A/N: Just a lil something I typed up, more or less to show people I'm still alive. I gotta few written shorts already, so I might as well go ahead and post 'em.

I've got a bunch of stuff in the works (see Bio) but I don't want to post any of it till I get a little farther in them, so I guess we'll just have to be patient, now won't we?

This ain't a masterpiece, but review anyway. I heart comments.

I don't mind taking requests for shorts, so if ya wanna swing em my way, e-mail me. I can't promise I'll write em, but I'll certainly try. They're good practice.

A Brief Taste of Normality…

…Or Something Close to it.

First Date

"You will bring her home at ten. Preferably sooner, but not one second later. It will most definitely not be 10:01. And God help you if it is 10:02," the man told the slightly trembling mass of braids standing in the front door.

"Y-yes-sir-"

"Did I say I was finished?!"

The boy flinched, "N-no sir!"

The man glared his cold, seemingly soul-less blue eyes into the boy in front of him. He let the boy shift around a bit more before he continued, "You may touch my daughters hand to give her a ticket after you pay for it. That is the one and ONLY time. If I find any fingerprints on anything my daughter wears, I know where you live. You will not, and will never, even briefly wonder about entertaining thoughts of possibly considering placing your lips anywhere on my daughter. You will refrain from looking at my daughter. You will talk to her respectfully. All conversation will be G rated. If you go to a movie, you will pick a movie with NO sex, adult situations, or any signs of affection whatsoever. There will be a minimum of two feet between you at all times. You will open doors, pull out chairs, help her over puddles provided that you do not touch her. You will pay for the meal. You will give her your coat and sweater if she is cold. You wi--what in the hell are those?!?!" the suddenly irate father yelled.

The boy looked into his pocket, pulling out the small roll of lifesavers, "They're just mints."

As soon as the boy's words left his lips, he regretted them, and he braced himself for the coming onslaught. He suddenly knew how the people felt when they saw Mount Vesuvius starting to erupt, "MINTS?!?! MINTS?!?! And just what do you plan on using that cool, minty fresh breath for?!"

Mycal sweat dropped, "Erm...well you see-"

The father cut him off, "Hell no. You know what? I knew this was a bad idea…" he muttered reached outside Mycal's line of sight while he stood in the doorway. He grabbed a round paper bag and shoved the contents into the boy's hands, "Eat this real quick, and hurry up!"

Mycal reached into the bag, felt around, felt around and pulled out a raw onion.

Onion breath? Ewww!

"Uh… I'll do this last."

The father glared.

Mycal reached back into the bag and gathered a small clove. He sniffed it and immediately grimaced, "Is this pure garlic?!"

"Don't ask questions!"

"Dick Grayson!!"

The father cringed, and the boy couldn't help but smirk a little bit. He flicked an errant braid back over his shoulder as he realized the playing field and been somewhat leveled, "Dick? That usually means you're in trouble. How is Kory anyway?"

The artist alternately known as Nightwing glared, "Nobody asked you, kid."

The door swung open a bit wider and there stood the woman in question, glaring at her significant other.

The man did a 180 shift in attitude, brightening significantly and looking at his better half lovingly, "Hey baby!" He kissed her on the cheek and beat a hasty retreat into the house, "Mycal's here." he said over a shoulder.

Mycal watched her gaze follow the man that had been training him a few hours before, thoroughly grilling him five seconds ago, and couldn't help but smile. He loved Koriand'r to death, though she insisted that he call her Kory, as she did with all of her friends' children. True, she couldn't cook worth a flip, and for a man with a stomach like his, that was normally a huge blow to a parent's cool-o-meter. Then again, he really hadn't met anyone that cooked better than his dad, so it was kind of a moot point anyway. Regardless, she was a sweet woman; incredibly cheery and she never failed to bring a smile to his face even when he was in the worst of moods. She was also no slouch in the training room, as he still hadn't come anywhere close to beating her in a sparring match, and with her strength, he was honestly a bit more worried about her than his mentor.

She fixed her face into an apologetic smile, "My deepest apologies, Mycal, please come in, I know that it must be rather cold outside." Her face shifted to one of concern, "You have not been waiting long have you?"

He chuckled, "No I'm alright, Kory, thanks. He kind of caught me by surprise."

He stepped into the much warmer climate of the house and Kori shut the door behind him, "Yes, well. Sometimes Richard is bit overbearing. I am rather surprised Mar'i is not rotten beyond hope."

Mycal raised a disturbed eyebrow.

"The term is 'spoiled,' Star," said the man in question coming down the staircase, "And she's ready for you Mycal."

Mycal grinned.

The father didn't like it. As he reached the bottom step, he put a finger in the young boy's face, an inch from the chakra stone embedded in his forehead, blocking the view of the beauty up the staircase, "And wipe that smirk off your face. My daughter is not a – Whaa!?"

His Na-ru pulled him from Mycal's side, sparing them both from any more embarrassment that her lifemate often seemed subjugate them both to with his chronic disorder of being far too over protective of his daughter.

As the intrusion of Mycal's sightline was thankfully removed, his chocolate brown eyes could finally gaze upon the black haired beauty of a girl up the stairs. She was her mother's daughter, with a more slender face, deep, rich green eyes, and a dazzling smile. He felt his knees go weak.

LBD's should be illegal on women that beautiful…

Truly, the little black dress clung to her figure in all the right places and still seemed to have a natural flow about it as she gracefully stepped down the staircase.

He mentally chuckled at that. Mar'i Grayson was many things, passionate about what she believed in (passionate in general he couldn't help but think with a slight bit of fond remembrance), a fierce fighter, a loyal friend, very beautiful. Graceful, however, wasn't one of them. He imagined the sight of her practicing her gait down the staircase and couldn't help but grin a bit wider.

She reached the bottom step, her extra year in age only allowing her to reach the boy's eyes in height. She let loose a sigh of relief, glad she hadn't sent herself tumbling down the stairs. She allowed herself a look up and down her dark skinned date, who matched her black dress with grey slacks and a black dress shirt, top button left undone. She couldn't help the twinge and shiver she felt as she looked at her date, his quiet confidence, good looks, and adoring gaze slightly sending her for a loop.

He reached for her hand, bowing slightly as he brought it smoothly to his lips, "Milady," he murmured before kissing them lightly.

Dick rolled his eyes, "Good god almighty…I just told that kid…" He muttered under his breath, dodging an elbow from Koriand'r, before retreating to a chair in the adjacent room, the couple still perfectly within his line of sight.

In spite of (or maybe because of) her father's reaction, she curtsied, "Kind sir."

Koriand'r flashed a camera at the display.

"Oh, do they not look cute, Richard?!"

Grayson scowled in his lazy-boy, watching the two while twirling a blade idly in his fingers, trying his damnedest to suppress a proud smile, "If you consider the future corruption of my only daughter something as something nice, then this is positively adorable," he said in a dry tone.

Koriand'r rolled her eyes and turned back to the couple, "You've been granted an extra hour on your curfew, Mar'i, so be back by midnight. Mycal, I trust you shall bring her home?"

Mycal had been slightly distracted. Richard had been glaring at him intently, mimicking a painful death by running the serrated edge of the knife across his throat. Kory and Mar'i picked up on his line of sight, and turned back to the man in the chair, only to see him using the knife as a screwdriver on some random piece of equipment he'd picked up at the last second, "Erm... the man told me ten."

"Damn right I did," he muttered.

Kory shot another glare at her lover before turning back to the couple, "I will do my best to keep Richard...occupied."

Mycal laughed and Mar'i blushed furiously, a common occurrence, "Mo-om!"

Koriand'r had always been openly affectionate and was completely unapologetic about it.

"You are not a pup anymore, Mar'i. You'll manage," she said, hurrying them out the door, "Now have a good time!"

Mar'i grabbed Mycal's hand and led them out the door, "Bye Mom. Bye Dad!"

"Bye sweetie. I've got eyes all over the city, Mycal!!"

The boy rolled his eyes, "Bye, Kory." he mumbled, getting out of the madman's presence.

Upon stepping outside, he stopped in his tracks, looking at his girlfriend.

"What?" she asked, feeling slightly awkward.

His eyes ran up and down her, a goofy smile on his face, "I really couldn't tell you before, with your dad going all psychotic on me, but damn Mar'i. You look beautiful."

The young girl flushed, "Thank you, kind sir," she said shyly, raising on her tip-toes, placing a soft kiss on his dark lips.

He smirked, "Which is why I'm having trouble picturing you as a pup...And I'm very proud of you! You didn't even stumble a little bit going down the stairs!"

She punched him in the gut playfully, suppressing a blush, "Jerk!"

"Aw… You love me for it…"

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I

"Just look at him. I can see those hormones raging from here. Lechery is written all over his face."

Kory snuck up behind him, placing a kiss on his cheek and a cup of hot chocolate in his hands, one of the few things that could calm him down when he got like this, "I think that it is adorable."

Richard sneered, "Vic couldn't just fall in line and have a girl. Nooo, he had to have a son. I knew that kid was gonna be trouble… ever since he was a baby."

Koriand'r sighed, "Then please explain to me why exactly you insisted on training Mycal to be your successor when he was five?"

Richard opened his mouth, only to be trampled by his uncannily calm lover, "And Victor does have a daughter as well as a son, and Garfield and Tara have a boy also. Would you rather Mar'i date little Jordan?"

The man grimaced, the rather scary train of thought that the hero formerly known as Beast Boy could be occupying the best position of becoming an in-law plowing through the last shreds of serenity in his mind as he turned back to his only daughter outside with that damn kid, "I'd rather her be a nun… The entire team of them...plotting against me, I friggin' swear."

"You are over reacting," his Na-ru said to him in that infuriatingly calm, soothing tone that she used to calm him down as she rubbed his shoulders.

He grunted, bringing his favorite beverage to his lips. He let the nectarous liquid flow over his taste buds and gave out a long, satisfied sigh, giving into his wife's ministrations.

"I'm just saying," he continued, "It doesn't bother you that our daughter is dating the direct descendant of the man who got Raven pregnant? Twice! What if that kind of game is genetic?! My little girl… corrupted..." he sighed in near theatrical angst.

"You are being an over-dramatic matriarch. Besides, from what our little one has told me, it is not Mycal who you need be so concerned with in terms of pushing the limits of the physical aspect of their relationship," she said in a matter of fact voice.

Richard's eyes widened and the hot chocolate that had been in his mouth just a moment before spewed onto the window.

"What?!?!"

"Well come now, Richard," she murmured in a low, well practiced, never failing, sultry tone as she placed her lips on his neck, "She is her mother's daughter."

The hero formerly known as Robin found himself torn between the mother of his child's pleasurable ministrations and the thought that his little girl might be even half as passionate as Koriand'r was. He sighed, "You Tamaranian women are going to be the death of me…"

Koriand'r giggled before capturing his lips with hers, passion building quickly, just like it had their first time seventeen years ago, "Is that so?

Richard looked deep into his beloved's emerald eyes as they separated, seeing all their adventures, trials and tribulations, and for the zillionth time asking himself how he had gotten so lucky, "Yeah… but what a way to go."

Koriand'r took his hand into hers, leading him towards the staircase, "Come, Boy of Wonder. Time to earn your name."

I-I-I-I-I-I-I-I

end…thank god…

A/N: Yeah. I know. Pretty bad/corny/fluffy/pointless. Oh well. You've wasted this much time. What's a second more to review?

Deuces