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bluejaysandblackbats · 11 months ago

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Titans Academy

Fandom: DC Comics, Titans, Arrowfam

Summary: Grant struggles to accept his new reality when Roy takes him in and enrolls him in Titans Academy. He must adjust to life at a boarding school and life with his new foster family (Roy and Lian). Can he learn to trust the people who claim to care about him? Or will he shut himself off from love altogether?

Chapters: 1/?

Characters: Grant Emerson, Roy Harper, Bart Allen, Toni Monetti, Cody Driscoll, Lian Harper, Jade Nguyen, Audrey Spears, Tommy Blake Jr.

Additional Tags: Father-Son Relationship, Boarding School AU, No Powers AU, Found Family, Second Chances, Roy Harper is a Legal Guardian, Roy Harper is a Father, POV First Person, Grant Emerson POV, Autistic Bart Allen

Chapter One: Gravedigger 101

I thought that when this Roy guy kept me from going to jail, I'd get to be some kind of undercover criminal informant or something. I didn't really understand what they said in court. It sounded like he wanted to use me to get information on the illegal operation that resulted in my adoption by my now-deceased parents. I thought it'd be cool, and besides, it was between going with him or going straight to prison. I was just a kid. I wouldn't have made it long in an adult prison. There was no use in pretending to be tough. I was terrified, and I let the courts know it. The guy knew it too. He said something to the judge on my behalf, and the judge folded like a two-dollar bill. I knew the guy had to have some kind of pull. He showed up to the court late, walked in, whispered to the judge, and that was it.

I won't lie. I was kind of scared of the guy at first. The judge remanded me into the custody of Roy Harper in the state of New York. What I didn't know was that that guy was Roy Harper. "Come on, kid. Wanna go get your stuff?" he asked.

"I can't. My house is an active crime scene," I replied.

"Sorry... We'll get you some stuff in between here and New York. Hungry?" he questioned. He walked fast, so I rushed behind him once they released me. At his pace, he got from the courthouse to the parking garage in less than five minutes. He unlocked the car, and I got in the passenger's seat. "You hungry?" he asked a second time. I nodded.

We didn't say much else until he started driving. "What's good here?" he asked before screwing up his face. "I didn't say who I was, huh?"

I shook my head. "You're supposed to drop me off with that Roy Harper guy, right?" I asked.

"I am that Roy Harper guy. Sorry, my mind was on a hundred other things. I promise I wasn't trying to play some weird mind game by not introducing myself," Roy replied. I nodded. "What do you wanna eat? And if you say Burger Queen or Wackdonals, I'm legally obligated to pretend I didn't hear you."

"There's a BBQ place down the street from here," I mumbled. He grinned.

"BBQ's good. I can do BBQ," Roy replied. I gave him the name of the restaurant and directions. We got there in less than fifteen minutes, and we went in and ordered our food. I didn't feel much like eating before going to court, so I was starving.

We got drinks while we waited for the food, and Roy tapped his knuckles on the table. "I'm sorry about all this, Grant... I'm sure you're a good kid and—."

"What's New York like?" I asked. I didn't want to talk about the case or anything like that. I just wanted to pretend that things were normal.

"You won't see much of it for a little bit, but we're going to Manhattan... You don't happen to have a valid driver's license, do you?" Roy asked. I shook my head.

"Learner's permit," I replied.

"Good enough. It's a fourteen-hour drive, so we'll get there in maybe sixteen-seventeen-ish hours," Roy replied, "But I figure we'll split this into two days and get a little sightseeing in."

"If you're from New York, what are you doing in Atlanta?" I asked. I wanted to ask a bunch of other questions, but that's the one that came out.

"I heard about your situation on the news, and I figured you didn't deserve to be tried as an adult," Roy replied.

"So, am I gonna live with you?" I asked.

Roy nodded. "Yeah, it's hard to explain the living situation, but it'll make sense when we get there."

That made me nervous, but before I could ask anything else, the waitress brought our food to the table. I guess he was just as hungry as I was because neither of us said a word until we finished eating. "Good call, Grant," Roy chuckled as he leaned back in his chair.

I took another sip of my coke, and Roy told me to stay put. He left me at the table for a few minutes by myself, and he came back with two pies and another soda. "Sorry, I figured pie would make a nice snack for the ride," Roy replied, "Ready to go?"

I nodded and followed him to the car. I stared out the window while we drove, and Roy turned the radio on. "If this isn't your flavor, you can change the station," Roy whispered.

"It's cool," I whispered. Roy threw his tie in the backseat and got on the freeway. "Do you do this a lot?"

"Take road trips to keep minors out of jail? Or take custody of kids you've never met? Or maybe—."

"All of it... But mostly, do you have a lot of kids?" I asked.

"Yes and no. It'll make sense when we get there," Roy answered. I nodded, but I didn't understand. "And nope, not really. You're a little bit of a unique case. But that's good. Unique cases are good."

"Did your job make you come out here?" I asked.

"Nope. This is on my time, but I made a deal with the school beforehand about your living situation, and they've got no problem with enrolling," Roy explained.

All I got from that was he worked at a school and heard about me on the news. I kind of wish I didn't ask him anything at all. I closed my eyes and listened to the radio. Eventually, I felt okay enough to sleep. It helped that I finally had food on my stomach. I woke up when we stopped at a clothing store in the middle of nowhere, and he dragged me in there, half asleep. He said I had to buy some clothes. Underwear, t-shirts, jeans... That kind of stuff.

I dragged my feet around the store, still half-asleep, but I managed to do what he asked. He paid for everything, and we walked back to the car. The sun looked like it was about to set, so he checked us into a hotel. It was a room with two beds, and I tossed and turned half the night. He settled in quickly and fell asleep almost immediately. "Roy?" I whispered. I wanted to make sure he was asleep.

"Hm?" Roy mumbled.

"Thanks," I replied. I didn't know what else to say.

"Mhm, no problem," Roy mumbled, "Go to bed, Grant."

I think I fell asleep around two in the morning, and Roy slept the whole night. I slept so heavily that I nearly fell asleep in the shower. He was patient through it all, though. We got breakfast in a drive-thru, and I struggled to stay awake. "We'll get coffee in an hour," Roy replied. I nodded.

My head ached too badly to do anything else. "I didn't forget I planned to switch off, but you look half dead, so I'll give you a break," Roy teased. I wasn't in the mood. I turned toward the window and shut my eyes. He nudged me when we got to Sundollar, and I mumbled my order. He chuckled, and when we got to the window, he woke me up so I could drink my coffee. "Not a morning person?"

"Not a travel person," I replied.

"Well, we'll be halfway there in four hours. Think you can bear with me until we get there?" Roy asked. I nodded. The drink perked me up a little bit. "When I was a kid, it was tough adjusting to new places, but as long as you're under my care, I'll try to keep you in the same place... Okay?"

I looked over at him, and he had this sad look. I couldn't look at him like that, so I turned my head. "Thanks," I replied. Maybe he did care. I guess... Dunno. It all seemed so unreal to me. A complete stranger caring about some teenager he just met? Get real.

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hybridhadal · 1 year ago

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ABOUT ME

Hey, how you doin’n, bitch? My name’s Hadal Ai Douglass, but you can just call me Hadal (or HD).

I’m just your everyday twenty-something year old black and nerdy queer. I'm 5'6" with brown eyes and black locs. I love gaming, travelling, martial arts, anime, music, cussing (so be warned), and getting into trouble with friends. I know this reads like some corny Tinder profile but bare with me. I'm actually a pretty interesting guy once you get to know me…

I come from the Murx (which is short for Murkstone, VA) and my pronouns are ‘he/him’ as well as ‘they/them’. I resonate more with the ladder though. Coming from the Murx though, people tend to pretty much call you whatever the fuck they want. While not as popular as NYC or as hood as Detroit, the people here are characters nonetheless. It can get pretty busy and even crowded on certain occasions too. It has this sort of Gothic and old time aesthetic which attracts tourists for sure. But it also still keeps the allure of a regular modern city with the tall buildings, the traffic, burger joints on every corner, and neighborhoods you probably wouldn't want to get caught in at night.

Speaking of which, the nightlife is pretty cool here too. There’s lots to do. We got clubs, we got bars, we got strip joints, and other stuff. But after you've done it all, it can get a little repetitive. I’ve also lived here since I was a kid. So, perhaps I’m not the best person to talk to about it. One of the best things about the city though is that we also have these yearly music festivals that a bunch of outsiders attend. It’s called the "Deep Flow Festival" and it can get pretty big. I typically DJ at these events and the like. So, I’m a little known in the community here. Still, one of my bigger goals in life is to see the world.

One of my biggest dreams is to become a big presence in the music industry; to work with bigger names and make crazy loot. I know, it's a little cliché but I'm a creative at heart. I already make and sell my beats to some of the rappers and singers in my area (and a little beyond). On top of DJing at some of the spots around here, it pays the bills. It's also better than working some 9 - 5 that drains my life. So, although what I'm doing is barely getting me by, I'm not complaining. But again, I want to be bigger. I wanna be heard around the world. I wanna make big money, and ultimately move out of my little kitchen pantry of a pad. Don't get me wrong. I'm grateful for the place that I have. But it'd be cool if I could live in better place or maybe even in my own house. In today's economy though, you probably have to be making 1% money to buy and keep a house (especially the kind that I want). But I also want to get into other avenues too. Well, either that or find a sugar daddy to take care of me. I mean, shit, it is what it is.

I’ve been told I can be a bit boy-crazy at times though. On of the reasons I'm really into martial arts is that I love a man who can throw some hands. But if you're reading this and you're anything like my folks, you'd probably think that I still have a lot of life lessons to learn in that area (and you'd probably be right). I wouldn't call myself a spring chicken though. I can be a bit paranoid when it comes to men but not in the way you might think. Like I’m not afraid to get out and get to know people. That’s pretty much my job to a degree. I just know some of these men out here can be crazy as all hell sometimes. So, I do what I can when I can to keep any contingency that I can.

Growing up, my step-dad pretty much forced me to partake in survival school as well as self-defense training. He’s one of those Pan-African Hotep types on top of being an ex-marine. So, he made sure to raise me to be as militant and as hard ass as he could. I'd even go so far as to say that I picked up a few of his qualities (both good and bad). I mean, I never really met my real father or anything like that. So, I normally refer to him as just my dad despite not really getting along with him like that to this day. But, yeah, survival school taught me a lot though. I kinda had a rough time adjusting to it but I did eventually. Shit, I even made friends. Some of which even came up with me from middle school all the way to high school.

Before all that though, it was just my mom and me. She and I were practically inseparable. Then, she got her dream macho man and became the mayor. Pretty much everything changed after that. It all became about keeping an image, which pretty much meant keeping any sort of affiliations between her and I secret. I'm not exactly the most exemplary child (or so she constantly leads me to believe). It also meant spending significantly less time with the person who I at one point spent all my time with. I can’t blame her though. My biological father skipped town on us before I could really form any decent memories of him. So, for a small portion of my formative years, it was just the two of us. Once my step dad stepped into the picture, I pretty much became that little block of wood that he whittled into a shank. I don’t know...

But enough about my mom and dad. This next fact about me might seem like a bit of a stretch. But the craziest part of my life by far is the fact that I’m actually a practitioner of cosmic sorcery. Now, I know you’re probably thinking…

“What in the fuck is cosmic sorcery?”

Well, it’s pretty hard to sum up in just a few words but I will do my best. Cosmic sorcery is the study and manifestation of the universe's darkest secrets. Think of all that lies in the spaces between universes being summoned to our plane of existence; like being able to call on beings from the heavens and beyond to grant you whatever you desire. Cosmic sorcery can grant its user knowledge, physical enhancement, or sometimes even the complete annihilation of something. But also, it is an overall teaching of this universe's many elements. With enough knowledge, I could probably terraform (or flat out destroy) whole cities if not the whole planet. Now, mind you, I'm not on some OP anime character type shit but I know a lot. But yeah, there’s a LOT you can do with cosmic sorcery.

Ultimately cosmic sorcery preaches the oneness of the individual self and the universe. It is as powerful as one who practices it puts into it is. That and its incredibly ancient and mysterious. So, you can expect a lot of shit to go unexplained by me. I may practice the bitch but I'm no historian. The way I try to think of it is that it’s basically mankind's biggest kept secret (sorta, I guess). I mean, of course I’m not the only one that knows it. That’s also not the only form of sorcery out there. But it’s the one my grandfather blessed me with before he passed. I strive to know more and more but there isn’t much on it. I have to consult beings from beyond time and my own reality for guidance, and that's a whole box of chocolates in itself. A lot of the time, it feels like I'm just winging it.

But that's about it when it comes to me…

I feel like I've experienced quite a bit of life while not really experiencing life outside my own little bubble. But I mean, shit, I'm still young. Anything can change at any time. In fact, my dad says that's the only constant. I'm just a simple guy with big dreams and a lot on the mind. The following entries are pretty much a look into all of my highs, lows, and everything in between. Every dream that I’ve dreamt, every hard time I’ve overcome (or am still overcoming), every boy I’ve ever had a thing with / for, every embarrassing moment I’ve endured, and every triumph I’ve earned will all be here for the world to see. I hope you find it all as interesting as I do because believe me. It's some crazy shit.

Enjoy

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