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madds-is-ace-trash · 1 year

Text

Time for shenanigans so buckle up!

Chapter 5: If You Pop the Yolks Just Make Scrambled Eggs!

Summary: Danny on the run and the bat kid group chat is popping

Did Dick expect everyone to be following him up the stairs to go get Danny, no, had he expected them to stay at the table also no. He did know one thing, all these people rushing up on the kid probably wasn’t a good idea.

“Okay look, I’m going to get Danny,” he gestured widely to the group that was following his tail, “ you guys are going to stay here, no need to swarm the kid.”

Grumbles of protest spread amongst the group, Dick looked directly at Bruce, “That means you to B, I mean it I know you want to meet him but I don’t need him making a run for it.”

Dick set off fully aware his family was lurking just around the corner. “ Danny I’m here buddy,”

“Dick?” The boy called quietly, his voice shaky.

“ Yeah it's me super-star,” he came to his doorway. Danny was clutching on to the star blanket, his eyes and cheeks red like he had been crying, “oh hey little man what happened? Did you have a nightmare?”

A small nod was his only warning before the boy rushed to cling on to Dick, Danny clutching the leg of his pants. “ Hey hey it’s ok,” dick cooed. Taking Danny’s hands off his pants and lowering down to Danny’s level the best he could. Sitting on his knees, “ You wanna talk about it?”

“No.” Danny sniffled, taking Dick up on his offering of a hug.

“That’s okay, we don’t have to talk about it, tell you're ready.” He reassured, rubbing gentle circles on the kids back.

Then the silence was broken by foot steps, clearly deliberate as any member of his family could have easily just masked them. They approached closer, Danny took notice pulling his head up and away from dicks chest. A panicked expression taking form. Dick turned to see who it was, thankfully it was just cass. She was still at the end of the hallway, she had made herself known but was still waiting for approval.

“It’s ok bud it’s just Cass, can she come over here?” He gave another nod, “ he says you got the green light Cass.” Danny began to float a little, pulling himself further into dicks arms. Dick took the hint and picked up the boy, allowing the kid to hide in the crook of his neck.

“ Danny,” she said softly as she took a spot to her brother's side. “ You want to know what helps me when I have bad dreams?”

“ yes” He squeaked out his voice muffled by dicks shoulder.

“ I take a deep breath, and I think about all the things that make me happy.” She placed a hand on Danny's shoulder, “do you wanna do it with me?”

He pulled his face away from dick, looking at Cass with a wary expression, “ok”

“Alright we’re gonna take a biiiiig breath in ok,” Cass proceeded to take a very exaggerated inhale.

Danny went to copy her pulling air into his lungs. Then suddenly he flinched, his eyes snapped shut, his fingers dug into dicks shoulder. A squeak interrupted his inhale, like the boy had wanted to scream but it cut himself short. “ Oh my god Danny are you ok!? What happened?”

“Hmph” the boy grunted a muffled response, his hand rushing to his chest.

“Bruce Waite don’t,” he heard Tim call from the other end of the hall. Of course Bruce wouldn’t listen he just has to rush over, Dick was already dealing with a situation he didn’t need another one.

And wouldn’t you know, here came Bruce marching down the hallway right towards Danny, his footsteps sloppy enough for Danny to pick up on. The kid in dicks arm wiped his head in the direction of the noise, once again flinching at the pain it caused tears gathering in the corner of his eyes.

“Dad I swear to god, stay put,” Dick blurted out. Bruce paused at the outburst, freezing in place. “ Please

dad Don’t get any closer, Danny doesn’t know who you are.”

Danny stared at Bruce, his hand still on his chest, his breathing fast and shallow. The hand that was holding onto dick was still gripping his shoulder actively digging into his flesh. He had to get the kid to calm down. “Danny,” no response, “Danny I need you to look at me.” The kid's gaze didn’t falter, his breathing only sped up. “ He’s not going to hurt you, that’s just my dad, I promise. Right Bruce?”

“ Yes of course, I only want to help,” B let his body loosen a little, he leans forward a bit he was going to keep moving forward

Dick and Cass shot him a glare, demanding he stay in place. Bruce looked them dead in the eyes and ignored it. He took a step forward and Danny panicked.

“ No!” The boy shouted turning invisible, Dick tried desperately to keep his grip but without being able to see him, Danny slipped through his fingers. “ STAY AWAY!” Danny’s voice echoed down the hall coming from all detections, and just like that any sign of Danny was gone.

“God dammit Bruce, What Part about ‘stay put’ is so hard to get through your damn head.” Dick shot up running his hands threw his hair, his shoulder still aches from Danny’s grip.

“ Something was wrong,” Bruce defended, his shoulders squared.

“Yeah No shit!,” Duke came rushing out from around the corner. “Dick look I’m not Sure what just happened, but it didn’t look fun we gotta find him.”

“ What do you mean duke did you see something” Tim asked.

“ Yhea he was glowing like he was earlier today, then the closer Bruce got it… changed? I don’t know how to describe it but sometimes going on.”

“If you can see him glow, can you follow his trail?” Cass asked hope in her voice.

“ I can try,” Duke rushed off taking Dick with him. When the others tried to follow they were stopped by Cass.

“Oh no you don’t” she said standing in their path her arms spread out, “ He doesn’t know you two.” She gestured to Tim and Damian. “and you” she stated at B, her tone harsh, “ have done enough for now.”

————//-————————————

Duke ran through the hallways, his brother hot on his tail. Chasing the light blue trail that Danny left on his wake. Headache be damned.

“ I feel like we’re just running in circles,” Dick huffed.

He wasn’t wrong, the trail often looped on on itself as Danny seemingly took turns at random. The path had no real pattern so Duke was stuck just chasing it the best he could. Occasionally the trail would Hic, flaring out slightly like it had done when Bruce had inched closer. The kid didn’t have a Direction,he was panicking, that’s what the disturbances were, his power lashing out because Danny was afraid.

“ We are to some extent, Danny doesn’t know the layout of the manner he’s just running and hoping for the best.”

“Shoot Yeah your right I didn’t even think of that.”

“ It’s alright bro I’m Sure everything is fi-'' Duke cut himself short stopping dead in his tracks . The trail suddenly transitioning to an acid green, the line warbled and spiked like it had when Danny ran from Bruce. Something had happened.The neon green streak continued, interlacing itself with swirls of red. Then as soon as the green had come it went, once again leaving behind a cold blue.

“ Duke look at the floor,” Shure enough right we’re the blue returned was red. Not from the trail of light no, but blood. It wasn’t a lot just a few drops but it could only mean one thing Danny’s was close and he was hurt.

“Ok let’s keep moving,” they set off once again at breakneck speed. How in the world had the kid traveled so far, add speed to the list of powers he guessed.

The trail ended at the library, blood in front of the door. Danny had definitely gone into the library. He stood there staring at the door for a moment. Should they rush in,what if they scare him? What if they opened the door and Danny wasn’t on the other side? What if they were already too late?

“ Danny it’s me and Duke,” his brother finally called, placing a hand on the door Handle. “ we’re coming in, ok?” His brother gently pushed open the door, just wide enough for them to slide in and shut the door behind him. More blood laid in the other side of the door.

“ Danny, it's ok we're here to help you buddy.” He called out into the room. It was cold; the library was about 10 degrees colder than it had any right to be.

“No one’s going to hurt you, please come out?“ Dick called to the seemingly Empty Library. The temperature continues to droop. They can see Their breath.

The pair give each other a look, then a nod. It was time to divide and conquer. They had to find him. The trail of light in the room was too chaotic to decipher, it blended and twisted, the light bleed into itself leaving no discernible path.

“Danny come in out little dude,” Duke called softly, he still wasn’t Sure if hearing had anything to do with his meta ability. He did know that Danny didn’t like loud noise so best not to risk it.

“ Please, you're hurt aren’t you? We can help little man, I promise.”

Duke continued to walk the rows of bookshelves, head in hand. Danny had been just about everywhere, his trail illuminating the whole room and making his head spin. But he marched forward, his new nephew was in this library and Duke was going to find him.

——————————————————

It was so cold, this had to be Danny doing. If it wasn’t, well the penguin or Mr. Freeze was in the manor and that was a whole another set of issues. Dick creeped along the shelves of the library, looking for any sign of what direction Danny had gone. Why did B have to be so stubborn, the boy had already had enough panic attacks for one day without Bruce’s meddling.

Thinking about it now wasn’t going to help him though, he needed to focus. Dick scanned the books along the aisle until finally something caught his eyes, blood just a few flecks on the shelf ledge but it meant Danny had definitely gone this way . A few more spots further up, followed by some knocked over books. He followed the trail. Rounding the corner to the area of the library that held the stained glass window. Dick followed the trail of blood with his gaze. The dribble was still light but it was enough to make dick worry. Tracing the trail, until his sight fell upon a bundle laying on the cushion of the nook that laid against the window. The star blanket was wrapped tightly around Danny, frost clinging to its surface. Tiny whimpers like the ones dick had heard the other night, lingering in the air adding to the stinging cold.

“Danny?” Dick asked quietly.

“Go away,” Danny sniffed.

“I’m sorry little dipper, I can’t do that,” dick did his best to keep his tone soft. He didn’t want Danny to bolt. “ You're hurt right? We can help you buddy.”

“ I can do it by myself,”

“Do what by yourself?”

“I can redo the stitches, it's not like I haven’t done it before.” Dick did not like that, if Danny had stitches himself up before that ment he’s either had wounds where’s he had to,( honestly thinking about all the scars that didn’t seem like such a wild idea) and that the reason the job on his chest was so sloppy was because he had done it himself. That also meant that dicks assumption was right and Danny had popped a few of the strands holding his chest together.

“ Oh Danny, super-star just because you can doesn’t mean you have to” he inched closer Danny’s tear stricken face finally coming into view. The freckles on the boy's face glowed, setting a soft blue-green glow across his face, his eyes still sealed shut as tears ran down his cheeks. “ Al can make sure they don’t pull, he’s pretty good actually. One time when I busted my eyebrows open he patched me up so good it didn’t even leave a scar.”

“ You had to get stitches before?” Danny sat up looking dick in eye , a confused look on his face.

“ O Yeah lots of times, sometimes we get hurt and we need help and that’s ok , usually Al is the one who helps us,” he extends a hand letting it hang in the air for Danny to grab, “ I’m sure he’ll be more than happy to help you too.”

Danny looks a dick looking for any sign of deceit or trickery. He doesn’t find it; instead he is greeted by a warm slime, a hand out stretched ready to to welcome him with open arms. He softly placed his hand in dicks. Dick softly clasped the boy's hand, leaning down to lift the kid into his arms. The room instantly lost its painful chill as Danny nestled into the man’s hold. The blood that had seeped into his shirt leaving a warm stain.

“ Did you find him?!” Duke called from the other side of the library.

“Yes Duke, can you run ahead and warn Al?” He sent a small smile to the boy in his arms .

“ Say no more!” And off Duke went, leaving dick to slowly make his way to the same bathroom from earlier. Slow as not to statel, his new treasure.

—————————————————

“ Young Daniel I understand the discomfort you may be experiencing but you do have to remove the shirt for me to be of any help.” Alfred had taken the boy into that bathroom once more, the child before him still visibly nervous.

“ I want to,” the young boy played with his hands, “but not tell he goes away”

“ I do believe it’s just me and you in this room?”

“ He’s right there, I can hear him,” the boy glanced past Alfred staring at the door.

“If you don’t mind me asking, hear who exactly?”

“ The big man,” the boy says quietly, face turned towards the floor. “ He’s outside the door”

“ Do you mean Master Bruce?” Alfred sees the light coming from underneath the door shift ever so slightly, perhaps he really could hear Bruce through the door. “ If I ask him to leave, will you take your shirt off?”

Danny looked at the door Warily, “yes” the boy responded softly.

“Very well then”

Alfred swung open the door, Master Bruce right on the other side. The man had no shame as he peered over Alfred’s shoulder into the bathroom. “ Is the boy alright?“

“ I’m not quite sure, I’m afraid your presence is making the boy nervous. The boy is agitated due to your presence. It seems I must ask you to leave master bruce.”

Bruce square his shoulders obviously annoyed by the command, Damian really did pick up some of his attitude from bruce. “ Alfre-”

The butler cut him off before he could finish, “ Master Wayne,” the man's tone had gone harsh,a rarity for the old man. “ I have an injured guest in our home and I can not tend to him due to your lingering. As much as I understand your concern I demand you join the children down stairs.”

Bruce tensed at the tone shift, he may have not raised his voice but Al didn't need to. Bruce knew staying any longer would only make the butler's mood worse and Bruce did not want to be at the other end of the fallout. “Yes… Well then off I go.”

Alfred turned around sorting his expression as he looked at the child still seated on the counter. It was a good sign he was still visible even if he was hiding under the blanket that he had still refused to let go of.

“Now then, shall we get you patched up,” he made sure his voice was soft, “ if I may help you with your shirt? We don't want it to snag”

Danny popped his head out of his makeshift cloak, he looked around, his gaze landing on Alfred. He looked the man up and down, then down to his chest. Danny gave a small nod and shed his covers

Al worked slowly to pull the shirt away from the now opened wound. Some of the blood had dried causing the garment to have to be gently pulled apart from the boy's skin.

The blood on the shirt was littered on green flecks, that was paculaur? Perhaps something to do with the boy's ability? As much he wished master Tim would sleep it seems that for once Alfred had a project for him. Alfred said nothing of it however, not wanting to make the child uncomfortable.

“Now, how about we clean the wound?” The man watched the boy's expression, taking note that he seemed to show no concern for the flecks in his blood.

“Can I do it?” Danny asked softly.

“Are you sure? I would be more than happy to help.”

“Yhea, I want to do it by myself”

“Very well then, do your best and I will help if you have any issues.”

They boy reached for the items on the tray that Alfred had laid out. Then cleaned and disinfected the weeping slits, with practiced ease. It made a lot more sense how such a would seemed to show no signs of infection. Once the wound was clean the boy took care to tie up the materials in a plastic baggie. Ensuring that they didn't just lay bare in the trash.

“ Now then how about we see about closing those wounds hmmm?,” Alfred asked the boy gently. Given the Evidence it seems that the boy had done the stitches himself. If that was the case then Al definitely wanted to help him with the stitches as his work wasn’t exactly the best.

“You promise to be gentle?” he asked, light tears forming in his eyes from the sting of the Anti-septic.

“But of course I assure you that they will feel much more comfortable this time around.”

Danny leans back a little against the wall bracing himself for the pain of the process. With a practiced holding of the breath that made Al’s heart sink only further. Al had managed to get through all the stitching with nothing but a few peeps from the boy on the counter. It was only after he realized he had not even applied a numbing agent to the boy's skin.

He could expect his own grandchildren to bite their tongues and take the pain. But because they had experience, how many gashes and scrapes he had to patch. They understood it just came in the line of work that was protecting the city. But from a boy so small, so young, so frail. To just bite one’s tongue and take it. Al for the first time in a long time had an opening on his long retired hit list.

————————————————

Caffeine-High

Ok so update at the manner

You-Can’t-Hide-Your-Sins

What’s up Timbers

Disco-Never-Dies

Tim really?

GlowingTm

Yhea Tim! Dick should get the honor

The-blood-Son

Honestly this whole situation is ridiculous.

Girls-Rule

Wait what’s happening!

Certified-Zombie

Why the fuck is my phone blowing up. I didn’t want to be in the stupid “bat” kid chat

Caffeine-High

We’ll fine then Dick you can get the honors. Let’s just say mister “I’m nothing like Bruce” is just like B

Off-Record

You-Can’t-Hide-Your-Sins

Oh hi Cass! Ok so why is everyone sitting in the dining room exactly? Also Bs not facing the camera but why does he look like he’s going to have a animism.

Disco-Never-Dies

Ok babs do me a favor and mute the chat cus junks about to blow up

Caffeine-High

Coward

Disco-Never-Dies

:-p

Ok so Um long story short I may or may have not picked up a kid in an Ally

So needless to say new family member but he’s hurt and small

He’s super easy to spook

Several people are typing….

Girls-Rule

I’m sorry!

GlowingTm

Also kids a meta so I’m not the only one any more.

Off-Record

Very cute loves books

Caffeine-High

So basically dick turning in to Bruce

Disco-Never-Dies

I AM NOT!

The-blood-Son

Unfortunately Richard I’m afraid I must agree with Drake

Girls-Rule

Wait, you said he was hurt?

Hurt how?

You-Can’t-Hide-Your-Sins

Where's Alfred? And I don't see a kid on the cams.

Caffeine-High

Alfred's with the kid in the bathroom stitching him up

Certified-Zombie

Stitching him up? Just how fucked up is this kid?

Off-Record

Aww Jason you do care.

Disco-Never-Dies

Judging by the marks on his chest were pretty sure the kids had been vivisected. He popped a few stitches running away from B.

Girls-Rule

Vivisected!?

You-Can’t-Hide-Your-Sins

You said the kid was small. How small? I can't seem to get into the cam feeds? They all glitched out.

GlowingTm

Might have to do with Danny being a meta, we're not 100 percent sure what the little guy can do yet. So far we got invisibility, the ability to float, and some type of temperature thing?

Off-Record

Danny's young, about 6.

Caffeine-High

Small is the understatement of the century, the kid is tinny. Like nothing but bones.

Certified-Zombie

Ok let me get this straight, dick has picked up some kid, kids fucked up, and if scared of B?

And Bruce is over here having a big mope session?

I like this kid already, a good judge of character if he doesn’t like Bruce.

The-blood-Son

I'm sure the child's only afraid of father because father Pressed him.

Certified-Zombie

Defend Bruce all you want demon brat not changing my mind

Off-Record

Disco-Never-Dies

Al’s calling me gotta go!

Tim flicked his phone to silent and tuned his head. This night was just getting started. He glanced up and saw dick bolting up the stairs towards where Danny was. At least they were going to get to meet the kid.

Tag time ahhhhhh:

@fisticuffsatapplebees

@terzatheunderscorerima

@sweet-itachi-lovin

@undead-essence

@blacksea21090

@markus209

@nonbinary-disasterter

@starkcravingmad

@ashxshadow

@aikoiya

@rainbowbunny0159

@pastalavistamf

@kae-membrana-blog

@thegatorsgoose

@beelze-the-bubkiss

@mayoota-blog1

@wisteriavines

@kilasmess

@grey-lysander

@thought-u-said-dragon-queen

There is to many of you AHHHHHHHHHH

Hi um of you made this far and could check out my friends story that would be great we work very hard and its pretty good.

M.A.D. Misfits (10215 words) by LuckyVAR Chapters: 10/? Fandom: Original Work Rating: Teen And Up Audiences Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence Characters: Unai (oc), Tsano (oc), Kingston (oc), Hian (oc), Arkole (oc), Rag Time (oc), Jay (OC) Additional Tags: Found Family, Tournaments, POV Multiple, Superpowers, Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, character from Australia, character from Texas, Swearing, Violence, Alcohol, use of weapons, Comedy, Original Character(s) Summary: A tournament of fighters has started. Ran by M.A.D. (Mutated Arena Dueling) Corp. and their tyrant boss, Arkole, a group of fighters, consisting of Tsano, a Texan motherly figure with 8 kids, that’s in this tournament by mistake and is fighting her way to get back home, Unai, the Australian street fighter, in this tournament for the money and will stop at nothing to win, and Kingston, the son of Arkole, in this tournament by force from his father and plans to stop his tyrannical corporation once and for all. These three misfits of fighters have to work together to stop Arkole and win this tournament for the money, vengeful bliss and a ticket to freedom.

103 notes · View notes

luxaofhesperides · 5 months

Note

Ghostlights cuddling for comfort, but also they're oblivious idiots who are pining over each other but thinks its unrequited

“Ugh,” Duke says, dropping down onto the bench besides Danny.

Danny nudges him with his shoulder. “Rough night?”

“Slept for like an hour,” Duke mutters, “This sucks. My head’s going to burst like balloon and my eyes are about to fall out.”

“Yikes. You know, you could have just canceled for today. I wouldn’t have minded.”

Duke sighs and presses the heel of his palms against his eyes. “Maybe, but I would have minded. We barely see each other anymore, man. I’ve missed you.”

“Oh.” Danny bites his lip, trying and failing to stop from smiling. Something soft in his chest glows at the words, a growing spark of happiness in knowing that for this, at least, the feeling is requited. It’s nice to hear that he was missed, and it would be even nicer if Duke wasn��t in pain, pushing himself just because he didn’t want to cancel. Carefully, Danny reaches for him and pulls his hands away from his face. “Here,” he says, “Let me.”

His hands are always cold. Most of him is cold, really — side effect of having an ice core. Sam told him once that his hands were better than an ice pack, and he’s hoping she’s right or this is going to be weird.

Danny gently presses his fingers against Duke’s temples, his hands cradling Duke’s face. Duke is tense for a few seconds, then abruptly relaxes, leaning into Danny’s hands.

“Is this helping?” he asks, voice hushed to keep from aggravating Duke’s migraine.

“Mhm. Yeah, it feels great. Thanks, Danny.”

Duke goes completely limp, leaning against Danny. They sit there for a minute in silence, the rest of the world feeling far away. As nice as it is to just exist together, he knows what Duke needs most right now is quiet and stillness. Gotham is very much not that, and every honking car that passes by makes Duke wince, trying to turn away from the road even more.

“Hey, let’s head back to my place. It’s close by, and a lot quieter than out here.”

“Are you sure? I know we planned to go to the arcade today…”

“The arcade can wait. You’re more important.”

Duke blinks open his eyes and looks at Danny with something soft in his gaze. Being so close together, barely any space between them, with Duke looking at him like that makes Danny’s cheeks flush red, unable to think anything but please kiss me.

Which is never going to happen. Duke is his friend, and just his friend, no matter how much Danny wishes they could be something more. It’s a pipe dream, something so impossible it’s almost laughable.

Duke likes being friends with normal human Danny. He doesn’t want to imagine how he would react if he found out about Danny being half ghost, assuming this imaginary reveal happens without Danny being hunted down and cut open by GIW agents.

He’s still in hiding, always waiting for the worst as he stays in the apartment his friends (living and dead) had set up for him. The building is for ghosts so it technically doesn’t exists, which means it’s the safest place for Danny while he’s actively being hunted by the US government.

He can’t be honest with Duke. Can’t be as close to him as he wants to be. Duke deserves more than to be dragged into Danny’s problems and put in danger.

Even so, Danny can’t help but want him around, pushing his luck each time they hang out.

“Come on,” Danny urges, standing up. He pulls his hands away and Duke’s brow immediately furrows, his pain returning. “It’s only a few streets away.”

Duke sighs, then visibly braces himself before he stands up. Danny tucks himself into Duke’s side, taking as much of his weight as he can as he walks them down the street. It’s times like these that he wishes he could reveal his powers safely and just fly them to his apartment. But even without the GIW gunning for his head, showing off powers in Gotham is a sure fire way to get a target painted on his back.

“Almost there,” he says as they turn a corner.

His apartment doesn’t have a fixed address. It doesn’t have a fixed location at all, drifting around, but it likes this street the most, so this is where it usually is. Danny takes them halfway down the street, then turns into an alley, following his ghost sense.

Where there’s usually a dead end is instead a building, looking as if it’s always been tucked away in this alley. Danny keeps a tight grip on Duke as they climb the front steps, silently asking for the building to let him stay while he’s with Danny. The door opens easily, which is as good as an agreement, and they’re inside without anything going wrong. The small entrance lobby is empty, with an area for packages filled with clearly magical artifacts carelessly wrapped in bubble wrap.

Danny drags them past that quickly, hoping Duke doesn’t notice, and calls the elevator down. It arrives silently, the doors opening to let another tenant out. Carefully, Danny positions himself in front of Duke, making sure he doesn’t see how the tenant, who nods at Danny, has a still bleeding wound in his stomach that has him nearly split in half.

“Alright,” he says, ushering Duke into the elevator, “Just a little ride up and then you can lay down.” He hits the button for the fourth floor and they ride up in silence, Duke dropping his head down to onto Danny’s shoulder again, wrapping his arms around his waist as he stands behind Danny. He’s glad Duke can’t see his face; there’s no doubt that he’s blushing like crazy and if that doesn’t give away his feelings, he doesn’t know what will.

Thankfully the elevator ride isn’t long. If Danny had to go for more than a minute with Duke breathing softly against his neck, his warm hands on his stomach, Danny would have collapsed into a pile of flustered goo.

He opens the door to his apartment and kicks his shoes off. Duke follows in suit, still plastered onto Danny’s back, refusing to let go.

“Come on,” Danny says, leading him to the couch, “Sit down and I’ll grad you some water and painkillers.”

Duke nods against his shoulder, then slowly detaches himself from Danny and makes his way to the couch. He drops onto it gracelessly, pressing his face into a cushion.

Danny winces. He must be feeling really bad. He knows how bad migraines can be with sleep deprivation, having suffered through high school with only a few hours of sleep at night, if he got to sleep at all. Frankly, it’s a testament to Duke’s strength that he lasted the entire walk to Danny’s apartment without complaint.

He returns to the living room with a full glass of water and a bottle of Advil, setting them on the coffee table to crouch next to the couch and place a cold hand on Duke’s cheek. “Hey,” he says softly when Duke turns to look at him, “Is Advil alright? It’s all I had.”

“Yeah, that’s fine. Thanks, Danny.”

Duke sits up and shakes out three pills, then washes them down with water. He drains the rest of the cup quickly, then falls back against the couch with his eyes squeezed shut.

“Is there anything else I can do to make you feel better?”

Duke immediately reaches a hand out for him.

“Um?”

“Sit next to me. I feel better when I’m next to you.”

“Oh! Alright. Bet you’re only saying that because my hands are cold.”

“You caught me,” Duke laughs, pulling Danny onto the couch. He goes easily, tucking his legs beneath himself, and places his hands on Duke’s temples again. “Man, I owe you my life.”

“I don’t think my cold hands are worth quite that much.”

Duke hums, but doesn’t say anything else, so Danny settles in and focuses on keeping his hands a little colder than normal.

The apartment is quiet. No sound from outside can reach them, one of the few ways the building looks after its tenants. Danny and Duke fall against each other, at ease with each other. There’s no need to fill in the silence, and with Duke’s eyes closed, Danny doesn’t have to carefully shove down his feelings and act normal. He indulges in the warmth of Duke’s body pressed against his, a hand on his knee and an arm around his waist.

He keeps his hands as steady as possible as he looks over Duke, adoring all the little details he can see; a small scar on his chin, the fullness of his lips, the way his hair falls into his face now that it’s long enough to keep in braids.

“I can practically hear you thinking,” Duke murmurs, “What’s on your mind?”

You’re cute, he thinks, I feel safe with you. I want to kiss you. I wish I could be brave enough to be honest.

I wish I was brave. I wish I was brave. I wish I was brave.

“Nothing,” he says. “Feeling better?”

“Yeah. I might fall asleep though.”

“That’s fine. You know I would never say no to a nap.”

“Come here, then,” Duke says, and before Danny can do anything, Duke gets a stronger grip on his waist and pulls Danny down on top of him as he falls back towards the arm rest and gets his legs on the couch.

“Duke!”

Duke laughs underneath him, and Danny can feel it roll through him. Okay! This is definitely something he’s going to think about… forever. Wow, he can feel Duke’s abs tense up as he laughs, and has he always been ripped? Unfair. Also unfairly hot.

“Is this alright?” Duke asks, voice soft and quiet. There’s a hesitancy around his words that Danny doesn’t like hearing, and he brings his hands down to sweep his thumbs soothingly over Duke’s cheeks.

“Of course it is, man. I’d never refuse cuddles.”

“Okay. I’m gonna pass out now. Wake me in an hour?”

Danny moves his hands back up to his temples and says, “Sure. Get some rest, Duke. You really need it.”

He feels Duke relax beneath him, breaths slowing down as he begins to fall asleep. It’s peaceful and quiet and Duke is warm in a way Danny never can be with his ice core. He doesn’t mean to fall asleep, but curled up on the couch with Duke in the safety of an apartment that only barely exists has him drifting off in no time at all.

. . .

(Duke wakes up before Danny. Their legs are tangled together and Duke has moved during his sleep, turning so Danny is held tightly to his chest, his back to the cushions, while Duke is balancing very carefully at the edge of the couch.

It’s been hours, and he should be heading home soon, but he stays as he is, enjoying this quiet moment for as long as he can have it. Danny is in his arms, safe and content with him, his head no longer hurts beyond a residual ache he can easily ignore, and he can admire how pretty Danny is without being worried about Danny catching his lingering stares.

These moments are precious to him, rare as they are, and he wants nothing more than to kiss Danny once he’s awake and let his feelings be known.

But the Signal has lots of dangerous people after him, and Gnomon has started causing problems in Gotham again. So he’ll bite his tongue and keep his less platonic feelings buried under lock and key until it’s safe enough for Danny to be around him more often.

And when that time comes, he can only hope that Danny will feel the same way.

That’s all far away from the stillness of Danny’s apartment. All that matters is that he has Danny in his arms. Everything else can wait.

For now, this is more than enough.)

#ghostlights #dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp fic #dpxdc fanfic #prompt fill #my writing #once again unable to resist the urge to write abt living buildings #duke and danny are pining no stop bc they're both like 'this is a bad time for a relationship/i have to keep too many secrets' etc etc #while also cuddling and going on dates that they dont call dates out loud and sighing wistfully when they think of each other #taking what small things they can while trying to hide their feelings....#some other batfam member is going to stumble upon them in public and chat a bit w dukes friend #then walk away texting the group chat like 'hey duke and his friend are madly in love but too shy/stupid to do something abt it.#lets play cupid lol' and then theyre all trying to get duke and danny together #it gets to the point that every time they hang out it ends with them doing some nonsense to escape the batfam and their kind but unhinged #attempts to get them together #thanks for the prompt!!!

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