Work Text:
“We just had the best day ever,” Jason crowed as he ducked down to enter into Roy’s apartment, Lian on his shoulders and arms full of oversized stuffies and a zombie balloon trailing behind them.
“Oh?” Roy asked. He pulled a roast out of the oven and set it on the stovetop to rest. He barely had time to tug the oven mitts off before Lian rocketed into his arms for a hug.
“Hi, Daddy!” she cheered. “What’s that? It smells yummy.”
“Hey, Squeaker,” he grinned at her. “It is for you. So good day huh?” he prompted Jason, because with Jason, that could mean almost anything happened, but they survived it, which granted was the important part, but he needed more information. He watched her closely as she bounded over toward her art supplies.
“Absolutely! Isn’t that right, Small Fry?” Jason asked ruffling her hair.
“Yep,” she agreed as she jumped up into the chair at the counter and opened her sticker book.
“Best,” Jason nodded in agreement as if to solidify the statement. “Nothing even remotely dangerous happened and we still had fun. Who’s the best babysitter ever?”
“Marinette,” Lian answered instantly.
Jason stared at her slack jawed while Roy barked out a laugh that turned into full blown laughter. She hadn’t even bothered to look up from her sticker book. That’s what hurt the most. Like it didn’t even warrant thought. It was a foregone conclusion, like Usain Bolt racing against a slug. Serena Williams playing against a starfish. And he was the starfish… or the slug. Either way, he was an invertebrate and wasn’t coming out on top against someone he’d never even heard of.
“What do you mean Marinette?” he demanded. “You just said we had the best day ever!”
“It was fun,” she agreed.
“No,” he corrected. “No, you said best day ever. How do you have the best day ever with me and still say someone else is the best babysitter ever?”
He wasn’t sure if it was better or worse that she didn’t bother justifying herself verbally. Instead, she shrugged. Shrugged. As though this were some minor conversation that didn’t even involve her and not her destroying his entire world view, which had always starred him as her favorite person… except for Roy, but he supposed he would allow her to favor him over Jason, but only because he was her father. But now, there was this new person. This new person he’d never even heard of. Some interloper descending into his territory from nowhere. “Who the Hell even is Marinette?”
“A fairy princess,” Lian answered. She quirked her head back and forth a few times as she examined a sticker, more focused on it than the heart shattering next to her.
“She’s our neighbor. Moved in a few weeks ago,” Roy answered with a chuckle. “She’s been watching Lian a lot lately.”
Jason stared at him mouth again dropped, as though there were no bones to keep it closed. Perhaps he was an invertebrate after all. Lately? Lately! The woman hadn’t even been around a full month, probably, and Lian was already calling her the ‘Best”. But he was the one who’d been around since Lian was a baby. He was the one helping raise her, not some pixie princess. He dropped down into the seat next to Lian and rested his elbow on the counter so he could lean into her space. “What’s so great about Marinette?” he asked petulantly. “Does she tell you embarrassing stories about your dad?”
“No,” she admitted.
“Does she take you to the firing range and let you watch explosions?” Jason asked, avoiding Roy’s raised eyebrow.
“No,” she repeated, still not looking up. The avoidance was starting to get to him, like further proof that he wasn’t important enough to acknowledge.
“Does she take you to Batburger and get you Jokerized fries?”
“No,” She scrunched her nose, but since she couldn’t possibly be doing it because she was disgusted by the fries, she had inhaled her burger and fries earlier in that day, it must be at the idea of Saint Marinette taking her to Batburger, which just made him hate her more. How dare she judge people for eating Batburger. Batburger was… quick. And cheap. Hating Batburger was really just hating poor people. Only horrible people hated poor people, so clearly she was horrible.
“Does she take you to special shows like the Descendents Zombies Crossover show?”
“No.” She finally looked up at him but solely so she could roll her eyes at him. Actually roll her eyes at him. The audacity. And then go directly back to placing more stickers on her drawing.
“So why is she the best babysitter?” he demanded. “What does she do?”
“Jay, you need to tone it down,” Roy scoffed lightly, but there was an edge to his voice letting Jason know there was a warning in it. Jason eyed him for a second then let out a breath and backed away from Lian. He nodded to Roy to acknowledge he was getting a bit too excited. He was an adult. He should be able to control his emotions.
“Well, she actually eats the food I make for her when we play restaurant,” she shrugged, tongue sticking out the corner of her mouth as she carefully placed her sticker.
Jason stared at her incredulously then whipped around to glare at Roy and motion toward her pointedly. The snort Roy let out did nothing to settle Jason’s mood. Jason threw his arm out in frustration. “You don’t actually make food when we play restaurant. There’s nothing to eat!”
Lian finally looked up at him with a loud gasp that was immediately followed by a pout as she crossed her arms over her chest. “How dare you!” she exclaimed. Her eyes started welling up and she jumped down so she could stomp to her room. She started to slam the door, but just before it closed she slowed it down to quietly finish the job.
Roy snickered. “She got in trouble for slamming her door the other day. Seems like she learns.” He turned toward Jason with a wide smile. “At least one of you does.”
“She eats imaginary food?” Jason demanded incredulously. “That’s what makes her the best babysitter?”
“One of many things,” Roy nodded. A shameless smile spread on his lips at Jason’s obvious jealousy. “Pretend Restaurant is just what they did yesterday. And they made real food.” He held up a plate filled with macaroons for Jason. “They made these together.”
“No thanks,” Jason scoffed. He crossed his arms over his chest and turned away from the plate in an amazing, yet unintentional, imitation of Lian from just a few moments ago.
Roy rolled his eyes and lifted the plate further when Jason frowned at them. “Just try them, you baby.”
Jason’s eyes narrowed into slits. He slowly turned back toward Roy, the glare fixed firmly on his face the entire time. The glare continued as he reached out and grabbed a random cookie from the plate and shoved it in his mouth, chomping his mouth closed with an audible snap. He chewed once. Twice. Then let out an annoyed moan before grabbing another macaroon. “Damn it,” he groaned grudgingly.
“Right?” Roy beamed and popped one into his mouth as well. “That’s not even the best thing they’ve made together. I ate something they called a King’s Day Gallet?” He placed his hand over his heart and swooned. “I almost proposed.” He glanced in the distance for a few seconds before sobering and smiling at Jason. “She’s got Lian interested in cooking now. Lian wants to help with breakfast and dinner… it’s a bit of an issue when we’re trying to rush in the morning actually.” He shrugged, his smile widening. “It’s a good problem to have though.”
Jason scoffed and popped another macaroon into his mouth with a glare. “So, what’s this lady’s story anyway? What do you know about her? Why do you trust her with Lian?”
Roy shrugged and grabbed several plates. He held one up so Jason could see and raised an eyebrow, grabbing another when Jason nodded. “Don’t know everything, haven’t done a background check or anything…”
“What the Hell? We always do background checks!” Jason protested, loudly, but not loud enough to disturb Lian, because despite what Roy said, he did learn.
Roy leveled him with a long, pointed look. “Can I continue now?” He waited until Jason motioned for him to resume his commentary before he continued. “She’s from Paris. Internship here. Parents were bakers in Paris. Pretty popular bakery from what I understand.” He leaned forward, a wide, sharp smile on his face like whatever he was about to say was going to hit hard. “And I trusted her to watch Lian because Diana vouched for her.”
Jason froze at the name then sucked in a breath. “Diana Diana?” he asked carefully.
Roy’s smirk widened. “Yep,” he answered smugly, popping the p and grabbing silverware with extreme flare. “Friend of a colleague’s daughter, apparently. She’s met her quite a few times. Been to her parents’ bakery. Knows her. Trusts her. Asked me to look out for her. That’s why she’s next door, actually. Ollie arranged it for Diana.”
Jason stood up straight and nodded. “Okay.” He nodded absently a few more times then looked back at Roy and scowled. He pointed a macaroon at Roy menacingly. “Still don’t like her though.”
Roy snorted again. “Well, get over it. Lian loves her. I love her.” He rolled his eyes when Jason groaned loudly and slumped into the chair. “Not like that,” Roy snapped, dishing pieces of the roast onto plates harder than necessary. “She’s amazing. Smart. Funny. Brilliant. Pretty.”
“And you’re not in love?” Jason asked skeptically. He took the two plates offered and placed them on the table.
“How would you describe Cass?” Roy asked. Jason opened his mouth but then snapped it shut and nodded in defeat. “Just never got that spark,” Roy continued and placed the third plate down along with the silverware for all three. “But the point is you’re going to have to get along with her. She’s going to be a part of our lives for a while. And you’re going to see her at Lian’s birthday party.”
Jason narrowed his eyes at him as he plopped into the chair. “I won’t start a fight but I’m not going to be nice either. She’s on thin ice,” he grumbled. “But if that bi… g girl, can come, that’s great!” he covered quickly when Lian came to the table, still giving him the stink eye.
><><><><><><><><
Jason was still grumbling about the wretched Marinette the next morning. He was grumbling about her as he got ready in the morning. He was grumbling about her as he gathered his presents for Lian. He was grumbling about her as he drove across town. He was even grumbling about her as he walked up the stairs to Roy’s floor. But the grumbling stopped when she spotted a small woman outside Roy’s door, gift bags hanging from her arms and carrying a cake that looked like it weighed more than she did.
It looked like her legs might collapse out from under her at any moment, but she still kept moving her arms toward the door, then pulling back like she wanted to turn the knob with her hand, but kept getting reminded she couldn’t when the cake moved with her. He watched with a growing grin as she looked back and forth over and over again, adjusting her body each time, as though a different angle might help her predicament. However, when she raised her knee like she was going to rest the cake on it to free up a hand, he finally moved.
“Hey, let me get that for you,” he offered jogging toward her. He got the door open, stepping inside to hold it open but motioned toward the cake. “Let me take the cake for you, or at the very least the bags.”
She peeked out from behind the cake to blind him with a brilliant smile but shook her head. “No. But thank you.” Her smile dropped as she leveled him with an intense look, the next words clearly significant for her. “Everything is in a VERY careful balance. If I let go of anything, everything will fall. And Lian’s cake CANNOT fall.”
“Right,” he nodded rapidly. “Very important cake.” He was rewarded for his agreement with another radiant smile that he instantly returned in kind as she passed him. However, his smile turned into a contemplative frown the moment she couldn’t see him anymore, as he tried to figure out where that smile had come from. He never smiled like that. At anyone. What just happened to him?
He stared after her as she blindly made her way into the apartment. What had she done to coax that out of him? Pheromones? No, she had just passed one of the fathers there for the party and he hadn’t responded. Something else then… He narrowed his eyes as he considered her, but they instantly popped back wide.
“Oh, hey wait a second. You’re about to…” He rushed to catch up to her and laid a soft hand on the small of her back. The wide-eyed look she shot him caused his heart to clench. Just barely but enough to notice but as someone whose heart had stopped before, it was enough to notice.
Her eyes scrunched into confusion as she waited for him to explain, which made his heart race instead. He could write a paper analyzing how her expressions affected him, correlating which movement of hers caused which reaction from him. Maybe if he analyzed it, he could find the root cause.
Her eyebrows raised as she waited for him to do or say anything, and that seemed to finally loosen his tongue. “There’s a few things in your way,” he responded quietly, motioning toward the shoes some kid had left in the way as though she could see them. “Let me clear a path for you. Wouldn’t want Lian’s cake to fall,” he tacked on at the end, accompanying the hasty cover up with a charming smile.
Her lips rounded into an ‘O’ before they twisted up into an appreciative smile. This one made Jason’s heart flutter. Another data point for the analysis. “No, we definitely would not. If the cake falls I won’t be able to make a new one in time for the party and if I can’t make a new one in time for the party then Lian won’t get the cake she specially requested then Lian will cry and have the worst birthday. And then she’ll hate birthdays forever and never want to celebrate again. We can’t let Lian hate birthdays forever.”
He stared after her again, but this time for a different reason. He waited a few seconds for her to break out in a smile to show she was joking, but instead she focused on moving the cake to the table. Finally, he shook his head. “No, we couldn’t have that,” he agreed with a chuckle.
He cleared a spot for her on the table, moving presents, plates, and sundry party supplies out of her way. He hovered around her as she slid the cake onto the table, his hands moving between near the cake to below her hands to behind her, unsure where he would be most helpful. As it turns out, it was nowhere. She managed to maneuver the cake into the perfect position without him. “Great job,” he nodded approvingly and more than a tiny bit impressed. “Avoided Lian hating birthdays forever. Very important.”
“Very important,” she agreed with a proud nod. “Isn’t the cake the most important thing at every birthday?” she asked as she hovered around the table checking the cake and reorganizing the presents and supplies into a more easily accessible setup. She flicked her gaze up at him every few seconds, focusing on her task but making it clear she was listening.
He grinned back roguishly and shrugged. “I always liked the presents.” He started to lean on the table but instantly corrected when she raised a pointed eyebrow at him.
She smiled contentedly at his adjustment and hummed. “Presents are good. But clearly you’ve never had one of my cakes.” When she looked back at him, there was a cheeky glint in her eye.
“I can’t wait to try a bite,” he said, a hint of something in his voice. He examined the table for a few seconds then he knocked the table twice with his knuckle and glanced up at her roguishly. “Are you staying for the party or just dropping off the cake?”
She stared at him wide eyed for a few seconds then chuckled nervously. “Uh, no, I’m a guest too.”
He nodded. “In that case, can I get you a drink?”
“Oh um…” she hedged, her eyes darting to the party and back, then she took a deep breath and nodded. “Yeah, sure. Lemonade, please.”
Jason nodded and turned to get it for her but Roy cut off his path before he could take more than a step, two cups in hand. He handed one to Marinette and lifted the other away when Jason reached for it, taking a sip from it while keeping eye contact with Jason. “Ahh, I see you’ve met Marinette.”
Jason only froze for a fraction of a second then turned the full intensity of his charming smile on her. “Marinette. I’ve heard a lot about you. I’ve been looking forward to meeting you. I’m Jason.” He held his hand out and took hers gently, cradling it for a few beats before letting go, and making sure to ignore Roy’s quiet snort and pretending not to hear him say hi to someone across the room who had not been looking at him, then leave to talk to them. Jason had never loved the man more.
She smiled back a bit overly widely and she pulled her hand back sharper than he would have wanted. “It’s nice to meet you, Jason.”
That action made his heart twinge. Another one for the analysis, but not a positive data point. He wanted her to go back to the comfort she’d had with him before. The natural ease. He wanted the sweet smiles she shot him. He wanted the cheeky edge to her comments. He racked his brain for what he could say to get back there but before he could come up with anything, he felt a weight barrel into him. “Uncle Jay!” Lian screeched.
Marinette’s eyes lit up. Her smile eased back into a beam. “Oh! You’re Uncle Jay.”
“And Marinette!” Lian reached from Jason toward Marinette already hugging her before Jason had the chance to transfer her to Marinette. She quickly shifted so she was hugging them both, bringing their faces close as she squeezed, close enough Marinette could feel his breath on her cheek. “I’m so glad you’re both here!”
Lian suddenly let go of them and dropped to the floor so she could rush over to the table with the cake with a loud gasp. Marinette looked up at Jason through her lashes again, the heat from his body warming hers until she was blushing. The longer he stared at her, the more her blush spread. In only seconds it was crawling down her neck.
“Oh my Dieu! It’s so pretty! I love it!” Lian squealed. She rushed at Marinette again and jumped into her arms before Marinette had a chance to brace herself. Jason quickly reached out to support her, only moving his hand to her rest on her opposite hip when she was able to regain her footing. “Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! It’s exactly what I wanted!” Lian rushed out, squeezing her tight around her neck. “It’s my favoritest thing!”
Lian turned away and rushed back into the crowd just as quickly as she’d appeared. “Guess you were right about the cake,” Jason chuckled, his voice sounding right next to her ear.
The smile on Marinette’s lips as she turned away from watching Lian and toward Jason faltered slightly when she felt his hand graze along her lower back as she turned. “I’ve heard a lot about you too,” she said quietly. “Lian talks about you constantly. We chose the flavors of our last macaroons based on what Lian said were your favorite flavors.”
He pulled away just enough to look at her, eyes widening incrementally in surprise. “The chocolate pistachio ones?”
“Oui,” she smiled sweetly at him, but her lips quickly turned downward in a concerned frown. “Did you get any? Roy tends to eat them all before anyone else can.”
“Yeah. I did. He actually shared them. I had quite a few. They were delicious. Thanks.”
He reveled in the way she hadn’t moved away and her easy smile had returned as she answered. “It’s the least I could do for the man who set Roy on fire,” she smirked.
He looked down at her, eyes very wide this time in shock. That was not a story Roy liked to tell. He preferred the ones where he’d embarrassed Jason. They were far fewer so he liked to retell the same ones. “He told you that?”
“No, Lian did.” She had a devilish glint in her eyes that sent tingles through Jason’s body. She spotted Lian across the room playing with a few friends and watched her with a fond smile. “Like I said, she talks about her Uncle Jay constantly. I’d almost think she was talking you up to me if she wasn’t so young.”
Jason followed her gaze and watched Lian appreciatively. “Don’t let her age fool you. I never put anything past her.” He huffed a quiet snort at the wink Roy sent him. “Or her father,” he added quietly.
“Well, she did a pretty good job,” she said shyly.
Jason whipped his head back toward her. He stared for a second, waiting to see some indication that she didn’t mean what it sounded like, before he grinned brightly. “Yeah?”
“Yeah,” she answered. “I was actually…” she stopped midsentence and took a sudden interest in adjusting the table again, stepping away from him to move things nonsensically. “Nothing. Never mind.”
Jason raised an eyebrow, his bright smile transforming into a smirk as he slipped next to her. “Oh, come on. You can’t just start a sentence like that then stop. There are rules about that.”
She flicked her eyes up to him for just a second before focusing back on moving a present just so. “Rules,” she scoffed but there was a small uptick to her lips.
“Rules,” he nodded in confirmation. “I can have Lian come explain them if you’d like. They’re much negotiated, agreed upon rules we came up with for this household. You can’t start a sentence like that and stop.”
Marinette huffed but allowed him to stop her hand by placing his over hers. She took a beat before she turned and looked up at him through her lashes but quickly looked away again. “I was hoping to see you here,” she admitted quietly, just loudly enough for him to hear her now that she was closer. “I was trying not to flirt with you before I knew you were you because…” she took a deep breath and let it out slowly before continuing. “Because I was hoping to connect with ‘Uncle Jay’.”
Jason’s resulting grin was nothing short of incandescent, if a bit smug. “Oh, really.” He took it as a win when she let him pull her a bit closer to him. “That must have been some pretty impressive talking up Lian did.”
“It was,” she nodded. “She’s a good wingwoman.”
Jason chuckled. Likely something she learned from her dad. Flirting and engineering were his fortes. He was just grateful she was using her powers to help him this time. “Good enough that I could… say… spend the rest of the party with you today and ask you to go out to dinner with me tomorrow night?” he asked hopefully.
“Good enough for that,” she nodded and leaned into his embrace.
Jason pulled her closer into his side with a winsome grin. He didn’t know about Lian, but it was certainly his favorite birthday ever.