She's Sunshine, She's Grace, She'll Punch You in the Face

Chapter 76: Rooftop Date #2

Robin pulled his motorcycle into a small dark alley in the northside of Gotham and swiftly shut the bike off.

"These rooftops are high enough that the people on street level won't see us." Robin said as he hopped off the bike.

"How far from crime alley are we?" Ladybird asked as she got off the bike too.

"It's about ten blocks south of us." Robin took the picnic basket off the motorcycle and turned to look at Ladybird. "Why do you ask?"

"We should patrol crime alley tonight if Batman will let us."

"I can ask." Robin pulled out his grappling hook and shot it up towards the top of the building.

Ladybird followed suit with her yoyo and the two made their way to the building's rooftop.

"So, what did Alfred pack us?" Ladybird walked to the center of the rooftop and gracefully sat down.

"I'm not sure." Robin followed her to the center of the roof to sit across from her with the picnic basket set in between them. "He did promise Plagg cheese though."

Plagg poked his head out of one of Robin's utility belt compartments with excitement. "Did someone say cheese?"

"Yes." Ladybird giggled. "But you have to save some for later or else you will regret not having any for after the transformation."

"Yeah, yeah. I know." Plagg waved it off. "Just open up the basket so I can have some cheese."

"So impatient." Robin shook his head as he reached down to open the basket.

Right there on top was a small container filled with Plagg's favorite cheese. In an instant, Plagg raced to the container and ripped off the lid with excitement as he started to dig into the cheese.

"At least let us get to the other food." Ladybird picked up the container of cheese with Plagg still inside and set it to the side. "No matter how many times I tried to teach him manners he just never learns." She shakes her head.

"Alfred has a sick sense of humor." Robin laughs as he pulls out the items he packed for them.

Everything that you could think of to pack for a romantic picnic was there, from chocolate covered strawberries and scones to a bottle of sparkling cider.

"What is this?" Ladybird points the fancy bottle of cider.

"That is a 400-dollar bottle of sparkling cider."

"400 dollars?" Ladybird's eyes went wide as she gently put the bottle back down. "Why would he give us this?"

"Probably because we have about a dozen more in our wine cellar." Robin shrugged. "I still don't think this was necessary in the first place though." He pulled out the two crystal glasses and picked up the bottle to open.

"Wait." She held out her hand to stop him from opening it. "Are you sure we should be drinking this? I mean what if Alfred gave us this by accident?"

"I doubt that Alfred would make a mistake like this." Robin gave her a gentle smile. "I promise it's fine."

Ladybird stared at him for a moment before nodding and smiling in return. "Okay. I just hope that it's good for 400 dollars."

"Only one way to find out." Robin pulled off the cork with a satisfying pop.

He slowly poured her a glass and handed it over before pouring himself one.

"I feel like it would be rude to not make a toast before drinking something like this." Ladybird carefully observed the bubbly liquid in her glass.

"Okay. What should we toast to?"

Ladybird tapped her chin for a moment in thought. "How about we toast to a happy life with our newly found soulmate? Or is that too cheesy and cliché?"

"Maybe a little bit." Robin smiled as he held out his glass to her. "A toast to a happy life with my soulmate."

"Cheers." Ladybird softly clanked her glass against his before they both took a drink. She took a moment to taste it before smiling at her soulmate. "It's like a fancy carbonated apple juice."

"Yeah, that's pretty much what it is." Robin chuckled.

"Still don't know if it's worth 400 dollars though."

"Oh, its worth less now that we have opened it, don't you worry."

"I'm not sure if that makes me feel any better." Ladybird giggled as she reached for a strawberry.

"You can always tell Alfred to tone it down for the next time." Robin reached for a strawberry as well.

"Well I kind of want to cook something for you for our next date. You think I can kick Alfred out of the kitchen long enough to do that?"

"Yeah I think he will trust you with the kitchen. Just not the rest of us."
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"This was really nice." Ladybird said after finishing off the last scone. "I just wish we had more time for more dates like this."

"Our date's not over yet." Robin began to pack up everything to put away in the picnic basket.

"Oh, yeah. That's right." Ladybird looked over to where Plagg fell asleep after eating most, if not all of his cheese. "I almost forgot because he's been so quiet." She reached over to poke the sleeping kwami.

"...what?" Plagg mumbled.

"It's time to transform you lazy kwami." Ladybird said sternly.

"Ugh." Plagg whined. "Fine." He finally lifted his face up to look at them.

"You ready to do this?" Ladybird stood up and took a step back to give Robin some space.

"Yes, I'm ready." Robin stood up too.

"Alright, kid." Plagg zoomed in front of his face. "Just say 'Plagg, claws out' to transform."

Robin looked over to Ladybird to find her giving him an encouraging smile. Looking back at his kwami, he said "Plagg, claws out."

Robin was engulfed in a bright green light as he transformed for the first time. A moment later, Robin's usual outfit had changed, but only slightly to both of their surprise.

He was now in a mostly black costume with green accents. He still had his usual hooded cape, but this time cat ears could be seen at the top of the hood. His gloves were a bit more clawed and his boots looked practically the same only now they are a brighter shade of green than it was before. His usual utility belt was gone and in its wake was a staff that was hooked horizontally at his back. He no longer wore the bright red shirt because it was now a more cohesive black to match the rest of the costume. The usual yellow 'R' that symbolizes Robin is now the same bright green color of his gloves and boots. His usual domino mask was really the only thing that didn't change at all.

"Aw, he's got cute kitty ears!" Damian heard Marinette say in French inside his head.

He snapped his eyes towards hers in brief confusion. "What?"