been busy, and he hadn’t slept well in the time before that too so he wasn’t going to fight the urge to pass out in her lap if it was available.
“Tim?” she whispered, and he jolted awake again to find that the television was off and her sketchbook was closed and put into her bag. He rubbed his eyes as he sat up, somehow feeling more tired than he had before his nap, and he tried to guess the time since the sun seemed to be setting in the window. “Sorry, I would have let you sleep longer but I have to head on home. Text me when you want to meet up again, okay? And get some sleep tonight, you seem exhausted.”
“Who needs sleep when you can have caffeine?” he joked, but fully agreeing that he should maybe just head straight to bed once she was gone. He was rewarded with a light giggle and a soft kiss before she extracted herself and stood, stretching out like she’d been sitting in the same position for hours - which, he guessed, she had. He stood and stretched as well, fully intending to at least see her out of the building and maybe catch a ride into Gotham to make sure she got back safely. “Do you want me to come with?”
“Nah, it’s okay,” she said, waving a hand but smiling widely enough that her cheek dimpled. “But I’ll let you know when I make it back. Sleep well, Tim, and I’ll see you again soon, okay?”
“Okay,” he yawned, not really in a position to argue as he felt like he hadn’t slept properly in several months. “Seeya, Mari, love you.”
It had slipped out of his mouth before he even knew what he was saying, and he stiffened when her eyes widened and she blushed deeply enough that her entire face and neck were red. Could he take it back? Should he take it back? Was she completely freaked out by his feelings because it had only really been three months and-
“Love moo- I mean, love you, too,” she squeaked, darting forward to kiss his cheek before almost tripping over her own feet as she headed towards the front door. “Bye!” she called as she hurried away, and Tim relaxed as he realised he maybe hadn’t messed it all up.
Sleep. He needed to sleep and then maybe he’d know how to move forward with this.
Day 4 of Timari January: Money Can't Buy Happiness But it Can Buy This!
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
Tim left school about a week after his hang out date with Marinette wishing he didn’t have so much homework to do. Because when homework piled up, his vigilante work didn’t subside and he ended up having to let his social calendar die a little to compensate - and he didn’t want to start blowing off Marinette. But his dad would expect him to be studying at home when he had this much homework, even if they didn’t spend time together during it.
For today though, he’d already made plans with Marinette to meet at the local library to get some homework done together. She said something about being too easily distracted when she was at home because she could fall into designing at any time. Her business, Fleurs de Cerisier, needed more for sale and she had been caught up in a whirlwind of excitement and creativity. So, studying at her apartment was out. And Tim was not about to spring Drake Manor on somebody, especially not the girl he was dating and hadn’t told about his family.
But after they met up - with a brief kiss that made him want to get distracted anyway - and made their way to the library, it became apparent that they weren’t going to be able to work there. It had been the site of a recent Rogue attack and hadn’t yet recovered to the point that they could have visitors. Marinette gave an aggrieved sigh and started to worry her lower lip between her teeth. It was obvious to Tim that she was trying to think of anywhere else they could go to study and pulling a blank. And that left only one real option; no amount of pride and trying to appear as a normal teen was worth her stress when he could offer an alternative solution.
“We could always go back to my place,” he said, holding back a wince. And he was glad he did because she melted slightly in relief and gave him a grateful smile as she nodded excitedly. “Okay, I just…we should get a cab or something because it’s a little ways outside of Gotham.”
“That’s fine! Thanks, Tim, I promise I won’t have to stay too long,” she said earnestly, fingers flying over her phone screen as she sent a message to her parents to update them on where she would be. It was something he’d noticed early on with her parents; they liked to know where she was at all hours of the day to make sure she wasn’t caught in an attack, and it was fascinating to Tim, who could basically do whatever he wanted without contacting his dad. Even after his mom died, things didn’t change in regards to his behaviour and activities. Hell, at this point he was spending most nights out of the house rather than in it.
Regardless, he managed to keep a fairly relaxed conversation going while he called for a driver and then as they headed out of Gotham. Marinette looked out of the window at the passing scenery, looking relaxed and not at all concerned by the dwindling number of buildings. By the time they actually arrived outside the manor, she was practically buzzing in her seat.
“Wow, that’s even bigger than Adrien’s house!” she squealed, jumping out of the backseat and staring up at the manor with curiosity gleaming in her eye. “Tim, no offence, but now I kind of get why you were ‘experimenting’ with having a job while studying. It screams rich kid.”
“Hey! I’m not- that isn’t-” he stammered, sliding out of the car and taking her hand to lead her up the steps so they could go inside. “Just- I don’t want this to change how you see me. People tend to see the family name first and me second.”
“Tim, I’ve seen you on a caffeine crash, I’m not sure any amount of money would make me see you differently,” she giggled, eyes wandering over the interior design of the entryway. “And I’ve noticed that people with money can buy an awful lot of stuff but happiness isn’t one of them.”
“Well sure, but it can buy an ungodly amount of energy drinks,” he joked, grinning when she laughed properly and shoved him lightly. “And you can find happiness in other ways,” he added, squeezing her hand gently to show what he meant, which made her blush and smile shyly at him.
“Shush, you’re embarrassing me! Come on, let’s get some homework done and then you can tell me more about what you get up to to find happiness,” she smiled, pushing him to lead the way.
_ _ _
By the end of their study session, Tim was tired again and wanted nothing more than to curl up and pass out. The fact that he had patrol in a couple of hours didn’t help things, so when Marinette said that she needed to head home he didn’t really fight it. She could probably already tell that he needed to sleep because she just smiled up at him before giving him a quick kiss goodbye.
“I got so much homework done, thanks, Tim,” she said as he walked her to the car. “But we can still work at the library when it’s open, if that’s better for you.”
“Maybe we can start taking turns more,” he offered, earning another grin and kiss before she put her bag in the back of the car and turned back to him. “Your place next time - unless the library is open.”
“Perfect! And whoever isn’t hosting brings the energy drinks,” she nodded, hugging him tightly before clambering into the car. “Night, Tim, get some sleep and I’ll text you when I’m home.”
Saying farewell, he waited until the car was out of sight before he headed back inside and threw himself down on a sofa to try and get some rest. Dinner would be soon and he didn’t think he was going to get any sleep but being horizontal for half an hour was better than nothing.
Still, he was smiling as he closed his eyes, happy that Marinette hadn't freaked out about how much money his family had.
Timari January day 3: Marinette is not MDC
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
“Tiiiiim,” Marinette whined from where she was lounging on her bed. He laughed and set aside the photo album he’d been curating so he could focus his attention on her. Over the past few weeks, they had gone on a few dates and she’d happily dragged him to the apartment she shared with her parents to show him some of her designs. He’d been impressed by the detail and asked when she was planning to start her online business. Which had led to her current dilemma that had been going on for the past couple of days. “What would I even call my business? And I doubt it would even take off…but I really want to start it!”
“Well, what are the general motifs you use? Or your favourite one at least,” he added when she pulled a face. “Here, show me your designs again and I’ll see if it inspires anything.”
“Fine, but I’m telling you there’s nothing we can use in there,” she grumbled, passing her tablet before flopping back onto the bed dramatically. Rather than chide her, he moved to lie down with her, browsing through her most recent designs and pulling her to lean on him. “What are you looking for?”
“A common theme, or something unique…” he muttered, pausing as he looked at a recent one he hadn’t paid much attention to the first time. It kind of looked like… “You do designs based on heroes?”
“Huh? Oh, yeah, I like seeing how far I can push the designs, or see how subtle I can make it while still being hero merch,” she hummed against his chest. Her weight against him was getting more relaxed by the second and he had a feeling she wasn’t going to be brainstorming with him for much longer. It was nice, having so much affectionate contact with another person, and especially so because Marinette was amazing.
“Why not look for a name that plays on that? Marinette’s Heroic Designs,” he suggested, chuckling when she wrinkled her nose. “Or- or Marinette Design Co? MDC for short.”
“You want me to make the name of my company something that shortens to my initials,” she said, sitting up slightly to squint down at him. “No. No no no, I am definitely more creative than that. If Sakura Co wasn’t already an existing company, I’d name it that.”
“Cherry blossoms? You like flowers?” he asked, pouncing on the thought and pondering it some more. “Are there any other flowers we could work with? Or maybe we could look at some French words to use, Americans love buying designer things from the French.”
“No, fleurs de cerisier are my favourite,” she sighed, flopping onto his chest before gasping and sitting up again. “Wait! Fleurs de Cerisier! It’s my favourite flower and it’s French! Oh, this is so perfect, I could kiss you!”
The second the words were past her lips, she turned bright red and started stammering while staring at his mouth. It was a fairly easy decision to pull her into a kiss, hand sliding from her arm to her jaw and pulling back far sooner than he would have liked. Her eyes were wide but she hadn’t tried to push him away and he thought that maybe she was just surprised, so he let his hand linger on her cheek.
“You’re really cute when you get excited,” he murmured, and was rewarded with a bright giggle before she leaned down for a second kiss.
_ _ _
Dick was waiting for Tim when he finally arrived at home that evening, and it instantly began to evaporate his good mood. There were a limited number of reasons for Dick to show up at random like this and none of them were appealing; either there was a Situation™, and Tim was going to be spending half his night suited up and taking down some villain, or Dick was there to pry. Tim was betting on the latter given they hadn’t seen much of each other recently and Bruce hadn’t sent an emergency message to call for help.
“Timbo! Should I bother guessing where you’ve been?” asked Dick slyly, sitting cross-legged on the banister at the top of the staircase. When Tim just rolled his eyes and threw his jacket over a nearby chair, Dick slid down the railing and flipped to his feet at the end, landing just shy of where Tim was standing. “Aw, come on! I wanna hear all about your date, baby bird.”
“It wasn’t even really a date, jeez,” he muttered in reply, hoping that he was going to be able to sidestep any further questions until he could reasonably send Dick away. He respected Dick immensely but the first Robin could get overly invested in his life sometimes. It was bad enough that he’d worked out that Tim was seeing someone, he didn’t need him butting in every time he went out with her. Then a horrible thought occurred to him. “You haven’t been talking about this with Bruce, have you?”
“No? Why, is there something more interesting going on than a couple of dates?” asked Dick, eyes twinkling with mirth while Tim glared at him. “Oh relax, I know she’s a civilian.”
“How do you know that?” he snapped, though he was fairly sure he knew already. “You can’t just go researching my friends! Even my dad isn’t as much of a helicopter parent as that.”
“Oh come on, you know I was just doing due diligence,” Dick said affably, waving a hand as if that was that. “Besides, Bruce is going to do so much worse when he finds out about her, so my little peek into her life is nothing.”
“Saying that someone else will invade her privacy more really isn’t the same thing as doing nothing wrong,” Tim replied drily. But it was pointless to argue it at this point, given that Dick had already done the research and knew whatever it was he did. “Fine, just don’t tell me anything because I don’t want to know.”
“As if you didn’t research her a little before you agreed to go on a date,” scoffed Dick, and Tim couldn’t argue because he had, just so he could be sure she wasn’t a plant from a Rogue or something. But it was different, he was the one actually dating Marinette! “Whatever, I just wanted to know when you’re going to introduce me to her! You live next door to Bruce, you don’t even have to stretch too much to say how you know me.”
“That would be true, if she knew I lived in a manor,” he retorted, rolling his eyes when Dick raised an eyebrow. “Our families haven’t really come up yet, so I haven’t told her about Dad or whatever. I’ll tell her when it comes up naturally.”
“She doesn’t know you’re Tim Drake?” Dick asked, clearly astonished. Tim scowled and started to make his way up to his room so he didn’t have to talk about this. It didn’t work. “Timbit, I know you had a kind of lowkey first date - kudos on managing to make buying energy drinks at convenience stored into a date - but surely family life has come up.”
“Not as much as you’d think,” he shrugged, stepping into his room and throwing his bag onto the desk. No way was he getting the photo book he’d been compiling out now, Dick would tease him mercilessly. “Look, it’s my relationship, I’ll decide when I want her to know about Dad and everything. Don’t you ever want to be known just for being you, rather than who you’re related to?”
Dick didn’t say anything to that and Tim nodded to himself before changing the subject to patrol.
Day 2 of Timari January! Follow Your Own Path
@maribat-calendar-events
Link to AO3
Dick showed up to Drake Manor the day after Tim returned expecting to find him passed out in his room and have to force him out of bed so they could spend the day gaming or something. It was something of a ritual between them, an activity Dick had all but insisted on because he wanted to be the best big brother ever and make sure Tim wasn’t all work and no play.
“Oh, hey, Dick,” said Tim, surprisingly wide awake and already dressed in a clean hoodie and jeans. He was busy gelling his hair and artfully adjusting it in the mirror, barely even acknowledging his big brother while he apparently got ready for something. “Sorry, I know you probably need to destress or something, but I have plans for this morning. I might be back after lunch though.”
“Plans? Like, for school or something?” Dick asked, looking around the room to see if he could spot his laptop, or a school workbook open to whatever he was working on. When he didn’t find anything, he turned back to where Tim was very pointedly not looking at him and still fussing with his hair. “Oh, plans. You have a date?”
“I have plans with someone you don’t know and that’s all you need to know,” replied Tim severely, apparently finally satisfied with his hair because he turned back towards Dick and grabbed his phone. “Look, I’ll text you whenever I’m coming home and we can do a movie or something. Seeya!”
And then he was gone, leaving Dick to stand there for several moments before sprinting next door for surveillance equipment.
_ _ _
Tim arrived at the coffee shop with two minutes until Marinette was supposed to get there and breathed a sigh of relief. Kicking his board into his hands, he checked his reflection and tried to tame a curl that didn’t want to stay in place. It was the first time they were meeting up to explore Gotham stores for energy drinks Marinette could try and he was determined to show her a good time so she wanted to hang out again.
“Hey, sorry I’m late!” she gasped, running over to him and doubling over as she tried to catch her breath. He smiled easily as he waited for her breathing to level out and her spine to straighten up. “I can’t believe I was late, I really thought I’d gotten better since moving to Gotham but…”
“It’s fine, I wasn’t waiting long,” he promised, shoving a hand into his jacket pocket for something to do with it. Now that she was there, he felt the nerves that had been building over the past few days cramping in his gut. “So…you hated the drink, huh?”
“Yes! It was so- so chemical, and I couldn’t even add syrups to it to make it taste better,” she complained, nose scrunching adorably at the memory. “It wouldn’t even be an issue if I didn’t keep staying up too late but I do, so it is. Please tell me you know a better tasting drink.”
Laughing, he motioned for her to follow him as they started walking along the street away from the café. As they walked she chattered away about what was keeping her up at night, and he worked hard not to trip over his own feet as he watched her. She was so emotive, her hands moving about as she explained that her homework load was so different from when she had been in Paris and it was taking her that much longer to finish it.
“Don’t get me wrong,” she said as he led her into a convenience store he liked to stop in as Robin. She was hardly paying attention to where they were going, her attention apparently completely on him which made his veins thrum pleasantly. “I’m really happy to be here, and to have the opportunity to learn in America before I go to university but it’s exhausting. I have no idea how you work part time and go to school-”
Her sentence cut off abruptly and she stopped in the middle of the aisle causing him to bump into her. Eyes wide, she looked at him with a red face and said something in French that he figured must be a curse because it wasn’t familiar to him.
“I just realised I never asked if you were the same age as me, I just assumed- mon dieu, I’m so scatterbrained,” she babbled, hands coming up to cover her face while she peeked between her fingers at him. “Um, this is going to sound really weird but-”
“I’m fifteen,” he volunteered immediately, suddenly hoping she was a similar age. It hadn’t even occurred to him that she might be younger, even though she was on the small side, and he found himself holding his breath momentarily. Thankfully, relief spread across her features and her shoulders dropped back into a resting position.
“Merde, that’s good,” she sighed, stepping closer to him again and smiling up at him. “I assumed you must be close, I’m fifteen too! Anyway, I have no idea how you manage full time school and a paid job-”
“I’m not,” he admitted, grimacing slightly when she cocked her head at him. “It was an experiment, to see if I could do both but it was too much. So no more coffee shop closers in my immediate future, which I’m glad for because the smell would not come out of my clothes.”
“I don’t blame you,” she nodded, nose wrinkling before a thoughtful look crossed her face and she side eyed him as they came to a stop in front of the drinks fridge. “Does that mean you’ll have some free time?”
“Definitely,” he said immediately, reaching up for a different kind of energy drink and handing it to her. He didn’t normally like this one because of how sweet it was but if she could stand eight shots of syrup… “Here, this one’s not as good as the other one but it should be sweeter.”
“Hmmm, pineapple crush,” she muttered, considering the can carefully and turning it over in her hands. “Is it still going to taste like it’s never even heard of a real pineapple?”
“Do you mean is it going to be artificial?” he laughed, taking it from her hands again and grabbing a couple of his usual ones. “But I think the pineapple flavour covers for the chemical-ness better than the lemon.”
“Okay, but if I can’t finish it and then I fall asleep while sewing, I’m holding you responsible,” she said seriously, rooting through her little hip bag while he headed for the cashier. Tim paid while she was busy and turned back to her just as she managed to get her purse free. “Hey! I was going to pay for those!”
“You can get them next time,” he suggested with a shrug, shooing her towards the door and holding the drink out for her. “What are you even working on that keeps you up so late?”
“I run a fashion website, not open for sales yet but trying to get interest for the future. It’s not the way people normally do it - most people wait until after high school, and they get an internship at a fashion company - but it’s how I want to do it,” she said, cracking the drink as they stepped down the street. She paused to take a tentative sip and he raised an eyebrow when her lips puckered into a slight pout. “Hm.”
“No good?” he frowned, reaching for it until she cradled it closer to her chest.
“It’s better than the last one,” she admitted, fingers tapping on the side of the can. “Drinkable, even. Definitely better than coffee. But…now the search is over.”
“Just because we found a drink you like doesn’t mean we can’t keep trying them,” he said softly, throwing his own can in his bag. He didn’t need the extra caffeine just then, not when he was jittery just from spending time with her. “Besides, there’s other stuff we can do now that you’re properly caffeinated.”
Her answering smile made him feel warm inside and he tentatively placed his arm around her shoulders as they started walking down the street.