#there needs to be more Stray!Danny in my life

[bloggerspam]

And here it is!!! the finale :D

Sorry if me switching back to my main blog is confusing. I did a poll, and it looks like ya'll want me to continue using my main blog, and then reblog onto my sideblog instead of the other way around. It was trial and error figuring that out, lemme tell ya, but this is the way it's going to be now!

Thanks for sticking with me through this transitional phase of me trying to figure out the best way to do the sideblog thing. I'll reblog/update masterlist tomorrow morning :)

Now onto the finale! @aug-kissed

Week 4: First Kiss

===

When Danny arrives home, shoulders a little slumped from how he was essentially booted out by Lucius for clocking in too many hours, his apartment is dark and the only source of light is the lone window in the living room. 

It’s an open space plan, the flickering streetlights below provide very little visibility, but Danny ignores it. He doesn’t need more to see, what with his powers and all, and he’s too tired and grumpy to do anything about it anyway.

He really wanted to get this particular part done, for the new wheelchair modifications he’s been working on, but Lucius just couldn’t wait 5 more minutes. 

“It’ll be there next week, Nightingale.” Lucius had said to him as he tossed Danny’s bag at his face. “Besides, you’ve been saying five more minutes for an hour. It’s late. Go home.” 

Danny huffs, thinking about how he was veritably dragged and pushed out. Lucius had shoved Danny’s jacket into his arms in a way that effectively had him wrapped up, and he was deposited into a company paid taxi with an expertise the older man no doubt got from handling Bats. 

Putting aside the humiliation of being treated as one of those nosy vigilantes, Danny’s more miffed at the fact that he’s going to be thinking about that unfinished part all weekend now.

Maybe Tuck will have a new target for him? Or he could visit Sam and Val, go to the shooting range or something. Maybe visit Jazz and Ellie—a smile curves into his cheeks, or maybe he could see a certain pretty birdy…

He thinks about his options for distraction as he puts away his things. Shoes off, bag and jacket on the hook, keys in the tray. Just like Jazz taught him. 

He’s about to wander into the kitchen, see if there are any leftovers, when he notices it: an american robin, perched just outside his window on the fire escape rail.

There’s something…Other about it, the plumage of the little bird is more distinct in color: the red of its belly a little more red, brighter, as opposed to the usual orange its kind usually sports. The gray parts of it, around its head and wings, are darker, blacker. Its eyes give it away: they glow a little yellow, almost a trick of the light, like they’re simply reflecting the streetlights.

But Danny knows Other, so he approaches the little bird with a probably ill-advised sort of confidence and curiosity. Can curiosity still kill you if you’re already dead most of the way? But it's a moot point regardless: he’s a Cat, and he has a soft spot for Robins. 

He opens the window to step out with a grace he’s still surprised with, even after all these years. Sometimes he still feels like that 14 year old boy, stumbling his way through halfa-dom and vigilantism. Look at him now, a cat through and through. Thank the Gods for Selina Kyle.

He reaches out towards the bird as it tilts its head, but before he can make contact it flutters away towards a rooftop two buildings away, perching itself delicately upon a dainty finger. Following the hand he spots a woman standing there, looking away and smiling as she tucks her hair back against the wind. She’s familiar, but it still takes him a moment before the memory comes back. She looks very different, after all, when she’s not tied up and crying her eyes out.

Anastasia’s eyes glow yellow now, just for a moment, and then a black and white cat steps into existence beside her on the ledge. It rubs up on her as it passes to sit primly next to the hand holding the illusionary Robin, one eye green as emeralds and the other a watery ocean blue. 

The Cat and Robin nuzzle, which makes Danny smile. The meta woman vanishes the two, and even from far away Danny can see her smile, the way she mouths thank you as she twirls a finger to subtitle it with glowing white text in the air. A neat little trick that makes Danny chuckle. 

She hasn’t looked his way once, no doubt given strict instructions from the mastermind of all this. She points down, once, twice, before turning away with a wave over her shoulder, disappearing into the night just like her lovely illusions. 

Danny looks down, his smile growing as he spots a little business card taped to his balcony railing. One side has a time and a place embossed into it, just like the one Stray left. 

And just like the one Stray left, when Danny flips it over there’s a bright red kiss mark on it. 

He remembers sticking around, intangible and invisible, and feeling butterflies running havoc in his stomach as he watched Red Robin kiss his mark. It made him reach out, caress the vigilante, just a little, before snatching his hand back. Red Robin probably already suspected Danny’s not a normal human, but there was no need to be obvious about it—a true moment of weakness had overcome him. 

Danny knows the vigilante is watching him from somewhere, so he presses his barely contained smile against the mark, eyes closed and savoring, hoping Tim feels even a fraction of those butterflies Danny felt all those nights ago.

At least he has a plan for the weekend now, and something new to occupy his mind until then. 

===

The Gotham Museum was relatively empty for a sunny Sunday afternoon. 

The locals must be taking advantage of the rare nice weather to head to the various parks instead. Not that Danny was complaining in the least. The lack of crowds was nice, and meant that Danny found a free bench to sit and wait at fairly easily. 

The Museum has been hosting a special exhibit for the past couple weeks, a Halloween Special for the month of October. A whole slew of historical artifacts that were deeply entrenched in mysteries of the past, remnants of serial killers that never got caught, paintings and art based on spiritualism—on the occult and macabre. 

It seems like a bad idea, bringing that kind of juju into Gotham, but so far nothing bad has come of it. The people of Gotham have mostly just enjoyed the novelty of it, especially since it’s in line with the season. Danny himself has lightly scouted it before, to see if anything was worth stealing (there wasn’t). But he didn’t get to truly enjoy it, and hasn’t really had the time to revisit it in the light of day.

There’s something so very sweet of Tim to take Danny here for their first date, and hilarious considering what type things Stray as stolen. A spooky museum date may seem like in bad taste, but Danny lives for it. Tim must have done his research, which Danny appreciates. He’s always enjoyed how intensely curious the other man is, how thorough he is when he dissects his cases as Red Robin, how every corner is inspected in his work as co-CEO of WE.

It makes Danny shiver, thinking about that focus on him. Danny likes being a mystery, and he likes that Tim would like to pick him apart down to his minutiae. It’s thrilling. 

A breeze blows by, causing Danny to adjust himself lest he have an incident. He’s opted for a dressy kind of casual today, with a long sleeved button up shirt, midnight blue with gold constellation patterns littered about it. It’s tucked into a high waisted dark brown pleated skirt that goes down to his ankles, with a thick leather belt that has a gold buckle. He’s chosen to wear black tights underneath, in accordance to the weather despite the fact that he doesn’t really feel the cold anymore, with chunky platform boots. 

He accessorized the entire outfit with a variety of gold chains, because Danny can’t resist a good theme. He has them around his neck where the ring of rage and crown and fire hang in shrunken form, on his wrist in a delicate bracelet, from the top of his ear to the lobe of it—connecting the cuff and dangly star earrings he’s put in. Even his bag, an over the shoulder number that’s shaped like a midnight blue and gold star, has a thick gold chain strap. He’s even done a little make up: mascara and a light concealer, with of course a bright bright red lip. 

He’s unexpectedly nervous, but before he can really truly spiral a shadow dips into his periphery. 

Danny has seen Timothy Drake-Wayne at galas before, many times even, whenever he’s dragged to one with Sam. The co-CEO has always looked so sharp, clean cut, like the very tip of a freshly cut diamond gem. It’s always long crisp lines and white picket fence smiles, genial and open, an American Dream. 

But here, in the autumn sun and October breeze, it’s just Tim who has come for him.  

A sweet boy with a sweet smile, a gleam to his eye that spells trouble—charming in how dorky and boyish he is. He’s wearing an MIT sweater over a forest green button down, the collar of it just as crisp as his gala suits but softened with his slightly messy hair. He’s got on some clearly ironed khaki shorts and tall white socks with a green accent on them, with some white sneakers to go with the whole fit. It’s simple, but clean. 

He looks like any other college student, just a little dressed up, if Danny didn’t know his shoes were $600 Alexander McQueen leather sneakers and that the watch he’s wearing cost more than his rent. Not to mention that he knows for a fact that Timothy Drake-Wayne is a high school dropout. It’s a subtle kind of rich, and a funny little joke besides—did the other man buy that sweater because MIT is Tim backwards? Though Danny does appreciate the bright yellow UNIQLO shoulder bag, it’s a bright little spot of color that makes him smile. It’s even nicer that Tim smiles back at him. 

“Hello, Pretty Kitty.” Tim’s voice is light, and he has this look about him that reminds Danny of a puppy waiting to be praised. Danny isn’t fooled by the I’m just a Guy demeanor—he can see the way his eyes dart this way and that, surveilling their surroundings. The way he eyes Danny head to toe with an appreciation, a hunger—it makes him shiver, the way Tim’s eyes eventually fixate on his lips. Old money nepo baby or not, there’s no doubt the vigilante is always hidden under the surface—a sleeping bird of prey. 

Tim offers him a hand up, which he takes, and is delighted to note that with his boots he’s an inch or two taller. He also notices, with the way other man’s eyes go a little half-lidded, that Tim seems to be equally delighted about it too. Danny flips their clasped hands so that his own is cupping Tim’s, and brings it to his lips to kiss lightly on the back of it, keeping eye contact the entire time just so he can see the other man’s eyes dilate in pleasure. 

Danny’s heart flutters. “Hello, Handsome Bird.” 

===

The date is good—no, the date is phenomenal. 

It’s fun going around the museum with Tim, making fun of the more absurd artifacts, sharing anecdotes of their strange night lives and even more bizarre day lives. 

Neither of them are delusional—Danny knows Tim did extensive research on him, on his history and clearly doctored life, just as he knows that Tim knows Danny did the same.

Tim didn’t have to keep making little allusions to Danny’s previous life, but the throwaway comment about it not being the first time Tim has taken down an organization was appreciated. And hot. 

He might take him up on that, though with how incompetent the GIW are it’s hardly necessary. Val seems to be having fun running circles around them back home anyway. Though Jazz might like not having that worry on her plate, no matter how small of a worry it was. 

Danny gives as good as he gets, taking Tim by the hand to drag him close, whispering in his ear and making little comments referencing Tim’s other life, his siblings, making little jokes about dads and their interesting hobbies. A fursona is mentioned, once or twice, just to make Tim laugh at the little hypocrisy.

Danny is not going to lie, especially not to himself: he was scared when he decided to take the leap. It was a gamble, actually doing something with the tension between Stray and Red Robin. There was no guarantee that Tim would have accepted Danny in all his weird, half ghost bullshit. 

But when Red Robin had cornered him that night, about his M.O., about why Stray stole the things he did, well. It led to Tucker doing a deep dive. It led to Sam sharing her suspicions about a certain Crime Fighting Furry from when she was forced to all those galas as a kid. It led to Danny connecting dots about one, if not both, of his indirect bosses. It led to the conclusion that eventually, something was going to give. 

Because Red Robin was relentless, and knowing that the vigilante and Timothy Drake Wayne were one and the same? They would be fools not to see that the end was nigh. 

So he took the chance, and Gods, is he happy he did. 

“There’s a diner just around the corner,” Tim is saying, gesturing with his free hand as he guides Danny outside the Museum with the other hand gently braced against his lower back, “One of the chefs is Indian, so even though most of the menu is American, they’ve got some tasty fusions going on for the more adventurous sort.”

Danny can’t help but smile at Tim’s enthusiasm, a little surprised that he even knows Danny likes Indian food. It’s a little above and beyond, some might even say too far, but considering who they are and what they do? It’s sweet that Tim would look into the littlest things for their date. 

The walk to the diner is short and pleasant, if a little cold. It gives Danny the excuse to snuggle up to Tim and watch a little blush light up on ears and neck, which charms Danny to no end. 

When they’re seated at a booth, Danny decides to slide in next to Tim, instead of across. That seems to throw Tim off a bit, by the way his face scrunches up cutely. Danny bypasses it by simply lifting the other man’s left arm to fit himself snugly against him, which quickly cuts off anything Tim might have said about it as he pulls Danny just that little bit closer.

Tim orders a chicken fried curry and grits, and Danny orders a burger with an order of garam masala spiced onion rings. Danny takes particular joy in feeding Tim one, as well as insisting on two straws for his Chai Milkshake.

It’s surprisingly good, and exceedingly cute how shy Tim is, considering how touchy they’ve been with each other. 

Danny is practically sitting in his lap, and Tim keeps fiddling with Danny’s hair, the nape of his neck, running his fingers down Danny’s side causing little shivers. It's frankly impressive how Tim manages to eat curry with one hand and pet at Danny with his left simultaneously, all while holding a conversation with Danny. 

Danny settles back onto Tim’s shoulder when they’re done and waiting for dessert (a slice of mango lassi pie for him, a slice of coconut cream pie for Tim). They’re talking lowly now, making abstract references to their night lives, when Danny notices a fading mark just below Tim’s collar. 

He twists slightly, still leaning on Tim, hooking his finger into the vigilante’s collar and tugging a little before gently pressing a finger against this. 

“It hasn’t faded yet?” Danny whispers, because it’s his mark, he knows it, recognizes it now. 

“Thankfully not,” Tim grasps Danny’s probing hand into his, smiling softly. “Haven’t stopped thinking about you since I got them. I only wish…”

“Wish what?” Danny hums as Tim trails off, transfixed by the way Tim has brought his hand up to nuzzle against it, the corner of Tim’s lips tracing a long line down from the tips of his fingers to the sensitive inside of his wrist. 

“Wish I did the same—left you a gift to remember me by, I mean.” Those dark blue eyes, like royal blue sapphire, never stray from Danny’s, almost hypnotizing him. 

“That’s an easy fix, isn’t it?” Danny breathes out, zeroing in on how Tim’s lips are pressed against his wrist now, not quite kissing, before they open just slightly. He can feel Tim’s breath, warm and soft, as he smirks and slowly latches on. 

It should be awkward, watching a man suck a hickey into your wrist. It isn’t—it’s so hot Danny can barely even stand it, and is about to do something about it.

That is, until the waitress comes by with their dessert. Danny blinks, and suddenly Tim is all charming smiles and hands in laps, thanking the waitress and cheekily smirking at him as he brings up a spoonful of pie to feed Danny.

Danny takes his revenge by eating the pie as sinfully as he can. 

If the way Tim keeps eying him like a hawk and insisting to feed Danny himself is anything to go by, he succeeds. 

It’s a hollow victory, however, if you consider the way Danny’s face doesn’t seem to cool down the entire rest of the date, especially whenever he catches sight of the hickey on his wrist.

He’ll call it a draw.

===

Danny lifts a hand to cradle Tim’s cheek, gentle as he can manage, keeping his fingertips away in habit despite the lack of gloves and claw. Tim brings his own hand up to cup Danny’s hand as he nuzzles into the palm of it. Danny’s heart is loud enough he’s afraid the whole building will come down, even more so when Tim turns into Danny’s palm, lifting it slightly to kiss the hickey he left there at dinner, lingering and never taking his eyes away from Danny’s. 

“Can I kiss you?” Danny’s voice is barely a whisper but it feels like it echoes through the empty hallway. Tim grins at him, a little bashful and cheeky at the same time, no doubt remembering the last time this question came up between them. 

“Handsome guy like you? I’d be a fool not to let you.” Danny grins back at Tim’s response, feeling his eyes blink green briefly, flashing a little fang and catching the way Tim’s eyes dilate just that bit more. He slides his other hand up, hooking his arms around Tim’s neck to bring him a little closer. 

“You are hardly a fool, Tim Drake-Wayne.” They both lean in, hard to say who does it first, and Danny finally, finally gets to taste that smirk Red Robin loves to flash when he thinks he’s won. 

It tastes sweet, the sweetest thing Danny’s ever tasted. 

They savor each other, before Danny gets a little impatient, kitten licking at the seam of Tim’s lips. The other man grants him access easily, and that—that tastes even better. 

They quickly get lost in each other, in the feel of each other. Danny distantly recognizes that he’s been pushed up against his front door, that Tim’s hand is sliding from his upper back down, slowly, leaving a burning trail of heat behind. He feels that hand push against his lower back, bringing him closer, and Danny’s okay with that, more than okay even—

And then suddenly the pressure of the door behind him is gone, and he’s being walked backwards. Danny blinks out of the haze of wet and heat, tilting his head up and panting as Tim licks at the sweat on his neck, realizing that Tim has lockpicked his way through Danny’s front door. One-handed. 

“Why the fuck is that so hot—” Danny groans as Tim bites a a particularly vicious hickey into his shoulder, getting cut off as his lips are once more consumed. 

The door is kicked closed, and the next thing he knows Tim has turned them around to slam Danny back against the front door and latch onto his neck again. 

“Lockpicking turns on the thief, who would have thought?” Tim laughs, voice raspy and only a little wrecked, which is unfair because that is a lot of coherence going on when Danny’s kind of a mess. “Besides, I didn’t want to give your neighbors a free show—wanna keep you to myself.” 

Danny melts a little as Tim, feather light, runs the back of his finger against Danny’s cheek where he knows a blush is fiercely painted on his face from the consideration. Danny doesn’t remember being this flustered or hazy when he was the one giving the hickeys, but then again, Stray has always been more confident than Danny has ever been. 

He tries to channel a bit of Stray now, arching up and looking at Tim from under his eyelashes. It’s a feat, considering he still hasn’t taken off his shoes and is still taller than him. He’s delighted to note that Tim has a smear of red lipstick all over his lips and a part of his cheek. 

“If you wanted a show, all you had to do was ask, Red.” Danny feels Tim freeze, his other hand gripping at Danny’s waist tightening just a little bit before letting go as if being careful not to leave bruises. Danny feels a little thrill crawl up his spine, because oh does he want bruises. 

Danny smoothly slips out of Tim’s arms (without even using his powers!), getting to work. By the time Tim has gotten his wits about him to turn around, Danny already has his shoes off with a hand braced on the corner wall, peeking back out with a little cheeky grin, pointing at the other man’s feet.

“No shoes in bed, darling.” Danny starts shedding his jewelry and belt, heading towards his bedroom with a little skip in his step and a hum in his throat. 

He hears Tim scrambling to take his shoes off behind him, and smiles in victory as he unbuttons his shirt. Hands latch onto his waist, causing Danny to gasp as Tim lavishes with more kisses to the neck, growling a little about teasing little Cats as he’s turned and backed up onto the bed. There’s a frantic push and pull, as clothes get tossed away amidst Danny’s giggles and Tim’s laughter, as kisses get stolen and hands roam this way and that. 

There’s a moment where he catches a glimpse of them in the vanity mirror next to his bed. The smeared lipstick and bitten marks all over his neck and shoulders, hair a disheveled mess as Tim licks his way down down down. He loses himself to the feeling of it, drifting away with only a single thought beyond good and yes and more:

Gods, does Red look so good on him.

Kitten Kisses

DCxDP : Dead Tired, Stray!Danny Phantom, love square identity shenanigans (sort of)

Week 1: Indirect Kiss

===

There is a security camera set up at Tim’s desk. 

It’s mostly to ensure that Tim actually leaves his desk, nowadays, but the genuine concern was something nobody really thought could qualify as a necessity. 

Tim is young, but it’s undeniable that he’s a genius. Sadly, that did not mean certain visitors or members of the board didn’t take his age as carte blanche to just rummage around in his desk for no reason. 

After the 5th time Tim noticed his things had been moved (they would have found nothing, Tim was very meticulous regarding Wayne Enterprises documents) something had to give. 

So. Security camera. 

After the first month of its implementation, nobody was fool enough to get caught over some useless files and a surprisingly thoroughly encrypted computer system. Nobody important, at least. 

Babs likes to hack into it, sometimes, to make sure Tim is home on time and not working late. Bruce sometimes hacks in just to check in, watch him work or eat because he was a creep, but Tim can hardly throw such large rocks from his glass house. For the most part, it’s more decoration than anything. 

Until tonight, that is. Tim gets a little ping! signaling movement at his WE desk. He’s just gotten home from patrol, mask already off and cape halfway unclipped with hastily ungloved hands.

Perplexed by the midnight alert, Tim pulls up the feed onto his set up at home. There’s hardly anything worth hacking into, considering the computer there is more of a remote in type of system, rather than an actual computer to be used like the one at the Nest.

And yet still. There they are. Tim would recognize that silhouette anywhere: Stray. 

He watches as, at first, only that skin tight black suit with white accents entered the screen, the rogue thief’s toned torso curved alluringly, signature white clawed gloves lightly scraping along the desk as he travels from one end to the other—not hard enough to leave any trace, but enough for the skrrrrch rasp out. 

There’s a tap of a claw, before the screen fills as Stray bends over, and gods, what a sight that is to see. Stray has an almost prehensile cat’s tail, and it swayed and curled over itself in a way that seemed hypnotic. Long glowing white hair that falls over his shoulder with two black tufted cat ears that seems to actually move, eyes barely visible behind bright neon green goggles—but most importantly a new addition: blood red lipstick. 

Tim stares as those red, red lips curve into a smile, whispering a soft “Hey, Red. Miss me?”

Tim can feel his pulse jump, because he did. He really did. 

They’ve been dancing around each other, ever since the vigilante figured out Stray’s M.O. 

The rogue was only stealing paranormal artifacts, or objects that were stolen via grave robbing. None of the other Bats had figured it out until Tim had told them, considering Stray’s first few hits were on a handful of Rich People. The items were so scattered, and had nothing of real importance that could connect them. 

But the Rich were angry, and though that was hardly anything to be alerted by, it made for an ornery work environment. The Bats hadn’t stepped up, hadn’t felt the need to, until certain museums were getting hit too. A couple civilians even, here or there, until finally something was stolen from Batman himself—something they had kept at Wayne Enterprises to be handed over to Constantine for analysis.

Selina was no help either, simply stating that every cat’s got to have their secrets—all but confirming that the new rogue on the scene was Selina’s. 

Red Robin had cornered Stray, or rather, Stray had let him, and they almost—there was a moment…But then Catwoman had come, urgent, saying something about a sister. 

And then Stray hadn’t been seen in weeks.

Tim shakes his head, trying to clear his thoughts from the fog those cherry red lips cast over him. Still, he can’t help but say yes. Even if only in his mind. 

“I missed you, dolled myself up and everything,” those sinful red lips do a little pout as a delicate claw twirls a strand of that silky hair, conjuring up so many images that Tim involuntarily stands up, as if to immediately leave. “Doesn’t red look so good on me?”

Fuck, but it does. And then it clicks. Hastily, Tim taps a couple buttons, reclipping his cape and putting his mask back on. Once his gloves are back on he pulls up the feed onto his phone, grappling his way over to his office as if being chased.

Because if Stray was at Tim Wayne’s desk, calling him Red through the feed, that meant—that meant he knew.

“Sadly, I can’t stay.” Red Robin vaults out the Nest, keeping half an eye on the feed as those pouty lips talk to him, watching as Stray perches himself delicately on the desk. There’s a sly smile now, though Tim can’t help but follow the long lines of the rogue’s body instead, with his legs crossed, leaning on one delicately clawed hand, head tilted coquettishly.

“But I’ve got a present for you, loverboy.” Red is almost there, just a couple blocks away, as Stray pulls out what looked like a business card with the hand he isn’t leaning on, bringing it up to those distracting red lips. 

“I heard you like games!” Stray bares his teeth in a fanged smile, “Find me, and it’s a date.”

Red Robin is on the WE building now, scaling down to break into the usual window, silently prowling his way quickly through the halls. He watches as Stray winks, giving the card a little kiss. When he grins Red could see the rouge was smeared a little, and somehow that made it so much more enticing. Stray places the card back on the desk before smoothly getting up and exiting stage left just as the vigilante skids to an arrival in front of his office door. 

He burst into the office, only to find it empty. He immediately went to the nearest window, trying to spot the rogue, but as always Stray is quick to disappear without a trace. RR suspects that Stray is some kind of meta, but hasn't gathered enough evidence yet. 

Out of leads, he swiftly makes his way to his desk, where the business card lay innocently, face down. On the back of it, a tantalizing red lip mark. 

Red picks it up, turning it over to see a time and place typed onto it—an invitation, then, not a business card at all. He stares for a second, feeling a smile grow on his face, before he flips the card over again to stare at the kiss mark. 

He brings the card to his lips, softly kissing it, eyes closed and content. He can almost feel the warmth left over, feel a hand caress his neck along his spine. Soon. 

He tucks the card into one of the pockets on his belt, feeling excited and suddenly rejuvenated. 

Maybe he could do another loop—maybe a couple, he doesn’t care—before getting back to the Nest to research. 

He has a date to score, and research is so much easier when he doesn’t have to deal with euphoria. 

[gummybearstastelikesadness]

Jack and Maddie Fenton attend tons of ghost and supernatural conferences across the midwest, occasionally spreading out to the coasts or neighboring countries.

One of these times is a supernatural conference on the east coast, Gotham, New Jersey to be specific. Some of their ghost tech reacts prompting them to go hunt the ghost down.

Only to find a boy no older than their own son wandering the streets catatonic in a dirt covered suit.

[dudethatsmyundeaduncle]

DP x DC AU

Danny's gonna adopt all the Halfas in Gotham whether he wants to or not, and it's gonna start with the little dead girl he found after crawling out of that portal in the league base.

Pt 2 here. My Au Art

...........................

There's a dead little girl sitting on the rug in front of Danny's coffee table curiously eating Cheetos.

Well, she's not all the way dead, only half, could even be a little less then that, Danny would know he's sort of the leading expert on being half dead.

Her skins blue, like comic book mystique blue, vibrant and impossible to miss. Shes got these big black eyes and a nasty split going straight through her upper lip to just under her right eye.

She's also missing her nose, it's just gone, no cartilage left over just the gaping nasal cavity like skulls have.

The little girl looks dead, she is dead, or she's at least as dead as Danny is which is almost exclusively in name only.

Her name is Curaré, Danny only knows it because it's been branded into the skin of the little girls neck, just under the curve of her bald skull.

Curaré is terribly thin, the little toddler sized T-shirt she has on hangs loose around her torso where baby fat should fill it out.

She's horrible to look at, a tiny nightmare, her corpse like coloring doing nothing to mitigate the appearance.

Curaré was neither a healthy nor normal little girl, there was no way Danny could have left that league facility without her.

Oh and she almost exclusively spoke in Spanish which made finding her dinner hard.

Not that Cheetos are really dinner, little kids need to eat more then that Danny was pretty sure, like 89% sure. Although they did have a lot of calories...

Danny tilts his head absently as he looks at her, the little demon being illuminated red and green by the glow of the TV. She's enraptured by the Scooby doo rerun Gotham's only spanish language channel is playing tonight.

As if she can feel his eyes she turns to him and tilts her head the same way.

Danny blinks at her, Curaré blinks back.

" Uh- " Danny starts, trying to remember anything from his Spanish elective from sophomore year. God, his teacher had been right he had needed to study more. " The Cheetos, you like them? They're uh...bueno? Oh! Son Buenos?"

He points his finger down at the snack sized bag in her grasp, her fingers are tiny , they must be so fragile, looking at the desperate grasp they have on the bag makes Danny's chest hurt. How could anyone be so small? Had Danny ever been that small?

Curaré blinks again, long and slow, processing Danny's words. She looks down at her Cheetos and back up at Danny then she carefully holds the bag out to him.

" Oh no that's ok they're for you kiddo" Danny insists.

Curaré shakes the bag at him, like enticing a stray cat with treats but he only shakes his head again.

She gives up after that, shrugging and turning back to her cartoons.

Inside her chest Danny can feel her ghost core vibrate placidly as Scooby and Shaggy run across the TV in a panic.

Danny's own core can't help but try to match it's frequency, a low contented humming echoes between them, safe it seems to say.

Curaré can't be older then 4, which means she was resurrected young and that she died even younger. Danny doesn't know how any of it happened, halfas aren't created easily, the amount of energy needed...

She's so small.

He hopes it was fast, whatever it was that did this to her, made her like him.

Danny also hopes that her injuries aren't permanent. Some ghosts keep the carnage of their corpses well into the after life but as a Halfa Curaré should heal, even if she got those injuries during her ressurction. For her sake it'll be much easier to find some sense of normalcy if she isn't always actively bleeding, even if the blood itself is just an ecto-echo of real blood.

Danny curls his knees up to his chest and hides his face for a moment just trying to breathe. He's too young to be taking care of a toddler, he's still six months away from turning 18 and hes got school on Monday. His eyes burn and his throat constricts as he tries to swallow.

No one else but Danny would know how to take care of Curaré, and she's got no family to try and stumble their way through it. Danny can't take her back to the league and he sure as hell isn't going to search for whoever put that brand on her neck.

Even if he dropped her off at the fire station Gotham only has one Meta focused orphanage, it's state run and all the kids in it have to wear little prison style jump suits. And the food sucks, Danny can personally vouch for that.

She doesn't have a home, she's just as out of place here in Gotham as Danny is. Danny really wishes, not for the first time, that he had an adult here. Like Jazz or hell even Mr. Fuckin Lancer.

Just anyone. Anyone who could tell Danny what to do about this. Who could help him out with the child he's suddenly acquired.

He wishes anyone else was here so it wouldn't just be him and Curaré. Two dead kids sitting on the floor of a studio apartment in the Bowery watching cartoons.

What a pair the two of them will make, oh God. Danny laughs as a few tears stain his jeans.

Curaré makes a curious little noise that has Danny forcing his head up. She's reached the inevitable end of her snack sized bag and she looks absolutely devastated. She turns to look at him, tilting the empty bag towards him as if to say ' can you believe this shit!'

Danny can't help but give her a watery smile, no more crying Fenton, and wipes his nose on the back of his hand.

" Okay, one thing at a time." Danny tells himself. " You finished your Cheetos and now it's time for dinner, right? Stop me if I'm wrong."

Curaré just looks at him.

Danny's not worried, they're gonna have all the time in the world to teach her to appreciate humour and also English.

" I'm going to take that as a yes. " Danny hops up off the floor and goes to find his phone, nobody does dinner like the local Batburger.

Little foot steps follow him into the hallway, he'll have to get used to that sound he's going to be hearing it a lot.

Food first, everything would be better after they ate.

...............

For BG I imagine he's been living in Gotham for a few months and found Curaré while popping in and out of different portals in Gotham. (Who woulda guessed that some portal in Gotham leads right to the lazarus pit)

Note: if u wanna see cool art for this AU it's all in the Danny and the little dead girl au tag on my pg!

[bet-on-me-13]

Reincarnation AU but it's not Danny

So! In basically every single Reincarnation AU I've seen, it's always Danny who gets reincarnated as a DC character. Sometimes it's Jazz, other times it's his Friends, but it never really strays from them. And I think we've been ignoring some people...

The Ancients! Danny is always reincarnated as a "Vacation" from his Ghost King Duties, so why not give the same courtesy to the other Ancients?

Specifically, Fright Knight.

Fright Knight has been a loyal servant and Knight of his Master for Millenia. Ever since he first formed as the Autumn Spirit, the Embodiment of Fear, the Fright Knight, he had declared his Servitude to the Ghost King, whomever it may be at the time. And he stayed in that position, through the passing of the Crown, through the Violent Coups, through every single Ghost King who had taken to the mantle. He was their Loyal Knight. Never Wavering. Never leaving their side.

Until Pariah Dark, but that situation was different. No previous King had even tried to take the human world before.

Thankfully, Pariah had only taken the Throne for a mere 5000 years, so he had not had to put up with him for long, and much of that time was with him stuck in his Coffin. That was the first time Fright Knight had ever left his Masters Side.

Then, that insolent Halfa he had met before came into the picture and Fright Knight had a new master.

King Phantom was...different.

Perhaps it was his remaining Humanity poking through? Or was it was the influence of the Human Realm that he still regularly visited? Or maybe he was simply just a Good Person, and there was no deeper meaning behind it?

Either way, Fright Knight noticed that he cared for his subjects in a far deeper manner than any previous king had. He had personal connections with as many Ghosts as he could, and often called the Ghosts he ruled his, Friends. It warmed his Long Frozen Core to see a King valuing his Subjects as much as he did.

He did not realize that the kindness Phantom extended to his people, also extended to himself.

One day, Phantom had been discussing his Human Life with some of his friends. Not his First Life, but his most recent Vacation. Over the Eons since he had taken the Throne, Phantom had been encouraged to take a Vacation every once in a while. It was not healthy for a Ghost to work non-stop like he did, especially for a Halfa.

It was not an uncommon practice in the Realms, many would take a break from the Endlessness of Death to embrace Life once more through Reincarnation. Although, many were too weak to retain their memories upon their second Forming. Mostly, it was Ancients or Kings who would use this as a Vacation, rather than a New Beginning.

There came a break in the conversation, and King Phantom turned his attention to his Knight. "Frighty, when was the last time you Reincarnated? Pandora did so recently, and it got me thinking."

"I have not taken leave of my post for thr Eons since my Forming, My Lord" Replied the Knight with Pride.

"What? You haven't taken a Break since you formed!? Frighty! That's not Healthy!" Exclaimed his King.

This lead to a whole conversation about how unhealthy his lifestyle was, which was another quirk of his Master. He cared for his Sunjects beyond their happiness.

"Fright Knight, as your King and as your Friend, I implore you to take a Vacation. It doesn't have to be forever, just a simple Human Lifespan, but please take a break, for your own Good."

And how could he refuse a request like that? One based in the kindness that his Majesty always showed his Subjects.

It took a few more years to finally iron out the plan for his Vacation, but what are a few years in the face of Eternity?

Finally, it came time to take his leave to the Mortal Realm, and to Life itself.

"Farewell, my Leige." Bowed Fright Knight, "I thank you for this opportunity."

"There's no need to thank me. Now go, and have fun, My Dark Knight."

...

That day, in Gotham General Hospital, a baby was born.

"What will you name him?" Asked the Doctor.

"I think I'll call him..." Began the need Mother, "...Bruce. Bruce Wayne."

[ominousvibez]

random dp x dc writing

i suddenly had an idea for a new dp x dc crossover fic, here's a piece of it!

🦇

“So much for movie night.” Tucker complains.

Sam groans, stretching her legs as Danny gets up, and transforms. The rings come easily to him now, unlike they had just a little more than two years ago. Their ghost-hunting tech had merely been discarded to the side after their patrol before they settled for the movie night.

“You guys can stay here.” Danny says, pushing himself into the air. “I told Skulker and Technus to pass along the message to the other usuals, but maybe somebody else didn’t get the memo.” The Box Ghost surely hadn’t; but, then again, the Box Ghost doesn’t usually get any news from the Ghost Zone. Or maybe he does, and he doesn’t care. Either way, the cardboard-loving menace was stuck in thermosland right now, and Danny wasn’t going to let him out until after they found out if Amelia would survive INVASION OF THE KILLER TEACHERS III: SCHOOL’S OUT or if she would become another zombie student.

“You sure?”

“Yeah. I’ll make it quick.” Danny allows himself to turn invisible and intangible, and slingshots himself through the roof of Sam’s house and into the sky. The clouds that had been moving in during their patrol clouded Amity Park in a dreary autumn rain. Leaves that had begun to turn were blown off the trees by the wind, and a distant rumble of thunder echoes in the distance.

Once upon a time, the storm would’ve terrified Danny. It would bring too many bad memories, of electricity burning through his skin, killing him and bringing him to life at the same time. But now, as a flash of lightning hit the sky, he can’t deny the surge of energy and delight in his core.

Stupid electric core.

“Ah! Sir Phantom!”

It isn’t one of his usual rogues for once. Instead, it’s a familiar face, and an ally. He calms down a bit at the sight of Lady Dorothea. He’s still a little annoyed that his movie night is being interrupted, but at least it’s by another friend.

Plus, he’s sure Lady Dorothea, who’s working hard at modernizing her kingdom, probably wouldn’t understand what a movie night was, anyway.

“Hey, Dorothea!” Danny drops his shoulders. He keeps himself intangible, feeling the rain fall through him. Lady Dorothea is intangible as well. “Is everything okay? Does your brother need to get his ass kicked into next week again?”

“No, not quite.” Lady Dorothea sighs. “I do need your assistance, but it is not for kicking any asses this time. Something… else has happened.”

“Something else?”

Lady Dorothea nods. “Yes. A few cycles ago, a newly-formed ghost stumbled into the castle gardens. My head gardener, Montagu, had found him stumbling through the hedges, and our healers were able to stabilize him before he could have faded, but then…” She bites her thumbnail nervously. A roar of thunder echoes around them. “… Sir Phantom, I believe he may be a halfa.”

Danny blinks at her. “Sorry, what? Did you say there’s another halfa?”

“Yes, I did— Sir Phantom, as far as my kingdom has come with modernization, I do not believe we have the capabilities of assisting a halfa, let alone one so young. I, no, we need your help, as soon as you are able to.”

A new halfa. Danny’s brain feels like it’s melting and spinning at the same time. He’d never encountered this before. Was that what Danny had felt? The new Halfa, forming? Or, well, maybe transforming for the first time, or something. He felt like pop-rocks were bursting under his skin, and he could feel a few stray sparks shoot off from his hands.

A new halfa.

[luxaofhesperides]

Ghostlights as college roommates and maybe some identity shenanigans thrown in would be so fun! Maybe dannys doing a little vigilante work on the side as well to up the secret identity mayhem

Danny would like to say his college career is going well. Gotham isn’t where he was expecting to pursue higher education, but the engineering scholarship he got through the Wayne Educational Foundation was just too good to turn down. It even covered the cost of an apartment! Although, the apartment is shared with another student who got a Wayne scholarship. 

Even with that, Danny lucked out and got a great roommate. Duke Thomas is chill, kind, respects Danny’s space and doesn’t throw wild parties or invite random people in at all hours of the day. He even joins Danny twice a week for study sessions!

Really, it would be the perfect college experience except for one thing: the ghosts.

Danny thought they’d stay in Amity Park. They had no reason to stray from the city where the portal was, and his parents are more than enough to keep most ghosts away. It took his friends, Jazz, and even Vlad to convince Danny that he wasn’t abandoning Amity Park and that the city wouldn’t fall while he took a few years to focus on himself. 

He worried right up until he got to GCU and walked the campus for the first time. Then he decided to enjoy the four years he had on the scholarship to get his degree and live his own life like a normal person.

To say he’s pissed about the ghosts is an understatement. 

The one thing he was looking forward to most is not being Phantom. Gotham is home to the Bats and they’re more than capable of handling everything in the city. It means there’s no need for him here and he can focus on school and enjoy going on invisible flights without worrying about being hunted down or having to fight a ghost. 

“Are you fucking kidding me,” he mutters under his breath as he feels the familiar chill race up his throat, A cold mist wafts out of his mouth, curling around his words, and Danny quickly ducks his head and hides it from sight. 

“Did you say something?” Duke asks, looking up from where he leans against the kitchen counter, squinting at a recipe on his phone. 

“Nah,” Danny lies. “Just stressing.” He gestures to the papers he has spread out on the dining table, then stands up. “I’m gonna take a walk. Maybe that’ll get my brain to work correctly tonight.”

“Got your phone on you?”

Danny reflexively drops a hand to his pocket, checking that his phone is where it’s supposed to be. It’s what Duke asks every single time Danny mentions going out, worried about Danny being unprepared for Gotham. It’s nice of him, though Danny does wish he can say that he’s survived a lot worse than a few muggers. 

“Got it.”

“Alright. I’ll try to work on dinner while you’re out.”

Danny nods and offers Duke a small wave before pulling his shoes on at the door. He grabs his keys and heads out, double checking that the door is locked behind him. 

Then he glances around the hallway, checking that the coast is clear, and pulls up the chill of awareness in his chest. Slowly, he breathes out, watching the blue mist waft out and lead towards the stairwell. 

“Wonder who it is this time,” he mutters to himself, going into the cold, concrete stairwell. It always feels a little off in there, as if he’s been removed from the rest of the world when the door closes behind him. His footsteps echo oddly in the space, so Danny chooses to fly instead, keeping his feet off the floor. 

A few flights down is when he sees her: pale and translucent, a faint blue glow around her. She’s a familiar face. Emilia is one of the first of Gotham’s ghosts he’s met, leading to the rather unpleasant realization that ghosts don’t only come from the Infinite Realms. There’s a strange sort of magic in the very foundations of Gotham that makes it the way it is, creating ghosts that are different enough from what he’s used to that it leaves him off balance. 

Gotham keeps her dead. Few get to pass on peacefully, and most have to wait until they grow weak and wither away, a second death, before they can be released from the living realm. The ghosts of Gotham are pale and weak, for the most part, and try to cling to him so grow stronger from his ectoplasm. 

Most want him to help them pass on, or give them a way into the Infinite Realms. Some want him to bring justice to their killers. Others want to kill him and take his ectoplasm for their own so they can continue their reign of terror in Gotham, unable to be stopped even in death. 

Emilia gives him warnings. It’s not always her, but she tends to be the one to draw him out of his apartment, pulling him into a vigilante lifestyle because he can’t bring himself to refuse anyone who asks for his help, and the dead in Gotham have no one else to ask.

“Danny,” she greets. “Nueve is out again. He’s going after the ghosts near Chantilly Street.”

“The sun isn’t even down yet,” Danny grumbles. Nueve, an old gang enforcer who died a few decades ago, cannibalizes other ghosts. It doesn’t destroy the other ghosts, not really, but it makes them feel pain when they shouldn’t be able to feel much at all. Taking their limited reserves of ectoplasm makes him momentarily stronger, and he uses that stolen strength to try to harm the living.

He’s been successful a few times. Danny makes sure to rip him apart as much as possible these days; he won’t be here forever, but he’s hoping that within his four years at GCU, he’ll be able to permanently stop Nueve.

Times like these, he misses having a Fenton Thermos with him. Though he’s not entirely sure it would work on Gotham’s ghosts with how different they are. 

Emilia follows him down the stairwell to the ground floor. Once there, Danny shoves his hand into the floor, taking out the backpack he’s hidden in it. He’s done this change of clothes so often he can do it in just a minute now, hiding his face and pulling on gloves beneath a large hoodie with old ectoplasm stains along the sleeves and hem. A gas mask is pulled on as well, covering the bottom half of his face, a necessary addition to his Ghost Work Outfit™ after he almost got caught in some Fear Gas during Scarecrow’s last attack. 

“Alright,” he says, “Lead the way.”

Emilia takes off through the wall and Danny hurries to follow, going invisible as he hits the streets. 

It’s still early evening, the sun not yet fully set. Plenty of people walk along the sidewalks and cars pass by endlessly, honking at each other as they try to go twenty above the speed limit. Danny does his best to avoid running into everyone, deftly dodging the reaching hands of a few ghosts who spot him as he sprints by. 

They only go a few blocks away from his apartment building, turning into a dead end alley where a group of teens (living, for once) are stuck with their backs to the wall, clinging to each other as they warily watch the man in front of them carelessly twirl a gun around his finger. 

The man makes a strange clicking noise in the back of his throat, and it takes Danny a moment to realize that he’s trying to talk. 

Still invisible, Danny sneaks around to stand in front of the teens, ready to bodily protect them. The man looks alive, and Danny see any ghosts around save for Emilia, standing at the mouth of the alley. There’s something strange about him; his movements seem just a little off, not quite as fluid as they should be. It’s not the movement of someone on drugs. It’s something that screams uncanny valley.

The gun’s handle drops solidly into the man’s palm. He makes another few clicks, then raising the gun to point at the teens.

“Bad idea, pal,” Danny says dropping his invisibility. The teens behind him startle, gasping and trying to press themselves further into the wall. 

The man’s eyes flash weakly and the pieces click into place in Danny’s mind. Nueve must have gotten strong enough to possess someone. That is… alarming, to say the least.

He rips the gun out of the man’s hand and tosses it aside. Then he pushes away the man’s arm when Nueve makes a clumsy attempt to punch him. With his chest left wide open and undefended, Danny takes the chance to shove his hand into the man’s chest, feeling for the familiar chill of a ghost. 

And then he wraps his fingers tight around it and pulls out Nueve, leaving the man to collapse. 

The teens behind him scream and Danny winces. 

Pulling out a faintly glowing human figure from someone’s physical body does not look good. It’s the best way to end a possession, but it does look alarmingly like he’s just ripped someone’s soul out of their body.

Keeping hold of Nueve’s ghost, Danny steps to the side. “You guys should go now. Take care.”

The teens don’t need any more prompting. They take off in a run, tripping over each other in their haste to get away.

Danny spares a glance to the man unconscious on the ground, but there’s nothing he can do with an angry ghost in his hands, so he has no choice but to leave him there as he flies up to a rooftop farther down the street. 

“How many times do we need to do this, Nueve?” he asks tiredly, shaking the ghost.

“These streets should be mine!” Nueve howls, trying to break free of Danny’s grasp. But he’s quickly growing weak, his energy fading, and Danny’s holding back his own ectoplasm as tightly as he can. “They may have killed me, but that doesn’t mean I can’t still take what I��m owed!”

“Dude, you’re dead. There’s nothing here for you. Move on.”

“You don’t get to speak on this, outsider. You think a freak like you has an say over us? You can’t stop us. You don’t even know what’s coming.”

Danny squints at him. “What, are you planning a heist or something? With your gang of dead people too weak to lift a piece of paper?”

“We’re not all dead. We’ve got living folk helping us and we’ll be taking you out first when we hit the streets.”

“Good luck with that,” Danny says flatly, “Begone with you.” 

Without giving Nueve a chance to say another word, he rips Nueve’s head off his body. His ghost wavers, then dissipates like smoke, fading away. 

Another side effect of whatever it is Gotham does to her dead: their ghost forms are remarkably fragile and it takes only a bit of strength to tear them to shreds, giving him some peace before they reform again. It won’t stop Nueve from striking out again, gathering enough strength until he’s able to possess some other unfortunate soul, but Danny’s bought himself some time to figure out what the hell was he talking about?

There are living folk involved with whatever he’s planning. It’s probably another gang, maybe someone with magic who is able to see ghosts? Which is not great. Danny doesn’t know much about magic; even when facing ghosts who used magic or magical artifacts, his go to method of dealing with them is to start throwing hands like there’s no tomorrow.

Well.

It’s a problem for later.

For now, Danny needs to get back to his apartment and work on his calculus homework. Hopefully he can finish it before he gets frustrated enough that he gives up and lies face down on the floor until Duke manhandles him onto the couch, where he’s less of a tripping hazard.

He’s just about to get back to street level when his Fenton Luck strikes again and he hears someone land on the roof, just a few feet behind him.

“Hey there, stranger,” the Signal says. “You know, we run into each other so often it feels rude not to introduce ourselves. Why don’t you go first?”

Danny turns to face the daylight vigilante, standing with his arms crossed as if that would make him look any more approachable. He’s been popping up wherever Danny’s out dealing with ghosts, which is very not great for Danny’s plans to have a peaceful, normal college life. 

Biting his tongue, Danny gives the Signal a quick two fingered salute, then goes intangible and drops down through the building. His invisibility sweeps over him and then he’s running through the streets, hoping it’s enough to keep the Signal from following him to his apartment.

He skids to a stop in the stairwell, dropping his intangibility just in time to crash into the wall. Panting, Danny waits for a tense minute to see if he’s been followed. 

When the door to the stairwell remains closed, he lets out a slow breath, then pulls off all the pieces of his Ghost Work Outfit, shoving it back into his bag. He takes a moment to fix his hair, messy from the hood, then shoves the bag back into the floor, safely hidden from curious eyes. 

Then he very casually walks up the stairs to the fifth floor and walks down the hallway to his apartment. His keys clang together when he opens the door, and Duke usually hears it when it does, but just in case, Danny calls out, “I’m back!”

He’s learned to announce himself after a few late night walks almost ended with him tackled to the floor when Duke thought someone was breaking in.

Duke doesn’t respond as he toes off his shoes. The stillness in the apartment feels off, as if the world is holding its breath. Cautiously, Danny walks in, trying to find his roommate.

He’s not in the kitchen. The living room is empty. Duke’s bedroom door is open and he’s not in there either. 

Something cold lodges itself in his chest. 

“Duke?” he tries again, looking over their apartment again for any sign of struggle, or something terrible happening, or even a mess that Duke needed more supplies to clean up. 

There’s nothing. The apartment is as it’s always been, just with an empty space where Duke should be.

Worried, Danny stands in the middle of the hallway, trying to figure out what he should do next. It’s because he’s standing so still, surrounded by silence, that he hears it: a light thud outside the window. 

Danny turns and he can swear he sees something large moving outside the window, disappearing from sight just as Danny takes a step into Duke’s room to check on it. He rushes to the window and pushes it open, looking down at the street, then side to side, and finally up to the last three floors of the building.

Nothing’s there.

Slowly, Danny pulls his head back inside, closing and locking the window. “Must be my imagination,” he says, trying to convince himself it’s not a big deal. 

He leaves Duke’s room and begins pacing down the hall, anxiety building steadily in him. 

His phones in his hand before he can think his actions through, Duke’s contact pulled up on the screen. He should call. He should make sure Duke is okay, but Danny hesitates. Is this something to be freaked out over? Would Duke thing he’s clingy and nervous and a bothersome roommate? He doesn’t want to risk Duke asking for a new roommate next year when the lease renews.

But he’s worried. It’s Gotham and Danny just dealt with a violent, murderous ghost threatening him. Duke can deal with a stressed out, worried Danny if it means he’s alive.

He hits the call button before he can talk himself out of it. It rings on and on and on until Danny starts to panic about having to find Duke’s ghost to avenge his murder. 

The front door is thrown open so suddenly and so loudly, Danny jumps and his phone clatters to the floor. 

“Danny! Hey!” Duke says with a bright smile, trying to catch his breath. He’s still holding onto the doorknob, slightly hunched over as he pants for breath. “I didn’t expect you back so soon.”

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah! Yeah, I’m totally fine.”

“Where were you?”

Duke straightens up and closes the door, kicking off his shoes. “Oh, just… out. Shopping. For dinner.”

Danny looks over his empty hands doubtfully. “No luck finding what you needed?”

“Nope!”

“What did you need? Maybe I can go to a different store and get it for you.”

“You don’t need to!” Duke says. “I just needed… tomatoes?”

Danny blinks at him. “We have tomatoes. Did you not know we had tomatoes in the fridge?”

“Oh, do we? Good to know.”

There’s something very weird about this conversation, but Danny doesn’t pry. Duke is weird sometimes, but it’s fine because he kindly ignores some of Danny’s oddities that come from being a halfa and a semi-retired hero. 

“Do you… maybe wanna sit down? Catch your breath? I can make dinner tonight if you want.”

Duke waves a hand in the air. “No, no, it’s fine. I got this. Anyways, how was your walk?”

He definitely shouldn’t talk about the cannibal ghost and his threats to take out Danny with his gang. “It was nice. Very quiet. You know, for Gotham.” He punctuates this with an awkward thumbs up and immediately regrets it, but it’s already done so he commits to it.

“Cool! Great. Just wondering, did you see anything weird?”

“Depends on what you’re asking about?”

“Just some guy wearing black with a hood covering his face. He’s been active in this neighborhood and I saw some people talk about him online. Apparently he just appears out of thin air.”

Danny tries not to wince. That’s him, alright. Gotham’s newest neighborhood menace. “I don’t think so, but there’s a lot of people in Gotham that were all black and walk around with their hood up.”

“True,” Duke concedes. “Well, just be careful when you go out, alright?”

“I always am.” He gives Duke the same two fingered salute he gave the Signal. Duke stares at him for a moment, eyes dark and almost dangerous, then he smiles and walks into the kitchen. 

“Wanna make dinner with me? I think we can figure out this recipe together. Unless you need to do your homework.”

“It can wait!” Danny hurries to join Duke, grateful for an excuse to push off calculus a little longer. He understands what he’s doing in the class, there’s just… so much work. He doesn’t even want to think about the tests. The tests make everyone cry.

“Alright, let’s get to it, then!”

“You’re in charge, chef,” Danny says, laughingly, and bumps against Duke’s side. He expects a light shove in return, something Sam and Tucker always did, but Duke goes tense instead, letting out a sharp breath that Danny is all too familiar with. “Wait, why are you hurt? What happened?!”

He goes to lift up Duke’s shirt to inspect his shirt, see the damage for himself, but Duke smoothly moves out of the way, grabbing Danny’s wrists and stopping him in his tracks. “I’m fine, Danny. I just got hit. Lightly. Minor bruising, really.”

Danny looks at him doubtfully, then wrenches a wrist free to lift up his shirt before he can move again.

Minor bruising is not how Danny would describe the blues and purples that decorate Duke’s entire side. He can see the outline of Duke’s ribs through the bruising. “How is this being lightly bruised? What hit you?”

“A car?”

“A car?!”

Duke winces, then pulls his shirt down. “I’m fine, Danny, really. It was just from a car that didn’t want to stop at a red light. I stopped another person from being hit, but the car got me pretty solidly. You know how bad Gotham drivers are.”

“Sit down!” Danny says, pulling Duke out of the kitchen. “I don’t understand how you’re still standing. I’ll get some ice, and I’ll handle dinner. You just stay there and stop pushing yourself for no reason.”

“Playing nurse for me now?”

“If I have to.”

“Would you wear a nurse costume for me, too?” Duke jokes.

Danny looks him dead in the eye and says, “If I have to. Would that make you follow my instructions? A tight little nurse dress?”

Duke sputters, cheeks darkening, and looks away. Danny grins, victorious, and darts back to the kitchen to grab an ice pack from the fridge. 

“Maybe I’ll wear one for you anyways, once you’re all healed up. Only if you’re good, though.”

“Danny, you’re killing me here.”

“Better me than a car.”

Duke laughs and takes the ice pack, pressing it against his side carefully. “Oh, for sure. Thanks, Danny.”

“Hey, what are roommates for?” Danny shares a warm smile with Duke, then pats his shoulder and heads back to the kitchen to start making a simple pasta dinner. 

Life in Gotham is weird and stressful and full of ghosts and heroes who won’t leave him alone. But it’s not all that bad, really. He’s happy with how he’s doing in college, and he’s beyond lucky to have Duke as a roommate. So long as Duke never finds out about his halfa status, then he’s sure they’ll be able to last all four years rooming together.

He just needs to keep a secret. 

Shouldn’t be too hard, right?

[strong-with-the-sarcasm]

Part 10- keep me from my grave

"Well, don't sing me praise. Just keep me from my grave." -Me Against the Devil by The Relentless

Main Masterlist Regent Series Part 9

They met at a bookstore. 

It had been almost two full months since the Joker had met his end, his head mounted and strangely not decomposed, with Jason returned to the Batfamily Gotham had settled into a lull. Not a quiet one, but a lull nonetheless. 

Jason was taking a break from sorting through cases with Dick, head throbbing from the lack of sleep and patience for annoying siblings wearing thin. 

The bookstore, tucked away in a quiet part of Old Gotham, was often empty of people during the day. Despite its large bay windows, comfy seating and welcoming atmosphere, the Page-Turner would remain a hidden gem to the city dwellers. For Jason, it was a haven he could never feel bad about keeping to himself. 

He’d branched out from classics some time ago, deciding to try other genres he’d long since ignored for the Bard, meandering around the shelves to find a title that caught his eye. 

It was between the mysteries and thrillers that he found her. 

Her. 

She was sitting on the ground with her back pressed against the thriller shelves, slender jean-clad legs tucked towards her chest to cradle a book, eyes never straying from the pages, red hair tied into a low ponytail with what looked like a small braid tucked behind one ear. Jason couldn’t tear his eyes away from her soft features, desperately wanting her eyes to meet his, her lips to offer him a smile and her hands to cradle his own.

 For the first time in his life, Jason finally understood what the regency novels meant by love at first sight… because the man was halfway there already. 

The Page Turner was a haven admist the chaos that was Jazz’s life, especially once she finally admitted to herself and Danny that she needed help to manage her depression. Her little brother was concerned, but also relieved when she confronted the elephant in the room first. He’d been weary of bringing it up himself, not wanting to worry her more. 

(Silly brother.)

(It was her job to worry.)

Nonetheless, Jazz asked around among the living and dead for a therapist recommendation, which she was correct about it being difficult in Gotham, but Jazz didn’t want to branch out just yet. A toss up between disbelief and enthusiasm awaited her, but she didn’t let it deter her from contacting the recommended psychologist- Harleen Quinzel. 

A bit awkward to be in a session with the reformed rogue, dutifully ignoring whatever lingering shades wanted her attention. Harley was a great listener, more importantly she cared about Jazz as a patient, as a human being. Whatever Bozo the Clown had done to her, what she had survived, had given Harley a new lease on life with his death (ironically). 

“It sounds like ya never been allowed to simply be, Jazz.” Harley spoke plainly and evenly, her brooklyn accent barely clipping her words. The redhead had spoken of her childhood, her brother’s death, the neglect.

Opened up about the nightmares, how Danny’s destroyed grave haunted her. Let the truth spill from her lips, free to simply exist in the space between the two women. Sure, Jazz would never spill secrets about the Realms, but where it concerned her guilt, or lack thereof, about the blood on her hands- yes, Jazz knew Harley wouldn’t judge her. 

And it was true, Jazz had no childhood. She was Danny’s caretaker, his first memory, his first steps towards, the first to have his back. There had never been just Jazz, only Jazz and Danny. Every dream she’d once had, broken and scattered in the ashes of Danny’s grave. 

(Danny had no hope of reaching the stars, of being an astronaut, with his death.)

“Sweetie, Danny sounds like he is capable of taking care of himself for a while. Have you considered finding a hobby?” Harley questioned, sincere in her wish to help. 

Jazz sighed, “I wouldn’t know where to begin.” What did she have outside her little brother and work as Regency? 

“Do ya like to read?” 

Jazz huffed, finding amusement with that question. Of course she liked, no, loved to read. It had been her one escape from the nightmares so long ago, but she hadn’t found the time since taking regency to lose herself in a good book. 

Harley didn’t need her to respond, offering a sincere smile in response to Jazz’s lack of reply. 

“There’s a bookstore in Old Gotham, the Page Turner, ya could check out? There’s no pressure to pick up a book, but it would be enough to just get through the door, yeah?” 

“I’ll try.” 

“That’s a good start.” 

As it was, Jazz wasn’t able to find time between Realms Work and patrol to do anything other than sleeping, eating, and various other tasks that filled her days (and nights). The more it itched at her, to listen to the therapist she liked, the more Jazz wanted to read a book. To get lost in a good story, just like she used to. 

Patrols were harder with Hood back, his haunt under his command once more and streets protected by a vigilante in red. Only twice in the few weeks since Jason had been moved from her side to the batcave had the Regent caught a glimpse of him, both as his nighttime persona, and from a distance Jazz hadn’t been able to sense him as clearly as previous. He did seem healthier with the pure ecto and his Proto-Core, though Jazz was in no mood to test her luck by crossing into his Haunt. 

The girls were sad to see the Regent less, even though Jazz remained firmly in the Phantom haunt and was barely a few minutes away at any given time, but it was the principle of the thing. The Regent was one of the good ones and a woman at that. A woman who could kick ass wasn’t rare, but it was rare that they would take up a vigilante role for the occupants of the Alley. 

Red Hood, while awesome and respected by his people, was a man. 

Some of the girls were gradually drifting into the Phantom haunt, or a shitty part of Old Gotham that bordered on the Alley. Regardless of it’s quality it belonged to the Phantom Fraid… and Phantom was a Protector Spirit. 

(With the Regent and the Phantom, crime was all but extinct in their haunt.)

With the decrease in crime, Jazz was finally able to dematrilize her armor, set down her sword and enter the Page Turner. 

A distinct mix of old books, ink, and some kind of body spray welcomed the redhead once she stepped inside, intrigued by the sense of calm that greeted her in place of a human. 

Which was fine, Jazz preferred to browse in peace. 

Grateful for the shelves being categorized, Jazz found herself enthralled by a thriller (They Never Learn by Layne Fargo) and didn’t notice another person in the aisle until they were within arm’s reach. 

Jazz flinched back, embarrassed by her lack of focus and attention to her surroundings, dangerous when one is a vigilante in Gotham. She greeted the man in front of her after a few moments of awkward silence, his stare making the redhead even more embarrassed, but now by her appearance. She'd been too tired to fuss with her hair or clothes beyond ensuring the orange-red strands were brushed into a semblance of order and her clothes were somewhat decent. 

(Jazz was more concerned with her bracelets being concealed under glamour and sleeves.)

(The metal, eternally cool against her warm skin, offered some comfort in times like these.)

(She was the Lady of the Acropolis, once student of Pandora, the Ancient of Peace.) 

(There is nothing that can make her feel lesser without her consent.) 

“Uh, hi.” 

(Oh how eloquent, Jasmine.) 

“Hi.” The deep voice, smooth and accented like a native Gotham, made Jazz finally move her gaze from his chest- nice chest as it was, it was his eyes that made her breath rush from her lungs. 

Jason. 

.....Jason!

(Oh yes, Jazz picked a good day to walk into the Page Turner.) 

(She was finally able to talk to her dream man.)

(She wasn’t disappointed.) 

(And by the smiles they had as walked away, neither was Jason.) 

A/N:

This isn't the best, I know. Hey, they finally meet! Keep an eye for the updated masterlist, because I'll be putting the link up and changing some of the chapter titles. Thanks for reading!

Update: “They Never Learn” by Layne Fargo is an actual book, with a female Anti-Hero who kills bad men. I don’t want to say more because I’ll spoil something, but it’s a great book.

[housethemd]

Did Anybody Ask For My Personal Opinion On Who Wilson’s Other Brother Is? On The Larger Wilson Family Structure? On Wilson’s Life Before He Met House?

No? Okay perfect.

The oldest is David Wilson. He’s 4-5 years older than James. He was always smart, and received a lot of praise for all his success. He is a lawyer, and is married with two children. He married young, which thrilled his parents.

Then there is Danny Wilson. I assume Danny is short for Daniel. He is 2 years younger than James. He was always kind of a loner, and while James and Danny did play together as very young kids, the older Danny got the less he had any interest in playing with others, including James. He was prone to getting distracted or overwhelmed in public places and James was always the one to make sure he stayed safe. His parents were always at a loss with what to do with him, but James always seemed to understand him.

Then of course our beloved James Wilson. Middle child, living in the shadow of his older brother and his younger brothers keeper. His successes were never celebrated the way David’s were, because even if he got straight A’s (which he did) David always did it first, and his family seemed to find things less impressive the second time around.

Forced to grow up early to care for his younger brother, he had a hard time relating to kids his own age so he spent a lot of time at home watching movies and TV. He did extracurriculars through his school when he got to high school to pad his resume (he already knew he wanted to go to med school) and while everyone liked him, he didn’t have any close friends.

He learns how to become what people want him to be. How to cater to their needs. He spends his whole life being what everyone else needs him to be.

The first time he strays from that is when Danny calls while he’s in med school studying for that big exam. He hangs up on him, and then Danny goes missing. His family doesn’t understand how he could hang up on his brother like that, why he would do that, they think it’s so out of character for him.

He meets Sam, and desperately wanting to get back in his family’s good books he marries her quickly. He wants to follow in his older brothers footsteps, do what you are supposed to do, want what you are supposed to want. So he marries Sam.

Two years later they are getting divorced. He gets the papers right before a medical conference. He carries them around, without the will to open them. He hasn’t told his family yet.

Someone keeps playing “Leave a Tender Moment Alone” on the jukebox. He asks nicely for them to stop, he really does, he tries to be the bigger person, to keep to the persona that he only dropped once because last time he dropped it he lost his brother, but he can’t. He’s pissed off by the song, but more so he’s pissed off that his persona means he can’t do anything about it, why does everyone need him to be so nice all the time? Care about their problems? What about him? He’s a person too, what about his problems?

And the anger boils over. He throws a bottle, breaks a mirror, and gets arrested. He’s sitting in a jail cell, trying to figure out how he’s going to tell his family that not only is he getting divorced but he’s gotten arrested and feeling like he has the worst luck in the world when a police officer comes in and says a friend is bailing him out. He’s confused, he doesn’t have friends.

Outside the jail, he meets Gregory House.

For the first time someone sees past the persona. No matter what he does House always sees past it, to the person he really is. The person he convinced himself no one would like.

For the first time, he has a real friend.

[ofthecaravel]

You Know How To Haunt

A 'You Don't Go To Parties' Halloween Special/ Mini Fic/ Oneshot

Summary: Before the night they confessed, Danny and Sam had a very similar evening that ended very, very differently.

Tags: Pre-confession YDGTP Sanny, ANGST, feelingssss (that aren't one sided but Danny thinks they are), saucy thoughts but nothing explicit, basically just infuriating tension

Words: 2.7k

A/N: Sooooo I missed the YDGTP boys and wanted to give a little bit more of a prequel to give y'all a feel of just how tense shit was between them. Inspired by Jennifer's Body, 'Halloween' by Noah Kahan, 'Cheerleader' by Ashnikko, and @holdingup-fallingsky's glasses Danny edit <3

~~~

It was a dark and stormy night, and Danny could not for the life of him find Sam.

It was the typical shtick with a Halloween twist; Sam proposed going to a Halloween party (of course) with costumes, tacky decorations, and “babes as far as the eye can see”. Danny complained and fought it as hard as he usually did, but Sam won for the thousandth time and Danny found himself rummaging in his closet for any semblance of a costume. After tossing on some cheap glasses frames, a velcro bow tie, and a very slim fitting button down that Danny had zero recollection of ever owning, Danny announced his costume.

“A nerd?” Sam mocked, his voice and subsequent laugh muffled from behind the bathroom door where he had holed up to put the finishing touches on his own costume. “Not straying far from reality, are we?”

“Fuck off,” Danny laughed, adjusting the cheap material of the bowtie that was already beginning to strangle him a little bit. “Come on, do I ever get to see your costume or do you just live in my bathroom now?”

“I’d live in here if it wasn’t so filthy,” Sam accused. “I mean, seriously, man, do you ever take out the trash?”

“You’re deflecting,” Danny shot back in a sing-song, banging on the door. “Open up! Michigan PD, you’re under arrest for loitering!”

“You’ll never take me alive!” Sam screeched. “Geez Louise, one second…”

After what felt like an eternity, the bathroom door swung open with a practiced grandeur and Sam strode out with his arms held high, carrying two tinsel pom poms and donning a ripped up cheerleader outfit. He had put on blush in a way that could only be described as amateur and his long, chestnut waves were pulled up in a high ponytail and fastened with a blue scrunchie. Danny played off his suddenly very dry mouth with a look of shock as Sam did a ceremonious twirl and shook a pom pom right under Danny’s nose. Danny snorted and batted it away.

“A cheerleader?” Danny asked, clearly not sold on the concept. “I guess, just, sort of…why?”

“I’ll be the talk of the town, that’s why,” Sam hummed proudly, smoothing the cheap fabricky pleats of his dizzyingly short cheer skirt. “Also, I mean, I look amazing. So that’s a big plus.”

“Yeah, keep telling yourself that,” Danny murmured, pretending to look away incredulously but doing it purely because he was finding it difficult to look at Sam’s costume at all. He felt the hot flush it provoked in his face and the last thing he needed was for Sam to notice.

“Hey, that’s my shirt!” Sam scoffed, yanking on the collar of Danny’s shirt. “What gives?”

“It was in my closet.” Danny pointed out.

“Yeah, well, it’s not yours,” Sam stammered, putting his hands on his hips and making the pom poms shimmy loudly. 

“What do you care?”

“It looks ridiculous.”

“I’m not sure I’m the ridiculous one here, Miss Team Captain.”

“It’s practically popping off of you, Dan.”

“Here, is this better?”

Danny undid the first top buttons and gestured at his chest.

“Now I’m a sexy nerd,” Danny purred, rolling his eyes and turning away from Sam. He heard Sam make a funny little noise he couldn’t quite identify before letting out an exasperated sigh that he knew all too well. 

“Whatever,” Sam muttered. 

“Get in the car, Stacy, the cheer squad needs you,” Danny joked, grabbing his keys off the wall and tossing a convincing smile back at Sam, already dreading the night that lay before them.

~~

To Danny’s disgust, Sam had been thoroughly right about his costume being a hit. People couldn’t keep their hands off of him; smoothing their palms over the felt number 1 on his chest and lacing their fingers with his to shake the pom poms and asking him over and over again to twirl. Sam, as he always did, gathered his crowd right within eyeshot of Danny, who sat in annoyance on the couch with a full Solo cup. Granted, Danny had corralled a few friends of his own to talk to, but he couldn’t help but sneak glances over at Sam every other minute. With each sip of his drink, Danny warmed up to the truth about why he was so pissed off at all the attention Sam was getting: Sam wanted the attention, but Danny wanted to be the only one to give it. And more glaringly, Danny wanted to be the only opinion that Sam actually cared about. There were all the usual underlying feelings behind it that Danny kept at bay like he always did, but Danny wasn’t all that interested in tuning in to the mushy gushy. As the alcohol softened up his gaze and warmed his limbs, he found his eyes dragging over Sam’s long legs and the curve of his neck, allowing himself to add on to a fantasy in momentary increments. However, after his attention had been drawn into conversation, Danny looked back to find that Sam had disappeared. Without thinking, Danny got to his feet and excused himself, stumbling through the crowd to track Sam down.

--

Danny couldn’t find him. He traversed the entire lower level of the house, ducking under cobwebs and paper bats and even circling the bonfire in the backyard in hopes of catching a glimpse of Sam and his stupid, slutty costume. After making his way back inside, Danny looked at the crepe paper that had been taped from banister to banister on the stairs and knew that if Sam was anywhere, it was where he wasn’t supposed to be. Danny stepped over the makeshift caution tape and jogged up the steps, becoming increasingly convinced that he was going to walk in on Sam and some random in the throes of passion. His stomach flipped and he swallowed thickly, waving off the imagery and reminding himself that he just wanted to know that Sam was safe. That’s all. 

Danny felt pretty bad about snooping around someone’s house that he didn’t know, but he knew Sam wouldn’t, and that’s why he was so certain he would find him up there. Sure enough, Danny hesitantly opened a random door and saw Sam sitting cross legged on a bed, flipping through a thick scrapbook by the warm light of the bedside lamp. His ponytail had been abandoned and the scrunchie was now around his slim wrist, the sequins catching the light as he continued to look through the scrapbook. His upper body was swaying slightly in a seasick, wobbling way that let Danny know Sam was properly drunk, which was further confirmed when he looked up at Danny and let out a surprised gasp.

“Oh my god, hi!” Sam greeted cheerfully, dropping the scrapbook and holding his arms out to Danny. “Come here.”

“You want a hug?” Danny giggled, his annoyance already melting away. Sam tended to do that to him, despite the annoyance always coming back tenfold after some time.

“No, help me up,” Sam whined. He hooked his arms around Danny’s neck as Danny pulled him to his feet, making no motion to move away as he sank into Danny’s embrace and let out a comical sigh, nestling his face into the crook of Danny’s neck. Danny let out a low chuckle and held him lightly, his heart threatening to beat through his chest as Sam swayed in his arms. 

“Don’t fall asleep on me, Sammy,” Danny joked, his voice cracking slightly and making him cringe at his own sudden ineptitude around his friend of over 10 years. He could hardly believe how pathetic he was sometimes.

“But you’re so cozy,” Sam argued, his voice muffled and sweet against Danny’s skin. 

“Do you wanna go home?” Danny asked gently, the noise of the party oddly melting away as he tentatively smoothed a hand over Sam’s hair.

“No!” Sam suddenly cried, straightening and pushing off of Danny, only to fall back onto the bed again with a bounce. He began to giggle raucously, holding his hands over his face as hiccups began to edge their way between laughs. Danny rolled his eyes and moved to pick Sam up again, but Sam swatted at his chest and wiggled out of his grasp.

“No, no, let me rest, you goon,” Sam slurred defiantly, even drawing a knee up to kick at Danny’s chest. “Ssh, I’m sleeping. I’m honking my mimi’s.”

“You can sleep at home, Sam,” Danny argued patiently, trying again to scoop Sam up and onto his feet. “Come on, up and at em, soldier.”

“I’m not your soldier,” Sam shot back, lifting his chin proudly. “I’m a cheerleader.”

“The very best,” Danny assured him with a grin, his breath beginning to shake with nerves as Sam’s hands reached for him, red hot and wandering as he grabbed at Danny’s shoulders and biceps. 

“You’re so strong,” Sam murmured, finally allowing Danny to pull him up again, swaying on the spot as his blurry eyes blinked up at Danny. His eyes were amber and nearly animalistic in the lamplight and Danny had to look away, kneeling down to pick up the abandoned scrapbook and tucking it where he hoped it belonged.

“What are you even doing up here?” Danny asked. 

“Bored,” Sam shrugged, beginning to wander around the outskirts of the room. “There weren’t even any good costumes here tonight which is so lame. And, I mean, there’s a whole floor we’re not even using? Of course I’m going to scope it out.”

“Yeah, you’re always where you shouldn’t be,” Danny teased, a touch of bitterness lacing his words. When he looked up at Sam again he knew his tone had gone right over his head, seeing as Sam was leaned up against the wall with his eyes trained on the ceiling fan, his head bobbing slightly as he followed each rotation. Danny allowed to indulge in another moment of observation, taking note of Sam’s exposed stomach and his arms tucked coyly behind his back. He was jolted out of it by Sam meeting his eye and grinning wickedly.

“Hi,” Sam sang softly, cocking his head at Danny.

“You ready to go now?” Danny asked, now desperate to get Sam as far away from him as soon as possible. He got to his feet and approached Sam, getting ready to argue before Sam surprised him by lacing his arms around Danny’s neck again and pulling him in close.

“Do you remember,” Sam started, whispering conspiratorially. “When we were younger, and we used to play boyfriend girlfriend?”

Danny felt an electric shock go through his body at the memory. It had been a truly innocent game, simply practicing the day to day motions they thought they might have to go through when they were old enough and had girlfriends. Who better to play with than your best friend? Plus, Danny had secretly always really liked calling Sam his “girlfriend”, and doing all the fake grand gestures to ensure his happiness had come very naturally. Sam had always said he was the best at being the boyfriend, and Danny had always believed it. 

“Yeah, sure,” Danny replied in confusion, his cheeks prickling with uncomfortable warmth again. 

“You’re always playing it when we go to parties and you don’t even realize,” Sam laughed. Danny’s eyes widened subconsciously and he stammered, knitting his brow in further confusion.

“What?” Danny managed, attempting a light hearted laugh. 

“You do!” Sam crowed in amusement, stabbing an accusatory finger into the center of Danny’s chest. “You love to boyfriend me. Years of practice. You miss it, huh?”

“Wow, you’re hammered,” Danny said dismissively, shaking his head. 

“‘S’not the point,” Sam sighed, his head dropping onto Danny’s chest, his soft hair brushing against Danny’s exposed skin and sending a shockwave through Danny’s reflexes. 

“I’m taking you home, Sam, end of story,” Danny whispered in Sam’s ear, attempting to straighten his neck before Sam’s hand reached up and pulled Danny’s head back down. Sam’s lips went to Danny’s ear in a whisper of his own.

“I hate you wearing my fucking shirt,” Sam whispered, his voice shockingly sober and coherent in the blink of an eye. A cold sweat broke out over Danny’s body and he felt his breaths coming out in jagged, stilted intervals as Sam kept him anchored to him. 

“You wanna take it off me, then?” Danny ventured, his voice matching Sam’s barely audible pitch. He tried to make it a joke but his voice fell flat and serious. He could have sworn he heard Sam’s voice hitch before Sam let go of him, allowing Danny to step back and boggle at Sam’s bizarre behavior. Sam had such an odd glint in his eye, assessing Danny with his lip tucked between his teeth as he continued to struggle to stay standing. For a moment, Danny considered what he would do if he was less restrained than he had learned to be around Sam. There was a massive part of him that was aching and begging for him to pin Sam against the wall and tear away at that infuriating little skirt, holding him down by the warmth of his waist and shutting him up with his teeth and tongue. But he knew he couldn’t, so he stood with a scowl on his face and challenged Sam again.

“What?” Danny snapped, his frustration growing as Sam continued to refuse to leave. That’s all Danny wanted right now, but Sam never, ever gave him what he wanted. 

“I…” Sam trailed off and didn’t pick it back up, simply staring a hole through Danny’s head. Danny could practically hear the gears turning in Sam’s brilliant brain, but all that followed was silence. It was the loudest silence Danny had ever heard, and he wondered with a jolt if there was something Sam wanted to say that was akin to what Danny had been screaming into pillows and scrawling in journals for years now. Without a word, Danny pleaded with Sam to just say it so he could stop slowly crushing himself under the weight of whatever it was between them that neither of them wanted to touch. But he knew he wouldn’t, and Sam didn’t, and Danny let out a sigh that threatened to bring tears with it. He walked to the door and opened it, motioning with a nod of his head.

“We’re going,” Danny said firmly, taking off the stupid glasses frames and ripping off the bowtie with an extension of his pinkie, crumpling them into a ball in his hand and tucking them into his pocket.

“But-”

“I don’t want to play anymore, Sam,” Danny snapped, unable to even look at Sam when he said it. “I’m not your fucking boyfriend, which you’ve made very clear, by the way, so I’m not going to force you to do anything. But if you want a ride home and you don’t want to wake up choking on your own vomit in some random person’s studio apartment, the time is now.”

There was a beat of silence, and when Danny turned to look at Sam, he felt a stab of guilt when Sam gawked at him like he’d been slapped across the face. Sam let out a wordless scoff and pushed his way past Danny, turning to glare up at him.

“I can take care of myself,” Sam hissed, his words still blurry and drunk around the edges. “I don’t need you.”

“You won’t be thinking that tomorrow morning,” Danny countered fiercely. Sam rolled his eyes and began to descend the stairs, his sneakers slamming into each step as he ran away from Danny. Danny, as always, ran after him with a growing sickness in his chest. Sam stopped before he reached the front door, looking back at Danny one more time.

Danny knew he had to say it now. He wanted to. 

He wanted to beg Sam to calm down and to beg for his forgiveness, worshipping on his knees for his grace like he’d been doing for what felt like his entire life. 

But he didn’t. 

So out the door Sam went, slamming it and leaving Danny alone.

Again.

~~~ 

[lunaaranala]

i feel the need to list every fandom/ship i am or was ever interested in so here we are

persona 5, spefically i am very normal about shuake

and persona 3 and 4 they're cool

genshin impact, the number of ships i like is ridiculs because of how many characters there are tho i do fixate on wanderer

wings of fire my childhood

harry potter fanfiction is my entire love for this series

keeper of the lost cities i loved it in the beginning but ever since nightfall(book 6), they haven't been really good in my opinion

ascendance of a bookworm the fanfictions are great

twisted wonderland i love fairy tale twists and adding in pretty boys is heaven, leona is my favorite

splatoon, haven't really been in since 3 released but agent 3/agent 8 is my favorite

mystic messenger some of the bad endings are seriously messed up

cinderella phenomenon, karma and waltz are my favorite li

dc specially the batfamily tho john constantine is also interesting

percy jackson and the varies riordan verse nico is the sweetest and deserves all the sunshine, fics where the pantheons meet are fun

hades fics where zagreus meets nico are interesting wish there were more

danny phantom, im in it for the crossovers

ensemble stars, a friend introduced me, not super invested but the music is nice, but dont talk to me about izumi sena i loathe him

omniscient reader another friend introduced me, and i love it and joongdok so much

the s classes that i raised mc with the chains guy is fun

who made me a princess luathy consumed my mind when i read this

i shall master this family very interesting

carmen sandiego gray/carmen

my hero academia most ships are open season exept ochaco/deku they just don't seem to have that chemistry, todosibling fluff is great tho

linked universe i mean it's amazing

voltron shenanigains are fun

avatar i prefer atla over alok

tales of arcadia douxie

the world ends with you joshneku all the way

this will probably be edited later to add thoughts or anything im forgetting

and not even a minute after i post this i add more

trolls i got weirdly into broppy a couple weeks ago

spiderverse dont really like marvel but the movie was cool love the changing artstyles and hobie

our life beginnings and always and maybe our life now and forever once that's completed

update august 5

scum villain self saving system listen I didn't know it was a somewhat smut series and now I'm just attached to cumplane's bond whether they're bros or hoes

fullmetal alchemist so I'm really really attached to the tension thing I guess since I like edroy, and like ed's the kid who got his arm and leg stolen by God when he was eleven which killed any innocence plus do you really think anyone could stop ed if he really wanted roy? also roy is a sad little man that is now my blorbo like look at this dis-functioning manwhore with flowery words

dragon age zevran the suave pretty man, also I'm somewhat attached to solas just cause the large mass of people want to jump his bones, excited for veilguard

yuri on ice! vituuri is nice but yurio the fierce tiger is my precious

bungo stray dogs I've been dipping my toes in but haven't watched yet

dr stone these quirky children I love them so much

gravity falls weirdness is fun, need to read the book of bill, and great gatsby but for unrelated reasons

[dr-spencer-reids-queen]

A Shade of Gray: Part Two

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Female!Reader

Word Count: ~2.2k

Summary: Your abilities are put to the test when you have to gather evidence based on what your psyche is telling you. Hotch believes in you, and that’s the only thing that matters.

Warnings: canon violence, canon language, canon talk of death, methods of kill

Author’s Note: I do not own anything from Criminal Minds. All credit goes to their respective owners. If there are any warnings that exceed the normal death/kills from the show, I will list them. If you’ve seen the show, then it’s the same level of angst unless otherwise stated

x

You and Rossi walk down to the kitchen to see what Bill was called away for. You need to inspect every inch of this house so you'll know where to start looking.

"Our tech guys found this dishrag and a glass of water. Kyle's fingerprints were all over it," Bill says.

"So, he wakes up thirsty, comes to the kitchen, and gets some water."

"When we got here, the deadbolt on the French doors was unlocked."

"That must have been his exit."

"Rossi! Y/N! Check this out!" Derek calls from the basement. You and Rossi join Derek in the basement. You're immediately floored at the energy left behind down here. "This window was definitely broken from the outside. Given the size of it, the unsub would have to be really small to get through it. What did you find upstairs?"

"There were signs of a struggle. It looks like Kyle was abducted from his room. The unsub went out through the family room door."

"So, he finds a safe and quiet place to break in."

"Everything about how Kyle was taken is consistent with the previous abductions."

Yeah, too consistent.

Hotch, JJ, Spencer, and Penelope came up with a short list of suspects they thought might have done this. You'll be back to this house to inspect it further so you leave with Derek, Bill, and Rossi back to the police station to find out what list they have.

"We've already narrowed the list to five men."

"Already?"

"Hugh Rollins, forty-three, lived in Camden County his whole life, in and out of foster care since he was a toddler, and acquired quite the nice rap sheet."

"What's his connection to the victims?"

"Two years ago, he got a steady job installing TVs. The first two families recently purchased a new one. Garcia found something else. Rollins had no cell or bank activity on the days the boys were abducted."

Relief washes over you, and you look at Bill to see his eyes closed. Why is he relieved at this news?

"We haven't been able to connect Rollins to Kyle yet," you say.

"You're saying you wanna wait for more evidence?"

"No, there isn't time. We have sufficient probable cause."

"Hotch, you need to hear what Y/N has to say," Rossi says.

All eyes are on you, and you look at Bill who is waiting for you to say something. Rossi understands what needs to happen, so he makes up some bullshit and takes him off to the side.

"What is it?" Hotch asks.

"I don't think Rollins did it. At least not with Kyle. I know you told me to gather physical evidence, but forget that for a moment. Sarah and Dan are racked with guilt. There's so much there that I started to feel guilty about things from my past. Danny is the complete opposite. He has no emotion about any of this. When I was talking to his dad, he was sitting next to him with a clear bored expression on his face. It felt forced when he started crying.

"The reason why I don't think Rollins did it is because the first two victims were taken from their homes, right? There is not an energy out of place in that house. I've never met Rollins, but I would have noticed a stray energy. Plus, I saw Kyle. He's dead.

"Soley based on this energy, I think Danny killed his brother in a fit of rage, and based on his parents' energies, I think they're covering it up or they know what happened. The relief I felt from Bill when you said Rollins might be responsible for this is concerning. Bill knows what happened and they're all keeping it a secret."

"Y/N--"

"I know what you're going to say," you cut Derek off. "I need physical proof to back my theory up. I get it. I'm telling you this because I'd like you to give me a little leash." You turn to Hotch. "Give me some time to gather what I can. I'm not saying Rollins didn't kill those two little boys, but he didn't kill Kyle. Please."

"Fine. You and Reid go to the Murphy house and the rest of us will take Rollins. You'll have your leash. Don't choke me with it."

"Thank you. Come on, Spencer."

The Murphys are surprised to see you back at their place so shortly after leaving.

"Agents. I didn't expect you to come back so quickly," Dan says.

"Yes. Could we take a look inside? I want to make sure we didn't miss anything in our initial sweep. Can we start with Kyle's room?"

"Of course. Come in."

You and Spencer walk into the house and take a look around. Dan and Sarah stay downstairs while you and Spencer head up to Kyle's room which is still in a state of array.

"So, what are we looking for?"

"Anything that would suggest Danny killed his brother or that Sarah and Dan covered it up. I have the crime scene photos of the first two victims' bedrooms." You take out the folder and put the two pictures side by side to compare it to the state of Kyle's room. "Take a look at the sheets. The first two were ripped as if the kids tried to fight back. Look at Kyle's."

Kyle's sheets are thrown on the ground as if someone placed them there instead of an actual struggle occurring. You take your phone out and take a picture of Kyle's room so that you can compare it to the other two later on.

"Isn't there something off about this room?"

"What do you mean?"

"It looks like this was staged. Like someone came in here and messed everything up to make it look like a struggle. Did he even sleep in this room last night?"

"It does look that way compared to the other two, but that doesn't mean Danny killed his brother."

"No, but it helps my theory. Come on." You take Spencer over to Danny's room which is neat for a kid. The only thing out of place is the bunk beds because both beds are messed up like two people slept here and not one. "I thought only one kid lives here."

"They do."

"I think Kyle slept in here last night. The sheets wouldn't look slept in if he didn't." You walk closer to the bed and notice a dark spot in the middle of the bed underneath a teddy bear. "Kyle wet the bed. Come on." You take Spencer back downstairs where Dan is waiting eagerly. He stands up as soon as he sees you, and he wipes his hands on his jeans as if they're starting to clam up. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah, I just want my little boy to come home."

"I understand. Thank you for letting us do this," Spencer says.

"Anything you need that might help."

You notice Dan's knuckles are freshly busted like he hit something over and over again. You didn't see any workout equipment in the house, so you're not sure where he got that if he got that here.

"If you don't mind me asking, what happened to your hand?" you ask.

Dan puts his left hand over his right to hide it but you've already seen it.

"I was working out at the gym and forgot to bring my gloves. I'm always forgetting things like that," he chuckles.

"Right, well, give us five more minutes and we'll be out of your hair." You take Spencer down to the basement where the collective energy of the family resides. "This is where most of the energy is."

"What do you feel?"

"Well, it doesn't really matter what I feel. According to Hotch, I need physical proof."

"Come on, don't do that. He's not here. It's just me. What do you feel?"

"A lot of anger. A lot of pain. Whatever happened to Kyle happened in this room."

"How can you be sure?"

"He's standing in the corner watching us. Hotch doesn't understand. This is why I don't rely on physical evidence. I know people's secrets and when you confront them about it, nine out of ten times, they crack."

The glass from the broken window catches the light, and you walk over to it carefully. They've cleaned the glass up but the hole is still there. Ghost pieces of glass hover off the ground and fit back into place. All the pieces are there but one. Why would one be missing? The police have the pieces of glass in evidence, so you'll need to get those to reconstruct what the window looked like before it was smashed. Dan was nervous when you asked him about his hand which is more suspicious when you know a piece of the window is missing.

"We'll need to get those glass pieces back. I bet one of them is missing. I don't think Dan was working out when he busted his knuckles." You look out the broken window to see the neighbor across the street working in her flower garden, and she periodically looks over at the Murphy house. "Let's talk to her."

"Why? Police already talked to all the neighbors."

"We didn't."

As soon as you thank the Murphys, you leave their house and head over to the neighbor's house. She is working in her garden when she hears the clack of your heels on the concrete.

"May I help you?"

"Yes. I'm Agent Y/N and he's Dr. Spencer Reid. We're investigating the disappearance of Kyle Murphy. I'd like to ask you a few questions if you don't mind."

"I already told the police everything I know."

"Still. I'd appreciate it if you give me a moment of your time. I promise to keep this short." The woman stands up, wipes her dirt-covered hands on her jeans, and gives you the okay. "Thank you. Do you spend a lot of time in your garden?"

"Yes. I grow rare flowers that need my attention multiple times a day."

"Would you say you have a good view of the Murphy house?"

"Yes."

"Have you noticed anyone lingering around their house? It could be a car you don't recognize or someone passing by their house multiple times a day."

"No. I lost my job recently so I've been home all day to tend to my garden. I know everyone in this neighborhood because I attend the weekly meetings at the church. I would have noticed someone out of place."

You look up at her house and notice a small security camera in the corner that points toward the Murphy house.

"Excuse me, is your camera on?" you ask.

"Always. I don't want people stealing my flowers."

"Does it point to the Murphy house?"

"Not in the way you're hoping. It doesn't capture the whole house. The police already asked to see the footage but it didn't help them."

"Do you mind releasing footage to us? It might help us."

"Sure. I'll be right back." The woman goes inside and returns moments later with a file in her hand. "I've already looked. I don't know what you're going to find."

"Thank you for your help. If you can think of anything else, please give me a call." You turn to Spencer. "We need to get this to Garcia, and I think we should check the woods next. We might find Kyle there."

You'd call this successful and wonder if the other half of the team is doing well. Emily and Derek found child pornography on his computer but nothing that connects him to the three boys. However, they did find a black bag filled with children's toys, more specifically, his victims'.

"I'll check out back," Bill announces.

When he gets back there, Rollins can be seen trying to run away. Bill takes out his gun and starts firing without trying to pursue him on foot.

"Stop! Bill, stop!" Derek yells when he runs outside. Derek and Emily take off running toward Rollins who tries to climb the fence to get out. Derek tackles him to the ground and arrests him right there and then. Emily takes him to the police car while Derek walks back to Bill with an angry look on his face. "What the hell was that about?"

"I thought he might get away. I wasn't thinking."

"You're damn right you weren't."

"I know. It was stupid."

"What if you'd killed him? He's the only one who knows where Kyle is."

"I said I know."

The relief I felt from Bill when you said Rollins might be responsible for this is concerning. Bill knows what happened and they're all keeping it a secret.

Derek thinks about your words from earlier and looks between Bill and Rollins. If you're right about this, and he knows you probably are, then Bill knows the truth about what happened to Kyle.

"Lancaster, I've been where you are. I was a cop, too. That's why I knew this wasn't a good idea. You are way too close."

"I'm not gonna stop until we find Kyle," Bill glares and leaves Derek's side.

"Kyle isn't here," Rossi says and leaves the house with Emily.

"No, and if he isn't on this property, he's already in the woods. So, Rollins goes to the trouble of breaking into the Murphys' house? It's a big risk to take Kyle. If he's already in the woods, then he only kept him for a few hours. This doesn't make any sense."

I saw Kyle downstairs as a spirit. He died, and not that long ago.

The reason why I don't think Rollins did it is because the first two victims were taken from their homes, right? There is not an energy out of place in that house. I've never met Rollins, but I would have noticed a stray energy.

Soley based on this energy, I think Danny killed his brother in a fit of rage, and based on his parents' energies, I think they're covering it up or they know what happened.

Rossi thinks back to your words.

"I think Y/N might be right on this one. We need to find Kyle's body to be sure."

x

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[jake-whatthefisgoingon-kiszka]

Now back to our regularly scheduled smut, part 8! Haven’t read the rest? Start here in part 1

Pairings: Sam Kiszka X Danny Wagner, Jake Kiszka X fem OC

Warnings and tags: 18+ only! unrequited love, slash, m/m sexual situations, m/f sexual situations, oral (fem rec), p in v, drinking, angst, jealousy, complicated family situations, mentions of family death, third person POV Jake, Danny, Sam, and Kim, restaurant AU

Word count: 8.9k

He used the towel that was tucked in the apron situated around his waist to wipe stray drops of reduction from the edge of the porcelain plates. With that last touch he took a step back to admire his work, not even a single garnish out of place.

“Excellent job Julian” Jake exclaimed, clapping his shoulders while pulling him aside so he could take apart the plate his understudy had just painstakingly slaved over for the past thirty minutes and give it a taste test.

Julian watched with anticipation as Jake took a few bites making sure to get every perfectly planned ingredient on his utensil. “The greens are a little bitter” he commented and Julian’s eager smile faltered for a second, “but the meat is cooked beautifully. Very tender and juicy. The sweetness of the fruit in the reduction helps curb the bitterness which is to be expected from local produce. So overall, I’d have to say you nailed it”.

The prep staff had taken a break to watch Jake and Julian bring to life the new special for the menu. Usually Jake and the kitchen manager would cook any of the new items a few days before the restaurant launched them for all the kitchen staff to try. The kitchen manager would explain the theory and direction behind the special, and Jake would explain the techniques he used to achieve the resulting dish.

Tonight however, Jake had convinced the kitchen manager to let Julian cook the first meal, and he didn’t not let him down. The prep cooks cheered and congratulated Julian for a job well done, and Jake stepped aside so they could file over and get a taste for themselves.

“What’s the cause for celebration?” Kim asked from where she stood with her back leaned up against the wall by the door that led from the kitchen to the dining room.

She had her arms crossed over her chest, and Jake tried not to notice the way the buttons of her top strained at the swell of her breasts.

“Julian just prepared the new special” he answered her while slowly approaching where she stood.

Her amused smile slipped and she stood up quickly, rolling her shoulders back to stand up straight in preparation to meet him, but Jake turned at the last minute and pushed his way out of the door.

Standing where he left her, Kim tucked a stray piece of some grown out bangs behind her ear trying to hide her embarrassment since she was almost sure she had caught Jake checking her out. Either that or her mind was just playing tricks on her in the harsh kitchen lighting.

“Hey!” She jumped and clutched at her chest when Jake popped his head into the kitchen once more, smiling wickedly at his successful attempt to startle her. “You coming? We need to put the new menus out”.

“That kind of sounds like my job” Kim pointed out when she settled her rapidly beating heart, but followed him out anyway.

“Well, Julian is killing it in there, so I’m here to help you”.

She cocked an eyebrow, something about him had been off ever since he got back from vacation. He was more tentative, more soft spoken, and he was surprisingly nicer. “Who are you and what did you do with Jake?”

He looked back at her and chuckled. She had a right to be cautious around him, in the past he was hotheaded and mouthy while in the kitchen. It was how he got people to take him seriously, speak and act louder and bigger than you were so others wouldn’t try to stomp over you. The few that had publicly detested him had weeded themselves out, and those who were hired to replace them learned quickly that Jake was in charge.

When Julian started Jake saw his raw talent almost immediately and took him under his wing. Hearing about his pupils' success while he was gone made him realize that he wasn’t still here to just bark orders and direct, he was here to lead and inspire those in the kitchen who looked up to him.

“I’m turning a new leaf” he revealed while handing over the stack of new menus fresh from the print shop and stepped back to start following her.

“So where do we start?”

She waved him along, thankful for the help since she was actually here early to do a quick clean and change of the table settings.

After rummaging through a locked closet she pulled out a two tiered cart. The top had a few gray bussing tubs, one full of utensils, the other cream colored linen napkins fresh from the cleaners. On the bottom all bunched together were vases full of miniature flower arrangements, probably delivered this morning.

Before she locked the closet back up she found a couple of clean microfiber rags, and a spray bottle. “Okay, we’ve got to spray and wipe down all the tables, then I’ll show you how to set them”.

“Sounds good to me” Jake pushed the cart for her, stopping when she did at the first table.

“So, have any plans for the week?” He asked, trying to start some small talk.

“I was supposed to be seeing a show tomorrow night, but I don’t really want to go alone” she sighed while wiping the table down before placing the flowers in the middle and setting each place with a set of utensils, a folded napkin, and the new menu on top.

“What kind of show?” Jake pressed on as he intently watched her set a few places before jumping in to help.

“Oh, just a musical my nephew is performing in. He gave me tickets a while back so I requested the night off. Savanna was supposed to go with me but she didn’t put in her request in time so she’s working”. There was a hint of disappointment in her voice, because her friend had basically flaked on her, but she tried to sound unbothered by it.

“Well, I’m off tomorrow night. Josh used to drag me to his shows all the time, and I have to admit I did like a few of them”. He picked up the spray bottle and split the stack of menus in half to work on another table. If they did this together then they could get this done in no time, which seemed to go by especially fast when talking together.

“I don’t know…” she watched Jake start to clean off the next table and spray it down before picking it up herself and spraying off another, “you don’t have to come for me, you’re just being nice”.

“I am, and I want to. If you’ll have me that is”. He flashed a smile in her direction, hoping the added charm would help her agree to him tagging along.

“What happened to you not going out with people from work?”

He paused his placing of forks around the table, remembering he did say such a thing, but only because he was trying to pick a fight with Sam and Savanna. “Like I said, I’m turning a new leaf” he shrugged and started back around with the spoons. “Besides, I’d be crazy not to ask you out at some point. You could come over, have dinner, then we could carpool over to the theater. If it’s the same one Josh worked at then I live really close”.

He looked up again to see she had already knocked out two tables compared to his one. She was working furiously, trying to fight off a blush. “Yeah it is, I remember where your apartment is”.

“Well, that makes it easy then. What wine do you want? I can pick up a bottle at the store when I go to get a few ingredients. I hope you like crab”. He flashed another charming smile. He definitely knew what it was doing to her.

“Wine?” She gasped with a giggle, “so is this a date then?”

He sent her a wink, finally getting that blush out of her as they finished up, “sounds like a date to me”.

Kim sat in her car checking her makeup and hair in the tiny mirror one last time before heading up the walkway to Jake’s front door. On the other side of the white painted wood she could hear music and if she listened hard she thought she could maybe even make out the sound of Jake singing along.

She forced her giddy smile down and knocked, waiting only a moment while the music died down and the door opened up to Jake dressed in a beige button down. The top few buttons were undone to show off an arrangement of silver necklaces, and it was paired with some straight legged black trousers. He looked really good.

It was so different from the way he looked at work, his black on black chef's coat and pinstriped pants. He wasn’t allowed to wear jewelry in the kitchen and he always had to have his long hair tied back. Despite this being extra as he seemed to have dressed up for the occasion, it felt like it was more authentic to him.

“Come in! Dinner is almost ready”

He took her purse and hung it on a set of hooks by the door before leading her through the living room into the kitchen.

She managed to look around a little on the way, noticing that a lot of the decorative elements she had admired the last time she was here were gone now. They must have been Josh’s.

“I figured you wouldn’t want to eat anything too big or heavy before the show, so I made a bisque. We can always get some snacks at the theater if you get hungry again later”. He seemed to be a little bit nervous as he fiddled around in the kitchen, pulling out a couple of bowls and then some wine glasses. “Also, you never told me what kind of wine you like so I got something I thought would pair well”.

Kim moved over to his side, finding the tall dark bottle and picking it up to examine the label. “Pinot noir goes well with just about anything. Haven’t had this brand before though”. Looked a little expensive she thought, at least compared to the hundred dollar bottles on the wine menu at work.

“You know your wine?” He asked, holding his hand out for the bottle after he fished out a corkscrew.

“A little, have to when you wait tables at a fancy restaurant. People ask about our wine selection all the time”.

“Is that so?” He laughed a little through his nose while he tried not to struggle with opening the bottle, only the damn thing was in there really good.

“Here, let me” she took the bottle back from his hands, twisted the screw in a little more and lifted her elbow parallel with the top, pulling the cork out in one swift motion.

He thanked her and started to fill the glasses, just a bit at first so they could taste. “What do you usually recommend?”

“A Pinot noir” she laughed in return and sipped what she had in her glass. “This is good! Can’t wait to see what it’s like with the food”.

“Well, go have a seat and I’ll make you a bowl”. His hand gently pressed against the small of her back as she turned away and set her glass down onto the table.

“Jake, this looks so good” she exclaimed when he set the bowls full of the creamy aeromatic soup down at their respective places and returned with the wine to properly fill their glasses this time.

“I got this bread from the bakery this morning too so it’s really fresh” he offered her a slice he’d toasted earlier when he took his seat across from her.

She tore off a piece and dipped it straight into the bowl, letting it soak up for a moment before popping it into her mouth and humming with satisfaction. “You’re really living up to your reputation, and if I didn’t like you so much I’d have to say I hate you”.

“My reputation?” How was it that he worked in the same place Sam, Kim, and Danny did, yet he was always the last to hear about what was being said about him?

“Well, besides the kitchen manager they say you’re the best cook they’ve had for a while”.

“Oh,” he tried a spoonful, and it was delicious. He'd done a good job even if it did take him just about all afternoon. “At least it’s something good this time”.

They took their time finishing their meal. Jake was sure to invite her over with plenty of time for them to eat and talk to get their nerves out before heading over to the theater. Although after the initial anxiety of having someone over wore off, he felt really at ease in her company.

“Do you have a coat?” He asked as he handed her back her purse and pulled on the black jacket he had hanging up next to it.

“Yeah, it’s in my car let me go grab it really quick”.

He started his car and got it warmed up while she retrieved her jacket and slid into his passenger seat with it folded over her hands in her lap.

As he made the quick drive he noticed she had gone quiet compared to all the easy talking they were doing over dinner. Perhaps she just didn’t know what to talk about now as she stared out the window.

The sun had already gone down, a result of the winter time schedule, and he caught a glimpse of a few colorful lights that some people had already hung up for Christmas reflecting off her face.

The parking lot was packed. This theater was used for shows the university produced so it was usually pretty popular, but this show especially seemed to have turned out a huge crowd.

He noticed Kim taking a steadying breath when he found a place to park in, so he left the car running for a moment.

“You said your nephew is starring in this?” He asked, trying to break the silence.

She snapped out of her daze pulling her smile back into place though it seemed forced this time. “Yeah he is. He’s so talented too”.

“How is it you’re still young but you have a nephew in college?” He hoped he wasn’t prying too much, but she didn’t seem to mind.

“My parents got a divorce right before I was born. They were married for fourteen years and already had a twelve year old daughter before me. This is my half sister's son”.

“Half sister?” It seemed a little odd she specifically referred to her as her half sister, considering if they’d grown up together then she’d just call her a sister. Hell, Daniel wasn’t even a blood relative but they still called him a brother.

“Yeah, umm, my mom had an affair with my father. That’s why they got a divorce”. She looked down, pulling at a stray string on the hem of her jacket. Seemed she was a little ashamed to admit it. “She raised me alone and my Dad kept Cortney. We didn’t really start talking to each other until she got married and I found out she had a son that was a few years younger than me. She had him young which her Dad always blamed on our mom’s influence”.

“Wow, that must have been hard to grow up without her” Jake was so close with his brothers, he couldn’t even imagine his childhood without their annoying constant presence. Even now he thought about Josh being so far away and it hurt him to wonder what memories he was making without him.

“It’s fine, her and I aren’t very much alike, but I was a junior in highschool when Noah was a freshman. He used to get bullied a lot so I stepped in where I could. We got really close, he honestly feels more like a brother to me than a nephew sometimes”.

“He knows you're coming too, I called him last night and told him”.

“Oh, so I’d better be on my best behavior then?” He smirked, realizing the time and deciding they better hurry inside now.

They had seats smackdab in the middle of the auditorium. Not super close to the stage, but not too far up that they wouldn’t be able to make out what was happening on set.

Kim was completely enraptured by the performance, excitedly pointing out her nephew when he made his grand appearance. He was a handsome guy, thick straight dark hair combed neatly to the side and big bright eyes that caught the stage lights. Kim looked terribly proud of him as he belted the lyrics to a solo towards the end of the first act. Once the scene was concluded the curtains drew for the intermission and Jake stood up to stretch his legs.

“Would you like anything to drink? I’m going to run to the restroom real quick”

“I’ll take some water, thanks” she replied, getting up as well and tossing her jacket into her seat to roam around while they waited.

The line at the concession was long, but it went by pretty quickly. He paid for the two bottles of water and headed back into the auditorium to find Kim standing next to a group of people down towards the front.

Jake dropped the bottles off at their seats and stuffed his hands in his pockets as he weaved through the mingling bodies all having their own talks until the conversation between Kim and the tall gentleman with salt and pepper hair dressed in a navy suit came into eavesdropping range.

“What’s he supposed to do with a performing arts degree? I was going to graciously pay for him to attend Yale like Andrew did but instead you talked him into staying with you here”.

“I didn’t talk him into anything, he just didn’t want you shipping him off to Connecticut to go to school for something he didn’t have any interest in” Kim spoke back to the man, a bit of a bite in her tone.

“Dad stop, Noah has done really well in school, he’s at the top of his class” a slightly older woman chimed in. That must have been Courtney, Kim’s half sister, which meant the man was Kim’s moms ex-husband.

“Top of his class at a mediocre school doesn’t mean anything Court” he scoffed.

Jake clenched his jaw. He wasn’t for sure, but he had a suspicion Noah and Josh went to the same university. So to him this man insulting Kim’s nephew also meant he was insulting Jake’s brother. He waited though, listening to see where else this conversation was going to go before he attempted to butt in.

“And you” he turned his spitfire back towards Kim “You never even went to college so you don’t have a say here. When are you going to get your life together? Court was getting married at your age but that last guy you were with cheated on you didn’t he? Funny you go for the same type as your mother was”.

“Don’t talk about my mother” Kim was flushed, her hands balled into tight fists at her curvy sides. She looked like she was holding herself back from taking a haphazard swing. Now seemed like a good time to interfere.

“There you are sweetheart” Jake cut the man off before she could say anything else. Him, Courtney, and another man who had just stood by and let this conversation run off the rails, probably Courtney’s husband, all looked over at Jake in shock as he threw his arm around Kim and pressed a kiss to her cheek.

“I was looking for you, we should head back to our seats before the lights get dim again”.

“Who’s this?” Courtney asked Kim, her eyes darting from the two of them to her Dad to gauge his reaction to Jake’s unannounced presence.

He offered his hand to shake but they all continued to just stand there and gawk at him. They looked like they’d never seen anyone like him, and maybe they hadn’t with their pressed suits and trimmed hair.

“I’m Kim’s boyfriend” he lied, causing Kim to look up at him with wide eyes but he didn’t take his eyes from where he’d been staring down the older man. Instead he gave her a squeeze, hoping she would go along with his charade.

“Paul, this is Ja-”

“Jacob” he cut her off, introducing himself.

“Jacob” she continued, feeling weird about calling him that, “this is Courtney and her husband Andrew, Noah’s parents”.

“It’s nice to meet you all, but I think the intermission is about to conclude so if you would excuse us”. He nodded his head and they turned to hike back up to their seats just as the curtain rolled back up.

“Are you alright?” Jake whispered into her ear, he could still feel her body trembling underneath his arm.

“I’m fine” she replied, but he knew better. Once they sat down he took her hand in his and didn’t let it go until the show was over.

Kim bolted back to Jake’s car, not even bothering to put her jacket on until she had reached the passengers side and waited for him to unlock the door.

“How much did you hear?” She asked after they had made it nearly a block away from his apartment.

“Enough” he answered, his hands tightening on the steering wheel when he thought back to the way that man talked down to Kim in front of everyone.

“Sorry I didn’t tell you they would be there. Now you see why I didn’t want to go alone”.

Jake sped up and flew around the corner onto his street, throwing the car in park so he could turn to face her.

“Don’t apologize for them. You don’t deserve anything they say about you especially not when they’ve alienated you for something that wasn’t your fault”.

Kim rolled her eyes and sighed. How would Jake know what she did and didn’t deserve? He’d only seen a little fraction of the shit she put up with from her family, if she could even call them that.

“They’re all I have. Now that my mom…”

A pang of realization shocked through his frustration, softening his opinion on the encounter. She didn’t have to explicitly state it, he could already tell from the trailing of her voice what she meant.

“What happened to her?” He asked, voice quiet and tender.

“Cancer” she replied, “when I was eighteen”.

“I’m so sorry”.

The car fell silent again as she took in his obligatory apology. She’d heard it for years now, it was the only thing people could think of to tell her when they found out her mom was gone.

“That doesn’t mean you should let them talk to you that way. Kim, you’re an amazing person. You’re strong, even stronger now that I know what you’ve been through, and you’re genuine, and you’re beautiful”.

It was such a simple compliment, but coming from Jake it meant everything to her. She never expected him to feel any sort of way about her when she started to develop her little crush now turned infatuation, but now that she knew he did her heart began to pound.

Kim turned her attention to Jake who hadn’t taken his eyes off her since he’d stopped driving.

In that moment she could feel her breathing slow, hear the sound of her blood pumping furiously through her ears as Jake’s eyes slipped from hers to her lips.

Her tongue darted out to dampen her bottom lip in anticipation as she watched Jake’s lips part and let in a shaky breath. This kiss had been building all day from the moment Kim showed up on Jake’s doorstep to now, sitting in his car feeling like she’d been broken down and pieced back together with invisible tape.

Jake shifted in his seat, but not towards her, away. Though he wanted to kiss her, there had to be a better opportunity than now.

He cleared his throat and she sat back, blinking back a tear she hadn’t even realized had started to pool at the corner of her eye.

Kim stepped out first, excusing herself to take a moment to let the air cool her from the stuffiness of the car.

“You know, we still have that opened bottle of wine” Jake suggested. He had his hands stuffed in his pockets, jiggling his set of keys restlessly. “Would you like to come back inside for a bit?”

“I could use another glass of wine after that” she sheepishly admitted, trying to not follow too closely behind Jake as he unlocked the door and held it open.

His apartment still smelled like the dinner he’d prepared. The heater was left on so it was warm and inviting. Jake took her coat before shrugging off his own and leaving them at the door.

“Wait here, I’ll go get the glasses” he instructed, pausing for her to nod and sit on the couch before he slipped away and into the kitchen.

Returning after only a moment with two new wine glasses and the whole bottle from earlier, he set them onto the small table in front of the couch and poured both. They were much larger than the ones from dinner she noticed, and he took the first one by the stem offering it to her with a knowing smirk.

“Can’t handle your wine sweetheart?” He cooed, his reuse of the pet name from earlier making her stomach fill with butterflies.

Kim pulled the glass from his hand and met his amused eyes as she took a long drink, nearly downing half of it in one go and successfully drowning the little winged creatures.

“Ok, I stand corrected” he chuckled while refilling her glass then retrieving his own and settling back.

“Thank you again for coming with me, and making dinner. You really didn’t have to go all out like you did”.

“It’s my pleasure, I like to perform acts of service as Josh would call it. My love language or whatever” he replied between his own large sips of the dark ruby liquid.

She giggled again, finally starting to feel a little loose compared to the rest of the evening. “How is Josh? You saw him on your vacation right?”

He couldn’t hide the smile that stretched across his face if he tried. “He’s doing great, really making a name for himself up there. I was a little worried at first. You know all the stories about getting to New York and struggling to fit in. Not him though, you’d never tell he wasn’t born there, well, besides his midwestern accent”.

“I can tell you really love him” she commented as she kicked her shoes off and tucked them up underneath her body. In the movement she rested an elbow on the back of the couch so her head could fall into her palm and leaned over just a bit causing Jake to scooch in closer as well.

“The way you talk about him, I can see it in the light in your eyes. Sam too, you try to hide it at work, but you love both your brothers so much. It’s endearing”.

Jake didn’t shy away from her assessment of his character. She was right, he was honestly just a loveable guy hidden behind the cool and nonchalant exterior. It was just hard for him to so easily express his feelings like those around him. Josh specifically who went around telling people he loved them all the time.

It was nothing against Josh. Despite his common use of the phrase, it never felt like the words held any less weight when he said them.

For some reason even forming the words in his head was difficult for Jake. He couldn’t go around offering his words of affirmation, so instead he acted on his feelings.

That was one of the reasons why he loved cooking so much, it could be as intimate or casual as you wanted to make it. Picking each individual ingredient with your intent in mind.

He knew Josh liked warm hearty foods so he could easily find some potatoes for baking, roasting, or even some handmade gnocchi if he had the time. Sam was a vegetable guy and actually enjoyed going to the market with Jake to check out all the local ingredients that were in season.

He would smile and chat with every vendor, his charm getting him free raw samples so that he always left musing about how full he already was before Jake even had the chance to start cooking. Thinking about it now, it had been a while since he and Sam had gone out together. Maybe on his next trip he’d ask him to come along. The fresh air and familiar atmosphere would set a good foundation for the conversation they needed to have.

The bottle of wine dwindled into nothing as Jake and Kim continued to talk for what seemed like hours and no time at all.

Usually wine didn’t do much to Jake, but with having had dinner so early in the evening he could feel the effects of the alcohol slowly seeping into his muscles. Kim must have been feeling it too, because after a characteristicly cute fit of laughter she let her hand fall into Jake’s lap and didn’t immediately pull it away.

Jake glanced down at where her hand rested then back up at her, his pupils growing wide in an instant.

Kim picked up on the response, and leaned in closer, close enough that he could feel his hairs prickling even before she reached over to touch him.

He sighed into her kiss, it was sweet, no doubt thanks to the wine, but also what he’d expected for her.

What he didn’t expect was the rapid acceleration of the kiss as soon as she knew he was accepting.

He followed her lead for a moment, letting his hands roll across her shoulders and down her narrow back as she palmed at the top of his thighs.

It felt good to be touched again with such intent, to be wanted, but he knew if he didn’t say something soon that they would cross a threshold into a point of no return.

So he broke the kiss and used his grip on her waist to gently pull her back.

Afraid of hurting her feelings he opened his mouth to explain, but saw instead her look of determination hadn’t faltered.

“What’s the matter?” She spoke first, hoping his hesitancy didn’t mean she’d done anything wrong.

Jake pressed a palm to her cheek, watching in awe as she closed her eyes and leaned into the touch. How did I end up here? What have I done to earn this beautiful woman’s trust?

“Nothings the matter. This is perfect” he pressed his thumb against the tender part of her cheek and caressed it back and forth, trying to show to her that just simple touches like this was enough. “You’re perfect”.

She smiled and hummed before turning her face to press a kiss into his palm. It was slightly sweaty, but the warmth and moisture felt good on her lips.

“Jake, you know I want you right?”

“I gathered as much” he chuckled breathily, but he didn’t think it was funny, he was actually feeling a little shy.

“Do you want me?”

Was that even a question? He thought the answer to that was obvious with the way he was straining against his pants just from that quick little make out. He answered her though with a bite to his bottom lip and a nod of his head.

“Good, then there’s no problem” she went to lean back in for another kiss, but Jake turned away again.

Wanting it wasn’t the problem, but he’d run head first before (well one head was doing all the thinking) and it hadn’t exactly fared well for him.

“Kim, I don’t want you to think I did all of this for sex. I honestly just wanted to spend some time with you”.

She sat back, realizing the reasoning behind his reservations. “I know Jake. I never thought you were trading your kindness for sex, and I don’t want you to think that I sleep with people just as a thank you”.

Fuck Jake, you’re fucking this up. “No! Of course not. All I’m saying is we don’t have to do anything tonight. I enjoyed your company regardless”.

“And if I want sex?” She questioned him in return, without a hint of bashfulness, just a genuine question.

Are you really going to deny her?

No, he wasn’t. He made his point and she hadn’t backed down. At least he’d given her an out in case she wanted it.

Jake pushed off the couch from where he had fallen back and connected with her in another quick kiss. “Just know this, if we start now I won’t be able to hold myself back. I’m not in a place right now where I can be gentle and loving”. His hands resumed his exploration of her body, only this time in the front, cupping her chest over the fabrics of her shirt and bra.

A shiver ran through her body as she arched her back and pressed into his touch again, silently begging him to squeeze harder. “Jake, you can do it any way you want to, I just need you to fuck me already”.

A groan left his lips from where they had attached themselves to her collar. She dug her fingers into his hair at the root, and pulled him up so she could crash their lips back together.

“Bedroom now?” He barely got out between each plush attack.

They could hardly break away from each other for long enough to make it up the stairs, pulling off pants and shirts as soon as the door was closed behind them so that they wouldn’t have to bother with them after they’d fallen into the bed.

Now they were both left in their underwear as Jake pressed his entire body down against hers, one arm laid out above her head as he parted her lips and his tongue dove inside for a better taste.

Their tongues danced for a good minute, not paying any attention to the way their bodies writhed together, both searching for friction and relief.

Jake was the first to break away again, moving his open mouthed kisses down her chest. His fingers slipped underneath her and she lifted off the mattress to help give him room to unclasp her bra and toss it aside. Then he moved lower, his next target clearly the last piece of clothing guarding her from being completely exposed to him.

Jake kissed her sternum, then her stomach, his breath trailing lower while his fingers hooked underneath the elastic.

Kim squirmed underneath him until she reached over and pulled him back up for another kiss. Once he felt she was satisfied again, he started to move back to where he was, only he could tell something was off.

She wasn’t as confident now as she was downstairs on the couch. She was bothered and he needed to know by what before he could comfortably continue.

“Everything alright?” He asked while continuing to place kisses all across her lower stomach, hoping the act would let her know just how beautiful he thought she was.

When she didn’t answer he stopped, leaning onto an elbow and looking up at her flushed face.

She sighed and looked away, focusing on the ceiling and hoping they could just get this part over with so they could continue with the rest and she could relax again.

Jake wasn’t having that though, there was no way he was about to lay another hand on her without knowing she was absolutely secure. “You’re in your head. Tell me what’s wrong”.

She refused to meet his gaze, her embarrassment starting to get the best of her now. “You don’t have to go down on me. It’s alright”.

“No? Do you not like it?” He wouldn’t be upset if she said she didn’t, well maybe a little disappointed, but he was curious now nonetheless.

“It’s not that, it’s just…” another weary sigh.

Jake moved until he was hovering over her, catching her chin between his fingers as she tried to turn away. “It’s just what?”

“I don’t like to shave down there” she finally admit with a huff. “I mean I trimmed up, but I don’t know what you’re used to and I didn’t exactly expect you to want to on the first time”.

Jake was speechless for a moment, which really didn’t help with her nerves, until he mentally knocked himself straight and mustered up the sweetest smile he could manage. “Is that it?”

Kim wrapped her arms around Jake’s shoulders and nodded, still feeling a bit self-conscious about it.

“I’m not scared of a bit of body hair babe, it’s natural. If you still don’t want me to then I won’t, but if you’re okay now I would really like to show you just how much I like it”.

Her apprehension started to slowly fade away and the frisky gleam in her eye returned. “Okay” she agreed and let him go, watching this time as he descended back down to her waist and successfully pulled her panties off.

He didn’t even flinch once as he lowered himself between her legs and licked all the way from her entrance up to her sweet spot.

Her legs fell further apart at the sensation, welcoming him closer as he went to work licking everywhere she needed him to and more until her body started shaking.

“Does it feel good?”

“Mhmm” she whined, basking in the vision of his face peeking up from between her legs to check on how she was doing.

When he went back down again she gasped at the addition of his fingers to her. Plunging inside without warning and stretching her with a dull delicious burn.

“God Jake, I need to have you now”.

Asking twice was not a necessity, Jake needed it too. He sat up and she might have been flustered at what a mess she’d already made if she hadn’t seen the wet spot on Jake’s boxers too before he pulled them off.

He pumped himself a few times, then reached above her head to retrieve his blue book. She quizzically watched him as he opened the front cover to expose its contents. A now half empty bottle of lube that he didn’t need this time around. Before he could stop himself he thought back to the last time he’d used his stash. Flashes of a couple of weeks before his trip, Danny laid out on his bed not unlike Kim was now, waiting in anticipation as Jake got ready to finger him for the second time. He had made sure to take extra special care of him that time so that maybe by the next he would be ready. Too bad there never was a next time.

“Clever hiding spot, what else do you have lurking up there?” He heard Kim giggle, reminding him who he was with.

He smirked, trying not to show that he’d been momentarily rattled as he fished a condom out and put the book back. “Only the kinkiest kind of stuff, literature” he joked, causing another laugh while he situated himself and got lined up.

“You’re so fucking warm” he moaned as he pushed inside, further and further until he was completely sheathed in tight wetness.

She was whining, pressing her body up against his to connect them in any way they physically could be. He kissed her once more before sliding a leg up underneath her knee.

Once he got his bearings he started to move, a steady round of hard thrusts that had her crying out his name.

He gripped her hip, guiding her just where he wanted it until his angle was spot on.

“Right there! God right there!” She sobbed into his shoulder and he could feel her clenching around him causing him to push harder chasing his upcoming high.

“You gonna cum for me baby? Just like this?”

She shook her head furiously from left to right. This was good, but she wanted more.

He didn’t even have to ask, he knew what she needed, so he sat back, spitting on his fingers and rubbing tight fast circles into her clit.

Just like that she was pushed over the edge, rocking her hips up and down against his touch.

He fucked her through her orgasm, holding out only until she started to relax before pulling out and ripping off the condom so he could finish on her stomach.

“Hold on a sec” he told her after catching his breath then hopped off the bed.

She watched as he pad out the room, eyeing the roundness of his ass with a pleased grin. When he came back he had a small towel from the bathroom that he used to clean her off.

“Such a gentleman” she giggled then got up to get redressed. “Guess I’d better get going now”.

“You could stay. If you wanted to”. Jake laid back into his bed, tucking an arm behind his head and crossing his ankles. He didn’t mind that he was still totally naked, and Kim didn’t either.

“Yeah? Are you sure?” She paused her dressing after having just pulled her panties back on.

“Get back over here” he reached his free hand out, becoming her back over. She obliged, standing at the edge of the bed as he slipped his hand between her thighs and reached around to grip her cheek “and take these back off”.

“How was the show last night?” Danny asked Kim as they waited for the restaurant to officially open for the evening. Kim used to run around trying to get everything in order before the guests started pouring in, but now that Danny was here helping the days got easier and easier.

She’d almost forgotten she had told Danny about the tickets. It was during one of their breakfast friend-dates they often went on, back when the plan was for Savanna to come.

“Actually, really good, Jake went with me”.

“Jake?” Danny replied, no way of holding back his shock.

Kim blushed, remembering certain events from last night that had her feeling warm and weightless, and then again this morning before she finally left.

“We had dinner, went to the show, he met Paul and Courtney”.

“He met your family?” More shock. He’d heard about Kim’s situation, not after many long mornings and nights of talking and sharing stories, and Jake- He had met them in one night?

“He did, and then we went back to his and had a few drinks”. She wasn’t sure how much of this was appropriate to be talking about at work, but she was just so happy that she wanted to tell someone, and with Danny being a new close friend she felt excited to tell him.

“Ah I see” Danny knew all too well what having drinks at Jake’s place meant. He’d been pulled into the same sly trap. It hadn’t felt like it at the time, it felt personal, unique, vulnerable, but now he didn’t know how he felt about it. Used? Gullible? Like he’d only been the easiest target at the time and now that he’d become unavailable Jake was onto the next just like that.

“Sorry, I need to go find Sam” Danny excused himself, quickly making his way to the bar.

“Follow me” he whispered sternly into Sam’s ear and tunneled his way into the corner that led to the bathrooms.

“What’s up?” Sam asked, concerned about Danny’s sudden testy attitude.

“I just found out Kim and Jake are a thing or something now”.

“Really? Like dating or what?” He expected Danny to have more information, like he didn’t literally just find out and come spiraling over to be consoled. Of course Sam didn’t know Danny was this torn up by the news, Danny and Jake were never a thing.

“I don’t know, I don’t know” he repeated, leaning back against the wall to steady himself. Why was he reacting this badly?

“Well, good for them” Sam grabbed Danny’s hand. “We knew she liked him, so he likes her too. That’s a good thing right? Maybe everyone can get their happy ending”.

“Yeah, no you’re right” Danny inhaled, reminding himself that Jake and Kim were their friends, and their friends getting together was a good thing.

“Come on, we’re about to open” Sam pulled Danny back up. “Go kill it out there and show Kim that you’re happy for her”.

“Alright Sam. And I am happy, for her”. That wasn’t a lie, Kim was a good person so was kind and funny, exactly the type Jake would go for in the past. So why hadn’t he seen this coming sooner?

“Danny?” Sam called out just as he turned to head back to the dining room to find Kim and give her his blessing, not that she needed that from him.

Sam peaked around the corner to make sure no one was coming and pulled Danny by the collar of his shirt into a swift kiss.

“What was that for?” Danny smiled shyly, they’d never kissed in public before, even if they were hiding by a restroom.

“No reason” Sam shrugged, “just felt like it”.

Sam laid in his bed but his body was craving anything but sleep at the moment. Danny had come home a while ago. He heard the front door open and close, the light patter of soft footsteps across the hall, and the running water of the shower. Now Danny was in his own bedroom, studying maybe, he was always the diligent one.

It was annoying. How in the hell was it that Jake was already getting some again and he wasn’t? He was a man too, so it perturbed him how long Danny had kept up this farce about wanting to take things slow.

In the beginning it did sound a bit fun. Letting the tension build or whatever it was Danny had promised, but Sam wasn’t built for tense. Nope, he was built for being loose and indulgent, always getting his way thus was the life of the youngest child.

He sighed, picked up his phone and checked the time. It was still early in the night, plenty of time to get up to no good. Then an idea struck him.

He pulled up the camera, turning it into the front view lense, and sat up slightly so he could get a good angle of his face and his bare chest.

After snapping a satisfactory picture he opened up his text thread with Danny and attached the picture along with an innocent little message.

Im cold

9:15PM

Well then put on some clothes

9:16PM

Fast response, maybe he wasn’t studying.

No

9:16PM

I know something better that will warm me up

9:17PM

Oh, really?

9:17PM

Sam scoffed at the screen. Danny was playing clueless, why did he have to make things so difficult?

Yes really, actually I can think of a few things that could warm both of us up

9:18PM

You want me to bring you an extra blanket?

9:19PM

I want you to come here

9:19PM

Go to bed Sam, we’ve got class in the morning

9:20PM

You’re really going to make me jerk off alone when I’ve got a doting boyfriend across the hall?

9:20PM

Come on, give me something

9:21PM

Sam waited as the last two messages turned from sent to read, but the responses stopped coming. After a few minutes he sighed and locked the screen, tossing his phone to the other side of the bed and laying back with a dull thump of his head against the silk pillow.

He was just about to give up completely and actually take out his frustration on himself when he heard the sound of his door creaking open.

Looking up Danny was standing against the frame of the door with his arms crossed and his eyebrows peaked. “Boyfriend hmm?”

They both smiled stupidly at each other until Sam had enough. He tossed his blanket off and sat up completely with his arms outstretched waiting for, yes his boyfriend, to come embrace him.

As soon as Danny was in his arms he was pressing kisses to Sam’s bare skin anywhere his lips fell. Sam groaned and pulled Danny on top of him, his patience having worn thin hours ago.

“Sam, what’s got you all riled up?” Danny questioned though he seemed to be getting enjoyment out of it as his hands found purchase on the bony ridges of Sam’s hips.

“I can’t help it” Sam replied, wiggling under the grip that held him to his mattress.

“I see, I’ve made you wait too long have I? Who knew you were that insatiable” he smirked as he continued his kisses down Sam’s chest towards the only piece of clothing he was wearing, his boxers.

Sam closed his eyes, trying to lose himself in the sensations of having his body worshiped over.

“Do you like it when I kiss you?”

He hummed from deep in his chest so Danny could feel the vibration beneath his lips.

“Want me to kiss you here too?” He laid his flat palm over the bulge in Sam’s underwear, petting him over the thin fabric with no more than a teasing pressure.

“Fuck, yes” Sam huffed out, letting himself slump down lower as he lifted his hips and Danny stripped him.

Danny wasted no time in tasting him, the tip of his tongue coming out to brush between his parted lips against Sam’s growing erection.

“God Sam, you're unreal” he whispered mostly to himself as he marveled at the pretty pink member below him.

Sam wanted to tell him to stop being weird and staring, but his words were replaced with a gasp when he was suddenly engulfed in the warmth of Danny’s mouth.

Why’s he so good at this? Sam lost his focus and his thoughts started to wonder. He was enjoying it of course, but in the back of his mind he knew Danny must have had some practice.

His jaw was aching and his hands were shaking but he was giving his all to Sam. Admittedly he had been reaching his breaking point as well. Having gone from being so sexually active to sustaining was proving to be harder than he imagined when Sam was finally his. Or at least that’s what he’d been telling himself. He won, he got Sam, there was no need to rush into anything now.

Glancing up he saw the tautness in Sam’s abdomen first, he had to be close. Further up he hoped he’d see Sam staring back down at him, but instead Sam had his hands clamped onto the sheet, his eyes squeezed just as tight.

“Feels good, don’t stop” he begged, bucking his hips up further into Danny’s mouth until he gagged a little from the extra inch.

He would have been embarrassed if he hadn’t experienced this before, letting himself be used for the pleasure of another. He actually quite liked it, being handled roughly, only when he looked up again he was a bit disappointed.

Sam was getting there, his hard work was paying off, only he couldn’t help but remember how Jake looked down at him with glowing eyes, piercing straight through him as he held his head in place with a firm grip in his hair.

“You’re so beautiful” Jake had muttered just before he came, never breaking eye contact.

“Shit Dan- I’m cumming!”

Sam’s hand released the sheet but his grip only returned once it found Danny’s shoulder. Sam was attempting to push him away, but Danny only hollowed out his cheeks and gave one more suck before he felt his mouth being flooded.

“Jesus, that was a lot. Was that a lot?” Sam huffed as he strained to catch his breath. He saw purple and blue dots first when his eyes opened again, then the blinding yellow of the light. Fuck, they hadn’t even turned out the light.

“Feel better?” Danny asked with a chuckle after wiping his mouth dry with the back of his hand.

“Yeah thanks” Sam giggled a bit in return, realizing that a lot of the attitude he’d had over the past few days could be explained now with having been so pent up.

“Good” he tossed Sam his boxers and stood up from the bed. Danny moved to Sam’s side and leaned over to place one last kiss on his forehead. “I’m going to go back to my room now okay?”

“What?” The gleeful daze Sam had been in slowly faded into worry. “What about you?”

“I’m alright” Danny gently pushed Sam back to lay down. “I’m just tired, gonna go get some sleep”.

“You sure?” Sam pressed, but Danny assured him with a lopsided smile that stretched into his eyes.

A/N: this was a lot. I hope you liked it and thanks so much for reading 💕

@psychedelicsprinkles @alwaysonthemend @heckingfrick @twistedmelodies

[callsign-mongoose]

One For The Money

Pairing: Robert Floyd x OC Danica Willams

Warnings: Minors DNE, Pissing Maverick Off, A Bachelor Auction (If that makes you uncomfortable?), I don't think anything else.

Word Count: 3.7k

Summary: Danny is Omaha's best friend, and in an effort to prevent embarrassment during the annual "Pilot Auction" he brings her to bet on him. What will happen when someone else catches her eye?

A favor for Neil, that’s all it was. Despite being perhaps one of the more handsome men Danny had met in her life, her friend still faced the same challenges of confidence that many did. 

The Dagger flight squadron was participating in a rather unusual fundraiser: an auction, where each would be put up for bid. The winner's prize? A date with the aviator they bid on. The money would be donated to the Navy. 

Black heels clicked on the cement floor as Danica joined the crowd in the hangar. It was vacant of planes, instead, small tables were scattered about, a long table down one of the walls with food and drinks, and, on the front wall, a stage with a catwalk for the eligible bachelors and bachelorettes to work their stuff. 

Champagne sounded good, and it was free, anyway, so why not drink? Danny grabbed a glass and walked towards one of the tables and placed her clutch down along with her drink. Her hand drifted down to her dress as she tried to brush some stray flecks of lint off. She wasn’t there to impress anybody. Danica was simply there to enjoy free food, free drinks, and the show… and if the opportunity arose, to spend Neil’s money. On Neil, because heaven forbid he not go for enough money, aviators and their egos.

A brunette wearing a knee length red dress with a halter neckline stood next to her at the table. She was older than most of the pilots who were up for bid but Danny wasn’t one to judge. 

“Have you ever done something like this before?” the woman asked, leaning over with a smile as she took a sip of her drink. 

Danny lifted her eyes and tried to return the smile as she shook her head. “No, it's not really a spending habit I can afford. I’m just here for a friend.” She paused before continuing, “My name’s Danica, by the way.” 

The woman hummed, laughing at the comment about spending habits. “Nice to meet you Danica, I'm Penny.” 

“So, are you here looking for someone special?”

 “No, no, not any of these boys, anyway,” Penny said, chuckling. “I own the bar they all spend time at, I’ve seen them drunk, they aren’t really what I’m looking for,” she explained as her eyes trailed across the stage to the man who stood on the stage preparing some papers at his podium. She gave a nod toward him. “That one’s more my speed.” She finally turned her attention back to Danny after letting her eyes linger on the one you think Neil had called Maverick for a moment longer. “If you need me to tell you which ones are the good ones, let me know. I’ve got strong opinions and have seen them at their worst.” 

“Thank you. I’m not sure I’ll need it, but good to know the offer is there.” Danny smiled. “I’m really just here incase Neil–” she paused “–Omaha, that’s what everyone calls him here at least, doesn’t have anyone bidding on him. He gave me an allowance to use to drive up his price.” Danny took a long sip of her champagne. “He’s my best friend, he’s an idiot sometimes, but I’ll give him this one. It’s not a terrible plan.” 

The tapping on the mic brought everyone’s attention up to the front. Maverick stood at the podium. “Greetings, everyone, and welcome to our First Annual Aviator Auction. I’d like to start by apologizing to all the ladies who had their hopes up to bid on the Pacific Fleet Commander, tonight. I was assured by his wife that he was rather busy and couldn’t join.” A collection of disappointed sighs and laughs came from the audience. "But for those of you who haven't met me, I'm Maverick and I'll be your captain tonight." At your side, Penny booed playfully, but Maverick took it in stride and sent her a wink. "So, who's ready to have a good time?!"

— —

Maverick's voice was muffled behind the heavy stage curtains where all those who were to be auctioned awaited their time.

Jake stood in front of a mirror buttoning up a rather loud looking silk Hawaiian shirt, leaving the two top buttons undone. “Bradshaw, I don’t know how you wear these every day, it hurts my eyes even looking in the mirror,” he muttered, shaking his head. 

Bradley just smirked, pulling a toothpick out of his pocket and unwrapping it, he placed it between his teeth. “It takes a special kind of man to pull it off Hangman, you're just not doing it well enough.” 

“Oh screw off. I’m still gonna bring in more money than you, even dressed in your stupid fashion sense,” Hangman murmured fixing his hair. “What’s the highest bid-bringer get? I think I should get a trophy or something.” 

Natasha stood off to the side, wearing a navy blue slip with a cut out back. Her hair pulled half up in a low ponytail, while the rest hung freely around her shoulders. Tapping her foot as she watched Jake fuss in front of the mirror. “You guys have to turn everything into a bet don’t you?” she muttered, glancing past Jake where Bob anxiously paced near the exit as he tried to peek out at the crowd.

“You okay Bob? You look worse than you did when I forgot to warn you about doing two barrel rolls,” she murmured walking over to offer him a small smile to try and help him relax. 

Bob gave her a small nod before pulling his glasses off his face and producing a cleaning cloth from his suit's breast pocket so he could polish his glasses. “Yeah, yeah I’m good. Just, uh, feelin’ kinda,” he paused, what little fake confidence he had draining from his face. “No. Nope. Not good at all,” He murmured, placing his glasses back on his face while rapidly shaking his head. “I’m not one for crowds staring at me… let alone, crowds of women.” 

He started to spiral. “What if the person who bids on me is expecting some big fancy date. Or god, what if they think I’m like Hangman?” He looked at Natasha with wide, panicked eyes. “I can’t act like Hangman. I can’t act at all, Natasha. Last time I acted, I was a tree in my third grade play. A tree. And what if no one bids on me at all!? That’s objectively worse because I’ll be standing on stage in silence as Mav tries to get people to spend money on a date with me, and–” he took a breath, dejected “–I don’t want to go on a pity date with Penny Benjamin.”

“Relax Bob. Breathe. Listen, no one's gonna expect you to be like Bagman. I don’t think anyone could be like Jake even if they wanted to… it’s just a bunch of people who are putting their money towards a good cause. No one is coming with the intention of finding anything serious. You’ll just take her out to dinner, have a nice conversation, be yourself, and that will be that.” Natasha placed a gentle hand on his shoulder. “I promise you, you’re gonna get bids. If not, I’ll bid on you, then we can just get ice cream and watch movies like every other Sunday.” she said, trying to make him feel less worried.

It seemed to work, because Bob had started nodding along. He had trust in his pilot. Natasha was right, no one showed up with intentions of finding their new husband or anything, it was just for some fun and a good cause. No reason to be stressed. 

That didn’t stop the way the sound of Maverick’s voice announcing the aviators made Bob’s stomach drop. So much for the auction not being a big deal. He was right back to where he was moments before as everyone lined up to wait for their signal. 

— —

From the audience, Danny could see the man with the mic watching Penny like he hoped he would get her attention with his antics. 

“Now, for the first of our auctionable aviators, please welcome to the stage: Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson!” he called, opening his arm to gesture towards the very clearly caught off guard Cyclone who stood just off stage with half a cookie in his mouth. 

“What?!” he called through the crumbs falling from the cookie as Warlock pushed him onto the stage and into the spotlight. “I didn’t–” 

“When Admiral Kazansky had to cancel, Cyclone offered to take his place. Thank you for your service, Cy.  Let’s give Cyclone a big round of applause, everybody!” Mav shouted, starting a clap that the crowd easily joined in on. 

“Maverick, I swear to–”

“Let’s start the bidding at $100 dollars, shall we?” 

Cyclone scoffed, furrowing his eyebrows. “I’m worth at least $500.” 

A paddle from the table in the very back of the room rose and Mav pointed out to the crowd. “It seems like we’ve got a taker! Alright, 500 bucks for my grumpy boss. Do I hear 600?” 

“Nine hundred and fifty dollars.” 

Danny’s head swiveled to the side hearing the voice so close to her, who was taking the bid?

“Penny?” Mav asked from on stage his eyebrows were raised in shock and he wasn’t exactly sure what to do… this wasn’t supposed to happen. 

“My bid is $950 dollars,” Penny repeated calmly from her spot at the table, sending Danny a look that said I’m doing this just to fuck with him. 

Maverick swallowed, finally moving from his frozen position “What? No.”

“Make it $1000 and I’ll buy you flowers,” Cyclone piped up realizing it was getting under Mav’s skin. 

“Wait.” 

“$1100, I get flowers and you take me for a second date, too.” 

“Stop.”

“Sold,” Cyclone called stealing the gavel from Pete's hand and smacking the podium. 

Penny laughed quietly as she watched everything register with Maverick. Sure it was a lot of money but it appeared worth it to Penny to see the look on Maverick’s face, and besides, she’d still get two dinners out of it. 

“That guy’s your speed? I’d hate to see you run a marathon,” Danny said giggling as she turned to Penny. It was clear there was history there she wouldn’t understand, but it was entertaining to say the least.  

After the laughs and whispers of the crowd died down and Mav regrouped, he took the mic and introduced the planned group of aviators, one at a time as they all came onto stage to line up. 

Confidence dripped off Jake as he sauntered onto the stage was almost unbearable, but there were women in the audience who were eating it up. 

Next was Bradley, a cocky grin on his lips and a toothpick between his teeth. He wore a black button-down with a gold chain tastefully peeking out from behind the neckline. He looked good. Strangely cowboy in his imitation of the “Seresin Style,”  but good.

Omaha was next. Danny watched as he came out onto stage. Neil, who was clearly in his element, had always loved getting attention, and now he was gonna get fought over which made it better. Why did he even ask her to come? It was very clear that he’d go to a bidder who gave much more money than Danny had in her allowance. Neil had told her that he’d be willing to reimburse her up to $700 for his date. 

— —

Natasha and Bob, followed Coyote and Payback onto the stage. Phoenix was confident as ever. Bob was decidedly less so. Natasha knew her worth and wasn’t placing any pressure on the event. The genuine confidence and the fact she was one of only two women, drew many eyes to her when she graced the stage. 

Bob stood next to her, though he stood tall with his arms at attention, he felt as though he were getting smaller the longer he was on stage. Sure, there were women looking at him… but he was sure it was to laugh at him, or pick him apart like a piece of meat. He didn’t know which option was worse.

He frantically searched the crowd for a friendly face. Penny. She was always a motherly presence that Bob enjoyed. At the bar, he’d talk to her for hours while the others got drunk. She always appreciated that he was ready for conversation and far more polite than his drunk counterparts. 

Penny shot Bob an encouraging grin before tilting her head to the side quickly, he furrowed his eyebrows trying to figure out what she was trying to tell him until she did it again, his eyes finally moved to the younger woman next to her. Dressed in a simple black dress with a sweetheart neckline, and a string of pearls adorning her neck. She was pretty, elegant, and perfect in his eyes, at least at base level, Bob wanted to get to know her. 

Bob panicked when he noticed the woman was staring back at him. His eyes shifted back to Penny almost as if to check that she had meant to draw his attention to the woman, Penny however, was sending him a poignant look as if to tell him ’smile at her.’ So Bob mustered up the courage and once again made eye contact with the woman at Penny’s side, giving her a small smile. 

— —

“Who’s the one with glasses?” Danny asked out loud, not looking away from Bob.

“That’s Bob. He’s a WSO, like Neil. The woman in the blue is his pilot,” Penny said nonchalantly as she watched Bob and Danny continue to lock eyes. ”He’s an absolute sweetheart. He comes into the bar with the rest of his squad, but I’ve never served him anything but Coke. He usually sits with some peanuts and hangs out with the others ‘til they become too drunk, then he comes to keep me company at the bar.”  

— —

The bidding went down the line, starting with Hangman who went to a Commander's daughter for $875, and almost as if by a cruel yet entertaining twist of fate, Rooster went for exactly $876 (thanks to a bidding war), to the exact same woman. It perplexed and humbled Jake while Bradley dawned a Cheshire grin, he knew he’d be holding it over Jakes head for the foreseeable future. 

Omaha’s bidding started and Danny raised her paddle “$600!” she called out wanting to start high to entice other women to outbid her. 

Bob gave a frantic glance to Natasha and then Penny. The girl he had been staring at… and who he thought was staring at him was bidding for Omaha? Feeling defeated, he watched as the price for Neil continued up. 

— —

Danny bowed out of the bidding at $750, two other women battled it out till the price reached $925. Neil was grinning like a kid in a candy store as the gavel came down on the podium. 

With Neil taken care of, Danny allowed her thoughts to drift back towards Bob. She supposed she wouldn’t mind donating a chunk of change to a worthy cause in order to talk to him. Especially if it meant they could go on a date. 

To prevent herself from spending her monthly budget, Danny set her own limit for $500, it was a long shot she’d win anyway, but she didn’t have money that she could just throw away. Even if it was for a good cause. 

— —

Nat went for $900 dollars which was a surprise to no one, her natural smile and confidence pulled in every man in the audience, and some women too. 

When it finally got to Bob's turn Mav placed a hand on his shoulder. “This is our resident Baby On Board. Bob is a genius in the jet and a date with him, you will not regret. Let’s start the bidding at $100.”

When the woman sitting with Penny immediately raised her paddle for the $100, it caught Bob so off guard his heart rate spiked. He was sure if it beat any faster his chest would explode. Maybe he could get lucky. 

“$250!” Another voice called out

“$300!” A woman behind Sweetheart (on account of her neckline) responded by raising her paddle. It started a chain reaction. 

Bob's eyes shifted back to the highest bidder before back to Sweetheart. “Oh we’ve got a little competition now,” Mav called out as the number continued to rise. 

— —

“I’ll go $375!” Danica called out loudly, her eyes shifting from the prize man to the man at the podium with a hopeful, pleading glimmer in her eyes. 

“$450!” 

This was it, the final bid Danny could place. “I’ll do 500 Dollars!” she shouted a little too loudly, drawing more attention than she would have wished. 

“Ooooh, we are halfway to a thousand ladies. Do we have a 600?” Mav called out wanting to drum up numbers. 

Bob silently prayed that the number wouldn’t move anymore. Who needed to be the person who brought in the most money when Bob would have been over the moon to go for 75 bucks as long as it was to the mystery girl Penny was with. 

A woman raised her paddle and Danny’s heart dropped to her feet. “$650,” the woman called out before another voice followed up: “$800.” 

Danny’s eyes clouded over as she let her gaze drop to the paddle in her hands, placing it down on the table, making it clear she couldn’t afford the new prices. It was crushing. 

— —

On stage, Bob began to disassociate from the moment that Sweetheart had placed her paddle down on the table. He didn’t care what he went for or who he went to anymore. The girl he was hoping would win was out, and he was left in a daze, not even registering the number as it continued to climb.

As the number shouting came to a slow pace, Mav spoke up. “1200 dollars a new record! Going once. Going twice.” 

“1500 dollars,” a familiar voice called out from next to Danny once again mirroring a similar move she had pulled earlier that night. It was Penny. 

“Sold to Ms. Benjamin for $1500! That is a new record set by Robert Floyd!”

Bob had stopped paying attention, fully zoned out and focused on some of the decorations that hung over the group in the back of the hangar. A banner that held the logo of the group they were fundraising for. As the bidding continued onto the next person, Bob realized he hadn’t been paying attention to who won. He needed to know who it was in order to talk to them later. What he was gonna talk about? He had no clue. 

As the auction came to a close, all of the aviators who had been on stage regrouped in front of the stage to chatter until the audience member with their ticket came to talk with them. 

The crowd started to mingle again and Penny turned to give Danny a small smile before taking her hand. “A little out of your price range huh? I don’t blame you, most of the girls who come here are daughters of admirals and such. They’ve got money to spend.” She pulled Danny towards the rewards table where a man sat with a paper and the list of tickets for the winners. 

“Hi yes, last name Benjamin. I’m here to claim the tickets for Beau Simpson and Robert Floyd.” 

Danica’s brows furrowed, though, when Penny held out the winning ticket for Bob. “Penny, wait what are you doing?” she asked, hesitantly taking the green ticket when Penny didn’t take ‘no’ for an answer. 

“I’m placing a bet on young love,” she said with a smile before she shooed Danny off to find Bob. 

Danica didn’t have to be told twice. After giving Penny a tight hug, she turned on her heel and started towards the large swarm of people in front of the stage.  

— —

There were countless shoulder slaps and congratulations given to Bob for holding the record for the most money earned that night. Even having out earned the airboss himself. “How you pulled it off man I’ve got no idea, but you better show the lady a good time. She put a lot of money on you,” Hangman teased patting Bob’s back. Bob wasn’t paying attention to Hangman, his stomach was too busy twisting in knots as his eyes scanned for anyone holding the green ticket with his name on it. 

His eyes finally landed on Danica as she approached the group, was she mad? Sad? Disappointed? Was she hoping to talk to him? He wanted to talk to her. To get her number. To ask her on a date, but he couldn’t. He had to wait until his official date showed up. He couldn’t leave the front until he was “checked out” with his ticket. Shallow nervous breaths escaped his chest as Bob watched the woman who he had become so entranced with. She opened her clutch and produced the green ticket from where had hid it for safe keeping. Bob’s heart lurched.

Growing closer to the group Danny held out the green ticket. Her eyes shifted around his face, trying to read his emotions. Would he be happy she got the ticket? Confused as to how she got it? Was she even the girl he had wanted to win? Would he be happy with the outcome? Her stomach churned in the seemingly endless second it took Bob to move.

He pulled a matching green ticket from his blazer’s breast pocket and let out the biggest, relieved sigh. His entire demeanor seemed to melt as he met her in the middle. “Thank God,” he whispered when he finally reached her, cupping her hand that held the ticket in it. 

“Penny said that if I was gonna bet on anyone in this lineup, that it should be you,” Danny told him with a small laugh, only matched by Bob's equally reassuring one. Danica was sure that she could listen to his warm, captivating voice for hours on end. 

“I was never much of a gambler,” he said, trying to set her expectations low. “I promise I’m gonna try to make all that trouble worth your while though.” He said quietly realizing that her hand was still in his own, it was comfortable though. So maybe they didn’t have to let go just yet. 

“So, how about that first date?”

A/N: If you enjoyed it don't be afraid to comment or request! I love writing!

[scarletsaphire]

It did not have a name. It was never loved enough to be given one. At least, not until a nice couple named it while it died in their arms.

---

For Ectoberhaunt Day 2 Magic: Black Cat. Trigger warnings for animal death, motorcycle accident, and graphic injuries. This is the Lore for Johnny, Kitty, and Shadow in my heart.

It did not have a name. In order to get a name, someone needed to give you a name. No one had ever cared enough to give it a name, so it didn't have one. It had been called many things of course; Stray, mangy beast, bad luck, disgusting. But those didn't feel like names to it. Maybe they were, and it just didn't understand what names were. It decided that it didn't matter. It didn't have a name in any way that mattered.

It didn't have a home. It didn't even have a place to stay. Wherever it was warm, it was chased away with brooms and hoses and rakes. Wherever it was soft, the chill of the ground forced it to keep moving, permeating through its tangled black fur. It was tired. It was hungry. It was cold. It had to keep moving.

The cold, squishy ground became firm and hard underneath its paws. It was warm. That was nice. It hadn't felt warm in so long. There was meat a few paces away. It wasn't good meat; it had been dead for a day, at least, and it was squished weird, and smelled of gasoline. But it was food. That was the important thing.

It made its way to the dead animal. It used to be a possum. Its teeth tore through the soft, rotting flesh of its outside. It tasted bad. It smelled bad. It was warm, not from life, but from the sun beating down on it. It was disgusting. But it was food. It hadn't eaten in so long. It couldn't let the food just rot.

The ground rumbled beneath it. Something loud, and fast, and much, much larger than it was coming. It should run. But it was so tired, and so hungry, and so cold. It couldn't let this meal, however terrible, go without a fight. 

"Oh shit! Babe, turn!" It was a woman's voice, shouted above the roaring of a motorcycle engine. It was closer than it should've been. It had been moving faster than anything it had ever seen. The motorcycle was heading right for it. It tried to swerve, tried to stop. It failed.

It hurt. A lot. Everything hurt. it couldn't move, couldn't turn its head, could barely hear. It was too hot. The ground was too hard. It was dying. It knew it like it knew that its life had been meaningless, suffering to survive in a world where it was meant to die. 

The ground fell away as it was lifted into shaking hands. It was warm. It was soft, not like the ground.

"Oh, poor thing..." This one was a man. His voice was shaky, weak, and gravely. "I'm so sorry."

"You should've turned faster," the woman from before said, her voice just as rough, though her tone was more firm.

"I tried, Kitty," he said. 

"I know. Does it have a collar?"

It felt the movement of the man's shaking head. "It's pretty mangled too. I think its a stray."

"Poor guy didn't even have a name," she said, and it felt her hand on its head, just behind its ear. The contact stung. It didn't want her to stop. 

"We'll call you Shadow," the man said. "It's not much, but that's all we can do for you now." Shadow. It liked the name Shadow. It was fitting. Shadow liked these people. They were nice. Warm.

"We're sorry," she said. "We tried to stop."

The world was fuzzy. Black. It felt like everything was underwater. It hurt, but its hurt was...distant. Unimportant. It was dying. That was ok. It had gotten a name. That's all it ever wanted. Shadow let its eyes drift close for the last time.

Shadow started as if woken, the sound of an explosion rousing them from a sleep they should never have woken up from. What happened? Its eyes traced over their surroundings, trying to piece everything together through the crackling flames. Where were the kind people that had held it? That had named it? What happened to them?

There. They were covered in soot, and their clothes were smoldering, and they were lying on the asphalt, unconscious. That wasn't good. There was a fire. They needed to get away, or they would die. Shadow didn't want them to die. They were nice. Nice people shouldn't die.

It ran over to them on its 4 legs, moving faster than it had ever moved during life. It batted at the man's face with its paw, trying to wake him up. He did not react, not even the fluttering of the eyelids. Shadow tried to woman. Tried scratching at her face, pulling at her hair, biting her. She did not move.

No, no, no, this wasn't ok. Shadow needed to help them. Needed to get them to safety, needed to help them because they helped it. But it couldn't do anything. It was too small, too weak, to drag them away. Its paws couldn't grip anything, could only bat at their skin, only able to hurt them more. It couldn't move fast enough, even with its new found energy and speed. It needed to be different. But it wasn't. Shadow was a cat. 

Or was it? It grabbed at the man's shoulders with clawed hands, careful to not pierce the skin. It lifted him up into its arms, like he had done before, and now he was smaller, and hurt, and dying. It flew over the asphalt, its back paws disappearing into a tail very different than the one it had before. It carried him to the side of the road, where the ground was cold and soft and squishy.

Shadow got the woman next, laying her down next to the man. They weren't waking up. They weren't moving. They weren't breathing. Shadow hadn't been fast enough. Hadn't done enough. It tried to meow, tried to cry in the only way it knew how, but it couldn't. It wasn't a cat any more. It didn't have a throat to meow with. It couldn't quite cry in the way that humans could either, but it was close enough. Shadow floated above the bodies and cried.

"Hey, what are you crying about?" It was the man's voice, not from below Shadow, where the bodies lay, but from the street. 

Shadow turned. He looked different now. Not as different as Shadow did, but different. The woman was besides him, her arm threaded through his. She looked different too. They walked towards him, but stopped when they saw what was beneath him.

"Damn," he said. "I guess your old man was right. The bike was the death of us, huh?"

She laughed. "Yeah, I guess he was. I don't regret it." She turned towards Shadow. "How'd we get over here? Did you see?"

Shadow could not speak to answer, but they seemed to understand anyway. "That's some kind of karma I think," he said. "Kinda shit that Ms. Polinshki would talk about."

"Oh, please don't bring her up," she said. "If we're dead the least we can do is leave English class behind."

"We were going to do that anyway, remember?" he said. "Dropouts and all that."

"Whatever," she said. "Now what?"

"That's a great question. Good ol reliable?"

She nodded. "How bout..." she spun around in a circle, before pointing in a random direction. "...that way?" 

"Sounds good Kitty," he said. They started walking away. 

Shadow settled down. The two weren't ok. They were dead. But so was Shadow, and Shadow felt ok, so maybe they felt ok too. That was good. That was all it wanted. It could exist happily knowing that they were ok, even if it neve saw them again. Even if it went back to what it had been during life; bad luck, mangy beast, stray. It would be ok with that.

"Hey, Shadow!" the man called out. The two had stopped only a few steps away, both turned back to look at it. "Are you coming?" 

It moved hesitantly at first, slowly approaching the pair. "Good boy," the woman said. They started walking again, this time with Shadow falling in step behind them, as if it was where he'd belonged all along.

[rubythecrimsonwriter]

I posted 3,545 times in 2022

That's 1,053 more posts than 2021!

354 posts created (10%)

3,191 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@thatpunnyperson

@sincerelylittleone

@whobee7

@floralflowerpower

@thelockenessmonster

I tagged 1,176 of my posts in 2022

#personal - 155 posts

#laugh rule - 104 posts

#pjo - 27 posts

#ruby's moving woes - 26 posts

#batman - 17 posts

#danny phantom - 16 posts

#flipping legacies - 16 posts

#'swearing' - 14 posts

#storytime - 12 posts

#jason todd - 10 posts

Longest Tag: 140 characters

#you know in the very beginning of the pandemic there were people going around with pool noodles attached to their heads to enforce the six f

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

So I now live in a place where putting cream on my skin is not only normal but expected, because fuck desert climates, but sometimes i cannot STAND the texture. My skin is now telling me ''im itchy i need cream'' but i also know that as soon as I touch cream my entire skin entity will crawl right off my frame and escape into the night.

Thank you, texture issues. You make life interesting, if nothing else.

94 notes - Posted April 30, 2022

#4

We all know that Batman used to laugh during Jason's era as Robin, but I think that at least the first month or so that laughter was mostly a, "what the fuck is up with this kid" kind of laughter. Like Jason is so astonishingly different from Dick as Robin (Dick: *wants to kill someone so bad he's got a severe case of Stupid and Bruce just wants him to Sit and Stay* Jason: "Robin gives me magic!!!" 🤩) that Bruce just has like No coping mechanisms for Jason lmao. The first three weeks is Bruce just going, "what the fuck? Dick didn't do that. what do you mean I'm not going to have to nag him about homework. Oh my god this teenager thinks that--yuuuup, those are rocket propelled rollerskates. Oh look, the inevitable crash." I'd be wtf laughing too if i went from 2008 MCR emo child to ray of sunshine, introduced by way of incredible ballsiness followed immediately by half assed violence and stray-cat-esque coaxing from Bruce. I'd think I was in a fever dream ngl.

143 notes - Posted May 28, 2022

#3

Rewatching Phineas and Ferb has honestly just highlighted how much of a good guy Jeremy is. He adores Candace no matter how weird he clearly thinks she is, thinks her brothers are cool even while she's desperately trying to bust them, and, whenever she has spent the entire episode trying to be there with Jeremy until she can't STAND it any longer and goes haring off after the boys, he's just chilling in the dust and saying, "that's my girl."

172 notes - Posted March 13, 2022

#2

Phineas and Ferb astounds me with how funny it continues to be. We've estblished Linda Flynn-Fletcher as the old pop star Lindonna, and then she likes to play jazz with two other women in the neighborhood. Imagine if Nina Sky (one hit wonder of the 2000s: Move Ya Body) had a quiet jazz trio in the middle of the suburbs of this city and dropped an album and you're just like, ah, yes, soothing jazz by Nina Sky.

And track three is a hard rock song with the lead male singer ranting to Nina about how evil their siblings are and all the rest of the tracks are back to soothing jazz. You flip over the CD case to read the back.

3. E. V. I. L. B. O. Y. S. Sung by Nina Sky's daughter. Music by Nina Sky's jazz trio.

I think that I'd be simultaneously laughing myself sick and also extremely confused.

323 notes - Posted September 3, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

I think people need to tell more kids that they're proud of them for graduating high school. I'm absolutely dead serious, especially now. I can see the graduating high schoolers surrounding me right now are burned out and traumatized and depressed, and they've undoubtedly had a much, much harder time in high school than I ever had, and I had some pretty shitty high school experiences.

I graduated high school with no more acknowledgement than the standard "congrats on surviving another year of school!" And immediately followed by "have you finished all your scholarship applications?" That was fine for me. I knew i wanted to go to college, I was set and ready for it, eager to get out of high school into more challenging courses.

But if I just finished high school after two years of fighting through online courses and no one acknowledged the battles I went through? If I was as burnt out and traumatized as these kids are right now? I'd have never have gone to college.

So for everyone graduating high school, even if you barely scraped by passing: I see you. I'm proud of you. You did such a good job. I wish you success in what you try to do, fortune enough to keep you safe and happy, and health always.

46,794 notes - Posted May 13, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[televinita]

That 90s Show - thoughts after 1 episode

But first, background re: me and That 70s Show --

I watched it when it aired, and I’m pretty sure I even started with season 1, as an actual teenager. It was one of the first and few primetime shows I latched onto before age 16, and I watched it all the way to the bitter end*. Have also rewatched it countless times in syndication and on DVD; it has infinite replay value to me and I love everyone and quote random lines to this day.

(*although honestly, I didn’t hate season 8! As much as I missed Eric, I loved Randy and thought he was a fine alternative option; my qualms were limited mainly to the Jackie/Hyde breakup and the even worse switch to Jackie/Fez)

So I went into this very scared of how this might tarnish the original. I came out...so relieved and happy!

The Actual Thoughts, In Three Acts

Part 1: Adult Formans

I DEEPLY UNDERESTIMATED THE PURE JOY I WOULD FEEL AT SEEING RED/KITTY/ERIC/DONNA/THE FORMANS’ HOUSE IN A NEW AGE

Topher Grace has not aged in the last 15 years, amazing.

ERIC/DONNA ERIC/DONNA ERIC/DONNA

(I have always shipped them at least by default, because obviously, but their married dynamic takes it to a whole new plane of joy I didn’t know existed)

Eric as a dad is the other kind of joy I didn’t know my life needed. I love the idea of her being his “little buddy” all her life. If I cared more about the daughter we would rapidly be approaching Jurassic World levels of family squee here.

who am I kidding, his final blessing and their hug (and my relief that she didn’t actually get a hole poked in her perfect face) gave me EXACTLY that.

P.S. PROFESSOR ERIC WHO GETS TO TEACH A CLASS ON HIS MOST BELOVED HEART’S JOY! and PUBLISHED AUTHOR DONNA! I love these journeys for them.

I love that Red is clearly a softie where his granddaughter is concerned (the request for a cheek kiss!!), but also still has an edge. That’s exactly what I wanted.

Kitty serving up those “the nights are the hardest...but then the day comes and that's every bit as hard as the night...and then the night comes again!...” guilt vibes. 😍 😍

and the “I wish you’d call me Mom” / “feels forced” war

and her joy in going out to shop for “all the -itos!” to feed the newest batch of stray-cat teens

basically everything this Core Four did or said was glorious

also loved Eric’s tiny meltdown as first Donna and then his own mother betray him by supporting Leia’s wish to ditch father/daughter space camp, followed by Baby(skin)’s First Foot-In-Ass Threat.

I didn’t write down most of the quotes because there were too many good ones, but I absolutely love “Leia staying here isn’t the craziest idea. Your parents can watch her.” / “Were you not here with me in the 70s??”

And also Red’s “you’re Upstairs People now.” Hehehehehe.  

Part 2: Other Nostalgia-Based Feelings

I am so sad that Danny Masterson turned out gross and awful because I miss Hyde and this world feels off-kilter without him.

But I am grateful that the show is going to simply ignore him instead of stamping down some awful canon reason like "hyde can’t come to the screen right now because he’s DEAD” (or in prison)

I’ll allow Jackie/Kelso for the sheer meta-cuteness of them having eventually ended up together in real life, even though really, it would have been nice if she had ended up with someone rich and successful and not from Point Place.

I will not allow this rude, shallow, worst-of-season-1 Jackie who gets married and divorced to the same old idiot on a whim. what is this. where is the GROWTH. Did Fez use some sort of FDA-banned hair treatment on her that leached memory-destroying poison into her brain??

maybe she gets better later. I will hope.

love that I can’t be sad about Donna’s childhood home being sold because let’s face it, that is an ugly house. Looking forward to finding out where Bob went. I assume he’s a millionaire now, given his life’s impossible success trajectory to date.

(also, I really liked seeing her old room updated for the 90s!)

speaking of houses, I love SO MUCH that the set decorators knew what they were doing and kept fair bit the same while updating some key pieces like the living room sofa, i.e. how real people live. At least, that’s the fleeting impression I got; will have to study it more (or read other posts from people who have) to know for sure.

My single biggest fear starting That 90s Show was that they’d go buck-wild with swearing, but they.....held themselves to the same FCC standards as the original???? I am afraid to ask if it stays this way but I hope.

Part 3: The Kids

First impressions (while watching): oh, yeah, they’re a vapid school-of-fish nothing to me so far.

Second impressions, upon reflection: Leia has some potential to be likeable, and maybe Gwen if she softens a bit? Also, I went into this ep like “please don’t make them be into each other just to increase your diversity quota,” but then all the boys turned out unappealing of face or personality and more importantly, from the very first second Creeper Leia peeked in through Gwen’s window there was chemistry, so. Notes and expectations for season 2!!

(side note: I remind you that I am the woman who 9 times out of 10 cannot come up with a single f/f couple she actually ships; also will normally choose “best friends” over gals being more than pals 999 times out of 1000; also if there is an option for the opposite-sex offspring of two couples who are friends to be into each other that is ALWAYS where I align. Until now, apparently. That’s how strong this chemistry is.)

As for the other kids... Ozzie’s voice is currently intolerable to me and I don’t care about the rest or even know the dating couple’s names, although the non-Kelso guy is serving up some decent Original Kelso vibes that could grow on me.

tl;dr you can lead me to a show ostensibly about teenagers but you can’t make me emotionally invest

In Conclusion: I only remember the highlights, so, A+ start! Looking forward to more random what-year-even-is-it, anachronism-is-fine 90s trends/references in future episodes; I am not even going to bother worrying about how the chronology works since it was the late 70s for eight years straight last time and we can’t even all agree on whether season 8 counts. :p