mind over mask

sixty-eight

Damian's POV

Father didn't so much as flinch when I told him what Marinette said. She was still in the infirmary, as Alfred was checking up on her health to clear her for duty. 

Todd immediarely took off when he heard the news, muttering something about how Batman should've let Nightwing finish the Joker off. I'd have to ask Grayson later about what that meant, if Father had truly saved him from being a murderer. 

Everyone in this room had trauma from the Clown Prince of Crime. Everyone, except for me. The Joker had kidnapped me once and poisoned me, but I ran away without a scratch.

Drake immediately grabbed another cup of coffee, as if the steam could keep the darkness at bay.

But a mere mention of his name fell over the Manor like a shadow we couldn't escape from.

Marinette was pulled from Karma for a full two weeks, giving Oracle a much needed break. After that, she was placed on double duty. She bore my father's punishment well, but it was better hating him than hating herself. 

But she still did, after all, she had been so close to having all the Miraculous safe in her care, only to fail in one of the worst ways possible.

If that wasn't enough, she had been doing all of this with our college classes. 

 It hammered down some sense of normalcy to our heroic lives, but not enough. Midterm season approached and the stress weighed down. But hopefully, spring break would give us a chance to catch our breath next week.

The only class Marinette and I shared was a business marketing class. Most of her classes were still fashioned based, as she decided to focus on those classes, before pursuing business. 

A part of me didn't understand why she wanted to pursue higher education, as she was already a successful fashion designer, but I knew that she wanted to feel like she fully earned it. Not because she was lucky, but because she was truly the best and pushed herself to the edge constantly.

For our midterm before spring break, we had to present a simulation for a product launch.

I had already given mine, which had been an example of a technology product from Wayne Enterprises. 

Marinette was presenting next. 

Hers was focused 

She had practiced her presentation multiple times to me, trying to get it as close to perfection as possible. Mari flipped through notecards, trying to read whatever she had scribbled in English.

Marinette cleared her throat as she got out of her chair, and the teacher pulled up her presentation.

Marinette was a business and fashion design double major, which meant her project incoporated both. She gave a mock presentation about an app that could scan any picture or article of clothing and accurately identify it. It would make fashion more accessible for everyone and allow others to diversify their closet. If the app could not identify a piece of clothing, it could pull up instructions of how to make it.

It was ingenious, and true to her.

Everything was going well, until her faced twisted in frustration as she repeated the word she needed to say in French. "Plafond. The wall on top? What's the word--oh! The ceiling of the project does not exist as..."

A few boys rows behind me decide to snicker, and make fun of her. Her cheeks went bright red out of embarrassment, quickly moved on from the point she was trying to make. I turned around and gave them a glare I usually reserved for villains.

They instantly quieted themselved, and paid attention to the rest of her presentation about things they did not care to know about. 

"As you can see, engagement is different across the continents. In order to create attention in low-context cultures, such as the United States, you have to use direct communcation and say exactly what you mean. In France, a high-context culture, we rely on connotation and things that are not directly spoken in order to convey meaning. Marketing has to be adaptable in order to create meaningful campaigns, which is why the message of the product launch will stay the same, but not the way that it is executed."

At the end of her presentation, Marinette asked, "Any questions?"

I rose my hand, and our teacher chose me to ask first. I asked a question to highlight her prowess for her product launch, to purposely make her look good. She'd probably figure it out, because she's Marinette, but I didn't care. She could get mad at me later.

After her presentation, I left, giving Marinette a brief nod. I had other things to take care of.

I followed the person who had laughed at her, causing her to mess up in her presentation. We were in college, not grade school anymore. William Hill had always been the type to cause trouble anyways. He ducked behind the brick walls of the University, and I saw my opportunity to strike where there would be no eyes or security cameras.

I grabbed the miscreant by the top of his shirt, and slammed him against the brick.

He raged, "Dude, what the heck--"

"I bet you think this isn't as funny as that foreign exchange student's presentation." I said, holding him up by one arm, and the other carefully tucked into my pants.

"What are you talking about?" He asked, both arms trying to pry my hand off of him.

I reminded him, "Ms. Dupain-Cheng. You laughed during her presentation, as if yours was any better. "

"The French girl?" He questioned. "She came to America, how could she expect any differently? She made a mistake because she didn't learn English correctly."

I held his collar tighter, "She is smarter than you and all of your friends combined. Marinette knows multiple languages, and English is not her mother tongue. Do not make fun of her mistakes, because compared to yours, they are tiny. Know your place."

"And what is that?" He challenged.

"I know you're only here because you are set to inherit your father's company. But I promise, that when you graduate, I'll buy your father's company, and you'll work under me instead. One wrong move, and you're done."

His gaze did not brazenly challenge mine, and instead, he said, "Got it."

I gave him a sharp nod, and he quickly ran away. He wasn't one to talk, but Marinette would notice when some of our peers would not dare to look at her, in fear of sending the wrong signal.

The real trouble was now to convince Marinette to enjoy spring break. I had planned to help her track down the Joker, since his fresh escape earlier in the school year, but Grayson convinced me that a vacation would help her more than harm our mission.

He was right, and I owed him. I owed my star.