#red hood doesn't know how to feel
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Batman prompt where the entity of lower class and middle class gothem plan to systematically take down all the rouges by secretly assigning them to people that can weild a gun, preferably a black belt fighter, and could weild many weapons. But not to famous and/or flashy that they would be suspected and treated with high priority from the rouges.
Like some of the chosen could be henchmen of their assigned rouges (Probably penguins). There could be a homeless child that's a really good shot with a gun (Jokers). A mother with the rage off a thousand sun's (mr freeze). A singer who does martial arts as a hobby (scarecrow and maybe poisen ivy). A firefighter who's "really bad at driving" (firefly).
It could have all started from a joke that anyone with a gun, determination and courage could kill any rouge.
Or it all started from a rouge killing someone that everyone likes like that one grandma that gave everyone cookies and treated everyone respectfully.
How they keep it secret from the bats would probably be up to you, but I like to think that they all say their plans as a joking way and especially vague like. Or gossip.
"Have you heard, Delilah could hold her breath for 10 minutes because of her singing career! And she's a black belt. Wow."
"Miss Swithrs has been really hot-headed lately since her baby was injured. We should find a way to let her get off some steam."
"Hay Frank! Should you really be driving that truck, it'll be a shame if you were on the job and accidentally run someone important over."
I just feel like random civilians should and could be able to just murder some of the more "human" and mortal rouges.
#batman#Gothem#civilian#once there was a way#joker#poison ivy#firefly#frank#batman is not having a good time#red hood doesn't know how to feel#red robin is delighted#the masses will no longer kiss their asses
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Damian: Apologies for my tardiness everyone. I have not been sleeping well. Tim: Have you tried a weighted blanket? It's like two people holding you down while you sleep. Jason: Tim, blink once if you're in trouble and need assistance. Blink twice if you're just a freak. Tim: *winks five times*
#tim started using weighted blanket because he thought it would replicate the feeling of being cuddled since his parents always left him alon#but he doesn't want to admit that because he knows how sad that sounds#also he just loves fucking with his brothers#incorrect quotes#incorrect dcu quotes#incorrect batman quotes#incorrect batfamily quotes#dcu#batman#batfamily#batbros#damian wayne#robin#tim drake#red robin dc#jason todd#red hood
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It's a date :)
[DP x DC fic]
[Love at first... murder? - part 9]
<< Prev | Next >>
Part 1
Ao3
---
Private chat nicknames:
RedHood = Jason
Danny = Danny
---
The next day, Jason wakes up with a yawn. He stretches, letting out a relieved exhale. That was one of the best nights of sleep he’s had in a long time.
Usually, the Pit’s bothering him, combined with hours of patrolling and fighting crime, usually getting injured as well, he usually wakes up sore and almost just as exhausted as he goes to sleep.
But now…
It was calm. He felt calm.
He didn’t quite dream, though that was fine, as he hadn’t had any nightmares either.
It was… refreshing.
Though, all of it is also kind of… unnerving…
All these good things happening?
The Joker finally dying, meeting a cute guy who doesn’t seem intimidated by him as Red Hood and taking him out on a date, the Pit barely bothering him, sleeping better than he had in years…
With all of that happening, Jason can’t help but wonder…
When is the other shoe gonna drop?
His good mood slightly dampened with disconcertion, Jason gets out of bed with a small grunt. He doesn’t bother to get changed yet, instead moving along to the kitchen to start on breakfast.
After taking in the groceries he has left, Jason starts making some simple bacon and eggs. He catches himself humming while cooking and abruptly stops, continuing his cooking with a small frown on his face.
Why is he feeling this… this… good?
Just what is happening with the Pit?
He’s not enchanted or drugged or anything, is he?
It’s all the unknowns that are making Jason slightly worried.
Are his emotions still his own?
He feels like most of his worries have been stripped from his body. He feels way more comfortable in his skin. He feels happy, content, tranquil…
He just feels so much.
…
But still no rage.
He eats his breakfast while he ponders over his newfound emotional state. It’s as he eats that his eyes land on his phone.
The Bats have probably blown up his phone with calls and messages in the meantime.
And the fact that he doesn’t feel as irritated or mad as he should about it is another point of slight concern.
Either way. Ugh, Jason still doesn’t really want to deal with it.
However…
After he has put his plate away, he picks up his phone anyway and turns it back on. Sure enough, he has too many missed calls and unread messages. And it seems that with his ‘online’ status, some are encouraged again and start sending him more texts.
Jason ignores it all in favor of doing what he had planned to do when turning his phone back on anyway, messaging Danny.
Just so that he has Jason’s number as well
…
And perhaps to plan another date meetup, he thinks with an involuntary soft smile on his face.
---
Private chat
RedHood: Hey, it's Red Hood. Just checking in and making sure you also have my number.
RedHood: In case of emergency, of course.
Danny: hi!! 👋😊
Danny: it’s Danny!! 😁
Danny: which you already knew..
Danny: obviously 😅 😅
RedHood: I do now.
RedHood: Who knows, you could’ve given me the wrong number.
RedHood: It’s good to have the confirmation that it’s you :)
Danny: ahh yes!
Danny: good point 👉
RedHood: So, I was wondering if you had the time to meet again sometime this week?
RedHood: I can show you around the city, y’know? Like I mentioned yesterday? :)
Danny: !!!
Danny: yes!! 😁
Danny: that sounds like fun! ☺️ 🙃
Danny: and very useful 🤔
Danny: it’s good to know where not to go 😌
Danny: so I don’t kill another clown 🤡
Danny: haha
Danny: not that I’m like planning on killing another clown! 😰
Danny: no sir, there is no murder on this agenda!! 🙅 🙅
Danny: clowns or otherwise
RedHood: Haha, I didn’t think so.
RedHood: It was pretty clear to me it was self-defense anyway, don’t worry :)
RedHood: Even if it wasn’t, it was the Joker. So who, other than the Bat, cares?
RedHood: And it’s not like I can judge.
Danny: ah, good good
Danny: didn’t want my first impression to be being a murderer 😅 😅
Danny: that’d be bad 😓
RedHood: You don’t need to worry.
RedHood: You made a pretty good first impression in my opinion :)
RedHood: So, when are you free? For the meetup?
RedHood: I can come pick you up at your apartment again, if you want?
Danny: oh yeah that’d be nice!! 😊
Danny: and uhh, lemme check my school schedule real quick brb
Danny: alright, so I have classes till like 12.30 today
Danny: but I’m free from then on 🙃
Danny: minus like, time I need to eat lunch and stuff 😅 😅
Danny: does that work for you?
Danny: I mean else I could probably do like thursday or something 🤔
Danny: if that works better??
RedHood: Today works just fine. And we can pick up some lunch on the way if need be. My treat :)
RedHood: I’ll come pick you up around 1 pm then?
Danny: it’s a date!! 😁
Danny: I mean sure, totally! it’s not a date!! 🙅 🙅
Danny: unless you want it to be a date?.. 👀
Danny: I mean did you mean for it to be a date?
Danny: is it a date? 🤔 🤔
Danny: I mean I don’t wanna assume 😅
Danny: and like
Danny: I wouldn’t mind if it was a date.. 👀
Danny: or if it wasn’t a date!!
Danny: wouldn’t mind that either, of course 😅
Danny: I just wasn’t quite sure where we stood 😓 🥺
Danny: and what the context of the meetup was
Danny: ..?
Danny: Red Hood??
RedHood: It’s a date.
RedHood: ;)
---
Jason goes offline and turns his phone back off, still pointedly ignoring all the unread messages and missed calls from the Bats. He slides it onto and across the table in front of him and proceeds to put his arms down in front of him, resting his face on them.
Soft smile still on his face and cheeks colored faintly pink, Jason closes his eyes.
It’s a date…
---
Taglist:
@i-always-say-yea @uraniumwizard @why-must-i-be-like-this @griffinthing
#dp x dc#dp x dc fic#dpxdc#dcxdp#dc x dp#dp x dc crossover#dead on main#dead on main ship#jason having no more worries and feeling genuinely happy and in love: are these drugs? am i drugged?#jason who never uses smileys unless to flip someone off: *uses smileys to hopefully put danny a bit at ease/make him a little less nervous*#oh and for those who are confused#Jason put Danny in his contacts as 'Nova'. In-chat nicknames will not be the same as contact names#also i love how it doesnt occur to jason that it might be strange for the ppl of gotham to see red hood going out during the day#like he planned the date as red hood and thats what danny knows him as and stuff#but still going about as red hood when going on an actual date + during the day and stuff doesn't seem like a great idea tbh#oh well
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Oh I thought we all knew Jason's anger is not anger most of the time. Not only is he still trying to grieve for something so absolutely brutal and unfair that was done to him not too long ago (from Jason's own perspective he's been back for a year or three, that's not a lot), but his emotional regulation is not the best.
Jason is one of the most emotional Batkids, which makes perfect sense considering how he's emotionally stunted. One day he was 15, the next he was almost 18 and had gone through the most traumatic experience someone could go through. He is extremely immature, but not in the sense of being childish. When you're 15 you're still learning how to regulate your emotions, you don't have the tools an adult has. Post pit Jason is having to deal with all the trauma op describes without help and without the necessary tools to process.
I like this panel because Damian says it well: Jason is emotional. Anger is an emotion. And most times, anger is not the root emotion at all, just the surface manifestation. Mostly for men, who are taught that emotion is weakness with the exception of anger. Sadness, love, loneliness...those are liabilities but anger is useful. It pushes you through, especially if your purpose is as violent as Jason's.
If you take it at face value, yeah it's confusing. Anger is not rational. But also, most of the time the anger is barely hiding what's underneath. He isn't just angry at Bruce for killing the joker, he's also scared, confused, sad, lonely. He wants to be reassured by his father while at the same time trying to push him away because it's unfair that he saves everyone except for him.
Jason is a very interesting character because not even he knows what he's feeling. He can't process the shit he's been through and he doesn't even know how to express it. He's aggressive and violent and pushes people away.
It's not logical, but why do we want to sand his personality?? We are so uncomfortable with people expressing their trauma in any way that's not super pc and excusable. We want perfect victims because we, as a society, want to empathize with them without any icky feelings.
Basically, we want poor little mewmews that are a bit fucked up but in a very understandable and digestible way. I don't think most of the writers for Jason get this, they only hit the nail on the head on accident. They're either trying to write a villain or bending over backwards to justify his actions so he can be redeemed. But the best version of the character is one that acknowledges that he doesn't even know how to make sense of his emotions. You don't need a reason to explain why he is sometimes erratic or too angry: you have one already.
I'm not going to tell anyone how to write their fanfic, you're doing the lord's work even if it's not for me. But, you could (if you're interested) consider Jason's redemption/change in attitude not only in terms of "the Bats convince him to stop murdering/they accept him as he is" but of him needing to heal. To me, Jason needs to actually understand what he's actually feeling towards his family before he decides what he wants from their relationship.
sometimes i think jason’s anger gets too oversimplified as just anger and so rarely do i see it acknowledged that it is absolutely also grief, just not in the "standard" way
on top of that jason would’ve been mad at bruce no matter what he did. because grief is illogical in the things it makes us think and feel. i’ve loved pretty much every batfam fic i’ve ever read but sometimes i feel like we write jason as too easily swayed by being told about batman’s downward spiral after his death. because explain all you want, grief is stubborn and grief is not something you can just… convince away.
is this me being a fucking nerd about psychology and wanting to see more jason content that actually explores the fact that anger is only one component of his grief? maybe. none of your business go away im at a restaurant >:(
#sorry this is so long#but op made such good points and I just needed to yes and them#like yes he is still grieving#and he doesn't know how to do it at all#he's not just angry he's feeling a lot of things#at the same time#and also he's having feelings he probably doesn't even have the word for as a 15 yo#jason todd#red hood#meta
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To Be Wooed
I blacked out and wrote this. This is so silly to me.
Enjoy!
Look Danny didn't mean to kill the Joker it was an honest mistake, he was still recovering from escaping the GIW and whatever they had used on him had still been in effect when he honest to Ancients ran into the fake clown.
Of course it doesn't look like an accident with how he left the Joker
But it was!
Really it really was!
Whatever the GIW did was out of his system, but that still left a very dead and coreless Joker.
Yeah...apparently Joker had a core, but not anymore because he ate it like it was pop rock candy, if the weird cousin spicy version of it. He still feels like he has some of it stuck in his teeth.
Anyways! Not the point!
Joker! Very dead at his feet, what is he supposed to do-
THUMP
Oh Ancients he's going to die again that's the Red Hood!
"Uh...I can explain, well not really. But it was an accident! I promise and-"
"You killed him?"
"I'm really sorry? He bumped into me, it was an accident I swear!"
"Go on a date with me."
WHa-what?! Did he just hear correctly why would he ask him out out of nowhere it made no sense and..oh.
Red Hood's been touched by Death not like him but enough to count, and enough to have some ghostly instincts.
Okay ghostly courting he can do that, he totally can, no sweat!
Shit who is he kidding he may have the instincts but he was never actually taught how he's supposed to use them or anything.
Well he's always been good at making it up as he goes, and at least his instincts will help push him in the right direction.
So he should just do what feels natural to him.
"Yes I'll go out with you. If I were to make jewelry and knives out of his bones would you accept them?"
"...For me to wear and use. Yes."
~
Danny freaking out about just killing and kinda eating someone: I'm in so much trouble!
Jason behind him fixing his appearance: "Well hello there handsome come by here often?"
~
Joker bumping into Danny: "ahAHA you will make a good experiment!"
Danny is high as a kite and getting the munchies: "I didn't know I could order food with my mind!"
Joker: "Whut-"
~
Jason seeing Danny absolutely wrecking Jokers shit: *Ghost Instincts Activated*
~
Jason falling fast for Danny without even knowing his name: "Can I pretty please kiss you?"
Danny realizing what's going on but still being clueless: "Does that mean you will accept these gifts made from Jokers bones?"
Jason's Ghost Instincts rising to a fever pitch: "I'm going to woo the fuck out of ya and then we'll get married then we'll fu-"
~
Danny's Ghostly Instincts being connected to his 'Protection' & Jason's to his 'Revenge' showing these kind of specific gestures towards them is incredibly romantic.
~
Jason and Danny's relationship basically:
~
~
~
#They're like Morticia & Gomez absolutely smitten for each other
#Jason brings a crying & beaten up GIW who has been stalking Danny
#Danny almost swooned
#They start flirting with each other while standing on top of the GIW dude
#Jason's goons are happy that their boss found 'The One' apparently but can they please stop eyefucking each other while they're there and-
~
Just an Idea
#dead on main#jason todd x danny fenton#Murderously Wooed au#Ghost Instincts TM#comedy murder romance basically ;D#glowy-death-ideas#dpxdc#dp x dc#danny phantom#dc x dp#batman#danny fenton#dp x dc crossover#dc x dp crossover#dcxdp
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Since Bruce is a celebrity everyone assumes his PR team runs his socials but since he's a cluster of paranoia he refuses to let anyone else do it. That means when he randomly tweets something out of pocket he has the perfect excuse.
------
BRUCE WAYNE TWEETS : "Had a meeting with share holders today and I finally understand why red hood had a bag of severed heads" AND FOLLOWS IT UP WITH "I'd like to apologize on behalf of my social media manager for my last tweet" BUT STILL DOESN'T TAKE IT DOWN.
-----
Clark, trying to be nonchalant : hey I wanted to ask about your post from yesterday.
[a picture of Alfred's cooking posted on IG with the caption "dinner almost looks as delicious as @thesupermanofsteel 🤤"]
Bruce *sweating bullets under the cowl and pretending to work *: oh I haven't seen what my team posted yet.
Clark *immediately burning the bouquet he brought to confess his feelings before Bruce sees* : oh, okay
-----
At a gala
Lex Luther: so I saw your last tiktok
[video of the Waynes on vacation captioned "with the wind in my hair and my kids by my side, @lexluther can't relate"]
Bruce in full Brucie mode : you know how it is with media managers, lexy. I mean yours just posted a whole Twitter rant saying I had work done and then deleted it an hour later HAha, can you believe it!
Lex who can definitely believe it because he wrote that rant himself at 2am :........ Umh...... I'll have to see who's responsible for that.
#batman#bruce wayne#worlds finest#superbat fanfiction#clark kent#superbat#superman#dc comics#superbat fic#bruce x clark#lex luthor#twitter#instagram#writing prompt#writing#social media#pr team
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More of trans allegory Jason and the goons VS the batfam:
Transmasc older goon, trying to connect: Hey out of curiosity boss, when did your egg crack?
Jason, thinking this is a bird pun about how he became Robin: Uh, 12 I guess...
****
Penguin henchman: Wow, you really are okay calling yourselves goons? Isn't that like a little demeaning?
Red Hood Goon: Inclusivity my guy -Henchperson is a mouthful, and that way, we don't have to assume.
Penguin Henchman: Oh my god that's so thoughtful!
*they resume shooting at eachother.*
*****
Batman You're not okay Hood, you need a professional. Please, we can help you!
Jason: There's nothing wrong with me, I won't let you throw me into Arkham!
Goon of the week: Yeah Batfreak, the boss doesn't need help, there's nothing wrong with him! How would you like it if we tried to convert you out of being a furry, huh?!!
Batman: reconsiders life choices.
****
Angry goon: *beats the shit out of Nightwing with a trans pride flag*
Dick, a bisexual cis metrosexual: I'm not sure what is happening but this feels offensive.
****
Batman: Please, I know there's a lot of bad blood, but you're still my child...
Jason: Really? Because I clearly remember you saying you weren't my father and didn't have to deal with my "teenage angst"!
The Goons: You said what?!
Oracle : You said what?!
Dick, standing up and picking up the pride flag: You said what.
#jason todd#assigned trans at goon#jason and his goons#best mafia boss ever#best goons ever#“maybe I'll go join Jason's gang#supportive goons#they have a goon of the week contest#the batfam is so confused#oracle knows exactly what is happening but she's too busy laughing to correct the misunderstanding#Tim weaponizes it#“maybe I'll go join Jason's gang at least THEY would accept me#batman#batman and robin#under the red hood#incorrect batfamily quotes#incorrect jason todd#pride month#trans pride#happy pride 🌈
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DPxDC Shit Fae!Danny Has Said While Living With Waynes
Danny, making a 'got your nose' gesture: Hey Jason, look, I've got your name!
Red Hood, who suddenly can't remember his own name: What the fuck
Bruce, in a tired dad voice: Danny, please, we talked about this, return your brother's name back
Danny: Oh, come on, it's not like he even uses it
Jason, thankfully remembering his name: And I repeat, what the f u c k
Steph, at dinner: I was wondering, what do faeries even eat normally? Like, flowers and stuff?
Danny, his eyes two black voids inside his eyesockets: The souls of the innocent
Steph: So that's a 'no' on the flowers?
Danny, back to normal and shoving a bagel in his mouth: I mean, I can, but would you want to stay on the crumbs-only diet when you are in a 5-star Michelin restaurant?
Tim: It's actually 3-star. Michelin rating system only has three stars, not five.
Dick: Are you saying that people are basically food joints for Fae?
Damian, at Constantine: It would do you well to choose your wording better when speaking to fair folk-
Danny, very much a fair folk, appearing out of thin air in the Cave: Yolo, s'up bitches, guess who's back in town!
Damian: -even when they do not necessarily do so themselves.
Constantine, looking between them: Are you sure you're the human and he is the changeling?
Tim, 46 hours of no sleep: Hey, if you can take a name from someone, does it mean you can take, like, other things that have no real shape or form?
Danny: Names do have shape and form, they even have taste. Yours is like a ping-pong ball made out of really dense cotton candy with banana-caramel flavor.
Tim, losing his touch with reality: Dense banana cotton candy...
Danny: By the way, I know you wanted to ask me if I could take your need to sleep from you, and theoretically, the answer is yes.
Tim, his whisper full of hope: ...will you?..
Danny: No. Either go to sleep or keep suffering. I'm not here to make your life easier.
Danny, after a half-an-hour rant on the Fae customs and traditions: -and Fae never tell the truth, but also never lie. It's a work of art, you know, say what you want but never in a way that makes sense.
Jason: So Fae just like to fuck with people.
Danny, looking him in the eyes, smiling and winking: Sure, humans are very fuckable.
Bruce, trying very hard not to pay attention to this: Can you make an example?
Danny: Sure. I lied.
Bruce: Where?
Danny: :)
Bruce, feeling like he is about to lose his mind: W h e r e ?
Alfred, right after he heard Dick's muffled screaming in the hallway: Young Master Danny, would you mind returning Master Dick his ability to talk in coherent sentences?
Danny, obediently standing up and walking out of the library: ...okay.
Bruce: How come he always listens to you?
Alfred: He knows what I will do if he doesn't.
Danny, returning to the library: He will change all the silverware to iron-ware. As well as the doorknobs and hairbrushes and lightswitches and everything else.
Alfred: Did you fix Master Dick's shoes?
Danny: I did. But I still think that making all of his shoes left ones was funny.
Alfred: Indeed, it was.
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There's also a fic now.
#danny phantom#dpxdc#dc x dp#batfam#fae rules#fae#tim drake#bruce wayne#damian wayne#jason todd#john constantine#changelings#danny is a little shit#bruce is a tired dad#am i going to write a fic with this au soneday#maybe#dialogue prompt#feel free to add on#cork writes#cork prompts
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The Alchemy vol. II
jason todd x fem!reader
aka the progression of your relationship with the red hood
part one
warnings: depictions of blood and injury, standard gotham violence, jason doesn't know how to have feelings, reader is angry, threats against readers life, implied concern of sexual assault
It might be a matter of deficiency in self-preservation skills, how the sound of your window sliding open does nothing to phase you. You don’t know if that’s your fault or his.
“How’s it goin’ down there?” You mumble, not sitting up from your position on the couch.
He pushes the window shut in his wake, huffing. “I am up here for a reason,” he says factually.
You crane your head back just in time to see him tug the red helmet off his head, setting it down on your side table. He has on his under-mask that covers the lower half of his face. You don’t like that one.
He glances around your apartment as he approaches with slow steps. “Why are all the lights off?”
“Forgot to turn ‘em on,” you tell him simply.
He frowns at you, confusion evident.
You pay him no mind though, taking an exaggerated breath and pushing yourself up off the couch before trotting over to the kitchen. You open the fridge and scrummage for a water bottle. Jason thinks it’s odd how long it takes you to find one in your own fridge.
Once it's (eventually) in your hands, you chug down several gulps and toss the half empty bottle towards the counter where it lands with a sloppy thump and rolls.
When you return, he’s leant against the armrest of your chair, watching you. You stop in the middle of the room, a contemplating stare on the floor. He tilts his head at you, wondering what you could possibly be thinking so hard about.
You take a deep breath before plopping down to lay on the carpet all in one go.
He peers down at you, barely trying to hide his amusement. “You’re drunk.”
You shake your head, “I’m not sober.”
“That’s—yeah.” He stands all the way, coming to lay down on the floor next to you, using significantly more coordination than you had.
He lays in between you and the couch, though it doesn’t seem you’d left him much room. If he minds, it doesn’t show. “What’d you do?”
“I jus’ went out with my friend,” you tell him, closing your eyes. “She moves pretty fast..”
It occurs to him that you might be laying on the ground because you got nauseous. He turns to look at you, scanning you over. “You good?”
“I feel great,” you keen. “I feel…swooshy.”
He gives you a bemused look. “Dizzy?”
You shake your head with a great deal of consideration on your face, “No, not even dizzy, just…swoosh.” You throw out a hand with a theatrical flick.
“Mhm.”
You pucker your lips to the side. “You come here a lot,” you comment, clearly working up to some greater observation.
“You’re in my neighborhood,” he shrugs.
Your head tilts, “You live here?”
He pauses before correcting himself, “My territory.”
You hum, “Still. There has to be other people around here you know. ‘Specially if you’re passing out on balconies on the reg.”
He frowns, “I try not to make a habit out of it.”
You continue on, “Why do you always go to my apartment? There’s—”
“I don’t always come to your apartment—”
You deadpan, “You’re here like three nights a week. And I don’t even help you that much anymore, you’ve used up my whole first aid kit.”
You can literally feel the eyeroll like you have a sixth sense for it. “That thing wasn’t exactly impressive to start with..”
“Did enough for you, didn’t it? Anyways, my point is: I think you like me,” you say with a nod.
That has him going absolutely rigid, “What?”
“I’ve heard you’re an asshole.”
“What?”
You nod, “Like, people that run into you. They say you’re kind of a dick. You help ‘em ‘n everything, but also while being a dick. Sometimes.”
“Okay...”
“But you’re nice to me. Sort of,” you squint. “I think you like me.”
He hasn’t felt this straggled in a conversation in a while. “I—well I’m not here because you’re a world-class medic.”
You scoff, “There’s no world-class medics..” But then your tone switches up, into something lighter. “We’re friends aren’t we? I think we’re friends.”
He shakes his head, staring up blankly. “Sure, we’re friends.”
“We’re friends and you like me,” you reiterate.
He really wishes you’d stop saying that. “Okay.”
“I like you too. Even though you’re kinda sketchy.”
He doesn’t know what to say to that.
You hum into the silence, looking up at the ceiling. “J…James, Jack, John…”
He smiles, gaze dancing across the egg-whitened popcorn texture of the ceiling. “I’m not going to tell you.”
You ignore him, “Jake, Jaden, Jason, Josh, Joe, Jesse…”
You’re about three shots too drunk to notice the way he briefly stiffens.
“Juuhhh…” you lull your head to the side, the letter fading out slowly as you look into his eyes. If you focus, you think you can make out a few of those little specks of green again.
He seems to already be running his own study on your irises, his eyes now softer than you can remember seeing them before.
His next words are whispered, the sounds barely escaping. “You’re pretty.”
What?
“What?”
“What?” He seems taken aback by his own words, like he also wasn’t expecting them to climb out of his mouth.
You can literally feel sobriety seeping back into your blood. “I’m…pretty?”
He blinks a few times, apparently trying hard to decide on what position he’s going to take here. “I—well…yeah.”
You blink once, relaxing. “I think…I think you’re pretty too.”
“What?”
“We can’t do this again.”
He breaks eye contact, looking almost dejected.
You turn your head down to where his hand thrums against the carpet. “I mean, I know I haven’t seen your whole face in one go, but I see the top half now and the bottom before, so I…maybe I shouldn’t be saying this.” You reset with a shallow breath, “I don’t know what your whole face looks like.”
“That was,” he blinks, eyebrows raised. “Fascinating.”
“Thanks,” you say flatly. You close your eyes again, though this time you remain facing him.
He feels a slight pang of guilt for the way he continues to ogle at you, eyes tracing over every detail of your face. But that ounce of guilt does nothing to outweigh the reward of gazing upon you. He didn’t mean to say it but he definitely meant it: you’re really fucking pretty.
Your eyelashes flutter for a moment before stilling, a display of peace washing over your features. It’s when your breathing steadies over and your face relaxes completely is when he starts to feel like a creep. It takes a lot of strength for him to force his eyes shut, depriving himself of the view.
And he doesn’t do it on purpose, but after a few moments his inhales and exhales take to the same rhythm of yours. The thin layer of the rug isn’t doing much to protect his back from the hardwood below and he’s pretty confident later he’ll curse himself for lying like this for so long.
But as he lays, he doesn’t find himself focused on the dark red-gray of his eyelids like usual, so much as the warmth from the proximity of your bodies. He’s usually so concentrated on whatever the hell is going on in his head and it prevents him from really truly resting, but now, the only thing taking up his attention is physical sensations.
He feels this warmth in his heart that if he didn’t know any better, he’d call burning. His hands feel numb and he can distinctly feel the beat of his own heart in his chest, thrumming away.
He presses his lips to your forehead with a feather light touch, slow to pull away. He doesn’t make it all the way back to his original position before his movement lulls and his body relaxes again, joining you gladly in unconsciousness.
Gotham City has a particular gift for inconveniencing you at the worst possible moment and doing it multiple times a week.
Tonight's round of problems resulted in an entire city district getting shut down, the district which is regrettably right between your job and your apartment.
So on top of having to hole up into your work for two hours longer than you were supposed to, it took you an extra 45 minutes getting home while trying to maneuver around every other person in the same situation. And just to cement the quality of this night, the door to your apartment building slams nice and hard against your side and the light in the hallway is out.
You groan when you fail to get your key the lock the right way for the third time, lodging it in a final time and shoving the door open. You flick on the kitchen light and dump your bag onto the counter, kicking the door shut behind you.
You take a deep breath, eyes closed, as you lean your head back against the wall. The second you crack your eyes open again, a pile of red mass on the floor behind your couch catches your attention and startles some energy right back into your chest.
“Oh, shit,” you scurry over towards the window, crumbling down onto your knees in front of him. Your eyes dart across the red helmet, trying to makeout any signs of consciousness. “Hood?”
There’s no response from him, no movement. You tug his helmet off, finding him eyes-closed with blood running down the side of his head. You push a hand down on his chest armor, shaking him. “J? J!”
His eyes flutter open slowly under his domino mask, adjusting to the light. With the disorientation on his face he looks younger, more his age. His hair is tousled up and you can make out some distinct curls in it when it's undone like this.
He grimaces, gloved hand coming up to his head. He looks wearily at the blood on his fingers, before plopping his hand back down and blinking up at you. “Hey..”
You sit back on your heels with a sigh, “What the fuck?”
He makes a strained effort to sit up on his own so you try to heave him up by his forearm. As he comes up all the way you glance behind his back at a bag crumpled discarded on the floor. You can barely see some sort of fabric poking out the top. “What is that?”
“Huh?” He throws back a tired glance, “Oh. They're..curtains.”
“Explain.”
He looks at you blankly, “You don’t have any curtains.”
You blink. “Explain.”
“It’s dangerous for people to just be able to look in and see you. So. Curtains.” For a guy who reads Dostoevsky, he’s not much of a wordsmith. Though that could be the concussion.
You reach around him and pull some of the fabric out of the bag, inspecting the linen. They match the theme of your living room.
You set it back down, blinking. “Thanks.”
He only gives a half-hearted shrug.
You look back at him, “How bad is the…?” You gesture to the side of your head.
He feels at the blood again, “It’s mostly just a cut. Shoulda stopped bleeding by now.”
You nod, “I’ll, uh—I’ll clean it up.”
He looks at you, shaking his head. “You don’t need to. Your kit’s almost empty anyways.”
“I restocked it,” you tell him, rising to stand. He lets you go retrieve your aid box without protest, listening blankly to the faucet run in the bathroom while you’re gone.
You return momentarily, damp rag in one hand, kit in the other. “Here, sit on the couch,” you tell him, nodding him up.
He lugs himself up off the hardwood and onto the cushion with a groan. You position yourself on the cushion next to him, leaning over to inspect the cut. You brush through his hair as gently as you can, though you have to suspect he wouldn’t have minded either way—if only based on the pain threshold you know him to have.
As much as you are completely in his space, you’re having trouble getting all the access you need to fix him up right. You turn and adjust your angle this way and that but none of it works.
You huff, sitting back. “I can’t..”
He nods his permission at you without delay, and you shift yourself over to sit fully on his lap, straddling him on the sofa. You put your focus into cleaning his wound, but you have to notice how deep he’s breathing and how he’s seemingly trying very hard to avoid eye contact. You’re sure your own breath is uneven and telling, and frankly you’re kind of hoping he has a concussion just so he might not notice it.
An unexpected sting has him flinching and grabbing your hips on instinct, a certain heaviness lingering in the air after contact. His hand tenses and he’s about to remove them from you completely when you manage to catch his gaze, and the few moments of silent eye contact are enough to convince him to stay. He forces his hands to relax against your waist, his fix on your face wavering before fizzling away completely.
You go back to dabbing at the blood and it’s clear that his thoughts get the better of him quickly. “You should move.”
“But then where would you go?”
He makes a rumbling noise from the back of his throat at that, saying nothing more.
You continue to wipe away at the blood until you can’t see it anymore, beyond the slice of the cut. You misjudge your own spatial awareness as you pull back from him, and the tips of your noses graze. Though the contact surprises you, you don’t move away from it. You become very acutely aware of his touch on your waist, how warm it feels atop your shirt.
His head leans forward just barely before stopping. He retreats slightly and his body ultimately decides to come closer. He doesn’t stop until his lips, slightly parted, skim across yours.
Your breath catches as he looms nearer, lips touching against yours softly. He tests that pressure out for a moment, before moving to kissing you with more intent. You kiss him back, and though there’s an increasing resolve on both of your parts, the connection itself remains gentle, reposeful.
The last slight movement of his lips gradually slips away as he rests his forehead against yours.
A long beat passes before he’s tightening his grip on your waist and pulling you up to stand. You aren’t given the time to process the shift as he’s moving straight past you, head down. He pauses only when he gets to the window, back turned to you.
“Sorry—I’m…” his shoulders drop, “Sorry.”
He climbs out and scales the fire escape in total silence until he’s gone completely.
You stand frozen in position, staring at the window with incredulity burning across your face.
What the fuck?
Two weeks pass of voided midnight visits.
You’re not sure what to make of that. He kissed you, not the other way around. You couldn’t possibly have done something to upset him or throw him off since he’s the only one who did anything. All in all, it’s a little disappointing.
There had been tension there and it wasn’t shocking for you to learn that he wanted to kiss you. It was a bit of a surprise for him to actually do it, though not a bad one. But you were thrown for a grand fucking loop when he immediately bailed out.
Maybe you can’t read him as well as you think because you’d expected him to at least say something about it. It was a borderline given that he would come back and there would be a bonus surplus of tension but then there would be a resolution. Because he wouldn’t kiss you and then never come back. Nobody would do that, it doesn’t make sense.
It’s a little more than embarrassing to admit that you’ve been purposefully staying home in the hope that he’ll drop in. After fifteen nights of disappointment, you decided to put your focus elsewhere.
You’d asked a friend of yours to go out with you tonight, and never one to decline a night out, she agreed happily.
The bell above the door jingles as you crack it open, peaking your head in. You find Chloe quickly, stood behind the bar with bottles in hand.
“Hey gorgeous,” she smiles at you, waving you in.
You step in, air conditioning hitting you hard. The sparkles on her cocktail dress catch your eye as she turns this way and that, trying to find the right spot for the whiskey.
Chloe hums to herself as she searches, honestly taking a bit longer than she should. “You been cool?”
You nod, “Yeah, just—you know…” She doesn’t. Your affiliation with the Red Hood is something you’ve kept to yourself, though you don’t know why. It would be safer, more responsible to let someone else know about these drop-ins, but something about it feels personal. A strange feeling to tack onto it, you think. A regrettable one, at least.
You take a deep breath, “You’ve been busy. Jessie call out again?”
She laughs dryly, “Oh yeah, of course. But it's fine, I love staying over an hour after close.” She sighs, “I’m almost done anyway.”
You circle around the bar, looking over the several yet-to-be-sorted bottles. “You need help?”
“No, there’s—” she cuts herself off as she looks over at the front door, face dropping. “Oh, shit. Duck.”
“Wha—” she yanks you down to the floor to crouch awkwardly behind the counter.
You hear the bell ring as the door swings open, followed by several pairs of footsteps and low voices.
“—Christ, if she forgets to lock the door one more fucking time I’m gonna kill her.”
You look at Chloe through furrowed eyebrows, her grip on you still tight. She shakes her head and puts a finger to her lips.
A second man mutters something you can’t make out.
The first voice continues, “Go around back and lug the crates in, we gotta start packing that shit.”
Another voice, “The crates? They’re not here..”
There’s a heavy beat before the first voice speaks, “What the fuck do you mean they’re not here? She needs them now.”
“Well…the first shipments will be in later this week. The next batch’ll take until the end of the month, probably.”
A sigh, “Dumbass…”
The first voice huffs, “The end of the month? Are you fucking kidding me? I told you to get that shit ready weeks ago and you’ve got it coming in at the end of the month?”
“I’ll…I’ll see what I can do to get it sooner.”
“Yeah, you do that,” he grumbles. “Motherfucker. I need a drink. Get a bottle of something.”
One of the men rounds the counter, tracks falling short at the sight of you and Chloe huddled against the counter.
“What the fuck?”
You and Chloe are wide-eyed and frozen as he sneers down at you. Still, he looks like he’s trying to be tougher than he is, compensating for size that he does not have, with an attitude that doesn’t match up with the way he sped around the counter to get the other man a drink.
Another guy comes around and you quickly recognize him as the man in charge. He frowns at Chloe, sighing, “You’re not supposed to be here still, Chloe.”
She shifts her weight, “I was just…finishing inventory…”
The bossman’s eyes move to you, laced with nothing but inconvenience. “Oh and you brought a friend. Great.”
“Mr. Murray, we were just ab—”
He’s quick to cut her off with a hand, “Chloe. Stop talking.”
Her face falls flat and her words die off without hesitation.
“Get up.”
She’s pushing herself off the ground instantly while you’re still on the floor catching up with what the hell’s going on. As she moves out from behind the bar, you scurry to follow her. Your arm bumps against hers as you fiddle with the seams at the bottom of your outfit.
You dressed to go out with your friend on a Friday night, not to meet three mobsters in a closed bar with no witnesses. That’s to say, you’re feeling a little exposed.
You stand in the center of the bar, the three men looking various degrees of annoyed looks across their faces. Though the oldest looking of the bunch has something else in his eyes as he looks you up and down, in no rush to hide his engrossment in your bare legs.
“How old are you, honey?” Even without the blatant ogling, that’s never a good question to hear from a fifty year old man.
Your eyes avert to the floor, lips pursing.
“Hey, don’t be rude. I asked you a question.” He nudges your chin up a bit rougher than necessary, forcing you to look him in the eyes.
Somehow, you feel like there’s no answer here that would help you.
The man at the bar serves as an unexpected saving grace of sorts, muttering, “We don’t have time for this.”
Your pursuer shakes his head, looking you over in a way that makes you feel very small. “I think we got plenty of time.”
“I disagree.”
All heads whip to the doorway where the Red Hood leans against the frame, checking his phone. A never invited but always welcome addition to the party. At least for you.
The man in front of you instantly steps back, putting some distance between the two of you. Hands across the room instinctively fly to holsters only to begrudgingly relax at their sides, probably figuring drawing on Red Hood isn’t in their best interest. Though your focus lies on the bell above his head that didn’t make a peep whenever he came in.
Hood shuts his phone off and puts it away with a quiet sigh before glancing up at the tension-filled room. He literally double takes when his helmet scans past you. You somehow feel more in trouble now than you did two minutes ago.
“Hood..” the bossman says measuredly. “What are you doing here?”
He stares at you for a second longer before tearing his gaze away. “Just thought I’d check up on you, Murray. Make sure you’re not causing trouble in light of our agreement.” He makes a point of looking back at you and Chloe at that last part before looking to Murray expectantly.
He waves that off easily, “This is nothing. Just two late-shift employees.”
Hood takes a piqued breath. “You picked a bad time to lie to me,” he says flatly.
Murray shakes his head, “Look, we’re just cleaning up a mess. No harm.”
“Really?”
“This clean up benefits you too, they heard too much. The one girl—Chloe, get out. She’s fine, she’s not talking.”
Chloe wastes no time exiting hastily. Bye Chloe.
He continues, “We only need to kill one of them.” He says it like this is an ideal compromise. You’re feeling differently.
Hood huffs, pulling out a gun from his holster. “I’m thinking it’s implied that killing innocent people is a form of causing trouble. Which is in direct violation of our agreement.” He cocks the gun, pointing it at Murray’s head.
Murray steps back dramatically, throwing his hands up. “Hey, an alliance is an alliance!”
Hood wavers his head to the side, “Alliance is a strong word. Temporary tolerance maybe…”
The short man pipes up, “Okay, calm down, calm down. Nobody needs to get killed. We can cooperate.”
“That’s the spirit,” Hood quips, lowering his gun.
The older one shakes his head, “We don’t have anything on her, she’ll talk.”
The short man demurs, “We don’t know that—”
“She saw too much, we can’t have her walking around with that information,” Murray says, moving towards you.
Hood puts his hands up like some kind of mediator, “Nobody’s killing anybody.”
Murray scoffs, “You were gonna kill me!”
Hood's hands drop as he stands in full, “And I still might!”
Boldly, Murray steps up to him.
But Hood looks down at him, easily a full head taller than him and at least twice his muscle mass. “Let's weigh out your odds here, Murray. Is that a fight you’re winning?”
The look on Murray’s face tells you it’s not and he struggles to maintain this chest to chest confrontation.
It only takes him a moment of wavering to decide to back off, though he sure as hell doesn’t look happy about it.
Hood pushes past him, grabbing you by the arm and pulling you towards him.
Murray splutters, watching you go. “You can’t—I-I know people.”
“I am people,” Hood grumbles, steering you towards the door.
Though you can be sure they have them, no one voices any objections aa he pulls you outside.
His stride doesn’t even falter as he marches you down the sidewalk in the direction of your apartment. Aside from the sound of the breeze wisping past your ears, it’s silent between you.
After two blocks you get the strong impression that this muted exchange of energy is just going to keep on, so you force yourself to find something to rattle off about. “That uh, that seems like something he’s gonna be mad about.”
He huffs, “Yeah, well he can get over it or die so I guess it’s a personal choice.”
You frown at his tone, “What’s your problem?”
That was, apparently, the wrong thing to say as his head snaps in your direction. “Why the hell are you out here?”
His sharp attitude has you stumbling a bit. “Why are you out here? You have a concussion.”
“I don’t have a concussion,” he grumbles. “And I just saved your life so maybe complaining about it isn’t your best move right now.”
You try to stop and face him but he doesn’t let you, keeping you moving along with him. “That’s what we’re doing? Really?”
Are these about the social skills that you had expected from him based on your first meeting? Yeah. But that first meeting was months ago. He’s proven again and again that he has half a brain and the ability to read a room so you’re really not fucking sure what the hell his problem is. He won’t acknowledge that he kissed you and all but jumped out your living room window, but he will snap at you for asking about his concussion that there’s no way he doesn’t have. Especially if he’s acting like this.
He ignores your comment, blatantly at that. “Did they say anything about a drug shipment?”
This is what we’re talking about? Sure. Fine. At least you’re talking.
You open your mouth briefly before closing it again, eyes narrowed. “I don’t know.”
He tries again, “What about Nocturna? Did you hear that name?”
“I…I don’t know.” You weren’t exactly taking notes behind the bar counter.
His head drops down heavily, “Okay, I think I’m seeing a trend for how this conversation’s gonna go...”
You gawk at him, astonished that he thinks it’s you who’s handling this discussion poorly. “You cannot be serious right now.”
He sighs, slowing as you approach the steps to your building, “Just—why’d they let Chloe go?”
You blink a few times, “I mean, she has a drug problem…” You guess that might be where she’s getting them from…
He nods solemnly, “Okay.”
You huff, turning to walk up the steps, shoulders heavy. You hope he’ll come up with you and maybe, just maybe, address the elephant in the room.
“Are you—” you turn around to face him again, met with nothing but vacant air.
A deep, tense, breath from you before calling out, “Really?”
One month. One month. And he decides to show up tonight like it’s no time lost. But there was some fucking time lost.
Count ‘em up, that’s one period, two paychecks, three grocery trips, four laundry days, and thirteen showers. And that stupid fucking vigilante ransacked your head during every single one.
You went through the five stages of grief for this bizarre, undefinable relationship and then discovered about six more while you were at it.
So when you walk out from the bathroom, you’re a little pissed to see him sitting there on your living room floor, helping himself to a glass of water.
Maybe it’s his domino mask that gives his expression the illusion of neutrality. Or maybe he really has no idea how insane it is that he would occupy your apartment like this after skipping out on you for an entire lunar cycle.
He leans against your armchair, inspecting a scratch on his lower arm. You enter silently, watching him the whole time as you make your way over to the far end of the couch.
He doesn’t look up at you though, not until after a minute or two of silence.
“You got any bandages left?” he asks, throwing a glance over his shoulder.
You stare at him incredulously.
After ten seconds with no response from you, he turns around fully, frowning. “What?”
“Are you kidding me?”
“I—” he squints, eyes flickering across your face. “No?”
You continue to gawk at him, not trying for any words.
He stares back, eyes wide. “I don’t know what you want me to say...”
You tear your gaze from him, preferring to stare at the wall. “You know what, I think I know what your problem is.”
He gives a laugh with little life to it. “I only have one?”
You bite down on your lip, “You only have one I’m ready to kill you over.”
He sits with that for a minute. A long minute, before asking softly, “What is it?”
You shake your head, glaring at an unoccupied nail in the wall. “That you’re an idiot,” you mutter. You start to walk away before turning around again after a few steps. “Where the hell have you been?”
He blinks, “Uh, there’s just been a lot of—”
“Bullshit.”
He’s about to argue his point, but quickly decides to concede, “Yeah.” He takes a deep breath, sitting back. “I…wasn’t prepared for this conversation,” he says carefully.
You scoff with a nod, “Yeah, neither was I, but it’s happening. I m—what did you think was going to happen here? I—you kissed me, you kissed me!”
“No I—” he huffs, “I shouldn’t have done that, okay?”
“What the fuck does that mean?”
He sighs, throwing his hands up at his sides. “What do you want me to say?”
You shrug without genuinity, “Anything that could possibly rationalize that sequence of decisions. You kiss me, run away, ghost me for a fucking month, and then show up again like nothing happened.”
He shuts his eyes, shaking his head. “I know, I know, I’m sorry!”
“I’m not asking you to be sorry, I’m asking you to pick a fucking lane and stick to it!”
He falls silent at that, eyes on the floor. It’s quiet for long enough that you start to think he’ll accept the silence as his cue to leave. You’re not sure if you want him to or not.
You take a deep breath, eyes closed. “I need you to start being straight with me. Now.”
He doesn’t look up, taking his time to find his words. “I am sorry,” he tells you. “I…I’m not good at this. I’m not good with words so I shouldn’t have fucking done it.”
Honestly you weren’t expecting him to actually come up with a reason, so you’re not prepared to weigh out whether or not it’s a good one.
“I like you...a lot. And I didn’t know—I don’t know—what to do about it so I kissed you and I didn’t think it through, and…I guess I panicked.”
That’s more than enough for you to warrant looking back over at him. It doesn’t take long for your gaze to start shifting around awkwardly while you scratch at your neck. “I would’ve taken you for more of a fight over flight kinda guy.”
He nods to himself. “Jus’ depends..” he says quietly.
And then it seems neither of you have anything else to say. You’ve run out of angry words to spit and he’s run out of apologies and excuses. But neither of you feel like you’re done.
The quiet lingers on for a painful amount of time. Your annoyance dissipates into something else, something more uncomfortable, but you couldn’t find a name for it. It’s got your thoughts going faster though and your chest feeling more hollow. Maybe not hollow…maybe just softer.
He cuts through your thoughts before you can, “Are you mad that I kissed you?”
You shake your head, “No. I’m mad about what happened after.” You’re just mad about what happened after. Should’ve said just.
He thinks about that for a moment.
“I can be honest with you,” he tells you. The way he says it, it’s somewhere between a peace offering and an assurance to himself.
You look at him again. He reads oddly vulnerable for a man his size with his reputation. You believe him.
He goes on, “I trust you, you know? I want you to trust me too, if you can.”
You blink a few times, processing. “I…I don’t know anything about you.”
He nods, an anxious aura radiating around him. He leaves you hanging for longer than a few moments, getting you convinced that the conversation is just going to end there.
It doesn’t though, and after a few minutes, he sits up and reaches up to his mask.
It has you sitting up too, like he just pulled out a gun. Your hands fly up instinctually, as though this is completely uncalled for, as if he’s crazy for doing it.
He pauses his movements for a moment, making eye contact with you. His eyes reaffirm his words. He trusts you and he wants you to trust him.
You allow your hands to relax onto your lap and he continues on, taking his mask off.
You’re not revealed to much more of his face than you’d already seen before, but entirely in view like this, he’s a sight. You try not to stare but there’s little reward to removing him from your sight whereas the alternative…
All together like this you can see how his features balance his face out so nicely and make for a warm countenance, if not rough.
He takes a deep breath, setting his mask to the side. “My name is J…” he says with assurance. “Todd,” he tacks on.
You don’t mean to, really, but you’re sure the frown on your face is evident as puzzle pieces start forming and connecting in your mind.
J…Todd…J…Jay…Todd…Jason…Todd…
Your mouth hangs open, “You’re Jason Todd. You’re de—” Well a couple things are starting to add up. “How are you…how are you not—”
He waves that away, tiredly. “It's a long story. Not particularly happy, either.”
Autopsy scar. Fuck.
“I mean, I’ll…” he hesitates, “I’ll tell you if you want me to.”
He says it, but discomfort is painted across his face. You’re quick to shake your head, “It’s okay.”
He nods, likely relieved.
You stand up from your seat, crossing the room to sit down next to him. You’d half-expected him to tense up, but his body relaxes when you lean back against the chair.
You close your eyes before asking, “Who’s Nocturna?”
“She’s just this woman that’s been causing trouble for us.”
You don’t say anything and he continues on, shaking his head. “She’s more annoying than anything.”
You open your eyes, looking over. “Yeah?”
He shrugs, “Just trying to take over the underworld, the usual stuff. Nothing you need to worry about.”
You give a laugh that’s barely more than an exhale, relaxing your body completely..
There’s the slightest lull in activity before he sets his hand down on the floor, right on top of yours. The sounds of your breathing are the only thing that fill the room for a few minutes, save for the occasional car horn.
He glances at the clock on the wall, nearing midnight. “I have to go...” He says reluctantly.
You try not to let the disappointment show through your body language. “Go where?”
He pauses before telling you, “A cemetery.”
You nod vacantly, “Oh. Just for fun, or…?”
He gives a dry laugh, “Just meeting an associate. They’re a bit dramatic, so.”
“Yeah, I’d say.”
“I’ll come back—I’m going to come back,” he mutters against your hairline.
You don’t respond, but you both know he’s good for his promise.
He looks around your apartment for a second before seemingly getting an idea. He pushes himself up off the ground and heads for your kitchen. You watch as he rips a sticky note off the deck on your fridge and scribbles something down on it.
He returns to you, kneeling down and pushing the square of paper into your hand. “Here,” he says, looking you in the eye. “If you need anything. Anything.”
You engulf the note in your palm, nodding sincerely. His eyes flicker across your face, like he’s thinking about something. He hesitates for a moment, turning towards you, away from you, then towards you again. He holds the back of your head tenderly before pressing a sweet kiss to your forehead.
You look at each other up close for a second with nothing short of starry eyes before he turns away and ducks out the window.
You open up your palm and look down at the paper, at the ten digits scrawled across it.
Huh.
Must be official.
🧨 reblog or die (this is a threat) 🧨
#jason todd loves this stranger#jason todd loves his gf#jason todd x y/n#jason todd x you#jason todd/you#jason todd imagine#jason todd/reader#jason todd fanfic#jason todd fanfiction#jason todd x reader#red hood x you#red hood imagine#red hood x reader#red hood fanfic#red hood fanfiction#red hood/reader#red hood/you#dc imagine#dc x reader#dc/you#slow burn
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GENSHIN + HE TALKS YOU THROUGH IT
— ꒰ including ꒱ — diluc, wriothesley, childe, ayato
— ꒰ warnings ꒱ — dirty talk, oral (fem! receiving) rough syx & dom genshin men, petnames used: baby, love, darling, good girl, pussy drunk men, fem! reader ⊹ ‧₊˚ ᰔ
— ꒰ DILUC ꒱
you wince, before feeling diluc's hands caress your frame softly as he urges you towards the bed slightly, "lay down, c’mon hurry for me, i will get on my knees for you," your face burned at his words, your blood boiling extremely hot— regardless, you do not go against your boyfriends instructions and obediently drop on your back, head bouncing against the soft pillows and legs propped up your heels.
diluc follows you right away, settling his hands against your lower stomach, "let me slip these off you," and his voice was pummeling into your blood, sounding raspier than usual, presenting himself teasingly, taunting
how can someone be so sexy, yet also gentleman alike at the very same time?
you always wonder and never find an answer.
his fingers are skillful, yet they are also dangerous, feverishly slipping into the waistband of your wet panties to slide them off you— your pussy bare and exposed now, clenching around nothing as it earns you a disgustingly sinful groan from him.
"there you go, you're so pretty," he breathes and spits on your clit before rubbing the saliva over your puffy folds with his digits, "my pretty girl."
diluc leans into your thighs and places a subtle kiss on your knee, holding a crooked smile— such kiss was certainly concealing something beneath the surface, mingled with aroused ideas of how the next couple of hours will look like.
"you know what to do, right?" he motions, getting on his knees as his dick presses painfully against his tight pants. of course, you know what he's talking about and situate your legs against his shoulders, earning yourself an appreciate hum from the red haired man.
without a word, warm air wafts over your slicked folds and trembling skin as diluc's fingers hold against you gently, the tip of his wet muscle experimentally nudging at the hood of your sensitive clit.
he doesn't falter in his rhythm and gives your cunt a good, fat lap of tongue and saliva before trailing down to your hole.
he noses his way to your clit and presses his mouth against it firmly, your cunt throbbing at the connect of his tongue licking you in shifting patterns, the vehement sounds of saliva and arousal slapping and slapping and splattering all over his tongue had your toes curled, lips parted.
"ooh you taste so good darling, you taste so fucking good, fuck—" he moans, and he sounded so desperate, like he's going to skip the foreplay once and for all and fuck you into the bee until you couldn't walk nor move for weeks.
your legs entwine and shiver on his shoulders, your control over your body lost and slipping from the palms of your hands as murmurs of encouragement hit your sensitive pussy— your fingers splayed possessively into his scarlet hair as you ride his face and cry his name.
"let me make you feel good, it's gonna feel good, promise," diluc mumbles into your cunt as his nose continuously nudges into your puffy clit, his slender fingers probing at your hole when his tongue laps around you.
in between your quivering thighs— everything felt wet, disgustingly sloppy and so hot and you wonder if diluc didn't secretly use his vision on you to get this particular effect from you.
alas, his slacked mouth was meeting your hips, your core stuttering up into his face as you craved, no, needed more friction, needed more of his voice crumbling at the taste of you as your eyes drift over the fluffy clouds of pleasure in your head.
— ꒰ WRIOTHESLEY ꒱
wriothesley looks down on your twisted expression and a sheen line of sweat pillowing on your forehead, "look at me," his face was tilted at the side as you felt his complete weight cover, crush and fold your body in half.
the press and burn of his cock was breaching in and out of you fast, in fact, yes, wriothesley was aware of your strong liking towards his dominating aura in the bedroom, especially when he's looking at you through glazed eyes and his sweat laced chest rising and falling when you clench around him.
he knows it all, and he's been wanting to pleasure you over and over all this time.
"look at me in my eyes," he commands again, forcing you to look at him, yet all you could muster was to part your eyes slightly, an overcast mist of salaciousness prevailing over you.
he shatters, widens and parts your sloppy hole effortlessly, turning you addicted off the strong, thick compress in your pussy that you almost didn't even realize he's managed to coax literal tears from your eyes, pull them out one by one, small crystals sinfully glimmering on your sticky lashes and shouting more more more.
"you're so good, you're so good, my good fucking girl," he drawls proudly and smirks down at you, his voice explosive with thirst and longing, "my good girl, mine, you hear me?" as he assures you and moves his hips with one quick roll of his dripping dick, beginning to fuck into you.
wriothesley knows you deserve it, deserve to be bounced back and forth the bed until you're full of his semen, yes, you do, and you know it.
"you feel me in you? feel me, fucking feel me baby,"
driven by curiosity, you focus your eyes at the man on top of you, swearing there was nothing more handsome than somebody like wriothesley, a highly respected duke, whispering those sweet and filthy profanities into your mouth while his cock thickens within your soft walls, "does that feel good, yeah? i can see it on your face"
"yesyesyes… it does," you whine and squeeze at his words, his cock dragging and pressing and dragging so strongly along your wet walls before he's stuttering in midst a long, languid thrust, his head thrown back and facing up the ceiling— not long after, loading you up of his creamy cum.
— ꒰ CHILDE ꒱
"come on, show me how good i make you feel," childe messily flicks his cock-head over the reactive hood of your clit, poking and tapping at your softness as you moan out his name— making him laugh at you sweetly, although breathless, his chest rising, pupils dilated wide with hunger, gaze luxuriant upon your naked body.
childe knows how to handle you— until your thighs were shaking and hole spread wide as you're soaking him, ruining him and turn the harbingers usual confidence-loaded expression into a shade of something else— something almost frightening.
"you want it? you want my cock, hm?" he fists himself in front of you, pushing in deep through the small tunnel in his palm as you whine out for him in desperation, "yes baby, please, i want to feel you,"
ajax laughs, humming in approval at the choice of words in your answer, "i know you do, baby, there you go then," as he towers proudly against your skin, his handsome face all twisted and menacing on top of you as he inserts the head slowly.
"feel my tip, right there," he continues and groans when your hole flawlessly forms around him, rasping harshly inside his throat, "you're so wet, fuck, ’m gonna slide in really easy, aren't i?"
this is good, this is so fucking good— archons, childe believes he must be in heaven right now.
you're just so warm, so soft and wet, how was he supposed to let alone breathe when you're taking him so well?
he grumbles lowly, starting to press his cock into you as he digs his fingers into your hips before testing the waters, rolling his hips a little faster, then alternating between fast and slow to find the best rhythm for the both of you. afresh— he pulls a long, shaky moan from past your swollen lips when he finds your sore spots, your skin pressing and slapping together in a delirious tempo and pitches of rapture.
"let me take care of you, i got this," you clutch on to him tenderly and nod your head, your spit filthily pooling at your throat as childe tenderly kisses your temple, "don't hurt your sweet, little head over this, leave it to me, yeah? fuck baby, okay...okay, i'm gonna— fuck you're so tight,"
his thrusts turn more impatient and uneven, although the heaviness was still unmatched as your walls were grabbing him, pulling him in deeper, your hips instinctively rutting up into his to feel more and more, just fucking more, "fuck, i'm gonna make you feel so good tonight,"
— ꒰ AYATO ꒱
ayato's cheeks, jaw and eyes were illuminated by the sight of your body pulled underneath his own— and his cock was oozing of clear pre, his hand rubbing over his solid erection until the sticky semen dribbles down the crook of your thigh.
in any remembered previous night, ayato had always been very much into foreplay, well, only if his frustration levels were on the lower side. in terms of now, he cannot be bothered to focus on his train of thoughts when all the blood was stored in his rock-hard cock thudding heavily and hurting him.
it's so painful— but watching your pussy being empty and not full of his cock was even more distressing.
he slaps his tip over your hole before sheathing himself up with you, his eyebrows lasciviously quirked at you, "all the way in, love, i'm going all the way in," he began to pull his bottom lip between his teeth in concentration, your eyes glazed over as he watches you writhe beneath him the moment he inserts himself.
you gasp audibly, your body tensing and nerves freezing at the solid press on your hole before your back instinctively arches into his defined chest.
"oh you feel too damn good, fuck, you're messing with me, aren't you?" his lips drag over your searing cheeks, drinking up your budding tears and the drool slipping from past your lips, lapping it all up with one single lick of tongue.
"you feel me there? right there," you felt his warm hand press against your stomach, an intoxicating combination of bliss and sensitivity rushing through your system as his body was near close to crushing you with his weight.
ayato was fucking ruthless, frustrated and as if it's his last time of being inside of you— no shame, no pauses, only pushing into you weightily, his balls smacking against your ass as you're feeling so satisfied when your pussy quivers around him, holding him close.
"open your legs a lil more for me, c'mon, i know you can do it" he groans and fucks into you with one sharp push and shove, "i wanna fit it all inside," before stretching and driving you towards insanity.
his tone was as focused as his expression and his stance, "you've always done it so good for me," as you squeeze the moment he says it out loud— the moment he reminds you of all the countless of times where he's left you utterly spent and full of his cum, your hole throbbing and letting it ooze out before he fucks it right back into you, turning you breathless.
©2024 anantaru do not repost, copy, translate, modify
#genshin x reader#genshin impact x reader#genshin smut#genshin impact smut#wriothesley x reader#wriothesley smut#childe x reader#childe smut#ayato x reader#ayato smut#diluc x reader#diluc smut#genshin x you#genshin impact x you#genshin drabbles#diluc x you#wriothesley x you#childe x you#ayato x you#genshin impact drabbles
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i am THINKING, i have THOUGHTS....
dude ranch Jason where he goes to be a cowboy for like 6 months in wyoming. is it to heal? is it to run? who is to say
#there are three ranch hands all around his age that he gets lumped in with to work alongside#and they all don't really know what to make of him. he's standoffish and cagey but he always puts in a good days' work#he's mysterious and doesn't say much about family or anything back home. they actually kinda feel sorry for him#meanwhile. back in gotham fucking city. everyone's in a tizzy because word on the street is batman finally hosed the red hood (he did not)#which is a NIGHTMARE because now there's a giant power vacuum in the crime world bc nobody knew HOW DEEP HIS SHIT RAN#the batfamily is tweaking because nobody has actually heard from jason or been able to track his location and it's been a while#the criminals are miserable. the batfamily is miserable.#and the family is looking to bruce. because what did you do.#and jason is looking over the mountain range; so different to gotham; and wondering what it would be like if he never came home
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𝐌𝐀𝐊𝐈𝐍𝐆 𝐎𝐔𝐓 𝐖𝐈𝐓𝐇 𝐓𝐇𝐄𝐌. sakura, ume, kaji, suo.
"ever thought how it would be like to kiss them? here's how they love to do it."
𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐓𝐄𝐍𝐓 𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 : SUGGESTIVE KINDA SPICY, kaji is a mess (i’m in love), ume is a puppy man and he is needy, pls protect sakura, SUO????? SUO.
𝐒𝐀𝐊𝐔𝐑𝐀.
- shy, shy SHY. You gotta guide him through it, babe. But once he gets the hang of it (and once he gets over the embarrassment), expect him to be all over you. - Handsy when he hasn't seen you for the longest time, caressing softly and he pulls you into him so tightly you feel like you'd merge into one being. if he’s pissed, his hands are fiery, all over your body, groping and pulling at your clothes. - please don't kiss him in public. not like he doesn't want to. of course he really does. but he can't take the teasing and the attention it brings. (he also can't prevent himself from blushing, ok? you know how red he gets!)
𝐔𝐌𝐄.
- BIG SMILE KISSER. Your teeth kiss before you both do sometimes. Likes holding you in his arms when he’s kissing you. God. You know those sort of movie kisses where the love interest cups the lead’s cheek so lovingly, so softly like she’s about to break? Whispers sweet nothings to the main lead before leaning in for a perfect kiss? lmao you’re definitely not having that with ume. Sorry. - He’s a goofy kisser, giggles sometimes when you both are into it. Like, he’s just happy to be there, y’know? He whispers how much he loves you, how good you smell, how pretty you are though. who am i kidding? Any kiss is a good movie kiss with ume around. - Just expect him to ask for more than just a kiss after your lips leave his. firing all cylinders too. puppy eyes, all cutesy and stuff. He’s very needy. And I mean NEEDY.
𝐊𝐀𝐉𝐈.
- of course, goes without saying that kissing kaji’s sweet. If he can’t kiss you in public, he gives you his lollipop. You tease him often, twirling your tongue along the candy, puckered lips slowly sucking it in. you know he's staring. you know he's blushing. he hates how he loves it. - Once he gets you alone? GOD. he presses you up against the nearest surface and kisses you feverishly, fingers harshly tugging at the base of your head to control you the way he wants. You yelp and he takes that opportunity to ram his tongue into your mouth, only to have you suck on it like how you did his lollipop. - But when he’s not super pissed or it’s just a lazy day for him, he looooooves lazy make out sessions while listening to music with you. His hand’s on your cheek, pulling you close. Your arms around his neck, pulling him closer until you’re straddling him already. (his go to is deftones btw.) - Kaji’s kisses are fiery and needy one moment, slow and sensual the next. No in between.
𝐒𝐔𝐎.
- likes teasing before he leans in to kiss you. You could just be talking about mundane stuff and he’s looking at you with a hooded eye, gaze flitting from your eyes to your lips and back again. Tongue darting out his lips to wet them only to pull his lower lip slightly between his teeth. He knows how to work you way too well. - He likes it when you kiss him so desperately after he teases you. With how neat and proper he is, you’d expect him to prefer slow and languid kisses. au contraire, he likes it MESSY. Tongues battling for dominance, hands yanking and threading through hair, him biting your lip when he pulls away, whispered dirty talks. - it's crazy how he pulls away from you and he looks so neat and tidy while your hair's frazzled.
a/n: ok another one before i head to bed. goodness i really do have to fix my body clock soon lmao goodnight sweetpeas~
#wind breaker#windbreaker#nii satoru#satoru nii#windbreaker x reader#suo hayato#hayato suo#hayato suo x reader#suo hayato x reader#windbreaker headcanons#wind breaker headcanons#kaji ren#ren kaji#kaji ren x reader#kaji ren x you#ren kaji x reader#umemiya hajime x reader#hajime umemiya x reader#umemiya x reader#sakura haruka#haruka sakura#umemiya hajime#hajime umemiya#umemiya fluff#sakura haruka x reader#haruka sakura x reader#bibi yaps
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Jason todd who...
Who calls your office with a dying voice, sneezing and whining about how he's sick but can "try" to be fine alone at home. Your boss dismisses you because Jason's voice certainly sounds like someone who needs to be hospitalized.
So when you get home, Jason is comfortably lying on the bed in the shared room, reading one of his favorite books.
"Jay!" You say, running over to him and placing your hand on his forehead. He's at his normal temperature, not even at his normal temperature, the well changed things that should be normal for a human being. The thing is… your boyfriend is a normal color, tanned even, his eyes bright blue, his nose without any sign of redness. You've seen Jason sick, and he doesn't look like this at all.
"Jason?"
"Baby, hi," he says, having the audacity to fake a cough.
"Are you sick?"
When he opens his mouth, you can see the hint of a smile and you know what kind of illness he's going to say he's suffering from.
"Don't you dare say that."
He lets out a hoarse, loud laugh that hits right at your heart and gets in the way of your mission to stay angry. His large hands abandon the book and hold your waist, as he buries his face in your stomach, lightly lifting the hem of your shirt. blouse, his breath against your skin doesn't help your mission to stay irritated either.
"Sorry, honey. But it's not a crime to pretend to be sick, is it?" He says, a smile on his face that makes him look younger, even like a naughty boy who did something hidden from his parents. It makes him adorable, it softens his scars and makes his blue eyes sparkle. "What are you going to do? Call Red Hood to punish me?
It's a hard task to stay mad at your boyfriend.
"Jason Todd…" You start, but you can feel the smile appearing on the corner of your lips. Because months ago Jason would never do this, would never have the stupid courage to do whatever it took to stay by your side. And he looks so ridiculously happy with his ideia that it makes you equally happy, Jason looks alive when he smiles like that, his dimples appearing and you use all your strength not to kiss him.
He pulls you to the bed, curling up against you as if he physically depended on it, peppering kisses on your face.
"I got a break from Gotham today and I needed my favorite person by my side."
You let out a moan, he knows very well how to make you break. Adorable idiot with puppy dog eyes. You let him wrap you in his arms, letting out a sigh of relief. giving up. It was too good to be hugged and kissed by Jason to be mad.
"When you're on Patrol, I'll call and say the house is on fire."
"I'll come running right away."
It was good to be loved.
I have a lot of drafts about Jason Todd lol, finally having the courage to post. I'm opening a box if you want to make requests, I just love Jason Todd so much
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The Little Eldritch Creature
DCxDP Drabbles/Scribbles
Part 1(? Still undecided)
Danny had a lot to say.
Especially to Clockwork.
How dare he send him to another dimension without him knowing?! Especially when all Clockwork had said to him before being thrown into a portal is;
"Good Luck, Daniel."
Good luck? GOOD LUCK TO WHAT!?
Oh, once Danny comes home he will give that old man a saying to. And bit him. Yes! he'll bite his clocks! Let's see how he likes it!!
It's bad enough that he was thrown into a natural portal, but being reduced to a small thing at the size of a squirrel!?!?
He can't even do anything in this form!
Sure, he can use his powers but only to an extent. The only thing Danny could do was being intangible, invisibility and flying/floating.
Disgrace! He was supposed to be a king! A powerful being! He can't be reduced to small adorable thing!
Danny punched the ground in distress, already feeling the tears coming up in his eyes in distress.
Another thing he had noticed. Not only he was in a form of little creature, it seemed his mind and body is of a baby, a child!
He is FOURTEEN! almost fifteen! He can't act this way!
Danny let out a wail, punching the concrete floor in pure distress and helplessness. He wants to bite Clockwork! He wants to be mad at him and get him home! Everything is so big! He doesn't want to be small! He feels helpless! And weak! No! He wants to go home!
He wants to go home and see Jazz!
He misses Jazz...
°•°•°•°•°•°•°
"WWAAAAAAHHHHHH!!!!!!"
Red Hood pauses in his step once he hears a...very squeaky wail?
But it also made his pit rage react.
What the?
"Hood. Come in."
"Yeah. What is it, Oracle?" Red Hood signed in as he jumped over a rooftop, heading towards the wail.
"The satalites detected something in your area. Just about a few blocks ahead of you. It causes a static in the frequency."
Welp. There goes his answers.
"I'm already on it. There was some kind of Wail in my direction. Already checking it out."
"Hood, Wait for back up." Oh great.
"I'm already here." Hood scoffed at B as he landed down in front of the alley way.
"Hoo...?" Static came in the comms, making Hood furrowed his eyebrows. Whatever this is, it's effecting his comms.
Hood knew something was wrong once he stepped in the alleyway. The pits suddenly felt weird. Not the bad weird but weird notheless.
Worried. Go. Now!
Hood groaned. Alright. He had an urge to shoot someone.
The more Hood stepped in the alley way, the more he could hear something. A small sound, like a whine? A squeaky whine in the edge of this block.
Hood froze once he saw a familiar green by the end of the dumpster. Oh fuck.
So that's why the pit rage is reacting.
Fuck.
Grabbing his gun from the holster, he slowly walked towards the dumpster. He looked over and....
What is that?
It's small, smaller than Alfred the cat. White hair and ..is that a green tail?
Okay, whatever it was, it's glowing.
And shaking.
And crying.
Why is it crying?
The pits instantly reacted. Bubbling in his stomach like boiling. But Hood knew he wasn't angry.
It felt like it was concern?
But for what?
What is this thing-?
And it's looking at him.
Hood felt himself freeze at the Lazarus green eyes. Big and wide Lazarus green eyes. And fuck are those tears??
Hood doesn't know what to do.
Chirp!
It chirp.
Fuck that was adorable.
Focus, Hood! This is not the time to think such thoughts. He needs to comm the others. Comm B and--
Wait why is moving!?
HOLY SHIT--
CHIRP!!
•°•°•°•°•°
This guy reaks of ectoplasm.
No. This ecto is not good. This ecto is dangerous.
He needs help.
(I am thinking whether or not this needs a part 2 so don't be disappointed if there isn't that means no tagging)
(Edit: it has part 2)
#dc x dp#dc x dp prompt#dc x dp recs#dcxdp#dp x dc crossover#dpxdc#fic recs#dpxdc fic recs#eldritch danny#fic finder#baby danny#little eldritch danny
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Writing Prompt #13
"So?" Red Hood asks, arms crossed. "Was I right?"
"Yes," Phantom says, deepening his voice, "this is one of mine."
"One of your what?" Robin growls. Nightwing's hand on his shoulder is the only thing keeping him from invading Phantom's personal space, which, please, continue to do so Mr. Nightwing, Sir.
Phantom would take a deep calming breath if a) he wasn't trying to appear as otherworldly as possible which means no human breathing and b) if that wouldn't so obviously telegraph how uncomfortable he is in the Batcave surrounded by the entire Batfamily.
Next to him Red Hood shifts in slight discomfort. His ties to the spectral realm mean he's picking up on Danny's unease even if he can't fully translate the feeling. Which is good. Danny needs to maintain what little control he has over this situation.
"There's a gh-spirit in my...realm," Phantom says, letting himself drift gently to the other side of Batman's medical table which just coincidentally puts more distance between him and the the rest of the clan staring him down. Black Bat leans forward and he violently suppresses a flinch. "They're known as Nocturne. They wield power over dreams. Their signature is all over this."
And Danny means that literally. Their ecto-signature couldn't be more apparent if they'd written it in sharpie across Batman's suit. This is what Jason—Red Hood, because Danny couldn't have been dealing with a simple civilian case of ecto-contamination, nooo, he's got to have connections to the superheroes Danny has spent the better part of his afterlife avoiding—managed to pick up on, even being the low level entity that he is.
At which point he'd called Phantom in, even though Danny had spent the better part of two weeks trying to intimidate the guy into never contacting him, Ruler of the Spirit Realm (lightning crash!), again, but here is his calling card just in case (thunder and creaking noises!!), but again, you should never use it unless things are very serious, OoOoOoOo~~~
Damn it. It's been like 10 days.
"So how do we fix it, Your, uh, Ghostliness?" Nightwing says, ducking his head in a sort of half-assed supplication when Phantom turns to him. Nightwing glances at Jason for affirmation who shrugs out of the corner of Danny's eye.
"Phantom is fine," Danny says, waving his hand and letting his upper lip curl in an expression of distaste. "Remember, it's like you're Vlad when Dad offers him a glass of eight dollar wine!" Jazz's voice reminds him. Robin growls lowly, likely meaning he's nailing it. He looks away dismissively ("Honestly, it's like you're Vlad, anytime, ever." Sam notes dryly) and thanks god he doesn't have a heart in this form because it would be beating so loud right now.
Beside him, Jason scratches compulsively at the back of his neck. Huh, his anxiety is manifesting physically as an itch. Good to know.
"You can't fix it," Phantom says. "I can."
"At what cost?" Red Robin asks. "Red Hood mentioned you'd want something in return?"
Frick. His other contingency to keep Jason from ever contacting him again. Phantom had lightly hinted his taste du jour was, uh, souls.
Something Red Hood has apparently let slip, because now Robin shakes off Nightwing's hand, puffs out his chest and declares "I will trade myself for my father's safe awakening, Spirit!"
The other members burst into denials which almost covers up Danny floating sharply back and saying "What? No!!!"
Key word: almost.
Danny coughs as they stare at him.
"That is to say, I have no desire for a child," he puts a bit of snarl into it, showing fang. The mood in the room plummets drastically as Nightwing gently grabs Robin by the arm and pulls him back to his side.
"We see," he says. He steps forward more assertively, placing himself in front of the others, all of which are now eying him warily. "Then, is there a gender you prefer?"
It takes a second to click in Danny's head and then he swings his head wildly away from his audience to hide his reaction, nausea and embarrassment turning his face bright green. "Fika Kristo," he mutters in Esperanto as quietly as he possibly can, pinching the bridge of his nose.
He gives himself a moment to settle and game plan before turning back around. "I have no desire for any of you, and it matters not. In this instance, a deal need not be struck. Nocturne is my subject, and they have done this without my permission." Danny blinks, eyes widening. "Not—not! that I would give them permission to do such a thing. In the first place. Ahem."
"Okay...so you'll do this for free?" Jason asks. "Seems like a bad business practice since you also fixed me up for nothing—"
"What he means to say, Your Majesty, Phantom, is thank you!" Signal says in a rush as Nightwing starts, "Wait, Hood, what do you mean—"
"Enough!" Phantom says loudly (nearby bats take off and Jason's itch migrates to his forearms) "I have little time," read: he has a test tomorrow and he's only one-third of the way through the study guide "And I grow tired of this...dilly-dally." Frick! Is that an old-timey word?
"Of course. Thank you again, Phantom." Nightwing says stiffly, eyes still narrowed in Hood's direction.
"Wait, sorry, Phantom, Majesty, I'm Spoiler by the way," the purple-caped vigilante Danny already knew was Spoiler says. "How do we keep this from happening again? To any of us? Is there a way to defeat this Nocturne?"
"Moreover, why Batman?" Red Robin asks. "Why would a spirit from another dimension want him asleep?"
Phantom sighs. "Nocturne was trying to send a message. To me. Through you," he says, nodding at Red Hood. "They...how do I put this. They like attention. Being the spirit of uh, dreaming, they don't receive that attention. And you were in my realms for quite some time. And they wanted...attention."
The lackluster explanation sits for a moment before "They were jealous? Of me?" Red Hood asks skeptically.
"It's more complicated than that. Your...physiology," Danny puts it as delicately as possible, watching regretfully when Red Hood still stiffens at the mention, "Is particular. You gather attention in our realm. And having my attention is...special. But not!" He says to the group at large, a touch panicked, "Romantic!"
Jesus, he's never gonna hear the end of this from the others.
"Anyway, I will ensure it does not happen again."
"By paying them attention," Spoiler says under her breath, wiggling her eyebrows at Black Bat, Red Robin shooting them both a glare. Nightwing ignores them in favor of staring at Red Hood and Phantom. Danny is unsure what Red Hood has disclosed about how he knows Danny, but now he feels confident the answer is close to nothing.
Before Nightwing can ask whatever uncomfortable thing he's about to ask, Phantom disappears. Invisibly, he hovers over Batman's sleeping body and silently apologizes for the intrusion before intangibly slipping into Batman's REM realm and finding the man...oh...
Probably thirty minutes later he reappears to the group, who all perk up at the sight of him. Their eyes bounce from him to Batman; who does not move, to the monitor; which shows no change in his brain activity.
"I'm going to need your help," Danny says to Jason, getting to the point.
"Why? What can I do?"
"It's easier if you come with me," Danny says, grabbing his arm.
"Come with—"
Danny wastes no time in turning them both invisible and flying them into Batman's mind.
"What the—" Red Hood twists and turns, taking in the hallways of the manor. From afar, they can hear the tinkling of a piano. "You, I had your word—"
"This isn't where you think it is," Danny says hurriedly. "We're in your—Batman's dream." He walks quickly down the hallway, towards the music. Jason follows.
"What?"
"The way to break a dream spell is to wake the dreamer. You can't do that externally so you do it internally. Usually you wake the dreamer by turning the dream into the nightmare, scaring them awake."
The hallway stretches on longer than realistic, the dream attempting to divert them. But it can't outrun Danny. His power seeps into the halls, ice creeping along the paneling and freezing the way behind them.
"Batman, however, is hard to scare."
"So you want me to do it."
"What? No." Phantom shoots him a confused look. "Why would I—Ahem, The other way is to convince the dreamer they are dreaming. They break the dream themselves."
"Alright..." Jason says slowly, now keeping pace with him. His breath forms a cloud as he speaks. "And you think I'm the person to do it? I'm not the one he listens to you know, that's more Nightwing's schtick, or hell, anyone other than me."
"This isn't just Batman's dream, Jason," he says. Hood's eyes narrow at his real name, but now the truth is necessary. "This is The Dream. The perfect life. Everything he could ever want."
They're approaching an opening on the right side of the corridor. A bright light emanates from it, alongside the noise of stumbling piano keys and laughter, deep and male and unrecognizable. The Dream.
"Thomas Wayne," Jason breathes. "You want me to convince Bruce it's worth walking away from the center of his universe? It'd be easier if I put a bullet in their chests."
Danny stops abruptly before the doorway, turning to face Jason.
"You know, I fixed you," he says, head cocked. "Those feelings you felt, you shouldn't be feeling them anymore."
"I...I don't."
"Then why do you act like it?" He lets himself drift up, reaching beyond their planes of existence and extending a metaphysical hand to Jason's spirit. It shivers away. "You don't have to hide behind what was."
"I'm not hiding! And I don't have to explain myself to you!" He tries to move forward but Danny puts a hand out and he cannot move past it. He growls in frustration.
"I'm grateful to you, but with or without the Pits I'm fucked up. This is just who I am. This is just what he made me."
"You've never asked why I look like this. But did you know my form is malleable?" Phantom says, letting his legs shift into a tail, letting two eyes become three. "What I believe is what I am."
And then he takes several steps back, putting the doorway between them. "From here on out, the Pits can't tell you how to think or feel. Your decisions are wholly your own. Starting with this one."
Jason stares at the doorway, then Danny.
"I won't make you," Danny says simply. "And if you desire, I will retrieve Nightwing instead."
Jason scratches at his arms, grits his teeth, and stomps through. The light resolves into the sitting room, massive windows letting in sunlight so bright it streaks yellow-white across the room. Bruce sits on the maroon versailles couch next to Cassandra, who sits cross legged, excitedly watching Alfred pour her a cup of tea. To their right, in the open space, Damian barks instructions at Tim on handling a katana. Stephanie and Duke sit on the ground besides the coffee table, homework sheets sprawled across the surface, suffering their way through a calculus problem.
Bruce, smiling softly, looks across the room to where the atrocious playing is coming from. Red Hood follows his gaze.
Sitting at the piano, trying to play while Dick distracts him with a pair of chopsticks, is Jason. He puts a hand on Dick's face and shoves, both of them hitting the wrong keys.
"Get—away—dumbass!"
"No, see, it's a duet! Jay!"
"That's not why it's named—" and Jason Todd-Wayne tips his white-tipped head back and laughs.
#batman#danny phantom#dp x dc#dp x dc au#dp x dc prompt#dp x dc crossover#jason todd#red hood#batfam#nightwing#danny is not aware of the complex family dynamics that make up the Batfam and it is costing him dearly#danny: boy you got issues huh#also danny: not my circus not my monkeys#as always anyone is open to build on these#for instance: does bruce know he's in his perfect dream?
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Tim, who is not Robin, but still feral
Okay, let's say Tim's parents decide that even if their child doesn't need a nanny, they want someone to check on their son's well-being. So Tim is required to go to the doctor once a week. And after he tried to bribe his first one to just tell his parents everything was fine. Janette decided it would be someone else each time.
Tim gets a car once a week that picks him up to see a doctor he doesn't know.
That way he doesn't have time to search for dirt, and he can't bribe anyone, since everyone drinks his mother more than him.
So after Nightwing turned Tim down (Dick later claimed the boy was black-haired and blue-eyed, but since he was often hallucinating Jason at the time, even he wasn't sure). The guy realized he couldn't go to Batman and insist on being Robin. The first fracture (which is 100% likely to happen in the early days of jumping on roofs and kicking angry adults) and the doctor would hand him over to his parents.
So Tim came up with a Plan.
Batman was angry, for a month now someone, every patrol, has been standing up for criminals. If he's lucky, he manages to land 5 hits (dude, your 1 hit can put a person in the hospital, Tim just has short legs, he still needs to run to the edge of the necessary roof) when someone distracts him.
Last time, they poured a bucket of paint on his head, it became almost impossible to see through the mask. Another time, they shot paintballs at his head until he left.
There was another memorable incident when something small landed on his head, and the next moment he was attacked by bats.
But today he finally cornered the attacker, it was a child whose face was hidden behind a mask that completely covered his face, and his hair was hidden behind a hood. He slowly approached the boy, he needed to find out who he worked for. Who decided that they had the right to interfere with him punishing criminals.
Only when Batman grabbed the attacker by the shoulder he felt dizzy and then everything around him went dark. Tim quietly patted himself on the head for the backup plan of the backup plan.
After waking up, Batman did not feel calmer, on the contrary, this meeting ignited even more rage in him.
How dare this child run around Gotham so carefree when his son was killed, how dare he protect criminals when one of them killed his son, how dare he..
That day, a file on a new criminal with high priority appeared on the Batcomputer, Alfred only reproachfully pursed his lips.
By the time Red Hood escaped from Talia (Yes, he escaped here, I don't know for sure, but I think Talia was pitting Jason against Tim to ensure her son had direct access to Bruce's legacy). Batman and Tim's confrontations became legendary.
Tim even had his own name and merchandise! Several names, actually, he was called Gotham's Whisperer, the Soul of Shadow, or Little Shadow. And in various Gotham stores you could find little figurines of him with various weapons that he demonstrated during this time.
Nightwing adored the little guy, although he had never met him in person. In fact, no one except Bruce had ever encountered the kid. And although Oracle never officially supported the boy, she never warned Batman if she saw a small dark silhouette through the cameras. Although Dick really wanted to know where the kid got the sniper rifle with tranquilizers, or how he hacked the Batmobile to put a sleeping Bruce in it and send him to the Cave, or how he got so many incriminating photos of Batman that he scattered all over the city when Batman didn't take one of his threats seriously.
Simply put, Nightwing was a fan, and had wanted the kid's autograph ever since the kid evacuated an entire alley, including Bruce, by playing the sound of a pack of rabid dogs approaching.
Batman, though he had passed the peak of his rage, still made Gotham afraid if he was spotted trolling alone.
Red Hood was furious, not only did his father not have the courage to avenge him, but he also dared to splash out his aggression on anyone who was not breathing smoothly on HIS Alley of Crime.
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