#oh well;; ^^ hope you enjoy!!

[myers-meadow]

A sneaking suspicion: Mischa (OC) x reader

Title: A sn(e)aking suspicion

Pairing: my OC Mischa x reader.

Summary: During a ghost hunting case in an old university, things don't add up. There's a strange sound in the walls, and as you dread having to tell the headmisstress about the bullying that took place, you search deeper. And deeper. There you find a sorcerer, a being of magic, who has a proposition for you.

Warnings: threats of violence, mentions of bullying, a snake. Nothing graphic. Reader has long hair.

Word count: 2324 words

Here he is!! I hope you enjoy this first introduction into this new world (that isn't all too different from ours), and that you have fun meeting Mischa! ✨ Please let me know what you think; reblogs, comments are all very welcome! If you have anymore questions about this universe or about the characters - don't be shy, I'd love to answer them <3. Thank you so much again for your encouragment and kindness @vincent-sinclair-deserved-better @devil-doll13 @house-of-slayterr <3

Dividers by delishlydelightfuldividers

“So, this college,” I started, looking at the headmistress’ stern face, “is haunted?”

Sharing a look with my ghost hunting partner and boyfriend, Timo, just as his gaze flickered over to me with the same concern. Something really serious must have happened here if the haunting was legitimate. Which will unavoidably be something headmistresses don’t like having to deal with.

“The students said the apparitions manifested mostly in the girl’s bathroom on the second floor. Follow me.”

Her heels clacked on the pristine marbled floors, and before long, the door to the haunted bathroom swung open. It smelled strange inside, like a mix of food gone bad and pine scented cleaning supplies. Timo stepped in first, setting down his big backpack to take out some equipment. He handed me the tripod to set up as he took the camera from its case. Walking around the space, white with bright LED lighting, I tried feeling a spot where it would be good in. Nothing felt out of the ordinary yet, so I settled for in the corner, with sight of the mirrors and the door to the hallway, rather than the toilet stalls.

“All good?” Timo asked, and I nodded. He screwed the camera on top of the tripod, as he did so, I checked out the stalls. To see if there was any writing, any cold spots, weird gusts of wind… Nothing. Only a very strange sound from the pipes overhead. As if something… slithered. Not water, no, and not the creaking of old pipes either. There was no toilet cover, so instead I hiked up my skirt and stepped up on the seat to see if I could hear it better. Just as I reached up to the ceiling, Timo pushed open the door to the stall.

“What you doing in here?” he asked. The noise faded.

“Thought I heard something,” I mumbled, letting him help me down.

“And?” the headmistress started, tapping her foot impatiently. “What did you find?”

“Nothing yet, ma’am,” said Timo, and took out some more equipment. Temperature sensor, listening device…

“Are there any other locations that are said to be haunted?” I asked, to keep the headmistress occupied.

She shook her head. “But I wouldn’t know, perhaps you’d better talk with the students.”

And so I did. The weird sound seemed to follow me through the walls or ceiling. When asked, the headmistress said it was old copper pipes, but it seemed unlikely. The rushing of water when someone took a shower was also audible, but this was distinct. The interviews with the students were as expected; no, they didn’t see much, no, they never messed with the occult, no, they never went left their rooms past curfew. They were lying, of course. There was one girl, more quiet than the rest, who received strange looks from the others. After I said we were done with the questions, the group relaxed. On the way out, it just so happened I was heading in the same direction that the lone girl was: the library. She looked clever, with sharp brown eyes.

“I can tell there’s something no one’s telling me. And I don’t mean sneaking out after curfew, I don’t care about that.”

She regarded me from the side, clutching her book bag to her chest. “You’re not gonna tell the headmistress?”

I shook my head with a laugh. “I frankly don’t care if you went out after curfew, did drugs or went to the boy’s wing. This is just my job. If we solve whatever’s going on, we get paid. The rest doesn’t matter to me.”

With a strange look, she leaned in closer and said: “Have you ever seen Carrie?”

It was almost unbelievable; a case of bullying so severe that the poor girl left school (some say she went home, others say she died, we can’t know for sure), and now her ghost and residual bad memories haunted the place. After this came out and I confronted the earlier students a second time, they had more details to share. Some recalled ‘buckets worth of blood falling from the ceiling’, or pipes bursting. Weird whispers in the library, things levitating, all of that was seen, according to students. The girl who talked to me was one of the reluctant bystanders of the bullying, and it was a great relief to her to finally have adults involved. Something still bothered me, though. What was the noise then? Those could hardly be described as whispers. We’d have to talk to the student who went home after this phase of research was done, and it felt like an idle hope to have our questions cleared up fully. None of it added up.

Checking in with Timo went as usual, he said we needed more evidence (partly for the case, partly for on the blog), so even though I wanted to get out of there, we’d be there for a while. He wasn’t one to listen to feelings and dismissed my suspicions. Sometimes a case is just too easy, but to him that was just a lucky one. Not particularly feeling like keeping the headmistress company and hearing her “How could this happen, and right under our noses!” for much longer than needed, so I went off following the strange noise in the walls.

The university was inside of a strange, old building, older than I previously thought. And larger, almost maze-like. Some parts of it had bullet holes still in the walls, and I traced my fingers over them as I listened for the direction of the sounds. Deeper, and lower, my search took me. There was a cellar, with racks for wine, and behind one of the large barrels was a wooden door, that led to a backroom. The deeper I went, the more the feeling that something wasn’t right with this school crept up on me. After descending a ladder – which should have really been a red flag – there were tunnels. That in itself wasn’t strange, lots of old buildings have tunnels, right?

It was dark, but decently lit enough with the flashlight on my phone. The space smelled of dirt and stale water, a natural scent. The stones of the small tunnel were worn down in spots, moss growing in the cracks. After a bit, symbols lined the walls and my heart hammered in my chest. This wasn’t a simple ghost, this was occultism. I was right, something’s down here! Timo’ll never believe me. Some of the symbols reminded me of old sigils, but it was hard to tell, as they were crudely etched into the imperfect bricks. I turned a corner, trying to listen, but there was only the echo of my footsteps and the blood rushing in my ears. A sound echoed, different, almost a voice, and I halted, heart skipping a beat. Again, it was… hissing. The hissing of an animal. Covering my phone flashlight with my hand, I inched closer, letting the smallest bits of light be enough. The sound moved away. Not wanting to lose whatever was down here, wanting so stupidly badly to find out what it was, I followed the sound hastily. Another corner and- a door. Light shone from under it. There was only half a thought of how strange it was, for this tunnel system to end in such an ordinary looking door, but it didn’t stop me from opening it.

Inside was a room, lit by candles and oil lamps. A much more welcoming space, compared to the damp tunnels. A somewhat normal room, a study, with a desk, chairs, a bookshelf. The back wall was lined with pillars, gaping darkness beyond them. And by the desk in the middle of the room a man. He turned as he heard me come in, and beckoned me in.

I wanted to say something, ask what he was doing here, who he was, but nothing came out, as I stared at the symbols drawn on the floor. They came to a central point and I made a mental note to avoid its centre.

“Welcome,” the man said, “make yourself at home.”

At first I thought this could be a misunderstanding, but the shivers that ran down my spine were sure this was nothing good.

“Who are you?”

“I’m surprised you got this far. You are here because of the,” he waved his hands around, “happenings upstairs?”

“That was you? They thought it was a ghost.”

There were markings on his face, small ones, but enough to show he wasn’t an ordinary man. A sorcerer. I’ve only heard the stories, enough to make my heart skip a beat. He smiled as if he knew.

Softly, he spoke words in an entirely different language and the sound from before returned, closing in, growing louder. Then, through the pillars, the head of a giant monstrosity of a dragon- no! A snake! I stared at it, slapping my hand in front of my mouth in shock at the size of it. Those horror movies with the giant snake in the rain forests hold no candle to this one. To witnessing it in person. Like standing in the middle of a storm, aware of the brute force of nature, of how small and insignificant my tiny human life is. The creature, flicking its tongue out to smell the air – smell my fear – and slid more and more of her into the room. Her body was long too, and soon she blocked off the exit I came in here with, and kept going. I turned around to keep looking at her, in a circle. It was as if there was no end to her.

“You and that boyfriend of yours make a nice team.” The man spoke again and in my amazement, I’d almost forgotten he was there. My eyes snapped up to his.

Bewildered, I pointed to the snake, who coiled more of itself into the room, already pushing the desk aside to reach its master.

“She is yours?”

“It's easy to tell you're the real brain behind your operation," he continued without answering the question. "A bit reckless though, going down into an old tunnel system all by yourself. No one knows you're here."

That settled like icy water in my veins. He smiled, the crow’s feet around the corners of his eyes made him look almost kind. The snake finished another lap around the room and I had to move closer to the centre of the room to avoid touching her.

"Why pick this place, this university?" I asked, perhaps to find out his motivations, to buy time until the snake gaped open its maw and devours me. Feverishly looking at any possible exit but all there was, was the snake and its glistening scales.

"Are you afraid of her?" Between the slithering and the glimmer, he stood perfectly still. “Her name’s Belle.”

“Nice to meet you, Belle,” I said, sarcastically, not daring to take my eyes off of him. The body of the snake was cold to the touch, it pushed me closer to the centre of the room.

“Will you not introduce yourself?” and he said my name. It rolled off his tongue with ease, the lilt in his voice making it sound foreign, like a spell. How did he know?

“Seems there’s no need.” Another cautious step closer, feeling the snake behind me, touching the braid that hung down my back.

“I’m Mischa,” he said, reaching out to touch her skin absentmindedly. I thought she’d stop moving at his touch, but she didn’t.

Took a sharp breath, and answered with politeness. Another “pleased to meet you”, and a proper introduction. The sorcerer nodded in acknowledgement. Every few breaths I had to shuffle closer, the space quickly growing cramped.

"Someone as hard-headed as you, with wits like you, would make a great partner. Too bad the one you have now is this slow and incompetent."

We were at arms distance then. He smelled of moss, of wet dirt. Lazily his gaze trailed over me, the growing panic didn’t affect him. "You must've noticed you’re not leaving here alive-" I nodded, both hands bracing against the snake at my back, as I leaned as far away from him as possible. "But that would be a waste, would it not? Would you hear my proposition?"

If he keeps talking this slowly I’ll be crushed before he finishes. I nodded wildly.

"Why don't you give up your silly ghost hunt, and become my partner instead?" Just as the distance shrunk as the snake forcefully pushed me closer, only the length of a forearm left. Mischa’s hand fell into the hair at the nape of my neck. He dragged his nails over my scalp idly. When he spoke again, his voice dropped lower, an intimate, secretive tone. "Be my apprentice… I'll teach you the language of snakes, or how to shape fire, how to conjure elementals, how to sprout a tree from a seed, levitate objects with just your mind... Just say the word, and leave that pesky boyfriend behind. Great deeds are waiting for us."

I avoided his eyes, my silence taken as resistance. With cold fingers he tilted my chin up to look him in the eye.

"You might want to consider if there's much of your partner left to go back to, if you think it best to refuse my offer." And his smile then was anything but kind. A tongue, forked like that of a snake darted out to wet his lips, and my predicament was claustrophobic. The fright of my heart, irregular, a sharp gasp instead of an answer. What was there to answer? There is no retort for this but- anything but death. Mischa saw my thoughts form, reading me like an open book. Saw how my resilience crumbled, and leaned down to seal my fate with a cruelly tender forehead kiss.

[hailsatanacab]

Family Dinners - dpxdc

"Holy shit, you're Bruce Wayne!" Danny gaped, jabbing a finger at the man sitting at the head of the table.

The bustling dining room goes silent as everyone turns to look at him.

"Danny, who did you think was going to be here?" Tim asks, disbelief plain in his voice and Danny feels his face flush red.

"Sorry, I, uh, I guess I just never put it together. Tim Drake-Wayne. Wayne Manor. It, uh, makes sense now." He laughs sheepishly and scrubs at his neck before slumping back down into his chair.

"Well," Tim says with an indulgent sigh, "at least I know you're not just friends with me for my connections."

"Yeah, I'm really sorry, I just never thought about it, I guess."

Danny sinks lower as everyone around him laughs. Come to dinner, he said, the food is the best, he said, ignore the family, he said. Danny really wishes he'd listened to Tim and just ignored them—almost as much as he's regretting accepting the offer in the first place—but... he's having dinner with Batman.

Ancients, that's so weird!

The last time he saw Batman was in the future and, suffice it to say, it was not going well. There hadn't really been time for family dinners there.

Wait. Family dinners?

He peers around the table, openly gawking at everyone as it all clicks into place.

"Everything alright, Danny? Now realising who everyone else is?" Tim asks with a roll of his eyes.

"Uh... something like that..." Danny mumbles as everyone laughs again.

From further down the table, the smallest Wayne scoffs and clicks his tongue.

"I thought you said he was smart, Drake?"

"So, you all do it, too, then?" he asks, ignoring the jibe. Danny's only a little bit jealous as he thinks of how much easier they must have it, how much easier it'd be if his family had been on his side, too. "You all work together?"

"Nah," Dick says from across the table with a brilliant grin. "Tim's the only one that works with Bruce, we all have different jobs. I'm a police officer in Bludhaven."

"Disgusting." Danny blurts out without thinking—because seriously, what kind of self-respecting vigilante would also be a police officer?—before clapping a hand over his mouth. "Sorry."

The whole table laughs again, the loudest being the blonde girl a few spaces down from Dick. Look, Danny wasn't really paying attention to names when they were all paraded in front of him. Dick only gets remembered because his name is a joke.

Come on, Danny, recover!

"That's, uh, not what I meant, though."

"Oh?" Dick asks, cocking his head slightly to the side. Is it Danny's imagination or does his smile tense slightly?

"Yeah, I mean like, you know, in costume. It must make it so much easier to have everyone together like this."

"Costume? What do you mean?"

Yeah, Danny's not imagining it, everyone tenses up at that. It's really only now that he's realising that this probably isn't how he should bring up that he knows about their... night time activities. In fact, he probably shouldn't be bringing it up at all.

"Uuhhh..." Danny looks wildly around the table as he continues making his stupid noise. Think, think, think! There must be a way out of this!

"Danny?" Tim asks, looking concerned.

"Oh, Ancients, this isn't how I wanted it to go at all," he mutters, slipping even further into his chair. He's almost on the floor now and he so, so wishes it could just swallow him up.

His real first meeting with Batman was meant to be cool! He had planned to be Phantom, maybe save them from a tight spot, prove his worth as a mysterious and powerful ally as thanks for the help Batman gave him in the future.

"Danny, what are you talking about?" Tim starts tugging on his sleeve in an attempt to pull him back up from his pit of despair.

Eventually, Danny relents and sits up straighter, hiding his face in his hands and whining all the while.

"I'm sorry, I just didn't expect him to be here and it threw me off so now I look stupid and it's so embarrassing!" he wails, flailing his arms wide. "Why wouldn't you warn me that Batman was your adopted dad, Tim? Couldn't you have let me know?"

"I'm sorry, what? Danny are you alright? There's no way Bruce can be Batman, look at him!"

"Yeah," the blonde girl laughs from the bottom of the table, "look at him! That's a wet noodle of a man! Batman can actually do things, B is incapable of pretty much everything."

"Thank you, Stephanie," Bruce sighs, massaging his forehead.

It's... Those are the first words Danny's heard Batman say since everything went down and it's enough to knock him out of his embarrassment.

It's really good to hear his voice again. Especially now, when it's strong and healthy and full of personality—even if that personality is little more than a tired father right now—far better than how it had been, at the end.

Danny sits up, back straight, and grins. He's got this. He remembers it perfectly. Some people count sheep to fall asleep, Danny repeats his mantra to be certain that he'll never forget it.

"Gamma alpha upsilon tau iota mu epsilon, 42, 63, 28, 1 colon 65 dash 9."

Once again, the whole table falls into silence.

"Holy shit..." breathes the other D name (Duke? Danny's pretty sure he's Signal) from opposite Stephanie. "Isn't that...?"

"The time travelling code." The littlest Wayne says stiffly. "We have met in the future?"

"That's not just the time travelling code, Dami." Dick says, looking between Danny and Bruce. "That's the family time travelling code."

Danny's grin freezes in place.

"I'm sorry, what?"

"1 colon 65 dash 9." Dick explains, still flicking between him and Bruce. "It means you've been adopted into the family and we should all treat you as such, no questions asked."

"Tell you what, I'm about to ask a question." Danny says, dumbstruck. "You just told me it was a code to identify time travellers, not anything about being adopted! What the hell, B?"

Bruce looks about as shellshocked as Danny feels.

"We must have been close," he says finally, after opening and closing his mouth like a fish out of water a few times.

"No! Not that close!" Danny reels back, taking a deep breath ready to refute it all, but... "Well, I mean, you found me when I first got stuck, and you helped me get better despite being... And then we fought together against the, uh, bad guy, before he, um, he... before you couldn't."

An uncomfortable beat passes while they all pick up on what Danny tried so hard not to say.

"So, you're not from the future, then, you travelled there and came back?" Tim asks, breaking the tension and leaning forward with a glint in his eye.

"Yeah, it was a whole end of the world thing, but don't worry about it," Danny says with a hand wave, "It's all kosher now, won't ever happen."

"What did happen?"

"Seriously, don't worry about it, we cool."

"How long in the future was it?"

"About ten years? You were pretty spry for an old man, B," Danny laughs, wishing they'd get off the topic of what happened and get back to the adoption bit.

Everyone shares degrees of a cautious smile as they relax out of the shock, and Dick—whose grin is the biggest—says, "No wonder you got the family code, you're already riffing on him like one of us. How long were you there for?"

"A week, before I managed to get back to my present and stop him then."

"A week? Jeez, B, that has to set some kind of record, seriously."

"Oh!" Danny says, sitting bolt upright and blinking in surprise before pointing at Dick and bouncing in his seat. "You're Nightwing!"

"What?"

"That's exactly what Nightwing said when Batman told me the code! Makes so much more sense now."

Dick laughs and claps his hands, delighted.

"You were not formally adopted?" The grumpy small one—Dami?—asks, his face pinched.

"I didn't even know I was informally adopted."

"And your parents? Are they alive or dead?"

"Damian, stop—"

"They were dead in the future, but they're alive now." Danny says, looking down. He fiddles with the tablecloth, twisting the fabric around his fingers as he fights down the pang of sadness that he always feels when he thinks of them now. He forces a bright smile on his face and hopes it doesn’t look too strained. "I just, uh, can't talk to them much, anymore."

"Damian," Dick warns, "1 colon 65 dash 9. Treat them as family, no questions asked."

"This is Damian treating him as family, the little turd has no manners." Tim scoffs, rolling his eyes, but he gently bumps shoulders with Danny to knock him out of his funk. Danny can't help but send him a watery smile.

"I have the most exemplary manners, Drake, unlike some people." Damian spits, crossing his arms with a pout. "I was merely ascertaining his status to see how he could possibly fit into the family."

"I know this is all a bit sudden, Danny," Bruce smiles, ignoring Damian and reaching out to lay a warm hand on his arm, "for all of us. But if I felt strongly enough to give you that code after spending a week with you in the future, then you are more than welcome in this family, if you so choose it. I think I can speak for all of us when I say we'd like to get to know you a bit more."

"I know a threat when I hear it, Bruce." Danny snorts. "But, yeah, I get it. I'm sorry this is all so weird, it really wasn't how I wanted to find you again, but... I'm glad I did."

"So are we, Danny." Dick says, with a warm smile. "And formally or not, 1 colon 65 dash 9 means you're family. Welcome to the fun house! No take backs or refunds, sorry. You're stuck with us."

[help-itrappedmyself]

Dead on Main AU

Masterpost

Guys, I'm so sorry. But here's this!

~~~~

Danny blinks and he is somewhere else. He’s sitting at a dining room table, surrounded. There are so many people here. They’re all talking over each other, some yelling, some laughing. This scene comes as a great surprise to him, who -one blink ago- was trying and failing to do his homework at home in his room. Danny shoots up, his chair making a horrible noise as he pushes it away so fast it tumbles over. Everyone in the room turns to look over at him like he’s insane. 

“Oh my god, who are you people?” Danny did not mean to say this out loud, but at the sound of his voice he startles. Danny takes a moment to assess, and then, “Oh my god who am I?”  He is tall, and big, and this is certainly not his body, what is he wearing.

The boy sitting to the right of Danny, a little shorter than he is, with black hair and blue eyes (though now that he’s paying attention that does describe most people in the room),  starts chuckling lightly. “Uh, Jason? Are you good?” 

Danny turns to stare him right in the eyes. “What day is it?”

And he can tell the concern around the table is just ratcheting up every time he opens his stupid mouth.

“Did you hit your head on patrol?” The voice comes from the only blond and one of the only girls in the room, who's to the left of the person across from him. The person across from him is another boy with black hair and blue eyes who is studying Danny in a way that makes him uncomfortable, that under-a-microscope look that makes you feel like you’re failing at something.

“I have no idea if Jason hit his head.” Danny says. “I was just trying to remember if it was my birthday.”

And if he thought the room was busy when he first arrived here it is absolute pandemonium now. Everyone starts shouting and asking questions that he can’t even hear over the shouting. Someone with white hair in a suit just came through a door he didn’t even see earlier to stand by the only person not shouting, who -Danny would guess- is the only other adult in this room, witting at the head of the table. He also has black hair and blue eyes, and where almost everyone else’s reaction was panic, he froze instead. The person across from Danny also isn’t shouting, but the person next to Danny on his right has now fully stood up and looks like he might actually jump across the table to win the argument he ended up in. 

“Are you Jason’s soulmate?” is the main gist of the shouting that Danny can interpret but he’s more concerned with actual Jason at the moment. If they switched bodies... Then Jason might be in trouble…

“Hey, I forget, how long is this body swap supposed to last again?” Danny asks.

“Until you and Jason have physical contact. You have to actually meet.” The boy sitting across from him explains. He seems like one of the only ones that heard Danny talk, everyone else was still shouting. 

“Oh, that just seems terrible. What if we’re in different countries or something?” Danny complained. “Everyone in the world is just supposed to be able to drop everything and afford to fly across the world. The universe is really trying to screw people over now. Honestly, am I in a different country? Where even are we right now?”

“You’re in Gotham.” This voice was new, coming from the head of the table to Danny’s right. 

“Oh no. Nope.” Danny started backing away from the table, almost tripping on his overturned chair. “Absolutely not, no, how do I get out of here?” He starts earnestly looking for a door to get out of this place, but there are three doors he can see and he has no idea where any of them go, and doesn’t this room have any windows? What kind of a room doesn’t have any windows? Do they like to eat in a basement?

“Jason- not Jason. Uh, you need to calm down, everything will be fine alright, We’ll get you and Jason introduced no problem.” Danny swivels to track the voice and it’s the one who was sitting next to him, he’s walking towards him with his hands up and out in front of him. 

“I have to get home.” Danny breathes. 

“We can get you there, promise. Now, I’m Dick, can you tell me your name?”

“Your name is Dick? Who named you Dick?” Danny is so confused he’s stopped panicking. “How old are you for you to go by the name Dick?”

“Okay, rude.” Dick sounds like a petulant child so Danny’s estimations for his age are continuously dropping. “I’m 24.”

Danny snorts. “Okay.” The blond girl starts laughing over at the table. “I’m uh, I’m Danny.”

“Nice to meet you. Sort of. I’m Tim.” The guy from across from him had made it over to stand next to Dick. “There’s a lot of us here today so the one laughing like a hyena is Steph. That one there is Duke.” African-American, still with black hair but he has brown eyes and waves once introduced. “Damian is the short one next to him, and Cass was sitting across from Dick earlier. Our dad, Jason’s dad-” 

“Not my dad!” Steph interrupted. Tim waves her off.

“Everyone but Steph's dad, is over there, Bruce. Alfred, our butler is the one next to him.” Alfred gives a slight nod to his head. Bruce is just staring at him.

“So, names out of the way. You said you wanted to go home, where do you live?”

“Amity Park.”

[little-pup-pip]

Coloring!!

[mueritos]

happy pride to all queer children of immigrants

patreon

[pastelhooman]

[WVW Exchange Event 2023!]

"The kisses on your lash, your ears, on the nose that keeps scrunching. The kisses on your hand, on your cheeks, and the exchanging soft words waiting for the break of day."

----- ID under break -----

A total of 6 pages of comics, starting with a close up shots of vash kissing sleeping wolfwood's nose, eyes, lashes, and he furrows them a bit. an overhead shot of the two of them in a motel room, on the bed with vash leaning over wolfwood from the left, laying soft kisses on him. their legs tangled. their normal outfits are thrown haphazardly on the floor, instead donning comfortable clothes. on the outside, the very first ray of lights are yet to shine.

"what a face you're making pfft" - vash says as he grabs both of wolfwood's cheeks, squeezing them a bit. wolfwood mumbles, "There's something that keeps landing on my face, it tickles." he grabs the hand that is on his right cheek. "Well you're letting it happens anyways right?" Vash muses, bringing the hand up to kiss on its knuckles. "Good morning Wolfwood. It's almost dawn"

"… Isn't it way too soon?" - wolfwood asks, but keeps to himself the prayers he's sending to god because the the boy on top of him was such a sight to behold. Vash flops down onto him, leaving the hand hanging and lace his own hand into Wolfwood's hair, peppering kisses to the side of his face. "Yep" - he answers - "But you woke up on your own tho" - facetiously. He giggles, saying that it was a joke after a beat of silence. A sigh, "don't make me upside you first thing in the morning." Wolfwood closes his eyes, hand combing through golden strands. "Heh, how merciful~" "We have a meet up with Milly and Meryl today, remember?" Vash reminds him, which does raise some vague memory. wolfwood hums, the other hand reaching around vash's torso, hugging him. " So, the sooner we arrive, the less likely she'll chew through my head." - Vash adds. "riiiight. And you were SO urgent in waking me up." in wolfwood's hold, both of them slowly turn to the right, towards the edge of the bed.

Well, you were just soooo cute, I couldn't help it! didn't thinkk you'll actually wakE UAA-!"

the bed creaks under the sudden shift in weight as wolfwood tosses vash over and under him, arms firmly hugging him, one at his back and one at his head, hungrily dives down to kiss. "!! Wolf-! Wait-!" Vash yelps, leg instinctively curls around the other's man hip to hang on, trying his damnest to grip on his shirt as HE is now half airborne, barely has any contact with the bed on his upper body. However, wolfwood seems to have another idea as he keeps deepening the kiss, pointedly holding Vash close, hands spread guarding the back of his head as both of them are sliding off the soft fabric.

"THUD!" a resounding fall, possibly enough to wake the room downstairs, followed shortly by laboured breaths amist wet smacks of lips. Heaves and huffs of air exchanging between the two bodies when the need to breath made itself necessary. They press close, cradling each other, and are lost to their own world. After a while they had to part. Metal arm shifts through black locks, caressing down to his nape and they hold eye contacts there, with lidded eyes, strands of saliva thins then breaks.

Wolfwood pushes up on his arms, looking smugly down at his now disheveled partner: "Now this is how it's done, Needlenoggin." he remarks. Vash tries to wrangle his thoughts back in order, but strings of Wolfwood's name and a wonderous question keeps filling his mind, of whether he should risk it all and have fun for a bit more. Regardless, snapping out of his trance, Vash sourly asks, with a wry smile and an aching head: "But did you really need to roll off the bed?" "Wrong side, whoops" - Wolfwood anwers unseriously, laughing as he finds the situation quite amusing.

----- End of ID -----

[caffichai]

Goldenglow!

I like her colours and drip

She swept the last poll by a pretty sizable margin! Thanks everyone who participated!

[woolysstuff]

@particle70 Heya! I was your secret santa this year! :D

Hope you like your gift, it was a fun prompt to draw!

And don't worry about Moon, he's fine.... probably..

[alish-artie]

I really like the icons in the story mode of Splatoon 1, so I wanted to create some for my agent ocs in that style !

[itslilacokay]

told community id post this here later (its been about 10 hours)

[noxious-fennec]

3 years and I'm STILL IN THE FUCKING BUILDING... unbelievable... anyway happy re-bday to my pathetic cringefail politician

Alt ver. under the cut

***Massive disclaimer: i do not support the cc this is strictly about the fictional character

[haveihitanerve]

Batman falls into a coma and the JL aren't too worried. The doctors said he’d recover, although a time frame was still escaping them, and as far as they knew, everyone who needed to be informed about it was a JL member. Until the others started showing up. 

“Shit shit shit shit shit man!” Flash muttered, pacing frantically in the main room. “Hey, dude, chill out.” Green Lantern lifted a hand and a massive green hand slowed the Flash’s speed. “Relax man. You heard the doctors. He will be fine. Eventually. When he wakes up.” “If.” Green Arrow added a little quieter. Lantern shot him a look. “Not helping.” “So what? When he wakes up, if! We still let the Batman get hit on a mission with us! He’ll never go out with us again!” Barry flopped onto the couch in dismay. “Hey man its okay.” Oliver reached over a comforting hand and placed it on the speedsters shoulder. “You never know. And it was an honest… issue. None of us saw the hit coming and… well there was nothing we could do.” Hal nodded his agreement. “Exactly. Relax a little Barry.” The Zeta Tubes flashed open and Wonder Woman and Superman arrived. The three men snapped up. “Where is he?” Clark asked. Barry sighed and led the way to the med room where Batman was laying. Clark and Diana went to his sides, staring down at him with a mix of concern and contemplation on their faces. “We don't know what to do.” Hal threw out, unnecessarily. “Should we remove the cowl? I mean it would break trust but to know who he is-” “you cant.” Diana interrupted before he could continue. The men all whipped around to look at her. She gestured to Batmans face, right next to her hand. “You cant. I tried. It must be some protective contingency. If hes unresponsive then the mask sort of.. Seals itself to his face.” She sounded almost impressed. “Freaky.” Barry muttered. “Leave it to Bats to not trust us even unconscious.” Hal muttered. “He does trust you.” Clark reprimanded, sending the Lantern a hard look. “Otherwise he wouldn't have gone on that mission with you.” At the mention of that all three men winced. “Anyway,” Oliver redirected the conversation. “What should we do?” “Contact anyone you know who is related to him in some way.” Hal gestured at them. “That would be us.” “What about Nightwing?” Clark asked. “He was Batmans robin.” Diana nodded. “Yeah but hes.. Hes just like a kid. And who knows if Bats even is connected to him like that.” Hal pointed out. Diana shrugged, pulling out her Justice League pager. “Better to inform him and him not to care than have him care and not know.” She countered, sending a quick message. They conceded to her point. “Besides if he doesn't have that connection, at least we’ll get to hang with him.” Oliver added. “Yeah.” Barry agreed. “He’s always so cheerful and fun!” But when they settled down in the main room to wait, when he arrived Nightwing was anything but.

The JL members had all just about settled down when the Zeta Tube opened. Was flung open, more like it, and Nightwing came billowing out, face stormy. “Where is he?” He growled, and Barry swore lightning crackled in his hands. Hal’s finger shot up in the direction of the room. Nightwing stalked past them, hurrying into the room. The members exchanged looks and scuttled after him. Nightwing had taken a seat at Batman’s side, holding his hand with his own. “Oh B.” He murmured, voice unexpectedly gentle after the rage he had only just previously shown. “Um, Nightwing?” The man stood as they entered, though he kept a lose hold on Batman’s hand.  “What happened?” He asked. Ordered, was more like it. “We- we uh were on a mission at a nearby planet and uh,” Barry licked his lips nervously, caught off guard by Nightwing’s unwavering steely gaze, usually so friendly and open. “Uh well, we thought everything was clear to go when a hit came suddenly, right in the middle of us, exploding us in different directions. We uh, the rest of us,” He gestured between himself and the two Greens. “Landed okay but uh, Bats hit his head hard. He’s in a coma.” Nightwing’s jaw set. “The doctors are sure he will recover in due time.” Clark added hastily. Nightwing offered him a curt nod. “In what time?”  The silence was awkward and deafening. Nightwing’s eyes tightened. “I see.” He looked down at the Bat at his side. “Well, best to call the others then.” He sighed, looking up to meet their eyes. “You got any coffee?” 

Nightwing left soon after, downing his cup of coffee in one go and informing them he was going home to tell the others, and that he’d be back soon with some supplies and medical assistance. They barely had time to ask what on earth and who on earth before he was gone. “Well that went well-” Barry muttered, just as the Zeta Tube doors were flung opened for the second time in one day and a very large and very aggressive looking man stormed in the doors. “Um, excuse me hello?” Barry, Hal, and Oliver stood in his way. “Who the fuck are you?” The man squinted at them, eyes narrowing behind his red mask. “The name’s Red Hood. Wheres B?” Hal lifted his hand, ring glowing. “Now listen here-” He barely managed to spit out the last word before his hand was in the strangers and he was twisting, twisting twisting. Hal screamed as his fingers snapped, crumpling to the floor. The man, Red Hood apparently, looked down at him cooly. “Ill ask again: Wheres B?” Barry pointed a shaking hand to the room. Red Hood prowled past them, throwing open the door and making his way to Batmans side. “Gods B.” He groaned quietly, sitting down carefully at the edge of the bed. “Hypocrite.” He muttered, but they all cataloged the fact that he tucked the blanket tighter around Batman’s shoulders. “He broke my fucking fingers.” Hal hissed. Oliver barely glanced at his friend. “What you want us to let him break ours too to make you feel better? Theres gauze and a brace in the closet.” Hal sent him a dirty look as Barry helped him tape the fingers together, stabilizing them. “I made more coffee-” Clark started, freezing as he walked in. “What in the hell?” He gasped, examining Hal’s fingers. Hal pointed an accusing finger(the non broken one) at the med bay. “That sicko broke them when I tried to stop him from going in there.” Clark frowned, eyes narrowing. “Thats not-” 

The Zeta Tube dinged and opened, normally this time, instead of being thrown open, and two more others piled out. “So this is the Tower huh?” The one on the right mused, wearing a muted purple outfit. The man on her left nodded, wearing a red suit, a black X across the front. Both were wearing clearly emblazoned Bat symbols on their chests. “What a waste of money. He couldn't have spruced it up a bit?” The girl asked with distaste, but Hal swore he heard false cheerfulness in her voice. The man nudged her with his shoulder. Oliver coughed. The two turned to look at them. “Oh. Hello.” The girl greeted cheerfully. “Where’s B?” “Are you gonna break our fingers if we don't tell you?” Hal asked warily. The girl winced sympathetically. “We told Dickie we should've come first.” She sighed. “No, we won’t. At least, not yet.” Her smile was all the more terrifying after that statement. The boy rolled his eyes, shoving her. “Shut up you weirdo. I’m Red Robin.” He introduced. “My freaky friend here is Spoiler. We’re not in the business of breaking fingers….” he trailed off, a strange look overcoming his features. “We’re not in the business of breaking our not-fathers colleagues fingers.” Spoiler corrected for him cheerfully. Barry had a feeling she did everything terrifying cheerfully. Even if it sounded just a little forced. Hal paled. “Good to know.” Clark said a little weakly. Red Robin smiled faintly. “Yeah. Anyway, wheres B?” “Over here you nimrods.” the finger-breaker poked his head out the door. “Hood!” Spoiler hurried over and he held the door open for her to rush past. Red Robin excused himself as well, heading over. Clark, Oliver, and Diana, more intrigued than afraid(unlike Barry and Hal) also made their way over, hovering in the back. Spoiler perched on the side of the bed, reaching her hand for his face. “The mask wont come off.” Diana stopped her. “We’ve tried.” Red Robin sent them a look and Red Hood shuffled further away in disgust. Spoiler merely glanced casually over her shoulder. “Oh I wasn't gonna.” She trailed a finger down his cheek, resting it on his neck. “He’s alive S.” Red Robin murmured quietly, taking her hand. Spoiler nodded jerkily. “I would hope so or I just dragged poor doc up here for nothing.” Came another voice and Hal almost breathed a sigh of relief as Nightwing appeared, three more people with him. “The O’s are watching Gotham, but they said he’d better wake up before they hurts someone.” His gaze drifted to the Justice League for a quick second before darting away again. Barry swallowed. The child at his side, because thats what it was, a child, sniffed hauntily. “If they can get here in time.” Red Hood chuckled, reaching down to heft the boy onto his hip. “Thats what I’m saying Demon Brat.” Clark and Barry exchanged glances at the insulting nickname, somehow said fondly. “Oh leave it alone you insufferable children.” said a lofty voice. Said voice came from the woman at Nightwings side, and she drifted casually into the room, taking a seat next to the bed. “Catwoman?” Barry exclaimed in disbelief. She offered him, appropriately, a feline smile. “In the flesh.” Nightwing chuckled, nodding to the last person in his little entourage, another female, older, with wispy white hair. “Dr. Leslie Tompkins.” Nightwing introduced them. The, civilian, for her part, didn't flinch in the face of so many heroes, instead making a beeline for the bed where she began her work. “Ok- wait, why are you all here?” Oliver finally asked, running a hand through his hair in disbelief. The kids, because thats what they were, all laughed. “These lovely strays,” Catwoman introduced, smiling as she waved a hand around to encompass the company. “Are Batmans brood. His children.” She elaborated. “And we’re missing a few too.” Nightwing muttered. The JL stared at them with open mouths. “Ah, um, okay.” Hal stuttered out finally. “And uh, who are you?” Catwoman smiled, a smile that meant pure trouble. “Oh me? I’m no one.” She lifted her right hand to reveal the sparkly diamond ring on her finger. “Only his wife.” 

Needless to say, when Batman finally woke up, he was met with the sight of his entire family, his doctor, and a very confused Justice League. The first thing he did, after kissing his wife hello and hugging all of his children, was groan. "Oh alright already." He muttered, and slipped off his cowl. "Hello Justice League, my name is Bruce Wayne." Oliver fainted.

[iwritenarrativesandstuff]

On Kurapika's Self-Imposed Isolation

While I recognize that probably everything I'm about to say is going to be super obvious, I just wanted to briefly touch on Kurapika's self-isolation, and the reason behind his not picking up his phone or exchanging anything more than clipped words and business after Yorknew.

I think the obvious answer is that Kurapika doesn't want his friends in harms way, or to be used as a bargaining tool against him. This is an understandable and probably accurate conclusion. After all, Gon and Killua did get taken hostage, and Kurapika was forced to negotiate an exchange. Chrollo picked up on Kurapika's "weakness" right away - that he values his friends' safety before his revenge. Fortunately for Kurapika in this situation, Pakunoda was a whole lot more similar to him than he would've cared to admit, as she placed a value on Chrollo's life even though everyone in the Spider was intended to be replaceable. So, now that he's been through Gon and Killua having potentially gotten killed or seriously hurt, and Chrollo knows that he has a soft spot for them, it does make sense that he would try to push them away for their safety and for the sake of not having an exploitable "weakness" in future. He may also not want to burden them more when they have their own lives to live - he does slip off without telling Gon and Killua for the sake of not distracting them from Nen training, after all.

Except that he already tried all this earlier in Yorknew arc. He tried to tell them they shouldn't get involved, and they all agreed that the risks were massive - but his friends agreed to undergo the risks anyways to help him. Kurapika was even grateful for it - "I have been blessed with good friends."

So, for him to push them away solely for this reason after the fact, knowing that this was very much a likely situation to happen, is a little odd to me. Kurapika knows full well that Leorio would be frustrated, Killua would be offended and Gon would worry. So, I think there's a little more to it than that, and I actually would venture to say that "keeping his friends out of danger" is more a secondary reason for his actions - one that would come across as more of a reasonable excuse to others.

The primary reason is likely a lot more selfish than that. Kurapika has to ensure his mission comes first. And unfortunately, he is fully aware that his path and choice in abilities is deeply self-destructive.

Kurapika needs to make sure that he doesn't have exploitable weaknesses, sure, but he also just as much needs to purposefully worsen his headspace - and he can't do that with those three around.

Think back, what are the happiest moments we see from Kurapika in the series? The one that comes to mind first, and the one I'm sure most of us will think of immediately, is this:

[ID: A screenshot from the 2011 anime adaptation. Kurapika smiles - he looks at ease. End ID.]

It's one of the sweetest scenes of the series imo, right before the whole group is reunited for the first time since the Zoldyck Family arc, and it's even more notable because it comes immediately on the tail end of this...

[ID: Three panels from HxH Chapter 101. Kurapika removes his contacts over the sink. His expression is distant. End ID.]

...and this...

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 101. A close up of Kurapika's vacant and furious expression, his eyes wide and dangerous as he says "It might as well be you." Though the art is in black and white, it's apparent his eyes have gone scarlet. End ID.]

...and this.

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 101. A distant Kurapika speaks on the phone on a rooftop at night, the cityscape of Yorknew around him dark, but speckled with lights and stars. He says "The Spiders are dead." His face is not visible to the reader. End ID.]

This is, up to this point in the series, Kurapika at his lowest. In contrast to Gon, who is happy to hear that the Spiders are dead already because now Kurapika can focus solely on finding his peoples' eyes, Kurapika... is clearly not happy - and that's because killing the Spiders himself isn't just revenge. It's penance. It's survivor's guilt. Kurapika's powers, which Izunavi even comments sound much like he is chaining himself in the process of chaining his enemies, are oh-so-beautifully prophecied to destroy him - and Kurapika was aware of this from the moment he set off down this path of revenge.

(As a side note, this is why I'm really hoping we see Gon and Kurapika interact again after the Chimera Ant arc - while Gon has always been pretty attentive to Kurapika's emotional state, in Yorknew, he lacks a true understanding of why Kurapika would go so far... but as of now, he understands rage fueled by guilt and grief all too well. I know we're all rooting for Leorio to reach Kurapika, but barring that, I really think Gon could get through to him - after all, they are similar in several ways, and I find it fairly apparent that Gon reminds Kurapika of Pairo.)

But back to the main point here - I do suspect Kurapika expects (if not wants) his revenge mission to destroy him. I think a lot of times, we forget just how young Kurapika is, and how much his character is dictated by honour, and the abandonment of it.

Certainly, he can and will go against his principles for the sake of his mission... yet, almost paradoxically, he's bound to his promise to his fallen clan; a promise to avenge them made in anger.

But Kurapika... doesn't come across as a naturally angry person to me at all.

He seems like the stoic, vengeful type on his initial introduction... and then we get his panic at Gon's recklessness

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 2. Kurapika and Leorio wear matching expressions of panic in front of Gon, calling him out for his recklessness. End ID.]

...and his near-immediate forgiveness of Leorio after getting the first inkling of his character - of someone who cares just as fiercely as he does.

And after that point? Almost all through the Hunter Exam? Kurapika smiles so readily at them. He's sharp and funny. He mediates at times, but is stubbornly prideful in others. He's very amused by his friends' antics, and it really does seem like he starts to enjoy himself, with them. And, more than that, he counters Leorio's initial impression of him as an independent loner - on several occasions. He decides to follow Gon because Gon intrigues him. Asides from Gon, it is Kurapika who is the most unwilling to fight each other at the bottom of Trick Tower. Kurapika who makes the first move to team up with Leorio, even though that arrangement benefits Leorio much more than it does him. Kurapika who refuses to abandon Leorio to his fate in the cave, and who checks on Gon after noticing his bad mood. Who was furious enough watching him get beat down by Hanzo that his eyes went scarlet for the first and only instance outside of Spider mentions and Emperor Time. Who quite readily detoured to help rescue Killua.

[ID: Three screenshots from the 2011 adaptation Hunter Exam arc. In the first, Kurapika smiles at a sleeping Leorio. In the second, Kurapika stifles laughter as he pretends he's asleep. In the third, Kurapika has an open-mouthed smile as he acquires the airship tickets for them, Leorio and Gon standing behind him. End ID.]

Look at him! He's so bright! So happy!

...too happy. Too happy to do what he promised himself he would do. And that's his biggest fear, isn't it. Without his rage... what is he left with?

[ID: A panel from HxH chapter 2. A close up of Kurapika's eye as he says "I do not fear death. What I fear is that my rage will one day fade away." End ID.]

Kurapika is far, far less mired in anger when he's with his friends. I actually dare to say that at certain points, he was able to go for lengths of time without thinking much about it - alternating between almost forgetting in one instance and being hit like a sledgehammer on exposure to a reminder in the next. This violent swing is... actually the beginnings of the natural process of healing from loss and trauma. But to Kurapika, who's made a promise to his people's memories, this is not a relief. This is betrayal.

I think that actually scares him, that he can almost picture it. A life beyond his guilt. That he, too, could learn to be happy, even after unimaginable loss.

And so, as Kurapika continues his mission offscreen, finding more and more gruesome reminders of the cruelty inflicted on his people and losing more and more pieces of himself in the process (in his own words, no less), he prioritizes his responsibility to them, and pushes away his distractions. He cannot be a soul at peace until his work is done; he must be in turmoil. He pushes people away who he cares for, and binds himself, and keeps his people's eyes on him, quite literally, because respite, for him, is unacceptable. Perhaps that guilty part of him even hopes, by the end of this, that his soul will be so unrecognizable as to be fundamentally unsalvageable. But the truth of the matter is, or at least what comes across to me, is that Kurapika cares much more fiercely than he hates. He knows what matters most. And for as long as he does, he still hasn't truly lost himself.

[ID: A panel from HxH chapter 350. Kurapika looks down at baby Woble with a gentle, yet complicated expression. The inking is somewhat softer. End ID.]

Kurapika's soul is kind, really. And it wants to heal - but for the sake of his mission, he needs it damaged and bleeding. And so, he forces himself to exist in that pain. All alone.

[ID: A panel from HxH Chapter 344. Kurapika, dressed in a black suit, sits with his back to the reader, looking down at a photo in his hand. He is slumped a little before the church vigil he has prepared, all his clan's eyes lined up in their jars and honoured with flowers and candles. He thinks to himself "There is no home for me to return to... and nobody to welcome me back. I have nothing left." End ID.]

[caramelly-art]

[dandylovesturtles]

Hello, I'm back again with another fic. This one is set right after the Hidden City episodes.

I got inspired by this pic of Leo, because I thought it was funny that they included the little hairs sticking out even while he's in the jail cell:

-----

Splinter's light is on. Which is odd, because he's certain he didn't leave it that way.

He'd fallen asleep in front of the big projector, and woke up to the sound of his sons playing one of those racing games they love. He'd told them not to stay up too late (something he was sure would be ignored) and then made his way back to the atrium to fall asleep in his room in front of his tube TV.

But light spilling out from under the door. When he gets closer, he can hear the sound of someone rummaging around inside.

Immediately, the worst case scenarios flood his head. One of their enemies has found them and is just inside, plotting some kind of attack against his life, or the lives of his children. They are just feet away, their shouts echoing down the corridor and into the atrium. Should he run and warn them? Or should he fight off the intruder?

In the end, he decides to go forward rather than back, creeping closer to the door. Silently he slides it open, just enough that he can look inside.

And there... is Blue, rummaging with intent through his nightstand drawer.

(Now that he thinks about it, there had been only three turtles in the TV room when he left. He'd just assumed Blue was in the bathroom, or getting a snack.)

He opens the door the rest of the way with much more sound, causing his son to jump a solid two feet in the air. "Blue! What are you doing?"

"GAH!" Blue whirls around, his hand held tight against his chest. "Holy crap, Dad! You gave me a heart attack!"

"Ninja should be more aware of their surroundings! Were you even watching the door?"

"I didn't think I would have to in my own house!"

"Well, let that be a lesson to you." Splinter folds his arms. "What are you looking for?"

Blue lowers his hands and shuffles back a step, grinning. "Looking for something? Whaaat makes you think I was looking for something?"

Splinter looks at the drawer Blue had been digging in when he arrived, its contents a mess. Blue glances at it as well, then back at Splinter.

"It was like that when I got here."

Splinter is not impressed. "Mm-hm."

"Heh, well... okay, I was looking for something, but I don't see it so I guess you don't have it." Blue eyes the atrium beyond Splinter, clearly trying to figure out how to slip past him. "Sooo I'll just be going now, haha!"

He tries to make his escape, but Splinter is quicker - he leaps up in the air, suspending himself in the doorframe, so that he is eye level with Blue just as he approaches.

"Blue. Tell me what you were looking for."

"Nothing important, seriously-"

"Leonardo-"

"A razor," he says quickly. "I was looking for a razor."

That... was not an answer he would have expected. Splinter can't keep the bafflement off his face. "A razor?"

"To shave with," Leo elaborates.

Splinter can't help but laugh at that, squinting at his son's smooth and hairless face. "Don't you feel like that is some wishful thinking, Blue?"

"Ugh!" Blue scowls at that, folding his arms. "I'm serious! Here, look at my head."

He bends his neck, and Splinter now sees what he's talking about: blonde hairs, scraggly and uneven, that dot his sons scalp in no discernable pattern. Splinter hadn't noticed it earlier, but his eyesight isn't what it used to be.

"What- where did those come from!?"

Blue straightens his head back up, looking both irritated and embarrassed. He doesn't seem eager to answer, but now that Splinter is thinking about it, this feels familiar...

Right! Yesterday, in the Hidden City! He'd gone to find Blue to borrow his odachi, and when he'd gotten there, Blue had a full head of blonde hair...

Ah.

Splinter lets himself drop to the ground. "Your hair yesterday... it was not a wig?"

Blue chews his lip for a moment before finally admitting, "It was some kind of... living hair yokai."

"Oh no... you let one of those on your head!? They are very dangerous! They sap your energy for themselves and take control of your sleeping body!"

"Yeah, that would have been great information to have a day ago." Blue rubs the top of his head self-consciously, then scowls. "Some of the hair stuck around, and... It just looks stupid, and it's kinda itchy, so..."

"Ah. Well, if I remember correctly, it will fall out on its own in a few days."

"Oh." Blue hesitates, then starts out the door again. "Okay. Well, uh... I'll get out of your hair, then."

He grins awkwardly as he slides past, and Splinter realizes just in time that he has not handled this correctly.

"Blue, wait," he says, and his son freezes just outside, glancing back over his shoulder. Splinter leaves him standing there, and goes to his dresser, pulling a thin black box out of one of the top drawers. There's an old shaving kit inside, complete with a razor that is still sharp. Splinter's not sure why he's kept it around, since he doesn't shave since becoming a rat (unless he's sick with the Rat Flu, of course, but for that he uses the electric trimmer), but he supposes it will come in handy tonight.

He walks back to Blue, holding the razor above his head. "Aha! Here we go."

"Oh! Thanks, daddio," Blue says with a grin, reaching out to take it - but Splinter does not hand it to him.

"Absolutely not. If you try to shave your own head you'll just carve yourself like a turkey." He lowers the razor and steps past Blue, into the atrium. "Grab a stool and meet me in the bathroom. I'll do it for you."

He doesn't hear Blue's footsteps moving. "Seriously? Come on, I can do it myself."

"No complaints!" He beckons Blue on with his tail. "Come on! I know exactly what I'm doing!"

"...Ough boy," Blue mutters, but he moves to do as Splinter's told him, and that's enough.

-----

They reconvene in the bathroom, as he instructed. He has Leo sit on the stool in front of the sink - it just works out that he can lean his neck against the basin, while Splinter perches in the sink itself for a good view.

"Now, I think we might have... Aha, here we go!"

He pulls shaving cream out of the medicine cabinet; again, he's not sure why they have this, since none of them shave, but he wouldn't be surprised if the boys use it to pull pranks on each other. Besides, it just feels like a normal thing to have in a home full of men, even if they don't strictly need it.

He squirts some into his hand, then layers it across Blue's scalp. Blue giggles like he's ticklish, and Splinter shooshes him, even though he can't keep a little grin off his face at that.

Then he carefully starts to shave across Blue's scalp, starting in the middle and working his way out. The hairs are pretty sparse, but some of them are too fine for him to see, so it's better to just do the whole scalp and be sure to catch them all.

"Why is it that you let the yokai on your head in the first place?" he asks a few strokes in. He's curious about it, after all.

"I didn't let it," Leo argues. "I got tricked. The guy who gave it to me told me it was just a potion to grow hair."

"Aaaah... And it was a scam. I'm guessing that's how you came to be in jail when we got there?"

"Yeah."

"Well, that's alright." Splinter pats his shoulder. "Live and learn!"

Though, that didn't answer the question Splinter had actually been getting at. Blue says nothing else, so he tries again.

"But... why did you want to grow hair?" When Blue doesn't answer right away, he adds, "Do you wish you had hair?"

"No," says Blue. "...Yes. ...Maybe?"

Splinter has to bite back a chuckle. "I see."

Blue sighs, wringing his hands in his lap. "I mean, I guess I never really thought about it too much? It's fun to wear wigs sometimes, but I never really cared about being bald, before..."

He trails off. "Before?" Splinter prompts.

Blue is chewing on his lip again. "Have you ever heard of Hirsute? The fancy beach club?"

"Oh, of course!" Splinter grins at the recognizable name. Now that he remembers, wasn't that where he'd found Blue? "They have veeery strict requirements for membership, but of course I was always allowed in because Lou Jitsu had such perfect-"

He cuts himself off, looking down at Blue, the peeks of his bald scalp through the shaving cream. Finally, he has all the pieces.

"...They wouldn't let you in, would they?" he asks, hands stilling in their task.

Blue chuckles dryly. "Even better. I got in but they threw me out."

"...Hmph." Splinter gives his foot a stomp against the porcelain. "Well, who needs their resort, anyway? Honestly, their drinks were overpriced and their steaks were always too dry."

"I already saw how nice it was, Dad, but thanks for trying to help."

"Mm, well, we will find an even nicer one! One that does not discriminate."

"Yeah, sure," says Blue, but he sounds downcast. And really, Splinter doesn't know what to tell him. He doesn't know how they would find this mythical tolerant beach club.

"You've... always told us to be careful, with humans," says Blue after a few moments of silence. His eyes are locked on the ceiling, hands still held tight in his lap. "About not letting them see us, and all that."

"...Yes," says Splinter sadly. He wishes it wasn't so, but it was for their safety. "I was worried... about how they would treat you boys."

"I know," says Blue. "And I get it. I know not everyone is April."

"Unfortunately not," Splinter agrees.

"But even most of the humans who've actually met us... They were cool with it, or at least, if they hate us, it's for non-turtle reasons. So it was like, I knew that there were humans who would be scared, or who might even try to hurt us, but they were always... You know." Blue waves his hand in the air. "Like... a concept, or whatever."

"Hmmm... Abstract?" Splinter suggests, and Blue snaps his fingers.

"Yeah! Abstract. I didn't have a face or a voice, just a vague idea that someone could be a jerk to me. And..." He lowers his hand and rubs it up and down his arm. "I thought since I knew that, I wouldn't be surprised when it finally happened? But... then an actual person was looking at me, a real person, and telling me that I wasn't good enough. Telling me that I wasn't allowed in just because of something I can't even help, just... the way my head is, and... and I don't know. It was just way worse than I thought it was going to be."

Splinter's hands still again, his heart clenching in his chest. Oh, his son. His sweet Baby Blue...

"And," Blue continues quickly, "I know it's dumb, it's just a snooty beach club, and it's just hair, and I just need to get over it-"

"Blue," Splinter cuts him off urgently. He nudges his shoulders, trying to get the boy to sit up. "Leo. Please look at me."

Blue sits up, slowly turning on the stool to face the sink. His eyes are suspiciously red-rimmed, and Splinter feels a rush of emotions so strong they nearly sweep him off his feet. Hurt, for his son who was made to feel bad over something so trivial, and fury, for the people who caused the injury.

He reaches out and cups his son's face, rubbing the pad of his thumb over his cheeks. His sons are more muscular than other children their age, but Blue still has baby fat on his cheeks. Splinter resists the urge to squish them.

"I wish they could all see what I see," he says softly. "A young man who is so handsome, strong, and clever."

Blue's lip trembles slightly. "But they won't."

"Some will," he promises. "Not everyone is April... but she is not the only one, either."

"Just wish I knew who was an April and who wasn't," Blue says. "Before I get kicked out on my butt."

"Mm. It is hard. Some people make it obvious, and so many more do not." Splinter sighs. "When I came to America, I was already a celebrity. And still, there were many who did not accept me, or who did not think they needed to listen to me, or who were cruel. And it was the same, when I was taken to the Hidden City."

Blue gives him a sad, crooked smile. "You felt like an outsider, too, huh?"

"Very much, yes. Human and yokai... there are prejudices everywhere."

"So how do you deal with it?"

"Mm... there is no easy answer." Splinter guides Blue to turn around and lean against the sink again, before rest of the shaving cream drips. "I wish I could tell you that this is the worst you will ever face, but I can't promise you that. But I do not wish for you boys to hide from the world forever, either. Even if it is only among the yokai... I want what all parents want for their children."

"For them to have grandchildren?" Blue asks.

"Yes!" Splinter chuckles. "Cute babies to play with and then give back." He finishes shaving the last of Blue's head, then grabs a wash cloth to wipe him clean. "But no. I meant that, for all the people who may be cruel to you... I want there to be many more who are kind. And who love you as I do."

Blue's voice is soft as he mutters, "Oh."

"And I also want you to remember," Splinter leans forward, and kisses Blue on his forehead "that you are accepted here no matter what." He snorts. "Even if you want to make that hairstyle permanent."

"Oh, come on!" Blue huffs and gets up from the stool, his deeper green blush visible even though he is trying to look annoyed. "It wasn't that bad!"

"I'm just saying, I think you can do better!"

"What do you know, old man?" Blue scowls, but it's playful.

"Old man!? Hmph, the disrespect..." He folds his arms, then nods at the door. "We're done, so I'm going to bed. Your brothers are having some kind of go-karting tournament in the TV room."

"Oh shoot, I'm missing it!" Blue turns to run out, then skids to a stop and spins on his heel, running back and scooping Splinter out of the sink and into a hug.

"Thanks, Dad," he says, and Splinter can't help but chuckle, giving his shell a pat.

"Of course, Blue."

Blue sets him down, then turns and runs off again. Splinter can hear him yell, "Dibs on next race!" from down the corridor.

Splinter rinses the razor clean, then puts it back in his box. He considers taking it back to his room, but in the end he changes his mind, slotting it into the medicine cabinet.

Who knows? Maybe someone will need it again, one day.

[missingn000]

hey all! i wrote a what-if character study & action fic for if king fought sanji instead of zoro during the raid on onigashima. i'd really love if you gave it a read! thanks so much!

link

playlist

happy reading!