Marinette was tired - again. Ever since school had started Damian had noticed that she was tired more and more often when she came into the office. He was under the impression that she was pushing herself too hard to keep up the same pace at work that she had while school was not in session. In his mind it was idiotic, but he would never tell her that anything she did was less than exceptional. Unless she was tricking him into eating sweets. All rules went out of the window in that situation.

What made it so idiotic to him was the fact that she and Drake had a meeting the week before her semester started to let her know that she could scale down the amounts she produced each week. She had agreed with what he told her at the time and then completely threw the ideas into the garbage when the meeting ended. Realistically, she had been overperforming even before her classes had begun. And now it was August, two weeks into her classes, and she was walking around like a zombie.

Mari had just walked into the office for the day, it being Thursday so she only had one class. She seemed to slug over to the coffee machine that she'd put in her office, flipping the switch to turn it on before dumping her things on the couch.

"You look like you need sleep, not more caffeine," Damian said from her desk, his usual seat while he worked and waited for her. "You're going to turn into Drake at this rate."

"Fun fact, I have always run off of caffeine and spite," Mari muttered, sitting down and staring at the coffee machine.

Damian sighed and rolled his eyes. "What is it you have to do today that can't wait for tomorrow?"

"I have a couple of button down shirts to finish for Richard," she said, looking over at him.

"Does he need them immediately?"

"Well, no-" she said, biting her lip and thinking it over. She could theoretically take a break from making clothing. She'd already made two dresses for Cassandra and Stephanie this week, along with two outfits for each of the boys. But she was on a roll and if she stayed at the pace she was currently going then she would be able to get their Winter clothing done before the end of September. She'd already finished the Fall line in July.

Damian nodded, standing and walking over to the coffee machine to turn it off. He also reached into a cabinet underneath and pulled out a blanket, tossing it at her. "Take a nap, I will wake you when it's time for you to go home."

"I can't just take a nap at work, Damian," Marinette said, pushing the blanket off her face where it had landed.

"You can when the boss tells you to," he said, rolling his eyes at her and dimming the lights in the room. He went back to the desk and took a seat. "If you turn the coffee machine back on I will not hesitate to break it."

Mari glared at him, turning away from the machine she'd walked back up to and back to the couch. "Why don't you just send me home then?"

"You would simply continue your work from home and we both know it," he said, not even looking up from the monitor.

She huffed, laying on her side and pulling the blanket onto herself. It wasn't that comfortable but she kicked her heels off anyways, listening as they landed with a thump across the room. "You promise to wake me up?" she asked, her eyes closed.

"Yes, Mari," Damian said affectionately, rolling his eyes at her stubbornness. If she had simply slept when she should've they wouldn't be in this situation.

She smiled to herself despite the somewhat exasperated tone his voice held, knowing that he was simply annoyed with her sleeping habits and not actually her as a person. That was something that they'd talked about a lot - being able to be annoyed with someone's habits or actions without actually being mad at them.
She knew that he was continuously annoyed with her lack of sleep or her ability to accidentally work until two in the morning. And he knew that she was annoyed with his subconscious overprotective nature. But that didn't mean they felt annoyed with each other about it, more used to it and expecting it. Like it was simply a part of life that would never change.

About an hour into her nap Damian heard someone on the other side of her office door, seemingly hesitating when they saw the lights were off. He'd shut them all the way off after she'd fallen asleep so that she wouldn't wake up from them.

He stood from the desk, moving to the door and cracking it open to find Jason standing there, hand raised to knock. "Yes?" he asked, stepping into the hall and leaving the door open a crack.

"Why're the lights off?" Jason asked, trying to peer around him. "You and her finally bang?"

Damian sighed, knowing that this was how his brothers would think. "She's asleep. I'm fairly certain it's some of the only sleep she's gotten this week," he informed him, arms crossing. "What did you need her for?"

"I was just gonna stop by and say hi," he said, smirking at Damian. "You making sure she takes care of herself?"

"Well if she won't, one of us has to," he said, rolling his eyes not at Jason but her sleeping habits.

Jason smirked at that, leaning against the wall next to him. "You've got it down bad, huh?" he asked, knowing that his youngest brother was in love with their designer even if he hadn't admitted it to himself yet though. Jason wouldn't tell the others though; if they haven't figured it out themselves there was no need to give Tim a reason to tease him. He was happy that their newest addition was finally opening up to them for advice.

Damian was silent for a moment before looking over at him, leaning against the wall next to him. "What does that mean?" he finally asked; Jon and Mari had been helping him with slang terms but there were still some complications. Mari mainly knew French slang terms though, so she wasn't too much help in that department. It was in all honesty more so that Jon was teaching him and he was teaching her.

"You have romantic feelings towards her," Jason said, smiling at him in a non-mocking way. He knew that if he mocked him he wouldn't ask again when he was confused, he would go back to being defensive about everything that didn't make sense.

Damian hummed at that, thinking it over. He supposed that he did hold some romantic feelings towards her, but he also knew that she was close to becoming his best friend (not that Jon would ever find out). He also knew that she had a lot of issues with trusting others at the moment and there were still things they hadn't told each other. "It's not the time to pursue that avenue," he eventually answered.

Jason felt nothing but pride with him in that moment. He had watched his brother grow so much as a person over the years, and this was a time when that really showed. "I'm really glad you came to live with us," he told him, reaching over to ruffle his hair. "Let me know when you get her home safe."

Damian said nothing, just watched him leave. He wasn't sure what he had done to please Jason, but assumed that it had to do with Marinette. She was brightening up a lot of things for him lately. He also wasn't sure why Jason hadn't taken the opportunity to tease him about his feelings. He would remember that the next time he had an issue to work through that he couldn't discuss with Mari.

When Mari woke up, she would have to admit that she felt better than earlier in the day. She stretched out on the couch, opening her eyes slowly to find Damian leaning over her, hand out as he had just shaken her awake.

Damian seemed to search her face for the telltale signs that she would go back to sleep before nodding and standing up. "Ready to go home?"

She thought about it for a second before shrugging. "Can I ask you something without you mocking me?" she inquired. She knew he would when she asked that, it was just her signal that she needed a more serious tone.

He nodded, lifting her legs and sitting on the couch before placing them in her lap.

"We're friends right?" she asked, looking up at the ceiling. Eye contact was difficult with questions like that.

"I would have to say yes, you are potentially at best friend status," he told her, rubbing circles on her ankle.

She smiled at that, giggling a little. "That's good. You're pretty up there for me too." There was a moment where she paused to think before continuing. "Would you be willing to hang out at your house sometimes?"

Damian was a bit confused at that. She hated the Manor and everything about it. "I would. May I ask why you wish to be there more?"

Mari hummed, trying to find the words. She didn't realize that she'd picked up that habit from him, but he found it endearing. "I think it would help me to work past my aversion to larger buildings. It would also allow me to get to know your family better if I wasn't panicking in your home."

"Why would you want to get to know them better?" he joked with her, trying to ease some of her tension.

Mari smiled at that, rolling her eyes at his teasing of his family. "If I'm going to get best friend status, it would make sense to at least be friends with your siblings. Or find a reason to tease them with you."

He smiled at that. "I suppose having someone else to assist with that endeavor couldn't hurt, so long as you promise to let me know if they ever become too much for you."

"I finger promise," she told him, holding out her pinky.

"Pinky promise."

"Yes, that."