#drabbles of geniusotaku

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Like Them

Y’all mistake me for someone who knows what I’m doing

He was all of them, yet none of them. They made up his very being and there was no denying they left an impact.  Everyone left an impact.

Clever, like Selina.  Always knowing what to say and how to say it.  Every word had a use, every phrase, a hidden motive. There was no turning back once the words left your mouth.  It paid to be clever.

Observant, like Roman. Seeing what others didn’t see. The things and people hidden just out of view.  Being observant could save more than just your life, if you were fast enough.

Brave, like Jack. There was a benefit to being so mad you’d do anything.  You were simultaneously so dumb you’d jump off a building, and so clever you’d know how to do it without dying.  There was a use, an advantage, in stupid bravery.

Hopeful, like Harley. Willing to have faith in those who everyone else has given up on.  Willing to believe in the best of humanity.  Hope was powerful, in the right hands.

Motivated, like Pamela. There was no point in fighting if there was no motivation behind it, no strength, no conviction.  If you were motivated, you were driven.

Intuitive, like Jonathan. Knowing how people will respond, how they’ll react.  Intuition is like empathy, in the right hands, it is a useful tool, the wrong hands, a powerful weapon.  If you underestimate an intuitive person, you have already lost.

Inquisitive, like Edward. Asking questions, seeking answers. It’s an admirable trait, to be sure, but a dangerous one.  Inquisitiveness can get you in as much danger as it can get you out.  It is, like all things, a strength and a weakness.

Determined, like Garfield. There’s a fine line between bull-headed stubbornness and silent determination, but that line is hard to see when you’re faced with it.  When that determination is yours, it can be the only thing that saves you against apparently unsurmountable odds.

Willful, like Drury.  There is determination, and there is sheer will. The mental strength to move on where there is no physical strength left to speak of.  Where determination fails, will may yet succeed.

Adaptable, like Harvey. Able to respond to the unforeseen, to take things one step at a time.  It is two parts instinct, two parts intellect, and every bit as useful as any carefully laid plans.

Dedicated, like Victor. There will always be people you need to protect, and people you can’t protect.  Being able to stand up and fight for both takes an inner strength far greater than any other.  That is true dedication.

Bruce knew the parts of him, the flaws, but seldom did he see the strengths he had absorbed with each person he fought.  But they saw it, they saw his cleverness, his observance, his bravery, his hopefulness, his intuition, his inquisitiveness, his motivation, his determination, his willfulness, his adaptability, and his dedication.  He was powerful, far more than just one of them.

He was like them, and they were like him.

And the worst part was he didn’t even know it.

[ao3feed-voltronlegendarydefender]

brotherhood

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2shN66q

by geniusotaku

all at once, keith realized he's not ok.

Words: 1007, Chapters: 1/1, Language: English

Fandoms: Voltron: Legendary Defender

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: Gen

Characters: Shiro (Voltron), Keith (Voltron), Hunk (Voltron), Lance (Voltron), Allura (Voltron)

Additional Tags: Drabble, Voltron, Canon Compliant, keith is sad, shiro is back and more dad like than ever, lance im sorry, You don't deserve this, dont worry he's alive, also hunk i apologize

read it on the AO3 at http://ift.tt/2shN66q

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Miss Jackson

In case any of you thought Salem Jackson wasn’t a terrifying force of nature.

It was always an event when a new face appeared at Arkham, by noon every patient knew about the new intern: Salem Jackson, if they hadn’t seen her.  A pretty girl, pleasant features, a little pale, her white hair didn’t really help in that regard, and looping around her ears were great black horns like that of a ram.

Jonathan Crane looked the intern up and down.  Everything told a little story.  The black boots on her feet, the little heart-shaped pin on her labcoat, the way she kept her hair tied back, it all added up to something.  Jonathan smiled.  She was putting on airs, trying to look scarier than she would normally. She knew she wasn’t actually scary enough to get that across on her own.

Which only made Jonathan wonder why such a pleasant-looking girl wanted to look scary.

Salem looked Jonathan up and down, her black lips pulled into a contemplative pout.

“You want to ask me something,” Salem guessed, her lips formed a pleasant grin, “what do you want to know?  I’ll let you ask the questions today.”

Jonathan raised an eyebrow, “That’s ill-advised.”

“Sometimes I find the best way to learn about people is to know what questions they ask,” Salem replied.

“Why are you trying to look scary?” Jonathan asked.  Salem’s grin widened.

“Why not?”

“Usually people don’t want to look scary.”

“Not everyone has horns, Dr. Crane.”

Jonathan nodded, “Must’ve been tough.”

“What?” Salem looked down at her clipboard.

“Having horns in the South.”

Salem flicked her eyes up at Jonathan, “It was, didn’t help that my pa thought I was some kinda demon.”

Jonathan raised his eyebrows, “Religious.”

“And damn stupid too. Everyone knew they had themselves a little snot running around, sneaking out, didn’t notice a damn thing.  No one really missed them.”

“So they’re dead.”

“Mmhm,” Salem nodded, “when I was seventeen.”

“So let me ask you a question,” Jonathan leaned forwards, “did you enjoy it?”

Salem looked Jonathan dead in the eye and smirked.

“Dr. Crane, I’m sure I don’t know what you mean,” she said in a sickly-sweet voice.

“I think you know exactly what I mean,” Jonathan replied, “you play a convincing ingénue, Miss Jackson.”

Salem smiled and made a short wave of a gesture, the guards stiffened and walked out.  Salem tapped her finger against her lips and leaned forwards.

“Did I enjoy ripping my parents to shreds?” Salem asked, “Did I enjoy watching my father hold his guts in his hands?  My mother’s lifeless eyes staring at me in horror?  After all they did to me?  Every undeserved beating or week without decent food?  Did I enjoy it?” Salem grabbed Jonathan by the throat, “Yes.”

Jonathan looked at the woman before him, her eyes flashed with a gleeful cruelty and her sharp nail’s dug into the flesh of his neck.  He saw something distinctly familiar in her, something terrifying. Jonathan grinned.

He saw himself.

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Old Friends

Bruce looked across the table at the man smoking across from him.  They’d been friends since they were both six, but their lives had gone in such different directions, it was hard to believe they’d stayed friends well into their twenties.

“Roman,” Bruce tapped Roman’s hand and Roman flicked his gaze back towards Bruce, blowing out cigarette smoke in a short puff.  Bruce kept telling him he was going to kill himself with those putrid things, but to be fair, Roman had suffered at least three heart attacks before he turned twenty, thinking he was going to live long was just being far too optimistic.

“Mmhm?” Roman raised an eyebrow.

“Who are you looking at?” Bruce glanced across the street.  He didn’t see anyone he recognized.

“No one Bruce,” Roman smirked and prodded Bruce’s forehead, “just lost in thought.  A lot of financial stuff.”

“You have a drop tonight?”

Roman scoffed and took a drag from his cigarette, “No, Jason said we might be getting stiffed on the East Side so I’ve been through the financials at least twelve times trying to look for any dips.  I trust your kid a lot more than any of the other idiots that work for me.”

“Funny you say that, since he nearly killed you,” Bruce noted.

Roman made a face, “So did Harvey and I still talk to him.”

“I wouldn’t call your interactions with Harvey talking.”

“What would you call it?”

“A man trying to figure out what another is saying only to find he’s swearing in Thai.”

Roman burst out laughing, then fell into a coughing fit.

“Granted,” he wheezed, a hand over his heart.

“Are you okay?” Bruce asked. Roman nodded.

“Yeah, fine, for now anyway.”

Bruce sighed and watched the people on the street.  He heard a sizzle and caught a whiff of burning flesh, but didn’t look at Roman before speaking.

“Don’t do that,” he said.

“You’ve told me not to hundreds of times and I’ve never listened,” Roman remarked, dropping his now extinguished cigarette butt in the ashtray in front of him and inspecting the new circular burn on his hand, “not like my uncle didn’t do it to me already.”

“Roman.”

“I know, I know, you don’t like talking about him,” Roman leaned back in his chair, his grin widened slightly, “we have company.”

Bruce looked over to where a small mob of photographers and reporters were snapping pictures of the two. Roman flashed a smirk and turned back to the table, looking in to the kitchen.

“Is it too early?” he asked.

“Absolutely,” Bruce replied, “Roman we’re here for breakfast.”

“And some people put whiskey in their coffee,” Roman noted.

“You don’t like whiskey Roman.  And Joker does that.”

“Are you saying I won’t do something because Joker does it?”

“I’m not saying it, you won’t.”

Roman shrugged, tapping his nail on the table and leaning forwards.

“Any new dates?” he asked, a grin on his face.

“I’m too busy to date,” Bruce replied.

“I have time to fuck, you have time to date Bruce.”

“Roman, you run a criminal enterprise and a cosmetics company.”

“And you’re a vigilante running a tech corporation, I repeat my previous statement.”

Bruce let out a slow sigh.

“Also in light of Damian I’ve decided dating’s probably a bad idea.”

“Aaah, right,” Roman nodded, “you have a kid now, an actual kid. Do I get to meet him?”

“You already did.”

“Actually meet him.  I should hope the kid doesn’t act the same with the mask off.”

“Do you?”

“I’m not a vigilante Bruce. Oh god does he act like that?  Who raised him?”

“R’as and Talia.”

Roman clapped a hand over his mouth to keep from laughing.

“It’s not that funny.”

“You fucked Talia?”

“Roman!”

“Well?  Did you?”

Bruce shrugged, “I guess? Please don’t say it like that.”

“Ok all joking aside, how fucked over do you think Dami is?  I mean, raised by the League?  I don’t even like doing business with them.”

“I’m not sure at this point honestly.  A lot like with you, it’s hard to tell considering how he turned out.”

“A lot like with me?” Roman feigned an insulted face, “I can’t believe I used to like you.”

“You did?”

“And I thought Harley Quinn was oblivious,” Roman muttered.

Bruce shrugged, “I mean there was that one time in college...”

“That we agreed to never speak of again.”

“That one time we both got really drunk...”

Roman clapped a hand over Bruce’s mouth.

“Yes, I am fully aware of it because someone took pictures.”

“Harvey took pictures, but he never put them online.”

“He still has them.”

“No, I have them.  I stole the camera.”

Roman glared at Bruce.

“You whore.”

Bruce gave Roman the best smug look he could muster and his friend sat back down.

“So,” he added, picking up his coffee mug and taking a sip, “East Side is actually going to have a bit of trouble tonight, so I’d steer clear.”

“They were stiffing you?” Bruce guessed.

“Try outright stealing,” Roman replied, “I need my main guy but I can get rid of a few smaller dealers.  Maybe break a hand or two.”

“You’re going in personally?”

“You don’t steal from me.”

Bruce nodded, “Nygma’s been up to something in the Bowery anyway, so I’ll probably be up that way all night.”

“I’ll send some guys out to pick up the slack.  Might even loan out Jon for it.”

“Thanks Roman.”

“Anytime Bruce.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

A Friend or a Son-Part 1

Hey, multipart fics where I nearly or try to kill people right?

Part 2 out tomorrow.

Bruce never liked the tile floors in Roman’s house, they were always too well polished, too slippery, too white.

Too easily stained with blood.

Bruce stepped around a dead guard and heard the shouting.  Jason had been bothering Roman for a long time now, but he didn’t expect Jason to straight-up go after Roman himself.

Roman was shouting, but considering Bruce didn’t know what he was saying, it was probably Thai. Bruce had never gotten around to learning Thai.  He probably should’ve considering Roman fell back on it when he was angry.

There was a bang, Bruce’s heart dropped.  Jason had an excellent aim, Roman was an expert marksman, both shot to kill.

Bruce ran for the room, hoping he wasn’t too late.

It had been a miss, Roman was just barely holding Jason’s wrist away from his head with one hand and pining him with the other.  He had a long scratch across his face that was oozing blood, and Jason’s helmet was half-broken and crumbling on the ground.

With a quick motion Jason kicked Roman back, getting up and repositioning his gun, but Roman moved fast, a benefit to being small.  He grabbed Jason by the throat and slammed him back into the ground with a resounding crack, that helmet was irreparable, and Jason’s head was probably sporting a nasty gash in the back now.

There was a click, and Bruce’s blood ran cold.

Jason was holding his gun against Roman’s stomach.

“JASON WAIT!” Bruce began, but was silenced by a bang and a sharp intake of air.

Roman released Jason and sat back, holding a hand over his stomach as a blood began to stain his shirt violet.

Bruce tore off his mask, anonymity be damned, his friend was bleeding to death and needed to see kind face one more time.  Bruce knelt and pulled his friend into his chest.  Roman flinched and Bruce pressed the heel of his hand into Roman’s room.

Jason stumbled to his feet and tore off the helmet.  He looked confused.

“Call,” he said, softly, trying not to sound angry.

“No,” Jason replied, “why should I?”

Roman coughed, a small spurt of blood came out.

“By best friend is dying in my arms Jason call 911 now,” Bruce raised his voice.

“He deserves to die,” Jason snarled.

“Then so do you!” Bruce shouted, “If murder is what he did to warrant death than it’s what you’ve done. Call.”

Jason searched Bruce’s face for an explanation and the door creaked open.

“Oh my god.”

Dick’s voice was more shock than heartbreak, but the frantic beeping said enough.  If Jason wouldn’t call, Dick would.  Bruce pulled Roman close and took a deep, shaky breath.

“Don’t die on me,” he hissed, “don’t you dare.”

“So you’ll show sympathy for monsters like him but if I get rid of them I’m no better?” Jason asked.

“You aren’t any better,” Dick snapped, “you know him.  You have to know his history with Bruce.”

“I know that Bruce turns a blind eye to him,” Jason snapped, “because they’re friends.”

“So you also know that Bruce has been here before,” Dick walked forwards, “if someone shot you I’d mourn, I’d try to save you, even despite what you’ve done.”

“I haven’t done anything.”

“You’ve killed Jason!” Dick shouted, Dick never shouted, “That’s enough for some to condemn you.  It’s not enough for me, it’s not enough for Bruce.”

Jason narrowed his eyes, but didn’t respond.  He simply walked out.

[lawful-evil-novelist]

A Friend or a Son-Part 2

Part 1  Part 3 coming soon

Roman woke with a start. More accurately a very uncomfortable heart palpitation that told Roman his pacemaker wasn’t on.  He let out a gasp and the nurse beside him nearly leapt two feet in the air.

“Heart,” he rasped, barely able to get out any more than that.  God his stomach hurt like hell.  The nurse stared for a few seconds, then noticed Roman’s heart monitor was beeping weirdly and hurried out of the room.  Roman felt his heart spasm and winced.

The amount of times nurses had totally not noticed he had an irregular heart rhythm was honestly a little scary, but thank god for doctors who remembered, like the one that came hurrying in to hook up a pacemaker before Roman’s heart decided to fuck off and stop.

Roman waited a few minutes for his heart to calm down before he sat himself up a little straighter, with some trouble considering he had a swath of bandages around his middle.

Roman pushed his hair from his face and glanced at the door as the same nurse shuffled in, a young man with a white piebald streak in his dark hair and a decent number of bandages and bruises.

“Out,” Roman pointed to the nurse.

“I can’t-” the nurse began, but quickly hurried out when Roman glared at her.

“Oh well aren’t you the best patient?” the man commented.

“Look if you don’t notice your patient is having heart spasms you shouldn’t be allowed to listen to their private conversations.”

“Hm.”

Roman raised an eyebrow, “So, are you here because your dad is forcing you to apologize?”

“Brothers, actually,” the young man replied.

“Plural?”

“Tim was in the car, apparently.”

“Ah.  I like Tim, was the only one who never punched me.  As a Robin anyway.”

There was a silence, and Roman continued.

“Then there’s you.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake.”

“You shot me.”

The young man sighed and leaned on the wall, “Apologizing won’t do anything.”

“You won’t mean it anyway,” Roman shrugged, “you don’t care.”

“I don’t care about what?”

“About people.  Any of them.”

“I care about people.”

“No you don’t.  You care about getting rid of people you think are bad.”

“Are you saying murderers aren’t bad people?”

“Are you admitting that you’re a bad person?”

Jason opened his mouth, then shut it.

“Look kid, I say you don’t care because you’ll look at someone, condemn them, then act like there is no one on earth who would miss them, who would try to save them, who would condemn you for your ‘justice’.  You’re wrong.”

Roman took a deep breath, “The only people I murdered that no one mourned only had two people who knew them well enough to mourn, and both killed them.”

Jason narrowed his eyes.

“I’m not here to call myself a saint, but don’t for a second assume you are a saint because you smite the wicked.  You’re a common thug, you just think you have a moral compass.”

“I have more of one than you.”

“Sure,” Roman scoffed, “whatever you say.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Sins of the Father

Today we get a peek into Zeke’s home life and his relationship with Todd.  I regret everything.

Zeke slipped in, keeping close to the furniture and barely lifting his feet.  He slowly slipped off his sneakers and slid across the kitchen floor effortlessly.

Zeke peered into the living room, Harvey Dent was fast asleep on the couch, the local news a faint hum in the background. Zeke swallowed and slowly made his way across the living room.

“You’re late.”

Zeke tensed, that was Harv.

“Got a reason or are you just looking for a raw backside?”

“I was out with friends,” Zeke fumbled, “I told Harvey.”

Harv grunted, “Friends? Or one friend?”

Zeke felt his blood run cold.

“Thought I told you to stay away from that little white rat,” Harv strode up to Zeke and grabbed his chin, “but instead of listening, you seem more content with running around with him and all the other little rats that infest this city.”  Harv released Zeke and held his hand to the light, showing a faint spatter of glitter that had gotten on Zeke’s face.  “That boy is a cancer, and you should have no business with him, but do you listen?”

Harv growled low and he grabbed Zeke by the back of the neck and pitched him over the couch.

Zeke clasped his hands over his mouth and started muttering quickly and frantically, the Hebrew words so ingrained in his mind he could recall them even through the pain, his father had taught them to him.  They made these long stretches of painful beatings go by quickly, or at the very least they helped numb the pain for a time.  They didn’t keep Zeke from becoming a sobbing mess, but they had their purpose.

The first strike broke Zeke off mid-word, but he kept going.  His hands were shaking, there were already tears in his eyes.  When he was little, he barely understood it.  Harvey was so kind, so soft and gentle with Zeke. He never raised a hand to hurt him. But Harv and Harvey were not the same people.  Harv was not Zeke’s father, Harv was a man with his father’s face who beat him because he could, because he knew Zeke had neither the strength nor the will to fight back, because he was sick and cruel and thought beating on a child made him strong. Zeke told himself this all the time, but it never changed anything.  It didn’t make a leather belt sting any less, nor did it make the bruises fade faster.

Harv finally decided Zeke had learned his lesson and stopped. Zeke took a deep breath and lowered his hands.  Waiting for Harv to release his shirt and walk out before pulling his pants back up and hurrying up the stairs.  He checked his pockets and was relieved to find that Harv hadn’t taken his phone.  He slipped it back in and quickly hurried into Harvey’s room, taking his laptop from atop Harvey’s dresser and returning it to his room.  He checked for cracks, cleaned up the shattered lightbulb on the floor, and replaced his lamp to its spot on the table.  He fixed the lampshade and put a new bulb in, then placed the laptop on his desk and lied down on his bed, pushing his hair back.  He counted quietly to himself before the window slowly opened.

“You okay?” Todd whispered, peering in.  Zeke shook his head, but shrugged.

“I’m used to it,” he admitted.  Todd shrugged, then climbed into the room and sat on Zeke’s stomach, running his soft, cool hands along Zeke’s ribs.  Zeke let out a slow sigh and shifted into a more comfortable position.  Todd leaned forwards and kissed Zeke’s forehead gently, then his nose, then his lips.  Zeke lifted a hand to hold Todd’s head in place and wormed a tongue into Todd’s mouth. Zeke could taste sugar in Todd’s mouth, and laughed a little.  All it did was make the kiss vaguely sweet, and remind Zeke that Todd was chewing cotton candy flavored gum, still, Zeke could feel the mess of sticky sweetness on the side of Todd’s mouth, plastered up between his cheek and his molars. Zeke pulled away from the kiss and pressed his forehead against Todd’s, a small smile on his lips and fingers slipping under the band of Todd’s underwear oh so slightly.

“Sweetie let’s not play rough right now,” Todd suggested softly.  Zeke hummed and kissed Todd’s jawline.

“Who said we had to play rough?” he asked.

“Your sex drive.”

“Shush.”

Todd smiled and ran a hand through Zeke’s hair before pinning him to the bed.  Zeke smiled back at him and ran his thumb over Todd’s lips, they were painted a soft purple color, with faint traces of silvery glitter on them from whatever gloss Todd had been wearing that afternoon.  It looked good on him, standing out as a pop of lavender among the snowy white of his skin.  Todd placed a hand on Zeke’s and turned to kiss his palm.

“I love you,” Todd whispered, just loud enough that Zeke could hear.

“I love you too.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Brotherhood

Hello I’m here to make @the-mighty-sorceress‘s drabbles 10x worse and also torture Max.  I am a bad person.

Max was still angry, and he had a feeling it was making Niall nervous.

“I’m sure she wasn’t that bad,” he was trying to sound hopeful, something Niall was not good at, even under the best circumstances.

“She was that bad,” Max interrupted.  Niall pouted and reached up to fluff the long part of Max’s hair.

“Nevermind her, you’re getting way too worked up over one girl.  I’d suggest you like her if that wasn’t your thing.”

Max glanced at Niall, and his brother flashed a crooked smile that showed of the gap in his teeth that, despite an attempt with braces and a front ectomy, was still as wide as ever. Niall didn’t mind it, and neither did Max, it gave him charm, or whatever it was supposed to give an impish little shit like Niall.

“Why are you being so nice?”

Max gritted his teeth at the sound of Melissa’s voice, Niall’s smile faded.

“I mean he’s clearly a jerk.”

Niall turned to the direction of Melissa’s voice, a little hurt, and itching to be a snide little brat like he always did.

“Leave him alone,” Max ordered, “just because you had to get pissy with me doesn’t mean you have any right to be mean to my brother.”

“You’re related to that thing?” Melissa addressed Niall.

“You were right, she is that bad,” Niall nodded.

Before Melissa could say anything else, a loud car pulled up to the curb.  Niall knew the car, Max knew the car.

They had to go.

Niall backed from the curb as the car opened, but wasn’t fast enough to stop the hand that reached out and grabbed his wrist.  Niall shrieked and tried to pull away, but the person holding him was a lot stronger than he was, and held fast to Niall’s arm.

With a shout, Niall was pulled into the car, and out stepped the last person Max wanted to see right now.

“Give him back,” Max begged, trying to keep his voice from wavering.

“Back?” Lonnie gripped Max’s chin, “I’m taking him back.  You and your bitch sister took him from me, or did you forget that?”

“He doesn’t belong to you please!” Max kept going.  He’d never convince Lonnie, but he could try, “Please, don’t separate us.”

“Niall was never one of you in the first place,” Lonnie snarled, “he was so much better that you.”

Lonnie released Max’s chin and slapped him across the face so hard all Max recalled was a loud crack and hitting the concrete.  Lonnie held Max’s face into the sidewalk with his boot and grinned.  He and Niall had the same crooked grin, but Niall’s was so much kinder.

“This is where you belong, and don’t you forget it,” he sneered, then glanced at Melissa, his grin widened. “This your girlfriend Maxie?  Did I embarrass you?”  He gave Melissa’s hair a hard yank, “You deserve each other, you’re both shit.”

“Say that again,” Melissa snarled as Lonnie returned to the car.  Lonnie turned to Melissa.

“You’re both shit, awful, bottom of the barrel,” Lonnie grinned, “Oh I know all about you Melissa Fugate, considering how often your father harps about you.  It’s a wonder he hasn’t locked you in a closet for your attitude. I would.”

Melissa almost went purple with fury, and Lonnie didn’t have much time to react before she strode over and decked him clear across the jaw with a resounding crack.  In the moment of distraction, Niall scrambled out of the car and hid behind her.  Lonnie looked from Melissa to Niall, decided a fight wasn’t worth it, and returned to the car, which promptly took off down the street.  When it had disappeared, Niall stepped out and helped Max to his feet. Max yanked his brother into a hug and broke down crying.

“Hey,” Niall whispered, “don’t listen to him Max.  You’re worth it, you’re worth the world.”

Max let out a shaky sigh and tightened his grip on Niall.

“I don’t want to lose you,” he admitted, “you and Aisling are the only family I have.”

“I know Max,” Niall turned his head slightly, “I think you owe us an apology, and we owe you a thank you.”

Max glanced at Melissa, who was still glowering down the street, part of it looked worried, maybe even a little scared.

“Hey,” Max tapped Melissa’s shoulder, then wiped away his tears with his sleeve. “you’re not as bad as he says.  You’re way better.  Got that?”

Melissa glanced at Max, “Who was that?  And what was his problem?”

Max took a deep breath, “That was our dad, and his problem is that he lost custody of Niall because of how he treated me and our sister.”

Melissa looked at Niall as if that was the most bizarre string of words she’d ever heard, but shrugged it off and gave a short wave.

“Well, you’re not as awful as I thought you were,” she granted, “I guess I’ll see you around.”

Niall gave a smirk as she walked off, then looked up at Max.

“Is your cheek okay?” he asked.

Max nodded.

“Good.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Growing Up

@the-mighty-sorceress agreed to let me punch Teddy.  Teddy might be ooc, I apologize.

Aiden wasn’t feeling well this morning.  Marcus only knew because he had a surgical mask on.

‘Too much?’ he signed slowly, trying to recall the words he was supposed to use.  He wasn’t much good with ASL but he was learning because Aiden had low noise days and he was worried today was one of them.

‘Just smell,’ Aiden replied, almost too quickly, ‘but I don’t feel like I can talk.  You can.’

“I don’t think anyone would understand you if you could,” Marcus commented.

‘You’re funny.’

Marcus smirked and looked away to take out a notebook.

“Don’t sign when I’m not looking,” Marcus commented, looking at Aiden, who quickly lowered his hands like he hadn’t been signing “teddy bear” on repeat when Marcus wasn’t looking. It wasn’t like he didn’t know what it meant, but he was fairly certain he didn’t want to hear.

“Got an appointment doc?” Teddy Krank swung around Marcus’s desk and sat down behind Aiden, “You gotta tell me one day why you wear that sometimes.”

‘Actually Teddy,’ Todd began, but Teddy excitedly cut him off.

“Is it because of some cool thing with your dad?” he asked.

“Aiden’s not talking today,” Marcus commented, part to the teacher as she walked in, part to Teddy.

“Not a good day?” the teacher guessed, Aiden nodded.

“I think they’re doing something in the sewers near his house,” someone commented.  Aiden nodded quickly and leaned forwards, resting his chin on his desk.

“Take it slow Aiden, go to the nurse if you really don’t feel up to it, okay?”

Aiden nodded, slowly signing ‘yes’ with one hand.  Teddy looked outright confused, which he usually did when Aiden had a bad day.

The teacher began the lesson as normal until Marcus heard a faint scraping from Teddy.  For some reason beyond Marcus, he was using the sharp edge of the desk to scrap the paint off of his pencil.  Aiden looked about ready to scream.

“Teddy,” Marcus hissed, “Stop doing that.”

“I’m not bothering anyone,” Teddy retorted.

“You’re bothering Aiden,” Marcus nodded to Aiden, who was frantically tapping his fingers on his desk.

“No I’m not,” Teddy countered.

Marcus groaned and turned back to the board.

After a few more minutes Aiden rapped on the desk three times, quickly, and the teacher turned around, looking a little tired, but as if she expected this to happen.

“Mr. Krank, please stop making so much noise.”

“I’m not making much noise.”

“I told you,” Marcus snapped, “you’re bothering Aiden.”

“He can deal.”

“No, he can’t.”

“Will you stop nagging me? Maybe this is what it feels like to be Arnold Wesker.”

Marcus stood and grabbed Teddy’s shirt.

“If you really wanna know, how about I beat you senseless?  Sound like a fun time?” Marcus snarled.

The teacher cleared her throat loudly.

“I think you both know where to go,” she said, “Principal’s office, and no stops Mr. Wesker.”

Marcus stormed out the door and down the hall, Teddy behind him.

“Sorry,” he said, “I didn’t mean to.”

“Forget it,” Marcus snapped.

“I mean it!” Teddy insisted, “It was just a joke.”

Marcus whirled around and punched Teddy square in the nose.  Teddy hit the ground with a hard thud, and quickly moved to cover his nose.  He looked about ready to cry.

“When are you gonna learn not to make jokes about people’s parents?” Marcus asked, “When are you gonna learn that sometimes you’re not funny?  WHEN ARE YOU GONNA GROW THE FUCK UP AND STOP PLAYING AROUND?”

Marcus turned and continued down the hall, muttering under his breath, “Oops, I stopped.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

The Quinzel Family

Hi I still can’t write Teddy but since @the-mighty-sorceress took Todd to the Krank house, it’s time for Teddy to experience the literal mess that is the Quinzel house.

It’s not as dysfunctional as you think.

“Promise you won’t freak out?”

“I’m not my dad.  I think I can handle your family.”

“Promise your dad won’t freak out?”

“I can’t do that.”

Todd gave Teddy an irritated look.

“No,” Teddy repeated, “I can’t promise my dad won’t freak out.  Your dad is still the Joker.”

Todd heaved a heavy sigh and leaned on the door as he opened it.

“I brought a friend home!” he announced loudly.  As if to announce that both his mom and dad were home, there was high pitched yipping and a clattering of uncoordinated claws as Bud and Lou clambered down the steps to greet the small Harley spawn.  Bud nearly took Todd out while Lou covered him in slobbery kisses.  Todd tried in vain to get them off but it was a little tough when his arms were noodles and Bud had a paw on his chest.

“Oh sorry Toddy!” Harley clambered down the steps and pulled the two hyenas off by their collars, “I forgot to put the gate up.  You okay hun?”

Tod sat up, rubbing his chest and trying to catch his breath.  He couldn’t quite speak, as Bud had just about knocked the wind out of him. Harley pulled Todd to his feet and gestured for Teddy to come in.

“Deep breaths pumpkin,” she whispered, “J!  Bud and Lou knocked Todd over!  I think we need his inhaler!”

There was a loud crash in another room and a mad scrambling before Joker ran in and chucked a bright pink inhaler at Harley, who caught it and handed it to Todd.  Todd pressed down on the inhaler and breathed slowly for a few seconds, then lowered the inhaler and nodded, a hand still on his chest.

“Better,” he coughed, “by a margin.”

“Oh thank god,” Joker leaned on the counter, “Please, please put the gate up next time Harl.”

“I will,” Harley snapped, then looked at Teddy, “sorry sweetie, gotta treat Toddy with a little extra care n’ all with stuff like this.”

Teddy shrugged, “Didn’t know you needed an inhaler.”

“Not much anymore,” Todd shrugged, “Oh, right.  Mom, dad, this is Teddy, Teddy Krank.”

Harley smiled and gave a wave, “Hi!  I love your hair!”

Joker didn’t do much more than salute Teddy and walk into the other room, “Busy.”

“As usual,” Harley scoffed.

“I still have heists to do Harl, as much as you don’t like it.”

Harley sighed and brushed Todd’s hair aside.  “How’s my little Jester?” she asked, “I’ve been away for so long.  Missed you.”

“I’m doing fine mom,” Todd promised.  Harley gave a somewhat sad smile, then raised her eyebrows.

“And Zeke?”

“Mom!”

“If you were trying to hide that, you shouldn’t be doting on him in front of Ivy’s girls, they tell me everything.”

“Mom I have a friend here.”

Harley looked up at Teddy, smiled, and then stood.

“Be careful, she pinched Todd’s cheek, “Harvey doesn’t much like me or J.  Have fun, be good, don’t bug your father too much.  I’ve got some paperwork to take care of for Dr. Thompkins.”

“Mmhm,” Todd nodded, and Harley skipped out.  When Todd was sure she couldn’t hear, he smirked, “They’re great aren’t they?”

“Good timing,” Teddy complimented as Todd turned on the TV and put his feet up, “if it were on a cartoon, it’d be funny.”

“And didn’t involve me nearly having an asthma attack?” Todd guessed.

“It’s asthma?” Teddy raised his eyebrows.

“Yeup.”

The two stared at the TV before Todd spoke up, “Did my mom make you uncomfortable?”

“Why?” Teddy asked.

“Well, your mom’s not around anymore, and you got kinda quiet when she started talking to me.”

Teddy shrugged, but Todd could tell something was bothering him.

“You know our dads are pretty similar in a lot of ways,” Todd changed the subject.

“I am nothing like Cosmo!” Joker shouted from his work room.

“I beg to fucking differ,” Todd shouted in response.

“Personally, I think Ryder’s closer to J,” Harley added.

“How dare you!” Joker mocked an insulted tone, complete with an exaggerated voice crack and they burst out laughing, Todd and Teddy joining into the hilarity.

“In all seriousness,” Todd leaned on Teddy, “I know you don’t like to talk about it, but one of these days, you should tell me about your mom.”

“I’d rather not,” Teddy replied.  He’d gotten uncharacteristically serious.  His mom was a touchy subject, as Todd had gathered.

“You know not talking about it is probably why people think you don’t have any problems,” Todd pointed out, “like Max.”

“I don’t like talking about it.”

Todd nodded and shrugged.

“So how funny was Bud knocking me flat on my ass?”

“Comedy gold.  They’re like hunchbacked Saint Bernards.”

“I think they’re closer to Newfoundlands,” Todd countered, “I mean, have you seen the Lynns family dogs?”

“What now?”

“You don’t know Aiden Lynns?”

“I know him.  I just didn’t know he had pets.  He’s so scrawny I assumed at most he had like, a goldfish.”

“Yeah no, they’ve got like, five Newfies.”

“That’s a lot of big dogs. And Aiden’s puny.”

“You should see his dad.”

“How short is he?”

“Let’s put it this way,” Joker leaned on the couch between Todd and Teddy, “I’m 5’4, Garfield Lynns is three inches shorter than me and has the same frame as Jonathan Crane.”

Todd looked up at Joker and noticed he was turning his dogtags over in his hands.  He came to ask something, but primarily to get out of the heist room for a few seconds before he shot something.

“Boy’s lucky Drury’s there, or he’d never handle those dogs.”

“Did you need something?” Todd asked, trying to pull his dad’s attention away from his dogtags.

“Yes actually,” Joker nodded, lowering the tags, “is Teddy staying for dinner?”

“He might be,” Todd replied, “why?”

“Because it’s my turn to cook dinner,” Joker straightened up and stretched, “was wondering.”

“Don’t make anything gross,” Todd insisted.

“I am not a bad cook.”

“I beg to differ.”

The door swung open abruptly and Barbara ran in, nearly bowling over Joker in the process, a tall, lanky blonde in tow.

“I’m home!” Barbara bellowed, hurrying up the steps.

“Watch where you’re going!” Joker shouted.

“Sorry,” the lanky blonde gave a shy wave and hurried up the steps after Barbara, “Hi Teddy, hi Todd.”

“Hi Sarah,” Todd leaned back, “I think your dad’s gonna kill you for coming over Teddy.”

“Think so?”

“Yeah, I’ll hold a funeral. We’ll even cremate the body.”

“You could always lie and say we were at Tobi’s house.”

“He won’t buy it, Tobi has Ziti.”

“Tobi has a pet noodle?”

“Ziti is not a noodle, Ziti is a blood python.”

“Ok cool,” Teddy gave a nervous laugh, “remind me never to go to Tobi’s.”

“And that’s why your dad won’t buy it, pretty sure he knows about Ziti.  Luthor and Bloom do military work sometimes.”

Teddy nodded, “I’m grounded.”

“Indubitably.”

In some respect, this word must have been utterly hilarious to Joker, because Todd could hear him snickering in his heist room.  Todd settled comfortably on the couch and smirked.

“Can I have your allowance if you’re grounded?”

“I don’t have an allowance.”

“Dammit.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Anarky-A Drabble

Aka why I should not be allowed to do anything, ever.

Coming into the warehouses with bruises only produced worry from the goons with kids of their own at home, and even then, they though the bruises were from Lonnie “Never Back Down” Machin getting into a fight, but the bruises were seldom from a fist fight.

Lonnie gathered the saliva in his mouth and spit into the sink for the third time, watching bright red blood swirl down the sink.  Lonnie tightened his grip on the edge of the sink as the bathroom door creaked open. He heard a soft sigh and a gentle voice.

“Bata, come here, let me see.”

Lonnie straightened up and turned to the tall maid at the door, her brow furrowed in worry.  Lonnie knew more endearing terms for “child” than any person reasonably should.  The maid clicked her teeth and placed a hand on Lonnie’s cheek.  She muttered something Lonnie didn’t catch, but he figured it wasn’t English anyway, and probably consisted of a good number of swears that would get the maid fired if she’d said them in English.

“I didn’t get in a fight,” Lonnie clarified sharply.

“I never said you did,” the maid replied, “you think we don’t know where your bruises come from bata?  You think we assume you’re a wild boy who doesn’t behave himself?  Sit, sit, I’ll clean you up.  You may not fight, but my boys do.  Tell me what happened.”

Lonnie edged over to sit on the toilet and the maid took a first aid kit from the closet.

“I don’t want you to get in trouble,” Lonnie insisted.

“I won’t speak any ill of your parents, if that’s what you’re worried about,” the maid lowered her voice with a sly grin, “they just left a few minutes ago anyway.”

Lonnie looked at his feet and took a deep breath, “You’re more like parents that my actual parents.”

“Your parents aren’t exactly the best parents,” the maid shrugged, “now open your mouth, please.”

Lonnie complied and the maid held gauze up to the inside of his cheek.  Internally, Lonnie was cataloguing his injuries, noting ones he could explain away to his classmates with accidents, and which he would respond to “what happened” with silence.  He had a black eye, and no one believed him last time when he said someone had hit him in the face by accident.  His lip was busted, also hard to explain away, as was the bruise from his father’s initial backhand, which had caused the cut in his mouth that the maid was cleaning up.

Facial injuries were always the hardest to explain anyway, but since Lonnie almost always covered his head partway through these beatings, he usually ended up with more damage to his arms.  Granted, he’d broken an arm more than once with this method, but a broken arm was better than a broken nose.

“Oh dear,” the maid lifted Lonnie’s arm, running a finger along a raised mark on his forearm.  A jolt of pain ran through Lonnie’s arm and he pulled it from her grasp.  The maid furrowed her brow and took his arm again, rolling up the sleeve of his sweatshirt. There were more marks, raised and red, and she scowled.

“Take off the sweater,” she ordered, “and your shirt.  Now.  Get in the shower.”

Lonnie furrowed his brow.

“Now,” she ordered, then took a deep breath, “I won’t tell anyone, but you need to clean those, and I doubt they’re only on your arms.”

Lonnie nodded and the maid started out.

“I’ll get you some clean clothes and ask the cook to make you some tea,” she offered.

Lonnie nodded, pulling off his sweatshirt.

“Salamat po,” he said.  The maid looked surprised, then gave a warm smile.

“Wala pong anuman.”

The maid walked out and Lonnie took a deep breath and began undressing.

Lonnie’s family wasn’t his parents.  It wasn’t his mother who called him stupid, who slapped him across the face, who pulled his hair and shoved him into walls.  It wasn’t his father, who whipped him and beat him if he ever slipped below perfection.  It wasn’t the people who shoved soap in his mouth or thought obedience was found at the end of a wooden rod.  That was not Lonnie’s family.  His family sometimes didn’t understand him, his family made him chamomile when he was sad and gave him nicknames.

Lonnie’s family worked for Lonnie’s parents, they had soft voices and gentle touches.  They taught him please and thank you in so many languages sometimes Lonnie mixed them up, but they’d laugh and ruffle his hair and tell him to keep trying.  Sometimes, behind the mask of Anarky, Lonnie was asked who he was fighting for, why fighting this broken system was so important.  Lonnie didn’t have a solid answer, but he had one.  He fought the system that let his monstrous parents get away with whipping him raw.  He fought the system that left his true family to live in poverty, or else rip them away when they had found a new life here.  He fought the system that put people down for not fitting a mold.

Lonnie had become Anarky because the system was broken, and someone had to fix it.

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Hunter and Leo

I wanted to write Hunter and Leo being dorks.

Hunter was running his hands through Leo’s hair.  Leo was doing his best to ignore it and sleep, but it wasn’t working.  Leo shifted his head to look at Hunter, who was smiling down at him with his usual gentleness.

“I’m trying to sleep,” Leo commented.

“Stay up a little longer sugar,” Hunter smiled, “it’s a little lonely without you.”

Leo scoffed, “I’m sure, mi amado.”

Hunter shifted and pulled the sheets up to cover their hips.  Leo flipped onto his stomach and rested his arms on Hunter’s chest. Hunter feigned irritation at Leo’s sly grin.

“What are you thinking?” he asked.

“Relájate, it isn’t that bad.”

“I know that look.”

“I have nothing but pure intentions.”

“Leo there is nothing about you that can be deemed pure.”

“I have you,” Leo noted, “mi cielo.”

Hunter let out a slow sigh and sat up, forcing Leo to sit up too.

“You’re too good for me,” he commented.

“You always say that,” Leo leaned one hand beside Hunter’s hip and pecked him on the cheek, “but whether I am or not, I’m here.”

Hunter nodded, but still looked a little downcast.

“Hey Hunter,” Leo grinned.

“Hm?” Hunter raised an eyebrow, then yelped and jumped as Leo pinched the side of his waist.  Leo burst out laughing.

“Oh we’re doing that now are we?” Hunter grabbed Leo around his waist and fell backwards, blowing a raspberry into Leo’s neck and making his squeal with laughter.  Leo could feel tears running down his face from laughing so hard.  He was gasping for breath between peals of laughter, and he could hear Hunter’s deep voice joining the cacophony after a few seconds.

Hunter finally let go of Leo and Leo rolled onto the bed, still fighting off the remaining giggles of their little playfight.  He loved spending the night at Hunter’s.  Ayah didn’t bother them and there was no lingering smell of burning drugs in any of the rooms.  Hunter was gentle person, despite his size and stature, nothing like the members of his father’s cartel or the burly addicts that ambled in and out of his father’s drug den day and night.  The house was quiet, the company fantastic, and the whole place it was just-quiet.

Leo liked quiet.  He liked the stillness of it.  The lack of a cacophony of shouts and sneers and ill-intended swears.

“Hey,” Leo turned to Hunter, “ever think we should try to bring Glimmer Pye out on some of those Rogue kid excursions?  I mean, Todd wants us to bring Teddy all the time.”

“Glimmer’s not much for socializing,” Hunter shrugged, “but if you think she’d want to go, sure, why not?”

“You’re so helpful,” Leo remarked.

“You try too hard to help everyone,” Hunter smiled, “not everyone is going to want your help.”

“That doesn’t mean I shouldn’t give my help.”

“Not everyone will appreciate it, that’s all I’m saying.”

“That shouldn’t matter.”

Hunter nodded, “You’re right,” he smiled, “get some sleep sugar.”

“Mm,” Leo nodded, “you too Hunter.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Tobi and Todd-A Drabble

I wanted to do a thing with Tobi and Todd b/c they’re besties.

Todd regularly had a lot of questions when he walked in the door of his home, and today was no exception, except for one thing.

“Dad!” Todd shouted into the warehouse, “Why the hell is there a car on the roof?”

“Uhhhhh, parts,” Todd’s father replied.  Beside him, Tobi shrugged and nodded.  It was a pretty reasonable answer, if the car hadn’t been still perfectly intact and sitting on a slanted roof with the carjack from the impound lot still attached to the back wheel.  It probably didn’t occur to Tobi, whose father had quit overt villainy in favor of working with LexCorp, that some Rogues broke into the GCPD impound lot because their car got towed.  It happened a lot in Todd’s family, being the son of the Joker and Harley Quinn and all.

Its location was the real mystery.

“Alright, I’ll buy your story that the corvette is just for parts even though it’s the color of an eggplant,” Todd granted, “still want to know how you managed to get the car on the roof.”

“I can’t reveal all my tricks,” Joker countered.

“Dad.”

“I actually don’t know how it got there.  Ask your mom, she’s the one who brought it in.”

“Great, where’s mom?”

“She walked out, forget why.”

“You wanna see my surprised face?”

Joker let out a short laugh, “Okay kiddo, you’ve made your point.  Why don’t you actually do stuff with your friend instead of giving me a hard time.  Sound like a plan?”

“Sounds like a dumb plan for boring people,” Todd replied, “but okay, sure, whatever.  Not like ‘stop giving me a hard time’ is just code for ‘I’m building a bomb and leave me alone’ or anything.  Come on Tobi, maybe we’ll kill Handsome Jack today.”

“Hella,” Tobi flopped on the couch and pulled a wireless controller out from between the sofa cushion and quietly peeled a chewed wad of gum off the A button and flicked it at the trashcan.  He missed.

“Spectacular,” Todd complimented.

“Look fam I don’t think gum is even present in my house let alone stuck to shit,” Tobi commented, “dad doesn’t chew gum.”

“Why not?” Todd asked.

“Because,” Tobi shrugged, “he forgets it’s gum and swallows it.”

“He’s an adult.”

“I know,” Tobi grinned, “I love him.”

“I like him too,” Todd nodded, turning on the PS3 and waited for it to boot up before plopping down on the couch, pushing it back a few inches as he did.

“How?” Tobi asked, referring to how Todd, who was half Tobi’s size, managed to move the couch with Tobi on it.

“Get fucked, that’s how.”

Tobi raised his eyebrows and turned back to the TV.  They sat in silence for several...hours, before Todd finally spoke.

“So you know that one kid a few years behind us?”

“No Todd, I don’t,” Tobi replied, “what one kid?”

“The one with the thing.”

“WHAT THING?”

“The, you know.”

Todd made a gesture trying mimic the braid on the kid he was talking about.

“No, no I really don’t.”

“The one with the purple.”

“Todd there is a point where ‘what the fuck’ doesn’t even begin to touch on my confusion.”

“The purple braid, you know, the kid with the purple braid who’s the same age as Aiden.”

“Thomas Krank.”

“His name’s not Thomas. I don’t remember it but it’s not Thomas.”

“He goes by Teddy. What about him?”

“He’s cool.”

“Mm, not my cup of tea.”

“What?  Why not?”

“He’s obnoxious.”

“You’re friends with-FUCK YOU.”

Todd began mashing the shoot button on his controller angrily.

“You’re funny Todd.”

“So is Teddy.”

“He’s not funny enough to outset the annoying.”

Todd set his mouth in a line and leaned on Tobi.  Tobi didn’t make any motion to stop him, he was too focused on the game to really care. Not that he’d make any motion anyway.

“But what about Teddy?” Tobi finally said, “You wouldn’t have brought him up if you just wanted to say he’s cool.  You want me to go somewhere.”

“Do you really see me as the person to only bring someone up with you because I want you to hang out with us?”

“Yes.”

“Wow, not even gonna soften the blow.”

“Oh you sweet summer child, bless your heart.”

“Asshole.”

“That I am.”

Tobi leaned back and Todd followed.

“I’ll go, if that’ll make you happy.”

Todd grinned and nodded, “That it does.”

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Motley Assortment-A Drabble

A little talk about @the-mighty-sorceress‘s Glimmer Pye, mostly four of the Rogue kids being kids with Todd in the background, being a boyfriend, an obnoxiously cute boyfriend.

Max sank into his seat and rubbed the bridge of his nose.  It had been a long morning.  Niall had burned about five different attempts at scrambled eggs before he quit and Max ended up making them, Aisling had so little patience for Max and Niall’s usual bickering she made good on her threat to knock their heads together, and as soon as he got to school he was informed by Todd that he was grounded, meaning his plans for this afternoon were subsequently shot in the leg.

Max was going to strangle Teddy Krank one of these days.  The kid barely interacted with any other rogue kids and certainly wasn’t considered one of them, as much as he seemed to want to, treading on Todd’s heels like an irritating puppy.

“Hello there.”

Max glared up at Dorothy as she sat down in front of him and flipped around to face him.  She rested her chin in one hand.

“Rough morning?”

“Inevitably,” Max nodded, “I’m gonna kill Teddy Krank.”

“Aren’t we all,” Dorothy scoffed, “Todd told you?”

Max nodded.

“Cheer up, it was partially Todd’s fault.”

“That does not make me feel better Dorothy.”

“I’m trying.  You can’t fault me for trying.”

“I can and I will.”

“Rude.  Hey Liz.”

“Mm,” Lizzie nodded, not looking up from her DS as she sat down, “Morning Dorothy.”

“Seriously?” Dorothy raised her eyebrow.

“Don’t go anti-tech on me Dorothy,” Lizzie flicked her eyes towards her best friend, “I’ll strangle you with my charger.”

“I was only gonna complain that you didn’t even look up.”

“I’m in the middle of a fight, Fire Emblem is not as easy as it looks.”

“It is on casual mode.”

“Casual mode is for newbies.”

“I like it.”

“You spend a month every summer on an island without electricity.”

“Or men,” Dorothy amended.

“I don’t think you can claim that with your dad and Pluto there.”

“They’re allowed on the Island, shut up.”

There was a flash of sequins and Dorothy stopped to looked at it, Max followed her eyes to where his neighbor was sitting down.  Glimmer Pye, Magpie’s daughter.  Like Teddy she didn’t quite “belong” among the others, but where Teddy tried to join the fray, Glimmer seemed to ignore all of them, even Sarah and Barbara, who were on the same gymnastics team.  Barbara made sense though, Barbara was terrifying, but Sarah, despite being as flexible as a pool noodle, was as sweet as they came.

Max figured someone who had an idea of fashion would’ve found the spangled singlet she was wearing tasteful, perhaps, but as it stood Max just found it tacky, too sparkly. Dorothy couldn’t stop staring.

“Earth to Oz,” Max snapped his fingers in front of Dorothy’s face, catching her attention, “Hi Dorothy, we need you back in Kansas.”

“Sorry,” Dorothy shook her head, “you know, we should talk to her.”

“She doesn’t like us,” Max remarked.

“She hates us,” Lizzie agreed, “just because her mom is a Rogue doesn’t make her one of us.”

“One of us?” Dorothy crinkled her nose, “You sound like Damien.  I’m saying it because she doesn’t seem to have any friends, at all.  She deserves to have a few.”

“Look at us and tell me that’s a good idea,” Max commented, “You’re an Amazon Princess whose father used to be one of the most terrifying rogues in Gotham.  My dad is an anarchy-loving terrorist, and Lizzie’s dad hacked Amanda Waller.”

“I could hack Amanda Waller,” Lizzie muttered, “it’s not hard.”

“Also her mom steals cat art,” Max added.

“It’s nice art,” Lizzie countered.

“It’s tacky,” Dorothy and Max said in unison.

“I do have that charger you know.  I wasn’t kidding about strangling you.”

“Look, my point is, we aren’t exactly the best three to befriend her.  That’s all.”

Dorothy glanced at Glimmer and, a little crestfallen, nodded.

“Talk about a person right next to you why don’t ya,” piped in the person beside Max, Zeke, who was flipping through his own book, “how’s your dad Liz?”

“Have you eaten in the past week?” Dorothy asked.

“Not your business,” Zeke remarked, a thinly veiled “no” if Max knew any better.  It was what he’d say on hunger strikes back when he still lived with Lonnie.  It usually resulted in him getting the snot beaten out of him, but he still said it.

Granted, Zeke probably didn’t say it to his dad.

“Dad’s fine,” Lizzie replied, “how’s Mr. Dent?”

“Violent,” Max and Dorothy said in unison.

“He’s been in a much better mood lately,” Zeke piped up optimistically, “he even complimented me the other day.”

The conversation was cut of briefly as Todd stole into the room for a brief second, dropped a donut with pink icing on Zeke’s desk, gave him a quick peck on the cheek, and ran out, a rain of glitter cascading after him.  All the way, the entire class stared, including Glimmer, who looked mildly concerned about the walking glitterbomb in a pink sweater.  Zeke shrugged, split the donut in half, and began eating one half.  He quietly placed the other half on Max’s desk.

Max took a bit out of the half a donut and glanced back at Glimmer.  He did feel like she looked a bit lonely, but it didn’t look like it was bothering her.  She seemed perfectly content to be alone.  Max, Zeke, Dorothy, Lizzie?  They were a motley crew of weird loners who somehow became friends on account of their equally weird parents.  They weren’t a good choice for befriending her.  She didn’t deserve that kind of chaos in her life.  No one did.

[lawful-evil-novelist]

The Way it Works

A sequel to @the-mighty-sorceress‘s drabble Self-Care.  Sorry for any crappy Spanish I barely speak it but wanted to keep Leo bilingual.

Leo was used to bumps and bruises, on others and himself.  Walking out of the house with a black eye or a busted lip was normal when half your life was breaking up fights or getting belted for mouthing off.  This girl was no exception, but nevertheless, Leo wanted to know more about her.  And hey, first rule of his father’s cartel was to have a friend’s back, right?  He’d seen her with a black eye, they were basically friends.

“¡Oye!” Leo raised his voice to catch the girl’s attention from across the street, she kept walking, in fact she seemed to be walking faster, “Wait!”  Leo clicked his teeth, “¡Chale!”

Leo darted across the street, hopping over a rather nice black car, and landed on the sidewalk in front of her.

“Hello,” Leo gave a cheery wave, “Glimmer, si?”

Glimmer nodded, “Hello...” she furrowed her brow, as if she’d forgotten his name.

“Leo, remember?” Leo flashed a smile, “How’s that shiner?  Any better?”

“Yeah,” Glimmer nodded, “it’s fine, you were right it was nothing big.”

There was a long pause before the girl spoke again.

“Did you need something?”

“Not particularly, I just wanted to talk,” Leo shrugged, “you’re so quiet.”

Glimmer didn’t seem all that put off by the comment, but nodded, “I have to get home.”

“I’ll walk you there,” Leo offered.

“It’s fine,” Glimmer insisted.  Leo scoffed.

“You’re pretty determined to do everything yourself,” he remarked.

“I’ve managed so far.”

“But do you like it? Are you happy?”

Glimmer paused, but shrugged, “I’m used to it, it’s fine.”

Leo tilted his head to the side, then raised his eyebrows.

“Yeah,” he nodded, “I’m walking you home.”

“It’s fine really,” Glimmer insisted.

“You know,” Leo stepped aside and gestured for Glimmer to keep walking, “when Hunter says ‘it’s fine’, he’s usually lying and trying to keep me from getting worried.”

Glimmer stole a brief glance towards Leo before continuing on her way, seemingly having given up on convincing Leo to leave her alone, “Hunter?”

“My boyfriend,” Leo nodded, “the one with dreads.”

“And scales?” Glimmer guessed, “Isn’t he Killer Croc’s son?”

“Si,” Leo nodded, “he’s sweet.  Mi papá isn’t too keen on him but he’s not about to yell at me.”  Glimmer looked confused for a second, and Leo quickly added, “Because you’re friends with Ellie you get to know: Mi papá is Bane.”

Glimmer looked surprised for a moment and Leo burst out laughing.

“Oh come on, he’s not that scary,” Leo promised, “he’s a good father, even if he’s not exactly...what’s the word...” Leo clicked his teeth, “chale...uhhhhhh...you know, responsable...responsible!”

Glimmer smiled slightly.

“See?  My inability to speak English properly is funny to everyone,” Leo said proudly, puffing out his chest, “actually it’s pretty pathetic that I forgot the word responsible considering how similar it is in Spanish. Anyway, so, why do you do everything yourself?  I know why I do, and why Max does, but you...you don’t come in with bruises as often as either of us.  Your mother, Magpie, does she do anything particularly...I don’t know, mean?  Besides attack you out of the blue.”

“She doesn’t really pay me much mind at all really,” Glimmer replied, “I’m another pretty trinket, to be owned, but ignored.”

“Ah,” Leo nodded, “the best kind of parent.”

Glimmer looked uncomfortable, and Leo continued quickly, “Look, most of us have our fair share of problems.”

“Max’s dad assaults him in broad daylight,” Glimmer shrugged, “my problems are pathetic compared to that.”

“Lonnie should never have been allowed near Max,” Leo shrugged, “You know some of us feel the same way when looking at Max or Zeke.  Our parents may not be the best but at least they don’t beat us, right?  Except that’s not true.  Lonnie never beat Aisling, but she grew up so much faster than she should have.  She’s practically a mother to Max and Niall.  You, you’re a lot like Aisling.”

“Think so?” Glimmer glanced at Leo.

“Mmhm,” Leo nodded, “so headstrong, determined to do everything herself and not let anyone help her. You even have similar haircuts,” Leo gestured to Glimmer’s short hair, “I’m not saying it’s a bad thing, I am saying that it’s still a life, and I may not be able to tell Aisling she needs to lean on people sometimes-Aisling’s older than me, she won’t listen-but I can tell you, and I can get you to listen.  I like you Glimmer, you seem nice, distant, but nice.  Ellie seems to like you and god you’ve even gotten Max to lighten up a little.  That’s like, one of the trumpets of the apocalypse or something.  Long and drawn out point is: something along the lines of me wanting to be your friend, something.  I don’t know much about you, but I’m willing to learn, and I’m willing to help.”

Glimmer stood there in stunned silence for a few seconds before nodding and stuttering out an “Okay.”

Leo smiled, gave Glimmer a quick hug and kept walking.

“Not far now is it?”

Glimmer looked even more stunned than before, but managed to nod and continue walking alongside him. Leo smiled.

He liked this girl, this one was alright.

[lawful-evil-novelist]

Maxwell

So I’m trying my hand at @the-mighty-sorceress‘s ocs Glimmer and Teddy, not sure how well I did but goddammit Glimmer and Max are going to have some talk time because I said so.

When Todd had suggested they talk to Teddy, Max seriously considered strangling the kid, Todd, not Teddy. Max already wanted to strangle Teddy and the thought of talking to him kind of made him consider shrieking at the top of his lungs, but then again that probably wasn’t considered socially appropriate.

He was a little more annoyed that Dorothy accepted the suggestion.

“He’s late,” Dorothy glanced at her phone, “was ‘meet us in front of the comic store’ too vague or something?”

“It’s Teddy Krank I think you need to be as detailed as possible,” Max muttered.

“Can you bear to be even slightly nice?” Dorothy asked.

“You decided to agree without giving me a say.”

“You would’ve said no.”

“Because Teddy is annoying.”

Dorothy didn’t say anything else, but turned to look into the comic store, her eyes scanning the rows of shelves.  She wasn’t mad, it took a lot to get a Crane or a Prince mad, but he’d said something wrong.

They stood in silence for a few minutes, before Max saw Todd rounding the corner with Teddy in tow. Max elbowed Dorothy and nodded to Todd as he approached.

“Sorry,” Todd gave a grin as if it would solve every problem with this situation, “Teddy got distracted.”

“By what?  His shadow?” Max snapped, earning a punch in the arm from Dorothy.

“Hi Teddy,” she forced a smile.  She wasn’t too keen on Teddy either, but she always tried to make the best of a garbage situation.

“Wonder Kid!” Teddy nearly shouted, and Dorothy stood rigid, trying to determine if the nickname was meant as an insult or not.  She was used to it being used as an insult.

“Don’t call her that,” Max said quickly before Dorothy could come to a conclusion, “please, don’t.”

“And...Maxwell, right?” Teddy guessed, “You’re a lot angrier than I pictured.”

Max flinched, but straightened up and did his best not to look insulted, “Max.  Not Maxwell, Max.”

“Right, right,” Teddy nodded, “So...Todd didn’t tell me much about you guys.  I know all about your parents though!”

“Save it,” Max said quickly, “save anything you have to say about Anarky right now.  I don’t want to hear it.”

Teddy looked a bit taken aback, which didn’t surprise Max much.  Knowing Max and his siblings lived with a GCPD officer was one thing. Knowing why Max and his siblings lived there was another entirely. Max had gotten into fights over people lauding Lonnie Machin and his hypocritical preaching, he had the scars to prove the man was full of shit.

“I mean, I don’t like him,” Teddy shrugged, “I mean come on, a terrorist who fights violence and scare tactics WITH violence and scare tactics?  Yeah that’s...great work.”

Max took a deep breath but before he could say anything Dorothy cut in.

“So,” she forced another smile and elbowed Max sharply in the ribs, “do you like ice cream Teddy? My treat.”

“Yep!” Teddy perked up, “Wait, you have money?”

“I have a job, so of course I do.”

Max didn’t reply and started walking faster.  He didn’t really want to be near Teddy and was more content to pretend he wasn’t associated with them.  But of course, Teddy seemed to think Max walking faster meant he needed to walk faster and came jogging up beside Max.

“So, whose cruel prank gave you that haircut?” he asked, referring to Max’s half shaved hair.

“No one’s,” Max growled, “I wanted long hair, but not on that side.”

“That sounds like it’s missing the point,” Teddy grinned.  Max let out a loud groan and stepped around in front of Teddy.

“I don’t want it long on that side because that’s the side my dad grabbed when he beat me.  Shut up.”

“Max!” Todd raised his voice.  Teddy looked a little shocked by what had been said.

“You two brought me into this I told you both I didn’t want to spend one second with this walking hair dye ad.  If he really wants to be one of us he better damn well learn fast that not all of us grew up with sunshine and rainbows.”

Max turned and stormed off, still red in the face and furious, he didn’t notice when he ran headlong into someone walking in the opposite direction.

“Hey watch where you’re-” Max began, then noticed the standing girl in front of him, “Glimmer,” he started to his feet, “I am so sorry.”

“It’s fine,” Glimmer replied curtly, “It’s my fault, I wasn’t looking where I was going.”

“No I wasn’t either,” Max insisted, then noticed Glimmer was looking around, slightly confused, “are you lost?”

“I was going to meet Ellie at a coffee shop,” she furrowed her brow, “but I’ve never been in this part of town.”

“I might be able to help,” Max shrugged, “is it Javawocky?”

Glimmer looked surprised, then nodded, “How’d you know?”

“I work there,” Max shrugged, “Me n’ Todd do.  Ellie loves the place.  Come on, this way.  So, Liz introduced you to Ellie?”

“Yes,” Glimmer nodded, “she’s nice.”

“I don’t know many people who don’t like Ellie,” Max shrugged, “though you seem to not like me.”

“You’re rude,” Glimmer said curtly.

“And my dad is terrifying,” Max added, “look, I get it, I don’t like my dad much either.”

Glimmer didn’t respond to that and instead, changed the subject, “Who was that kid in pink from the other day?”

“Todd?  You don’t know who Todd is?”

“I know who Todd is.  I just didn’t know what he looked like.”

“He looks like that.”

“I gathered.”

Max stopped at a crosswalk and froze.  Coming across the street towards them was a very familiar sight.

When Lonnie lost custody of his kids, he didn’t stop assaulting Max, he sought him out, and right now, walking towards Max and Glimmer, wielding a baseball bat, was Lonnie Machin.

“Run,” Max said quickly. Glimmer looked at him, confused.

“What?”

“Don’t ask,” Max turned Glimmer around and shoved her down the street, “run!”

Glimmer began to turn around, a possible angry remark forming on her lips when Lonnie’s bat swung into Max’s head, knocking him to the ground.  Max barely stopped himself from hitting the concrete head on and curled up into a ball as Lonnie raised the bat to strike again.  Max screwed his eyes shut as the bat impacted his side, then his forearms, raised to protect his face.

Then, as suddenly as the two strikes had hit, they stopped.  Max lowered his arms and sat up in confusion.  Glimmer had stepped between Max and Lonnie, and was holding Lonnie’s hands as best she could.  She shoved him away and Lonnie, apparently not keen on starting a fight with Glimmer, ran off.  Glimmer turned towards Max and quickly knelt down to look at the bruise forming on the side of his head.

“Are you alright?” she asked.

“Nothing I haven’t dealt with before,” Max smirked, “thank you though.”

“Was that who I think it was?” Glimmer asked, helping Max to his feet.

“My dad?  Yeah,” Max nodded, “he does that.”

“I can relate,” Glimmer sighed, her hand rising to a necklace around her neck.

“Right, Magpie,” Max glanced from the necklace to Glimmer’s face, “come on, might as well get you to that coffee shop.”

“Are you sure you don’t need to go to the hospital?” Glimmer asked.  Max paused, checked his side, then his arms, then felt the bruise on his head.

“I might have a mild concussion,” Max affirmed, “not hospital worthy though.  My dad wasn’t trying to kill me.”

“Why did he attack you in broad daylight?”

Max glanced up at Glimmer, a dead serious look on his face.

“Because he hates me. Always has.”

Glimmer looked a little uncomfortable, so Max took a deep breath and took her hand.

“Ellie’s probably missing you,” he said carefully, “come on, we’re not far.”

Glimmer nodded and Max led her down the street to the coffee shop.  When they got there, he saw Ellie out front, looking worried and checking her watch.

“Thank you,” Glimmer said softly, then headed off to Ellie’s table.  Max turned around and checked his phone, on it was a short text from Todd.

[We’re waiting for you at the ice cream place, once you’ve cooled off.  Teddy didn’t want to get any without you.]

Max smirked and started towards the ice cream shop they frequented.  He had a purple-haired nuisance to apologize to.