Prompt: Signs of Affection
They say there are five love languages; words of affirmation, acts of service, receiving gifts, quality time, and physical touch. Each person has their own way to show their affection, ways you won't understand until you get to know the person. When it comes to her boys, Marinette can read them like a book.
Damian Wayne, the youngest.
Damian’s love language, like Tim’s, is quality time. Again, his mother and grandfather most definitely has a large impact on that fact. He loves the fact that someon is spending their time with him without any reason. Back when he was in the league, the only time his mother and grandfather would spend some time with him was during training sessions.
One of his favorite activities is baking with Marinette. Even if half of the time his brothers would be there and mess things up, the warmth of making something (quite literally, ovens are hot, let me tell you) together always makes him happy. He does enjoy the nice time he has baking with Marintte only, sometimes Alfred, things actually get done and it’s not even messy.
Solving cases with Tim is nice too, not that he’ll ever admit that. Despite his claims, he does enjoy spending time with his brothers. When Dick would drag them out together, or when Jason would softly read to him. He likes the times his father would just walk into whatever room he was in and just sit in silence.
Tim Drake, second youngest, second middle.
Tim’s love language is quality time, his neglectful parents certainly had a large impact on that fact. Spending time with someone makes him feel appreciated, it’s nice to know that someone wants to do so. He’d most often sit around in the living room when Alfred is cleaning, comfortable silence surrounding them with the occasional questions.
Sometimes when he’s working in his office, Marinette would purposely bring her sketchbook to the tower so they can work together. Tim adores those moments, to know that someone is there for the sole reason of spending time with him is a nice feeling. He’d glance at her every once in a while and smile. If they happen to turn to each other at the same time, they’d smile even brighter, sometimes laugh.
With his brothers, he most often spends quality time when they’re reading. All four of them just lounging in the library, reading different books. Sometimes Bruce and Marinette would join them. Alfred most definitely has pictures.
Jason Todd, second eldest, first middle.
Jason shows his affection through acts of service. The little things he'll do for his brothers, his father, and his mother, shows that. Often he will come across one of them tired and he'll make them a coffee, or if he finds them asleep he'll cover them with a blanket. He’ll never admit it, but his family knows, and he knows that they know.
“It’s a matter of pride,” he said once to Marinette, “I don’t really know why.” Like most of the other boys, he opens up to Marinette the most. I guess it’s just her motherly bond.
Sometimes, most times actually, Jason would help Mari carry bolts and bolts of fabric into her studio. Other times, he’d help her and Alfred in the kitchen. He would help Tim with cases and work, and help Dick after a fight with Bruce. He’d take care of Damian’s pets when he is away. He rarely helps Bruce, but he most definitely has done something for him.
Dick Grayson, the eldest.
Dick's love language leans heavily on physical touch as well. He has always been the best at stating his emotions (as best as a Wayne boy can be). If Marinette stayed in her studio for days, Dick would burst into her studio and just drag her over to the couch asking for cuddles.
On other days, he'd just come up to his mom and hug her from behind. Sometimes they'd chat while Dick had his head on Marinette's lap, sometimes they'd just sit in silence. His brothers don't seem to enjoy the sudden hugs though. Then again, they're all just on different levels of paranoia.
Marinette would often schedule family game nights, movie nights, and Dick would be the most ecstatic out of her four boys. Family movie nights were always going to be some sort of cuddle session. The rest of the boys would pretend to be annoyed but Marinette knows they're enjoying every second spent together.
Bruce Wayne, the father.
Bruce’s love language is physical touch. This man may seem all broody and dark, and he is, but he loves a good cuddle. After late patrols, Bruce's favorite thing is just to spoon his girlfriend. Bruce loves the feeling of knowing that his loved ones are nearby. He feels content knowing that they’re safe.
He’s most open about hugging Marinette more than anyone else. He loves his kids, he really does. It’s more because of the fact that he feels like he failed as a father. He has a multitude of arguments with Dick, Jason literally died, Tim has worked piled up for WE at a young age, and he didn’t even know Damian existed until he was ten years old.
The guilt he feels seems to only push him even farther away from getting to know his children. His children are all ready to get to know him and Marinette’s helping him work on that, slowly…
Alfred Pennyworth, the pseudo grandfather.
Alfred's love language is both acts of service and words of affirmation, his boys definitely needed the second one more. Being a butler to the Wayne family allows him to help them in a lot of ways. From as simple as making breakfast to fixing up their injuries, he's always been ready to help them.
After Martha and Thomas died, Bruce had it hard emotionally. Because the younger boys had been raised by Bruce part of their life, they managed to somehow adopt part of his lack of emotion. Alfred would be the one to help reassure them. Word after word Alfred would ground the boys back down to the earth.
With Marinette, he helps her out of her spirals, her flashbacks. She is incredibly stubborn when it comes to him doing things for her. Still, Marinette most likely has the best control of her emotions. She also manages to somehow see when he is tired, when he is reaching his limit, then again, she is partially magical.
Marinette Dupain-Cheng, the mother.
Marinette has the love language that completes the five in the family, gifts. She always likes to make custom items for people and give it to them, one of the reasons she decided to become a fashion designer. All of her boys have something custom she made them, more than one actually.
Being the mother, she also has words of affirmation as a love language. Her boys would often come to her when they feel down or need some advice, aside from Alfred of course. She's always there for them whenever they need her and she's willing to listen to them through.
She and Alfred make a great team keeping everyone grounded while simultaneously grounding each other.
Their life was not perfect, but it was happy and that's enough.
1215 words
Well damn, I actually posted. Wow.
XOXO
-Leen
