#roxpoxwrote

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Green thumb (dp x dc)

“Why won’t you grow?” Danny asked the little corner of fresh dirt he’d been allocated when he’d signed up for the community garden project. Sam had been the one to suggest it, and with significantly less ghost-fighting to do now that he’d moved away, it had seemed like a great new hobby.

“I gave you water, and all the other things Sam said to do, what more could you have wanted,” Danny said as he poked the desiccated stalk despondently.

Somewhere far off, there was the echo of screams, and something like a crash. Danny paid it no mind, thinking it might be an event or something starting. Gotham was a big city, and there was always something going on.

“I can’t tell Sam about this,” Danny sighed as he put his face in his hands. “She’d laugh at me.”

He sat in front of his failed tomato plants for a while longer before getting to his feet with a sigh. As he did, he turned to walk away, only to see a woman with bright red hair and greenish skin standing a few paces away. Behind her there was something like a cloud of something and Danny immediately stopped breathing.

Not having to breathe was definitely his favourite power ever, he hated hay fever.

“Hey,” Danny said with a little wave.

In response the woman raised an arm and a thick vine-looking thing shot out of the ground.

“Holy shit!” The halfa exclaimed. That was pretty cool. Controlling plants was seriously an awesome power, and majorly underrated if one listened to Sam’s rants.

Wait, controlling plants?

“Can you revive my tomato plants?” Danny asked the woman enthusiastically, before remembering himself. “Uh, please?”

The woman stopped moving and frowned.

“It’s just that I really tried to keep it alive, but this is the first time I’ve taken care of plants and I was really looking forward to fresh tomatoes,” the halfa babbled.

She tilted her head.

“Please? I can get you a smoothie in exchange, I know a great place, they also do ice cream.”

The woman’s lips twitched and then she waved her hand and continued walking.

Danny turned around to find his tomato plant green and alive.

“Oh my god, thank you!” He yelled, but she was already leaving.

Danny owed her the best smoothie in town.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Danny had majorly underestimated the security around here. Sure, Team Phantom had confirmed the assassin base they were infiltrating didn’t have anti-ghost tech beforehand, which in retrospective was probably the only reason he had made it this far.

Though Danny had thought the lack of tech meant he would just go through walls until he got to the ectoplasm-like substance it seemed that these assassins were paranoid enough to have freaking emf sensors in every single room. And that had completely thrown the plan off-rails which was why he was now walking through some hallways, trying his best to look like he belonged there.

“Wait!” Danny tensed, hoping against hope he had not been made. He slowly turned around to face a woman dressed head to toe in black clothes.

“Yes?” The halfa said as he straightened up, trying to look less like a fourteen-year-old in a balaclava ski mask and more like an assassin.

The woman approached him before asking impatiently, “What are you doing here?”

“I got lost,” Danny said, doing his best not to make it sound like a question.

“No matter,” she said sharply before grabbing Danny’s arm. “Lady Nahla called for her assistant to come back, the prince is crowning.”

With those mysterious words (was there a coronation going on?), she started dragging him down the hallways almost into a run. As they turned the corner to yet another corner, Danny could hear faint screams resonating in the distance and to his mounting dread, he realized the woman was dragging him towards the sounds. Oh Ancients. Was “crowning prince” code for torture or something? Because if so, he was 100% going to faint.

“Come,” the woman said impatiently when she noticed him slowing down. “Lady Nahla is waiting for you.”

With that the woman pushed the door and pulled Danny inside. He looked up and almost fainted right there. Not because someone was getting tortured, no. It was somehow much worse.

“You’re here,” said the woman sitting on her knees between the legs of a very pregnant, screaming lady. She did not look up from whatever she was doing as she continued, “The prince’s head is engaged. Come here so I can prepare the equipment for resuscitation.” Then, she looked towards the face of the still screaming woman, “though it is only a precaution, My Lady.” The pregnant lady didn’t show a sign of having heard but Lady Nahla only patted her thigh in a conciliatory manner.

Danny was rooted on the spot, and it was only the guard’s push that got him moving. Without quite knowing how he got there, he was down on his knees with his hands splayed open as if ready to catch a football. Through his all-consuming panic, Danny wondered how big babies were supposed to be compared to footballs but all that vanished like smoke as the baby started getting out. The next few minutes felt like a blur of a scream-filled, stress-fueled nightmare. His knowledge of baby-caring was limited to ‘keep away from ectoplasm’ and ‘support the head’ so he focused on the latter. As Danny held onto the last thread of his self-possession as he blocked out any sensory input that wasn’t the baby’s head in his hands until finally, he was left with a small wrinkly baby held awkwardly in his arms.

“Congratulations My Lady,” said Lady Nahla from above Danny’s shoulder. “It’s a boy.”

Danny fell into a daze as the midwife took the baby to clean him up and swaddle him before giving him back to his mom.

“Go fetch that hot water, now,” the midwife said to Danny.

Danny nodded, walked out of the room and started speed-walking away from the room. On the way he crossed path with a girl about Danny’s height wearing all black who nodded to him, which he copied. Danny waited until he turned out of sight into an empty hallway to finally start running full speed as he tried to repress any memory of what had just happened.

He patted his jacket pocket for the vial of green stuff and promised himself that he would never speak to anyone about this.

DP x DC prompt #119

Danny sneaks in and infiltrates the League of Assassins. Apparently, he chose a great time to infiltrate the League of Assassins since the leader's daughter is currently in labor.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Hop Jon over (dp x dc)

"Hey mister, are you dead?" was the first thing Danny heard as he found his way back to consciousness. His body vehemently protested the move by alighting every single one of his nerve ending on fire and Danny groaned.

"Mister?"

Danny's ribs were killing him, or at least they felt like they were, and he would know. He cracked his eyes open to find a small boy crouching over him with his hands on his knees and his blue eyes wide in curiosity.

"Who-" Danny croaked.

"My name's Johnatan like grandpa, but everyone calls me Jon," the kid started babbling. "I live in Metropolis, do you know Metropolis? It's the biggest city in the world. My parents work there, they're reporters but now it's summer break so I'm with Grandma and Grandpa. You fell through the old barn from the sky. Are you an alien, like Superman?"

"Ugh," Danny said as he closed his eyes again.

"Mr. Alien, are you dead again now?"

"Yes," Danny said as he put his arm over his face, wishing he could just Not Exist.

"You're lying," the kid stated confidently. "Dead people don't talk."

"They do too," Danny mumbled as he raised his head off the floor to look at the kid properly.

"Do not!"

"Do too."

"I'm telling Grandma you're a liar," the kid sing-longed before bolting out of Danny's field of vision.

With a thud, Danny let his head fall back down. Welp, it wasn't like he was going anywhere, why not invite more people over to witness this absolute embarrassment.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Cat-cophony (dp x dc)

Thump. Thump

Danny groaned as his upstairs neighbour once again seemed to decide tonight was the night to test which floorboard was the loudest when you jumped on it or something. At 2 am nonetheless.

Thump.

Danny took in a deep breath and tried to calm down and then-

Thump. Thump. Thump.

Danny jumped up and swore loudly. Alright, he decided, enough was enough. 

"Stupid neighbour, stupid paper-thin ceiling and stupid apartment I hate this stupid place anyway," muttered Danny as he slipped on his worn-down rabbit slippers and put on his ratty sweater.

Then, he stepped out and trudged determinedly for the stairs, absolutely ready to have some words with the upstairs neighbour. As he climbed up, the noises seemed to amplify and Danny’s indignation grew.

Finally, he was at the door and he knocked sharply. The noise continued, but even after a few seconds, nobody came to the door. He started banging on the door, his patience well beyond gone and to his surprise the door swung open, having been open all the while.

As it swung wide, a black-clad vague figure of a man was suddenly thrown to the floor, who was shortly jumped upon by a black-leather-clad woman. And Danny had had enough

"Would you two keep it down!?" The halfa yelled.

The two furry people - because they were most certainly furries, both of the couple had ears included in their getup - froze as they looked to the side at Danny.

"I don’t care if you want to have the kinkiest sex on earth as long as you do it quietly."

The couple still hadn’t moved but Danny was not interested in anything but his bed right now anyways. He turned away with a scoff.

"I thought furries were supposed to be the nice ones," he mumbled to himself, so very ready to go to sleep already.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Mote in your brother's eye (dp x dc)

Danyal Al Ghul was born part of a set. Twins were a blessing he’d heard people say, but Mother’s face said otherwise. And Danyal had started seeing why when he turned four. When their instructors started praising one over the other, favouring, comparing one against the other.

It hadn’t stopped there. As they grew, it seemed everyone had decided one twin was superior to the other and though Danyal knew it wasn’t true, and he knew it wasn’t fair, it seemed nobody cared. Damian and him tried, they really did, but there was nothing to do about it and the Twins turned into the Heir and the Spare.

And when one night, Mother’s spymaster came to report that Ra’s was looking for the spare, Danyal knew it was over. Mother was a flurry of controlled movement, and his own mind was whirling at breakneck speeds, but Damian was calm. And that broke Danyal’s heart.

"Put this on," Mother said, handing them identical robes. Danyal and Damian were always given different sets of clothes, to make them easily distinguishable. It seemed Mother was banking on their identical features for additional protection. 

Danyal put it on, and Damian followed, albeit more slowly. 

"Grandfather is only looking for one of us,". his twin said calmly.

"Damian," Mother said warningly.

"Mother, there is no choice, we hav-"

"I will not hear of it," she interrupted Damian ferociously. "Now, follow me."

Dayal looked to his twin’s hard features and pale face and his eyes began to burn. It wasn’t fair.

They followed after their mother’s, silent footsteps in the high hallways.

"We will not make it out," Damian said quietly to himself, "not like this."

Danyal took a deep, steadying breath, painfully aware his twin was right. 

"Damian," he started and his twin turned to him to raise an imperious eyebrow. "Damian, I’m sorry."

His twin scoffed and turned away, hurrying towards their mother who was opening up a corner of the wall, which she had told them held a passageway leading to the outside of the compound.

"Quick," Mother said and gestured towards the hole in the wall. 

Damian went in first, looking like he wanted to grumble but was too well-trained to do so.

Once he had disappeared into the darkness, Mother looked over at Danyal. But he did not move.

"Danyal," she started.

"Mother," he said and stared back and he saw the understanding in her eyes. Her eyes flashed.

"I will go," she said.

"You cannot."

"Danyal-"

"There is no time to argue," he said. "Grandfather is not a patient man."

She held his gaze for a second longer, before her shoulder lowered. She reached for Danyal’s nape and brought him in close to kiss his forehead.

"Be quick, dearest," she said as she stroked his hair. "Make me proud."

"I will," Danyal promised. He gave her a fragile smile. "Tell Damian I love him.’

"I will," she swore and then she was gone.

As Danyal walked towards his Grandfather’s quarters, there were people stepping out of his way in the halls. The boy ignored the stares as he fixed his eyes into the distance, his chin up and proud. 

He arrived in front of his Grandfather’s intricately ornamented doors much sooner than he would’ve hoped and was let in immediately.

Grandfather was standing, his back to the door, standing in front of a desk.

"I had begun to believe you would not show, child" Grandfather said.

Danyal bowed his head deferential and did not answer.

"You are not a coward at the very least," the man said as he turned back, his piercing stare settling on Danyal. The latter had to stifle the urge to flinch.

Grandfather then turned back towards the table to grab a dagger off the desk and at this, Danyal stepped back, his own hand going to his knife.

The man smirked, seemingly amused. "Do you believe I will kill you?"

His hand still over his knife, Danyal shrugged carefully. "I do not know what to believe."

Grandfather let out a chuckle and then he moved and Danyal reacted, his hand going for his knife and in the same movement towards Grandfather’s neck when he was stopped dead by his grandfather’s dagger in his gut.

A pained grunt escaped him and he struggled to stay to his feet, but he was already unbalanced from the attack and he crumpled to the ground with a cry of pain as the dagger buried itself deeper.

"What a waste," Grandfather’s voice cut through the haze of pain. "You were a disappointment to the end, Damian."

"Get him out of my sight," was the last Danyal heard of it before he was lost to oblivion.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

I guess I got the bug for this, so hope you guys enjoy this other blurb

“Why is Ms. Lane currently battling the printer?" was the first thing Danny said as he walked into the daily planet offices to find his unofficial overlord viciously hitting the poor machine with all the might of an enraged bear.

Ms. Grant didn’t even look up from her nail filer as she answered, “Clark’s friend is in town.”

Danny turned back towards Ms Lane who was currently glowering at the pile of paper next to the printer like it had run over her cat, before starting to aggressively even the pile with a ferocity that Danny had never before seen used against a pile of white A4 paper.

“Ok?” Danny sounded out, dubious.

“She’s also his ex,” Cat Grant continued, unbothered.

“Ah,” Danny simply answered, and turning back towards Ms. Lane who had  stomped back to her desk to start pacing in front of it like a caged tiger  and resolved to stay out of Ms. Lane’s way.

As if she had heard the thought, Ms. lane stopped pacing to yell.

“Jimmy!”

Danny winced and tried to look for an exit, but as he looked back to Ms. Lane who was staring at him as if she could see into his soul, he accepted that it was hopeless. He took a steadying breath before squaring his shoulder.

“Good luck, honey,” Ms. Grant said, tearing herself away from the filing long enough to give him a slight nod.

Danny gave her a firm nod in return and marched forward to his doom. Only to be miraculously interrupted by Mr. Clark who’d just walked into the office.

“Lois,” He said hurriedly. “I have a favour to ask you.”

Lois had immediately sat on her desk with her arms crossed at his arrival, all nonchalance, as if she hadn’t been bouncing off the walls a few seconds ago.

“What do you want, Smallville?”

“It’s Lana,” he said and Danny could see Lanes nail digging into her arm. “She wants to have dinner together.”

“Oh wow,” Ms. Grant said, still not looking up.

“And what,” Ms. Lane enunciated cuttingly, but Mr. Clark was entirely oblivious to his upcoming doom, ”is it you want from me?” 

“She’s dating Luthor,” Mr. Clark said as if that explained everything. And to be fair it kinda did.

Ms. Grant raised her head with a look of interest on her face. She had the finest nose for gossip in the city and she was always the first to know about every and all going-ons of the rich and famous of Metropolis.

“Luthor,” Ms. Lois stated, her own eyes gaining an interested gleam. There was nothing Lois Lane loved more than ruining rich corrupt man after all, and Luthor was the perfect toy to sink her claws in.

“Would you come with me?” Clark asked. “You’re the best at handling him.”

“What’s in it for me?”

Mr Clark narrowed his eyes at that. “You owe me.”

Ms. Lois stared back at him, as the tension rose before she shrugged indifferently. “Alright.”

“Thank you!” Mr. Clark exclaimed. “You’re a gem.” Then, he grabbed his coat and left just as quick as he’d come in.

Ms Lane sighed and rubbed at the bridge of her nose.

“The fun part’s over so I’ll be off too,” Ms. Grant said as she rose from her chair. “Good luck with those two,” she added.

“Oh and honey?” She said and turned towards Danny who tilted his head slightly. “You’re due for a touch-up.”

Danny frowned, confused.

“Your roots are showing,” Ms. Grant said. Danny’s eyes went wide as his hands shot to his head and she winked before whirling away with a “toodles!”

Cat Grant was definitely much scarier than anyone gave her credit for.

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Short DPXDC Prompts #538

Danny hides from the GIW. he goes undercover in Metropolis and takes up the name Jimmy Olsen. Today is his first day working as a photographer/copyboy in the Daily Planet.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Alley Chat (Dp x dc)

Danny leaned on the dirty alleyway walls, his head down, as he tried to stave off tears. Taking one more shaky breath, he did his best to let it out slowly.

“You’re fine,” he gasped. 

Then, one more gulp, “You’re safe.”

And then, “Breathe.”

“C’mon just-“ he heaved in a breath, “breathe goddammit.” 

Then he tilted his head backwards as his eyes slid shut. He inhaled through his nose and exhaled through his mouth, his heart-rate finally slowing down.

He brushed away the wet of his cheeks with the rag he’d shoved in his barista apron earlier. Figuring it was already ruined as it was he blowed his nose in it as well. Now if he could just splash his face with cold water, he’d be almost as new.

He reached for the stick of gum he knew he’d left in the bigger pocket only to freeze as he felt something smoother under his fingers. The card from earlier.

“This is for you,” his father had said, looking more unsure of himself than Danny had ever seen him. “Danny-o…”

“We’re sorry, Danny,” his mother had taken over, and there had been tears in her eyes. “We’re so sorry, we didn’t know-“

“You can’t be here,” Danny had said calmly enough, though his hand had been shaking.

“Danny-“ his mom had started, as she had reached towards him and Danny just couldn’t do this.

He had felt his pulse in his ear, his chest constricting and he hadn’t been able to think past the need to get out, out, out.

There’d been bright light, and then he had been away from the noise, and he had ran until he couldn’t breathe. 

And here he was getting pushed to the precipice by a fucking card.

“No,” he told himself but his eyes were already watering. “No,” he choked out, fruitlessly.

“Goddamit,” he hiccuped as tears began to fall. And then it was as if the dam had broken. Every single tear he’d managed to repress were now coming back twofold. His whole body was wrecked by big heaving sobs and he had a moment to be glad he’d found himself a secluded place to have his fit in peace.

“Oh, buddy,” he heard from behind just as the thought registered.

He turned around to find a guy in a skintight red suit looking at him.

“Are you ok?” The guy said before rallying. “That’s a dumb question, isn't it.”

The halfa just looked at the man.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

Danny shook his head. He was actively trying not to think about it.

“Is it ok if I stay here ?”

Danny was too drained to care about a stranger witnessing this, so he raised his shoulders.

“I can talk if you don’t want to, I’ve been told I’m quite the motormouth.”

The man let a bit of silence pass before apparently he decided that was an agreement and he started blathering on about- rainbows was it?”

“-sure if compared against the big fishes, Rainbow Raider is far from the worst but I just can’t get over how petty his reason to turn to crime is. I’m not saying being colour blind would make being an artist easy but it doesn’t make impossible. Beethoven was deaf and look at him now! Ok that was poorly phrased, but you get what I meant-“

And on he went, talking about anything that was going through his head it seemed.

As it went on, Danny realized his hands had stopped shaking and there was a tugging at his lips that was ever so slight, but near miraculous so soon after his cry session.

“-where does the iron even come from? Like do spinach plants just make it? What does a spinach plant look like for that matter? I’m picturing like a salad plant but where do the stalks come from then,” the man hummed before there was a sound like a TV’s white noise and the man straightened. After a moment, he turned towards Danny and gave him a smile.

“I’m gonna have to run,” he said. “I’m not often in the neighborhood, so we might not meet again, so I wish you best of luck, bud.”

Another brilliant smile and he turned away.

Danny jumped forward in time to stop the man’s immediate departure. Said man turned to give Danny a quizzical look.

“Thank you,” said Danny painfully sincere.

The man’s face softened in a smile for a moment and then he was gone.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Witness Protection

There’s a dead guy in the alley and it’s not Danny. 

Ok, technically there are two dead guys in the alley but honestly, Danny feels like they’re way past semantics.

Because, once again, there is a dead man in the alley. 

Danny is fairly sure the guy’s been murdered. The bloody mess that is the guy's chest is a pretty good indicator, but the bloody knife that's still stuck in the guy’s guts is really what makes it for the teen.

Danny might be freaking out a little bit. Because, while he is used to dead people, they’re never this newly deceased, or for that matter, this gruesomely murdered.

Before his breath can quicken too much, Danny makes himself take a deep breath. 

Say what you want about Danny, but he hasn’t spent his high-school career moonlighting as a teenage vigilante without learning a thing or two about staving off a panic attack. Feeling more calm, Danny focuses back on the issue at hand.

I should call the police, says something in the back of his head that sounds like Jazz.

If I call in the murder I’ll be on the suspect list, retorts some other part of his brain he’s choosing to call the Sam part.

No advice from an imaginary Tuck though. Even in his own mind he can’t imagine a Tucker that hasn’t already passed out cold at the sight of a dead guy. 

Which, fair. Danny is kinda considering the option, as he’s feeling a little faint himself. It is way past time he got out of here. At least he's figured out just how to do it.

Anonymous tips are a wonderful thing, made all the more wonderful by the presence of payphones in Gotham.Danny is officially handing this off to the proper authorities.

Boy is he glad he doesn’t have to be involved anymore.

A few streets over, a hooded figure rounds a corner, their breath coming fast  as they clench their bloody fists agitadely. There wasn’t supposed to be anyone there, and yet. This is an unexpected setback.

The hooded figure leans back against the alley wall to catch their breath. Nothing to do about it but fix it. And as these things go, this is an easy mistake to fix. The face of the black-haired blue-eyed hurdle floats to the front of their mind. 

It should be child’s play.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

The Ivy in I’ve seen you before (dp x dc)

Danny is getting a little sick of being throw through portals midway through fights. It’s been twice this week and as much as he loves visiting the Far frozen he has a book report due tomorrow and Lancer has stopped accepting “ghosts” as his excuse for missing schoolwork.

Danny lands on the ground with an oomph, back first on a cold hard surface. When he manages to get a look around, he notices it’s not in fact ice. He looks to be in the middle of a deserted and pretty busted street. There are holes in the pavement, and huge cracks that cut through the whole road. On his left is a lush wall of vegetation, that has more or less claimed the streets. 

For a second Danny wonders is Overgrowth is back, but the street is unfamiliar, as are all the run-down buildings. Not Amity then.

From the corner of his eyes he catches a hint of auburn, in a familiar shade. He turns to look and low and behold it’s Jazz, approaching from within the vegetation wall.

“Jazz!” Danny calls out as he floats back to his feet, and starts walking towards the figure. “What are you doing here?”

He’s barely taken a dozen steps when the figure walks out of the thick jungle and allowing Danny to see Jazz more clearly. 

His sister does not at look at all like his sister. She’s older, for one and she’s wearing her hair down with no headband in sight. Her clothes look weird and it’s like she’s got a few leaves and vines all over her body. 

Oh, also she’s green.

“Jazz?” Danny echoes himself, confused. Because despite all the differences, she still looks exactly like Jazz: the same nose, the same eyes, the same hair.

The woman stops, at the edge of the lush forest. She tilts her head.

“Do you seek asylum, child?” She answers. And it’s Jazz’s voice, if a little deeper.

“Jazz, it’s me,” the halfa says. “It’s Danny.”

But his sister frowns minutely. “I do not know you.”

“Yes you do!” Danny protests. “I’m your little brother!”

“I don’t have a brother,” Green Jazz says and that is when it clicks for Danny (and honestly it’s embarrassing it took him so long):

He’s in another universe.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Sewing Club (dp x dc)

This had all started when Frostbite had asked Danny why he'd never changed out of his hazmat suit. Danny had assumed it would've been useless to try since the one time he had put on any of his normal clothes on as Phantom, they had disappeared when he turned back human and when he went ghost he was back to the hazmat.

According to Frostbite, though, ghosts could change clothes, as long as they had been made by ghosts. At first Danny had been ecstatic, and he'd rushed to the nearest ghostly tailor where his hopes had been crushed. Because ghost clothes were apparently very expensive and very in demand, ten-year-long-waiting-list kind of in demand.

That was when Danny had had a brilliant flash of inspiration. He was a ghost! Which meant if he made his own clothes, they wouldn't disappear into the void! Which brought him back to today, taking sewing classes two states over during summer break.

"That's good, those stitches are looking neater," Alfred said as he passed by Danny's chair. The halfa smiled up to the older man before bending back down onto his needle and thread.

This was not how Danny had thought the summer would go. At least he got some free cookies out of it.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

A little of that who-shot-John (dp x dc)

Constantine was nursing a nice Scotch Whiskey as he sat in his new favourite pub, when walked in a very familiar face. Red hair, stunning violet eyes, and pink lips that were just begging to be kissed. 

Jasmine, Constantine remembered her name belatedly. They’d had a fling while he’d been on a case in the states and the woman had been half the reason Constantine had had any fond memories of the trip coming back. 

What were the odds of them meeting back again on his side of the pond? Fate was clearly at play here, nudging him back onto the beautiful woman’s path. 

Constantine downed his drink and turned towards Jasmine, as he raised his hand to wave her over, when the door opened again and in walked another very familiar face.

Crystal eyes and soft black hair, the man who walked in had Constantine nearly choking on his spit. Because that was Daniel, ie the other half of the good memories from the states.

“Fuck,” Constantine mumbled under his breath as he turned away from the two. What the hell were these two doing here together!

As he tried to make himself look smaller, he tried to obscure his face with his empty glass, while his mind whirled for a plan to get out of there and fast.

“John!” Came Jasmine’s voice, and Constantine closed his eyes, pained, before he steadied himself and fixed a smile on his face as he turned around. He could still salvage this. He could.

“Jasmine!” He said back as if he’d just recognized her, as she approached him. Daniel hadn’t seen him yet, but by the curious glance he was sending Jasmine, that wouldn’t hold true for long. “What are you doing here?”

“Me and my baby brother are on a vacation to celebrate my getting my diploma,” she said with a brilliant smile.

Constantine could feel a pit form in his stomach. “Baby brother?” He repeated weakly.

“Oh, let me introduce you,” she said before turning back. “Danny!”

Constantine could feel his battered soul withering away as he watched Daniel make his way over to them. 

“Johnny!” Daniel exclaimed joyfully. “Is that you? What are the odds!”

“Haha, yeah, those are some crazy odds,” Constantine said through his gritted teeth.

Jasmine turned towards her brother - her baby brother! - with a confused little frown on her face, even as she kept her smile. “You know John?”

“Boy do I,” Daniel said with a sly wink in Constantine’s direction that had the man wishing he could teleport.

Constantine laughed weakly as he tried desperately to figure out how to steer the conversation elsewhere, but it was too late.

“Oh?” Jasmine let out, still confused, and it was like watching a car accident in slow motion. “When did you meet?”

“Last summer,” Daniel said, “I told you about him, remember?”

“No,” Jasmine said dubiously. “The only guy you told me about was-“

Her head turned so fast, Constantine could almost hear the crack.

“John,” she started calmly. “Tell me this isn’t what I think it is.”

“Depends what you think it is?” Constantine tried for relaxed and knew he had missed by a mile.

“Jazz?” Daniel said, as he frowned confusedly.

“He’s the guy I told you about.”

Daniel’s eyes widened before narrowing to slits as he fixed his gaze on the magician.

“John, would you care to explain?” Jasmine asked, icily calm. 

Had Daniel’s teeth always been this pointy? 

Constantine gulped.  “Not really, no.”

Jasmine's eyes flashed a neon green.

“That,” Jasmine growled, “is the wrong answer.”

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Giving up the Ghul (dp x dc)

Nyssa Al Ghul had been empty inside, for so very long. Since the camps, something had broken in her that she knew would never be fixed and she was going through life in a daze.

Still, she had been someone once. A warrior, a leader, and habits were hard to break when you’d been trained by her father. So she had been aware of her half-sister, Talia, being pregnant, she hadn’t cared but she’d known. What she hadn’t known until just now was that Talia had had twins. 

Twins. Nyssa almost wanted to laugh. How come her sister was blessed with two babies and she was left with memories of holding her dead children in her arms? Ra’s had permitted these twins but he hadn’t deign lift a finger to save Nyssa’s family, as if they were dirt under his boots.

The injustice was veritably choking her, as she struggled to breathe evenly. 

No, this is not fair, she thought. And it will not stand.

It had taken weeks of planing after that to make sure everything was in place, but eventually she’d managed, and here she was being rewarded by the small child yawning in her arms.

“Danyal,” she remembered having heard them call him. The other one, she could not find. He was likely with a wet-nurse or his mother, leaving his twin unattended. 

Ripe for the taking.

“It’s only fair,” she murmured to herself.

After all sisters should share.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

dc x dp idea number I-can’t-remember

So I’ve heard there’s this this comic where they’re supposed to get married but Catwoman leaves Batman at the altar.

Now imagine if she was sucked into dp world and didn’t run away. So like the whole time she’s in her wedding dress and being like “holy fuck I’m getting married in an hour, better make this bullshit side story QUICK af.” And maybe by the end she manages to come back with Dani in tow and be like hello dear I’ve brought our newest child<3 as she rolls up to the altar in her dirty ass, torn beyond repair ten-thousands-worth wedding gown.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

A rose by any other name (dp x dc)

Bernard Dowd was freaking out. In large part because he had just discovered his name might not in fact be Bernard Dowd. Or at least, it hadn’t always been? This whole thing was very confusing, not too mention highly distressing.

It started like any day, really. He didn’t know how it had gone so wrong.

Oh and what was he going to do about Tim?

Tim, his boyfriend, who very much was Robin even if Bernard had been pretending he didn’t know about that.  Though really, there were only so many times you could walk in your boyfriends appartement to find a domino mask hanging to dry before you put two and two together.

Oh my god, what was he going to tell him? He wasn’t Bernard anymore, was he? Or at least, not just Bernard. Not when half his mind was insisting his name was Danny and he had two sisters and no brothers and he had died and then lived long enough to die again and again and-

Without quite realizing it he had dialled Tim’s number. As the tone sounded, he came back to himself but by then, Tim had already answered.

“Bernard?” His boyfriend voice was hoarse like he’d just woke up and in the back of his mind, somewhere that wasn’t going in full panic mode, there was a bit of guilt over disrupting his boyfriends already terrible sleep schedule.

Bernard opened his mouth, ready to just explain everything to his boyfriend and then he took a quick breath and-

“Would you still love me if I wasn’t blond?” Bernard blurted out.

“What?” Tim mumbled. Then there was a slide of fabric as Bernard cursed himself in every language he knew how to curse. “Is this like the worm thing?”

“Uh,” Bernard faltered. “Um, sure?”

Tim sighed. “Yes, Bern, I would still love you if you weren’t blond.” He yawned, and then there was a bit of silence. “Was there anything else?” Tim’s voice finally said.

“No,” Bernard answered, wishing he could punch himself. “Nope, that- that was it.”

“Great,” his boyfriend mumbled. “I’m going back to bed." Then, "love you.”

“I love you too,” Bernard answered and the line cut.

Bernard slid down the wall until he was rolling himself into a ball, his hands in his hair as his internal screaming reached decibels never recorded before. What the fuck.

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Tim Drake: Ugly Duckling (dp x dc)

So this is the last day of pride month, and so also the last day of me trying to write as many LGBTQ+ canon dc characters. It’s been fun (and I got to read a whole bunch of comics which was actually much more fun than the first time I’d tried to read those!!)

Now even though this is the end of June, feel free to send an ask if you want me to write a blurb with any character. I make no promises, but I will very much try! (It might take a while especially if I’m in a Tumblr hibernation phase.)

Anyways, for the last day of pride month I wanted to do Tim Drake coz he’s dc’s “it girl” with the gays. I’ve been working on this Dead Tired fic for ages, based on the post about Tim getting turned into a swan and meeting Danny, who as a prince has to give him a kiss to change him back (I can’t find the prompt but it was hilarious so this was my take on it).

Here’s the beginning of the fic:

Red Robin was on patrol duty, while Batman and Robin were following a lead on possible joker safehouses. All in all, It was a pretty quiet night with only two muggings, both low-energy as both perpetrator ran away as soon as a bat-shaped shadow moved. 

So Red Robin had spent most of the night chatting with Babs. He was grappling around town, as they started on the new date app they’d both found out Jason was using.

“I told him he can’t put only photos of his motorcycle but- wait I’m getting a call,” Oracle interrupted herself. Tim waited before the earpiece came to life again.

“Sorry to cut this short Red Robin, got a full-attention request from Canary. If you need anything, beep me, and Keep your coms open.”

“Bye, Oracle,” he said, and like that, Red Robin was alone once again.

 He stopped on Grand Avenue Station and just let himself take in Gotham. The city was beautiful at night, and Tim was itching for a camera. He seen hundreds of pictures of the city’s skyline but they always managed to be unique. The night sky may always be covered by dark clouds above, but Gotham had its own stars in the lights shinning on top of the skyscrapers. So lost in his thoughts, Tim was, he almost missed the soft noise that sounded behind him. The voice that sounded behind him was harder to miss.

“Wither away so late, Little Red Bird?”

Red Robin turned to see a tall woman standing half in the shadows

“Sorry, can I help you?” Answered the vigilante despite the bad feeling creeping up to him.

“I’d like to know where I can find your guardian,” the woman said, still in the shadows.

“You mean Batman?” He chanced.

The woman nodded and Tim resisted the urge to sigh.If this was another one of Bruce’s ill-advised fling, Tim was going to hack every electronic device the man had to play sex-eds on loops for at least a week.

“He’s busy at the moment.” Then feeling like he shouldn’t assume what the woman wanted Bruce for, he continued. “But if you need any help, I’ll do my best.”

The woman stepped forward, and Tim could see her better. Her face was bare, but her distinctive outfit seemed to indicate she was some kind of vigilante-slash-criminal. The outfit did, in fact, ring a bell in the back of his mind, but it was dim. Tim didn’t tense up, but he did angle his body in a way to accommodate for a better escape through grappling. She continued walking until she was within arm’s reach of Tim, towering over him. She extended a hand to lightly caress his cheek, and Tim went still at the touch.

“Such a kind Little Bird you are,” she said gently. “You know, you remind me of my daughter.” She sighed. “Oh, what pretty children you both are.”

“Thank you,” said Tim as he sidestepped out of the way. “I’m sure she’s a lovely person.”

“Oh she was,” the woman said and through his growing wariness, Tim spared a thought for the girl. “She had dark hair and the fairest skin, just like you. The most beautiful girl in the land some would even say.”

That niggling feeling came back as a feeling of familiarity poked at him once again. “You must’ve been very proud.”

The woman let out an airy laugh before saying playfully/contemplating. “mustn’t I?”

A shiver ran down his back. Alright, there was something wrong with this woman, and Tim wasn’t waiting around to find out what. Not without any information or backup.

“Well, if there’s nothing I can do for you, I really have to get going,” Tim said as he took out his grapple gun. In a second, the gun was ripped from his hand , and he was slammed to the side of the staircase leading up to the roof. He let out a gasp at the impact and his features tensed in pain. The woman hadn’t even touched him.

“Not so fast, Little Bird. We don’t want you going back to the Batman just yet.  I’m not ready to make him my Knight yet.”

“Your knight?” Tim managed to get out. He tried to move his arms, but some unseen force was pinning him in place. Shit, that meant he couldn’t reach the comm to send out a distress signal. Hopefully Babs would check in soon.

The woman smiled as she approached him once again. “What better for a Queen, than a Dark Knight?”

And just like that it clicked. “You’re the Queen of Fables.” 

“Well look at this, you’ve got the brains and the beauty,” she teased, her voice as smooth as honey.

“What do you want with Batman?” Tim asked though he could guess from previous encounters she had had with the Justice League that the villainess wanted to turn Bruce into a fairytale character of some sort. She’d done the trick on Clark, and twice on Diana, so it was probably Batman’s turn now. So, yes, Tim could guess, But the longer he kept her talking the more time he had to figure out a way out of this.

“I told you, he’ll be a Knight of the Queen,” She extended a hand and tilted Tim’s face up. “Do you know what that would make you Little Bird?” 

Most villains assumed the batclan worked like a crime family. So the family of a knight? “Nobility,” Tim guessed, unsure where this was going.

“Exactly.” She smiled, and then she moved. Tim braced for the hit.

Instead of a punch though, he only felt a tingling sensation. Cautiously, he opened his eyes, only for them to grow bigger as he took in his uniform. Or the lack thereof.

He was in something-century clothing, in some sort of frilly shirt and pants, all in white. This was worse than a punch. Then, as the thought hit him, Tim’s hands flew to his face only to come in contact with the silky fabric of a masquerade mask. He sighed in relief, and as he calmed down, he realized he was now free of the force pinning him down.

“The color is for my daughter,” the Queen said. Then, she let her head fall to the side before tracing a line across his forehead and Tim could feel something like a circlet setting down on it. “There you go. Now, it’s perfect. You could practically be siblings.” 

“No thanks.,” Tim answered.

The Queen tsked him. “That’s no way to behave Little Bird, has nobody taught you to say thank you when you receive a gift.”

“I don’t want anything from you,” Tim disagreed mildly as he took stock of his weapons. Everything was gone, including the earpiece, which meant Babs had to have been alerted and someone was en route.

The Queen frowned. “I was going to be merciful, for you guardian’s sake, but I no longer feel generous.” She raised her hand and Tim tried to roll away, but the magic beam swerved and hit him in a blinding flash of light.

When he managed to open his eyes once again, the world seemed quite a bit bigger than it had been moments before. 

“What did you do to me?” He said. Or tried to say.

Instead a strange squawk echoed and Tim took a step back in surprise. However, he lost his balance and started to fall and as he tried to catch himself with his hand, two large white wings unfolded. He dropped down, which wasn’t as far as he would’ve estimated and laid stiff. He moved his left arm, and a white wing followed suit. 

Oh, no. Oh no no no.

A grating laugh interrupted his freak out. “There you are my pretty Little Bird, all better. White really is your colour, don’t you th-“

With a loud hiss, Tim propelled himself towards the woman. Making use of his newfound beak, he pecked and bit everything he could, as he flapped his wings.

“Blasted creature- Get off! Stop it, you despicable, puny-“ 

Finally she managed to grab Tim and throw him away from her. He landed with a squawk, but managed to get himself back to his feet quickly. “You little/awful brat,” she snarled. “You’ll pay for this!”

But as the Queen threw out her hand, something rippled in the air between them and the magic beam seem to explode midway into a green vortex. Tim’s clumsy attempt at waddling away had him head straight towards it, and it was in vain that he tried to redirect the course. She and Tim made eye contact as the swan-boy tipped right into the swirling green vortex, both of their eyes wide-open in surprise.

Danny was exhausted. He was currently on week one of the full month of Royal Duties he’d promised Clockwork. Being Prince of the Infinite Realm was not all that it was cracked up to be, and that was saying a lot since he had already been expecting it to be awful. 

When Clockwork had made the request, Danny had proceeded to freak out about his new status, and then tried to abdicate. It was only the master of time reminding him of all the terrible possible candidate for the throne per rites of combat (such as Vlad) that stopped him from washing his hands of this mess. And now Danny was forced to spend one whole month of his summer vacation in the Ghost Zone to fulfill his duty as a Prince. 

He thought it would be some paperwork, maybe a battle or two, nothing too bad, but nooo. Because, of course nothing was easy, Danny had to show up at Events, and be Diplomatic. It was meeting, after meeting, after weird parties that were a mix between Medieval Banquets and Debutante balls. 

And worse of all were the marriage proposals. Danny could sorta understand, marrying into royalty was a definite plus for a lot of more powerful ghosts but when they called him a half-breed behind his back, only to smile in his face with a marriage contract in one hand and flowers in the other, that was where he drew the line. 

Plus there was also the fact that he was, like sixteen.

Suffice to say, Danny was exhausted and hiding out in Pariah Dark’s old castle as a last resort. It wasn’t his favorite place all in all, but the gardens were absolutely beautiful, which was where he was walking. He was currently headed to the hedge maze, since it was the best way to get rid of any tails he may or may not have. 

The maze was nasty if it didn’t like you, and it didn’t like anybody but Danny, and even then, it still tried to take a bite every once in a while. Despite the snaking vines and roots trying to capture anything that moved, the flowers that wailed softly when disturbed or the sharp thorns of the hedge plants themselves, it was still a beautiful place. Uniquely, the closer you got to the centre, the more colorful (and dangerous) everything got, which was why he liked it best. 

He reached the centre much quicker than the first time he tried, thanks to the maze actually helping him, and something pale caught his eye right in the middle of the open area, right next to the bench Danny loved to use. As he got closer, he realized it was a swan laying on the floor, seemingly unconscious.

“Oh no,” Danny said as he approached. “What happened to you?”

As if awakened by the sound of his voice, the swan started to shift, its wings twitching and it rose its head groggily. As soon as it clocked in Danny, it let out a surprised squawk, followed by a long hiss as it struggled to move away.

“Hey, hey, none of that, Duckie, you’re ok.” Danny raised his hands placatingly. “I don’t want to harm you, ok? I just want to make sure you’re ok.”

The hiss subsided by a bit, but that may have only be due to the swan managing to get further away.

“Sh, sh, it’s ok,” Danny repeated as he slowly inched forward. The swan stopped hissing but still observed him warily. “I don’t want to hurt you Duckie, but I do think we’d better get you out of this maze.”

Danny took another step, and this time the swan stayed still. “How about bringing you back to my rooms just for now.” The swan hissed louder at the statement. “Don’t worry Duckie, I’m not keeping you prisoner it’s just this maze has been known to eat people. And you’re too pretty to be eaten,” Danny flashed a smile at the swan which had it stare back with a gaze saying really?

“So what do you say, wanna crash at my place?” Danny asked. The swan didn’t move forward but he didn’t move away either.

“Yeah, I wouldn’t trust a guy who talks to birds either,” Danny allowed. “And the place where I’m staying is a little gloomy, so I don’t blame you, but I can’t leave you here. The maze is honestly really dangerous, especially for a nice bird is like you. “

The swan seemed to hesitate before it hesitantly made its way to Danny. Ghost animals were usually smart but the swan seemed to understand English, which made communicating that much easier. Danny smiled and opened his arms. “I can carry you.” The swan just looked at him, with what Danny would’ve thought was a deadpan stare. “It would go much faster.”

If the swan was human it probably would’ve sighed, but instead, its wings just fell a little before it waddled towards Danny and looked up as if to say ‘get on with it’.

Danny smiled and gathered the animal in his arms. “Buckle up,” he said before flying off towards the maze exit, which was accompanied by a low hiss. Making sure there was nobody there to ambush him, Danny made it back to the castle in record time.

“Here we are Duckie.” Danny set the swan back down and it plopped down on the ground and just steadied themselves for a while.

Tim was a swan. He had wings and no fingers, and his feet were webbed.

He was handling it though. By which Tim meant he was shelving the impending panic attack for later when he wasn’t stuck in a swan body. 

Ok, so he’d been turned by the Queen of Fables, so there had to be an answer in a fairytale,a way to make him normal again. He knew the ugly duckling story. That had a swan in it, right? He didnt know any other swan stories, except maybe as a dish during the wedding banquet of whichever princess. He vaguely remembered a Barbie movie that had passed on the TV when he was younger but the only thing that came to mind were a scary-looking Troll thing, and ballet.  So with lack of better alternatives he was going to go with the ugly duckling. The ugly duckling’s happy ending was reuniting with family, so maybe all he needed was to make his way back to Gotham.

“Are you ok?” 

And that was another thing. The guy. The one Tim had at first wanted to get away from. He seemed nice and all, but he also had neon green eyes, and fangs. Unfortunately, while they suited the boy very well, they also marked him as an unknown. 

On the other hand, if the glowing portal wasn’t enough of an indication, the green tinge of everything around was clear indicator that Tim wasn’t in Kansas anymore. The guy seemed to want to help him, and having an ally wherever he was could only help.

Tim nodded as best as he could with his long weird neck, and he had to take a few steps to regain balance.

“That’s good,” the boy smiled with his white pointy canine. “How did you end up in the middle of that maze?”

Tim just looks back tiredly. He didn’t know how to even try and explain when he couldn’t say a word and had no opposable thumbs.

“Yeah, sorry.” The boy winced. “Maybe stick to yes or no questions.”

There was a sharp knock at the door that had the boy turning away.

“Prince Phantom!” A voice rung through the door.

Prince? 

The newly-dubbed Prince Phantom got up to open the door, “yes, what can I do for you?”

“Your meeting with Queen Dora is approaching. Do you still prefer to forgo an escort guards?” a purple lady was saying.

“I’ll be fine without, Maj but thank you very much,” Phantom answered with a polite smile.

“I’ll pass it along, my Prince.” She bowed and closed the doors behind her.

Phantom walked back to lay on the bed with a sigh. “I really hate that they call me that.” He turned towards Tim to continue. “I bet swans don’t have royalty. You guys had the right idea.”

[glow-worms-are-believers]

Ring to it (dp x dc)

the idea’s not mine, go check out this post for that good stuff:)

"So what, I just call them here?" Danny asks Frostbite dubiously.

"The royal guard's apparel will appear on command of the king," Frostbite confirms patiently. "And Great One?" the yeti adds. "Take care to remember they can only be bestowed upon ghosts."

"Yeah, I got that," Danny waves away. "It's more the summoning thing I don't get."

"Envision the stones in your hands," Frostbite guides him, "and close your eyes."

Danny wants to comment on how cliche that sounds but holds back and instead does as he's told. He holds out an open palm and concentrates on the task. He focuses all his attention on his palm and wills the tokens to appear in his hand.

One second, there's nothing and the other, there's a bunch of black rings spilling out of his hand.

"What the hell?" Danny yelps as he tries to catch them but his hand can't hold it all and they spill on the green-tinged snow. The halfa turns to Frostbite but the older ghost has a frown on his face as well.

"This is not right," the yeti says. "There are only supposed to be thirteen tokens."

"Did Pariah make more?" the teen hazards a guess but Frostbite shakes his head.

"Not to my knowledge." He bends to pick up one ring and examines it carefully. "It seems as if someone reforged the original tokens into these rings, only leaving a sliver of the original stones in each."

"Is that bad? That sounds bad," Danny says nervously.

"In the wrong hands, these stones could mean a war in the Realms. I can not imagine the ravages it would cause in the living world," the yeti answers solemnly as he hands the ring back to Danny.

"Yep, that's bad," Danny states. "At least we got all of them right?"

That should be good news, but the yeti hesitates. The halfa groans.

"Not necessarily," Frostbite starts hesitantly. "It is possible only the rings with the most of the original stones have answered your call. I would wager that these are not the only rings, only the most powerful."

"Oh you have got to be kidding me," Danny groans.

"Don't worry, Great One," the yeti tries to reassure him. "The Infini-map should be able to locate them easily."

"Thanks, Frostbite," Danny says before dragging a hand down his face as Frostbite goes out to get the map.

"Of course it's a scavenger hunt," the halfa mutters to himself. "Why would the powers that be let anything in my life go smoothly."