#i stay awake way too much

[napping-sapphic]

actually the amount i yearn is directly proportional to how much i sleep and considering i only got to sleep for an hour and a half last night i would say that we are in the TRENCHES today my loves

[triglycercule]

all i have been able to think about today is that silly little knife game where you stab the spots between your fingers and try not to hurt yourself and how that silly little game is SO horrorkiller. i cant explain it it bothers me so much that i cant explain it but it just does its so them

they play it when theyre bored. because when in doubt bodily mutilation and the risk of hurt and pain is always an appealing one. and when i mean they i just mean killer because horror wouldn't wanna just hurt himself on the fly like that for funsies. he likes to see others hurt because hahaha FINALLY some damn entertainment!!! but hurting himself???? nononnno hes already got enough body pain as it is oh and killer has already grabbed his hand and started playing (and now horror can't back out because killer's got him sucked in the game)

they sing the silly little song. horror has all his fingers the knife goes chop chop chop if killer misses the spaces in between horror's fingers will come off! and they are both enraptured and both captured in this childishly morbid game. it's so anticipatory because they both know its all up to killer to decide if horror gets hurt. hes more than precise enough to keep the game going for hours long without ever hitting horror but would he want to keep it going for that long? horror doesn't know how long killer would want to wait before getting to see him react to getting hurt

and killer does eventually do it even after theyre sung the song over and over countless times and tried different harmonies and finally killer decides to end this little song and dance and stab into horror's hand. maybe he decides to do a finger. maybe the palm if he really wants to piss horror up. its sudden its surprising and GODDAMN is it painful!!!! horror's trying not to show it but with all the sweat and the way his fingers are twitching killer can see that it hurts him. it's a bit amusing :3

and then horror grabs the knife from killer and they do it all over again but this time horror's the one doing the stabbing. he's not as precise as killer. he hits him a lot more than killer hit him but goddamn it he is in PAIN and wants to let it out because hes annoying and irritated and goddamnit would killer just stop looking at him with that blank smile while he's bleeding out from his hand???? yeah horror's pissy

horror's annoyed and trying to get some form of petty revenge on killer (he likes it when he finally manages to get that stupid smile to falter just a little bit) and killer's watching horror desperately try not to just stab the knife through his oh so very exposed soul that he could very easily hurt if he really wanted to hurt killer. anyways the game finally ends when either one or both of them get bored! but thats fine!!! killer will get bored again and horror will end up escalating it to a messier point than it was before and the only thing that'll get hurt is the surface that they use to stab between fingers. oh and eachother of course :p

[avelnfear]

Chapter Five

Masterlist

Danny leaned back in his chair with a sigh. He finally managed to complete the paperwork for the Joker’s breakout and subsequent recapture. There was a stupid amount of paperwork required, and Danny no longer had a coworker to share the load with, making it even worse. As Danny leaned a little farther back, his back popped several times in rapid succession, and he sighed again, this time in relief, as he felt his back relax. Leaning forward again, Danny closed the second binder of the day with a sense of wonder that it was finally over as it seemed like the paperwork would never end.

“Paperwork truly is the worst form of punishment… Maybe I can use that elsewhere…” Danny mused aloud as he put his desk back in order before picking up the binders and heading for the door.

Walking through the halls was a simple affair of nods of acknowledgement for and from the guards around him. The head guard’s office was only four halls from Danny's, but there was a mandatory increase in the number of guards due to the recent breakout. In no time at all, Danny arrived at the head guard’s door, so he took a deep breath and knocked on the door. There was no response for enough time that he knocked again, louder this time.

“Come in!” The gruff voice calling out from inside the room didn’t belong to the head guard, but Danny entered regardless. The office looked the same that it usually did, cabinets at the walls, desk towards the back, and the only chair behind the desk. This wasn’t a place to dally for anyone but the head guard. The difference was that Warden Claw sat in the chair with Head Guard Chancey standing behind him.

“Warden Claw, Head Guard Chancey, I have the paperwork here for the recent breakout and for those already recaptured.” Danny set a short, respectful nod to each of them before putting the binders on the desk.

Warden Claw grabbed the binders, looking over them before handing them to Chancey. Danny stood still in the usual respectful posture that guards should have before their superiors although he did want them to hurry it up already. Jason had messaged him earlier that the Batsiblings from the Batburger were safe and all crashing at Jason’s apartment for the next little while as a safety precaution, but Danny hadn’t been able to respond in the chaos of making sure that everything was running as smoothly as possible.

Finally, the Warden looked up. “Do you know why I’m here?” His voice was gruff and harsh, clearly trying to be intimidating since Danny had heard the Warden sounding less harsh and gruff before.

“No, although I assume it has to do with making sure I’m not in league with any of the escapees.” Danny made sure to keep every outward appearance of being respectful even as he rolled his eyes on the inside, almost insulted at the idea that he would ever willingly work with a clown.

“Exactly that. What can you say to convince me that you aren’t in the pockets of those hooligans.” The Warden folded his hands and leaned his face on them, a posture that normally inspired a sense that the person doing it had authority or something like that, Danny was pretty sure he tuned Jazz out when she tried to talk about that stuff.

Danny tilted their head, trying to convey the idea that they were thinking about the issue at hand. “Well, depending on whether or not you already suspect me, there might be nothing I can say to convince you. All I can say is that I’m not native to Gotham although I had heard about it before I moved. Where I used to live, I managed to get some heavy clown trauma, so I’d never work with Blinky or whatever he’s called. I don’t really care about what Harley does because she’s a therapist, or used to be one, and I have therapist trauma. I got enough lectures about the environment from my best friend, and I have developed a healthy respect after that one breed of plants tried to kill my town. That means I wouldn’t go anywhere near Ivy on account of not wanting to get attacked by plants or eco-lectures. As for Penguin, money isn’t my motivation for anything. I’m already paid well enough here, and it isn’t worth going with any of them just to run into the Bats and Birds.” Their head tilted the other way and their eyes squinted as they thought further about the issue at hand. “Furthermore, for one reason or another, admittedly usually to avoid getting on the other end of an angry or working Bat or Bird, I wouldn’t go to any of the Rogues. There should be a note about that in my file from my interview.”

The Warden stared at Danny for several long moments. “Well said. I guess we’re glad to have you. Just don’t quit on me, I don’t want to have to find someone to replace you, if that’s possible.” His voice was much smoother and more gentle, proving Danny’s theory about intimidation right.

“I’m not going to quit on you, I have no reason to.” Danny nodded to give his words a sense of finality to them, trying to reassure the two that he meant what he said. Without saying anything more, the Warden got up and left the room, going back to his own duties most likely.

Head Guard Chancey settled back into her chair and set the binders down on it. “Sorry about that. I tried to tell the Warden that you weren’t the type of person to work with the Rogues here, but he wanted to make sure of that himself. Now, you will watch over the Arts and Crafts Room until your shift ends. The Joker is there, so try not to antagonize him. Any overtime caused by the recent breakout will be paid to you as both overtime and emergency pay, so expect a larger paycheck than normal. Dismissed.” She looked down immediately after she stopped speaking, making the dismissal doubly clear.

Danny headed to the Arts and Crafts Room on autopilot. It wasn’t unusual for inmates who escaped to immediately go back to their old schedule as part of the rehabilitation process, but Danny hadn’t been assigned anywhere near the Joker before this. Danny had considered it a minor blessing and thanked the Ancients for this small piece of goodness. Now, he had no choice but to be in close quarters with someone who had killed his Jason in three lives. Someone who’d killed-

Blinking revealed he was in front of the A&C Room, Danny shook the memories out of his head, there was no time to think about that now. He lowered his head for a second, locking his emotions from showing on his face, not wanting to give the psycho clown any unneeded information. As soon as he felt ready enough, he opened the door smoothly and quietly, closing it behind him and heading to his post with no words said to the occupants of the room. Interactions between guards and inmates were supposed to follow a strict protocol, but not many of the guards actually followed said protocol, Danny mostly included. The Joker looked up and grinned at him, and Danny instantly knew this was going to be a long ending to his shift.

~`~`~

Danny finally put the last completed sheet into the binder, the words on the page blurring horribly due to their tiredness. Somehow this binder seemed even thicker than the ones from earlier in the shift, but that might just be a product of faulty memory seeing as Danny had now been at work for way too many hours. They couldn’t even see the clock clear enough to figure out how long it had been. 

Taking a deep breath and summoning enough willpower to move, Danny strode purposefully towards the head guard’s office once more, keeping their face blank of any and all emotion. Arriving at the door, Danny saw that it was open, Head Guard Chancey leaning on the wall just beside. It seemed she’d been waiting for them because she waved them in without a word and shut the door behind them.

“Are you okay?” Her voice was concerned, but Danny couldn’t figure out why, not even having the energy to tilt their head in confusion.

“Why-” Danny cut themself off at how gravely their voice sounded. “Why do you say that?” Their voice wasn’t much better, but this time it didn’t feel like swallowing gravel, merely sand.

Chancey raised an eyebrow while gesturing for the binder in Danny’s hands. It took two tries to get the binder to her, and Danny had a horrible sinking feeling forming in their gut. “How long do you think you’ve been at work?”

The odd question threw Danny off and made the horrible feeling grow stronger. “Like twelve? Maybe? I can’t exactly read the clock right now, too blurry.” Danny had to put some conscious effort into sounding better this time, and even that didn’t fully make their voice sound better.

“Danny,” there was clear concern in Chancey’s voice this time, and that was odd for a reason Danny couldn’t muster up the energy to figure out, “you’ve been here for thirty hours, not counting the two you spent dozing at your desk. Is there someone I can call to take you home?”

Danny didn’t even bother trying to process how long he’d been at work, focusing on the second part instead. “I’ll be fine. Just need to make it to the apartment without giving that stupid clown any sense of satisfaction for getting to me, and I’ll be good. I’ve dealt with worse, don’t worry.” He had to blink hard for his eyes to focus before taking a deep breath and summoning more willpower, standing straighter and bringing the world back into focus. “See?”

Chancey stared at him in mild horror. “You do see how this is just more worrying, right?” Chancey merely sighed at his nod. “Fine. I’ll take over filing this properly for you, just make it home. If you miss two shifts, I’ll assume you died. Contact me when you wake up so I know not to frantically hire someone to replace you. Go home.”

Danny nodded slowly, trying to hide how much the motion made the world swirl for him. He closed his eyes, taking in another deep breath and willing himself to appear perfectly fine. Clocking out and leaving the asylum was a blur, and Danny blinked only to find himself in the elevator to his and Jason’s floor of the apartment building. Danny just needed to make it in his door before he passed out, that was all, he could do that.

~`~`~

Jason heard the elevator announce its arrival and immediately headed out into the hall to see who it was. The other Batsibs were asleep right now, staying at his place until they were sure Danny was okay. He was grateful that they were willing to do that for someone they’d barely met yet who clearly meant a lot to him, but the apartment was driving all of them crazy with the lack of privacy it offered.

The door opened, and Danny blinked blearily at him, still in their uniform, which was odd enough, but their eyes were also unfocused in that way that only tiredness causes, extreme tiredness. They looked even more similar to Tim than usual, but Jason quickly put that from his mind, going to support them. This proved to be a mistake because as soon as Danny wasn’t responsible for supporting their own weight, they collapsed into sleep, nearly taking Jason to the ground with them.

Deciding to handle this like he would if Tim was passed out in the hallway to his apartment, Jason picked up Danny, ignoring how light they were, and carried them to his apartment. Opening the door was proving to be a bit of a struggle though because he’d locked the door behind him out of habit. Before he could do anything drastic, Dick opened the door with a confused look on his face that quickly turned into concern when he caught sight of Danny in Jason’s arms.

When Dick stood aside, Jason walked in with Danny, heading straight to the bedroom to put Danny on the bed where they’d be comfortable. As he walked quickly though the apartment he noticed that Tim and Damian were also awake. Both of their reactions were nearly identical to Dick’s when they caught sight of Danny slumped in Jason’s arms, worry and concern. 

Jason would have found their reactions to Danny being unconscious heartwarming if he wasn’t too busy being worried about Danny. He’d never seen his friend like that, although he’d never seen them after a breakout either. Jason really hoped this wouldn’t happen every time a breakout happened, his heart couldn’t take it.

As soon as Danny was situated, Jason headed back to the front room to find the three Batsibs talking about what could have caused Danny to be like that. “You guys are thinking about it too hard.” Jason said instead of any form of greeting. “When I met him in the hallway, he looked like Tim after a day of no sleep and no coffee, maybe slightly worse. The most likely conclusion is that he didn’t get any sleep dealing with the aftermath of the breakout.”

The others considered that as Jason went to the kitchen to work out some stress in a healthy manner that would also keep him close enough to be there if anything went wrong with Danny, cooking and baking. Even without being able to see the others, he could almost feel their concern when he didn’t decide to suit up and beat some guys up to get out the stress. Stress cooking and stress baking were usually reserved for times when Jason didn’t know if he could trust himself not to kill anybody, but this wasn’t one of those times.

“You good, Jay?” Dick asked, trying and failing to keep his concern out of his voice, merely muffling it.

“I’m fine, just don’t want to leave Danny alone in the house with you idiots.” Despite the harsh words, Jason tried to keep his voice light to convey that he was teasing. When he heard some chuckles, he knew he’d succeeded. Now he only hoped they could keep this light atmosphere until Danny woke up to answer their questions.

~`~`~

Danny came to with the smell of delicious food and baked goods in their nose. They kept their eyes closed, their body relaxed, and their breathing even, not sure who was in their house. Wait. This wasn’t their bed, the sheets were of a different material and the bed wasn’t a brick. Where were they? Familiar voices reached their ears, but they couldn’t put their finger on who the voices belonged to, their brain still trying to claw its way free from the grabbing hands of sleep.

They focused on their breathing while they waited for their brain to fully wake up, content to just rest in this bed that smelled like Jason. Wait. Jason. They’d made it to the floor of the building that held their apartment, and Jason had met them in the hall. He’d moved to support them and then… and then they must’ve fallen asleep. That means… the voices clicked into place as their brain surged back into full awakeness mode. Jason, Tim, Damian, and Dick were teasing each other outside the door.

Danny basked in the comfort and peace from being so close to their loved ones without having to confront the fact that none of them truly knew them anymore. They would get moving shortly, messaging the people that needed to be messaged and going about things like a normal every day adult, but for now, for now they would simply relax in the bliss that was in such short order in their life. Before Danny knew it they’d drifted back into sleep, a truly restful one this time instead of the sleep of the truly exhausted from before.

~`~`~

Jason raised an eyebrow at Damian as he came back from the position he’d taken up by the door to the bedroom. Damian huffed, yet answered the unspoken question anyway. “Nightingale has fallen back to sleep.” Jason waited to see if an insult was forthcoming, but there was none, Damian simply settling back down at the table. Jason and Dick traded incredulous looks while Tim just stared into his coffee like it held the answers to the universe.

“You seem tame today, Demon Brat.” Jason remarked, careful to keep his voice from dipping into the accusatory tones that would set the small terror off.

“Tt. Just because Nightingale has proven to be more competent than the rest of you, minus Cain, doesn’t mean I’m tame. I’m not some wild animal you have to carefully tame.” Damian let his disdain show in everything from his voice to his face, but Jason saw something in his eyes that he couldn’t decipher. 

Jason didn’t respond, simply humming a vague non-answer as he turned back to the chocolate chip pancakes. There was something off about the way Damian was acting lately, but Jason didn’t know what. It didn’t seem to be a bad thing, a gentle Damian couldn’t reasonably be an entirely bad thing, but Jason didn’t like not knowing. Call it Bat training, good old paranoia, the assassin training, or whatever you’d like, but Jason didn’t like not knowing what was going on with the people he was close to.

Dick stood up suddenly. “I have to start getting back to Bludhaven, tell me how Danny is when he wakes up?” Jason nodded, not wanting to take his eyes or focus off the pancakes. “Thanks for breakfast Little Wing. See ya Baby Bird, Baby Bat.” Dick nodded towards Jason, then Tim, then Damian before leaving to head back to his town.

Tim stayed staring into the coffee, barely acknowledging Dick’s farewell. Damian gave a curt nod before focusing on the food in front of him. A comfortable silence descended over the apartment, the smell of pancakes and other foods making it seem much cozier than the impersonal decorations did. Time passed like that, no one talking as food was prepared and eaten. Jason felt something within him settle, felt the green go even more quiet than normal, and he didn’t want it to stop.

The quiet calm atmosphere dissolved quickly when the door to the bedroom creaked open and Danny stumbled into the kitchen, falling into a seat at the table that was, thankfully, empty. Without speaking, Jason set down a couple plates of food and a cup of coffee in front of them. They hummed in a grateful tone before digging into the meal before them, washing it all down with coffee. Jason just kept supplying them with food until the consumption rate slowed down and they looked more present.

“Ask away.” Danny ordered softly, not looking up from their food just yet.

“Why were you alone in the hallway when you were that tired?” Jason tried to be gentle yet show how concerned he was.

Danny hummed again, this time in a tone Jason didn’t know how to decipher yet took to mean that Danny was still slightly tired. “I didn’t want to let the stupid clown have any sense of satisfaction for getting to me, so I declined the head guard’s offer to have someone take me home.” Danny pushed aways the last empty plate and rubbed their face with their hands. “I hate clowns, especially ones like Bozo er Blinky er Smiley or whatever his name is. You would not believe the amount of paperwork I had to do simply because a clown drew a picture of killing me, showed it to me, and then broke a pencil. After all of that, there was absolutely no way that I was going to give him the satisfaction of knowing he got to me.”

“The Joker did what?” Tim asked, finally looking up from his coffee.

“So that’s his name, huh?” Danny blinked a few times. “Yeah. It’s stupid, but I had to put together another binder because of the incident on top of the two for the breakout and recapture stuff. I get that my late coworker was probably corrupt, but why did he have to die and leave me alone with the paperwork?” Danny let their head fall to their arms on the table, likely still not entirely awake.

Damian suddenly leaned forward. “How many hours did you work to be that tired?” Jason figured it was probably a profiling question from the Demon Brat, but it was a little out of character for him to sound that worried.

“According to Chancey, the head guard, I was working for thirty hours not counting the two I dozed off for, but I don’t think I dozed off at all, more likely just got lost in thought for a stupidly long amount of time. Plus several of those hours were spent guarding the A&C Room, the Arts and Crafts Room, meaning I was also expending energy to lock my emotions away so that the stupid clown wouldn’t be able to see anything that could be used against me in the future. I also don’t think I managed to snag a lunch break either, so there’s that.” Danny hummed tiredly again. “I’m off then.”

“Off?” Jason questioned, mind racing to try and figure out what they meant.

“Yeah. I’m going to message Chancey and then sleep in my own bed for a little while. Not that yours wasn’t comfortable enough, just think I need some time to recharge and get stuff sorted out before I have to head in again. It was nice seeing you guys.” And just like that Danny was gone, the door closing behind them. A short time later the sound of another door opening and then closing reached his ears and he sighed. Danny sure was a mystery.

Taglist: @blacksea21090 @chrysanthemum9484 @samgirl98 @may-rbi @justwannaseesomebrozawa @serasvictoria02 @treepainting @fluffykster @enderglace @sigdexae @persephoneblackrose @angelofsongsoteira @lazy-bouqet @littlefeather345 @icedbluesoul @autumnwulf @thefearfullone @alixanterm @skulld3mort-1fan @dulceringo @vidimirrayne @betinaplayingwriter @the-legal-shipper @currant-owo @crystalqueertea @fisticuffsatapplebees @bugaboo25 @dannyphantomphan @botwadtict @kyrianclawraith @mnemovoid @lyra689 @demiourgias @d4ydr34min9 @idontgetpaidenoughforthisshit I think that’s everyone

[lemurballing]

tangle is so fun because she is a juxtaposition of something collected and contained with something loose and free and in motion

she’s a rough brawler but she has a stance and a style. she’s impulsive and thrillseeking, but she wraps her arms in sports tape to protect them, a precaution. she longs for adventure and action but she will always need to come to rest at home with friends. she’s bouncy and restless, but she’s an intent listener and considerate. she’s got months of off-and-on experience fighting badniks, but is still so new to real Adventure.

and while there’s plenty of traits sonic and tangle share, you can’t reduce her to ‘girl sonic’ without neglecting something of her own characterization. she fundamentally wants something different out of life than sonic does, because she doesn’t need to be anchorless; she isn’t a backpacker, sleeping somewhere new every night. she’s more like a goose, or a frigate bird; flying free for ages and ages, knowing she wants to go somewhere, until time comes to call her back to her origin.

[thegreatstrongbow]

I am going to write today. I will not be sleepy.

[goldkirk]

.

[dairyfreenugget]

(Going insane boinkinh one AU in my head)

Hey hey hey

May I interest you in

(Slowly slides my FaaF AU towards you but void just Disappears without a trace one day before the accolade)

Teehee

[eeblouissant]

I cannot stop thinking about Blanche as an artist. she’s just everything to me, I have so many thoughts about her that I can only describe through art, but she has such a deep tragic side to her (to me) that almost makes me emotional to think about.

She reminds me of Vangogh.

[carefulfears]

the deadalive era is so good because it’s just scully having lived her literal entire worst nightmare. feeling more like a failure (a disappointment) than she ever has. she’s failing as a mother (is her child safe even inside her body? where’s his father?). she’s failing as a partner (she can’t be him, she can’t find him, she’s “just not capable”). she’s failing as the war widow she was bred to be (her mother could’ve done it). she’s alone and she’s planning a funeral and decorating a nursery at the same time and she’s praying, and praying, and praying. and then mulder’s suicidal ass resurrects from the dead just mad as hell

[its-not-rainingg]

I'm not scared of not being loved I'm just tired of it. I'm so tired of it I could throw up again and again and again. I need to say it to someone but all I can do apart from fall asleep at school is lie in bed and cry and sleep and sleep and stave and cut and cry and just lie there being sad and alone and smoke and jerk off and think about taking all the paracetamol in the house and letting my liver fail. Like ouch. I only go out outside of school and compulsory things for drugs and cigarettes. I think I might die. My bed's not even nice it's like a pile of so many things and I need to shower and eat food without making myself puke it and get clean and talk to people but I just can't and it's driving me insane. I feel like shit. No one's even doing anything about it. Why can't anyone see I need to be saved? I can't save myself this time. I've been trying to pull myself out. I can't. I can't be happy sober. The wrong people say they love me and no one who I need to say it says it. Not even my parents I know they couldn't care less if I died. I just don't know how to be a person. And I need someone to do something I need someone to tell me it'll be ok I need someone to hold my whole body and tell me they love me and mean it without wanting to have sex with me.

[jinstronaut]

this is also why i stopped using my tracked tag for a while tbh

[seventh-district]

.

[opens-up-4-nobody]

...

[void-of-unparalled-chaos]

I had a dream last night that I missed a chemistry final at 7am and the professor or TAs gave me a review RateMyProfessor style.

The review was very long but the gist of it was "She obviously doesn't pay any attention in class and is super bad at math. She doesn't apply herself enough and should never get any job involving chemistry. It's sad because she's obviously trying but Is just too stupid to understand it. I wish I had something to note about her final performance but there is nothing to say since she didn't even show up for the final. While everyone else got an extra 2 points she lost them instead. I'm so disappointed in her. Also she is quirky and off putting. I mentioned I was a furry and she immediately tried to draw my cat fursona. It was so off the character refrence. Never have her in any of your classes."

[lesbienneanarchiste]

So tired of complaining so just insert one of my many repetitive boring ass posts about how lonely and exhausted and ugly I am here to save all of us the time

[robotic-maid]

How things are going again… update I guess? Still can’t figure out how to read more on mobile. I’m just typing this out so it can leave my head.