i need to get this out of my head before i continue clone^2 but danny being the first batkid. Like, standard procedure stuff: his parents and sister die, danny ends up with Vlad Masters. He drags him along to stereotypical galas and stuff; Danny is not having a good time.
He ends up going to one of the Wayne Galas being hosted ever since elusive Bruce Wayne has returned to Gotham. Vlad is crowing about having this opportunity as he's been wanting to sink his claws into the company for a long while now. Danny is too busy grieving to care what he wants.
And like most Galas, once Vlad is done showing him off to the other socialites and the like, he disappears. Off to a dark corner, or to one of the many balconies; doesn't matter. There he runs into said star of the show, Bruce who is still young, has been Batman for at least a year at this point, but still getting used to all these damn people and socializing. He's stepped off to hide for a few minutes before stepping back into the shark tank.
And he runs into a kid with circles under his eyes and a dull gleam in them. Familiar, like looking into a mirror.
Danny tries to excuse himself, he hasn't stopped crying since his parents died and it's been months. He rubs his eyes and stands up, and stumbles over a half-hearted apology to Mister Wayne. Some of Vlad's etiquette lessons kicking in.
Bruce is awkward, but he softens. "That's alright, lad," he says, pulling up some of that Brucie Wayne confidence, "I was just coming out here to get some fresh air."
There's a little pressing; Bruce asks who he's here with, Danny says, voice quiet and grief-stricken, that he's with his godfather Vlad Masters. Bruce asks him if he knows where he is, and Danny tells him he does. Bruce offers to leave, Danny tells him to do whatever he wants.
It ends with Bruce staying, standing off to the side with Danny in silence. Neither of them say a word, and Danny eventually leaves first in that same silence.
Bruce looks into Vlad Masters after everything is over, his interest piqued. He finds news about him taking in Danny Fenton: he looks into Danny Fenton. He finds news articles about his parents' deaths, their occupations, everything he can get his hands on.
At the next gala, he sees Danny again. And he looks the same as ever: quiet like a ghost, just as pale, and full of grief. Bruce sits in silence with him again for nearly ten minutes before he strikes a conversation.
"Do you like to do anything?"
Nothing. Just silence.
Bruce isn't quite sure what to do: comfort is not his forte, and Danny doesn't know him. He's smart enough to know that. So he starts talking about other things; anything he can think of that Brucie Wayne might say, that also wasn't inappropriate for a kid to hear.
Danny says nothing the entire time, and is again the first to leave.
Bruce watches from a distance as he intercts with Vlad Masters; how Vlad Masters interacts with him. He doesn't like what he sees: Vlad Masters keeps a hand on Danny's shoulder like one would hold onto the collar of a dog. He parades him around like a trophy he won.
And there are moments, when someone gets too close or when someone tries to shake Danny's hand, of deep possessiveness that flints over Vlad Masters' eyes. Like a dragon guarding a horde.
He plays the act of doting godfather well: but Bruce knows a liar when he sees one. Like recognizes like.
Danny is dull-eyed and blank faced the entire time; he looks miserable.
So Bruce tries to host more parties; if only so that he can talk to Danny alone. Vlad seems all too happy to attend, toting Danny along like a ribbon, and on the dot every hour, Danny slips away to somewhere to hide. Bruce appears twenty minutes later.
"I was looking into your godfather's company," he says one night, trying to think of more things to say. Some nights all they do is sit in silence. "Some of my shareholders were thinking of partnering up--"
"Don't."
He stops. Danny hardly says a word to him, he doesn't even look at him -- he's sitting on the ground, his head in his knees. Like he's trying to hide from the world. But he's looking, blue eyes piercing up at Bruce.
Bruce tilts his head, practiced puppy-like. "Pardon?"
"Don't." Danny says, strongly. "Don't make any deals with Vlad."
It's the most words Danny's spoken to him, and there's a look in his eyes like a candle finding its spark. Something hard. Bruce presses further, "And why is that?"
The spark flutters, and flushes out. Danny blinks like he's coming out of a trance, and slumps back into himself. "Just don't."
Bruce stares at him, thoughtful, before looking away. "Alright. I won't."
And they fall back into silence.
Danny, when he leaves, turns to look at Bruce, "I mean it." He says; soft like he's telling a secret, "Don't make any deals with him. Don't be alone with him. Don't work with him."
He's scampered away before Bruce can question him further.
(He never planned on working with Vlad Masters and his company; he's done his research. He's seen the misfortune. But nothing ever leads back to him. There's no evidence of anything. But Danny knows something.)
At their next meeting, Danny starts the conversation. It's new, and it's welcomed. He says, cutting through their five minute quiet, that he likes stars. And he doesn't like that he can't see them in Gotham.
Bruce hums in interest, and Danny continues talking. It's as if floodgates had been opened, and as Bruce takes a sip of his wine, it tastes like victory.
("Tucker told me once--")
("Tucker?")
("Oh-- uh, one of my best friends. He's a tech geek. We haven't talked in a while.")
(Danny shut down in his grief -- his friends are worried, but can't reach him. When he goes back to the manor with Vlad, he fishes out his phone and sends them a message.)
(They are ecstatic to hear from him.)
It all culminates until one day, when Danny is leaving to go back inside, that Bruce speaks up. "You know," He says, leaning against the railing. "The manor has many rooms; plenty of space for a guest."
The implication there, hidden between the lines. And Danny is smart, he looks at Bruce with a sharp glean in his eyes, and he nods. "Good to know."
The next time they see each other, Danny has something in his hands. "Can you hold onto something for me?" He asks.
When Bruce agrees, Danny places a pearl into his palm. or, at least, it's something that looks like a pearl. Because it's cold to the touch; sinking into Bruce's white silk gloves with ease and shimmering like an opal. It moves a little as it settles into his hand, and the moves like its full of liquid.
Bruce has never seen anything like it before, but he does know this; it's not human. "What is it?" He asks, and Danny looks uncomfortable.
"I can't tell you that." He says, shifting on his foot like he's scared of someone seeing it. "But please be careful with it. Treat it like it's extremely fragile."
When Bruce gets home, he puts it in an empty ring box and hides the box in the cave. He tries researching into what it is. he can't find anything concrete.
Everything comes to a head one day when Danny appears at the manor's doorstep one evening, soaking wet in the rain, and bleeding from the side.
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rating: G
tags: established relationship, fluff, smooching
prompt: Love is being late to work because you can’t ever say goodbye in a reasonable amount of time. @steddielovemonth
Eddie wakes up to a heavy weight flopping gently down on top of him. He comes to with a hum and a stretch that pops down his spine even as Steve wraps himself around Eddie, his face pressed into Eddie's neck.
Steve is already dressed for the day, green vest and jeans, his hair a little crunchy with spray, his deodorant fresh and bright compared to the warm smell of sleep. Eddie has to wiggle a bit to get his arms from under the blanket to wrap around Steve's shoulders in return.
"Mmm, you're a jerk, waking me up so early," he whispers, even as he shifts them until he can hook a leg around Steve's hip, blanket and all.
"It's eleven, lazy bones," Steve whispers back. He lets Eddie move them more, until they're all tangled up again. Steve will have to fix his hair, but Eddie doesn't care. He should have thought of that before waking Eddie up.
Not that Eddie minds—would probably call Family Video as soon as the door closed behind Steve to make sure he wasn't mad at Eddie.
Eddie starts kissing a path from the top of Steve's forehead down to his lips, tasting toothpaste and mouthwash, and wondering if Steve's ever grossed out by Eddie's morning breath.
He must not be, because he returns Eddie's lazy kisses with a happy sigh, holding Eddie a little tighter. It drags on like that, and to Eddie it's timeless, too short and an eternity, bliss in just being able to kiss Steve like this, the smell of Steve in his sheets and his toothbrush in the bathroom, and his millions of hair supplies in a basket under the sink. Wayne's no doubt asleep in the front of the trailer, and Steve would have been as quiet as a mouse getting ready before he snuck back into Eddie's arms to say bye before leaving for work.
Eddie loves this. Says as much into Steve's mouth, swallowing it up when Steve says it back, whispers lost between them and the morning sun.
"Gonna be late for work," Eddie sighs, even though he doesn't move except to run a hand down Steve's back.
"Robin shift," Steve murmurs, moving in to kiss Eddie again, like he can't get enough of him, the same way Eddie can't get enough of Steve.
Laughing, Eddie kisses him more, addicted to the warmth, the wet slide of their lips, the heat of Steve's breath. "Gonna get fired one of these days," he says when Steve has to come up for air. Laughs again, when Steve just dips back in to start it all up again. "Steeeve."
"Don't wanna go," he whines.
"I know," Eddie says. This time, he shoves Steve onto his back to he can press him into the mattress, peppering his cheeks and nose with kisses. It's gotta be going on 11:30 by now, and Steve will be a whole hour late at this rate. "Just for now, baby, and I'll come visit you later."
"Promise?" Steve does this thing that he must have picked up from a girlfriend, where he looks up at Eddie with big eyes and pouts his lips and bats his lashes at him, and it shouldn't work. But it does. Every time.
"Promise," Eddie breathes, smiling, and leans down for another kiss. And another. And another, another. And Steve doesn't get to work until well past noon. When Eddie comes to visit around five, Robin chews him out too.
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