#story on ao3

[poke-me-with-a-stick]

Chapter 28 of 'Artificial Wingman'!

For the full story on AO3, click Here!

Enjoy!

---

Just like Jason predicted, Danny didn't seem perturbed by the news that the others were looking more into him. A little uncomfortable, sure, but not really bothered. The teen just shrugged when he was told about the conversation he and Dick had. Damian on the other hand...

"I'll kill them." The teen muttered, pacing behind the stool Danny was perched on. The look on his face was down right murderous.

"No you won't." The response is out before he could even really think about it, not that he was actually worried. "You haven't made a murder attempt in years."

Damian paused at that, glaring at the man over Danny's head, but didn't bother denying it. "Fine, I won't kill them." The teen relented, grasping his chin with his hand as he thought it over. "But I don't have to kill them to take them off the case..."

Jason let out a sigh. This was going to be a long night. "You can't maim them either. Alfred wouldn't approve." Damian huffed a breath through gritted teeth, not responding as he continued to pace a hole into the worn flooring.

"Robin, it's okay," Danny pipped up, turning to look at the teen over his shoulder. "It's not really that surprising, is it? I mean, I did punch your brother in the face before grabbing you and running away. Can you really say that it was completely unexpected for them to try and look for me?" A small, very out of place grin wormed it's way onto the demon brat's face at Danny's comment, before it was quickly stifled back into his usual expressionless expression. "Besides," Danny continued, either entirely unaware or just uncaring of what he caused, "It's not like they'll find anything on me. I don't exist here."

"I... suppose you're right," Damian admitted reluctantly, moving to lean slightly against the teen's shoulder. "I just hoped that we would have a bit more time before my paranoid family began sniffing around."

"I'm sorry, but did you just say that you punched someone? Which one was it?" Jason ignored the exchange between the two, more hung up on that little tidbit. Why hadn't he heard about this?

Danny shot him a confused look, then turned that look to Damian. "Uhh, I'm not sure. Robin, which one was he again?"

"That would be Richard. You punched my eldest adopted brother." Damian brushed the teen's bangs from his face, not paying any attention to the way Jason gaped at them, stunned. He was silent for a moment, before he burst into uproarious laughter.

"You punched Dick?" Jason couldn't hide the glee in his voice if he tried. "Oh man, that's amazing. Please tell me that there's footage of it somewhere."

A more familiar smile flickered across Damian's face this time. "I'm not sure if we have the footage, but I'm sure that it would be no problem to retrieve it from the store's security cameras ourselves at a later date." The smile fell into a more grim expression. "Of course, that will have to wait until after we plan around this... inconvenience."

Jason sobered up quickly, back on the task at hand. "Right. Well, first things first, we should probably try and keep you out of the public eye." He pointed at Danny, who was fiddling with something in his lap. "I know it sucks, but you probably shouldn't go outside much for the time being. Now that the other's are looking for you, its too risky to chance any of O's camera's catching a glimpse of you."

Danny frowned at that, his attention shifting back to the man. "I... guess that makes sense," H" He pouted, looking disappointed. "That's gonna suck."

"Do not worry," Damian pressed himself more tightly to the teen's side, as if to remind the teen of his presence. "I will not leave your side until it is safe to do so again." That seemed to cheer the teen up a bit, his cloudy expression brightening as he leaned back into the vigilantie's touch.

Nodding, Jason made a noise to gain their attention back. "Well, there's also problems that come with that, too. We can't stay here." He gestures at the apartment space around them with a wave of his arm. "This place is basically an OSHA violation. I was fine with us crashing here for a day or two, but if we're gonna be dodging the bats and birds, then we need to move shop."

Damian nodded in agreement, letting go of Danny and moving to start packing up their belongings. Danny, on the other hand, frowned. "I don't see the problem with staying here." He commented, leaning back on the bar stool until the front legs picked up off the floor before coming back down with a dull thump. "It's a bit rundown, sure, but I've stayed in worse before." Like Devine intervention, just as the words left his mouth, the stool under him gave an ominous creak before giving way. Danny let out a yelp as he was sent tumbling backwards, head first towards the crumbling counter behind him.

Both Jason and Damian lunged forwards to catch him, missing entirely as the halfa dropped through the decaying wood. They froze for a minute, trying to comprehend Danny's suddenly headless body, when the teen sat up quickly with a small screech. He was on his feet in an instant, making the two brothers jerk in place as he practically flew past them to duck behind Jazz, who had just walked into the room. "Uhh," Jazz stuttered, looking between her brother and them. "What happened here?"

Jason started to respond, but was beaten to the punch by Danny. "We were talking about how we should be moving to a new safe house!" He answered in a tone of strained cheer. "Which, I for one, think is an excellent idea! Say, Jason, did you have a place in mind? Maybe one without so many, uh, spiders?"

'Spiders?' Jason shook his head. He wasn't about to look a gift horse in the mouth, and if Danny was anything like the rest of his family when it came to compromises, then that bar stool breaking was definitely a gift. "Uh, yeah. I had one in mind, it's a little more crowded, but it's in much better shape than this place." Not that it was much of a challenge in the first place.

"Well, that's great and all, but what about the Specter Speeder? I thought the whole point of us hiding out here was so that we could keep it hidden." Jazz pointed out cautiously. "I don't know about you, but I really don't want to just leave it somewhere too far away from us. What if we need something out of it, or someone stumbles across it?"

'She has a point.' Jason frowned, crossing his arms as he tried to come up with a solution. "She's right. We can't just leave it here, and parking it out on the street would bring too much unwanted attention to us."

Danny scoffed from where he was still hiding behind his sister. "That's an easy fix." He stated. "Just put it in Camouflage mode."

Jazz frowned at her brother. "You know turning something invisible isn't always the best way to solve your problems, little brother. Turning it invisible won't stop someone from accidentally kicking it. Or worse, someone crashing their car into it thinking that there isn't anything there."

"Uhh, I didn't say turn it invisible. I said turn on Camouflage mode." Jazz's stern frown dropped into a look of confusion. "Wait, you did know that there was a Camouflage mode, right?" When all he got was an embarrassed silence in response, an exasperated look crossed his face. "Seriously Jazz? We gave you a manual and everything!"

"Hey!" She started, defensive. "It's not my fault that you and Tucker decided to finish up just as exam week was starting! I barely had time to eat and sleep. Did you honestly expect me to read the forty-eight page booklet on all the updates you made?"

Danny blinked in surprise. "Sam made the manual forty-eight pages?" They both stared at each other for a minute, before Jazz broke into a fit of giggles. The teen followed suit, a very undignified snort escaping him. "That actually does sound like Sam." He acknowledged. "Did she make an actual book, or was it a PDF?"

"Take a wild guess." Jazz snarked at him, giggling some more when Danny shook his head with a groan. "Yeah, you remember her three-hour lecture on why excess use of paper was leading to deforestation and why it was better for the environment to switch to digital documents." Both shuddered at the reminder, making Damian and Jason glance at each other.

"Tucker was actually pretty hyped after that one." Danny admitted with a wry grin. "He and Sam spent the rest of the week persuading the school to go digital. They almost succeeded, too, if Technus hadn't invaded the computer lab and deleted the online teachers planner."

Before they could delve more into... whatever those memories were, Jason interrupted. "Well, if you have a way to hide the Speeder, then I believe we should get packed up." He turned away from the siblings, going over to help Damian stuff the pile of wires and circuits into a box. Behind them, Danny let out a squawk of panic, rushing forwards with shouts of 'Be Careful with those!'

Safe to say, it wasn't even an hour later before they were piling into the Speeder, Danny in the driver's seat. The teen fiddled with some buttons before the vehicle's exterior seemed to ripple, going invisible for a minute as he adjusted something. "Okay, what kind of disguise should I go for?" He asked, turning a dial.

"Something in black." Damian stated from the back seat, where he was buckled in behind the driver's seat. "The most common vehicle color is white, with the second being black, so it would be less likely to draw attention."

Danny nodded, the dial making a light clicking noise before he pushed it down. A generic looking car body was visible in the rear-view mirror, it's color shifting in a way that reminded Jason of Miss Martian's Bio-ship. "Okay, I think we're good to go now!" The teen shot his passengers a fanged smile as he put the vehicle in drive.

"Uhh, Jazz?" Jason glanced over at the woman. "Does your brother have a driver's license?" Maybe he should have asked before they started driving.

"No, but he practically re-built this thing. He knows how to operate it." Came her unbothered reply. He would have believed her, had the teen driving not promptly flew over a speed bump seconds later.

Thankfully, they made it to their destination in one piece. The moment the speeder came to a stop, Jason was sliding out of the back, silently praying for the poor soul that would have to grade Danny's driving when the teen did go to get his license. The man was followed a few seconds later by Damian and Jazz, Danny pouting as he pulled himself out of the now normal-looking car. "Oh, come on! My driving isn't that bad!" The teen whined.

"Beloved, you are a being with many skills. Driving does not appear to be one of them." Damian wrapped a possessive arm around the teen, pulling Danny into his side as he surveyed the apartment complex in front of them. "Are you sure that this is the place?" He asked, turning to shoot a look at Jason.

"Yeah, I'm sure, brat." He started forward, holding the door open for them as they filed in. The man nodded to a woman with a baby stroller as he led them towards the elevator, earning a polite nod from the woman and an excited wave from the little boy strapped into it. Once on the lift, he clicked the button for the fourth floor. "It's owned by one Harold Treeny, a middle-aged man from Connecticut that inherited the building from his aunt. He's never visited, but puts a lot of money into maintaining it, yet he keeps the rent low for the people who live here, and gives leniency to single mom's and the elderly when it comes to late payments."

Damian shot him a look from the corner of his eye. "This Treeny wouldn't happen to be one of your aliases, would it Todd?" He asked, though it was obvious he already knew the answer.

Jason chuckled. "No, not one of mine. It's actually one of Roy's. He wanted a place to stay, should he ever need to crash in Gotham, and he just lets me use it when he's not here. Though, we have discussed letting it fall into the Red Hood's hands, just for a bit." He let the conversation drop as the elevator doors opened, giving a friendly wave to an elderly couple that shuffled into the elevator as they exited. It was only when they were safely in Apartment 405 that he picked it back up. "The gang activity in the area has started to uptick in the past couple of weeks, and he's a bit worried about this place being caught in the crossfire."

Damian turned away from him, inspecting the rest of the apartment now that his curiosity was sated. Jazz, however, frowned. Leaning on her brother's shoulders, she looked to him. "Are you sure it's a good idea to stay here, with that going on? What if something happens?"

"I wouldn't worry about it too much. The activity hasn't spread more than a block since the last time I checked it, and I have some of my men spread around to alert me should that change." Jason shot a comforting smile at her, but it did little to release the tension that had coulded in her at the mention of gang activity.

Thankfully, Jason wasn't the only one who had noticed the woman's discomfort. Danny pressed his shoulder back into her chest gently, drawing her attention. "Hey, don't worry so much. It's not like a couple guys with guns would be any match for your's truly." He puffed up his chest in an exaggerated way, preening visibly when his sister laughed at him.

"Okay, okay. I guess you have a point." She admitted, ruffling her brother's hair and snagging his bag's strap while he squawked in protest. Darting gracefully out of her brother's reach, she gently sat the bag down on the coffee table before turning back around. "Okay! I don't know about you boys, but I for one think we could all do with some food." She looked around the room, clearly waiting for their responses.

"You still have an appetite after that harrowing experience?" Jason joked, barely flinching as Danny elbowed him.

"My driving was perfectly fine!" The teen protested, a pout forming as he crossed his arms.

"You drove over four different speedbumps like they weren't there, hit several potholes, and almost snagged a manhole cover with your rear... tire." Jason listed off, taking a page out of Jazz's book and violently ruffling his hair. "I'd call that a harrowing experience for any normal person."

Danny pulled away from the man's overzealous hair ruining efforts, patting down the loose strands with very little success. Giving up, he turned and glared at Jason. "Since when have any of us been normal?" He gripes, tugging the hood of his borrowed hoodie over his head and tightening the strings a bit. Tossing one of the agglets into his mouth, he chewed on the plastic as he thought. "I could eat." He decided eventually with a shrug, plopping down on the thrifted couch with an appreciative sigh.

Damian settled down next to the teen with more grace, letting his arm rest beside his lap so that it occasionally brushed against Danny's leg. "Food does seem like a good idea," the vigilante agreed. Now everyone turned to Jason, as if waiting for his opinion.

Jason sighed, finally allowing himself to acknowledge the hunger he felt. He hadn't eaten since before patrol last night, and now that they were safe for the time being, his stomach let him know just how much it appreciated not being fed. "Alright, alright!" He tossed his hands up in mock exasperation. "I know a good Thai place just a block from here. They have decent vegan options," he answered before Damian could ask, "and the owners know me. We can place an order and have it ready by the time I get there." When no one protested, the man pulled out his phone and dialed the number, not bothering to ask before placing an order he usually gave for when the other Outlaws were in town. It had a bit of everything, and plenty of servings. Of course, they would be more likely to have leftovers after, but all that meant is that Jason might not have to cook for a bit.

----

Cass and Steph watched as Tim and Dick argued, their heads bouncing back and fourth between the two like it was a tennis match.

"Why didn't you say anything earlier?" Dick asked, arms crossed and pout firmly on his face. It had been there since Tim had told him that he had already been looking into Danny, though they still didn't know the teen's actual name.

"I didn't say anything earlier because I thought it went without saying. We've seen this kid with Damian multiple times, you got punched by him!" Tim clutched his coffee mug close to his chest as he rambled, preventing Cass from slipping anything melatonin into it. Part if her was sure that, on some level, he had begun to suspect some sort of tampering.

...maybe it was time to brainstorm a new way of enforcing Alfred's healthy sleep schedule on her workaholic brother.

Cass was pulled from her thoughts by Steph's loud sigh of relief. Both Tim and Dick had left the room, probably headed to check whatever working file they had on Danny. "Man," Steph whined, stretching until her back popped slightly. "This is harder than I thought it would be. How have you not told them something super cryptic and usless yet?"

Cass smiled at the girl, standing as well to follow her to the kitchen. They both nodded at Alfred as Steph began to dig for snacks. Cass leaned against the counter, accepting the oatmeal cookie Alfred handed her gratefully.

"It is tempting." Cass admitted, biting down on the award winning pastry. "But Damian needs this." Her littlest brother was always so prim and proper, when not being serious and focused. It was good for him to let loose a bit, and expand his social circle past Jon Kent and Skylar from his art club.

"Your right," Steph pulled her head out of the fridge. "He does need to let loose once in a while." Diving back in, she made an "aha!" noise as she pulled out a leftover slice of chocolate cake. Snack found, she started to search for a fork. "So, how do we distract them?" She asked.

"Melatonin works well for Tim." She admitted quietly. "But Dick will be harder to distract."

"Hmm," Steph took a minute to think about it, slowly chewing. "Oh! I've got it!" An devious smirk worked its way onto her face as she gestured Cass closer, whispering her plan. When Cass pulled back, she had a thoughtfully look on her face.

"That could work." She agreed, a similar smirk appearing on her face. Behind them, Alfred shook his head fondly before going back to his prepwork for dinner. As long as things didn't get too out of hand, the man was content to let the girls have free reign. After all, he too agreed that Master Damian needed this break.

---

(I know there are probably some grammar/spelling mistakes, but it's okay because I tried my best!)

For the amazing person who made the prompt for this story, and the awesome people who follow along!

@halfblackwolfdemon @manapeer @xxwintrynightzxx @im-totally-not-an-alien-2 @blu-lilac @academicpurposes @secretdestinywerewolf @passivedecept @naluforever3 @postit-nope @spiteismymiddlename @2t-productions @plague-daisy @feet-achy @bubblecookies16 @thesapphiredragon13 @justwannabecat @magicalcollecter @adeniumdream @amuseofminds @lupagrim @readerkayden @dr-syko-pharm-4 @ladythugs @angelheartgamer @markthespot68 @kyrianclawraith @michikoy-yuki @servasvictoria02 @your-emo-nightmare @vala-dreams @scarlett-green-rose @t1dwarrior-of-earth @charlie-the-frogie @akikoyuii @mysticalcomputerdetective @roseuniverse999 @im-totally-not-an-alien @thefearfullone @weird-droplet-309 @jaytriesstuff @raventao @jacquelynwinchester @dragongoblet @tlise21 @longlivethefallen @the-archer-goddess @temple-of-jalebi @adepresseddwightsblogofjunk @plainly-colorful @the-legalHe-shipper @49saltpeppershakers @igotafewbadideas @tumbling-darkling @sparklygardenbouquet @sarcastic-yami @blueneko9314 @starscreamlover @liedboutmurder @do3y @roze-realm @some-mildly-happy-human @yinari-uchiha @azuera @chaoticmistake @altairsarts @kawaiikenna @heartsong18 @thetoyboxs @tricksovertreats @mnemovoid @lim4b3ans @horribly-lost-and-gay @keimiwolf @dryeraseslime @joey394

[booknerd-y]

Merlin doesn't care how many people are at his trail, nor does he even acknowledge the looks given him for being a sorcerer nor does he correct Arthur upon being accused of practicing it, nor correcting him upon the fact that he isn't a sorcerer but a warlock. What use would it be if he was correcting the king. He was already doomed to burn at the stake or get beheaded. What use would it be, it's not gonna change anything.

He's fairly sure that he's getting burned alive, what else would Arthur be doing to him. He broke the trust between them by lying and being the one thing that has killed everyone that the king has cared about. Merlin could not blame Arthur for hating magic anyway if it has killed both his parents.

"I hereby banish you, Merlin of Ealdor, from Camelot." The voice of the king rings in his ears, snapping him out of his mind.

Read the rest!

[gentil-minou]

Everytime I see posts like this I get filled with such profound sadness

Cause you know who has the same brainrot as you? The same unhinged feelings as you after you've read the fic? The person who always wants to scream about the fic with you?

THE PERSON WHO WROTE IT

I never used to leave comments but since I got into the habit of commenting on everything i enjoy it's been incredible. Especially when the author gets back to me about it and we get to have a discussion of what other ideas they had. One writer replied to my comment with a 5 paragraph essay detailing the Floorplan of the building the characters lived in and it was incredible

Anyways this is all to say that if you find a fic that just makes you want to scream from the rooftops, leave a comment saying that to the author and maybe they will join you and you can scream incoherently together

[tiredofsatansbullshit]

WHAT DO I DO NOW??

[a-wisebear]

oh i love leaving comments on ao3, you gave me pretty words and i give you my little words, oh i loved it, oh i have to tell you i loved it, ohhh do you know which was my favourite part? i'm gonna tell you, also it was a wonderful job and and and

[kedreeva]

as a reminder to literally anyone and everyone who even so much as considers this: AO3 has NO autosave ability when you're making drafts, so PLEASE do not use it instead of a writing program.

If their server goes down, if you hit a wrong button and refresh the page or go back to the previous page, if you accidentally close the browser, if your browser or device crashes, etc etc etc you are shit out of luck. Your work is gone forever, it didn't backup to anywhere and there is NO recovery option. Even TUMBLR's drafting ability is supposed to autosave and often does.

If you want to avoid gdocs that's fine- there's other text editors with simple autosave options, like Online Notepad or Digital Scholar's notepad, or there's still local-drive writing programs that are free and open source, like LibreOffice. PLEASE do not use AO3 to write your stories into directly. It has NOTHING.

[me-writes-prompts]

Random + angst prompts:

By @me-writes-prompts

Yearning prompts

Character A gets hurt/injured ft. Character B’s feral response

Situationship prompts

Reuniting angst prompt

“What are we?” Prompts

Ghost x vampire prompts

More ghost x vampire prompts

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Crush prompts

Navigating through new relationship prompts

"Please don't leave me" prompts

Lovers in "denial" prompts

Reunited lovers prompts

Grumpy x sunshine prompts

"You're too good for me" prompts

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Fake dating prompts

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Roommates to lovers prompts

Ice cream prompts

Underrated trope list

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OTP bonding with their children prompts

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Childhood friends prompts

Self-esteem issue prompts for your ocs

Nervous/awkward couple prompts

Forced proximity but one of them is claustrophobic prompts

[bizarrelittlemew]

i can't wait to be 30+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 40+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 50+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 60+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 70+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 80+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to be 90+ and still in fandom and i can't wait to look back on my life and know that i loved things deeply and passionately and was inspired to create and was part of communities with incredible people from all over the world brought together by the stories that touched us

[biggest-gaudiest-patronuses]

i vote that next year instead of reading Dracula we do a Jeeves & Wooster Book Club. those two never got the rabid tumblr shipping fandom they deserved (disqualified for the sheer technicality of being published a century too soon). we must correct this injustice

[ao3-crack]

(x)

[night-owl-writes1]

[poke-me-with-a-stick]

Chapter 12 of 'Artificial Wingman'!

For the full story click Here!

Enjoy!

---

Later that night, Danny found himself wide awake. Not for the same reason as the night before, though. He lay there, in the guest room’s bed, staring at the ceiling with a dazed expression. His core buzzed in his chest, the events of the Astronomy Museum played on loop in his head. Its vibrations were making it difficult for the teen to fall asleep. 

He had to admit, even though he felt exhausted from not sleeping the night before, along with all the excitement from today, it was pretty nice to have his core purring so contently. Definitely better than the way it ached the night before, while his mind was plagued by all the ways things could go wrong with the potion. All the ways something could go wrong when Robin drank the potion.

:read more:

The teen’s core died down at the reminder of what would happen tomorrow. As relieved as he would be, knowing that Robin would be freed from the love potion’s effects, he knew how easy it would be for something to go wrong. He could have made the potion incorrectly, or Robin could have some sort of reaction to it. Or it could not work at all! (It should have been telling that that last one didn’t make his chest ache the way the other worries did.) 

Of course, he could just be worrying about nothing, and everything would work out perfectly tomorrow. Then everything could go back to normal. He would be lying if he said he wouldn’t miss Robin, though. Part of him didn’t want to go, wanted to keep hanging out with the teen. This week has been the most fun he has had in a long time. More fun than anything had been since the Accident. 

Sighing, Danny rolled onto his side, his eyes tracing the chipped paint. As much as he wanted to stay a bit longer, he knew he couldn’t. For starters, despite what Robin and his own insecurities claimed, Danny was sure that the potion would work. And he had no idea if Robin would feel the same way he does now about Danny. Would the teen want him to stay, after the love potion was no longer affecting him? Would he hate him for putting him in that situation, thinking him irresponsible and reckless for the childish way he used such a dangerous potion? 

Second, both boys were vigilantes. They had things to do, people to protect. Goofing off for a week hadn’t been the most responsible thing to do. And that was ignoring the fact that they came from two different dimensions. At least here, there were more heroes to rely on. There were other vigilanties that could cover for Robin, until he came back. In Danny’s dimension, the only line of defense was a group of teenagers with little to no official training and a lot of first hand experience, and a teen vigilante that held a grudge against the beings she fought. Specifically against him. Not the most comforting thought. Just thinking about it had his core squirming in discomfort, itching to check in on them and make sure nothing had happened. He longed for his haunt, but his core also yearned to stay here, even for just a little longer. 

Another thing that had him wanting to get home as soon as possible, was the fact that his parents were due home very soon. If they weren’t already home. He really didn’t want to explain to them what he had been doing. Not that he thought anything particularly bad would happen if he told them the truth (A lie). They would just give him a hypocritical lecture on how using the gadgets irresponsibly was dangerous and not allowed, and they would probably demand to see the book he had been using on this ‘adventure’. What had him worried was whether or not they would give it back to him. Or worse, if they tried to recreate anything from the book. His parents were dangerous enough, the world did not need to add the power of magic to his parent’s volatile inventions. Or a spell that would summon some sort of spirit. Or some sort of binding spell, one that would leave a ghost defenseless and helpless. 

Shivering at the thought, he tossed onto his other side with a grunt, wiggling to try and get comfortable. Closing his eyes, he prayed for his mind to quiet down and let him sleep. Exhaustion tugged at him, but his thoughts stubbornly refused to be silenced. Nothing he could do would keep them hushed, not that he had much energy to do that anyways. Reason after reason flooded his mind, reasons to get home as quickly as possible. Reasons to stay for as long as he could. With each new thought, his good mood from the day plummeted further. 

The halfa managed a few hours of restless sleep, waking up every now and then in a new, awkward position with the sheets tangled around him uncomfortably. He was pretty relieved when the sun began to shine through the blinds, lighting up the room with beams dimmed by the city smog. Seeing no reason to stay in bed and struggle with sleep, he pushed himself to his feet, shaking the covers free of his body and grabbing the spare pair of clothes Robin let him borrow as he headed towards the bathroom. 

He turned the knobs for the shower until it ran with icy cold water, a sigh escaping him as he quickly stepped under the cool spray. The water felt so good on his back, wetting his hair and acting almost like a balm for his sore, dry eyes. 

This had become a habit, taking showers at their coldest setting, since his ice-core had fully formed. Warm water had made him feel feverish, almost like he was melting any time he took a steamy shower. And definitely not in a good way. The warm water would feel like pinpricks anywhere it touched, his skin turning a painful red if he stayed under it for more than a few minutes. When he had tried to stick it out, his core took matters into its own hands and iced the bathroom over completely, the water freezing in an almost deadly arch. After the third time it happened, he had decided that something needed to change. 

He had tried colder showers, cool but not icy, and found that it felt much better. Eventually he stopped adding warm water to the mix altogether, and that had been one of his best ideas to date.

Jazz had been horrified when she found out, after he had accidentally dripped water all over her one night. He had been way too tired to dry off properly, and had just left his hair to air dry after a-once over with a towel. 

A smile crept onto his face as he washed his hair, remembering the way she had  tried desperately to get him back to the bathroom for a warmer shower. His sister had been so worried that he would catch a cold, taking frigid showers like that. 

She had calmed down a bit when he had explained to her what warm water did to him now, and after getting him to promise to let her dry his hair that night, she didn't bring it up again. Though he did find warm drinks in his room after he got out from then on. Surprisingly, warm coco was something his ice core seemed to relish, despite its apparent intolerance for other warm things. 

Danny stayed in the shower for a good half hour, only cutting the water off and stepping out when he noticed his fingers resembling raisins more than skin. Drying off was a pretty fast ordeal, and not even forty minutes after he had entered the bathroom, he was walking out. Clean, refreshed, and dressed in the ridiculously comfy clothes that Robin had given him to use. He briefly wondered if he would be able to keep them, as he knew that he wouldn't find anything this nice back in Amity. Surely the teen wouldn't miss a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve, right?

Walking into the kitchen, the halfa was surprised to find it empty. From what he had seen, Robin was quite the early riser, getting up with the sun, or even before the sun, most days. Beating Robin to the kitchen, well after the sun had risen, made his core churr worriedly. 'He must have been up pretty late.' Thsr had to be it, right? He hoped that was the reason Robin was sleeping in.

Resolving to ask the teen later, Danny turned his attention back to his next task. Breakfast. Looking through the cabinets brought hum across a large variety of things, canned and dried foods mostly. Shuffling some boxes around and reading their labels, Danny finally pulled one free with a pleased chirp. Acting his feet back on the ground, he looked over his prize.

On the front of the box was a blue and black dressed vigilante drawn in a cartoonish style, leaning against a spoon with a smile. The spoon dipped into a large bowl of black and blue 'puffs', clearly themed after the vigilante, turning the milk a blueish purple color. 

"Nightwing Blueberry Bursts?" Danny read off the brand, remembering the Nightwing was one of the vigilanties that Robin had told him about. 'He must have been pretty popular,' Danny mused. Popular enough to get his own cereal. "Good for him, I guess." The teen murmured, pouring himself a bowl. He pretended not to be a bit jealous as he took a seat at the table. So what if this Nightwing dude had his own cereal? It's not like he wanted one, nope. What would his own cereal even taste like? Ectoplasm bites?

He took a bite of the sugary food with thoughts of glowing green cheerios floating through his mind. His bowl was emptied and washed within minutes, the blueberry flavored cereal put back into the cabinet where he had found. He had to admit, he kind of wished that he had had the oatmeal that Robin had made him the other day. That would have been better, but the cereal hadn't been that bad.

Breakfast finished, the teen looked around for something to do. Preferably something quiet. He might be worried about the vigilante sleeping in the other room, but if he needed the sleep then Danny didn't want to wake him up. 

Eventually, he settled on reorganizing his bag. Since being kidnapped by a lovestruck vigilante, he had acquired a lot of extra stuff. Stuff that, at the moment, was just shoved carelessly into his bag. 

Sitting down in the living room, he turned his bag upside down. All of his stuff fell out, piling on the cushion beside him. At the top of the pile, the trinkets and stuffed toys, mostly ghost themed, from his and Robin's trip to the arcade. A small smile crept onto his face as he moved the memorables to the side. Under them was Robin's vigilante suit and mask.

If Danny was being completely honest, he had forgotten that he had shoved the suite in his bag. 'I should probably return thes,' he thought, pinching the thick fabric between his fingers. For now though, he neatly folded the kevlar-lined suit and put it to the side, setting his domino mask on top of it before turning back to what was left of the pile.

A few granola bars, a half-empty bottle of water, and his spellbook sat at the bottom of the pile. He grabbed the spellbook first, not paying much mind to the snack bars that fell off of it. His smile faded as he traced the starry pattern on the edges. 'You've caused a lot of chaos,' he couldn't help but think, the tingle of magic making his fingertips feel odd. Abruptly, he shoved the book back into his bag, the snacks he had left following soon after. The trinkets and stuffed toys followed, hiding the spellbook completely from view. Zipping the main pocket closed, he opened a smaller pocket, carefully tucking Robin's suit in for safe keeping. 

Settling the bag's strap over his shoulder, the teen sighs. He had hoped that Robin would be up by now, the time nearing lunch now. For a moment, he contemplated checking on the teen, but he quickly discarded the idea. He would know if something were wrong, wouldn't he? He was sure that Robin was alright, he hadn't heard anything besides the teens even breathing and soft snores. This didn't really help to calm his core, so he promised himself that he would check on the teen if he wasn't up within the hour.

That settled, he really didn't have much else to do while he waited. Moving back to the kitchen, he set his bag down on the table, giving the room another once-over. Dishes were done, and he had put all the boxed food back where he had found it. Nothing was out of place. 'Hmm…'

Slowly, the halfa's eyes fell upon the jar. His core twinged oddly at the sight of it, the reason for his own discomfort unknown to him. Maybe it was because the glass signified the potential end of a friendship? 'That… that sounds about right.' He admitted to himself. He really didn't want to mess with it, not until Robin was up. But he couldn't really think of anything else to do for the time being.

Sighing, he grabbed the jar and moved it to the table, setting it down gingerly beside his bag, being careful not to disturb  the tea towel wrapped around it. Setting himself down in one of the kitchen chairs, he let his head rest on the table, staring down the jar with his hands tucked neatly under his chin. 

Danny let his mind drift as he traced over the floral pattern of the towel with his eyes. Part of him was kind of worried that he had messed something up with the potion. The spellbook had said that it would glow when finished, but no light broke through the thin fabric surrounding it. So it left him wondering, worrying, that he had done something wrong. Did he add too much of something, or too little of another? Was the recipe affected by sunlight? Did he make a mistake putting it in the window for the three days set time? Should he have left it on the table or the counter instead? Should he check? 

He really, really wanted to check. His hands itched to unwrap the towel, to make sure that it looked right. But he also wanted to wait for Robin. It felt wrong to do the big reveal without the person who had helped make it, the one who had kept him company through the whole process. Somehow, leaving him out of the last step seemed really unfair. 

Thankfully, he didn't have to suffer through a long wait for the other teen. As if summoned by Danny's thoughts, Robin appeared in the doorway, his clothes rumpled and his sunglasses slightly crooked. Danny lifted his head off the table, a smile curving his lips. "Good morning," he greets the teen, his worried thoughts fading like a morning mist.

Robin smiled right back at him, an action that made Danny's core flutter in a way he couldn't(wouldn't) identify. 

"Have you checked the antidote?" He asked before Danny could really ponder his odd reaction. Danny reflexively glanced at the still-covered jar before turning his attention to the teen again.

Danny shakes his head. 'No, I haven't. I was waiting for you." He watches as Robin makes his own breakfast, getting a hum of acknowledgment in response. After a minute, he continued. "How did you sleep?"

Robin was quiet for a moment, taking a bite from his breakfast before speaking. "I slept adequately enough." They fell back into a semi-comfortable silence as Robin finished his food and washed his dishes. Finally, setting them aside to dry, Robin walks back to his seat across from Danny. With a sigh, Robin gestured to the jar. 'There is no reason to delay anymore."

"Oh, yeah. We should probably go ahead and get this over with, huh?" Danny didn't wait for the teen to respond, reaching for the jar. Pulling it towards himself, Danny found himself hesitant. Exhaling an unnecessarily loud breath through his nose, he roughly tugged the towel free. 

Almost immediately both boys were blinded, the jar producing a bright white light. The light didn't last long, dying down rather quickly to a golden glow that coated the room in a warm light, leaving both boys to blink the black spots from their eyes. When they could see again, they observed the jar, a somber air about them both. When the silence stretched too far to be comfortable, Danny cleared his throat, drawing Robin from his thoughts.

"Why don't we go out somewhere?" Danny wasn't sure where the thought came from, but it was out of his mouth before his brain could truly process it. 

Robin was quiet for a moment, mulling over his words. Finally, he nodded. "Alright. Where shall we go?"

He thought it over for a minute. The mall would be too crowded for something like this, as would the rest of the places that Robin had taken him to. Maybe… "How about the park? The one where we met?" He suggested.

Robin nodded again, pulling the jar out of Danny's hands and sliding it carefully into his messenger bag. Closing it back, he slung the strap over his shoulders and held his hand out for Danny to take.

"I can carry my stuff, you know." Danny pointed out, but still accepted the hand nonetheless. 

"I know." Robin smiled, leading him out the front door. He makes no move to give it back as they traverse the alleyways, instead squeezing Danny's hand lightly. 

Both teens fall silent as they walk, and Danny can't help but think that Robin seems a bit stressed. Definitely more stressed than he had previously been leading Danny to be. If not for the fact that they had been hanging out for almost a week now, Danny probably wouldn't have been able to tell. But all the signs were there. His tense shoulders and stiff, almost formal walk were a bit obvious, when you looked. Despite all of this, his grip was still gentle, squeezing slightly as if to make sure that Danny was still there. The thoughtful care made the teen's core hum pleasantly in his chest.

Danny was pulled from his observations when he, quite literally, ran into Robin. The teen had come to a stop, his head tilted towards the ground. Danny looked around, growing a bit confused when he spotted the entrance to the park barely a block down the street. Turning back to Robin, he tilts his head slightly. "What's up?" He asks the teen.

Robin tugged his hand, pulling Danny closer, yet still leaving a respectable distance between them. He remains silent though, a scowl forming on his face as he debates something in his head. Danny stayed quiet, letting the teen think.

After a few minutes, the teen finally opened his mouth. "I-" Whatever he was going tobsay was abruptly cut off as a scream tore through the air, causing both boys to immediately drop into defensive stances. It was so sudden, one moment they were standing on the sidewalk of an almost empty street, and the next they were amidst a sea of frightened, panicked civilians. Screams and shouts drowned out all rational thought.

Robin tried to keep Danny close to him as bodies jostled and pushed at them from all sides, but the crowd proved too much for his grip. Danny can briefly hear Robin shout his name as the crowd pushes them apart. 

The halfa could do nothing as he was pushed and shoved towards the back of the crowd. Sure, he could take a chance using his ghost powers, but he was literally surrounded by people right now. Changing into his ghost form was very obvious, and using his powers in human form would be equally so. Having a secret identity made it hard in situations like this. He would just have to wait until he could find a nice, private place to transform and go after Robin. 

Stumbling, Danny finally broke free from the crowd, slowing to a jog as he looked around for any sort of danger. There had to be a threat, to cause so many people to run like that, right? But, as he looked around, he couldn't find anything particularly life-threatening. 

It was only as he was passing by an alleyway that he saw anything odd. A suspicious shadow darted behind a dumpster, just barely catching his attention. 'Maybe it was a cat,' he tried to dismiss, but his core buzzed uncomfortably, and he found himself tensing, his hackles rising with the hair on the back of his neck as he went to investigate. Breathing deeply, he started to make his way cautiously into the alley. 

Danny had almost reached the back of the alley, a dead end made of grime-covered brick with rotting cardboard propped against it, when something tried to attack him. His instincts kicked in, his body curling as he ducked a swing and rolled, shoes spinning as he crouched, turning to view his attacker. 

His attacker was a big burly man, not nearly the size of his dad, but not far off. The man donned a baggy black shirt with a worn and stained blue vest over it. But it was the clown mask he wore that was the most eye-catching.

Danny groans silently to himself. Robin hadn't talked much about the rogues in his city, but hadn't there been one that sorta came up at their first trip to the BatBurger? What was their moniker, The Jester or something? Batburger has some sort of fries named after them, the teen was pretty sure. He was kind of hoping that he wouldn't have to encounter any of the bad guys in this city, but his luck was really kicking in right now wasn't it? 'It just had to be a clown.'  Danny really, really hated clowns.

Danny was pulled from his thoughts by movement. The clown-masked moron lunged at him, his knuckles glinting with an oddly reflective… something on them. Danny deftly avoided the man, diving to the side and sticking his leg out to trip him as the teen scrambled to his feet. He managed to beat the man up, planting a foot between the man's shoulder blades to keep him down.

Moving quickly, Danny brought his fist down hard on the man's temple knocking him out cold. At least, he thinks the dude's unconscious. Knowing his crazy strength and notoriously bad luck, the dude is concussed at the least, and not among the living at the worst. Thankfully Danny had great hearing as well, he would have spiraled into an anxiety attack if he couldn't hear the man's heartbeat. 'He'll be fine. Probably.' He fought back a wince as he eyed the purple bruise forming on his temple.

Nudging the man one more time, just to be safe, the teen finally turned and walked back out of the alleyway. Normally he would feel bad about leaving someone like that, but one glance at the obviously deadly set of spiked brass knuckles knuckles made any guilty feelings disappear. 

He was so distracted by the guy that he didn't register the fog-like cloud creeping towards him right away. When he did notice the tendrils rolling over the ground. The smart thing would be to try to avoid the potential murder cloud, because he had no idea what it was, or how it would affect his half-ghost biology. But he was stuck between the fog and a dead end. There wasn't much of a choice here. So, stopping his breath and eyeing the fog-smoke-whatever with a healthy dose of suspicion, he stepped back onto the street. 

The first thing that he noticed was how quiet it was. The fog filled the street, covering abandoned cars and pushing stray trash as it seemed to wander in all directions. The fact that the area was empty was a bit unnerving considering how full it had been just moments ago. 

Seeing as the road was completely empty, he saw no reason to keep to the sidewalk. Not his smartest idea, but he wasn't the smartest person. 

Starting off in the direction he had last seen the people headed towards, Danny looked around at the lifeless block. It was eerie, how fast a place could be deserted. The fog didn't help with the visuals. 

Honestly, Danny wasn't sure what happened next. Just like before with the crowd, something happened out of nowhere. One moment he was jogging down the empty road and the next he was airborne, something hit hard from behind and sent him flying a yard down the street. Instinctively, he sucked in a deep breath, unintentionally inhaling the fog. 

At first nothing happened. Brakes screeched from where he had been just a few seconds prior, but no one got out of the white van. Confused, Danny pulled himself up, groaning at the ache in his side from slamming into a brick wall. Almost as soon as he was upright, a wave of dizziness overcame him. Carefully, he propped himself on the wall he had hit, his mind fogging over. It was getting difficult to focus, a cotton-like feeling filling his head as the world spun in front of his eyes. 

By the time the people in the vehicle finally got out, all Danny could really do was blink. His body felt lax, like he had swallowed a really good pain reliever. He didn't react as he was approached, or when he was grabbed roughly under his arms. Not even when his wrists were bound. It was like he was in his own little world, random thoughts bouncing around his head as he let his eyes roam the clown-masked faces of his kidnappers. 

Vaguely, he registered words, catching short sentences. Not a lot, and definitely not enough to put together a coherent story as to what they were talking about. -"not affected by the toxin-" was that what that fog was? -"he's just a scrawny teen-" they weren't talking about him right? Jazz had assured him he was more filled out! -"maybe a meta?-" what in the world was a meta? Had Robin told him about them? He couldn't remember if he had. "-has the hair and eyes, could be a Wayne kid-" Wayne kid? What was that supposed to mean? "-boss will want to know, maybe something interesting to him-" 

The teen was so lost as to what was going on around him, but he couldn't really find it in himself to care. He was sure these people couldn't hurt him, not really. So he let the darkness that lingered at the edges of his vision spread, one last thought passing through his mind as he faded out. 

'Hope Robin won't be too mad about this.'

---

(I know there are probably some spelling and grammar mistakes, but it's okay because I tried my best!)

For the amazing person that created the prompt for this story, and all the lovely people who follow along!

@halfblackwolfdemon @manapeer @xxwintrynightzxx @im-totally-not-an-alien-2 @blu-lilac @academicpurposes @secretdestinywerewolf @passivedecept @naluforever3 @postit-nope @spiteismymiddlename @2t-productions @plague-daisy @feet-achy @bubblecookies16 @thesapphiredragon13 @justwannabecat @magicalcollecter @adeniumdream @amuseofminds @lupagrim @readerkayden @dr-syko-pharm-4 @ladythugs @angelheartgamer @markthespot68 @kyrianclawraith @michikoy-yuki @servasvictoria02 @your-emo-nightmare @vala-dreams @scarlett-green-rose @t1dwarrior-of-earth @charlie-the-frogie @akikoyuii @mysticalcomputerdetective @roseuniverse999 @im-totally-not-an-alien @thefearfullone @weird-droplet-309 @jaytriesstuff @raventao @jacquelynwinchester @dragongoblet @tlise21 @longlivethefallen @the-archer-goddess @temple-of-jalebi @adepresseddwightsblogofjunk @plainly-colorful @the-legal-shipper @49saltpeppershakers @igotafewbadideas @tumbling-darkling @sparklygardenbouquet @sarcastic-yami @blueneko9314 @starscreamlover @liedboutmurder @do3y @roze-realm @some-mildly-happy-human @yinari-uchiha @azuera

[colfy-wolfy]

If I wrote a fic about the aftermath of Surv and Monk's family losing two pups at the same moment, would you guys read it?

it'll be filled with a bunch of my headcanons about them and I promise I'll make it interesting story-wise.

happy ending? depends on how generous i am. it'll probably only be a few chaps long. simply for fun!!

[chronicowboy]

the ao3 error logo really captures an indescribable emotion

[thevoidstaredback]

Enough Caffeine to Kill an Elephant

Listen. It was an accident. He didn't mean to! It just kinda happened.

So maybe he brought a drink with enough caffeine in it to kill an elephant within a few minutes, and maybe he forgot to put the sleeve on his cup so he could tell it apart from the others, but it's not his fault! He didn't think anyone else was going to have the exact same Yeti cup as him! It's not like he'd seen any of the others carry one before. Besides, he worked with superheros. They should be smart enough to check before drinking someone else's drink.

Danny had been summoned by the Justice League Dark a few years back in order to help with a world ending crisis and he just didn't leave. It's not like he could go anywhere anyway. His ghost half hadn't grown past fourteen and his human half had stopped visibly aging at eighteen. He'd had to leave town as Danny Fenton, but he'd stayed in Amity Park as Danny Phantom. When his parents died of old age, thank god, he'd closed down the portal, stuck around for a few more years, before traveling the world as Danny Fenton.

Anyway, he'd taken up residence in the House of Mysteries after the JLD had summoned him. Constantine, at first, had been wary, but he and the rest of the JLD had grown to accept him. He was an honorary member of the team.

At some point, just after Robin had become Red Robin, Danny had been introduced to the Justice League. He liked those guys, too, and worked with them sometimes. Though, he usually only went to bug them.

Red Robin had been very interested in the fact that his was fourteen and working with grown heros, like he was one to talk, but Danny hadn't explained anything other than saying that he had died and come back. The following conversation was an interesting one that lead to Danny knowing that Nightwing was the Batman he'd met and that Batman was lost somewhere. He'd confirmed that the man was not dead, but he hadn't offered to help look for him. He probably should have, in retrospect.

Back on topic! Everyone in the JLD knew not to touch Danny's drink. They'd all seen him make it before and had been horrified on varying degrees. It's not like it could kill him. He's already half dead! So long as he only drank this specific brew as Phantom, he'd be fine.

The Justice League, apparently, didn't get the memo. He blames Constantine because Zatanna and Raven can do no wrong. No, John, he's not biased.

The point is, Red Robin just had a sip of Danny's drink. The horror he now felt was akin to the fear he held when he'd told his parents he was Phantom. (An interaction that had gone very well, thank you very much.)

Danny knew the exact moment that the vigilante realized he grabbed the wrong drink. His eyes widened to an astonishing degree, and, if he'd been able to seen his eyes behind the mask, Danny knew that the man's pupils would've completely overtaken the irises. His hands started shaking, too. Oh, no. The man's already addicted to hellish amounts of coffee. This is only going to make it worse!

Quickly, and without drawing any attention, thank the Ancients, Danny rushed over. "You, um, you okay, man?" Obviously not, but he tends to talk when he's anxious and he was certainly anxious right now. He could've possibly just killed a man via poison!

"What the fuck is in this coffee?" Red Robin asked, going to take another sip.

Danny pulled the Yeti from his hand and gave him the proper one. "Enough caffeine to kill an elephant."

"Obviously not, seeing as I'm still alive."

"Yeah, I can't tell if that's a good thing or not."

"Excuse me?"

"I-I mean-! I didn't-! You know what I mean." Caffeine is poisonous in excess, and his drink was way beyond excess, but it's the only thing that works for him as a ghost! Superpowered metabolism and all that.

"Do I?" The laugh in his voice answered for him. He took a sip from his drink and frowned at it. "I don't think any coffee will ever be enough again."

"And that's my cue to get my drink very far away from you." Danny turned, fully intent on moving to the other side of the room. Besides, the meeting was going to start as soon as the Flash and Kid Flash arrived, which would be soon. Something about one of their Rouges getting out?

"What?" Red Robin asked, "Why?" If he was a little desperate to get another sip of that coffee, he'd rather not acknowledge it.

"Because you don't need anymore lethal coffee," he muttered, "The sip you took will already keep you awake for three days at least, and it probably jump started an addiction. Best to stop it now. Besides, I need to go have my crisis on how the hell you're still alive after even a sip of this stuff."

"Again, rude." The bird themed vigilante crossed his arms as best he could while holding his cup. "If it's so dangerous, why do you drink it?"

Danny took a deliberate sip as he locked eyes with the technically younger man. "I'm dead. I don't need to worry about my heart stopping or having a seizure."

"Excuses."

"No, it's not 'excuses'. I'm saving your life."

"You're a kid. If I can't have that coffee, then you shouldn't be having it."

"First, I'm older than you. Second, I already told you: I'm dead. This isn't going to hurt me. Third, you can't tell me what to do."

"There's no way you're older than me. You're like, ten."

"I'm thirty-eight!" He balked, "I only look fourteen because I died when I was fourteen. We've been over this."

Neither noticed the entire Justice League looking at them. The two they were waiting on had arrived a few minutes ago and everyone was ready to start the meeting, but they'd been distracted by the two's conversation. Was that true? Had Phantom really died so young? They'd all been made aware he was not living, but they didn't think he'd died so young! Though, that was probably the denial speaking.

The Justice League Dark had been fully aware of this and didn't really bat an eye. Though, someone should probably get this meeting started. A potentially world ending threat was the topic, and that was a pretty important thing to discuss.

Captain Marvel was the first to pull himself together, though that was only after Atlas and Zeus had mentally slapped him out of his stupur. "As, ah, riveting as this conversation is," he stepped between the two boys- er, boy and man? "we really need to start this meeting."

Batman did not clear his throat because he'd not lost his voice in the first place. "He's right. Everyone take your seats."

Part 2

[kedreeva]

When I was a kid, maybe 14 or so (which is, you know, 20+ years ago), I belonged to a Yahoo! mailing list for an anime called Gundam Wing. It was mostly populated by other teens, of varying ages, as it was started by a teen and her friends. Eventually it migrated, when Yahoo! groups started as forums, and even branched off into non-GW related stuff in a second forum.

One of the things I remember the most clearly is the oldest person in the group. Her name was Steelsong. She was a 40-something Dom with a sub whose name we knew even though we knew nothing else. She ran her own fanfic archive because the web was still handmade HTML and navigated in webrings and I’m pretty sure Google didn’t exist or was only barely, barely launched and not well known. She was kind and patient and we loved her. She treated everyone on the group with the respect given any adult, even though most of the rest of the world was still treating us like we were children. Not teenagers even, but children. She never once condescended to any of us, never made our youth a barrier to her respect, never treated us like we were incapable of being full people or like we were less than her because we were young.

I remember that she hosted our fanfiction, as absolutely terrible as it was (and I still have some of it, I am WELL aware of how cringingly terrible it is, just absolute nonsense garbage), right there alongside of other fic that was soul-achingly beautiful. Not a separate section for her friends or for kids, just right there like we were good enough to feature alongside other authors. I never once received crit from her that I didn’t ask for, only support. Only love. I am still writing today partly because Steel was so kind about our fic, fanfic and original.

I remember that when I started doing clay sculpture, she commissioned a tiny pair of dragons from me, to support me doing artwork. She sent a check my mom cashed for me, and my mom helped me mail it when it was finished. It broke in transit, and Steel assured me that she mended it and that it was still beautiful. It was a small gold dragon curled up with a small silver dragon.

I remember that her patience knew no bounds. I remember that she was there for us, regardless of reason. When we wanted to know silly things like what to do with a single AA battery, she answered. When we had serious questions about sex, she answered.  When we had questions about writing, she taught us. When one of our group members, a young gay teen in Australia, ended up in the hospital and then stopped making posts, and we all knew what had happened, she let us talk to her about it because we couldn’t go to our own parents, even though we had just lost a friend.

She was not a replacement to my parents, but she was an extra parent, in some ways. A friend, certainly, but someone that had been through more life than we had and was willing to pass on knowledge if we asked for it. Someone older that we trusted with things that were too uncomfortable to go to our parents or teachers or whatever about, because we already knew she wasn’t going to judge us or something, and that we would get an honest answer.

I don’t know why I’m remembering this so hard tonight, and I’m not sure if there’s a point to sharing this, except that I know she’s gone now. She was ill the last time we spoke, and her site went down a long time ago, and I miss her. She was a huge influence on my life, then and now. She was hope, for me, that life as an adult didn’t have to be boring, it wouldn’t have to mean giving up the things I loved and Becoming Only Responsible With No Fun. Her presence meant I had hope I could still write and play with friends even when I wasn’t ‘a kid’ anymore. And she’s gone, and I miss her, and I wanted to share her from the perspective of youth, and the perspective over twenty years later has provided me.

And I think of her, when people go off about older folks being in fandom with younger folks. I’m an older folks now, or at least middle aged folks because there are certainly folks older than me still, but I wasn’t always. I’ve been here since i was a younger folks, and I know how much Steel’s presence and support meant to me, how much she helped not just me but everyone on that group. And I think of the people saying older folks don’t belong in fandom, and that they shouldn’t interact with younger folks at all, and I just think... I can’t agree. I needed that kind of solid presence in my life back then and even at the age I am now, I need the folks older than me to stay. I want them here.

So I guess, like, if you’re here and you’re 40 or 50 or 60 or 70 or 80 or whatever, I want you here in fandom with me, still. Your presence here is a comfort. It is hope. It is a reminder that life will continue to be fun, even as I get older, myself. And if you’re younger and you have this sort of elder in your groups, I hope that they are like Steel. I hope they are kind and patient and supportive, and that knowing them gives you hope for your own future. I hope in twenty years you look back and remember them fondly.