#Get Cape. Wear Cape. Fly | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

luxaofhesperides · 1 month

Text

greener on the other side.

Danny makes a habit out of hopping into portals and exploring the places he ends up. It just so happens that this time, he ends up in Gotham right as the Signal begins his patrol. Duke meets the strangest, funniest, cutest guy on the roof of the Gotham City Public Library. He knows Batman would not approve of literally anything he's doing, but sue him, he wants a meta friend and this guy seems to be up for it. -- OR: how Duke and Danny get together despite having secret identities and living in different dimensions.

chapter three: how it shines - 8.6k

read the entire fic on ao3!

the final chapter of this fic... and the end to the first fic in the series!! theres a lot i say in the end notes of ao3 so i highly recommend reading this chapter there! . . .

Signal: you ever feel like maybe the world is out to get you

Signal: [attached photo shows Signal lying in the middle of a torn up road, post-fight, his helmet lightly blackened with ash.]

Danny: buddy, the world has already taken me out

Danny: [attached photo is a selfie of Danny, frowning at the camera. Behind him, a large, flying robot is pointing a rocket launcher at him.]

Signal: okay, you win. are you alright???

Danny: lol im fine. this literally happens every week i know how to beat this guy up

Danny: tbh i think the real threat to my existence is school

Signal: so true. one day we will be free of it….

Danny: but not today

Signal: but not today

Danny: got a minute?

Signal: yeah what’s up?

Danny: u have a secret identity

Signal: …yes?

Danny: have u told other people abt ur secret identity

Signal: yes? but some of them just kinda found out on their own

Signal: why?

Danny: how did that go. did they react well? did u have to defend urself from them?

Signal: there were some problems about me throwing myself in danger, but i was always safe with them

Danny: okay. cool. got it.

Signal: everything okay?

Danny: im thinking about telling my parents a secret about me. im kinda terrified of how they’re going to react

Signal: are you coming out to them?

Danny: in a way i guess.

Danny: gonna recruit my sister into helping me talk to them. and also get rid of all their weapons beforehand so there’s a lower chance of them shooting me

Signal: shooting you?!?!? dude are you going to be okay??? don’t do anything that could get you hurt!!

Danny: gtg

Signal: dude??

Signal: danny?

Signal: let me know how it goes, okay? i can’t travel through dimensions like you can, but i can figure something out if you need a rescue

Signal: good luck danny!

Danny: ever get into a fist fight with a walmart knock off vampire in the parking lot of a burger joint?

Danny: [attached photo is Danny’s hand flipping off a man hovering in a parking lot. He’s wearing a cape and vampire-coded clothes.]

Signal: ever have a snack break in the middle of fighting a crocodile man?

Signal: [attached photo shows Signal holding up a half eaten taco, a giant crocodile man behind him with his own box of tacos. They’re sitting next to each other in an alley.]

Danny: point to u bc u actually got food

Signal: 😝

Signal: also, everything okay? with your parents?

Danny: let’s not talk about that.

Signal: okay. but if you do want to talk, i’ll be here for you

Danny: idk if dash is trying to annoy me into another fling or if he actually wants me to throw him across the field but if he doesn’t back off im going for violence

Signal: uh

Danny: THAT WAS MEANT FOR TUCKER IM SO SORRY

Signal: should i be jealous that someone is hoping for another fling with you lol

Danny: it was once and will never happen again. 1) he’s not my type 2) he’s so annoying

Danny: also why would u get jealous of anyone ure literally a hero? hello?

Signal: hey man that guy is with you in your dimension and im all the way over here

Signal: totally reasonable for me to get jealous!! this is like a more extreme version of having online friends

Danny: true… hey i can swing by for the weekend if u want!! honestly the less time i spend here the better

Signal: that bad?

Danny: i’ve known everyone here for my entire life. i need OUT

Danny: gothams cool! its a big city with things to do!!! obviously im gonna like it more than Normal Town Illinois 🤮

Signal: weather is bad all week tho…. even if you come over we wouldnt be able to go out

Signal: its been a while since we had a storm so bad

Danny: man if that was happening here i would be able to punch the storm away

Signal: im taking that as a joke

Danny: no i literally punched a storm away before. he was a dick tho he deserved it

Signal: ….this is still Normal Town Illinois right?

Danny: .

Danny: ok fine maybe u have a point

Danny: anyways!!! i just wanna hang out with you dude i would be happy just playing video games or something

Signal: we can do that!! let me know when u get here 😊

Signal: and good luck dealing w this dash guy!!

Danny: ugh dont remind me

Signal: hye u know our plana to hang out tody

Signal: maybe rain chek tht im not goos company rn

Danny: u ok? i can always come by some other weekend

Signal: got hit and everythif bad

Danny: did u hit ur head?

Signal: yes

Danny: ok im going to call u so you can stop looking at ur phone screen. just in case u have a concussion

The phone rings twice before Signal picks up. He mumbles something that might be a hello, but it’s honestly hard to tell.

“Hey, man,” Danny says, leaning back in his chair to look up at the faded glow in the dark stars he stuck up on his ceiling years ago. “Are you okay?”

Signal hums a vague response, then sighs, sending static down the line. “Just got a headache right now. Can’t even go out since it’s too bright.”

“Is it sunny in Gotham right now?”

“No, it’s super cloudy and that’s still too much. I hate concussions.” There’s a bit of a whine in his voice that reminds Danny that under the helmet, Signal is a normal guy just like anyone else. And like everyone else, powers don’t save him from the pain of brain trauma.

Danny would know; he’s gotten pretty good at taking care of injuries and the such through his high school career of getting tossed in lockers and attacked by ghosts. He’s pretty sure parts of his brain are still rattled from the amount of times he’s been thrown into and through walls.

“I hear you, man,” Danny commiserates, “Head injuries are the worst. But it should start feeling better in a few days, so you can just stay home and relax until the pain stops.”

“Ugh, I wish. I still have to go to school tomorrow.”

“Dude, that sucks. If you can stay home sick, then don’t force yourself to go. Concussions are no joke.”

Signal hums again, then mumbles, “I can’t think of an excuse. Cause the concussion is from being hit on patrol so like. I can’t say that! I have to figure out a reason for my civilian identity to have a concussion.”

“Can I suggest something?”

“Please, I’ll take anything at this point, man. My brain is done for.”

“Make up an embarrassing story. You have to make yourself look silly and people will believe you more and not ask follow up questions because you’re too embarrassed to say more.”

“...Keep talking. This sounds viable. The only advice I got was to basically fake my death or get into a car accident to get more injured.”

“I think you need to fight whoever said that,” Danny says, “That is horrible advice.”

“I know!” Signal laughs. “Oh I shouldn’t have laughed, my head is hurting more.”

Danny lets out a slow breath, tilting his head back to look up at the ceiling of his bedroom. If he strains his hearing, he can make out the rustle of fabric from Signal’s end of the call as well as the murmur of his parent’s voices downstairs. He closes his eyes and focuses on the call, pushing away the heavy weight of regret on his chest that hits him each time he thinks about his parents.

Now is not the time for that. Signal needs calm and quiet, so Danny is going to give that to him and then let him go to rest.

“Are you drinking enough water? Getting some comfort food?”

“Yeah, I’m being taken care of. Don’t worry Danny, I got a whole crew of dysfunctional caretakers.”

“Good. I’ll let you get back to resting, then.”

“I’m still so sorry I had to cancel. I was looking forward to seeing you again.”

Warmth rises to his cheeks and Danny rubs a hand against them, trying to ignore the butterflies in his stomach that came to life at those words. “We can always do a different day. Let me know when you feel better, okay?”

“Yeah, alright. Thanks, Danny.”

“I hope you feel better soon, Signal. I missed you too.”

There’s a pause where Danny’s heart pounds hard against his chest, as though trying to escape his ribcage. He bites his tongue, wondering it that was too much, if he made things weird, if Signal didn’t feel the same way.

And then Signal says with a soft voice, “I can’t wait to see you again. You’re too sweet to me.”

“Okay!” Danny squeaks, cheeks aflame, “Go sleep, Signal! I’ll talk to you once you can look at a screen again.”

“Alright. Thanks, Danny.”

“Of course, dude. Bye.”

Signal makes a soft mumble that could be ‘bye’ but it’s hard to tell with Signal’s voice going all rough and low, exhausting in every sound, and then the call is ending.

Danny drops the phone onto his desk and draws his knees up to hold them against his chest. He rests his chin on them, filled with longing for Gotham.

Not just for the Signal, though that’s a big part of it. But for the anonymity of a big city in a dimension where he doesn’t exist. A place where he can be himself, just Danny instead of being torn between his parent’s son and Phantom. Plus, Gotham has heroes! Not other ghosts, not ghost hunters, but people with superpowers who help people whenever they can.

It would be nice to be someplace like Gotham where he wouldn’t have to carry the responsibility of protecting an entire city on his shoulders. It would be nice to have friends who understand why he can’t not give his all to protect people, regardless of how they feel for him, friends who make the same choice, friends who aren’t weighed down by guilt with their part in his death.

As much as he loves Sam and Tucker, he knows that will be something that haunts them for the rest of their lives.

It’s better now that it had been in freshman year, but it’s still something that changed them all. He’ll always love them, and he knows they love him, but they need to spend some time apart.

In Amity Park, they’re the outsiders who are too weird for the rest of the school, outcasts who stick together, a tightly knit group full of secrets. They’ve been each others only friends for the longest time; sometimes, others come in and out of their lives, like Valerie, but the bond he has with Sam and Tucker can’t be replicated.

They need to be with new people to grow any more. He can see how they’re holding each other back.

They’ll always find a way to be together, but they have to be apart first.

Gotham will be good for that.

Hell, any place in that dimension would be good!

Danny just wants to be more than he is, wants to be better and he can’t do that here or with his friends.

And he certainly can’t do that with his parents.

After telling them about everything’s he’s done as Phantom, all the times he’s ruined their inventions or fought with the GIW or endangered people through his fights with other ghosts, his parents just stared at him. They were seated around the kitchen table, Jazz standing behind Danny with a comforting hand on his shoulder, as his parents just… stared.

There were no accusations of possession, no weapons drawn, no demands for an explanation. Just a haunted look in his parents eyes as they went silent, still, horrified.

“Danny,” his mom had whispered, “You mean you’re—”

“I’m Phantom, yeah. The ghost menace,” he had answered.

“You’re dead,” she finished as if he hadn’t spoken. “You died and we didn’t… we never noticed. What— How—”

The thing about being Phantom is that Danny knows he died. He knows he came back changed. But he doesn’t like thinking about it, still wakes up from nightmares of electricity racing through his body, frying him from inside out as it stops and restarts his heart in an endless painful pattern. Yes he died, but he got powers out of it! He got to meet other ghosts, explore the Infinite Realms, do so many cool things no one else is able to do…

But he still died. Half of him is still dead. He’s never going to be the kid he once was.

“It was an accident,” he had whispered, “With the portal. The on button is inside it, and when I went in for some stupid picture, I tripped and hit it.”

“And we only cared about the portal working,” his dad had said, grief coloring every line in his face. “We didn’t even look at you. We just went straight for the portal. We were so happy to be right that we didn’t stop to think about what it meant, how it could have happened…”

The tears he saw well up in his parents eyes made his heart twist uncomfortably in his chest. For several long minutes, silence settled around them as his parents closed either eyes are stared down at the table, refusing to look at him. Jazz had squeezed his shoulder, then pulled him up out of his seat.

“Danny, go upstairs. Or to Tucker’s place. I need to have my own talk with them,” she had said. There was a steel in her gaze that told Danny there was no use in arguing, so he walked out the front door and transformed so he could fly out into the woods where he could be alone, watching the sky change colors as the sun set.

It’s been two weeks since then. His parents still can’t look at him for too long. They can’t look him in the eyes at all.

He wonders if he would have preferred them trying to kill him. At least then they would acknowledge that he’s still here instead of moving around him as if he’s a memory haunting the halls of their home, one they’re too guilty to face just yet.

He misses his dad’s loud voice and enthusiasm. He misses his mom’s quick wit and quicker reflexes. He misses the chaos of each meal they would have together and how his parents would drag him and Jazz along on random, sudden trips for the sake of science.

He misses his parents.

Danny hates that the family he loves died with him in that portal.

As much as he still loves them, being in the house, and in Amity Park in general, is suffocating. The farther he can get from them the better; Danny isn’t sure he’d react well if he stayed in this universe and woke up one day with his parents decided to break into his new home because they finally feel up to having a conversation with him.

Maybe he’d talk to Signal about what living in Gotham is like. That might help him make a decision on what to do with himself once he graduates from Casper High School.

He’ll save it for the next time they meet.

Some things are better done in person, after all. And it wouldn’t hurt for Danny to use it as an excuse to make sure he’s fine.

But for now, he’ll wait until the days pass and keep daydreaming about better things.

Signal: hey man, u doing okay? i haven’t heard from u in a while

Danny: yeah im good! i was waiting for u to text first bc i didnt know how long you’d need to recover from a concussion

Signal: ive been good for a while, dude. dw abt waiting to text me, just send me something and i’ll reply once i can!!

Danny: i’ll keep that in mind for the next time u get injured 👍

Signal: but fr are u good? tell me to back off if u need but u seem kinda down

Danny: im fine!!! just dealing w the crushing weight of existence, that’s all 🫠

Signal: oh mood. anything i can do to make things better for u?

Danny: nah it’s fine, im just like this sometimes. i promise it’ll pass

Signal: want a distraction?

Danny: please

Signal: so i was just swinging thru the streets as i do and this group called me down while theyre having a huge argument

Signal: so i go bc i dont want things escalating yknow?

Signal: and idk the context of this argument AT ALL but one of them turns to me

Signal: looks me dead in the eyes

Signal: and says ‘penis enhancement pills are NOT a thing, right?’

Danny: SKDFJALSDJ NO WAY

Signal: oh man. this isnt even the best part of this story

Danny: there’s MORE?????

Signal: its gotham, danny, there’s always more lmao

Signal: so anyways……..

Danny: i hope you know that story has been haunting me all week

Danny: dash was being a dick again and i was half asleep so i told him ‘maybe u’d be less of a dick if u stop taking penis enhancing pills’

Signal: THATS GOLD

Signal: my job here is done. nothing will ever top that. i’ll see myself out ✌️

Danny: he looked so shocked lmaooo

Danny: tried to say he DOESNT take any pills but it was too late

Danny: he was too flustered by it no one believed him

Danny: top 10 things to say to ur former bully

Signal: i didnt know he bullied u. good for u! get his ass!

Danny: he’s fine now lol just annoying. we all grew out of the super cliche high school phase after freshman year when we had to work together to fend off ghosts and the government

Signal: nothing like a little anarchy to bring people together

Signal: its why im still good friends w the people who were in a gang i joined when i was younger to be like. street kid vigilantes bc gotham was going bad back then

Danny: everything u say about gotham and ur life is so fascinating literally how are u real?? ure the perfect ya novel protagonist

Signal: thats the sweetest thing anyones ever said to me ❣️

Signal: but also lol. lmao. gotham really is just like that. no one is immune

Signal: u also sound like a ya protag jsyk.

Danny: literally how im so boring??

Signal: danny. babe. im gonna have to bring out the capital letters for this bc i get the feeling that u really believe that

Danny: oh boy

Signal: Listen. You live in a small town that’s Haunted, fight ghosts, have powers, went from being bullied to being chill with your bully, and can travel the multiverse. You are a YA Protagonist.

Danny: damn i can’t argue with that :/

Danny: why’d i have to be the ghost hunter’s ghost son. i wanna be a side character. give me a refund on this life pls

Signal: do i dare ask clarification on the ghost thing?

Danny: uuuh no? its kinda personal and im dealing w it but its also kinda like ur civilian id?

Danny: its something i’ll share once we’re closer and i know u better and can trust u with it

Signal: totally fair. want me to pretend that part of the conversation never happened?

Danny: please

Signal: cool. watch this

Signal changed Danny’s name to YA protag (real)

YA protag (real): ooooh my god

YA protag (real): im not taking this lying down

YA protag (real) changed Signal’s name to YA menace

YA protag (real) changed their name to YA protag (retired)

YA menace: lmao

YA menace: does this mean… ure my senior…. my knowledgeable mentor… my senpai 🥺

YA protag (retired): i will throw us both into a black hole dont even try me 🔪

YA menace: LMAO

YA menace: fair. just saying that dealt me so much psychological damage

YA protag (retired): deserved

YA protag (retired): can we attempt Danny Visits Gotham: 2! Electric Boo-galoo?

YA menace: yeah!!!! im free this weekend if u wanna come by then!!

YA protag (retired): i can do this weekend!!

YA menace: i will do my very best not to get a head injury before then

YA protag (retired): can u maybe aim for no injuries?

YA menace: danny we need to be realistic here

YA menace: my goal is to have no bleeding wounds that need stitches. as long as i don’t bleed its not a problem 👍

YA protag (retired): …..

YA menace: no need for the judgment i have everything under control

YA protag (retired): …………

YA protag (retired): :/

YA menace: lmk when ure gonna be in gotham! i’ll make sure to be outside waiting for u

YA protag (retired): i’ll be another hour but i’ll send a msg before i head out!!

YA protag (retired): actually it might be a bit longer i gotta fight some people who are trying to cheer me up

YA menace: should i be concerned

YA protag (retired): nah its fine they’re just annoying

YA menace: if u need to reschedule

YA protag (retired): noooo!!!! i’ll be in gotham soon i swear!!!!

YA menace: ok!! ok!!!! i will keep waiting for you then 🫡

Duke waits for an hour and a half, swinging through streets and waving to people, before Danny texts him to let him know that he’s next to the botanical gardens.

One moment, Duke is perched on the roof of a Mexican restaurant in the Bowery. The next, he’s halfway across Gotham, swinging recklessly from building to building.

So what if he’s excited to see Danny again! That’s normal!

Anyone would do the same in his position.

Plus, Duke still feels so bad about having to cancel last time due to his concussion. The sooner he gets to Danny, the sooner he can start making up for it. He didn’t spend the last few patrols being extra careful for nothing; he only has a few bruise and no bleeding at all!

Danny’s star glow helps Duke find him behind the botanical gardens, hidden away from the rest of the street.

He drops down from the roof, using the shadows to soften the impact of landing.

When he looks at Danny, leaning against the building, he’s greeted with a bright smile.

“Signal!” he says, pushing off the wall to close the distance between them. “I hope I didn’t make you wait too long or anything.”

“Nah, you’re good. You alright?”

“Oh, yeah, of course! It was just some friendly fighting, and they wouldn’t be able to really hurt me even if they tried. I’m all good! So, what’s the plan for today?”

Duke looks him over just in case, but Danny does appear to be perfectly fine. Not a single bruise on him. Maybe it was just a few friends roughhousing with him? That might be it, since Sam and Tucker did try to take each other out last time they were in Gotham. So he’s just going to go with what Danny says! He’s fine, and they can move on!

He’s totally going to worry about it later, but right now is not the time for it when Danny’s waiting to spend the day with him.

“Well, I still have to finish patrol, but that’s just for another hour if you wanna join me,” he says. “And then we can head to the Hatch to just… hang out. Or we can find something else to do, totally up to you.”

“The Hatch?” Danny repeats, tilting his head to the side curiously. Duke has to take a moment and just appreciate how cute Danny is before he can compose himself enough to answer.

“Yeah, it’s like my… secret base? HQ? The place I go for superhero things that is for me, specifically, and that I don’t have to share with a bunch of other people.”

“You have a secret base?! That’s so awesome! I just have—” Danny falters, his excitement falling, and then he plasters on a pained, fake smile. “I’ve always wanted to see a superhero’s HQ. Are you sure it’s fine to show it to me, though?”

Part of him wants to ask about what he was going to say before switching gears, but the drawn expression on his face is more than enough to make Duke back off. “Yeah, man, don’t even worry about it. Besides, it’s not like there’s any other places we can go to without me revealing my identity, you know?”

“Fair enough,” Danny nods. “But maybe one day we can?”

“For sure,” Duke says. “Come on, up for a quick patrol around Gotham?”

“Oh, definitely.” The light returns to Danny’s eyes as he lifts off the ground, floating. The smile on his face is more sincere, and the sight of it makes the knot of worry in Duke’s heart pull loose. He pulls his grapple out and aims for the highest ledge of Poison Ivy’s greenhouse, tucked in the back of the botanical gardens, then takes off.

Danny is flying next to him immediately, a blur of invisibility, and they fall into a rhythm quickly as they head towards the Bowery. As Duke free runs and swings between buildings, Danny flies around him, the occasional laugh slipping past his lips as he circles around Duke.

It’s hard not to have his attention stolen by Danny, but Duke is here to protect the people of Gotham, so he focuses 90% of his attention to the streets, keeping an eye and ear out for any trouble.

There’s not much happening today, thankfully. He’s only had to stop a few burglaries, a bank robbery, and chase off a stalker before Danny arrived. Truthfully, the peace is making him nervous; there hasn’t been a big attack to the city in a while, with no word on the movement of rogues and nothing big brewing among the gangs and mobs. Peace rarely lasts so long in Gotham, and Duke is genuinely worried the next thing will be some continent destroying, apocalypse bringing disaster.

In the last hour of his patrol, he only has to stop a purse-snatcher and help someone move their broken down car off the street and into a parking lot. Danny stays in the air for both, invisible to everyone but him, and the blur of his aura floats around the areas Duke stops at curiously.

They hit up touristy places last time he was in Gotham, and food trucks before that. Maybe next time Duke can get takeout from a nice restaurant and they can have a rooftop picnic.

Not quite a date, not yet at least, but something close to it. A testing of the waters. An unspoken promise for something more.

With the hour ends, Duke comes to stop on the roof of a tattoo parlor and gestures for Danny to join him.

The blur of invisibility fades away and Danny’s features come back into focus as he lowers himself down to the roof.

“What’s up?” Danny asks, glancing around them curiously.

“It’s about time for patrol to end, so we can head to the Hatch now. But I do need to blindfold you so you don’t see where the Hatch is located.”

“Oh! Yeah, that’s fine. Will I just have to hold onto you or something? Since I won’t be able to see where we’re going.”

“I was thinking I’d just carry you. It’s easier that way.”

“Sure, that works!” Danny closes his eyes, cheeks already darkening with a blush. “I’ll just… let you blindfold me now?”

Duke desperately wants to smoosh Danny’s cheeks together in his hands, but valiantly resists the urge. He’s on a mission! To hang out with Danny! He can cry about how cute Danny is later!

He walks up to Danny on silent feet, circling around him. Then he lifts his hands, picturing the light solidifying in his palms, turning to fabric that darkens and obscures, bending the light to be darker and darker until it’s nearly black. He gently pulls it across Danny’s eyes, leaning in closer to him to make sure he’s not putting it on too tightly.

Danny gasps slightly when his back bumps into Duke’s chest, and Duke can’t help the way his eyes dart down to Danny’s mouth, his red cheeks, the long line of his neck.

Focus, he tells himself sternly, and draws the ends of his makeshift blindfold back to tie the ends together behind Danny’s head.

“There,” he says in a low voice. “All done.”

Danny doesn’t answer. He just leans back against Duke, pressing them together slightly, and Duke brings his hands down to Danny’s hips to hold his steady.

“Ready to go?”

“Ready,” Danny answers in a faint voice. “How do you want me?”

Now that’s a dangerous question to ask right then and there. Duke bites back a number of flirtatious, suggestive answers, and makes himself actually think about the best way he can carry Danny while grappling to the Hatch. He’ll need one hand free to grapple, but also needs to keep a secure grip on Danny…

He steps to the side and guides one of Danny’s arms up to wrap around his shoulders. Then he picks Danny up, leaving him to wrap his legs around his waist as he walks over to the edge of the roof and looks towards the area in Gotham where the Hatch is hidden. Duke takes a moment to adjust his arm to keep Danny secure against his chest, then takes hold of his grapple with his free hand.

“Ready?” he checks, tightening his hold on Danny’s waist.

Danny nods against his neck, tucking his face in the crook of Duke’s shoulder. “Ready!”

Duke grins and jumps off the building, shooting out his grapple as they begin to fall. Danny yelps lightly, then clings to Duke even harder, his blindfold still secure around his head. It’s become a bit fainter as Duke’s attention slipped off of it, but he focuses on it again to darken it and keep Danny from seeing where they’re going.

It occurs to him halfway to the Hatch how much trust Danny is putting in him. To put a blindfold on him. To lead him to a place he’s never been to before. To let Duke swing him across the streets of Gotham without using his own ability to fly.

Oracle’s apprehension about Danny (and his friends) is a heavy weight on his mind, but he can’t help but think it’s unnecessary. She’d understand if she ever met Danny in person. He wears his heart on his sleeve and offers it so freely; how could Duke not trust him?

The weeks they’ve been texting each other only make him sure that Danny’s a good person, someone he wants in his life for as long as he can stay, someone he wants to be honest with. They just click, somehow, like they’re each holding a puzzle piece that’s been missing in each other’s lives.

I think I’ve been waiting my whole life to meet you, he wants to say. But the street entrance to the Hatch is just a block away and Danny still doesn’t know his name, so Duke bites his tongue and forces all those feelings back into more platonic territory.

Just as the reach the building with the hidden panel to allow him entrance to the Hatch, Duke pulls at the light around them to hide them from sight as they drop down from the sky.

“Almost in,” he says, holding Danny up with one arm as he tucks his grapple away and push the fake brick cover out of the way to punch in his twelve digit access code.

A hidden door in the wall of the building, the back bricked off from the operating portion courtesy of Wayne Industries funding the restoration project for this area of the city after a major alien attack, opens up smoothly and without a sound. The ground slopes downward at a steep angle; he uses this door for when he’s riding his motorcycle out of the cave networks underneath the city that keep the Hatch connected to the Batcave, but it’s not too far from where the Hatch itself is.

He carries Danny in, then makes sure the door closes completely behind him before setting Danny down on his feet. “We’ve still got a bit of a walk to the Hatch, but you can take your blindfold off now.”

“I’ll wait until we get there,” Danny says. “I’m going to use this as an excuse to cling to you for as long as I can.”

“Fair enough!” Duke laughs, “Cling away, I’ll make sure you don’t trip.”

And cling away Danny does, wrapping his arms around Duke’s left arm, holding onto it as they make their way down the tunnel. Duke keeps an eye out for anything that might trip him and carefully steers him past them.

“Are we underground?”

“Yeah, there’s this huge cave system under the city that we use to get around,” Duke answers. “Though we’ve paved in small roads and made stable tunnels to go through, so it’s all safe.”

“Huh, that’s cool. It would be nice if I had a way to get around Amity like this.”

“Danny, you can fly.”

“That’s not relevant!”

“How is it not relevant?” Duke laughs incredulously, jostling Danny slightly. Danny turns towards him and they trip over each other slightly, clutching to each other to keep their balance.

“It just isn’t!”

They bicker lightheartedly down the tunnel until it opens up into the garage of the Hatch. Duke helps Danny up the stairs to the main area, where he keeps his suit, weapons, and the large computer Bruce installed when the Hatch was first made. Once he’s sure Danny’s comfortable, he leaves to change into his civilian clothes with only a domino mask slapped over his eyes to protect his identity.

And if Duke takes an extra minute to fix up his hair, the long locs in a disarray from being tied back and stuffed into his helmet, then that’s no one’s business but his own.

Maybe he does need to get a hair cut. He’s starting to get why Steph wants to shave her head and rock a pixie cut like Selena. But, on the other hand, he does like how he looks with longer hair, especially when it’s tied up…

Long hair for now. It makes him look good and he’s here to impress Danny.

When he heads back to where Danny is, he sees Danny sitting down patiently, his blindfold still on, though it’s become much more transparent than it was before. He can see how Danny’s eyes are closed beneath it, waiting for Duke to return, tapping out a slow rhythm on his knee with his fingers.

“You can take that off now,” he says as he walks up to Danny.

“You sure?”

“If I wasn’t, I wouldn’t have brought you in here.”

Danny reaches up and gently pulls the blindfold off, slowly blinking his eyes open. He watches as the blindfold dissolves in his hand, becoming light again, then shyly turns to look at Duke.

“Oh,” he says softly, taking in Duke, who tries very hard not to fidget and reveal just how nervous he is to be out of his Signal armor before Danny. “You are so unfair?”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“You can’t be kind, a superhero, and attractive! Tell me something you’re bad at so I know you have some flaws.”

Duke grins, flattered. “You think I’m attractive?”

“Stop fishing for compliments!” Danny pushes him lightly, barely enough force to make him tilt to the side. “Give me something you’re bad at, come on.”

“Well, if you really need to know…” Duke takes a moment to think of something that won’t completely embarrass him. “I’m terrible at learning other languages. Vocab doesn’t stick in my head, grammar rules mean nothing to me, and my accent is atrocious.”

“That doesn’t count, that’s normal,” Danny argues.

“It the only thing I can think of right now! I’m just really bad at non-English languages!”

Danny rolls his eyes, shaking his head fondly. “I can’t believe you. You have powers, you’re cute, and you’re good at flirting. Stop winning at life so much, the rest of us stand no chance against you.”

“I promise I’m a disaster when I’m not trying to impress people.”

“Lies. You’re being perfect right now and there’s no one to impress.”

“I’m trying to impress you.”

Danny blinks. “Oh.” He bites his lip in an attempt to force down a smile. “Shut up. I don’t count. You don’t need to try to impress me, you’ve already done that.”

“Yeah? Well, maybe I’ll try to be more of a mess around you from now on.”

“Please do, I can’t be the only one making a fool of myself. Where’s the friendship? The solidarity? Suffer with me!”

Duke shoves him back playfully, and just like that, they fall back into a rhythm of easy conversation and light touches, skirting the lines of friendly with something more. Time slips away from him and Duke spends every second with Danny wishing he could have this always, that they didn’t have a time limit over their heads, that the universe itself wasn’t keeping them apart. He shows off the Hatch and some Bat gadgets, which Danny finds fascinating, then they spend an hour comparing their most commonly used powers.

Danny has to leave all too soon, opening up a small portal of swirling green with the help of a small pocketwatch-like device, and Duke can only hope that they can do this again soon, but without the domino on his face.

One day, he swears. One day they’ll have that.

YA menace: hey quickly rate this guys fit

YA menace: [attached photo is a goon with a black and white striped shirt with a purple question mark safety pinned onto it. They’re also wearing neon purple sweatpants and are glaring at the camera.]

YA protag (retired): ngl thats not the worst ive seen. 6/10

YA menace: 6???

YA menace: 6?????????????

YA menace: danny i say this with all the love in my heart, go get ur eyes checked

YA protag (retired): before u say anything else. look at what i regularly have to deal with

YA protag (retired): [attached photo is a floating man with blue-ish skin an d a very dramatic hairstyle. He’s wearing a long black cloak, a white suit, and a Green Bay Packer’s football jersey on top of all that.]

YA menace: damn. no wonder ur judgement of bad fits is Like That. this guys to blame

YA protag (retired): wanna know the worst part?

YA menace: this can get worse??

YA protag (retired): thats my godfather.

YA protag (retired): this is a man my parents thought were fit to be responsible for me and my sister if anything happens to us

YA protag (retired): THIS GUY

YA menace: u have my sincerest condolences

YA menace: oh shit more riddler guys are here i gtg they got guns

YA protag (retired): be safe!! please dont get shot!!!!

YA menace: i’ll do my best 🫡

YA protag (retired): came home today and all the weapons that were attached to my house disappeared

YA protag (retired): i feel like im in the twilight zone

YA protag (retired): if i start talking backwards or acting like a robot pls know it is not me but something wearing my face

YA menace: the weapons attached to ur house????

YA menace: im starting there but i want u to know that everything u said was concerning

YA protag (retired): have i not mentioned it before? my parents are kinda mad scientists and make a lot of weird but working things. mostly weapons to fight ghosts.

YA menace: cant believe ure only just dropping lore abt urself when we’ve been talking for so long

YA protag (retired): in my defense!!!! everyone here knows abt them so im used to not having to say anything!!!

YA protag (retired): people usually just Get It!!!

YA menace: moving on to my second point: having the weapons removed from ur house is whats concerning??? not the weapons being attached to ur house???

YA protag (retired): listen. i have spent p much my entire life with a house that doubles as an armed fortress. when i was a kid i was convinced it would come to life and protect me from monsters. this was also during my urban legends monster phrase and i scared myself reading abt them and needed the comfort

YA protag (retired): my POINT is that its normal for my house to have weapons. so seeing them gone is worrying!!!!!

YA menace: .

YA menace: ok fair enough. last point: is being replaced by a robot version of urself a concern in ur universe? bc it is here

YA protag (retired): no its not a legit concern here

YA protag (retired): probably. dont quote me on that. i had a cloning situation a few years ago

YA menace: a hwat

YA protag (retired): dont worry about it!!!

YA protag (retired): oh my parents are home. i need to talk to them. Bye!!

YA menace: gl!! let me know if u need rescuing from evil clone robots

RED: before I say anything else, Signal this is the price u pay for not letting me play with interdimensional tech after you let O have a turn at it.

YA protag (retired): um.

YA protag (retired): wrong chat???

RED: no this is the right chat. Hi Danny :)

YA protag (retired): hi???? who are u????

YA menace: oh my god

YA menace: this is NOT NECESSARY RED

RED: as I said. U did this to urself.

YA menace: 🙄🙄🙄

YA protag (retired): wait. did u… hack into this chat?? did u hack the phone????

RED: yeah lol.

RED: was a bit of a challenge but it was fun

RED: had to pull out the spare alien tech to make something that would connect

YA protag (retired): ok 1. tucker will want to marry u for ur brain

YA protag (retired): 2. ALIEN TECH?????

YA menace: i feel like we already talked abt aliens being real in my dimension

YA protag (retired): THATS DIFFERENT FROM HAVNG ALIEN TECH

YA protag (retired): hey red what do u accept as bribes

YA menace: u ask him while im right here????

YA protag (retired): u dont have the alien tech. red does. case closed.

RED: oh wow. Signal….. Wow.

YA menace: what? shut up. cant leave any of yall unsupervised i swear

RED: also, Danny I accept tech from different dimensions and also fun tasting sodas and energy drinks

YA protag (retired): done. i will have the goods ready next time i go to gotham, pls hook me up w alien teach

RED: do u just like new tech?

YA menace: hes a space nerd so he loves aliens

RED: do u just wanna meet an alien then?

YA protag (retired): CAN I??!!

RED: yeah I can pull something together for u

YA menace: omfg. Red can u go stop stealing danny from me

RED: up ur game Signal. We’re ALL going to try to steal Danny away

YA menace: how tf do i kick u out of the chat

RED: u cant 😇 im too good to be kicked

YA menace: put that halo away we all know what u really are

YA menace: 🤡

YA protag (retired): omg….. rip red ur cool reputation will be missed

RED: hey now. What happened to the bribes :(

YA protag (retired): ur still gonna get them but i am playing favorites

YA protag (retired): and signal is obviously my fave

YA menace: knew i could count on u to have my back danny 💛

YA menace: drop ur location red i just wanna talk

RED: lol no

RED: good luck catching me :)

YA menace: coward!!!!

YA protag (retired): there he goes…..

YA protag (retired): hey u know what i just realized?

YA menace: what?

YA protag (real) changed YA menace’s name to Light

YA protag (real) changed their name to Night

Night: rhyming buddies 😄

Light: i get the light bc of my powers but wheres the night coming from?

Night: bc i love space! the night sky!!

Light: ok thats pretty cute ngl

Light: give me some warning bc u do stuff like that its bad for my heart

Night: stop sweet talking me im busy feeling clever

Light: lmaooooo

Light: fair enough i’ll get back to it in 3-5 business days

Night: good 👍

Night: also is now a good time to ask abt red…. who was that….

Light: that was a nerd. dont worry abt him ok im cooler

Light: serious answer: hes red robin and hes another vigilante in gotham. we’re chill

Night: did u find his location for a throw down tho

Light: i can do u one better: i know where he lives

Night: oh???

Light: yeah his dad is my mentor of sorts so its not THAT impressive that i know

Light: i did steal all his zesti tho lol

Night: not sure what that is but im proud of u

Light: its just a drink that hes obsessed w. i love being a minor annoyance 😇

Night: shaking ur hand. its really the best thing to be

Light: hell yeah!!!

Light: hey got a kinda serious question for u

Night: whats up?

Light: have u thought abt ur future?

Light: like what u want to do in college, where u want to go after high school, what career u want

Night: i mean. some.

Night: not as much as my parents want me to.

Night: my sister goes to harvard and is super smart. im not that impressive so i keep disappointing them

Night: and with things recently… idk its hard. it kinda feels like they dont believe i have a future.

Night: not that they really see me in the present anyways

Night: sorry that was heavy. short answer is no! not really!

Light: that sounds rough. wanna talk abt it?

Night: not really but not talking hasnt done me much good

Night: my sister would want me to talk anyways. to someone trustworthy at least

Night: so if u dont mind listening…

Light: go for it!! im here for u danny

Light: emotionally at least. not physically but thats not by choice

Night: it can wait tho honestly. whyd u ask abt the future? something on ur mind?

Light: just feeling really lost rn is all.

Light: its like everyone around me has an idea of what to do with their lives while im still surprised that i made it as far as i have

Light: this is really the first time ive seriously thought abt my future and i have no idea what to do

Light: so i wanted to talk to u bc u help make things feel less terrifying

Night: signal…. ur going to make me cry

Night: u make me feel brave too

Night: ♥️

Night: i get what u mean 100% btw. u go so long sure that u dont have a future that u dont know what to do now that its here

Light: exactly.

Light: what am i supposed to do with my life? i dont want to be a hero full time, ive seen how that breaks people

Night: do u want to go to college? or do u just feel like u have to bc everyone else is?

Light: i do want to.

Light: my parents both went and theyve always wanted me to get a degree and be successful

Light: they may not be around anymore, not really, but i do still want to make them proud

Light: they cant see me graduate, but maybe when i tell them the next time i visit, itll reach the part of them thats still alive in their minds

Light: what about u? do u want to go to college?

Night: yeah. it was always my dream to become an astronaut. work at nasa and everything

Night: no chance its ever gonna happen now tho lol

Night: dying and the health problems that comes w that will do that to ya ✌️

Light: oh man that sucks

Night: yeah

Night: i might still study aerospace engineering tho. even if i cant be an astronaut, maybe i can help others get there

Light: thats a good alternative!! im glad u still have some idea of what u can do that can help u work at nasa and achieve part of ur dream

Night: we’ll see tho

Night: im not really feeling college atm. or life in general

Night: idk i feel…. stuck. like nothing will change even if i get out of illinois. it’ll just be the same stuff at a different place

Night: and i know itll take one visit from my parents to start ruining things for me

Night: i just… dont really wanna deal w that. ive kinda given up on life tbh i might as well just focus on the ghostly side of things. stay in the ghost zone more permanently

Light: i dont wanna judge or anything but that doesnt sound healthy??

Light: pls dont disappear into the ghost zone. i’d miss u.

Night: sweet talker

Night: i wont. dont worry. its just a feeling i get sometimes, that it’d be better if i wasnt in this world. if i could just go somewhere else

Light: hey. what if

Light: sorry if this idea is stupid or something

Light: but what if u lived here? in my dimension? u could establish a life and go to college here.

Light: a total fresh start

Night: thats. not a bad idea actually

Night: i would love that. wouldn’t it be hard to do tho? i dont exist there.

Light: we can make it work. its not like us gotham vigilantes are new to creating new identities/lives out of nothing

Light: i could ask for a few favors, do a few dubiously legal things. you could live here

Night: im planning to take a gap year to figure out if i wanna stay in the human world at all. i could spend that year in gotham before making my choice

Night: if u dont mind me asking this huge favor of u

Light: i dont mind at all!!

Light: danny i would love for u to be here are u kidding me. i’d do anything so we could be closer together

Night: thanks signal ♥️

Night: i made this all abt me im so sorry

Night: wanna talk more abt how ur feeling or ur plans for the future?

Light: maybe some other time. i wanna get to work on making sure u can live here for the year (and more! hopefully!)

Light: tell u what.

Light: we can talk more abt this the next time we see each other in person ok?

Night: deal

Night: im really glad i met u

Light: me too

Light: im here for u for as long as u want me around, honey

Light: u dont need to worry about a thing with me

Night: ure too sweet.

Night: im going to go now before u make me melt into a puddle of feelings

Night: ♥️

Light: ♥️

“Hey Babs, I have a favor to ask…”

#ghostlights #duke thomas/danny fenton #dcxdp #dpxdc #dc x dp #dp x dc #my writing #dc x dp fic #now to all my other wips! and then the next fic in the series!!#i did make the series on ao3 btw if u wanna subscribe to it #v excited to get into it. i have MUCH to say abt the fenton family and duke's indecision abt his future and duke and dannys relationship!!!

304 notes · View notes

wandixx · 3 months

Text

Ghost of fries and Hero of cookies part 2

All work words count: 14 593

Words in this part: 1 794

Summary of whole work: Duke wasn't expecting to wake up from his quick rooftop nap to some meta kid with fries. He also wasn't expecting kid to stay Or Danny asked Dani to stay safe while she was in Gotham. Where would she be safer than under the wing of local hero? And he looked like he needed bad day combo anyway

This part summary: Of new names and teasing

Beta read by @audhumla-sailor though English is second language for both of us, so proceed with this in mind. I also know all of the charaters through fics alone, so probably ooc. Stay catious if it's something you don't like

First part

Duke knew that Dani was in their agreed meeting point, he even vaguely knew where she was floating but not much more. She used her invisibility, which was weird since she knew it didn't work correctly on him. It was fifth time they met, of course they knew.

"Hey Signal, remember how you said that I need a codename if we're going to hang out in future and that all my previous ideas were horrible names?" a disembodied girly voice asked. Duke smiled. Ever since he raised the idea, the girl would come up with ridiculous names to be called, proposing them with absolutely straight face. It was expected from someone who thought Dani Phantom was a good alias. It didn't make her ideas any less amusing.

"Of course I do. Whatcha got for me today?"

"Alright, since you don't let me be a name stealer, I decided to take a sheet from local nightlife's notebook–"

"You mean take a leaf from their book?" He was sure she was rolling her eyes on him, but it didn't stop him. No one could maim English language like that with him around.

"Whatever. I chose to steal their idea and became a bird. It's only fair since I can actually fly!"

"Can't exactly disagree. So, what did you get this time?"

"You'll like that, I promise. But now, I introduce to you…"

Duke got ready to shut down every Robin iteration and all Birdgirls he could think of.

"HOOPOE!" Dani yelled, popping back to the visible spectrum. She was covered in bright orange cape with weirdly shaped hood and flimsy mask "I even did some costume changes to fit the name better–" in all honesty, one, yeah, he wasn't blind he realized, two, he needed a moment to remember how these birds looked (his first thought was 'wait it's a thing?!'). But then he got it and yeah, those were funny little creatures, just like Dani. It fitted her "–so even if you don't like it, it doesn't matter," she added, sticking her tongue out.

Duke patted her on the head. He was there, he knew it mattered.

"It's a great name Hoopoe"

Dani visibly though probably unconsciously, relaxed. Her mouth curved into a proud grin and her aura brightened. Normal auras didn't do that. He got used to Dani surprising him like that sometimes.

"Of course it's great, I made it."

Duke chose to not remind her about almost two dozen times she came up with absolutely not great names or about the fact that technically she didn't quite make this one either. He wasn't in such a petty mood. Maybe in future if he needed blackmail.

Oh, it was such a Bat thing, wasn't it? He needed to spend some more time with his civilian to get it out of himself, he liked his ability to interact with normal people in a healthy way.

"Wait, is your mask a paper?"

"What else could it be, titanium?"

"If you stop three muggings on the next three patrols each I'll get you a better one, okay?"

"Hey, my mask is perfectly fine"

"Yeah, but it can tear too easily. I can get you a mask that is more sturdy."

"Aha."

"It's the same material every Robin and Nightwing wear…"

"Don't care, my mask is flawless"

"..."

"Okay, better mask would be cool"

***

On the third patrol Dani joined, about a week and a half ago, they exchanged numbers. Duke knew how hard it was to come to terms with new powers on one's own and God strike him with a lightning or something if he ever lets anyone go through similar bullshit. Especially since she didn't seem to have anyone taking care of her. Girl her age shouldn't be able to hang out or respond to messages within ten minutes at any given time. Only twice she didn't do that, because she was on a celebrity hunt for autographs as she later explained. He would be teased endlessly if any Wayne or their associate learned about it, but he considered introducing Dani to Bruce. She needed help, okay?! He didn't inherit adoption tendencies.

But he hadn't done that, partially because he didn't want to scare Dani off and partially because of fear of teasing. And bet. Because of course in the meantime somehow there happened a bet.

He smirked at the video Dani sent as a response to the hydration check. She was tossing a coin and playing an elimination game to pick one juice from eight drinks she had. Steph jumped over the back of the couch to join him. At the start she was in front of him so to do that she had to run around the furniture but such minor inconveniences couldn't even wish to stop her dramatics.

"You're smiling at your phone ergo you either text your secret girlfriend/boyfriend/enbyfriend or watch memes. Show me the memes," she demanded, nudging him in the arm. Duke chuckled.

"Wrong guess. I'm texting my sidekick," they agreed it would be a funny way to introduce Dani to people who asked. Duke tried his best at this whole having sidekick thing anyway. As well as he could without help from other Bats because of this damn bet.

Steph froze for a moment.

"Your what–"

"And the lucky winner is… an apple with mint juice! Damn I really hoped it would be lemonade," Dani from the video announced cheerfully before opening the bottle" Shame it didn't make it past semi-finals. Happy hydration break. I'm going on an autograph hunt so I may not respond for the next two hours or so. Wish me luck, bye~"

Duke paused the video before it replayed. He glanced at Steph who finally rebooted.

"How come you got a kid and I learned about it just now?"

“In my defense I'm like 60% sure you're the second person in the family to learn about her. Depends if Tim got his ‘I have to know everything, gotta check body cams’ paranoid spree in the last two weeks or not. There was no teasing from Babs or anyone else if I'm being honest and no lecture from B, so they have no idea.”

“First was Alfred?”

“First was Alfred. I still don't know how.”

“That's our grandtler for you. You are forgiven but you have to tell me everything about her,” Steph demanded excitedly. “And show me the photos''

Duke snorted.

“She goes by Hoopoe and is about Damian's age. She can tell you her real name when B inevitably finds out and tries to interrogate her.”

“What if Spoiler drops by during the day?”

“You can try but give it another week and a day, okay?”

“Why?”

“We have bet that I'll hide her from B for three weeks. Tomorrow is the end of the second week. We both know how he is, he'll have questions if you randomly show up during the day."

"Stakes?"

"Speedster worth of winners favorite Batburger meal, 2 quarts of chosen drink and cookies"

"Valid. I ain't snitch, but I want to know more. Is she a meta?”

"Yeah. Powers I know of are invisibility, intangibility, superspeed, enhanced hearing and flight. Probably more. I think she already had some training with it because she has quite amazing control over this stuff. Like, it comes naturally to her. But her hand to hand is atrocious."

"Are you jealous?"

"No."

"Omg, you totally are! Don't be, she is just a baby with a better idea of what's going on with her powers than you have with yours. There is nothing to be mad about Duke, it's okay Duke–"

"Keep going and I won't tell you anything about her," he dared, trying not to snort.

"Sorry, sorry, you're doing great, please continue," she nudged his arm again "Don't be such softie, dude" He stared at her at the comment, disbelief clear on his face. Steph at least then looked a little ashamed "Okay, sorry. You're honestly doing far better than any of us would. Excluding Cass and Alfred."

"Excluding Cass and Alfred," he agreed easily enough.

"So, you think your kid has some training with her powers," she recalled eagerly.

"Yeah, probably from when she was helping her cousin. He is a hero in Amity Park, Illinois, his name is Phantom. It took very little digging even though Hoopoe does her best to stay mysterious. I swear this kid has no brain-mouth filter. But! I got my second shovel talk from her cousin!”

“The what?”

“After a week of hanging out with her, I got message on Signal’s twitter from Phantom that basically read as ‘I have nothing against you, really dude I’m a fan but here is list of my most powerful enemies, and let me tell you, there were some scarily powerful guys there, I won with all of them, if something bad happens to Hoopoe I can and will destroy you.’ After some research, yes, I think he could try and have considerable chance of success. Even if he didn’t fight would be painful enough to be a lesson. He and Hoopoe have the same powers and she worked with him for some time. She most likely learned then. She was called Dani Phantom, boy went by Danny Phantom then”

“Dear gods, their aliases were so horrible, who even let them go with it?! Are those their first names?!” Steph sounded genuinely offended by it.

“I don’t know,” Yeah, he knew, but he preferred to keep at least this secret to himself ”In boy's defense, because Hoopoe came much later, he was fourteen and Amity went to shit really fast, so alias was probably not his first concern. And it’s much better than Invioso-bill, name he was given by the press. And he uses some intense gaslighting to make people believe it’s just Phantom now. And allegedly they’re both ghosts. Apparently ghosts don’t exactly have secret identity”

“You doubt it”

“You would too. She eats, she breathes and she is tangible by default. From what I know, ghosts don’t do that”

“They don’t, I checked. I went on a research spree when I first learned about Deadman. I just thought it was so cool you know. Ghosts being real and all,” Steph leaned towards him, almost vibrating with anticipation.

“Really?” he asked, knowing what he was getting into.

“Yeah, you see…”

And on she went, releasing expected infodump as if she waited for this opportunity ever since she first read about it.

********

Some additional name getting shenanigans

Signal: I won't call you Dani in the field

Dani: Why?

Signal: Ever heard of secret identity? Name is, like, half of it. Disguise is other half but it can be exchanged with lore. Superman made it work. Just make up enough lore for people to not question it.

Dani: Oh, okay *gremlin^2 mode activated*

Random they just rescued: And who are you little one?

Dani: *looking them dead in the eyes* I am clone of dead child hero, travelling around the world to find identity separated from my template befre mistakes made during my creation make me turn into puddle of primordal liquid and my conciousness fades forever

Random: *petrified* What?

Signal: *internally* I have miscalculated

Dani: Kid Signal

Signal: No.

Dani: It works in Central

Signal: We're not in Central

Dani: Signalgirl

Dani: I mean, Batgirl exists

Signal: No.

Dani: Monochromatic Signal. Y'know, Red Robin route?

Signal: ...

Signal: Just no. Don't make my name part of your name

Next part

Do you want to see some Hoopoe doodles I made? There were redesigns!!!

#dpxdc #dc x dp #dcxdp #dp x dc #dani hangs out with duke #signal got new sidekick and he doesn't even know it yet #not fully at least #Dani: *barerly visible over the counter* Where can I find books about orange birds?#Babs: *gives her directions*#Babs: Why do I feel like it was significant encounter?#Dani's cape was in fact a blanket #wandixx writes #ghost of fries and hero of cookies #have a nice day dear stranger who got to this part

224 notes · View notes

bubblybloob · 6 months

Text

There they all are in their feathery glory!

Explanations below

I didn’t want to do anything flashy for The Long Quiet, so I just gave him a simple scarf.

The Voice of The Hero I took a lot from my original design, I also kinda fused a cape with his wings? He can still fly? It’s just weird.

The Contrarian I gave a jester look, with a funky collar and some eye makeup

The Broken was one of the most interesting and fun. His wings have been cut off and his nails are broken beyond repair, as a representation of his lack of agency and readiness to hand his life over. He’s dressed in raggedy clothes with chains that he just can’t seem to pull off.

The Smitten wears a flashy, short cape, and flowers tend to bloom from his eyes and ears, he is blind and deaf to all but his love.

The Hunted is almost always puffed up, trying to look bigger and scarier than he is. His nails are long and sharp, and he wears camouflage to hide his bright white features.

The Paranoid needs a sense of security, and a cowl is the closest thing to a hoodie in medieval times. He’s so nervous that I feel he’d unconsciously pluck at his wings, they’re so disheveled that he can’t fly.

The Skeptic has this air of “I know more than you” to him? If that’s makes sense? So I gave him a poet shirt. Not much to it, I just really wanted to put him in a poet shirt. Oh and a ponytail.

The Cheated wears something a noble might, he has that sort of snarky attitude a noble might have. He also talks about cards and games a lot, so I attached a card theme to him. Sometimes they change card symbols, I don’t know if I’ll have it be mood based or not.

The Stubborn is wrapped up in a bunch of bandages, and the eyepatch and cleft ear is from that scene at the end with the Shifting Mound from the adversary’s perspective where your eye has been punched out and your ear looks like it might’ve been ripped.

The Opportunist I gave a thieving look, he has that attitude. As well as another ponytail, can’t have feathers getting in the way of the backstabbing move.

And that’s them! Now if you don’t mind me I’m going to go die now, my drawing arm hurts.

Edit: I forgot the Cold, damn

Someone suggested medieval assassin wear because he always insists on the princess being dead, and she usually is when he shows up. Also the wisps in his eyes? He has heavily impaired vision, because his worldview is so skewed.

#slay the princess #art #stp voices #stp the long quiet #voice of the hero #voice of the contrarian #voice of the broken #voice of the smitten #voice of the hunted #voice of the paranoid #voice of the cold #voice of the skeptic #voice of the cheated #voice of the stubborn #voice of the opportunist #my art #many thanks to those who gave suggestions #if you see this underneath the mountain of other tags

263 notes · View notes

lovifie · 4 months

Text

Her Royal Highness Pt.4

Masterlist

Prologue — Part 1 — Part 2 — Part 3 — Part 4

“Mornin’ Princess.” Soap is the first one to see you arrive at the courtyard. He looks at you with a cheeky smile as always.

“Good morning, Johnny.” You greet him smiling as you jog a bit to stand next to him close to the light torch next to the door.

The sun is still not meant to be out for another couple of hours, but because the castle is so far away from the next town, the king decided to leave so early to make it there by nightfall. Last night you packed all your most liked clothes for the travel, leaving out the warmest dress with the warmest cape you owned. But still, being used to being sheltered inside of the castle, the chilling cold of the early hours was enough to make you shake. Soap is quick to take notice of this because he adjusts your cape closing it around you and stroking your arms up and down to warm you up.

“Ar’ ye shaking cause ye cold or cause ye excited to finally be leaving the castle?” He asks smiling, his breath being visible but he remains apparently unaffected by the temperature.

“Both, but mostly the cold.” You admit with a shaky breath. “Where is the Prince?”

“Aw, lovebird dyin’ to see her man.” Soap jokes faking a pout and earning a slap to the arm. “C’mon, I'll take you with him. Take my hand, o’ ye'll fly away.”

You stare confused for a second, wondering if he is joking again. That is, until he opens the door and you feel the cold wind. You quickly hold his hand and stand close to his back so he can shield you from the wind.

If you thought it was cold inside of the castle, you were wrong. And the frozen wind reminds you, feeling like a thousand needles make their way inside your bone. Soap and you soon arrive at the carriage you assume you will be travelling with Ghost, and you pop your head over Soap's shoulder to check who’s there.

Gaz, Price, Ghost and Laswell look back at you. You notice Ghost looking at you up and down from behind the helmet he is wearing, but before you can say anything Laswell speaks.

“Good morning, Princess. Glad I could see you before you left, I was just explaining to Kyle some of the care required for your wound.” She says as she walks up to you and places her hands on your cheeks. “God gracious, child. You are freezing, get inside quickly. I'll see you when you get back.”

She gives you a quick hug with a smile before going back inside the castle, to keep sleeping most likely. You try to turn to the carriage when the cape gets stuck on something opening and leaving you exposed to the cold. When you turn to check it, you realize that is a who and not a thing on what the cape got stuck.

“What kind of shitty cape is this?” Ask Ghost as he plays with the material in his hand. “No wonder you are shaking like a leaf.”

The tone of his voice is of annoyance, making you feel ashamed of having a completely natural reaction to the weather. But when you are going to complain that you can’t help it, he lets go of your cape and moves his hand to undo the clasp keeping his on.

He takes it off himself and smoothly drapes it over your shoulder putting the hood over your head as well. The click of the clasp makes you look down at his hands, noticing they are so close to your face, almost touching you.

You look up from under the hood and make eye contact with him. The words suddenly die in your throat and blood rushes to your cheeks as he quickly adverts your gaze clearing his throat. “Get inside.” He says putting a hand on your lower back and opening the door. He lowers the hand a bit more and pushes you inside with a single hand on your butt.

You are met with a closed door when you try to protest and redeem yourself sitting down close to the door. You play with your hands as you wait for something else to happen trying to listen to anything outside. Keeping the cape close to your body you bend yourself to try and get your ear closer to the door. Almost touching it with your cheek, finally being able to hear the footsteps going away and the voices getting more and more silent.

“What are you doing?” A deep voice grumbles behind you and the surprise makes you stumble forward almost falling from your seat.

“Nothing.” You say quickly as you play with the fur on the cape trying to act completely relaxed with the fact he just caught you being nosy.

A low chuckle can be heard erupt from the Prince as he sits next to you shaking the carriage with his size. Even though you are sitting next to the door, his sheer size makes it impossible to not brush against your knees with his. He knocks twice on the door and almost instantly the horses begin to walk moving the carriage. Next, he sits even more relaxed on his side of the carriage, takes off his mask and crosses his arms getting ready to sleep.

Him taking off the mask mere seconds after beginning the travel was not the first thing you were expecting. So you can't help it but to look at his face, especially since he has his eyes closed and can see that you are looking at him. Surrounding his eyes is some kind of grease or black paint that blends up to his eyebrow. Blonde curls, long enough only to be able to tell they are curls, frame his face in contrast to the rest of him.

He is handsome.

Your soon-to-be husband is handsome.

“Is rude to stare.” A brown eye opens and looks at you, making you whip your head to face the front of the carriage.

“Sorry.” You answer quickly. “Was just surprised.”

“Why?” He said closing his eyes again.

“Because you look good… I mean, you look fine, like, I don't know, I thought you had something you wanted to hide, but everything about your face is fine. Like, you are fine. You look good.” You start mumbling without knowing where to look and end up looking out the window. “How much longer until the next stop?”

A chuckle from the Prince makes you look back at him and when you turn your face you come face to face with him, being a lot more close to your face and keeping eye contact with you as feel one of his arms rest over your shoulder.

“You think I look good, Princess?” He said with his face almost touching yours, so close you feel his breath over your lips. His other hand comes to your neck and undoes the clasp on his cape, you stay making eye contact as you feel the fur fall off your shoulder. With a smooth motion, he manages to take the cape away from you, barely moving you. Then, as easy as he got on your face he gets away taking his cape back. He lays back again and pulls the cape over himself as a blanket.

“There are still at least 8 hours until the next stop, you should rest.” He says smirking and goes back to the position he was before.

You turn back to the door and hug yourself trying to keep warm, but you only feel the heat of your embarrassment.

————————————————————————

There is shouting outside of the carriage when you wake up, so many voices but still unable to figure out what they are saying. Simon must have left the carriage before you woke up, and only his cape draped over you remains.

The unmistakable sound of blades being drawn bolts you awake and you open the door stepping outside. All the men that came with the carriage, ready to attack whoever was brave enough to stop the convoy.

“I have already said that you cannot get through the border, they are closed until there are explicit orders from the next in line. The King is dead, and the kingdom is mourning. So get back to wherever the fuck you are coming, and wait. What is so hard to understand?” The voice from someone you don't know says.

“And I, have already said that we are the next in line. So get out of the way, we need to make it to Auntry City before midday and we are going behind.” The King Price argues back. “So unless you want to get hurt, move!”

“If you want to get through, it will be inside of a coffin, Sir.” The guard says.

You can see the blade being drawn over the heads and it makes you gasp, surprising Ghost who whips his head back (covered with the mask again) and you see the shock in his eyes when he sees you.

“Get back inside!” Ghost barks looking at you over his shoulder just for a second before looking back at the front, but you stay put, curiosity for knowing who is on the other side being too tempting. “Princess, get the fuck inside!”

At the mention of your royal title, begins a round of whispers and mumbles. You are finally able to see who the other people are, and you realize they are your late father's guards, positioned at the border of the town where the castle is located to make sure he knew who entered.

You manage to make your way through the wall of men, and just when you are almost through a hand you recognise as the Prince’s, grabs your arm ready to throw you back inside the carriage. But before he can, you make eye contact with who, if you don't remember wrong, is the captain of the guards.

His eyes widen in shock upon seeing you, and he quickly kneels before you, the rest of the guards following shortly. “My most sincerest apologies, your Royal Highness. We didn't know you were travelling with them, I ask in the name of my men for your forgiveness.”

The same face of absolute incredulity is plastered on you and on the men around you. You quickly smile back at the king over your shoulder, almost like trying to say: “Look how much they like me! Look how different they are treating us now! Look how much I just helped you! Look how much they prefer me over you!”

You turn your head back to the captain kneeling before you, still looking down almost afraid to make eye contact with you again. You lay your hand on his shoulder and when he timidly looks up, you give him your most sincere smile. “Everything is forgiven, captain. You were just following orders.”

“Thank you, princess.” He answers fast, surprisingly relieved to have been forgiven. There is a voice of alarm in your head, that makes you remember what Laswell told you about your father being a bad king.

The guard shouldn't have been so scared of you, you remember him. From so many years ago, you would hide behind your mother's skirt when he would come to update your parents on the new visitors. He would always give you a small smile.

So it wouldn't make sense for that man to be scared of the little girl hiding behind his mon, and he should be scared of you now.

The guard picks up your hand for his shoulder and kisses it on the knuckles. He stands to his full height, the size difference making you feel uneasy about his fear of you. “Princess, allow some of my men and I to escort you into town. As an apology. In case you came into trouble of the remain of the travel.”

“There really is no need, Sir.” You say and you can see the guilt behind his eyes. “But I will accept your offer. Should we keep going, then?”

You turn around to look at the King, and for a second, you see something on his expression that you are not able to read, but the moment he realizes you are looking at him, his expression changes. It softens.

“I will get my men ready, your Royal Highness.” The guard says, kneeling quickly before standing again and turning back to his team.

You turn back to the king, walking a couple of steps that separate you. You notice his gaze following you, and you keep eye contact until you are face-to-face with him. You motion him to bend down so you can actually be at the same height, and he obliges, curiosity taking the best of him. You move closer to the side of his head and whisper in his ear smiling: “Aren't you glad that I tagged along, your majesty?”

Before he can answer, you begin to move back to the carriage; taking a quick last glance, you notice Gaz laughing softly just in time to see the King slapping his arm with a cheeky smile on his face.

You sit on the carriage, closing the door and taking a deep breath.

What the fuck just happened?!

Having to act as an actual monarch is not something you are used to, you have been trained to do so, but never really needed to do it. Mainly resorting to being your father's shadow and echo, always present but never in sight.

And the braveness to talk like that to the king? Of course, you talk back to him in the castle, but that's different! In the castle, you can always run to Laswell or Farah, or basically anyone. But here? You are basically alone, with the King John Price, the Prince Simon, the knight Gaz and Soap and the rest of Price's guard. They don't owe you loyalty, they don't owe you anything.

If the King told them, you will be dead in minutes, no second thought.

“You ‘right?” The Prince asks when he sits next to you, again, too late to hear him coming and only noticing him when he is already seated and removing his mask.

“Yeah! I'm peachy.” You answer letting a sight escape your lips.

“Seems like it.” The Prince laughs softly but without pushing more. “We are a little less than an hour away from Auntry City. You may want to undo some knots.”

You frown at his word and follow his gaze, noticing that he is looking at your hair. You raise your hand to reach the top of your head and notice the unflattering way it is sitting. And slowly it downs on you.

“What must have that guard think of the Princess? Coming out of the carriage she is sharing with a man, hair looking a mess, wearing said man cape…” The Prince chastises his tongue shaking his head in a disapproving manner. “What an improper Princess.”

“Oh, shut up!” You say feeling the heat get to your face as you hear the Prince chuckle. “It's obvious I was just sleeping.”

“You sure about that, luv?” He says resting his chin on his hand, index finger extended to hide his smile behind as he raises an eyebrow.

You whip your head around ignoring him, looking into the pockets inside of your own cape, you pick up the comb and start easing it through your hair. Once satisfied, you braid a couple of locks away from your face; as you braid them, you hold them with your lips to keep them from un-braiding themselves.

Until…

You feel a pair of fingertips graze your lips, caressing your top lip slowly.

“I can hold it for you, Princess.” The Prince asks when you turn to look at him. Your jaw goes slack, mostly from the shock but still effective to let go of the braid letting it fall on Simon's hand. “Atta girl.”

If he says anything else after that, only he will know. Because the only thing you are able to hear anymore, is your blood rushing through your ears. Feeling your heartbeat on your throat, and warm simmer down your body to the bottom of your stomach.

Moving your focus to your hair, you braid quickly the rest of the little braids, leaving them on Simon's hand as you go trying to not touch him directly. Once satisfied with the amount of braids, you pick them back up and join them at the back of your head on a braid-like conjuncture, combing one last time the rest of your hair out of the braids.

Looking down, you try to put the comb away, but once again, Simon's hand find its way around your neck. This time, grabbing your jaw to make you look away from you.

He hums as he draws circles on your jaw with his thumb and looks at your hair. “Quite pretty.” He admits and move your hair again to look back at him. “Quite pretty indeed.”

There is a mischievous glint in his eyes that makes you feel trapped like a mouse in front of a cat. The air in the carriage begins to feel heavy, and the carriage itself feels smaller with each passing second.

And almost like it was meant to be, the coachman stops the horses and the second the carriage stops moving, you jump off trying to take in the very much-needed air.

“Damn, lassie, Ghostie here has ye losing yer breath?” Soap asks as he walks up to the carriage and sticks his head inside sending a wink to the Prince. “Cheeky bastard, can't wait for the honeymoon.”

“That’ll do.” The Prince says behind you smiling at Soap.

You huff a breath looking around and that's when you notice the King looking at you and calling you closer. You walk up to him and look at his face, not seeing any of the anger and displeasure you have grown used to.

“Yes, your Majesty?” You ask, more curious than scared for the first time you talk to him.

“The owner of the local inn has heard about you coming and has offered us enough rooms for everyone. Simon and you in different rooms, we don't want any scandals do we?” He asks smiling softly.

“I would very much like my own room, thanks.” You answer ignoring his innuendos.

“Lovely, they are getting ready a feast for everyone. It seems like they are very excited to meet you, that's why we are spending the night here. Anything you want… ask anyone, I'm pretty sure they will be gladly to help.” He says pointing to the inn with his head. “Oh, and Princess… I wanted to remind you, that we are more powerful together than against each other, all right? Keep it in mind.”

He picks up your hand, giving you a quick kiss on your knuckle without breaking eye contact and without another word, makes his way inside the inn.

The first stop of the travel, and you are ready to go back home.

Hi, lovies!! 💗

How are you? I finally figure it out how to add the Keep Reading thingy and the link for the other chapters, I hope it'll be more comfortable now.

I'm finally letting reader interact with Ghostie, let me know you guys opinions.

Thanks for reading! Have a nice weekend!

Tag List: @kristalhi @strawberrygato @ghostlythots @dumybitch

220 notes · View notes

somevagrantchild · 1 year

Text

Favorite Random Lestat facts

I have insomnia and vampires on the brain, so here are some of my favorite random Lestat facts, in no particular order:

He stole decorating ideas for his chateau from Armand’s Trinity Gate

His fingernails were a little too long when he died, so he files them, though they regrow every night

He liked to spend hours polishing his own coffin as a meditative exercise

As a human, he never liked to masturbate, he’d just go out and find someone to have sex with

When he’s not with Louis, he always thinks Louis can’t possibly be as attractive as he’s remembering him, but then when he sees Louis again, he’s like, “Nope, he really is that hot”

Despite his vanity, he thinks he’s one of the most conventional and boring looking vampires you’ll ever see, and ordinary and uninteresting compared to the cooler vampires

He thinks his best feature is his expression

When he was human, he never had much beard and didn’t have to shave often

He’ll always mention when people are taller than him, so we know anyone whose height isn’t given must be less than six feet

He knows how to tap dance

The other vampires think of him as a poet

Most dogs instinctually hate him, and being rejected by a dog makes him sad every time

Except for with Akasha, he never killed a human that wasn’t a meal

Even as a baby vampire, he had the power to toss Louis across the room with a flick of his wrist, but would still let Louis hold him back and whale on him just to get his rage out

He absolutely adored Claudia and thought of her as his mini-me

In the decade he lived with Antoine (1860-1871), he never wanted to go out in public because he was ashamed of his burn scars

He likes to take naps

He’s a voracious reader

He only wears black socks

He’s a serial walker, not even going anywhere, just walks for hours

He performed a rock concert in a full Bela Lugosi Dracula costume and never took off his suit or cape even though he was sweating buckets. That’s commitment to the bit.

Even though he’s good at it, flying always frightens him on an existential level and fills him with despair

Despite his love of fine clothes, he’ll wear the same outfit for weeks or months until it becomes rags

His list of things that make existence worth it: the blazing warmth of fires and caresses, kisses and arguments, love and longing and blood (emphasis on the longing)

His love language is gift giving (but not receiving)

He never shows any skin in public other than his face (and soooometimes hands)

He doesn’t like how white his hair turned after repeated burnings, and wishes it was more yellow

He gets really angry at the thought of Louis being embarrassed or insulted by others

He is incapable of expressing big feelings out loud, so he writes them all down instead

He wants everyone to remember how scary he really is

He doesn’t like blood with alcohol in it because it makes him dizzy

His mom came up with his name by combining the first letters of his 6 older brothers' names, and it means absolutely nothing

#vampire chronicles #interview with the vampire #the vampire lestat #loustat #I could go on but I'm finally getting sleepy again so we'll have to continue this later #please I love him

509 notes · View notes

midnightlizard · 3 months

Text

Kara Danvers x gn!spidey! reader

Love square

Summary: Kara loves the reader, but they're in love with Supergirl. None of them knows who the other secretly is. (it's basically the miraculous plot if you've ever seen it)

Warnings: nothing really. Reader has Spiderman powers but the superhero name (Y/S/N) is not specified

Word count: 5080

It was a quiet night out in the streets, you already swung over the city a couple of times looking for people getting robbed, attacked or even murdered. But to everyone's luck, except maybe yours, National City was very peaceful tonight.

Hanging from a streetlight, you were pondering ending your patrol and just going back to bed, until you noticed something small moving out of the corner of your eye.

It didn't trigger your senses but you still decided to get on the ground to check it out.

What seemed to be now a small animal shierked away from the sudden movement, hiding under a bench.

Looking through the cracks of the wood you saw a pair of yellow eyes looking back at you.

"come here kitty, come come" you knelt on the cement, trying to get it to come to you. Surprisingly enough, it slowly advanced, coming out to sniff your outstretched fingers.

"oh sorry baby I have no food with me" but thankfully the cat didn't seem to mind, as it started headbutting your hand in search of cuddles. Now that it was under the light you could see its black fur and white spots, that made it look like it had socks on and a mustache.

"ahw look at you, you're so cute!" he wasn't wearing a collar, but you could tell he was a boy.

Between finding the best place to pet him and thinking how you could sneak him into your apartment at this hour without anyone noticing, you suddenly felt a shiver run down your spine and heard a gunshot a second later.

"sorry baby, got to go" you hurriedly said, and the cat almost seemed to miss your touch as you sprung into action, shooting a web at the nearest building and launching yourself into the air, swinging towards the sound.

When you arrived, not too long after, all you could see was a big red cape twirling around and three men around it.

There she was, the girl of steel, in all of her glory, fighting bad guys and not breaking a sweat. They didn't seem too dangerous and you both knew she could handle them herself. But that way you wouldn't get a chance to flirt with her.

You silently crawled the walls, as to not alert the men, and with every bad guy she sent flying into the air, you trapped them with your webs.

"what took you so long?" she asked, removing dust from her hands.

"I was with a kitty! I came as soon as I heard" you leaned close to her face "why, you missed me?"

"not a chance spidey" she put a hand on your cheeck and turned your head the other way. "where is the woman?" she took a step back, searching around. When her gaze turned to you, she saw your head tilted to the side in confusion, and decided to explain.

"there was a woman with them, they were trying to rob her, I jumped in but she must have escaped. Did you not see anyone on your way here?"

Even tho she couldn't see it, you smiled and shook your head "sorry beautiful, but you're the only woman I see" that made her groan out loud, though you knew she wasn't seriously bothered by it.

Since the moment you two met, you were instantly drawn to the blonde, to the confidence in her steps and the undeniable sweetness of her heart, and the fact that she was gorgeous was definitely a plus.

And from the first moment you decided to make it clear, you were never one to hide your feelings no matter the nature, hence the constant flirting.

Unfortunately, she never seemed to return the sentiment, turning you down every single time claiming she already had someone in her heart.

"I need to take them to the police station" she replied, ignoring the flattery "wanna help me bug?"

"You know" you started, already attatching two of the men on your back "for someone who insists on refusing me, you sure like using pet names"

You didn't give her time to reply when you gave her a mask covered kiss on the cheeck "race you there sweetheart" and with that, you started swinging, leaving her to scoff and pick up the remaining criminal.

The rest of the night went by smoothly, with only a couple of people speeding at a red light, but you weren't a traffic vigilante, so you didn't intervene.

- - -

It was almost five a.m. when you got back to your apartment. You went to check on your phone, not really expecting anyone to text you during the night. Much to your surprise, someone did.

Two hours ago, almost at the time you met supergirl, Kara texted you. It was nothing really, she just said how excited she was for your lunch plans for tomorrow, but it still made you laugh that she felt the need to say that in the middle of night.

Throwing your phone back on the nightstand, you took your suit off and got into bed, trying to get as much sleep as possible, to not look like a zombie in front of your friend.

- - -

Turns out, she looked just as sleepy as you. In fact, as soon as you two sat down at noonas, she let out a big yawn, covering her mouth with her hand "sorry, I didn't get much sleep last night" she apologized, light blush on her cheeks.

"oh I believe it" you said, picking up the menu "with texting me in the middle of the night and stuff"

Had you not been so focused on what to order, you probably would have noticed the darker shade of red that took over her face. "yea I was uhm, I couldn't sleep and I was thinking about it"

"We could have met another day, I wouldn't want you to fall asleep on me" you stated jokingly but she instantly started shaking her head.

"No! No, I mean, we haven't seen each other in a long time and I wanted to see you. Besides, I'm fine, really"

You almost wanted to laugh at her eagerness, she always managed to look cute without ever trying to. While on the other side of the table, Kara felt so embarrassed she wanted to fly away and never come back.

You resumed talking after the waiter came for your orders "You wanted to see me? You need something?"

yea to be your girlfriend.

"No it's, it's about next week's game night" she seemed to take a breath, pondering her next words "I was wondering if you could come earlier to uh, to help me prepare"

You squinted your eyes at her request, she never wanted any help setting things up, and she always ordered take out so it's not like she needed help in the kitchen.

Taking your silence as an answer, she started fidgeting with her hands. "Yea you're probably busy sorry, don't know why I-"

Kara stopped mid sentence, feeling your hand on hers. "No it's okay hun of course I can, I was just confused." she just nodded, raising her free hand to adjust her glasses.

When your food arrived, you removed your hand and the blonde immediately missed your warmth.

Nothing special happened after that, except for Kara blushing one too many times for her liking.

Once you two finished she had to excuse herself to run back to the office, before Cat would notice she's late. She went to reach for her purse but you stopped her, wrapping your hand gently around her wrist.

"Today it's on me beautiful"

If she hadn't felt her knees buckle at the petname and at your smile, she probably would have been more stubborn; instead Kara just hangs with her mouth open and nods, quickly running away.

- - - -

As soon as she entered the building, she was told by an intern that Cat was looking for her, so with a heavy sigh she ran into her office.

"Is the article I asked you last week-" she asked as soon as Kara got in, sending the blonde a slight glare "finally ready?"

Kara pushed her glasses up "Yes miss Grant, I just need to fix the layout" and she was about to add something, but the breaking news report displayed on the big screens behind Cat caught both of their attention. It was about a bank robbery (Y/S/N) alone just thwaterd.

With an intrigued glint in her eyes, the CEO turned her head to face her employee. "amusing, isn't it? Just a few months ago we all thought they were just Supergirl's side kick, turns out they're equals."

Hearing a scoff coming out from the blonde, she raised an eyebrow "you don't think so, Keera?"

"Of course they're a hero and they're saving people but they're definitely not like Supergirl" taking her boss' silence as a question she continued, and the words left her mouth before she could ponder them.

"Supergirl is serious and wants to get it over as quickly and as efficiently as possible, but they always plays around and get distracted constantly, and they're not serious at all."

"You seem to know a lot about them" she leaned forward, with her arms on her desk, and not caring about the blonde's stuttered excuse, she shrugged her shoulders "well considering you and supergirl are basically best friends"

Kara found a way to get out of this situation "yea she talked to me about them a coup-"

"I want to interview them. Give your current article to Jim or Finn," who was probably Winn "and get me that interview as soon as possible. They've never been in a real interview so it will be a scoop."

Knowing she couldn't even try to argue with the CEO, she nodded her head "you'll have it miss Grant" and got out of her office.

- - -

"what do I do Alex? It's not like I can go as Supergirl and ask them, they'll know something is up and will probably figure out who I am."

Unlike for (Y/S/N), where no one knew who they were, a lot of people knew who Supergirl was, and Kara thought it would be better if no more people knew about her other identity, and that meant hiding from you too, both of you.

"You're giving them a lot credit, I thought you thought they were dumb?" Alex asked with a small smile on her lips.

The kryptonian raised her head from the couch of her apartment, where it was previously buried, and looked at her sister with a frown. "They annoy me because they play around too much and constantly flirt with me but I never said they were dumb, they're actually really smart, and a good hero."

Alex has worked a lot with you so Kara knew she was just joking, but for some reason she still felt the need to defend you. The agent looked at the blonde before suggesting her idea "what if I ask them? They know you're my sister and it wouldn't be weird that I want to help you with your super demanding boss."

"mhh yea, that could work." a soft smile appeared on her lips "Thanks Alex"

Alex just nodded, waving her hand around dismissively. "More importantly," she started again, with a glint in her eyes that made Kara fear of what she was going to say "how did it go with (Y/N)? Are you two a thing yet?"

She started laughing as soon as she heard her sister's loud groan. "ugh I knew you were gonna ask that"

"you didn't tell them, did you?" Alex leaned her arm on the backrest of the couch, leaning her head on her arm.

"I mean I tried to" she glared at her sister's laugh, but she knew she couldn't really blame her "I just, stutter so much around them they must think I'm stupid"

"Ahw I'm sure they don't Kara" she stopped her teasing to reassure the kryptonian "first of all, you two are friends before anything else, second of all they're such a sweet guy they'd never think of you like that"

She stopped for a second, seeing the hopeful gaze in her sister's eyes "and most importantly, I'm sure they like you back, with all the pet names they give you."

"that doesn't mean anything, they call everyone by a nickname"

"you're the only one they call beautiful or pretty or honey or sweetheart or-"

"okay I get I get it" the flustered blonde hid her head between the pillows of the couch, face red from the tip of the nose to the top of the ears, just by thinking of all the times you called her any of these names.

"I mean...(Y/S/N) uses those on me too" the kryptonian resumed, and for some reason the blush didn't leave her cheeks.

- - -

Two days later, you sprinted from your house all the way to the D.E.O. and landed on the balcony, running to find Alex.

You started looking around, the big screens that often showed info about the mission were turned off with no one around, but that's not what caught your attention. Supergirl was nowhere in sight, she must have been called in too right? Unless she couldn't come.

When you noticed dark brown hair sitting at a chair from afar, you got into the director's office, probably breaking the handle with the sheer force you used.

Alex turned her head to look at you.

"What's going on Alex? Where's Supergirl? Is she okay?" The agent got up from her seat to face you.

"Calm down (Y/S/N), she's fine nothing happened" she reassured you "I just need your help with something"

Even though she couldn't see your face, frustration could be heard from your tone. "Nothing happened? You sent me a 911 signal" your shourlders slumped.

"yea because I need your help now"

You loudly groaned, though you were mostly grateful nothing serious happened, especially to Supergirl. "What do you need short Danvers?"

Making fun of her was a privilege you could only have while wearing your suit, given you were normally afraid of her.

Knowing you had the upper hand with your powers, and that it was all just playful teasing, she let it go, voicing her need. "My sister needs to get her boss an interview with you and she knows I work with you and supergirl so she asked for my help"

You opened your mouth to agree but closed it right after, thinking you could get something out of this too. "If I agree to the interview-"

"oh my god" Alex rolled her eyes "I'm not getting Supergirl to go on a date with you"

You loudly laughed at that, everyone knew where your head was at. "that's not what I was going to say!" you took a brief pause "but if that's what your offering..."

She crossed her arms, raising her brow, successfully shutting you up.

"I want to know who she-"

"definitely not" she interrupted you.

"oh come on, why not?" you move your hands in the air "you know who she is, John knows who she is, even Winn knows!"

"It's just safer this way spider, don't argue with me" her excuse didn't really hold up but you let it go for now, it should be Supergirl's call after all.

"fine" you rolled you eyes. And besides, "when's the interview?" you couldn't say no to Kara.

- - -

The next day you were on the roof of CatCo, your legs dangling off the edge.

"oh good you're here" you turned around at the sound of Kara's voice.

"your sister said you needed me" you got closer to her.

"yes hi" she replied quickly "but I will not be the one doing the interview, my boss Cat will" she glanced at the door. "but I need to tell you a few things first"

With a confused look, not that she could see it, you shrugged your shoulders, letting her go on "okay first" she took a big breath, speaking rapidly after that "do not let her drag you into her office, she will have the upper hand and you will not be able to withold information. Second, do not answer any personal life question, no matter how useless you think they are, she could always use them to find out who you really are. Third, don't even think-"

"with all due respect, my lady" you stopped her rant with your hands on her shoulders, and she regained her breath with a slight glare. The reason for it was unkown to you. "I am the superhero between us, so I know what I can and can't say"

And she didin't have time to rebut when she suddenly heard heels clicking their way up the stairs, making her jump away from you.

"Keera, glad to see you were able to do what I asked"

"isn't it Kara?" you spoke loudly, faking innocence, wanting to correct the older woman without being too obvious.

The woman gave you look, but didn't say anything. "can you leave us alone?" she turned to the reporter "I'd like to interview them alone"

- - -

The interview went well, you think, you didn't say anything about yourself and ended up following Kara's instructions. You thought about telling her how it went, but as you got to her desk you noticed her bag and jacket were gone.

"where did Kara go?" you stopped Winn is his steps, knowing he wouldn't be surprised by your presence.

"oh she went home early. She had a thing with (Y/N)- a friend" he corrected himself, thinking you wouldn't know them.

You forrowed your brows, but when your eyes landed on the clock hung on the wall you felt a shiver run down your spine. You were very late. You should have been at Kara's huose over half an hour ago.

You let out an exasperated sigh, "great- uh, I have to- I have to go now. I''l see you at- the DEO...soon?"

Winn only looked at you weirdly but he didin't have time to respond before you patted his shoulder and jumped out of the window, drawing some curious looks.

If Winn didin't know about your crush for supergirl, he'd probably thing you were jelous of yourself.

- - -

After picking up the backpack you left in one of the allies near Catco, you quickly put on some clothes, hiding your suit. You run up the stairs to Kara's apartment, frantically knocking on her door, still breathless and with your hair messy.

She had been pacing around the room for quite a while now so she quickly opened the door to your apologetic smile. "I'm so sorry I'm late love, I had a work thing and I thought about getting you something but it would have just been worse so I didn't"

You tried to explain, but to be honest her mind was still on how cute you looked with your cheeks flushed and how you breathlessly called her "love".

"oh it's fine. It doesn't matter now" she said letting you in, closing the door behind you.

"why? I thought you wanted help with something?" you shrugged your coat off, standing in the middle of the room. Hearing footsteps behind you, you turned around, your eyes meeting Alex's.

"hi, I didn't know you were coming here earlier too" you said, going in for a hug.

"she didn't come here early" Kara answered with a light edge to her tone, going into the kitchen.

"did you forget?" Alex whispered, and her tone wasn't as harsh, but it did sound like she wanted to scold you. It couldn't have been that serious, right?

You shook your head "no I told her I got caugth up in-" James knocking on the door stopped you, and soon after everyone else was there.

- - -

The night was going on smoothly, except for the fact that Kara didn't seat next to you like always, and she was persistent on avoiding your gaze, even tho you could feel her looking at you from time to time. She seemed to fidget more with her hands than usual, so you were sure something was up.

Thinking that asking Alex was not an option, you leaned towards Lena, whispering in her ear when it wasn't her turn to play.

"you know what's wrong with Kara?" she subtly turned to look at you, her lips in a thin line, she didn't need to look at her best friend to know what was going on inside her head.

"she's been like this all night, did she tell you anything?" you pleaded

Said blonde jumped up from the couch, claiming she was going to get another round of snacks and went into the kitchen. The Luthor gave you a nod, silently prompting you to follow the kryptonian, and as you got up to do so, you felt another pair of eyes on you.

You quietly made your way over, Kara's back facing you while she got herself a glass of water.

"uh are you okay?" you uttered, leaning on the counter so you could see her face "I noticed you were acting a bit..strange" you lowered your head, but she was once again avoiding looking at you, using her glass as a distraction.

"did something happen at work?" you met Cat, so you woulnd't be surprised "or-" you gulped, you'd hate to be the reason why she was acting like this "-are you mad I got here late?"

She slammed the glass back on the counter letting a few drops spill out, surprising herself when it didn't break. Kara took a deep breath, before replying "I'm not mad at you, (Y/N)" but it was really hard to believe it.

"okay, then what is it?" you got closer, putting your hand on hers, so she would look at you, and she did. The reporter raised her head, her eyebrows furrowed and her mouth agape, as if she was thinking on what to say. But when nothing came up she resumed to looking at your conjoined hands.

Kara could feel her wrist burning from your hold, and all the whispers and heartbeats she could hear from the other room prevented her from thinking.

"come with me"

You followed her closely, making up a stupid excuse on why you're exiting the apartment, even if none of your friends seemed surprised.

Kara brought you all the way to the roof, and still hasn't uttered a word. And you let her, giving her time.

But after a minute of silence and her pacing around you got in front of her, making her almost bump into you.

"Kara" You called "it's just me. What's going on?"

You smiled in reassurance, but she just forrowed her brows, letting out a big sigh. That wasn't much you could do to help her if she didn't talk unfortunately, you could only look at her.

Look at how her hair was slowly coming out of her ponytail due to the wind, how her eyebrows were so close together you were surprised she hasn't got a headache yet, and how her eyes seemed darker under this light.

And this sight was so familiar, but it didn't feel like you were looking at Kara, not really.

"I know what you want to tell me" you breathed out, and the fact she was looking at your lips is probably the only reason why she was able to hear you.

"you do?"

"yea" you smiled, shaking your head in disbelief "I can't believe I was so blind"

She felt her cheeks heat up, but her heart fell right out of her chest with your next words.

"you're Supergirl"

The super profusely tried to deny it, claiming you drank too much or had a wide imagination. Even going as far as commenting "I wish"

"oh" you raised your brows "so you don't have super strength, laser eyes, ice breath, and you can't fly?"

"no oh my god I could never be her" she let out a shaky laugh, adjusting the glasses on her nose, you couldn't believe they deceived you for such a long time.

You started walking around, getting closer to the edge "mhh you're right, I just thought because you're blonde you might be her" you reasoned, pointing to your hair.

"not the only blonde in National City" she replied and shrug her shoulders, hoping you would just drop the subject, the idea of expressing her feelings long gone.

"such a shame" you were able to see Kara turning on her heels in your peripheral vision "I really hope the real Supergirl comes to my rescue then"

She couldn't have spun her head around faster, but you were already out of sight, falling down the building.

The kryptonian shouted your name, jumping off the edge using her powers. When she couldn't see you anywhere she started panicking even more.

"(Y/N)? (Y/N) where are you?"

"behind you, beautiful" You were smirking with your arms crossed, your feet glued to the wall, steadily keeping you in place.

"what were you thinking about, jumping like that, you could have died, how are you even-" she said it all in one breath, stopping only when a look of realization took over her face.

"I've never seen Kara so pissed at me, it's new"

She let out a big groan, and not sparing you another glance, she got back onto the roof, you following after her.

"were you ever planning on telling me?" she squinted her eyes

"I mean, were you? You and your sister always made sure to tell me how I should keep my identity a secret"

"that's different, I didn't know it was you" she knew she wasn't making any sense, but her brain wasn't working properly at the moment, her heart still hasn't recovered from the scare you gave her, and she had so many things to process.

"come here" you took both of her hands in yours, bringing her closer to you. "I know who you are and you know who I am, doesn't that just mean we can trust each other more?" you offered, running your thumbs along the skin, effectively calming her down.

"I've always trusted you, even when I didn't know who was hiding behind the mask"

"oh, oh I'm sorry" her smile turned into a face of confusion "is it Kara or Supergirl talking? because I know Supergirl would never say something so sweet to me" that earned you a slap to the shoulder.

She rolled her eyes "shut up I take it back, we both think you're annoying"

But you didn't laugh with her, something else occupying your thoughts.

"do you like me, Kara?" you took a step closer, and she didn't have it in herself to take a step back. "you always say it's useless to flirt because there's someone else in your heart and I never asked, but now I'm asking you" you took a brief pause "do you like me?"

She sighed, knowing she couldn't lie to you anymore, so she slightly nodded, curling her eyebrows.

"but you like Supergirl"

"you are Supergirl" you answered matter of factly, but you had a feeling you knew what she was getting at.

"I like her because she has the biggest heart I have ever seen, she' s passionate about her job, both of her jobs, I love how her cape bounces around as she walks and how she can't seem to keep her glasses from falling off"

You brought your hand up her chin, making her look at you, while your other hand adjusted said glasses.

"I've always liked you Kara, all of you, I just thought of this part of you too much of a friend to notice"

Kara was totally hanging from your lips at this point, not only because she was looking at them.

You leaned your head down as she circled the hand that held her face.

"can I kiss you?" you murmured, making her nod vigorously.

"please"

It only took you half a second to close the distance, and you instantly felt Kara reciprocating the kiss, moving her lips against yours in an almost desperate demeanor. Her other hand gripped your shirt to pull you closer and when she felt you fingers on her sweater she gasped lightly.

you broke the kiss after a minute with a bite to her bottom lip, making her let out another small sound and left her chasing after you.

She blinked quickly a few times after she recovered, a deep blush still present on her cheeks. "I like you, too" the blonde replied breathlessly and slowly lowered her hands, not sure what to do with them.

"yea i guessed that" you teased, stealing another kiss.

Soon after that you two decided to head back, after Kara told you everyone knew she was planing on telling you today, and thanking you for the interview.

When you got back into the apartment everyone suddenly stopped talking and looked at you.

"so, did you two kiss?" it was of course Winn who broke the silence, voicing all of their thoughts. You looked over at Kara, and seeing her flushed face, you decided to answer, nodding.

"and I know she's Supergirl" you added, trying to ease the mild akwardness

"and I know you're (Y/S/N)" she retorted, not realizing what she said until she heard gasps all over the small apartment

"Kara!" you tightened your grip on her hand for a second, but she could see you weren't really annoyed. Various confused questions followed your statement, Alex's voice sounding above them

"so, the person who likes to make fun of me and never does as I say" she crossed her arms, letting her lips curve into a smirk as she watched you get behind the krytponian, now aware of the strenght she possessed.

"you know, you should probably focus on something else" you spoke up from behind Kara's shoulder, while gripping the end of her sweater "why don't we go back to the game, you were winning right? isn't it right Kara?"

Said woman smiled at your antics, playfully rolling her eyes "let them go Alex, you can torture them another day"

"no she can't" you tried to argue, but the brunette was already off to get another bear from the fridge.

You suddenly felt the sweater slipping away from your grip, and lowered your head to find Kara now looking at you, with a small smile on her lips.

"come on, let's go play" she pulled on your hand, making you follow her.

She did seat next to you now, still stealing glances when she thought you wouldn't notice, and instantly looking down every time you caught her.

Kara Danvers Masterlist - Supergirl Masterlist

General Masterlist

#kara danvers x reader #kara x reader #kara danvers #supergirl x reader #supergirl #x reader #spiderman reader

138 notes · View notes