#its a long part

[iu-xo]

"Like we've always hated each other"

Adaptation and confrontation.

intro part 1 part 2 part 3

God Adam is super ooc here, but I hope you enjoy reading it as I enjoyed writing it! I accept constructive criticism to improve!!

Note, this is the longest part so far!

In the hotel livingroom, spread across the sofa's, were all the members of the Hazbin hotel discussing an apparently important and delicate topic..

..while a lamb demon waited sitting on the stairs as if it were a child waiting for the adults to speak, needless to say, he was not happy with it at all, but it's not like he had any say in it, But that doesn't meant he like it tho..

With his head down looking at the ground, with his elbows on his knees and his fists on his chin, his gaze was tense as if he were an angry child, which made him feel a little... How when he really used to just feel like an angry child.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

-Love.. I know you think everyone should have the opportunity to decide to change.. and I love that about you.. BUT WE ARE, TALKING. ABOUT. ADAM. here.. You know..

On the couches there was a discussion which was mostly carried out by the two girls with notoriously divided opinions, The others argued among themselves and thought about how comfortable they would be if the idea that the princess defended was done

- i know.. and I'm not asking you to forgive him... or even to integrate him! That would be something he would have to earn, but vaggie...

The princess put her hands on her bride's shoulders, and in her eyes you could see the hope that her words carried

-He came here. He decided to come here..

-Soooo maybe... I could have had something to do with that.

Lucifer interrupted between the two girls, and the Salvadoran woman was intrigued by what her father-in-law had to say

-What do you mean by that ?

His daughter asked with the same intrigue.

-Well... when I went to put up the flyers I found him in the streets, at first I didn't recognize him because... you know.

The rest of the recidents began to pay attention to the king's explanation, since he was the one who seemed to have seen Adam before, and know why it could help them make a sensible decision, or maybe they just wanted to hear the gossip

-And if I'm honest he was about to get the shit kicked out of him If I hadn't been there... I'm afraid he's only here as last resource char, not because he wants... to change. I mean... honey, it's Adam..

Charlie's face was listening to her father, but she didn't look discouraged or surprised, she may have been hopeful but even she knows who Adam is, she knows what he did and she's not happy with him, It wasn't even in her plans to forgive him soon, even if that was against her recovery program, but still, she firmly believed that he could earn forgiveness, whit time, but for that they had to give him that time.

-I know, I'm not saying that I think... he wants it.

She glanced at the demon sitting on the stairs, Charlie's heart aching at the thought that he is the same one who was directing the massacres that have terrorized her people all this time, the reason this hotel existed in the first place... but... wouldn't that make helping him even more noble and selfless? and Charlie was very good at it, of course that didn't mean that they would have no limits for the comfort of her residents, The sudden static brought Charlie and everyone out of their thoughts.

-Well, look, dear... I'm not the most enthusiastic about leaving this... monstrosity. Within our walls, but I fully trust your judgment, if I don't get bothered of course.

The hotel producer said with his characteristic charisma and mannerisms when speaking, Vaggie reacted distrustfully to his statement, but Charlie gladly accepted his contribution.

-Look kid.. You really gotta be careful with that little shit there, He is a spoiled brat who believes that the consequences will not reach him, so if you want to get something out of it, you'll need more than preschool dynamics, food and shelter, like with legs here.

He said this while pointing to Angel Dust who was sitting on the floor leaning on the couch where Husk was sitting.

- Hey!

Everyone started arguing again while Charlie thought with a lot of pressure on her, but in response she revived a hand on her shoulder making her feel calmer

-We may need... limits, and many conditions... but I trust you honey, you will know what to do amor

Charlie smiled warmly at her beloved, and put his hand on hers, and then stood in the middle of everyone there, ready to anounce the decision made

- okey dokie! It is already decided! He will be given the opportunity to test himself, but for everyone's comfort someone will be in charge of him!

Everyone seemed indifferent to the decision, really no one could have an opinion right now, only time would tell, but in all this there was a doubt that hovered among everyone, a doubt that only angel externalized

-and who will be the unfortunate toots?

Everyone looked at Angel and then looked back at Charlie waiting for The answer to the question, who would take care of Adam?

- MY DAD!!

Lucifer choked on his breath in surprise, looking at her dumbfounded.

-Excuse me?

-You're the one who knows him the best! I know he's mom's shitty ex and all, but... don't you think it would even be good therapy to deal with past conflicts?

She said with an emotion so characteristic of her that only she could be excited about something like that.

-amazing...

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

Adam kept looking at the floor, he was there but he wasn't quite really there, His mind felt much.. higher. feeling so helpless brought back unwanted feelings, unwanted memories, and a familiarity he didn't want to experience. and a familiarity he didn't want to experience.

He could see almost clearly a young Adam sitting next to a very large door, while he heard voices on the other side of it, imposing voices, giant voices... They were talking about him? They must have been doing it, otherwise because he would be there, he kept hearing that it was the most beautiful creation... the most important, the most perfect, they must have been talking about him.

Suddenly he saw a silhouette in the frame of the big door, He saw a smile form on the unknown silhouette, he just tilted his head to the side in doubt, something that the silhouette copied, and then laughed, a mischievous laugh, but innocent at the same time, Adam He was surprised, also curious, a little intimidated, but the silhouette disappeared among golden sparkles, to which Adam exclaimed disappointedly

- Ow..

Behind him, more golden sparkles appeared, followed by a voice close to his ear at a cautious distance, but not so cautious as not to make him jump.

-hello there!

-BWAH!

The man jumped back, slipping on the floor and heading straight to fall to the ground, it is not as if the ground were not clouds, but falling is still falling, The mysterious figure with a soft wing grabbed Adam from behind and helped him stand back up, to which Adam became a little agitated.

-sorry there! I didn't mean to scare you..

He said followed by a giggle, an unmistakable laugh, an angelic laugh, of course, that's what he was made for, being angelic and all that.

-are you... what are you?

The figure blinked perplexed at the question, but then realized

-Oh, of course, of course... you haven't even existed for 15 minutes, of course you don't know who I am.

Adam's eyes widened

-Lucifer morningstar, a pleasure.. Adam.

-Adam..?

Lucifer laughed ay his response as he fluttered his wings causing a breeze, a breeze that made Adam's skin crawl, that had been his first sensation

-Don't tell me that I accidentally introduced You to your name...?

-Adam looked at him without saying much, not that he could say much, he had been born a few minutes ago, but he didn't need much knowledge to know that he liked his name, Or maybe he just liked the way it sounded in the voice of the angel in front of him.

- Hey, earth calling Adam.

A familiar voice brought Adam out of his thoughts and he went from looking at the ground to looking into the eyes of whoever was in front of him, much to his dismay.

-What the fuck is it? Spit it out.

He had to admit that he was a little nervous that they would throw him back out on the streets, he was tired of sleeping in alleys and fighting with guys every day since he had woken up in that shitty place.

-You're lucky Charlie is a better person than me. Come on, I'll show you your room, I explain conditions on the way there.

Lucifer began to climb the stairs without looking to see if Adam was following him or not. Adam grumbled at not being able to complain about the arrogant treatment, Karma existed and it was a bitch. He got up from the stairs and started walking behind him With a shitty attitude to say the least, when they reached the hallway the angel started talking.

-Number one, don't cause problems

Adam felt his blood burn at having to listen to someone's instructions... more about fucking Lucifer, the life-stealer himself, at what point had his life come to this

-Number two, be cooperative.

They arrived at a room and Lucifer used the key to open it, he taked out the key and offered it to Adam.

- And number three, at Charlie's request I am your designated babysitter.

He said this with arrogance which made Adam scratch the ground with his hoof and grunt, immediately he stopped seeing the figure of Lucifer and only golden sparkles remained, to hear a voice in his back which made him jump.

-So expect me around quite often, do we understand?

Adam tried to hit him with his elbow even though he was behind him but Lucifer dodged, getting back in front of him, Adam fustrated seeked to grumbleed to grumble at him

- Don't you know another fucking cheap trick?!

-awww Do you remember my tricks then?

Lucifer smiled, raising his ego when he thought that he still remembered things that the now ex-angel seemed to want to pretend to have forgotten.

-Well, enjoy your stay lamb, tomorrow morning you will participate in Charlie's activity. not open to debate.

Adam grumbled as he watched the pale king walk away. Once out of his field of vision, he entered the room and locked it behind him. Once inside, he analyzed the contents of the room, bed, furniture, dresser, closet, Bathroom, quite... decent.

He didn't take any steps and slipped through the door until he reached the floor. Already sitting on the floor, he brought his hands to his face to grunt into the air.

-shiiiiit..

He had no idea what he was doing... really... although his blood burned when he thought about it, Lucifer was right, he had come here because he didn't want to be alone, he had never been alone, he didn't know how to be alone, And even when he was, he really wasn't.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

As he walked down the hallway he sighed heavily, he didn't enjoy bothering his opponent when he looked so miserable... it was funny when he came attacking the hotel because he deserved it, but now... If he didn't know what a shitty person he had been he would start to feel guilty, god...

He entered his own room since it was late at night by that point, he closed the door and my good entered the room, he threw his vest in the corner of the room and sat down at the desk next to the window, letting his head fall with a loud "bump" on it, only to raise his gaze slightly to see through the window, a small rubber duck rested in the frame of it, It wasn't a super complicated duck, it was a simple yellow duck with dot eyes, the original model you could say, the... the original.. model.

Wandering in Lucifer's mind, clouds formed, clouds with memories, and suddenly he could see the cold, white corridors, those enormous corridors that filled heaven, He saw himself standing there, listening to such dumb orders...

-And remember, stay at your station, do your homework, and most importantly, don't. Go. To. The garden.

The superior looked at him with the certainty that Lucifer was not listening to a word he was saying, or rather, he was listening to him, but he would not listen to any of the instructions as soon as he turned around.

-No worries!

He looked at him in disbelief, but even so his superior turned around and went to attend to pending matters, things from heaven, and as soon as he turned the corner lucifer was already flying directly towards the garden, once in front of the door he made a small turn and in no time he was a bird, Already in this form, flapping happily, he entered the garden looking for a specific being, once he saw it, he came down and perched on the branch of a tree.

-How are you doing big guy?

Upon hearing those words, the brown-haired human who was at the edge of the lake with something in his hands looked up, searching everywhere for where the voice was coming from, once he saw the little white bird he smiled happy to see it.

-LUCI! Come here you haaave to see this! It's so sick!

Fulfilling the man's wish, the angel came down from that branch, taking his most humanoid form, standing behind him, crouching a little, since the human was kneeling in front of the lake

-What have you got there??

With an excited gleam in his eyes, he opened his hands, first revealing some yellow fuzz, followed by a round head a pair of black eyes and a round, flattened beak

-It's a bird... but swims! Isn't that super cool??

The angel momentarily moved away from him to strike a dramatic pose, while gesticulating as he spoke.

-i wonder who is the great mastermind behind the creation of this impressive creature.. don't you?

Adam looked at his friend in surprise, he was very happy for him since he knew that he was not usually allowed to propose ideas.. very less bring them to life

-oh god really?? That's awesome man!

The angel simply blushed slightly while making a gesture with his hand showing his shyness

-It's no big deal..

The king of hell came to himself when he looked at the clock on his desk and noticed that it was past three in the morning, and then he wondered why he couldn't get out of bed... He opened his desk drawer and took a couple of pills, the ones he usually asked Belphegor to help him fall asleep. In a snap he was already wearing his pajamas and he threw himself on the unmade bed, Tomorrow would be another day...

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

As the sun rose in the sulfur hole where they lived, screams could already be heard on the ground floor of the hotel despite it being so early in the morning, surprisingly the first person to get up It wasn't Charlie, or Alastor, or even Nifty, Adam was the one who was standing in the kitchen trying to solve the great mystery that was how the coffee maker worked, It wasn't his fault that his exorcists made his coffee all the time... well, maybe it was his fault.

Charlie came down the stairs, like the morning bird she was, and when she saw Adam having trouble with the coffee maker she came over to offer him a hand, although she was a little surprised to see him awake...she would have assumed he would get up more like her father... after two pm or so.. don't judge a book by its cover I guess!

-A little help?

Adam made an annoyed face, not even because of the help, but because he saw him not knowing how to use the fucking machine, he stepped aside, reluctantly accepting Charlie's help.

-In heaven these shits are different.

Charlie rolled her eyes, it was to be expected that he would try to make excuses, everyone knew he was spoiled brat, of course he didn't know how to make his own coffee.

-I want to believe that you know how to serve it... right?

The lamb-demon cheeks turned redish, embarrassed, he snatched the cup from Charlie's hand, which was pointing in his direction, implying that she was offering it to him.

-Of course i do bitch! What kind of assumption is that??

Charlie put both hands in the air, surprised by his reaction, but just smiled nervously, trying to spread her kindness and make the environment not so hostile.

-Sure, sure, I was just asking.

After pouring her own coffee she walked towards the room where she had her plan for today's activity hanging on the wall, with pins and other stuff, Adam lost interest in seeing what she was doing very quickly as soon as she left the kitchen.

Time passed, and he was hungry, but... he didn't know how to... feed himself, it wasn't his fault that he always had one of his exorcists bringing him a sandwich the moment his stomach growled! maybe... maybe a little but that wasn't the point.

About half an hour had passed since coffee and Adam was staring at the buttons on the stove, as if at any moment it was going to turn on, he also opened the refrigerator every two minutes as if he would magically know how to put stuff together to make something edible..

The next one to wake up was surprisingly angel, he hadn't been late from work so he had had a decent night's sleep, Coming down with fat nuggets in his arms and looking at his cell phone, he noticed out of the corner of his eye the problems that the newcomer had with the kitchen, he was no saint who helped others, but anyway he had already planned to eat something, what difference did it make to give an express self-sufficiency class?

He approached without warning and pushed Adam slightly, making his way to the refrigerator

- HEY- what the fuck dumb shit-

Angel silenced him with one of his arms while he took things out of the refrigerator with the others, fat nuggets were waiting on the chair at the table

-Quick lesson on how to make a omelet hot stuff ?

Adam aggressively removed his hand from her face as he watched her do everything with such ease... so many arms made everything look even easier than it should...

-Oooor I can go, and leave you to eat shit.

Angel said with a smile on his face while waiting for his answer, Adam simply stomped twice on the ground, gave a frustrated cry, and looked back at the miserable sinner in front of him, although... right now he looked much more capable than him, but I would never Say that outloud.

-Fine.

Angel smiled triumphantly, giving him a bowl and passing him the eggs

-crack them. Pm m

Adam stared at the egg and then at the bowl, he had seen people do it but he never really... did anything. Please it was heaven! He was'nt supposed to care about this nonsense! When he was alive this shit didn't exist either..

-like this..

Angel cracked a couple of eggs naturally, like anyone down here and like any living person, Adam was simply a special case, but yet strangely Angel didn't seem to be ridiculing him, which... seemed strange to him to say the least.

-aha..

First it was an egg, then another, they began to beat, while Angel turned on the stove and Adam watched him do it, he stayed chopping spinach at Angel's instruction, At one point Adam was making his own breakfast while Angel was eating at the table a meter away.

Lucifer came down the stairs and saw the situation, as he buttoned his shirt and fixed the collar of it he could see how... calm and cooperative Adam looked, which was strange to see, to say the least.

A couple of hours passed, now everyone was awake, Adam took up the entire large sofa in the living room, He pretended to play chords on an air guitar, He seemed very calm, too calm.. The angel sat on the arm of the couch, next to Adam's head... The angel sat on the arm of the couch, next to Adam's head.

-I saw you very sociable at lunch... is it due to something?

-Yeah, because I wanted to fucking eat.

He got up from the couch and left leaving a lucifer dissatisfied with his answer, there had to be something he wasn't seeing...

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

-Now we Say something Nice about each other!

The afternoon was falling and Charlie had everyone in a circle in the living room, right now they had to say something nice about each other, and Charlie would decide to make them bond even more, according to her words

-and.. dad! I want you to start by saying something nice about...

He thought for a moment... if he could get his dad to bond with anyone since no one knows him very well... but on the other hand he has been tense all afternoon with Adam... yeah that's it!

-adam!

Lucifer opened his eyes in surprise, he didn't expect that, and Adam's felt ashamed, almost hurt, which he tried to hide by looking away, Angel looked curious the rest just look them and wait for their answer.

-amm well..

everyone was looking at him, so he felt pressure, and felt his heart sink into his chest, so he tired to look at something else, and his gaze ended in Adam, he was looking away.. he.. didn't think he would have something nice to say? he was mad?? Maybe he was just hiding something from him, oh well, it was Charlie's activity, he has to do it rigth, and.. He was probably the best person to say something positive about Adam.

-He is... a very creative mind, when the situation calls for it... he finds the most ingenious solutions to problems and... he's a very fast learner.

Everyone's faces showed some surprise, Lucifer used to be clumsy in communicating and awkward in conversations, seeing Adam express himself like that was... something unexpected, After feeling all eyes on him, Adam stood up in silence, walked towards the stairs and continued to what was probably his room.

-Maybe we should go after him-

Charlie tried to go after him but a hand stopped her in the act

-Maybe we should give him space honey.

Although Charlie felt bad leaving him alone, Vaggie was right he needed, but then Lucifer stood up too.

-sorry char... I'm going to my room, good luck with the rest of the activity tho

Lucifer said to his daughter with a warm but somewhat tired smile, then he disappeared among golden sparks.

-That... could have turned out better.

Charlie said while scratching her neck, a little embarrassed for putting them in that situation, but in the end it wasn't her fault, it seemed like they had old issues that Charlie couldn't fix with some silly activities.

•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•~•

After the activity that had gone so terribly a few hours earlier, the king lay rotting in his bed, complaining from time to time, It was weird, But having Adam there was as if he had to be reliving a past that he had been escaping from for so long..

-Damn it..

Suddenly the door to her room burst open revealing a rather distraught princess, maybe she should start locking the door.

- DAD! Adam is not in his room, do you think you can see if he is okay?! I really have no idea where he could be and I'm running out of places to look..

She said almost crying because of how worried she was, her father reluctantly got out of bed and cracked his back.

-Yes, yes, I'll look for him, don't worry dear.

He said putting on his jacket to go out to look for it in some possible places, first he searched some empty rooms of the hotel, when he found nothing but dust adorning the door frames Deciding that maybe asking would be a good idea, she asked his daughter-in-law, He asked the bartender whose name he still didn't know, he even asked the strange maid, but no one seemed to know, he thought it was a good time to look outside, So he went out the front door and walked everywhere in case he hadn't gone too far. He was very focused but something hitting his head took him out of his mind.

- ouh!

He saw the object fall to the floor and bent down to take it in his hand, was it... an orange slice?

One fell followed by this one, which made the king look up, to his surprise he saw a certain lamb that they had been looking for for almost an hour by now.. opening its imposing six wings with a single flap, it was already in front of the purpose of his search, he landed on one his side and they remained silent for a good couple of minutes.

- so.. gonna spit it out anytime soon?

Adam opened his eyes wide and with an expression that could not be read as anything other than indignation he looked directly at Lucifer in the face

- fukcing excuse me?

- Oh are you please going to tell me that you don't have something on your mind? You've been all passive and submissive the hole day, you and I know you've never been like that before! What are you up too?!

Adam's face quickly turned angry as he listened to Lucifer ramble on about topics he thought he understood when he didn't

-Isn't that what you fucking wanted?! Your bitch is thinking this shit works because I don't want to kick anyone's ass! or at least she thinks so! Isn't that all you asked for?!

Lucifer's face became irritated at the same time and he stood up and continued arguing with him

-OH PLEASE!! When in your fucking life have you done something because i said so?? What the fuck are you going to do!! Tell me before the people I care about get in danger and we kick you out of here!

Adam couldn't take it anymore, he stood up from his place and with a lump in his throat he lost his temper

- WHY CAN'T YOU JUST FUCK OFF?! I'M NOT EVEN CAUSING A DAMN PROBLEM AND I STILL CAN'T GET YOU OFF MY FUCKING BACK!

Lucifer didn't understand why he defended himself so much. They both knew that he would never do something just to be "obedient" or "correct." It frustrated him that he continued to act as if he didn't know beforehand that something else was happening whit him

-IF YOU ONLY SAID IT WE WOULD NOT BE HAVING THIS STUPID PROBLEM!

The situation was heating up and they had probably already heard the screams downstairs, but they were probably too far away for anyone to know what they were saying.

-TO SAY WHAT?! WHAT THE FUCK DO YOU WANT ME TO SAY BITCH!

-Tell me WHY DO YOU ACT LIKE THIS??

Adam lost his facade, he couldn't find any excuse and he didn't know any way out of there and I wasn't even looking for it anymore, what he said just came out of him without first thinking about the consequences, like everything he fucking did.

- BECAUSE YOU WERE FUCKING RIGHT, I DIDN'T WANTED TO BE ALONE!

-...

Everything was silent for what had seemed like an eternity, it could have been 30 seconds or 5 minutes in total and complete silence, Lucifer's face showed surprise, guilt... pain, and Adam just pressed his throat with his dark hand to try to stop feeling that stupid lump that kept growing from his chest to his mouth.

-Is that what you wanted? Hear you were right?? to hear that once again you managed to take from me EVERYTHING I HAD?!

The fallen angel looked at him dumbfounded, he couldn't understand... he couldn't believe that Adam had been sincere, he really was so desperate. So cornered, so he was just.. scared? Adam? That Adam?

-Please... you asked for it, I wasn't the one who made you come and kill people for fun all these years, was I?

Adam looked at him with pure anger, he grumbled, he growled, he tried to get close to him to hit him but he regretted it and screamed into the air instead, he hit a box with his hoof and ended up sitting on the edge of the terrace, hugging his knees, and looking anywhere but towards lucifer, He was fucking Adam, the first dick! the fucking perfect creation! He wasn't just going to start crying right there...no matter how much he wanted to.

The angel sat next to him again, another couple of minutes in a silence so loud the entire pentagram could hear it.

-... It seems like we both screwed up a lot.

Adam's gaze softened, and he made a sound that indicated agreement, much to Lucifer's surprise.

-But... I still have one quiestion.

Adan looked curiously at the opposite, what other doubt could he have? There was nothing else..

-why... why did you leave? You know, in the room, with everyone back there.

Adam looked down trying to gather his thoughts, he could easily tell him "it's not your fucking business" but he most likely would never have the chance to tell him what he was going to say.

- It's not easy being around the only damn thing down here that still reminds me of fucking heaven..

Lucifer's eyes widened a little in surprise, as that was a thought that had also crossed his mind... of all the things he could have expected... to find comfort in Adam was not one of them.

-I... I think I get that.

tired of all this commotion, and without thinking too much the shorter one dropped his shoulder on the other's shoulder

- but it's also the only thing that reminds me... that we weren't always so fucked up.

Adam thought about pushing him, maybe out of habit, but... he just sighed, and put his weight on him too.

...

- maybe..

[nerime]

is this hate or foreplay at this point 🤔

[lethologicaee]

had a request for long hair jason sitting in my inbox for forever and somehow i have lost it... but here is the sketch. i gave him several hairstyles

this was NOT a sketch request commission for gaza, but it is an example of what you would receive if you did choose to donate! if you would like to receive your very own sketch, please check my pinned post for methods of donation & info regarding the commission process.

[huang-er-jiejie]

i. i just realised something about the kiss.

the way when aziraphale puts both of his hands on crowley's back, you can see them kinda shift so aziraphale isn't leaning. he held onto crowley for stability, and leaned in. pushed closer to him. he leaned forward. anyone ever says he didn't want the kiss im going to hunt you down because HE HELD CLOSE!!! HE KISSED BACK!!!!

EDIT: also im like WELL aware he kissed back i was even when i first watched it like its not a big revelation, its just that SOME people☠️ on TIKTOK☠️ KEEP SAYING HE WAS DISGUSTED BY THE KISS???? like i swear some people are watching a different show entirely

[hadrassians]

restless dead

composition & pose inspired by the consolation by j.c. leyendecker

[macdenlover]

Windows - Part 1/?

[tshortik]

Cryptic visions of space and time...

[pigswithwings]

Empty Houses / Empty Stomachs

Sources: Kitty Horrorshow, "Anatomy" 🏚 Josh Quissy 🏚 Wikipedia (Abandonment - Legal) 🏚 Ashe Vernon, "Love Disorders and Other Heartaches" 🏚 @/churchrummagesale 🏚 Kitty Horrorshow, Anatomy (Transcribed by @/a-missing-ache) 🏚 Kitty Horrorshow, Anatomy 🏚 @/churchrummagesale 🏚 Wikipedia (Desire) 🏚@/churchrummagesale 🏚 Wikipedia (Hunger - Physiology) 🏚 Wikipedia (Desire) 🏚Emma Rebholz, “No Good Bloodsuckers" from The Misanthropy 🏚 @/zegalba

[plesiosaurys]

getting emotional over footage of an amateur scuba diver interacting with a coelacanth. they are hunted by large deepwater predators, and here comes a large creature bearing the brightest lights it's ever seen, making strange noises, but it does not shy away. it hovers, calmly, as the diver reaches out and trails a hand down its back. im strongly against the anthropomorphizing of real life animals but the stupid emotional part of me loudly insists this is because it recognizes us, the alternating movements of its four paired limbs matching the diver's four paired limbs, & it is thinking, "hello, cousins, we missed you these 66 million years, it's so good to see you again. welcome back, welcome home."

[reds-skull]

Can't believe I had to google "rare puns" for this comic

[ruporas]

kisses of affirmation (ID in alt)

[shit-talker]

The 141 have a ridiculous run of inside jokes that is continuosly ruining their lives, such as;

1.) If someone says, "You love it really," to you, you immediately have to agree with them, no matter what the circumstances. Otherwise, you lose the ability to do it back. This has resulted in many weird fake confessions, including one time in which Soap got fed up with people making your mom jokes at him and went on a rant about it. Ghost glanced at him in front of a room full of cadets and just went, "You love it really, though," and Soap almost died as he sadly nodded and replied, "Yeah, I do."

2.) If something even remotely sexual sounding is said about you, you must always say, "You're damn right I do/am/will," back. This backfired once when they were in a defreif and Price said something about Gaz "coming through the back door" and Gaz, without think, winked and replied "You're damn right I did," In front of everyone and got in trouble for mild insubordination. (The others almost died laughing as he realised what he'd done, who he'd done it to, and who he'd done it in front of (aka Price's bosses))

3.) When talking about Roach, they will always act like he's died. He hasn't, but none of them can stop the joke, and it always makes all of them crack up, even Roach. This once caused major panic, as once when Ghost was discussing their latest mission with Laswell, he said, "It was fine because Roach - God rest his soul -" and Laswell had about two minutes where she thinks Roach has dropped dead and she didn't fucking know.

4.) They will always make up bad stories for how they met Ghost, if anyone ever asks. It doesn't matter what the truth is, or who they're speaking to, when asked, all three of them will reply with some made up, overly dramatic or down right boring story on how they met. These stories ranged from Ghost, saving them from a shark attack (Gaz), Ghost selling them assorted drugs as a teenager (Roach), and most devastatingly is when Soap told a distant relative of his that he met Ghost after "finding him with my older brother, behind his wifes back" he does not have an older brother, and so there is no wife.

5.) They always reference the "Malibu incident." None of them have ever been to Malibu. Nothing bad has ever happened there, but now they've created a whole conspiracy in the British Army about a coverup that happened in Malibu. Price knows about this one and finds it endlessly funny, so he goes along with it, never directly mentioning it but refusing to deny it when someone asks. If anyone ever asks about the details of it, they just give a deadpanned look as if the other person should already know and say; "Don't make me say it." There are rumours. Like, a lot of rumours.

6.) Roach claps every time someone says, "I'll be there for you" because once he clapped at the wrong time during the friends intro and had been paying the price ever since. It doesn't happen often, but sometimes you'll just hear him clapping - not even in the tune to the friends theme. Just random clapping. If any of the others hear it, they almost always reply with "That's a fuckin' joke" in a really disappointed tone. It's confused a lot of people.

[starry-bi-sky]

i've mentioned in a few past posts about an au where Danny is a variant of Jason Todd. I haven't made a post about it yet because I need a good rhythm flowing however i've been listening to Gladiator by Jann and I have been having thoughts.

but first, let me set the au:

Danny Fenton is Jason Todd, or at least, a variant of him. A him from a universe separate to the major Batman timeline - but still Jason Todd, down to the structure of his face and his name itself. The only thing that changes, is who picks him up - and, that he follows old Batman canon, and was an orphan. Jason Todd steals the tires off the batmobile and wallops Batman with his tirejack, and then runs off. Shortly after, he gets picked up by the Fentons.

(Customary line break,,,, word count check: 5k)

And his name changes from Jason Todd to Danny Fenton. He doesn't care much for the new name change, it stems from his mute refusal to share his name to the people that picked him up; an attempt to make him untraceable should he get away from them, and to keep something of his to himself. So they name him something new. He grows to like it enough as he acclimates to his new family.

(He hangs onto the name Jason Todd like a secret - he may be 'Danny Fenton' now, but he'll never forget his time on Gotham's streets. He'll always be Jason Todd.)

(Jazz is the only one who he tells his name to in the family - she affectionately calls him Jay whenever she wants.)

He becomes friends with Sam and Tucker and deals with Dash and his bullying. And when Danny steps in during a fight between Dash and another student, Dash gives him a bleeding nose and mockingly says, "Do you think you're Robin just because you're from Gotham, Fenton?"

Jason looks him in the eyes and he bares his teeth, "Why not?" he asks, spitting blood, "being Robin gives me magic."

The nickname sticks. It's supposed to be an insult; Daniel Fenton is not Robin, he'll never be Robin. Not now, not in a million years. Jason Todd has always wanted to be Robin, so he takes the insult and wears it proudly. He buys a school varsity jacket and painstakingly undos the stitching of all the school's motif on it. On the breast of it, he embroiders in a black circle with the Boy Wonder "R" on it instead. It's not good stitching, but the next day Danny wears it down to breakfast and into school.

In normal au canon, Daniel Jason Todd-Fenton (its a mouthful, just call him Danny) only meets the Waynes after he becomes Phantom - an event that leans more towards Daniel Fenton's accident than Jason Todd's death, but traumatizes him all the same. (Is it too much to want to be mourned? His best friends like to deny that he died - and Danny - Jason? - wishes they wouldn't, even if he did come back.)

(The accident embitters him, even more when his parents don't seem to pick up on it. He stops calling himself Danny Fenton - he's always been Jason Todd. It shows itself in his ghostly form. He doesn't want to wear the thing he died in, not in something that belongs to the Fentons, and his suit reflects that.)

In this timeline, Daniel Jason Todd-Fenton, aged 13, meets Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne after a mishap with magic on the other end of the reality sends the three of them careening through time and space, and spat back out on the other end, in a world not their own. And together.

Danny is paired with a very confused Bruce Wayne and Richard Grayson. Luckily, there's a few heroes there to help them. Danny can hardly comprehend the idea that he's in another universe - he doesn't know why Dick Grayson and Bruce Wayne are seemingly handling it well.

On their way to a secondary base with the heroes, Danny turns to Bruce Wayne and asks, "So, is it part of rich-person training that you're just totally chill with being sent into another universe, or are you just weird?"

Bruce Wayne huffs at him, rather than get offended, and he smiles that dumb lopsided billionaire smile that Danny's seen on every vogue magazine he's been in. "I'm not so worried with these skilled heroes here to help us get home."

Danny silently concludes that he's just weird. At least Dick Grayson is biting back a smile behind him. "Riiiight..." He says, dragging the vowel out dryly.

When they get to that secondary location -- a safehouse that one of the heroes had set up -- the three of them are sat in a living room-like room while one hero, Zatanna, goes and calls someone from the Justice League. The other two heroes stay with the three of them.

Within a few hours, Danny is face to face with Batman - someone who he hasn't seen since he whacked him in the stomach with a tire iron - and Nightwing. For a moment, Danny swears that the both of them look almost spooked by him.

Batman stares at him for a moment when he enters, and then he goes to speak with Bruce Wayne. Danny doesn't care enough to hear what they're talking about, he pulls out his phone as Nightwing goes to speak with Dick Grayson.

"Are you a fan of Robin, little man?" Someone says, and when Danny looks up he locks eyes with Dick Grayson -- who is leaning around Nightwing to talk to him, the both of them are smiling. And considering who Nightwing was, Danny finds himself turning pink to the ears.

But he will not hide his jacket. He forces a grin through his embarrassment, "Hell yeah, man, Robin's cool." He says, and pushes his arms down to pull out the hem of his letterman, showing off the emblem. "I made it m'self out of a school varsity after the A-Listers started callin' me Robin."

"A-Listers?"

"Popular kids," Danny corrects, loosing his hold on the hem and brushing invisible wrinkles out of the embroidery. "They didn't like that I kept stepping in when they were bullying. Dash asked me if i thought I was Robin because I was from Gotham."

Dick Grayson looks intrigued -- and concerned, and he leans forward onto his knees and raises an eyebrow. "What did you say?"

And Danny grins a shark-like thing, straightening back his shoulders with a burning sort of smug pride and all the sharpness of broken glass left in Crime Alley. "I told him being Robin gave me magic, and then I punched him."

Dick Grayson's smile widens, splitting into showing teeth as he leans back into his seat. Danny isn't sure why he's so delighted - but Nightwing looks incredibly amused, and he suddenly remembers that the Robin himself was there in front of him.

Danny's face burns anew and his arms fold themselves in front of him once again.

"I don't think I ever caught your name, Robin." Dick Grayson goes, his voice thick with laughter, and Nightwing steps off to the side as Batman and Bruce Wayne walk over to join them both. They're just close enough that Danny can see Bruce Wayne raise an eyebrow at them both.

"It's Jason." Danny says before he can think about it, and barely stops himself from frowning at himself for the slip. He amends himself, glancing over at Batman and Bruce as they get closer. "But everyone calls me Danny."

Dick Grayson's head recoils slightly, and he looks a little surprised. "Why Danny?" He asks.

"Why Dick?" He shoots back, and Bruce and Dick both smile at him, with Dick Grayson shrugging with an expression that looks like 'you've got a point.'

In the end, the three of them - yes, three - get sent to this world's Wayne Manor, and Danny is bewildered by that decision to include himself -- he's not a Wayne. Why not just send him to the Fentons?

Batman tells him that the Fentons don't exist in this world, and Danny falls silent. "Oh." He says quietly, a pit growing in his stomach with an ill-kind of dread. He can't keep Batman's gaze, looking away with unease.

No Fentons in this world. No Fentons. Where was he then, in the grand scheme of things? Where was he in this world? What happened to Jason Todd? Was he even alive? He can't keep the worry off his face, and he jumps when a hand lands on his shoulder. When he looks up, Dick Grayson squeezes him gently.

Dick Grayson is steadily beginning to remind him of his sister.

-

They end up driving back in the Batmobile. It's such a shock to Danny that he momentarily forgets the lack of Fentons. He makes a laugh sound, actually, and immediately he covers his hand with his mouth and stares at the car -- tank? with his teeth sunk into his lower lip.

"Jason?" Dick says, and hearing his name being spoken feels like someone touched him with a livewire. It's weird, it's foreign - he hates, in some way, that it's foreign - and it's so nice. Yes, that's me.

He drops his hand immediately. "Sorry." He says, realizing he'd stopped in his tracks, "I -uh, was just surprised."

"It's not every day someone sees the Batmobile." Dick agrees. Nightwing has his back to them but Danny swears he sees his shoulders shaking a little.

"Yeah," Danny nods slowly, dragging his eyes over the batmobile as Batman opens the driver's side and gets in. He thinks for a moment, of what he should say next - whether to admit that he's seen it before, or to pretend that he's seeing it for the first time. Snd as Nightwing opens the door for him, Bruce, and Dick, he chooses the funnier option; "The last time I saw it, I was stealing its tires."

To his surprise and unsurprise, Danny only gets two pairs of eyes on him. Nightwing gets into the passenger seat as both Bruce and Dick turn their gaze onto him; Dick's eyes big like they were going to bulge out of his head.

"You what!?"

So Danny tells an amazed Dick Grayson that he hit Batman with a tire iron after he stole his tires - something he is very proud about and also incredibly embarrassed about when he retells what happened in the backseat of the batmobile, with Batman and Nightwing listening in from the front seat.

(Bruce Wayne doesn't ever tell Dick shit, he's going to lord this over Bruce's head the moment they are alone.)

"Please tell me this didn't happen in this world." Danny groans behind his palms as he sinks into his seat. Dick Grayson is killing himself laughing on his left, and he saw Bruce Wayne stifling a smile before he obscured his vision with his hands.

Much to his luck, its Batman himself who speaks next, (Danny was being mostly rhetorical). "It did." He says, and his voice sounds like the rumble of the earth before a stampede. It will never not throw Danny off every time he hears it. "It takes quite a lot of spunk to steal the tires off the batmobile."

He can't believe it. Batman is making fun of him. Fucking, Batman.

He wants to die with embarrassment. He groans even louder as Dick Grayson's laughter crescendoes. Danny risks a peak through his fingers, he doesn't know whether to regret it or not because he can just barely see Batman smirk very faintly from his position in the middle.

(His world axis tilts five degree leftways seeing it; like someone dunked a bucket of ice water on him.)

"He ended up being adopted by the Bruce Wayne of this world."

Danny's hands drop with his jaw into his lap. Dick Grayson on his left chokes on his laughter and careens into a coughing fit. Bruce Wayne on his right chokes on air, and quickly recovers himself with a cough behind a closed fist.

"What?" Danny croaks.

-

Apparently, Bruce Wayne's family is much larger in this world than it is in his. Danny can barely wrap his head around the idea that he ends up adopted by the man, but now he has to learn that Wayne had several children in this world?

He's still not wrapped his head around it when the three of them wind up at Wayne Manor, finally, or even when he's standing in front of him himself. For his effort, Bruce Wayne does a good job at looking unruffled by it.

God, he's weird. Danny's starting to quite like it, actually. How human of him.

He still can't wrap his head around it when he meets the rest of Bruce Wayne's children, all of whom are already aware of the three of them. Danny thinks that someone from the Justice League might've alerted them before they got here.

It makes sense, he supposes.

It helps that they are just as weirded out as he is. A boy named Tim Drake sees him for the first time and blurts out; "Oh wow, you're tiny." In a tone like he's just seen a two-headed snake burst out of the ground.

Danny is still offended. He's still growing. It's not his fault he spent twelve years of his life malnourished. "I'm gonna be taller than you," he tells him seriously, "and when I do I'm gonna kick your ass."

Tim snorts at him.

The other Bruce Wayne -- Mr. Wayne's -- youngest looks at him up and down with a face of carefully controlled judgement. His name is Damian, he's Bruce Wayne's only biological son. Danny can't believe that there's only one.

If anything, Bruce Wayne himself looks surprised too.

"Todd, yes?" Damian says, his green eyes narrowed at him.

Danny feels like the specimen under his parents' microscope, he feels like he's standing on a platform that's being slowly spun by scientists. He looks over at Bruce Wayne in confusion, and then back at Damian. "I- yes?"

Damian Wayne nods, and then leaves.

Danny does not once see himself. That is unsettling in and of itself - surely Jason Todd would have been told about another version of himself in this world, wouldn't he? How old is he here? An adult, probably. Danny doesn't know if he wants to see him. What does he look like when he's grown up? He pulls his Robin jacket around him a little tighter, like a cocoon, like a shield.

"It's weird to hear them call me Jason Todd." He says aloud to himself, and it leaves a weight behind in his chest that shouldn't hurt the way it does. It shouldn't be weird to be called your name. It shouldn't cobweb up your throat to hear your name being said. It was his name. It was his.

-

Danny acclimates to the manor slowly. The house is big, massive. He's never been in a house so large before, he feels like a stray cat being taken in for the first time, again. He and Bruce and Dick Grayson are all given their own separate rooms - one of many inside this mansion - and the sheer size of his bedroom is bigger than his living room and kitchen combined.

it's daunting. Danny sits outside on the balcony and stares at the stars he can see - Wayne Manor is far enough away from Gotham that its light pollution doesn't obscure the sky here like it did in the heart of it.

Danny finds the constellations he can find and wishes he had his books with him. He finds the library the next day and buries himself in the back, curling up into a comfy armchair next and inhaling each book he can get his hands on.

Tim Drake wanders past him at some point, Danny would have missed him if it weren't for the fact that Drake stared at him strangely when he saw him. He walks away when he realizes Danny was staring back.

It's a rinse and repeat for the next few days. Danny doesn't go to meals, he sneaks food from the kitchen afterwards, and then buries himself in hundreds of books in the library.

Dick Grayson, the one from his world, goes and finds him three days later. Danny's eyes hurt with strain by then, but he is furiously halfway through a Jane Austen novel when Dick sits down across from him.

"Have you been here all day?" Dick asks, he drapes himself across the side of his chair, contorting himself into a position that Danny doesn't think is comfortable when he looks up at him.

Not that he looks up at him long - he hums absently and goes back to reading. Frowning when he realizes he lost his place on the page.

Dick Grayson raises an eyebrow, "Have you at least eaten anything?"

Danny hums. No, he hasn't, and he hadn't thought about eating all day. Until now that is, his frown ever deepening as his stomach pangs with a deep hunger.

"That's not healthy."

"Mhm."

"Are you going to eat something?"

"Mhhh."

And this gets Dick to frown. He straightens himself up, propping onto his elbows to stare at Danny. "Jason." He says strongly. And it's that that gets Danny to finally look up from his page, jumping like he'd again been poked with a live wire as he stares at Dick with wide eyes.

"Yes?"

"Put the book down." Dick orders, gesturing towards the side table next to Danny with a nod. "And come eat something." There's very little room for argument in his voice, he sounds like Jazz when she's trying to parent him, but instead he actually sounds authoritative. Not bossy.

Danny still frowns at him. "You're not the boss of me." He says, sinking back into his chair with a thumb bookmarking his page.

Dick gives him a look and makes a decisive noise, swaggling his head side to side while he does. "I'm pretty sure that for as long as we're here, me and B actually are the boss of you."

He's never really liked authority figures, not ones that tried to boss him around, that is. Danny doubles down, his lips curling into a shadow of a scowl. "Just because you're my brother in another world doesn't mean you can act like it."

"That's not what I mean and you know it."

"I don't want to go eat."

"It's not good for you to skip meals."

"Quit talking like Jazz."

"Danny."

Danny sinks his teeth into his lip and scowls darkly at him, shrinking into the back of his armchair in hopes that it'll swallow him whole. The idea of going into that large fucking dining room fills him with a dread that makes him completely forget his appetite.

"Your fucking- dining room is- it's too big." He grits out, finally closing his book and hugging it tightly to his chest.

Dick blinks at him. "What?"

"You heard me! It's too big. This whole place is too big. It's- what do you even do with this much space? I don't know how this- other me ever lived here."

Dick Grayson surprises him, and his expression softens. "Oh," he says, "I get it."

"You do?" The tension bleeds slowly out of Danny's shoulders

"Yeah, I felt the same way when I first moved in with Bruce. I lived with the circus for most of my life, but I slept in a trailer." He says. And he talks more.

The end result of their conversation ends with Dick Grayson offering to let Danny sit across or next to him during mealtimes, and that he can talk to him if he starts getting uneasy. But he can't keep skipping meals - it was making them all worried.

Danny agrees, and Dick takes him down to the kitchens for food.

"They look at me weirdly too." He grumbles as they leave the library, Danny's book returned to the shelf where it belonged. When Dick looks at him curiously, he scrunches his nose up. "The - your other siblings. They look at me like I'm- I'm someone else. S'weird."

"Isn't that a good thing?" Dick asks, "You are someone else."

Dany shrugs, staring at the ground with a heavy frown. "I don't know."

-

Danny seeks out Dick more after that. And vice versa. Dick reminds Danny of Jazz, and he latches onto the familiarity like a leech. If Dick is bothered by it, he doesn't show it, whether he's talking to his other world's self, to the Bruce's, or to one of the other Wayne kids.

Damian Wayne seems particularly keen to seek him out, Danny finds. He thinks it means that they're close in this world, and that Damian wants to see more of what a young Dick is like. That's what he would do, at least.

He takes up on Dick's offer of seating near him during dinner, and finds an open spot across from him. Unless he has something to show him, then he sits next to him.

("You can call me Jason." He tells him one day when they're in the Wayne's massive, fuck-off gym and they're both climbing over the jungle gym. Dick's showing him how to be more flexible. It's the most Danny's worked out ever, he likes the burn it gives him.

Dick looks at him in surprise, "Really?" he's doing a handstand on the bars and Danny's more than a little jealous at his balance.

"Yeah, dipshit," he says, rolling his eyes, "I'll even let you call me Jay, it's my nickname."

Dick happily takes him up on that offer, and much to Danny's embarrassment, starts calling him Jaybird. All because of his stupid Robin jacket.)

Danny has yet to meet his other self still, it's scaring him a little. Where was he? And matter of fact, how long until he could go back to his home dimension? The three of them hadn't gotten any updates since they arrived.

Speaking of, he was starting to talk to Bruce more, it was just... strange. Even stranger than talking to Dick. Bruce Wayne in another life would have been his adoptive father, Danny can't wrap his head around it for the life of him.

Whatever did Bruce Wayne see in Jason Todd that made him worth adopting? He's too afraid of the answer to ask. They start talking more after they run into each other late at night. Danny had been hit with a bout of insomnia and was going to the library.

He ran into Bruce on the way. He was just.. staring, out the window, with a faraway look in his eye. He didn't even look startled to see Danny standing there.

Danny asks him if he wants to go to the library with him. It was out of panic. He isn't expecting Bruce Wayne to agree, and they walk there in suffocating silence. Danny keeps looking at him from the corner of his eye.

("You're staring?" Bruce doesn't sound upset, Danny jumps anyway.

"Yeah, sorry." his voice sounds stilted, "it's just..." his jaw wires itself shut for a spell, "...you looked like you were about to disappear."

"Ah.")

When they reach the library, Danny leads Bruce Wayne into the science section and takes out books upon books about stars. He leads him over to the armchair and fire and they both sit down on the ground.

"When I lived in Gotham I would stargaze." Danny says, it's the first thing he can think of. Bruce Wayne looks at him quizzically. "Well, I would try to. The sky's too polluted for that. Mostly I would just watch the skyline and try and spot Batman and Robin, was the same thing."

That cracks a smile out of Bruce. It's a small one, barely there. "I hardly think the two are comparable."

Danny is still serious. "Not to me."

He goes on, talking about how after he was adopted he got his hands on every star book he could find. He loves english and he loves to read, but something about the stars drew him in like a song. He rambles about every star fact he knows with Bruce Wayne.

Bruce Wayne surprises him by telling him facts he didn't know. Danny soaks it up like a sponge, listening intently to him speak. And when they run out of star books to talk about, Danny tells Bruce that it was his turn to find something for them to talk about.

Bruce Wayne smiles again at him, a sly little thing like Danny's challenged him, and gets up. He comes back with a stack of film books, and they spend the next few hours going through them. Bruce Wayne rattles off every single movie fun fact he knows, and there is so much that he knows.

Danny is in awe, and moves to press against Bruce's side to see the stuff he points at in his books.

"You're smarter than people give you credit for." He says at some point, when his eyes hurt from being open for too long and his head leans against Bruce's arm for support. It follows with a jaw-cracking yawn that he tries and fails to stifle.

"Thank you, Danny." Bruce says, his voice soft and soothing and not helping with Danny's weighing exhaustion. His eyes drift, and then jerk open. "Do you want to go back to your room? You look tired, chum."

He bites back a smile at the nickname, and fails to keep it bitten. "No, no, I'm awake." He mumbles, shaking his head slowly. "I wanna hear-" he yawns again, "-hear you talking."

Danny swears he can hear the smile in Bruce's voice as he speaks; "Alright. Now, where was I?"

In the end, Danny falls asleep on the floor of the library next to Bruce Wayne. He doesn't even realize it until he wakes up the next morning. But it's not to worry, Bruce Wayne fell asleep too, an arm thrown around Danny protectively like he was his own kid.

This becomes a thing for them soon enough. When neither of them can sleep, they go to the library and talk and talk about whatever comes to mind.

There comes the dreaded night after they've finished whatever book they were looking at when Bruce, the little shit, turns to Danny and goes; "You never mentioned what happened after you hit Batman with a tire iron."

Danny groans, big and dramatic, burying his head in his arms, and ignores the low chuckle. "I thought he was gonna chase me down for sure." He complains, his voice muffled by his arms.

"Why did you hit him with a tire iron?"

The look Bruce gets is one of pure disbelief. "If Mothman suddenly showed up behind you while you were taking the wheels off his ride, you'd hit him too!"

"Last time I checked, Mothman isn't real." Bruce told him amusedly, and Danny flops over onto his back to stare him down. His arms sprawl out like a starfish, intentionally hitting Bruce in the shoulder.

"You don't know that, Batman's a cryptid and he's real."

Bruce roars with laughter, and Danny preens like a bird.

That next morning when Bruce passes by him for breakfast, he reaches over and ruffles his hair. It's the same thing he does for Dick every morning. It's the first of many, and it gets many stares from the surrounding family.

Bruce has a newspaper tucked under his arm, and when he sits down Danny stands up and skedaddles over to him, leaning over the side of his chair to peer at the paper.

"Any cryptids spotted, Buzz?" He asks, getting a startled laugh out of Bruce, who looks up at him.

"Buzz?"

"Well, yeah," and Danny states it as matter-of-fact. He gestures his head at Dick Grayson. "Dick calls you 'B', and B is for bees, and I can't just call you Bees, that's dumb. So; Buzz."

He grins triumphantly when Bruce laughs quietly, his shoulders shaking imperceptibly. "I know," he tilts his head up proudly, "I'm a genius."

Now he's actually laughing, dropping his head into one of his hands and trying to quiet himself as much as possible. Danny is positively beaming, ignoring the stares of the other Waynes as he flounces back to his seat just as the other Mister Wayne enters the room.

-

When Jason Daniel Fenton Todd meets Jason Todd for the first time, they both just stare at each other.

Danny recognizes himself immediately in the library, and he freezes up. His tongue ties to the roof of his mouth, and he's unsure of what to say.

He doesn't need to say anything at all, because when Jason Todd looks up and they lock eyes, they both just stare. And stare. Jason Todd is a large, hulk of a man, built like a brick shithouse, with a tired, traumatized look in his eyes and a white streak in his black curls. The same black curls that Danny himself has.

He has no idea what to say. Or if he should turn back around and leave.

Jason Todd sighs at him, "I know they told me you and another world's Bruce and Dickie were here," he says, but it sounds like he's talking to himself. Even moreso when he mutters half-heartedly, "-but I was hoping I wouldn't run into you."

Danny feels small next to him. He doesn't know why. "Sorry." He says lamely, his one foot skips back, "I can leave if you want." It's unlike him to be meek, he thinks. Not after years of Gotham living and dealing with the likes of Dash and his Jerk Jocks.

But this also isn't the streets, and this isn't other kids being dicks. Jason Todd shakes his head, and gestures with one large arm for Danny to come over. "You don't need to do that, you were coming to read, right?"

He nods, and tentatively makes his way over. When Jason looks at him, he sees him cast his eyes over his Robin jacket - he wears it everyday. Danny sees him narrow his eyes, just slightly. But he says nothing.

It's... a strange conversation. Interaction. Jason Todd doesn't talk to him much, and if he does it's stilted and awkward, like he doesn't know how to treat him. Like he's holding him at arm's length.

Jason's getting tired of being treated like a ghost.

They talk about their books. They compare lives. Jason Todd was picked up a few days after he stole the wheels of the batmobile. He wasn't an orphan, he lived with his mom and his stepdad before he lived with Bruce. They both like to read, only Danny has an interest in the stars.

("What do your adoptive parents do?" Jason Todd asks him, one arm slung over the back of the armchair, he looks relaxed. He looks tense. Danny feels like he's back in Crime Alley again.

"They're 'ectologists'." He says, making air quotes over the word. He rolls his eyes, "Ghost hunters. They study the dead and all things afterlife."

Jason Todd makes a dry laugh huff, a sarcastic half-smile on his face. He doesn't explain why he does, Danny doesn't ask why. It doesn't seem like his business.)

Danny wants to ask him where he got that white streak in his hair. It doesn't feel right. It feels like his parents' lab, and that isn't right. Nothing ever feels like his parents' lab.

Jason Todd leaves first after giving him a few book recommendations. Danny isn't sure how to rate the experience. Being in Jason Todd's presence was like standing in a liminal space. An empty parking lot at night. When he leaves it feels like much the same thing.

He struggles to read his books afterwards, unable to shake the feeling of being haunted.

[nevarroes]

page one | page two

now roll over already😖

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[justaz]

king merlin after meeting lady guinevere and sir lancelot’s baby and falling in love: arthur. i want a baby.

king arthur, not looking up from his paperwork: …what?

merlin: give me a baby.

arthur, sighing: merlin, you studied to be a physician. i don’t think i have to be the one to tell you how impractical that is.

merlin, rolling his eyes: this is why i’m the brighter side of the coin

arthur, finally looking up: wha-

queen merlin using magic to transform her body: i. want. a. baby.

arthur:

arthur:

arthur: *stands up from his desk so fast his chair topples over, multiple parchments flutter to the ground, his tunic is already off*