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#If they even age I mean Gotham could just be Like that where people sometimes stop aging
puppetmaster13u · 30 days
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Prompt in Memes 4
Another prompt, but in memes because trying to gather my thoughts is hard sometimes lol.
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orionremastered · 25 days
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Hybrid/shapeshifter golden tiger reader as a vigilante with batfam? I really love your writing :0
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They're so PRETTY how did I not know they existed before???? Also I love shifter fics bc who doesn't
Masterlist
Part Two
Golden
Being a shifter is bad in this day and age, at least until the shifter is mature enough to shift on command. Before then, young shifters can shift with any strong emotion, especially negative ones like anger and fear.
Most shifters mature when they turn into adults, which means they're either taught to become temporary psychopaths or are homeschooled until they're mature enough.
You, like many shifters, were the latter. Now that you're in university and studying biology, living in your own apartment states away from your parents, you're free. So incredibly free.
Free to be you, free to talk to people who interest you, and free to fight the lowly criminals of Goth- wait, what?
It was an accident, you swear. You couldn't bear to hear that poor little girl's blood-curdling screams (you hadn't understood what the phrase meant before, but you sure do now) any longer, so you shifted and almost, but not quite, mauled the man to death.
"Pretty kitty!" she had called you, and from then on you vowed to look after the young kids of Gotham, especially when going to and coming from school as well as at night (if you weren't studying). Sometimes you simply lay in the bushes of a park and watched over the kids as they played on the playground.
They remained your main focus (though you did save others, you mostly watched over the young children) even when the press got wind of the golden tiger shifter vigilante. "Golden" is what they called you, and it was certainly better than other names the press had given vigilantes before.
The local bat population had gotten word of your existence beforehand and had tried to even just get a glimpse of you, but you were too quick. After the press got wind, they amped up their efforts.
You've decidedly had enough of your studying and walked out of your apartment, climbing into the window of an ashy-smelling abandoned building, the charcoal staining your fingers as you moved into the dark to shift.
One could guess what happened to the building, but it didn't have anything to do with a golden tiger climbing out its window on a cool early spring night, the snow thawing slower than usual. There weren't many people on the streets at this hour which you were glad for.
You take your normal route today, going through the less fortunate neighbourhoods where kids are most commonly found. Slushy snow drenches your paws in cold water as you leap onto the next roof and climb down the stairs on the side of the building.
There's a bundle of blankets placed gently into a plastic bucket. You nudge the bundle with your nose gently and when the wailing begins you huff. Another abandoned baby; it's the third one this month. A mother you can't afford a child or is scared for the child's safety when it comes to the father.
Your teeth close around the bucket and you begin carrying the baby to the hospital in Crime Alley, a long trek from where you picked the baby up.
You hear something. Whispers. Your ears rotate to find the source of the sound which would be impossible for a human to hear.
"That's the tiger?"
"No shit," the second voice hisses, much older than the first. "What else could it be? A cow?"
"Whatever," the first one replies. "What do we do? Think that's a baby?"
"Probably. I say we take the baby and bring it to the hospital."
You turn your head to where the sound is coming from, impeccable vision allowing you to see Robin and Red Hood perched on a building above you.
"What about the- how good is a tiger's hearing?"
You do trust these vigilantes but not more than you trust yourself. You flick your tail and continue walking, a few corners from the hospital. The sound of their grappling hooks as the vigilantes follow you are only able to annoy you.
There's the hospital, just at the end of the street. You take no more than two steps before Red Hood steps out in front of you. You aren't surprised as you could hear him the entire time.
"Can I have the baby?" He asks, hand outstretched as he gestures for you to hand it over.
Your eyes narrow and you turn to see Robin behind you.
"It'll be easier for me to get it to the hospital," he explains. "They won't react calmly to a tiger carrying a baby."
He had an unfortunately valid point. The other times where you'd brought a baby into a facility, people freaked out.
Reluctantly, you gently place the bucket on the cold pavement and step back, letting the vigilante pick it up.
As Red Hood takes the baby to the hospital, you turn fully to face Robin. He's short and you reach up to the start of his ribcage.
"You're not an easy tiger to locate," he says. "It takes a few idiots."
You make a sound akin to a laugh, turn your head and vanish into the alleyway beside you.
Robin curses himself for not getting to pat the tiger. He'll be damned if his siblings get to first.
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halfagone · 3 months
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Cassandra Cain and Communication
I've been noticing an interesting trend in DPxDC fanfics lately where people write Cass like she's psychic, or in simpler terms: she can read someone and in an instant know how to help them. And while I can definitely see the merits of this kind of approach, there are a lot of things to keep in mind.
I cannot stress enough how isolated Cass' childhood was. When it's said that David Cain trained her only in the language of killing, it is not an exaggeration. In many early renditions of her character, Cass cannot speak at all, and if she can, only in short, brief sentences. Cass goes the first seventeen years of her life not knowing how to read.
That is a canonical plot point too. We see Barbara teaching Cass to read in Batman Volume 1 #567:
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Based on the context surrounding this scene, this is a regular occurrence between the pair. Cass has also sought out Stephanie before to read something for her (Batgirl Volume 1 #20). If you're curious about more analysis surrounding this particular subject, this post has some interesting points and shows the gradual shift in how DC handled her character.
But this is early into her time with the Batfamily. What about later on, when she's more assimilated to the Waynes and her fellow vigilantes?
Well, you don't even have to be a hardcore comic fan to see how she continues to struggle with expression and communication. In Wayne Family Adventures, episodes 32 and 33, we see how Cass' ability to read body language has also hurt her and her relationship with the people around her.
She doesn't mean to hurt Stephanie's feelings in these episodes, but the damage is real and it happened. Cass means well, ultimately, but she still doesn't know how or when to address these problems. She sees that Steph is hurting and wants to help; those are all admirable qualities! But in the end, she only pushes Stephanie further away, and is left feeling guilty and carrying self-loathing in the wake.
Here is also a reminder: Cass killed her first man at the age of 8 years old, and consequently ran away from her father when she realized killing was wrong. She did not know what he felt was fear. She did not know the definition of fear, nor the word for it. She just saw the expression on his face as he died, and realized that something was wrong, and ran away.
Cass doesn't arrive to Gotham until she's 17 years old, around the No Man's Land era, if I remember correctly. She is on the run for 9 years in this time, and sadly, she did not pick up many- if any- language or communication skills during this period. This isn't a fault on her character either, when she likely had to keep moving and didn't have time to connect with anyone like she did with Barbara, who could teach her how to speak and read.
But at the end of the day, it makes sense that Cass doesn't know how to socialize. Think of a real life example: some kids who grow up homeschooled struggle to make connections once they reach adulthood and start looking for a job. They've never had to make small talk, or address strangers face-to-face, so they don't know how to interact with people. Cass' situation is a more extreme version of this scenario, but with blood, brutal training, and child abuse involved.
At her core, Cass is a good person. And she will continue to be that good person. But she doesn't always have the answers. Nobody does! She'll continue to help people to the best of her abilities, but sometimes those abilities can be limited.
Cass is not a perfect person. When Bruce was lost in the timeline, and the remaining Batfamily members started to splinter and fall apart in the wake, Cass didn't remain in Gotham to help with the rising violence with Batman's absence. Instead, when her family needed her most, she went to Hong Kong, because she didn't want to be there without Bruce. She did briefly meet Tim in Paris, when she had saved him from the Daughters of Acheron, but she still doesn't accompany Tim, nor does she return to Gotham even after finding out the city is extremely understaffed.
Cass is well-meaning, but she is not faultless. We might not like to acknowledge the flaws of our favorite characters, but those flaws are a part of them! Just like how Bruce consistently fails to express himself is a part of his. Or how Dick tries to pretend that everything is fine so he doesn't have to address his own problems. Or how Jason can be inconsistent with his motivations and people get hurt as a result. Or how Tim keeps too many secrets and pushes people away, ruining multiple relationships in turn.
I could go on and on, but all these characters are more than just their flaws. The same thing with Cass.
So don't be afraid to show a Cass that doesn't know how to fix things. Don't be afraid to show a Cass that doesn't know what to do, but just tries her best. It's one of her most admirable qualities: always trying no matter what.
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bat-stuff · 11 months
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Damian Wayne headcanons: “Totally can make girls swoon as long as he’s not standing next to Damian (we’ll talk about Damian’s body and pretty boy features in another post)”, can we get that post discussing Damian’s pretty boy features and how he most likely gets the most people coming after him thx to his perfect mix of Talia and Bruce’s genes (Talia’s brown skin color, her green cat shaped eyes w/long eyelashes, Bruce’s face (tho I headcanon the older dami gets the more he physically resembles Talia until the resemblance is uncanny, or he grows to become a perfect match of both his parents facial features), hairline (unless dami grows his hair out a little more in the future), the Wayne charm etc.)????????? Also how the others (Collin, Jon, & Billy) attractive looks attract others as well?????
Honestly, I totally forgot that Tumblr existed for a while so thess are way overdue. But here we go.
Also, excuse Damian's for being hella long but I've had a lot of time to think about Damian
Ok I also have a feeling that I haven't mentioned this before ...
All my content for these boys is aged up, which means they aren't a gaggle of 12 year olds. I'm imagining them between the ages of 16 and 18 unless otherwise stated.
DAMIAN WAYNE, JON KENT, COLIN WILKES, AND BILLY BATSON FEATURES HEADCANONS
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DAMIAN WAYNE
Damian has green eyes, I know people will argue and say he has blue but his eyes are definitely a dark mossy green.
Though they definitely have the capability of changing color in the sunlight, they light up and turn into lighter shades depending on the lighting and time of day, but personally I think they are a dark mossy green.
I don't want to spend too much time on Damian's eyes but for example, in Gotham they tend to be darker because of the atmosphere, whereas when Damian goes to see Jon in Metropolis, they'll be lighter shades because of the sunlight
He 100% has Talia's eyes, and facial structure. I can see him having more of Bruce's features, but his facial and body structure is closer to Talia.
Strong jawline but softer than Bruce's. Damian looks a bit like Bruce but not as sharp, so to speak. His face is slimmer and more rounded, his eyes are more pointed and are sharper but Bruce's are wider.
Bruce is ruggedly handsome, Damian is flawlessly pretty.
Damian's body structure is closer to Talia's too.
I don't see Damian really being able to pack on muscle mass in the future like Bruce. As Damian gets older his body structure looks a lot like Dick's, he's very well fitted.
He does have nice biceps tho. To the point where when he moves you could feel the muscle flex underneath if you were touching them
(If you haven't experienced this personally with anyone, I highly suggest it. Biceps are hot.)
He doesn't have thick thighs like Jason, but he's still very muscular. Sometimes it's hard to tell unless he's flexing, he's not busting out of his clothes, but he is quite strong.
On to other features, Damian isn't white.
I think we've all established it by now but just to make sure.
His skin is a lot like Talia's, light olive skin. Though, in the summer, if Damian gets even the smallest ounce of light he tans instantly. I'm the winters in Gotham, one might mistake him for white because his skin is lighter but once he's put next to Tim it's easy to see that he's not.
Damian has perfect eyebrows. Nothing else needs to accompany this. His eyebrows are flawless.
Ok, so hair. Another thing I've seen some disagreement on.
I believe Damian's hair is Black, like Bruce. But unlike Bruce it's not coarse and heavy. It's light, wispy and soft. When he was younger at the manor he used to gel it up, but now that he's older he's come to realize that it'll just go wherever he wants and it will be fine.
Damian's voice, which I've kinda already covered, is wide range. He can sound like a little girl or Corpse. He generally leans towards a deeper voice, it vibrates a little so if he's talking while you're touching him in some way you can feel the grumble.
He hums a lot. Not musically, but in response to things. He's taken up a habit of humming into words, like saying "mkay" instead of "okay".
I strongly believe that Damian doesn't laugh, he chuckles. Deep, hearty chuckles that make anyone whose near stop and listen to him laugh. He also snickers and sharply exhales through his nose to make that snorting/snickering sound, I don't know what it's called but I think you can guess what I'm talking about.
Damian doesn't have veiny hands, sorry to disappoint. But his hands are very soft for being a swordsman. His skin is very smooth and he doesn't have many imperfections. No birthmarks because of the Artificial Womb, courtesy of Talia.
Not me going back to his eyes, but he squints a lot. Out of confusion, anger, just looking at something, disgust. His eyes generally take the shape of siren eyes, so it doesn't look unnatural that he gives people sharp looks unintentionally.
His lips are on the thinner side but are still soft. Boy definitely uses chapstick. He doesn't have a big mouth or a little one, he's very well proportioned.
Probably has a plump bottom lip tho
Many know this but he frowns a lot. It's not because he's upset, but it's his thinking face. His eyebrows scrunch together when he's doing this too. If he's thinking about something unpleasant his nose with wrinkle. When Damian's thinking hard he looks very confused and upset.
Nicely shaped abs. He has a long torso
HELLA PRETTY SHOULDERS AND BACK MUSCLES MY GUY
Smells like pine needles and sandalwood. Definitely a rich person scent that's strong but not overpowering.
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BILLY BATSON
Figured I would start with Billy because if we're ranking them, he's the second prettiest.
Personal opinion but you'll see what I mean.
So Billy's eyes are brown. Like a dark, chocolate brown.
Some people might say "Well in the dcau and Young Justice they're blue" but I have a personal belief that they're brown. How many blue eyed superheroes and children of superheroes are there? Too many. They're brown.
In the sun they turn into a dark honey color
DEFINITELY has light freckles across his cheeks, I mean really light tho. You would have to be pretty close to him to see them
Billy's hair is soft, and medium brunette.
it's sort of straight, but kinda wavy
the length of it depends on the season, for instance in the summer he has it cut shorter in the back. But in the winter he lets it grow out a bit more
The skinniest of the bunch but it suits him
He's not SKINNY tho, I mean he's being compared to Superboy, Batman's son, and a Gym Rat Gothamite, cut the little guy some slack
Billy has very slender, lean build. Most likely doesn't have Damian-level muscle but he's still easy on the eyes shirtless
Billy has a a bit of a lopsided smile that sometimes expresses laziness
Teeth smile 100%
He has that sort of soft handsome look
Where Damian is very sharp and defined Billy is smooth
He has softer cheek bones (squishy cheeks) and a defined yet round jawline
Billy has thinner lips
I'm not sure how to describe them honestly
Very calm deep voice, deepest voice of the bunch, adding on to this I imagine that he likes to sing and is the best vocalist in the group
His laugh, contrast to Damian, is boisterous and very open mouthed. He's loud and sometimes it sounds like a cackle, but most of the time Billy has a charming laugh that fills the room
Billy almost smells sugary with a hint of linen. Like warm bed sheets but they were washed next to a bakery.
(He once accidentally stole Mary's Japanese Cherry Blossom lotion and now has this sort of addiction to cherry scented things)
Honestly, Billy smells like a lot of things all the time, so the best description is that he smells very warm and sweet
Boy is part of the super soft hands club
Long. Freaking. Eyelashes.
Like, they might tickle you when you kiss him long
(This isn't a romance headcannon but he would be a great person to kiss, OOOH NEXT POST IDEA)
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JON KENT
Ok so on to Jonathan
So our boys eyes are a sky blue
An open sky in the country, and where some eyes have grey tones, Jon's don't
Dark, black hair that has a loose curl to it
A lot of times it hangs down in his eyes so he developed a tendency to play with his hair
He has one of those headbands that comb/hold back your hair, and he wears it a lot
Wouldn't wear it around the guys, there's no way Colin wouldn't make a little fun of him for it. Damian honestly wouldn't care and Billy would probably buy one once he sees Jon wear it
He has pretty fair skin, but tans often due to being in the Sun at the farm a lot.
Has tan lines on his wrist and ankles from bracelets, he's that kind of guy
I mentioned in a previous post that Jon isn't really big on sweating so our boy probably always smells very clean
His scent is lemony with a hint of linen.
Not that the other boys don't smell clean, Jon is just less musky
Jon us bulkier than Damian and Billy, but smaller than Colin.
Another member of the super soft hands club, as well as the pretty shoulders club
he has a soft voice, but it also holds a lot of energy. He talks fast
the highest pitched voice of the bunch, and for the longest time was slightly squeaky.
lovely sounding voice, can't sing for shit tho. Hes a bit tone deaf.
has DEFINED dimples, the king of dimples
always has a content look on his face, looks and is incredibly friendly
I have a feeling Jon doesn't have completely straight teeth, but still a beautiful, toothy smile
he isn't a mouth breather but has a habit of staring at people with his mouth open a bit.
kinda like a goldfish
lip biter (In the cute/hot way)
(ok so my best comparison for Jon is Dave Lizewski from Kick-Ass. I feel like they would have similar energy. I feel like he and Jon would sound similar as well.)
Toned abs. He doesn't even try, they just happen
nice arms, not super huge but you can visibly see the muscle
His entire vibe is secretly buff nerd boy
loves his glasses, only takes them off when he suits up
they're the round-ish square ones with the iron rim (Dave Lizewski glasses)
sharp jawline, but has a square face
Pouty, thick lips
Jon has fairly big hands, and skinny fingers.
Slightly veiny hands
Has never had a lick of acne in his life so incredibly clean face
Definitely a pretty boy
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COLIN WILKES
Colin is definitely the scraggiliest of the 4
Silly ginger boy
Has straight-ish hair but probably got a perm at some point and it kinda worked for him so he's recently discovered that if he puts stuff in his hair and takes care of it right he has some natural wave
Puppy dog brown eyes that look like melted chocolate
Used to have freckles but they faded as he got older so you only see them if you're extra close
Colin had the widest smile of the group
Never had braces because he couldn't afford it so his teeth are a bit uneven
But they were significantly worse when he was a middle schooler so he's glad they figured themselves out a bit
BIG BOY
THE BIGGEST BOY
This dude has the broadest shoulders of the group, the thickest thighs, the meatiest arms.
Colin is built like a tank
Has the veiniest hands, and they never go away. Just constant veins
Is ALWAYS smirking/smiling.
Has a look on his face that always makes it seem like he'd done something bad and he's proud of it
Obviously he hasn't but it somehow lands him in trouble 9/10 times
Colin is the palest of the group, not just because he roasts like a turkey in the son but because he obviously lives in Gotham, where sunlight doesn't exist
Like Billy, his lips are on the thinner side, but they're NEVER chapped. Loves chapstick, probably would eat it
Colin has a fairly round face, when he was younger he had huge gigantinormous ears, but by 15 he had grown into them
If any of the boys had a glow up it was Colin, he went from Kiddo to Daddy within a summer
Smells like grass and mahogany. Also lysol. Sometimes leather. It depends on what time of day it is.
In the morning, it's lysol and leather because that's when he goes to the gym. But after he showers it's mahogany and like Irish spring. But by the end of the day, for some reason he smells like grass and no one can figure out why
Colin's just kinda strange
His voice is lower than Jon's, but slightly higher than Billy's. (When he's Abuse his voice is much, much deeper)
It's rumbly
Has the best morning voice
When Colin laughs, it's a cackle. He sounds like a hyena
Definitely has toned muscles. The most defined muscles of the group
Has ENORMOUS hands
Rough and calloused from weightlifting but the rest of him is fairly soft
Rougher face because he shaves, puberty hit him HARD
He's not pretty, he's hot
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bluetortoist · 4 months
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Time to show off some doodles of one of my OCs after binging as much batman series as I could, including BTAS, The Batman 2004, Brave and the Bold, the movies, etc. I fell in love with the Gotham Rogues all over again.
I've already made a few OCs, but to start, this one is Mavis. She is a harpy who imprinted on Penguin at birth and considers him her father. He kept her to be, at first, just as another loyal, powerful pet, but soon came to see her like a daughter to him too. Thus, a bird family in crime.
Last pic was my first ever sketches of chick Mavis and Penguin. You could tell I was still trying to figure out how to draw pengie haha!
Penguins note in full:
Note #5 - "Any news of strange phenomena that could be connected to the child's existence came up short. None of my connections had any clue of where she could have came from. The only hypothesis I could come up with is, admittedly outlandish, but not completely out of the question (Im not blind to some of the inhuman things that happen in this city). I refer to beings called 'harpies' from the mythologies. Stories of bird-like women who lead men of all kinds to their deaths, or who torture the damned souls in the underworld. All utter nonsense, but everytime I look at the child, I cant help but think there is something otherworldly about her."
Below is a bit more stuff about her
Name: Mavis (Unofficial) Cobblepot
Age: About 18-19
Gender: Cis Female
Identifies: Pan/Demi
Race: Harpy
Current Living: Gotham City
Allegiance: Neutral Evil - True Neutral
Powers/Abilites:
• Hypnotic Voice: Uses her singing voice to charm and manipulate the minds of anyone in her range into becoming submissive to her under the delusions of adoration for her.
• Typical features as like that of a bird of prey, keen eyesight 10× more than humans, Flying in silence, Can see in the dark, Heightened hearing. etc
• Strong, sharp, powerful talons for feet that can be used not only for attack, but for stealth capturing people (sometimes it's how she carries Penguin in means of escape).
• She is also efficient in knife combat and close quarter combat (for when shes in a finite space too small to fly around in), Knows how to use a gun, but rarely ever uses or carries one.
History: Oswald found her as an egg under mysterious circumstances, not knowing how she even got here or where she came from. Because she imprinted on him already, he decided to raise her and form her into another, stronger one of his loyal pet birds. However, as much as he tried keeping her under the conditions of a pet, Mavis still ended up seeing him as her father. And eventually Oswald, who denied for the longest, felt the same way as well.
Notes/Quirks: Mavis struggles a bit with human speech due to Harpies having different vocal chords than humans, so she was mute along with saying simple sentences for a good half of her life; she is very intelligent however and understands human language, can read and write very well, excels in math and business skills, just takes time talking./ She molts once a year and lasts over 2-3 weeks; it's very itchy and irritating and makes her grumpy the whole time./ She is a carnivorous bird and her favorite to eat is liver.
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oncillabrigade · 2 months
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I feel like I see a lot of fan authors/artists depicting Jason and Tim (and sometimes Steph) as unrelentingly mean to Damian in public, and that doesn't ring true to me. I haven't read the comics since before Damian was introduced (Wayne Family Adventures pulled me back in, and oh man there are fun DC comics these days!) so maybe I'm missing some canon examples of that... but I feel like every single child in that family gets how awful it is to be in the spotlight at a young age. They remember how awkward and exhausting it was to always smile for the camera, always be perfectly behaved, always uphold the ideal of what a Wayne adoptee should be. It didn't matter how you felt; you had to act the part. And they wouldn't make that harder for anyone.
Detailed thoughts below the fold!
Acting like a Perfect Wayne Kid™️ must be easier for Tim than for his siblings, because he was already playing that game as a Drake. But that doesn't mean it wasn't excruciating, especially for someone as introverted and wonderfully weird as Tim. Honestly, I think he'd be a mine of useful information for the later additions to the family!
I can see him at a charity dinner next to Cass, indicating which utensil comes next, murmuring, "I know, it's ridiculous. And there's no real reason, which makes it so hard to remember. But you're doing great." I can see him helping Duke practice the "right" laugh before a party: "Not too loud, not too real, not too many teeth showing. These people are terrified of genuine emotion, but in a shittier way than Bruce is." And I can most certainly see him talking Damian through how to leave a room when there are TOO. MANY. PEOPLE and the walls are closing in, showing him escape routes at different venues, explaining, "you don't want to use the bathroom excuse too many times in a row. People notice and tabloids start saying you have an eating disorder. I'll text you a list of alternate reasons to leave a conversation."
What I cannot see is Tim leaving anyone out to dry in the hell of high society. Even if Dami were driving him NUTS, I don't think Tim would call him a brat, insult him outright, or badmouth him to others. I think the worst thing he'd do is roll his eyes with humorous exaggeration and say, "okay, Damian, you've done your little brotherly duties--go talk to your friends, okay?" He could be SEETHING about a horrific fight 30 minutes before their appearance and play it off as, "haha, well, all brothers bug each other sometimes." And then he'd pivot, flawlessly, to a positive comment about the whole family, Dami included. Tim Drake, world champion of compartmentalization, fiercely loyal and kindhearted, is not giving the press a single bad word about his siblings. He is smiling and saying all the right things.
And then... then, there's Jason.
Jason understands, firsthand, how hard being inducted into the world of Perfect Wayne Behavior™️ is. Can you imagine Jason Peter Todd going through that? It's not just that he was in a new world, where money and food and clothes were a given, not a hard-won prize. It's not just that there were a million new rules to memorize (how to wear a suit, inscrutable dining etiquette, passive aggression instead of speaking your mind when angry, etc.). It's not just that he was suddenly thrust in the limelight at a young age, thrown in at the deep end of child stardom. It's not just that he was inevitably compared to Dick, who's naturally charismatic in a way that made his rambunctiousness forgivable by Gotham's elite. It's not just that he was simultaneously learning to be a Wayne AND a Robin, which was both mentally and physically exhausting.
No, it was all that PLUS who Jason was when he had just been adopted. Picture him: a kid from Crime Alley, recently out of a school for troubled youth, mourning the loss of his mother, and WAY too fucking smart not to see the condescension in the eyes of his new dad's peers. He was treading water constantly in every aspect of life, occasionally managing to float... all while the press and high society watched intently and judged him like he was swimming in the Olympics. Being Robin gave him magic, but god, he must have used so much of it up on just getting through public appearances.
I refuse to believe that someone who went through that would belittle or humiliate anyone doing the same. Especially when it comes to Damian. Damian, who comes from a world where physical prowess is the ultimate trump card, now trapped in a conversation where mentioning that prowess means he loses status. Damian, who knows the worst physical pain you can imagine and takes it as all in a day's work, struggling to contain his disdain for someone complaining about their tennis elbow. Damian, who was exposed to the worst aspects of humanity before he could form permanent memories, staring in disbelief at a kid his age saying the teacher who gave them an hour of detention is SO evil. Damian, who had mastered the rules of the League, discovering that the rules of Gotham high society are SO different that his prior knowledge is actively disadvantaging him.
I cannot imagine Jason seeing Damian as anything other than a fellow kid trapped in the pool with all eyes on him.
So Jason will do what he's always done: stand up for someone in need. Because Damian IS in need, no matter how much of a pain-in-the-ass he might be. That means Jay is telling the press about how smart Damian is, how good he is with animals, how proud the whole family is of his art. It means he's wearing suit pants with deep pockets so Damian's emotional support plushie is on hand at all times. It means he's using his bulk to clear the way to the balcony when the kid needs air and quiet. It means he's verbally eviscerating the posh knob who called Dami a brat, because NO ONE outside the family gets to say that shit about Jason fucking Todd's baby brother.
I don't care how annoyed they are with each other--bat kids hang together in the face of danger. And make no mistake: being a Perfect Wayne™️ is one of the most dangerous missions they face.
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msfcatlover · 1 year
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In which I propose a new superpower for Jason Todd
Jason was resurrected by a ripple/fracture/break in space-time/reality. Significantly, he was resurrected physically to a moment right before his death (I’d argue right before the bomb went off, based on his injuries and specifically the lack of smoke-damage to his lungs allowing him to call out for Bruce from down in his grave) but he remembers dying. Some analysis even suggests that resurrection made him immortal, that his death was overwritten and cannot be rewritten in any way that will stick. Plenty of AUs speculate about this giving him a whole variety of powers, but I haven’t seen this one yet, so...
Jason Todd exists, physically, as every single version of himself that ever was, could have been, or ever could be. He is, in a way, outside of time, a permanent glitch in the metaphorical matrix. He is a very, very specialized kind of shapeshifter, able to hit fast forward or rewind on his own physical form whenever he wants, but his perception of time remains linear & constant---he can’t actually see the future or anything, and if he shifts to the time he was a corpse, he’s still trapped & aware inside of his nearly useless, rotting body. When he meets alternate versions of himself from parallel universes, he also learns of different paths his life could’ve gone down, allowing him to rewind to the point where that changed and then fast forward down that other path as far as he wants (once again, this does not grant him the memories of that alternate life, he is always the Jason who stole from Batman, became Robin, died in that warehouse, and came back with a vengeance.) Not something he gets much use out of, given how few of the alternate selves he’s met have useful powers of their own, but handy for hiding scars or changing his build slightly for undercover work.
No, what Jason got/gets/will get the most use out of is the rewind feature. It can heal wounds, as long as he removes the blade or bullet which will not be affected by his shifting, which is both very handy (in the case of the former) and very troublesome (when the latter means he can’t risk shifting at all if he’s been shot or hurt with shrapnel.) He comes back to Gotham as a ghost, the Robin they all remember him as, and haunts his family just irregularly enough to really throw them off their games in between antics as the Red Hood.
(He also did/does/will do it instinctively sometimes, losing track of what age he’s supposed to be and shifting to the one he currently feels like, or the one he wants to be. He almost always drops however many years back to his late teens whenever he’s being especially petty or underhanded. When he’s scared, he has to actively remember not to let himself literally shrink back to 14, when he was Robin & a Wayne and actually felt safe. Under fear toxin, it’s not uncommon to find Jason under ten years old, tiny & scared, trying to find somewhere small to hide. In the opposite direction, he often gets older when he wants people to take him seriously, because something Jason learned young is that nobody listens to people they think are children.)
(Needless to say, the full-face helmet is very useful, and he keeps the filters well maintained & at the bleeding-edge of bat-technology. Nightwing having to carry a sobbing six year old back to the cave for treatment should never, ever have happened even the one time, and Jason’s not about to let it happen again!)
He needs to remember to age at all, since he just hit/hits/will hit “pause” when he reaches the form he wants. He came out of the Lazarus Pit a glitchy, blurring mess of a thing, and it took a while before he was able to find a form that felt comfortable in the time he was now in (the body he would have had, if Bruce got there in time and took Jason to the al Ghuls to beg healing for his son’s wounds.) The further he gets from the current time/reality, the more uncomfortable a form was/is/will be to hold; like wearing a skin-tight suit that doesn’t quite fit, getting smaller the further he gets from “here & now.”
(Yes, that does mean Jason will inevitably experience ever-increasing discomfort as time goes on and he gets further from his original resurrection; he’s not supposed to be “here” right “now.” The longer it’s been since Jason Todd ceased to exist, the more out of place a living Jason Todd was/is/will be.)
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silverghostblog · 3 months
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Info
This part doesn’t have to be read (it’s an infodump mostly) but it’s convenient :) I am killing the part of me that cringes at myself
More information will be added and changed as I expand on this character
Most info should be viewed ooc. This is mostly just bc the character is an oc but unless any info here is stated between characters, it would most likely be unknown (biggest example is his face)
Most info not on here will be on my main blog ( @mashedpotatosinacup ) in my Silver Ghost tag
Info for this character is constantly changing as I rotate him in my mind but I will try to keep this post updated
This is all very incomplete and very infodumpy but I’ll make official writings sometime or other
This oc is a bit of a Mary Sue but whateverrrr literally whateverrrr -
Basic info
Name: Elliot Lloyd
Age: 26
Gender: ?????
Alias: Silver Ghost
Pronouns: It/He
Ethnicity: Caucasian
Height: 5’7
Main Backstory (as of right now)
Silver came from generational trauma and undiagnosed mental illness at a young age. He grew up bullied and harassed until he finally escaped to college and moved out as soon as possible where he met Madison Valentino (Killer Cupid). He studied medicine and chemistry. He took up petty theft to get by, slowly building up his skills as time went on. He quickly became interested in how insane Gotham was and the heros and villains within. He spent more time studying, slowly driving himself away from everyone and into madness, believing that he could do it too and become something better than what he was and prove everyone wrong. In his rage, he’d end up killing someone (more to elaborate). He would be someone even if that someone was bad.
Silver’s biggest mistake has been trying to give himself powers. He was tired of just being a petty thief and ended up trying to use what knowledge he had of other villains to repeat the steps they did to gain their powers. He used what scientific knowledge he had to set up a fake lab accident. He thought it was working until he tried it. There was an awful explosion and he’d mutilated himself, making him hideous in his own eyes. His face looked deformed and his body looked monstrously scarred and ugly. He hasn’t been able to reverse it or feel better about himself, so he wears his mask whenever he can and doesn’t go outside a lot except for when he has to work in person in his civilian life.
After the whole ordeal, he started his villainous life. Even if powers didn’t work out, he could still do something.
Unorganized nonsense
Actually has really bad anxiety and needs like constant approval because the thought of messing up or making a mistake and ruining a relationship with someone (especially the rest of the krakens) terrifies him
Can have severe anxious and paranoid episodes where he needs to be alone in fear of hurting someone or being hurt. He has occasional panic attacks but hates them because they make him feel weak
He uses his villain persona as an escape when he’s by himself, seeing himself as a different person, someone who doesn’t care what people think, who can be bad and mess up and none of the people he care about would know and think he’s a loser
He fanboys so much over the other villains while trying to act cool and wants to be something better than he can be
Mad scientist esq kind of like a mix between both Dan and Herbert from Reanimator
Deathly afraid of fire
He wants to be perfect for everyone that’s around him because so many people in his past had left him alone. He holds in his excitement when out of costume and doesn’t talk about his hyperfixations because he doesn’t want to come off as annoying or overbearing. Eventually this leads to him being so focused on being perfect that he forgets to live and let himself experience things
The explosion did give him power (will expand on this eventually)
He has a hard time expressing his feelings and it often comes out more aggressive than he means to be but he doesn’t apologize because he doesn’t want to seem like less of a villain
Main voiceclaim is Charlie Slimecicle but I have others (full video is on my main and I have a part two in the works bc I’m indecisive)
He smells like metal and char that’s loosely covered by deodorant and cheap cologne
Freaking DORK
Personality
Silver is rude and short with people very often but he rarely means it, only assuming that’s how he’s supposed to act. Especially when he’s very focused on something he’s irritable and constantly insecure. He’s very twitchy and paranoid in general. He’s tough to get through to but he’s really very sensitive and soft. He’s scared and angry and assumes everyone dislikes him immediately so he always makes it a point to hate them first before they can hate him. It pushes people away but being alone makes him feel safe - or so he tells himself.
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scattered-winter · 2 years
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oh, you have to elaborate on single parent AU for jaykyle. Please. I’m also a major sucker for those
(aalghul’s main blog)
don't mind if I DO
so this is a canon divergence AU where Jason, as part of his whole crime lord thing, puts people under his protection. kids, specifically. street kids with nowhere else to go, orphans, kids who have been kicked out, kids on the run, etc. (this is the part based on my friend's fic that got me thinking about this btw.) he finds a place for them to stay. an old warehouse gets fixed up and furnished, and there's a small kitchen area, a dining room, bedrooms for the kids. they don't have to stay permanently; in fact, most don't. they come and go as they please and stay as long as they like, because Jason doesn't think kids should "age out" of a place to stay. there are a handful of regulars who don't have anywhere else to go so it's more of a permanent home for them, but there's also a lot of kids who stay for a few days and then leave again. Jason keeps the kitchen and pantry stocked with food and makes sure there's enough beds and blankets for everyone, and he keeps those streets safe from any other crime boss who might be muscling in on his territory. (he also keeps the Bats out because a lot of those kids might be hiding from them too)
he starts out being their distant and kinda intimidating protector, but eventually he ends up being the Dad of the entire group. he makes sure they get to where they need to go safely and plays board games with them sometimes etc etc because those kids grew on him, ok?! most of them have never had a positive experience w parents or have never had anyone to take care of them and he has the means to be able to at least give them a safe place to sleep and---oh my god he's turned into Bruce
fast forward to the final crisis shit, Kyle and Jason became....not Friends, per se, but Allies. people who are (usually) on the same side and can (usually) work together. anyway after that fun little adventure those three (Kyle Jason Donna) kinda just...check in every so often. make sure everyone's ok. they've been through a lot together so they just like to make sure nobody's dead or needs help (I don't think they ever interacted as a group after the search for ray palmer shit which is a CRIME.) anyway Kyle comes back from space and shows up to Gotham for the Annual Obligatory Check-In only to find that Jason has an entire warehouse full of kids. and now Kyle sees a completely different side of Jason that's....not softer than before, but gentler. he's still the fucking Red Hood, and comes home with blood and gunpowder on his clothes, but he also reads to some of the younger kids when they can't fall asleep. he walks the girls to school so nobody tries anything with them. he helps with homework and makes sure everyone's eaten enough.
after the first few visits the kids figured out that Kyle was friendly, and gave him the same treatment they gave Jason: treating him like a jungle gym. they found out Kyle could draw and make shit with his ring and they realized he was Really Cool. once they figured out he'd been to space it was all over. suddenly Kyle was the coolest adult in the world. even cooler than Jason.
so of course Kyle has to keep showing up to the warehouse or he'll disappoint the kids!!!!
and thus begins a new rivalry between them: who can be the Coolest Dad
in the meantime they're slooooowly falling in love and dancing around each other because "he only keeps coming for the kids it's not me" and "he has an entire horde of people to take care of he doesn't have time or energy for me" and like. watching each other interact/care for the kids in their own specific ways and sharing a space (because Kyle started staying at the warehouse because it's hard to pay rent when he's in space most of the time) and just. Being In Each Other's Space All The Time. them falling in love was inevitable, really. but because they're Like That they're dancing around the subject like the world's biggest elephant in the room
meanwhile all the kids just Know. they're sitting there watching this proverbial mating dance like "oh COOL we have TWO superhero dads now!!!"
some scenes that this fic will include (assuming I ever get my shit together enough to WRITE it):
one of the kids being mugged on the street and the poor criminal immediately getting curbstomped by Red Hood AND Green Lantern
Jason and Kyle cooking dinner together (because I'm a slut for domestic vibes don't touch me)
Jason braiding the girls' hair and calling the kids petnames
Jason sending Kyle pics and selfies of the kids while he's away in space and Kyle saving all of them <3
Kyle bringing space souvenirs for the kids (they go absolutely buckwild over them)
one of the girls (an orphan) having a Daddy-Daughter Date at school and she asks Jason to come as her dad (he cries)
Kyle tying Jason's tie before he leaves for said Daddy-Daughter Date
basically this whole fic is just
Jason: I gotta take care of my kids
Kyle:
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"our kids"
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ketchup-monthly · 1 year
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🎶 and ✅️ for the fanfic ask meme? :)
hehehe! into the fray i go again! thank you!!
🎶 Do you listen to music while you write? What song have you been playing on loop lately?
-i dont necessarily listen to music when i write, like maybe i'll have some music going in the background because i need at least a low level of noise at all times or i'll go insane, but i know rn i'm listening to jazz radio on pandora because my brother put it on like 7 hours ago and its still going. i'm a huge fan of the classical composer Holst and his suite The Planets, and i'll listen to that when im writing or need to focus on whatever it is that i'm doing (Jupiter was my school song in high school and is actually one of my favorite classical songs because it's very lovely)(link here bc i have to share it)(this is a link to a playlist of the rest of the suite)
-i mostly just have the tv on if im writing at home, and then i'll usually put something like s1 of Lois and Clark, Green Lantern: the Animated Series, Tanked, some random cooking show, or Mysteries at the Museum. or whatever my youtube recommends. depends on how im feeling each day and how much i'll need to actually focus on my fic.
-i do listen to music when im driving for work, and currently im working my way through The Crane Wives and The Orion Experience's albums (i already finished Waterparks)
✅ What's something that appears in your fics over and over and over again, even if you don't mean to?
-Hal and Barry's cat, Goose. she's an orange kitten and Wally is allergic to her.
-kissies. lots of halbarry kissies
-guy gardner is really good with kids and also he has a dog named shark who is a retired k9 unit. also he watches soap operas and romance movies even tho hes totally aroace
-idk if its something that people even notice in my halbarry fics, but hal is jewish. tbh i think i mean to include it more but totally forget
-kryptonians are fucked up. so are speedsters. so are lanterns.
-hal is old-man core. he just is. its amazing and i love him. he also has a bad leg and has to use a cane sometimes bc he got an injury that healed very wrong when he was a young lantern
-also wally and kyle are basically always like...9 and 7 respectively in my fics about the halbarry family because idk. fun ages. theyre still little but they can talk and think. idk when they'll get older
-this is more in my aus that i haven't written but hopefully will eventually, but giving bruce's kids to literally anyone else. i have an au where the only kids bruce keeps are dick and damian and maybe duke. i have another where duke is trained/fostered by alan scott and his husband, and another where duke is trained/fostered by midnighter and eventually apollo. the au where the only kids bruce gets are dick and dami and duke is the same one where all the other batkids are taken in by various gotham rogues. i have aus where tim is trained/taken in by dinah lance and her mom dinah drake, kon is adopted by alan scott, roy is adopted by dinah and his her sidekick instead of olivers, billy is adopted by lex luthor, kon stays with lex luthor and is raised by him along with lexs daughter who is kons half twin, billy is adopted by clark and hal and sorta guy and the rest of the red lanterns that i like, clark is found by the gls when hes a baby and is raised by kilowog, etc etc etc. bestie i have so many aus and i could talk about them for ages (edit: i also have one where jason is adopted by john constantine and etrigan the demon without jason bloods knowledge)
-sorry most of those were about halbarry and their family lol. im writing a lot of that this year
thanks for the ask!!! <3
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jaybirbwrites · 2 years
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Hello, i was looking through tumblr in the sense to find something interesting and found your account, i then wondered if i could get a dc match up from you if posible?
I’m Ghost, I am Aquarius born, ISTP personality, and I’m panromantic with a male lean, with any pronouns.
im 5’5, shoulder length blonde, pale ivory skin tone, Grunge aesthetic and Green/hazel eyes, I have been told by a few of my friends that I look like a middle age man who either only drinks coffee or whiskey.
I have trust issues, I tend to be stand off-ish to people and prefer to be alone in dark and quite places, though I am open and happy around people I feel like I can trust, I’m a bit chaotic and tend to get out of hand when it comes to things I am passionate about, and I like to have deep meaningful conversations with people.
I like most parts of nature, like flowers, bugs, animals, and the sounds, my favourite foods are anything veggie or fruit and sweets, I listen too Grunge, emo, rock, metal, and punk bands, I do a lot of art, i enjoy drawing plants and my ocs, In my free time I do art, I read, write, and watch anime, some of my favourites are Death parade, demon slayer, and skate the infinity, I play a lot of video games, like Resident evil(I love anything horror and gory), danganronpa, and legend of Zelda:Breath of the wild.
I hate jerks, bullies, people that are clingy and/or loud, I dislike red meats, I have Emetophobia and Trypanophobia, and I hate going out to public places like stores and restaurants for long perriods of type.
bye, have a good day/night
This took me way longer than I would have liked, but here I am with a match-up!!
I wasn't exactly sure the specifics of the DC Universe you wanted, so I kind of just? Grabbed from my own Fanon?? I hope that's okay!! I tend to write characters from DC by taking my favorite aspects from all of their respective canons, so I hope you still enjoy and that it's what you were looking for!
That all being said, I present to you....
Jason Todd
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Okay in my mind this seems like it's probably expected, but I promise I was thinking of a lot of other characters and it just didn't seem right
You two just,,, work?
So well?
I think it's the grunge aesthetic and looking like all you drink is coffee and whiskey for the most part
Mostly because he's basically the same way
He's also pretty obviously a standoffish person, and I definitely think that's what would make him want to get to know you more, and once he did... wow
Like you, he's an extroverted introvert
He can be quite as well, but once you get him going he's the life of the party and I definitely think you'd both bring some.. we'll say fun, to the Wayne Charity Galas that Bruce hosts
Not only that, but you both like basically the same kinds of music as well, and I can see you both jamming in his apartment together
You also mentioned that you do art, and while I definitely don't think Jason can draw, he absolutely would adore watching you do it
I mean, this man had straight A's before he died and he's definitely a huge nerd for literature and the arts
He definitely plays piano sometimes too when you'd draw
He's also an avid reader, and would always want to suggest books to you and take your suggestions on books to read
Likewise, he'd also offer to read whatever you were writing too
Not just to be nice, but because he's very curious to see what you're even putting on the page
He definitely plays games with you all the time, and on any co-op games he always makes it a challenge
He has to win, even if there's no winner in that game
In instances where you both just want to chill out, he'd offer a picnic in the park
Probably not Gotham's though
If anything he'd take you through the Zeta Tube to Central City, or Metropolis, where it's much nicer and sunnier than Gotham City
There you both can people watch from under a tree, and enjoy the nature and calm
I imagine Jason is an amazing cook and baker
It's one of my favorite headcanons to be honest
So he definitely made some Alfred-level sandwiches for you both, and he made your favorite dessert
Lots of veggies and fruits on the side as well, and your favorite drinks
Probably also gives you your favorite flowers as well, just to be the cheesy romantic that he is
Lastly, you mention that you hate clingy people
Jason can definitely be clingy, but he also 100% knows your boundaries and respects them
If you want to cuddle and be close, he's all up for that
When you want your space, he respects it and doesn't push it either
Same with him being loud
He won't be around you, but with his family it's kind of a given - lots of yelling, goofing off, throwing things at one another most likely
But he doesn't get you involved in it all since he knows you don't like loud people
All in all, Jason would absolutely adore you and you both would get along really well imo
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That's all for this!! I hope you enjoy it :)
If not please feel free to send another ask and I'll do something else!
My ask box is also open, so anyone who sees this - feel free to ask away! My pinned post has some of the things I do, so just check that out!
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silverdecepticon93 · 3 years
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A Charming Fan
💮Requested by Anon: Hi!! May I please request a story in which Eddie is a huge fan of a female reader? Perhaps he attends a con + reader finds his enthusiasm cute? Thank you!!
💮Requested by Anon: can i get more yandere eddie please? 👉👈 especially sappy/hopeless romantic eddie, pretty please?? thank you thank you thank you! 🥰😍❤
Edward, surprisingly, was not a fan of the mystery genre. He hadn’t been for a long time, now. Maybe back when he was a bright-eyed young kid who was easy to dupe but he quickly grew out of that phase, one of the downsides of being so smart is that he would solve the entire plot of the book after reading the first chapter, maybe even in pages less than that. Basically, he simply was too smart for his own good once more and it had long since dampened his love of the fictional mystery genre. Then you started writing.
You, lovely sweet little you. He remembered when Jonathan recommended one of your books to him, insisting that he would very much enjoy your writing and while Edward was skeptical since he couldn’t even enjoy the so-called ‘best of the best’ mystery writer’s works, what would make yours so different? He hadn’t even heard of you before but yet, Jonathan insisted that your works were right up his alley. He didn’t read the book right away, he let it sit on his nightstand for a few days but after one night of obsessively trying to best the Batman, he gave up and plopped on his bed, tired and frustrated. When he looked up, he saw your book on his nightstand and sighed. Oh well, he may as well humor it, perhaps the few 3 minutes of entertainment could help give his brain a little break from the restlessness and buzzing of his overworked mind. Getting into a comfortable position while grabbing the book, he opened it up and began to read…
And then he was enthralled.
It was commendable writing he’d admit. The way your characters acted, spoke, and interacted were so human. The motives and the ‘whodunnit’ enjoyably complex and pulling him in deeper to the mystery and on a few special occasions, actually surprised him with delightful twists and turns. What he liked the most about your writing was how you portrayed your villains, while he liked your characters, your villains were never just pure evil and if they were, it was for their own complex reasons and tragic reasons. Almost like himself.
Such a poet with your words, a genius with your mysteries, and so many other things soon had Edward wondering who was this miraculous writing genius that wrote so beautifully and admirably?
He decided to look you up, finding out as much as he could about you. His heart nearly beat out of his chest when he found out that not only were you around his age but you were stunningly beautiful!
You didn’t have your picture printed on the back of your book like most authors, he’s lucky you didn’t or else he’d probably be too distracted by your photo to ever even start reading your book...and probably end up seething in anger as he thought about the thousands of other people who bought your book, but that didn’t seem to be a problem the more he found out. According to most of your interviews, you didn’t have as many as much as you’d like to have, some of them complaining that your books were too complicated or too hard to figure out, which only made Edward scowl in distaste as he read some of the complaints on book reviews people made on your novels.
Of course it was supposed to be complicated and hard to figure out, it was a mystery book for a reason!
Yet it was another reason why he adored you, because you both were the same. Two underappreciated geniuses that were taken for granted by the small-minded people that surrounded you both. If only he could meet you, to have the chance to talk to you and let you know that at least he appreciated your talents and you as a person in general. So imagine the thrill he felt when he heard you would be attending a local book convention being hosted in Gotham City.
How fortunate for him.
~~~~~~
You sighed softly as you saw people passing your stand, staring bitterly at the neighboring stands that were certainly getting more fans than you were. Was it kinda shallow for you to be jealous of other writers and their countless fans, ones who seemed to simply just give them all the praise in the world and complimented them on their genius and their work well done?
Eh, you didn’t care. All you knew was that you felt like a fool, sitting at your book stand just watching as people passed you like you were invisible, only a couple of few fans really visited you (two or three at the most) the entire day and the rest of the people just asking you where another author’s stand was. As if you weren’t already feeling the sting of being a horrible author.
You sighed and laid your head on the table. You felt like a goddamn fool.
“Ahem, excuse me? Miss (L/n)?” A voice spoke up from above you.
You looked up from your state of self-pity before meeting the green eyes of a rather attractive man. He looked to be around your age, if not a bit older, and had neatly styled brown hair and wore a charming lime green vest over his white dress shirt. He was very dapper looking and spoke so intelligently that it took you rather off-guard.
However what surprised you the most was that you noticed the book in his hands, more specifically, your book. He was a fan?
“I apologize if I’m bothering you.” He began sheepishly. You tried to return your kindest smile towards him while trying to contain your internal excitement, “Don’t be. I’m always delighted to meet people who don’t think I’m an over eccentric nut.”
You laughed lightly at your own joke while the brunet merely began to ramble in response to what you had said.
“Of course not! In fact, I find it rather trivial that some people can’t understand the genius behind your books! Your plots are very well-written, as are your characters, and I- Well, look at me going on.” He grinned nervously at you. Your smile became softer as you tilted your head slightly, “By all means do, it’s not often I get complimented by a fan, a cute one at that.”
The way his smile grew into a wide and goofy one made you chuckle once more as he shyly held his book out to you and slid it across the table with one gloved hand.
“If you would be so kind.” He spoke with a giddy and nervous tone, like a boy asking out their crush.
“Of course!” You beamed in happiness as you grabbed the book and took out your horribly underused pen that had been neglected most of the day, “and who am I making this out to?”
“Edward.” The man, Edward, answered.
He didn’t want to risk the chance of scaring you in case you happened to know about The Riddler, then again, he read that you lived in Central City so he highly doubts that costumed villains with extreme gimmicks aren’t exactly known to you.
“Edward.” You repeated, and goosebumps began to rise from his skin the moment you repeated his name.
He wasn’t sure why but there was something so angelic about the way you said it, something that made his heart skip a beat and his grin grow wider. Everything was enchanting about you that Edward was damn near overwhelmed, feeling as though he’d drown in your very presence alone. A sweet death, if you asked him.
“What a darling name.” You hummed as you slid the book back to him, which he snatched eagerly and continued to smile down at you, trying to ignore the loud thumping of his heart that became deafening in his ears.
“Um, miss (L/n)-”
“Please, call me (Y/n).” You insisted.
(Y/n). Edward had planned to be formal, to want to charm and impress you but it seems as though you were turning the tables on him. He had whispered your name from his mouth before, his mouth unable to suppress a grin whenever he did. If only you’d known how he’d repeated your name over and over again as though it were some kind of chant, or the way he’d obsessively written your name as (Y/n) Nygma when he was too frustrated by Batman to calm him. But to hear you insist that he call you by your name, your name that he had grown so in love with, was a euphoric feeling.
“(Y/n),” He corrected as he clutched the book to his chest, “I was wondering if perhaps I could fulfill that lack of praise you so rightly deserve over a cup of coffee sometime later?”
You blinked dumbfoundedly, well, he certainly wasn’t very shy. Again, if only you had been there when he had obsessively practiced that simple line to ask you out the moment he found out you were coming to Gotham. However, you didn’t know this, and that’s why you took him up on his offer.
“Well, I am in the city for the week. I’d be delighted to have a guide.” You accepted. The way he exhaled in relief and jokingly spoke, “Oh thank God, I thought that wouldn’t’ve worked!” made you giggle once more, which sent him higher than cloud nine.
You both exchanged each other's contact information and bidded each other good day, you already missing him and his company, and him yours. But you shouldn’t worry, darling, if everything goes according to plan, Edward would make sure that your stay for the week would be extended considerably.
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mischiefandspirits · 3 years
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Bernard Figures It Out
Was reading through all the comments on @frostbittenbucky's post and all I could think of was that it was Bernard talking to Tim. Then I got to thinking...
"I've connected the two dots."
"You didn't connect shit."
"I've connected them."
Bernard figures out Tim's a superhero... sort of.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Tim fidgetted nervously as he waited on the front porch of his boyfriend’s house. Bernard had sounded so serious when he’d called during Tim’s lunch to ask him to come over after work so they could talk about something.
Which Tim had done, after spending an entire board meeting just going over the past week trying to figure out what he’d done.
The only thing he could think of was that he’d ducked out halfway through their lunch date on Wednesday to give Duke some backup, but Bernard had seemed understanding when Tim explained there was an emergency at GRC Labs. It couldn’t have been a tipping point, either, since Tim had managed to only flake on three other dates over the past few months they’d been dating. Kate had been happy to cover for him as often as she could “out of queer solidarity” when she found out Tim was dating a boy for the first time and Tim had managed to trick Bruce into covering a few actual Wayne Enterprises emergencies for him when they came up.
There had to be a reason Bernard was breaking up with him, though. Had he missed something? He definitely wasn’t forgetting an important day. He was good with days and Tam was even better, so she would have reminded him on the off chance that he had forgotten.
What was he missing?
Bernard was smiling when he opened the door, but there was a nervous energy to it that had Tim’s stomach sinking. “Hey, Tim.”
“Hey.” Tim gave his own nervous smile then slipped inside.
They went into the living room and sat down on the couch.
Tim frowned when Bernard grabbed a manila folder off the coffee table. Crud, had he screwed up enough that Bernard had had to make a list? He knew he was new to dating a guy, but he hadn’t thought he’d done that bad. He’d really been trying, especially with how his and Stephanie’s relationship had fallen apart at the end. “What -”
“Just let me speak, Tim,” Bernard said, waiting for Tim’s nod. “Okay, so you know Clark Kent, right?”
Tim blinked as Bernard opened the folder to show a picture of Clark. It looked like one of the employee pictures from the Planet’s website, with his dorky “I’m just a humble country boy” smile and the golden globe from their roof photoshopped in as the background. “Uh, yeah? I think so. He works for the Daily Planet, right? I think he’s worked at a few of Bruce’s events. Not a lot of outside reporters are willing to come to Gotham.”
“Exactly!” Bernard said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Tim.
“What?”
He pulled out the picture to show the next page was an article titled, “DAILY PLANET REPORTER… BATMAN!?”
A wave of relief washed over Tim and he placed his face in his hands. “Were you up all night on the hero conspiracy boards again?”
“No. I mean, I found this on a board and was up all night thinking about it, but I found it reasonably early.”
“One in the morning isn’t reasonable, Bernard.”
“Says the guy who’s always wide awake when I call to infodump.”
“Touché.” Tim leaned against Bernard and gave him a smile. “So tell me, why is some reporter from Metropolis from all places Batman.”
“First of all, living in Metropolis is the perfect cover. Everyone assumes Batman would live in Gotham, no one would consider he could be from anywhere else. Metropolis is outside the GMA, but close enough that the commute is still possible.”
“But it’s Metropolis.”
“And who would think Gotham’s Dark Knight lives in the sunshine capital? Plus, I hear he disappears a lot on the job. There’s gotta be a reason for it!”
Tim made a note to let Clark know he needs to cut back on the disappearing act some since people are catching on.
“And have you seen the guy? He is swol AF, babe.”
“Please don’t call me babe while you’re talking about how hot another guy is.” Especially Tim’s honorary uncle.
“You know I prefer twinks.”
“BERNARD!”
“I’m just saying,” he continued, ignoring Tim’s shout. “The guy is definitely hiding something! Besides, Kent is an investigative reporter. He’s gotta know a lot about cases and the underground and detective work.”
Not as much as he likes people to think, but more than he likes people to know Superman does, Tim mused. “But what about the other vigilantes?”
“Well, Kent has a cousin…” Bernard flipped through a folder and pulled out a picture of Kara. It looked like a screenshot of her interviewing Lena for CatCo. “She’s obviously the latest Batgirl. Look at her hair. And the first Batgirl and the current Batwoman were obviously Lois Lane, the red hair is just a wig. Did you see how she kicked butt at that last event she went to? She’s not as subtle as Kent. That means their son is the latest Robin. He’s exactly the right size.”
Oh, Damian better not hear about this, Tim cackled internally. His youngest brother hated being reminded that Jon was the same height as him despite their two years age difference. Damian definitely took after Talia when it came to body type, no matter what he said.
“And Kent also has a brother.” This time he pulled out a picture of Kon. The clone must have been caught by a reporter out shopping with Ma since he was carrying some paper bags and glaring at whoever was behind the camera. “At least, he’s supposedly Kent’s brother, but he was a teenager when he first showed up with the Kents. A lot of people think he’s actually Kent’s son, that Kent got a girl pregnant when they were teenagers and something happened to the mom so Kent had to take him in. Now the Kents are trying to hide it by saying the two are brothers.”
That was… scarily accurate actually. Especially given Luthor and Clark were close friends at the time that Kon would have theoretically been born.
“And that beef would explain why the younger Kent brother went all crime lord on Gotham for a while before reconnecting with the family.”
“Wait, what?”
“Yeah, Kent Jr.’s got the perfect build for Red Hood.”
Tim bit back a comment on how Kon was shorter than Jason by a good foot. Timothy Drake-Wayne should not know that. Add Jason to the list of people who can’t hear this theory.
“And then there’s this girl,” Bernard picked up a picture of Lois, Jon, and Natasha Irons walking down the street together. “No one’s sure exactly who she is, but she’s been spotted with the Kents a few times. I think the cover story is that she’s Jon’s babysitter.”
“And the actual story?”
“She’s Black Bat, obviously. That’s why she wears a mask that fully covers her face. She doesn’t want to stand out as the only African American Bat.”
“Isn’t Signal also Black?”
“Yeah, but he works in the daytime so he’s already a standout.”
“And who is Signal in this? And what about Nightwing and Red Robin?”
“Well, Nightwing’s just a Blüd who came to Gotham. He doesn’t count.”
Ouch. Sorry, Dick.
“And Red Robin is obviously an older Robin, the one who was Robin when we were kids. Kent wanted to keep him on, and I don’t blame him. As for Signal, he’s got the same backstory as all the other Robins Kent picked up, he just went the Signal route because he didn’t fit the usual Robin mold.”
“Because the female Robin fit the mold,” Tim snorted. Robin Mold, as if he and his brothers were even the same ethnicity. Or even had the same hair color. Jason dyes his hair, Dick’s is brown-black, Tim’s is pure black, and Damian’s is more a dark brown and it’s only getting lighter as he gets older.
“She didn’t, that’s the point. Kent tried to give breaking the Robin mold a chance by letting his cousin have a go at it, but he realized it just didn’t work so she went back to being Spoiler and he got a new Robin.”
Not touching that with a ten-foot pole. “Right, and where does he get the usual Robins? Please tell me you’re not back on the secret government orphanages theory.”
“No, no, no. Kent travels sometimes for his job, right? And a lot of the time he’s going to places that have been hit by disasters or major crimes. So he’ll take in some of the displaced children to train as his robins.”
Tim pressed his face back into his hands.
“You see it, right?”
Honestly, Tim was just wondering how his boyfriend could be so close, and yet so far off. “How would Kent even afford taking care of a bunch of secret -- possibly illegally acquired -- children without anyone noticing?”
“Simple. Bruce Wayne is funding him.”
“Bernard, I love you, but what the heck?” Tim blushed and looked up as he realized what he’d said, but Bernard didn’t seem to notice as he steamrolled ahead.
“It’d also explain how he can afford all the gear and how he’d be able to travel to Gotham or anywhere else Batman goes without anyone noticing. He probably has a secret Batplane or something.”
“Why would Bruce do that?”
“Because Wayne cares about Gotham, everyone knows that, and this way he can make sure someone’s taking care of the city without anyone putting two and two together.”
“And two plus two is?”
Bernard gave him a hard look. “I’m not stupid, Tim. Bruce Wayne is obviously Superman. His face is right there.”
Oh, the others are going to love this! Too bad I can’t tell Damian or Jason. Jason especially would have loved this. “Right. Bruce is Superman.”
“He is. Superman is known for being nice and Bruce Wayne’s basically all that’s keeping the city running at this point. That’s nice as hell.”
Oh my god.
“And Wayne does charity for the victims of cataclysms, doesn't he? I bet he first saves people from them as Superman and then builds them new homes for free.”
Oh my god! Why am I not recording this!?
“And the Wayne’s were rich enough to hide the fact they adopted an alien baby.”
Tim raised an eyebrow. “If you’re about to tell me this is why Bruce’s parents got killed, you might want to stop while you’re ahead.”
“It’d make sense. There’re all sorts of unanswered questions about their deaths,” Bernard muttered under his breath, flipping through the folder. He pulled out another picture of Kara. This time she was in full Supergirl attire with a bus held overhead. “So if Wayne is Superman, then that’d mean your ex-girlfriend could be Supergirl. They look a lot alike and it’d explain how she got involved with you all.”
“Bernard, she has a human dad. You know, Cluemaster. The supervillain.”
“Yeah, her dad. But we don’t know anything about her mom!”
“Let me guess…”
Bernard pulled out a picture of Karen. She and Helena were suited up and talking to a group of cops, two goons held over each of Karen’s shoulders. “Her mom could be Power Girl! Some makeup and a wig and she could look just like Crystal Brown! And Damian Wayne is obviously the new Superboy! That’s why his background is such a mystery, right? He had to stay a secret until he could control his alien superpowers. That’s why he’s always so mean. It’s a cover since everyone knows Superboy is super sweet!”
Sure, when he’s not helping Damian pull pranks or using his adorable powers to put the blame on Kon and I. “No, Bernard. Damian and Steph are just very human hellspawn. And Bruce and Crystal are human too. I can’t believe you called me over here just to tell me you think Superman is both Batman’s sugar daddy and my adoptive dad.”
“Well, that’s not exactly why I called you over,” Bernard admitted, the nervous energy coming back. He grabbed Tim’s hands. “Tim -”
Tim’s stomach sank. “You are breaking up with me!”
“What? No! I don’t want to break up!”
“Why are you acting all nervous and serious then!?” Tim asked, pulling his hands away to throw them up in the air.
Bernard shook the folder. “Because I’m trying to tell you I figured out you’re Superboy!”
Tim’s brain blue-screened and his hands slowly dropped. “I’m sorry, what?”
“I know you’re Superboy. The older one, obviously. By the way, you and Damian really need to figure out separate names.”
Forget Jason and Damian, Kon can never find out about this. He’d never let me live it down. “Bernard, you called me a twink five minutes ago. Su-” Shoot, I can not risk getting Kon’s attention! “The older one might not be as big as Superman, but he’s not a twink.”
“Well, yeah, that’s the shapeshifting at work.”
“The what?”
“Obviously you Kryptonians can shapeshift. Why else would you look so much like humans?”
… Why do Kryptonians look so much like humans? Was there some - Wait, no! Break into the Fortress of Solitude for research later! Reassure your boyfriend that you’re not an alien now! “Bernard -”
“And that explains why your step-mom was so hot.”
“Gross.”
“She and your dad were actors hired by Luthor so you could have a normal life! But now Bruce has custody so he adopted you.”
“No.”
“That’s why you and your dad were so weird with each other when I met him.”
“We were weird because he’d just gotten out of a coma not long before to find that his wife was dead so he decided to actually be a dad for once in his life, but overcompensated and became a helicopter parent to a kid who was mostly on his own for his entire life!” Tim blurted out. “I am not an alien, Bernard!”
“Well, not technically since you were cloned from Superman on Earth.”
“Oh my god! You were just talking about Steph being Supergirl! Why would I date my dad’s cousin?”
Bernard blinked. “Supergirl and Superman are cousins?”
Right, Timothy Drake-Wayne wasn’t supposed to know that. “I thought they’d said something like that before, yeah. Are people seriously saying I’m Superboy on the internet?”
“NO! No, I swear I would have led with that if I thought your identity was compromised. A few people have mentioned Wayne and Damian, but not you or Steph or Jason.”
“Wh-Jason!? You think Jason was an alien too!”
“No, not exactly, but a few times when I’ve visited I swear I’ve seen a guy in the manor who looks like Jason. It’s just been out of the corner of my eye and he’s gone whenever I look so I’ve always thought it was just Dick or Bruce or some picture of Jason that my mind was playing tricks with, but it makes sense now that I know Wayne is Superman. He must have been able to heal Jason with alien tech, but couldn’t say anything because that would give away that he’s Superman.”
Damn it Jason! And damn it Bernard! I’m dating the smartest moron in the world! “Bruce did not bring Jason back with alien technology and none of us are aliens!”
“It’s okay, Tim. I won’t tell anyone.”
Tim grabbed Bernard by the jacket and pulled him into a kiss. When he started to feel lightheaded, he pulled back, “Could someone whose skin is as solid as stone kiss like that?”
Bernard blinked dazedly at him for a moment. “How do you know what Superboy’s skin feels like?”
Tim screamed internally. “He’s saved me from a kidnapping before.”
“Really?”
“Yes. I can get you the police report if you want.”
“Huh… And the others?”
“Not Supers. I can stab Damian the next time we’re at the manor if that’ll prove none of us are aliens.” He’d rather stab Jason, but that would probably only confirm to Bernard that Bruce used alien technology to bring him back.
“You probably shouldn’t stab your brother if he isn’t an alien.”
Tim rolled his eyes. “I won’t stab him anywhere deadly.”
“That’s not the point,” Bernard said slowly.
“He’ll be fine.”
“If you say so.”
“So do you believe I’m not an alien now?” Tim huffed, letting go of Bernard’s jacket.
The blond’s eyes dipped down to Tim’s lips. “If I say no, will you kiss me like that again?”
“You’re ridiculous,” Tim said, but he kissed him anyway.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“Okay, but I still say Clark Kent is definitely Batman.”
“Sure, Bernard.”
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jaybird-redhood · 3 years
Text
propinquity
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wc: 2.2k
pairing: jason todd // gn reader
The first thing you think when you see him for the first time is that he has the cutest smile.
That’s a lie, the first thing you think it that he is so incredibly in shape, and it looks great on him, but the smile thing sounds better in your head.
He's moving into the apartment across from yours a month after you moved into yours. Weird, because the two people in your building closest to your age are 2 and 63, respectively.
You suppose that some wicked twist of fate must’ve brought this upon you for missing your cousin’s birthday party last week, because the guy standing across from you is crazy hot. And looking right at you. And you are in the huge neon Wonder Woman t-shirt that your best friend got for your birthday last year.
Yeah. Karma.
“Nice shirt,” the guy offers, holding in a grin. “You’re really making it work.”
“I-”
“See you around, neighbor.”
And with a shut of a door and an awfully charismatic smirk he’s gone.
The next time you see him is a week later, and this time- luckily, you think- you’re dressed somewhat put together. You run into him while unlocking your door.
"What's got you in a twist?" he asks.
"Um," you start, "I just. Ugh I have so much to do. Like 3 hours of homework, a lecture tomorrow that I cannot skip, and I'm completely out of bread and eggs and can't even you to the store until, like, Thursday at best."
Once you start rambling you can't seem to stop. You slouch against your door. You're not entirely sure why you're telling a stranger all this, but he seems to be listening, so you suppose that’s a good sign
"I get the feeling," he offers, and you look up at him. "I'm majoring in English Lit and my classes are kind of kicking my ass."
You give him a small smile, "Glad to know someone in this building is struggling as much as I am."
"Jason," he says, and he reaches his hand out to you. "My name."
You shake it and tell him yours.
As you both turn back into your respective apartments you think that he maybe isn't as intimidating as you thought.
~
The next day goes by with a really boring lecture and another 3 hours of work you need to do.
The ride home from uni isn't that long, but it's long enough for you to contemplate all the ways that your life went wrong after moving to Gotham. And, maybe as payback for thinking mean things about the city, rain that you think should belong to a category 3 hurricane starts to whip around your car 10 minutes into your drive.
Your clothes are dripping water in literal puddles by the time you get back to your apartment.
Groaning, you start fishing for your keys in your purse while walking up the last flight of stairs.
When you get to your door you stop. Right in front of it there’s a grocery bag. Picking it up and looking inside you see a loaf of bread and a small carton of milk.
You pick it up smiling.
“Jason?” you ask, knocking on his door.
No response.
You shrug and turn around. Remember to thank him the next time you run into each other; you think.
~
That next time doesn’t happen to be that long and thank goodness for you.
“You know, we really need to stop meeting like this,” he says to you.
You’re sitting on the floor outside of your door looking rather pathetic, and he’s giving you the most awful smirk you’ve ever seen. (Not that it looks bad on him though. You seem to think that nothing could really look that bad on him)
“I swear I’m usually more put together than this,” you sigh to him. “You moving here jinxed me!”
“Yeah yeah. You’re locked out, aren’t you?”
You give him your best withering I’m going to kill you stare, but it must not be working because he just laughs even harder at you.
“This is completely not my fault it’s just I lost my second set of keys like right when I moved in and then today when I got home, I accidentally left them in my car, but my second set of car keys is in my apartment so now I can’t get them out, stop laughing at me!”
“God you’re a mess,” Jason says- finally finished laughing at you and maybe taking a bit of pity on how disheveled you look. “You couldn’t call anyone to get you in?”
You shake your head.
“My friend is the only other person with a set, but they’re out of town, and our landlord is being a dick and telling me it’s my fault in the first place, so I need to deal with it. I’ve been sitting out here for like an hour.”
“All I’m hearing is that it is your fault and now you’re just moping about it feeling bad about yourself.”
You tilt your head against the door so hard that it makes you wince a bit.
“Ok fine,” he says crossing his arms.
“What?”
“Wait right here.”
He goes into his apartment and comes back out with a skinny metal thing you don’t recognize.
You look at him in confusion and he just motions for you to scoot out of the way as he sticks it in your locks and starts to pick it.
You sigh in relief.
“Thank you thank you thank you. For everything. I swear I will get my life together, so you don’t feel like you have to keep cleaning up my messes.
“I don’t mind,” he says with a small smile, “Take your time.”
And with that he opens the door to your apartment and turns back to his.
“By the way, you should really get better locks. That was way too easy.”
You make a note in your head to get that done sometime. As you’re lying on your couch that night, you’re AirDropped a photo on your phone. Saving it up you see it’s a piece of paper with neat handwriting on it: a phone number and a smiley face, Jason’s name at the bottom.
You smile too and add the number to your contacts.
~
Over the next few weeks, you and Jason start talking more, both over text and through the various times when you run into each other outside your doors.
Each interaction is better than the next, and you soon start to realize that Jason isn’t just some hot guy with no brains. He’s sweet and charismatic, has a whole wall full of bookshelves, could probably quote any classical novel by heart, has incredibly good taste in music, and best (or worst) of all, would make incredible friend material.
It’s just that as you become closer friends, you start to realize that that might not be all you want.
It’s a stupidly cold Friday morning when he texts you, and you’re covered in blankets and wrapped in sweatshirts in your bed. Movie at my place tonight?
You text back your approval and a quick be there at 6 before getting ready for classes.
The day goes by slower than you hoped.
It might be the anticipation of seeing Jason again, or more likely the hours of lectures you have to sit through, but you’re elated when your final class for the day gets let out.
The hours in between are a blur.
A blur which leads to the two of you sitting on his couch watching Romeo and Juliet together, a blanket thrown over your bodies.
You have the obligatory bowl of popcorn resting on your legs, and every few minutes Jason reaches across your lap to take a handful.
The way you’re laying half on top on him is completely deliberate, as to take as much of his body heat as possible. Your landlord had turned off heating 3 weeks prior to ‘save money’ or some other bullshit.
Jason’s not complaining though.
Once your popcorn bowl is finished and your head is in his lap, he runs his fingers through your hair absentmindedly. It might be the nicest feeling you’ve ever felt.
Throughout the movie you exchange snide comments about the plot back and forth. You start trying to say funny things whenever you can just to hear how sweet his laugh sounds to your ears.
By the end of the movie, you’re only slightly in tears, or so you tell yourself.
“Are you crying right now?” Jason asks incredulously, wearing a teasing smile.
“It’s not my fault,” you half say half moan, “Leonardo DiCaprio just has that effect on me.”
He just laughs and pulls you upright until you’re sitting on his lap.
His eyes are a shade of blue green that you’ve never seen before, although you could swear their getting greener by the second.
You watch his gaze drop down to your lips before staring you right in the eyes again.
“Can I kiss you?”
“God yes,” you tell him, and kiss him right back.
~
The next week is somewhat uneventful, even though you and Jason had been meeting each other almost every night, rotating apartments based on whose house was warmer each particular night.
Tonight is your night, and you’ve been waiting the whole day to show him the film you had rented to watch together.
The walk up to your door is easier than usual, and you have a bounce in your step that’s making you feel even more elated than normal taking out your keys to unlock your apartment.
You open your door and your bag drops. The keys clatter when they hit the hardwood, and the silence that follows is deafening.
“You’re bleeding on my carpet,” is the first thing that comes out of your mouth.
There Jason is, bleeding quite profusely, and using your kitchen counter to keep himself vertical. He’s wearing what looks to be a torn half of a domino mask and an extremely hot leather jacket.
(Not that this was the time for noticing his fashion choices, but you filed that thought away for later.)
What really catches your eye though is the huge red bat symbol on his chest, and the red helmet next to it sitting on your counter.
He shifts a little to the side before stumbling through saying, “Um, so, I know this isn’t ideal and I’m really sorry to put you in this situation, but I seriously do not feel like bleeding out tonight and-”
“Oh my god this is great,” you cut him off with. “I thought you were a hit-man!”
“Wait what.”
“Shit no that’s not what I meant- kind of, hang on we should probably stop you from dying before having this conversation.”
You walk over to him to get a better look at his wounds.
“God Jace, you look like death warmed over.”
He just stares at you.
“You have a bunch of stuff in your bathroom, right?”
At least this elicits a reaction. He grimaces in pain but gives you a nod of his head in conformation.
“Ok I’ll be right back, don’t move.”
He gives you a look that says seriously, where would I go.
3 minutes later you’re back with a needle and thread, and some sterilizing spray.
“This should be fine,” you tell him, “I took a first aid class last year with my friends and passed with flying colors according to the nurse.”
“Just try to keep them tight and neat. I trust you,” he says, and your heart pounds just a little harder.
You respond with a nervous laugh but take a deep breath and start working.
~
An hour and a half later you’re done.
The combination of pain meds, bandages, and a whole lot of stitches eventually led to you and Jason laying in your bed together, both completely exhausted.
He turns his head to face you.
“Could we maybe go back to the hit-man thing?”
“Oh uh. Well I saw a bunch of shirts covered in blood in your laundry in the bathroom, not to mention all the weirdly specific first-aid you had,” you tell him.
“And also the assorted guns and knives you have hidden all over. I guess I just assumed? But the whole Red Hood thing is so much better,” you reassure him.
“You found all my knives?”
You smile up at him.
“I love that that’s thing you chose to focus on.”
“And you’re really not mad that I didn’t tell you about the whole vigilante thing before?” he asks.
“Jay, I had already resigned myself to life forever with some shady hit-man that also happened to be incredibly good looking. Red Hood is ten times better than that. I’m not going to run away from you just because you’re incredibly intimidating and probably could kill me. I see that as an added bonus,” you say, with as much charm as you can muster without yawning.
“Just. Be careful, ok? I’d hate to make this a routine.”
He responds by pulling you closer to his body.
“I promise,” he whispers into your head. “You really to remember to get better locks by the way, breaking in was still way too easy.”
You let out a small laugh and finally you let yourself give into sleep.
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butwhyduh · 3 years
Text
The Farm
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Damian Wayne x Jon Kent
Summary: just 2 boys in love but won’t admit it. I have the attention span of a butterfly so this is as close as I get to a slow burn lmao. I just think they are adorable and I headcanon Damian as demisexual. I did actually age them above 18 but this is sfw. Only a little kissing. There’s a bigot but he gets punched.
“I heard about the farm,” Damian said as they sat on a rooftop in New York. “Sorry.” They were drinking milkshakes after saving the city. Well Jon was as Damian had a vegan smoothie instead.
“Yeah, they foreclosed,” Jon said, his bright blue eyes uncharacteristically stony. “Thanks. Just wasn’t expecting it is all.”
“You know I could help you.. financially. If you need,” Damian offered carefully. Jon shifted in his seat and took a drink of his shake.
“It’s not your job. I’ll figure out how to keep it. Don’t worry,” Jon said with a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Congrats on vet school. Not that it’s a surprise. You were top of your class.”
“Oh thanks. But seriously, I have no problem writing a check right now, Jon,” Damian emphasized. Jon stared at him silently. It was so tempting to let Damian solve his problems but that wasn’t the Kent way.
“I don’t know,” Jon said shifting uncomfortably. Damian noted that it wasn’t a no.
“I will be going to school in Metropolis in the fall. The farm in Smallville is a lot closer to the university than my place in Gotham,” Damian said hoping to come off as casual. Apparently not as Jon almost fell off the roof in shock.
“Live- with me,” he asked, his eyebrows rose quickly.
“Oh, I suppose. Yes, that is what I would be proposing,” Damian answered. Jon looked at him with wide eyes before clearing his throat and softening the look on his face to more neutral. Damian definitely wasn’t meaning ‘moving in’ moving in. He was just being practical. He wasn’t in love with Jon the same way Jon was head over heels for Damian since he was like 13.
“It would be practical for us both,” he said and Jon relaxed. Yep, normal Damian not thinking of the social meaning of his words.
“I don’t have a butler,” Jon warned. “And I sometimes forget to do laundry or dishes.”
“Then I will make a chore chart,” Damian answered and Jon’s heart soared a little at the domestics of it all. Jon nodded with a grin.
“So when do I get my roommate?” Jon asked lightly. Or what he hoped was lightly. His farm was saved and Damian was moving in. He was surprised he wasn’t levitating yet.
“I need to sell my apartment first. And pack,” Damian contemplated. “Also I need to buy the farm. I’ll need 4 days.”
“4?!? I mean- that’s fine,” Jon answered. He began immediately imagining all the work he needed to do before Damian could move in. “You work fast.”
“Yes, money talks,” Damian answered as if it was normal for a 20 year old to say. Jon nodded and resisted the urge to roll his eyes.
True to his words, a moving truck showed up 4 days later. Jon had cleaned and organized everything, even scrubbing the walls and sweeping the barn. The workers quickly set up everything in the spare room just as Damian arrived.
Damian arriving was a sight Jon would never forget. Damian wore a black turtleneck with the sleeves rolled up and a tan pair of dress pants over shiny black leather shoes as he carried in a large paper bag of produce. Damian had grown so much from the tiny 13 year old Jon had first known. He was now a full inch taller than Jon and probably 10 lbs heavier. It was funny since Jon was the one currently running around as Superman.
Damian sat his bag on the kitchen counter and wiped sweat from his brow. Jon was much more casually dressed in old blue jeans and a white t shirt with a rolled up and open red plaid button down over it. An old blue baseball cap was thrown over backwards on his head and little curls stuck out.
“You brought food. You know this is a farm, right?” Jon said with a smile. “We’re kinda known for having food.”
“I brought food to cook tonight,” Damian said trying to be casual. He had actually taken far too long deciding on the perfect food for him and Jon to eat their first night as roommates.
“Are you cooking for me?” Jon said with a pleased smile. The moving company was leaving and it was just the two of them.
“Yes, I thought it would be a good start,” Damian said formally. “No need to be so happy. It’s just dinner.”
“Of course,” Jon said trying to straighten his face. But how could he when Damian was living with him and cooking for him? Impossible task.
Damian busied himself in the small kitchen, looking in every drawer and cabinet. He noted that in the dying evening light, it perfectly captured the sunset. That was something that people paid huge amounts to even glimpse from their place in Gotham and Jon got a 360 view everyday.
“Well I have to feed the animals but I’ll be back soon. Do you need anything before I go?” Jon said in the doorway to the kitchen. He had thrown on a pair of rubber boots.
“Tt, you dare care for animals without me?” Damian said with a frown.
“Well I just thought- I mean you can- but you’re cooking,” Jon sputtered and Damian smiled.
“I’m playing with you. I’ll see them tomorrow. Otherwise the meal will be ruined,” Damian said. Jon laughed and shook his head as he left.
Damian looked at the photos that lined the hallway, smiling as he saw pictures of Jon as a child. Jon holding a fish he caught. Jon swinging a baseball bat. Jon holding up one end of a tractor. Right above it was a young Clark Kent doing the same. Damian shook his head with a little smile. He would never admit it but he was head over heels for Jon. Had been for a few years now.
“That’s the first time I lifted a tractor,” Jon said beside him. “Dad was so proud.”
“I imagine,” Damian answered. Clark was such a sore subject for Jon. His father had only been presumed dead the year before. Jon took it hard. He didn’t speak but watched Jon from the corner of his eyes.
“He never wanted to force me to be Superboy. I practically begged him. He was scared it was too dangerous,” Jon said with a sad smile. They both walked in the kitchen and Damian finished the food. Damian brought it to the table just as Jon shyly brought out a bottle of wine.
“Mr Kent, where did you get that?” Damian said with a little smile.
“Actually there’s an entire wine cellar full of the good stuff. Your father is quite fond of giving wine as a gift and Dad never liked to drink. So he stored it here,” Jon said pulling out a wine opener. “I thought we could drink it for him.”
“That’s very illegal,” Damian said expertly opening the bottle. “We’re both technically underage.”
“Anything is legal with enough money,” Jon said with a little grin and Damian laughed.
I’m an awful influence,” Damian replied. They spend the rest of the night eating and drinking wine before both crashing in their separate rooms in the early morning.
Jon crawled out of bed only a few hours later to feed the animals and get started on his day. He thanked his Kryptonian DNA for the lack of hang over he worried Damian would have. He crept quietly past his roommate’s door on his way out.
Jon returned a few hours later, still rather early, and was surprised by the smell of coffee. Damian was cooking breakfast for him. For them, Jon reminded himself. Damian was just his roommate. Damian nodded and poured Jon a cup of coffee.
“I thought you would still be asleep,” Jon admitted.
“I don’t require much sleep. Plus I want a tour of the property,” he said. Practical Damian as always, Jon thought.
“Sure, I’ll take you around. The farm and then town,” Jon added taking a huge plate of scrambled tofu and fried tomatoes. Damian had anticipated that.
“That’s a good plan. I don’t want to stand out in town. Should I wear a plaid shirt,” Damian asked.
“Uh, yeah. If you want. T shirts and jeans are fine too,” Jon said.
“May i borough these clothing from you? Mine are not appropriate for a farm,” Damian said casually and Jon willed himself to not have any emotion that Damian was going to wear his clothing.
Damian was extremely handsome in Jon’s plaid shirt and a pair of jeans. His bright green eyes and tan skin popped in the shirt and he had brushed his black hair neatly back as it had gotten long enough to fall in his eyes. Jon couldn’t help but stare at his Damian in his clothing. Logic be damned.
“What?” Damian asked looking at himself. “Does it look bad? I don’t want to appear foolish,” he said about to pull off the plaid shirt.
“No! No you look good. Nice,” Jon said and Damian’s lip twitched towards a smile.
“Thank you. Would you like to show me town first? Before we get muddy,” Damian said.
“Sure, that sounds good. I need to pick up feed anyways,” Jon said. They loaded into Jon’s old pickup. Krypto hopped into Damian’s lap as if he always had done it and they set off to town a few miles away.
“Here’s the library and the best Waffle House in Kansas. Second only to Ma Kent’s,” Jon said as they drove around. He showed Damian all the important sights in town. Damian had a hard time believing that everything was so compact and so small. Even the diner that Jon said they would eat lunch because they had the best pie short of Ma Kent.
They both, and Krypto, got out at the feed store and they treated Jon like old friends. He grabbed a basket and pushed it to the back as he chatted about all the interesting animals people owned to Damian. The Ferguson’s owned a pair of alpacas and old Skipper Smith had a parrot and monkey as pets.
Jon didn’t pay any attention as he easily lifted 4 50 lb bags of feed and casually put 200 lbs of feed in the basket. Damian looked around to see no one near. Jon did it again.
“Should get us through the week,” he said with a grin.
“You do know that most people don’t pick up 4 at once?” Damian told him quietly as they moved to the register. Jon stopped before nodded and laughing.
“You know I’ve never thought about it. Let’s get going before the diner gets a lunch rush,” he said. Jon tried to act more normal putting up the feed bags but tossing them one handed like bags of bread into the bed of a pick up truck was far from normal. Damian couldn’t help but roll his eyes.
The diner had about 12 booths and a row across the counter like old times. It probably was an older restaurant with the light blue tile and actual jukebox. Damian didn’t know what rush hour could possibly look like with all 7 people he’d seen since entering town but Jon seemed pleased to be earlier than them.
An older lady laid down a menu between them both and offered them coffee with a big grin. Jon ordered a chicken fried steak and Damian ended up getting the waffles. It was the only thing probably vegetarian on the menu.
“Oh shoot, I forgot you don’t eat meat. Sorry. Should I change my order,” Jon said raising his hand.
“No,” Damian said grasping Jon’s hand and pulling it down to the table. Jon’s heart just about beat out of his chest. “It’s fine. You don’t have to change what you eat for me.”
“Okay,” Jon said and the waitress came back to the table with drinks and eyed Damian’s hand on Jon’s.
“This your new partner, Kent,” she asked and Jon noted the judge tone to her voice as she sat down their glasses. Homophobia was still alive in the country. Damian didn’t notice.
“Yes, I just moved in last night,” Damian answered and Jon was frozen in time. Damian doesn’t understand what he means, Jon thought. He can’t.
“Oh, is that right? Took off to the city and brought back a city slicker. Well, each to their own,” she said with a passive aggressive smile. Jon sighed as she walked away. He didn’t know how to explain that to Damian. Was Damian even gay? Too late now. The whole town thought he was.
After eating their meal, Jon asked the waitress for pie to go. The diner had filled up and far too many people were glancing at the pair. Damian assumed it was because he was new in town or possibly they recognized him as a Wayne. Jon knew it was that he had brought home a man. Damian also didn’t quite pass as white with his tan skin and Arabic features so probably a dash of racism too.
Jon drive down to the park at the edge of town and parked by the pond. He put on a nice face but worried that Damian wouldn’t have as easy time in Smallville as Jon hoped.
“Something on your mind, Kent,” Damian said, sitting on the back hatch of the truck watching, the ducks swim.
“Nothing. Maybe I’m a little tired. Should have gone to bed earlier last night,” he said with a laugh. Damian looked at him out the corner of his eye but said nothing and continued eating his pie.
“This pie is made with quality,” Damian said and Jon smiled.
“Better than Alfred’s?”
“Different. Alfred makes amazing meat pies but he never quite understood American pies,” Damian answered. Jon nodded.
“I have to work the rest of the week,” he warned Damian.
“I have plenty of paperwork to keep me busy,” Damian answered. Jon knew he never had to worry about Damian that way. He always kept busy. This was probably his longest break.
The next 3 weeks consisted of getting up early to care for the animals before Jon left to work at the local paper. Damian would jog 3 miles down the dirt road that the Kent farm sat at the end of. By the end of the first week, a few of the neighbors would even wave at him. Jon counted himself as having the will of a Green Lantern to leave before Damian returned every morning. Damian was a sight to behold in his post workout glow pre-shower. He would come home and most of the time Damian was cooking dinner for him. Jon was really falling for the domestics of it all.
“Don’t get used to it, Kent,” Damian warned after Jon complimented an amazing dish Damian made. “Once school starts I can not act as a housewife to you.”
“You aren’t- Dami, you’re far from a housewife,” Jon sputtered. “I know that Flamebird has been seen in metropolis a few times this week alone.”
“Well, I needed to keep busy,” Damian said with a shrug. “Eat your eggplant.”
“I’ve probably eaten more vegetables this week than I have since I would summer with Ma,” Jon said. “But this is pretty good.”
“You’re welcome,” Damian said with a pleased smile. After dinner they sat on the swing on the porch and swung as they watched the sunset like an old married couple. Damian looked at Jon more often than he needed to as they talked about nothing. Jon was so pretty in the golden light. His bright blue eye and freckles looked adorable to Damian.
“And then in August we harvest-“ Jon had been saying before Damian cupped his face and pushed his lips against Jon’s. It was rough and their teeth clanged together and Jon pulled back with an “ow.”
“Shit,” Damian said, moving to get up. “I shouldn’t have- forget I-“
“Wait,” Jon said and Damian froze. He looked so uncertain and Jon had never seen that before. “Can we- can we try again?”
“You don’t have to pity me,” Damian said curtly, getting up. “Forget I did that. I apologize,” he said going inside.
Jon sat for a minute in shock. He had been in love with Damian forever and Damian finally kissed him and he couldn’t even enjoy it. Jon went inside and stood in front of Damian’s door. His hand tentatively considered knocking but Jon couldn’t do it. Just as he turned to walk away, Damian opened his door.
“I have to go to Gotham,” he said suddenly.
“What? If it’s me, you don’t have to leave,” Jon said quickly.
“No. My brothers need me,” Damian said and Jon noticed he had his suit on under his clothing.
“Do I need to come?”
“No. It’s okay. I’ll be back later this week hopefully,” Damian said dashing outside. The screen door swung and slapped the doorframe loudly. Jon ran on the porch.
“Week?” He called as Damian’s car pulled out the drive.
Jon fretted and obsessively watched the news everyday. Krypto was getting anxious without his 3 mile jog every morning. Late on the fourth day after Damian left, Jon heard the front door open. He raced to the door. Damian looked weary and had a slight limp.
“Hi,” Jon said looking Damian over and Damian offered a tired smile. Nothing broken. “Do you need help?”
“No. I need to sleep and I will be fine,” Damian said stubbornly. Jon rolled his eyes and helped him to his bed.
“Do you need anything?”
“No thank you. I will probably sleep late tomorrow,” Damian warned.
“Sure. Of course,” Jon said slowly closing the door as Damian fell asleep. Jon barely slept that night and got up early and called out of work for the day. Damian got up uncharacteristically late around 10 am.
“How are you?” Jon asked, offering him coffee. Damian took the drink before sitting next to Jon. He had a black eye and that limp was still around. The sun shone in bright in the kitchen and Damian was once again reminded the vast difference between smallville and Gotham.
“I’m fine. Thanks,” he said quietly. Jon didn’t want to pounce Damian the first second he got home but it was very hard to not want to talk about the kiss.
“You got mail,” Jon said, handing Damian a big Manila envelope that had come in the day before. Damian wordlessly opened it as he sipped coffee.
“Oh it’s yours,” he handed it over to Jon. Jon opened it with a confused look.
It was a deed. The Kent farm deed. The Kent farm deed in Jon’s name. He looked up at Damian who had a tired half smile.
“It’s in my name. You put it in my name,” he said. “W-why?”
“It’s the Kent farm. There’s too many things with the Wayne name on it,” he shrugged. “Plus I’m far from a farmer. It should be yours.”
“God Damian,” Jon said with tears in his eyes. He pulled Damian into a hug who squawked a protest that Jon ignored. “Thank you. I can’t- thank you,” he said wetly. Damian ignored how Jon was quietly crying on him. His grandma and dad passing had affected him hard and Damian knew he was crying over more than a house and land.
“You’re welcome,” Damian finally whispered and Jon cried even harder. Damian softly pat his back awkwardly. Jon leaned back but didn’t let Damian go. He gazed at Damian with the softest look.
“God Damian,” Jon repeated. “Do you even know how much I love you?”
Damian froze and just blinked at Jon who had pulled back but not out of the hug. “What?” He simply said and Jon’s face started to contort in pain. “Hold on,” Damian said and Jon warily looked at him. Damian knew he had to lean in or Jon would take it back and Damian would be too scared to do anything until Jon did this again. And he wasn’t sure how long Jon would wait.
Damian gently cupped Jon’s face in his hands and Jon breathed in quickly. Damian was clearly nervous. Damian noted how his face was soft and his skin warm. This time he gently bent over and softly pressed his lips against Jon’s. Jon quickly reacted by leaning in toward Damian. Jon could feel the rough pads of Damian’s fingers and taste the coffee Damian had been drinking. After a short while, Damian pulled back but not away.
“I truly care for you too,” he said softly and Jon grinned. “I’ve cared for you for a long time.”
“Same,” Jon said before leaning in to kiss Damian again. Damian kissed for another few seconds before pulling back again. This time Jon tried to follow his lips before stopping. Jon’s breath was erratic and fast. “Sorry,” he muttered.
“No. It’s okay. I’ve just never- I’ve never“ Damian started a bit lost for words. Jon understood what he meant.
“You’ve never been with a man,” Jon said gently.
“I’ve never taken the time for relationships with anyone. I’ve always been too busy,” Damian admitted. He played with the edge of a napkin nervously. He would never openly admit to being worried that his lack of experience was a flaw.
“We can go slow. Whatever you want,” Jon said and he finally looked at Damian the way he had never let himself before: like he was in love with him. Damian nodded.
“I’ve just never found anyone that interesting. I mean, beside you. After a while. I wanted to throw you off a bridge at first,” Damian said and Jon smiled.
“I know. You told me,” Jon said. “We should go out to eat. There’s a place downtown that has vegan options.”
“I didn’t even know there was a downtown here,” Damian admitted and Jon laughed.
“It’s a small town. Not a hut in the woods.”
The place wasn’t ‘rush hour’ packed but had plenty of tables with patrons. Damian and Jon sat at a booth and Damian almost couldn’t handle the lovey way Jon was looking at him. Jon was staring at Damian like he was the moon, even though Damian stood out like a sore thumb in the rural town in his turtleneck and dress slacks. But that was his comfort clothing and he had given up on fitting in long ago.
“I’m going to the restroom. Order for me?” Damian asked and Jon nodded. As Damian walked towards the back of the restaurant, a man in a brown jacket and rubber boots purposefully shoved Damian with his shoulder as he walked by. Damian turned to glare at him.
“Sorry, didn’t see any fruitcakes around here,” the guy said and Damian bristled. Before he could make a scene, Jon moved over to them.
“Hi Tyler. Do we have a problem here?” Jon said uncharacteristically cold. That guy didn’t realize that he picked the worst pair to insult. Tyler looked between Damian and Jon before deciding the fight wasn’t worth it.
“Nothing worth it,” Tyler said turning around. “Bad enough to bring a fruitcake to town, it had to a brown one too,” he muttered and Damian stiffened. He knew that he got looks when he went into town. He was probably the only person that spoke more than English or Spanish in town and certainly the only one to speak Arabic.
But before Damian could do anything else but feel disgust, Jon had punched the guy in the face. Well it was more of a flick with his fist but the guy went down like a rock. Damian hid his smile as him and Jon were hurried out of the restaurant with their food to go by a worried waitress who apologized to the pair.
As they walked back to the pickup truck, Damian reached out and grabbed Jon’s hand who lit up almost instantly. Damian ignored the butterflies in his stomach as he walked. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Jon either.
“You know, it’s not everyday that a guy gets Superman to defend his honor,” Damian said quietly but playfully and Jon laughed.
“Can’t handle bigots. I’ll let you punch the next one,” Jon said with a shrug.
“I would have punched that one,” Damian answered. He turned and pulled Jon to face him before taking his free hand that wasn’t carrying a bag. Damian gently cupped Jon’s face to place a kiss on Jon’s lips before going back to walking. Jon had a stupid smile all the way back home.
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Text
Fight Club
Character: Jason Todd x Fem!Reader
Summary: Everyone will say Jason Todd is protective of the people he loves. But sometimes independence is more important than protecting. 
Word Count: 4,000 [One Shot]
Warnings: harassment, stalking, general daily discomfort that women have to deal with 
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Y/N was so fucking tired.
It was a miracle that she hadn’t fallen asleep on the bus home from work.
But anyone with half a brain knew that doing so in Gotham was basically asking to get robbed or worse.
Never fall asleep on public transit. Only buy purses and wallets that zip close. Never leave any personal belongings alone in public. Never use an ATM at night. Only take well-traveled and well-lit routes. Always be aware of your surroundings.
These were the unwritten rules of living in Gotham. It was how you stayed safe, how you stayed alive. But even when one followed them strictly, that didn’t insure that they would always be safe.
Which is why Y/N noticed a middle-aged man staring her down on the bus. He knew what he was doing. He knew that he was making her uncomfortable. He was clearly getting off on it.
Y/N just blasted the music in her headphones and pretended not to notice. But she could feel his leering and it made her stomach twist into knots.
She looked down at her watch: 6PM.
Y/N knew she could call Jason. She knew this.
It would take her all of 30 seconds to explain the situation, Jason would instantly understand and then be waiting at her bus stop for her, ready to escort her home safely and glare at whoever had made her uncomfortable.
But Jason was probably sleeping still. 
Last night, he’d returned from patrol needing stitches and had so many bruises scattered across his face that Y/N kept messing up her counting. She was also suspicious that his right hand was broken, but Jason brushed if off so smoothly that she let it slide.
The point was that Y/N had managed to force pain meds on her boyfriend. Jason always slept until late afternoon after patrols anyways, basically becoming nocturnal since he often wouldn’t get back until 5AM.
The meds were meant to make him sleep all day and force him to recover.
The stubborn part of Y/N didn’t want to prevent Jason from getting his much needed recovery and rest.
Except this guy didn’t plan on just staring at her.
When he saw that she was getting off at the stop that was just announced, he too stood up from his seat and moved to the other exit that she wasn’t using.
Y/N was aware of all of this, making sure to track him subtly through the corner of her gaze. It was from the conditioning that all women unfortunately had to go through, whether they realized or not.
Without turning around, she caught his reflection in the window of a building she walked past. He kept a distance to remain unsuspicious, but it was obvious that he was following her.
Y/N tried to subtly walk faster. But she also realized she couldn’t go straight home now. Even with Red Hood being her live-in boyfriend, there was no way she was letting this creep know where she lived.
She started taking a strange route, making weird turns. But it was hard not to lose him without fully running, which she didn’t want to do until it felt absolutely necessary.
But then she came upon a coffeeshop that she knew had a front and back entrance.
She quickly went inside and pretended to get in line for coffee. But when she looked for the man in the corner of her eye, he wasn’t going to come in. Instead, he decided to linger outside and wait for her to come out.
Y/N subtly left the line and made for the back exit.
‘Now it’s time to run,’ she thought to herself.
Y/N was grateful that she had decided to wear stylish sneakers today instead of heels.
By the time she reached the steps of her apartment building, she was breathing heavily. She had been looking over her shoulder every few feet to make sure the creep didn’t get smart.
When she reached her door, she made sure to be quiet in case Jason was still sleeping. Then when she reached the bedroom and quietly opened the door, her mountain of a boyfriend was still passed out in bed with his face pressed into her pillow.
Y/N decided to get started on dinner and quietly moved about the kitchen.
But no matter how much she tried to concentrate on her cooking, her mind kept returning to the man who had tried to follow her home.
What would he have done if he found out where she lived?
Did he plan on grabbing her before she got there?
Did he just get off on making women scared?
Was he planning on raping her? Abducting her? Killing her?
The more Y/N thought about it, the more her fear shifted into rage. Why was it so much more unsafe for women to just merely exist in the world?
But she had no intention of telling Jason.
He would be furious. Not at her, at a man who thought it was OK to even make his girlfriend feel uncomfortable and unsafe – let alone any woman. He would go on a hunt for him and teach him a lesson.
Jason Todd was protective of the people he loved and the innocent – of which Y/N was both. But he also had a bad temper. And whoever was the reason for it starting up better run for their life because Red Hood was not a merciful man and his morals were unpredictable.
So, no. Y/N was not planning on telling her boyfriend, who was also secretly a vigilante with rage issues, about the man who ogled her on public transit and tried to follow her home.
But Y/N was so lost in her thoughts that she didn’t hear said boyfriend finally wake up.
Next thing she knew, someone was slowly wrapping their arms around her waist.
Y/N jumped.
Obviously it was Jason. She knew that. This was not uncommon behavior for him.
But after the day she had and being lost in her thoughts, the feeling of someone’s touch scared the life out of her.
“Hey, hey, hey,” Jason immediately muttered in a whisper at her reaction. “It’s just me.”
Y/N turned around in hopes of easing any worry before he asked any questions.
“Sorry,” she gasped. “I didn’t hear you wake up.”
But Jason narrowed his gaze at the crazed look in her eyes. He could somehow feel her heart racing as he gripped her torso, and traced lines up and down her rib cage with his thumbs in an attempt to soothe her.
“What happened?” He asked as he brushed some hair out of her face.
“Nothing. I’m fine. I was just in my head and zoning out, so you scared me.”
Jason was basically a human lie detector. So he raised an eyebrow at her attempt.
“Y/N,” he warned.
She sighed and shook her head. “Promise you’ll just listen? That you won’t freak out?”
Now Jason was even more worried. “Y/N, what happened?”
She sighed again, knowing it was pointless to ask him not to freak out when it came to her. Now all she could hope for is that she’d be able to calm him down.
Y/N explained what happened to Jason: the bus, the following, the running to make sure a threatening stranger didn’t follow her home.
She could see Jason’s body getting more and more tense, and his expression angrier and angrier. His hands clenched into fits. His posture straightened with purpose.
“Did he grab you? Did he touch you?” Jason asked as soon as he was sure she was done with her whole story.
“No, but…” her words died out.
“He didn’t have to for you to feel violate,” Jason offered her.
Y/N nodded and hung her head.
“Why didn’t you call me?” Jason asked softly.
“I…I don’t know. I wanted to you to rest.” Then Y/N really thought about it. “And despite his intentions being very clear…there was still a voice in my head telling me not to overreact, that there was a small chance I was being paranoid.”
“Y/N, even if you had been wrong, I would’ve rather you felt safe than worry about being wrong. I wouldn’t have been mad at you, or even annoyed.”
“I know. I’m sorry.”
“You don’t have to apologize, Y/N.” Jason sighed and pulled her into his arms. “You didn’t do anything wrong. I just love you and want you to be safe.”
She nodded into his shoulder.
———
For the next week, Jason was waiting for Y/N every day after work at her bus stop to walk her home. She didn’t ask him to or even suggest it. But Jason knew she was still shaken after the incident. And the last thing he wanted was his girlfriend living in fear.
On the eighth day of him doing this, Y/N finally spoke up.
“Jason, ya know, you can’t do this forever…”
“I know,” he smirked.
“Why are you smiling?”
“How would you feel about me teaching you some self defense?”
Y/N stopped walking and turned to face him. “Are you messing with me?”
“Nope.”
———
The next weekend, Y/N found herself in the bat cave with her boyfriend, both of them in workout clothes.
“First things first, you have to gain your strength. I can teach you all the moves I want, but you have to make sure your body is in the right condition to defend yourself. And I don’t mean just physically. Confidence is key, beautiful.”
Y/N rolled her eyes at the last part, but still smiled.
“Did we have to have an audience?” She asked as she looked over to see that Tim was on the computer, and Dick and Barbara were working out together.
“Ignore them.”
The next couple of hours, Jason taught Y/N all of the basics of self defense. Especially the tips that benefitted women.
Eye strike. Knee to the groin. Heel-palm attack. Elbow hit. How to escape from a bear-hug attack. How to free herself from a choke hold. How to get out of a headlock.
Y/N was covered with sweat. Meanwhile, Jason looked as put together as he had when they started.
“OK,” she finally said with hands on her hips as she tried to catch her breath. “But if someone that’s the same size as me tried to attack me, I don’t have a chance.”
Jason tilted his head to the side. “And who said that?”
Y/N rolled her eyes. “J, come on. Look at you! Do you really think I would be able to get away – no matter how hard I tried?”
She looked her boyfriend up and down. He was built like a tank, standing at 6’3 and with an almost inhuman width. Just his thighs seemed bigger than her torso.
While Y/N loved cuddly with her giant teddy bear of a boyfriend, she had mercy for anyone that decided to pick a fight with Jason Todd or Red Hood. They didn’t stand a chance.
“Size isn’t everything,” Jason told her with a wink.
She rolled her eyes again.
“Dick! Barbara! Can you come here for a sec?”
“What’s up?” Dick asked with Barbara by his side.
“Y/N thinks that she’d never be able to take on someone bigger than her,” Jason shared with them.
Barbara didn’t even bother trying to hide her laughter.
Dick smirked. “It’ll take a lot of training, Y/N. But don’t worry, I’ll teach you how to kick Jason’s ass. Until then, let us know if he’s giving you any trouble and we’ll handle him for you.”
Jason glared at his older brother, but chose not to give his usual sarcastic retorts. He turned his attention back to Y/N instead. “Dicky here is 5’10 and about 175. Meanwhile, Babs is 5’6 and can’t weigh more than 120.”
Barbara crossed her arms. “Didn’t you ever learn that it’s not polite to comment on a woman’s weight?”
Jason gave her an apologetic look but he knew she wasn’t actually offended. “The point is that I’ve seen Barbara hand Dick his ass more times than I can count. Not to mention guys twice her size.”
Then he looked at the couple and gestured to the sparring mat. “Would you be so kind?”
Dick didn’t seem to have any issue with facing off with his girlfriend.
Meanwhile, Barbara looked excited.
As the two of them began sparring, Jason lowered his voice down to Y/N and pointed out Barbara’s strategies and moves. Then he would explain how she was manipulating her smaller frame and turning it into an advantage.
Next thing Y/N knew, Barbara had Dick on the floor.
Dick was beaming up at his girlfriend with nothing but pride and awe.
“See?” Jason muttered quietly in Y/N’s ear.
Barbara laughed and held a hand to help Dick up. He jumped back onto his feet and gave his girlfriend a kiss. 
“What’s going on?” A voice said at the bottom of the stairs.
They all turned to see Damian had entered the Bat Cave.
“Teaching Y/N some self defense,” Jason shrugged.
Damian sighed. “I do not understand why society does not train women to defend themselves – especially when they are not protected from evil men.”
Y/N laughed. “Not everyone was raised by a league of assassins, Damian.”
But then Damian’s words hit her again in a different way. She spaced out for a moment.
Jason looked at her with concern. “You OK?”
She just nodded.
He wasn’t convinced, but let her be. “I think that’s enough training for today.”
Jason’s brothers convinced him and Y/N to stay for a family movie night. 
They used Jason’s old room to shower, since Y/N was covered in sweat by the end of her self defense lesson. Jason gave her some of his old clothes for her to wear that he’d left behind.
When they got to the theatre room, Jason could tell how exhausted Y/N was. She was going to be sore tomorrow – probably for a few days, actually.
She curled into Jason as they grabbed one of the love seats. In moments like these, Jason was always amused how she seemed more like his pet cat than his girlfriend.
Dick and Barbara cuddled together, as well.
Damian brought a book, pretended to already be bored, and acted like he was forced to join family movie night.
Tim brought in his laptop so he could continue to work.
Alfred brought them snacks every so often.
Even Bruce came in halfway through the movie, making his entrance so subtle that they almost didn’t notice.
But lo and behold, not even 15 minutes into the movie, Y/N had passed out. 
Jason ended up having to carry her to his car after the movie – not that he minded in the slightest – and drive home as smoothly as possible, so he didn’t wake her.
———
A few days later, Y/N found Jason reading while lounging on the couch in the living room of their shared apartment.
She hopped on beside him, laying across his chest and sliding underneath his book.
Jason chuckled at her antics and put his book down, realizing she wanted his full attention and not just to snuggle while he continued to read.
“So, I was thinking…” Y/N began.
“Mhmm,” Jason hummed.
“I’m not the only woman in Gotham who’s been harassed. You of all people know that – probably better than I do.”
Jason’s amusement disappeared as he listened to where she was going.
“Did you know that in most big cities, there are almost always more women than men?”
“I did not.”
Then she sat up straight, but remained close to him. “But Gotham is the only major American city where there are 20% more men than women.” She waited for him to interrupt, but he just continued to pay close attention. “Researchers believe it’s because of the high crime rate in Gotham, and therefore it’s even more unsafe for women to live here than men.”
“Makes sense,” Jason agreed. “Why are you telling me this?”
“When you started giving me self-defense lessons and then Damian made the comment about no one training women, I kept thinking how other women don’t have a family of vigilantes to keep them safe or teach them how to defend themselves.”
“I’ve seen enough of this city to know that you’re right,” Jason commented darkly.
“Exactly.”
“You still haven’t explained why we’re talking about this…”
“Right,” Y/N smiled embarrassingly. “What if we – I don’t know – started a center for women to learn what you taught me. Completely pro bono. Like a…”
“Fight Club?” Jason offered with a smirk.
“Well, not exactly. But kinda,” Y/N giggled.
Then she frowned as her mind was still working all of it out. “I just don’t know who could teach it. You and your family are already too busy. Teaching women how to defend themselves is a little beneath you…”
“First of all, it’s not beneath us. But you’re right: Dick barely has a second to spend with Babs. Tim is so sleep deprived that he’s just gonna collapse one day. It also wouldn’t be smart for our cover and show that all the Wayne kids can hold themselves in a fight. People might start putting things together...”
“Right,” Y/N agreed and looked further disappointed.
“Hey,” Jason said with an encouraging smile and lifted her chin to look at him. “It’s a good idea. And between my brothers and me, we know plenty of retired heroes that would be more than willing to help out.”
Y/N’s eyes brightened. “Really?”
He nodded. “Dinah, Roy, Wally and Artemis. Hell, I bet if Bruce mentioned it to Diana, she’d smuggle in some Amazons to really show ‘em.”
Y/N smiled at the idea.
“You should tell Bruce,” Jason added.
“Bruce?”
“He has a habit of blindly writing checks for a good cause. I bet he’d just straight up buy you a warehouse to hold classes in.”
She frowned. “I don’t – won’t he feel like I’m taking advantage of him?”
Jason laughed. “I know he’s shit at showing it, but Bruce likes you. And I think he’d be more than happy to help.”
Y/N’s eyes glazed over. “Bruce Wayne likes me?”
He rolled his eyes. “Don’t let it get to your head…”
“So, you think this is a good idea?”
Jason couldn’t help himself when she looked this adorable and excited. He grabbed her torso and flipped them so her back was on the couch and he was now hovering above her.
“I think it’s a great idea,” he told her softly before kissing her.
But before Y/N could push the intimacy any further, Jason pulled away from her lips.
“I have to tell you something,” his voice suddenly went serious.
Y/N’s smile dropped. “What? What is it?”
“I know you didn’t want me to…”
Then she sat up, lightly pushing Jason off of her. “Christ, Jason. What did you do?”
He took in a quick breath. “I found him.”
“Found who?”
“The guy who followed you.”
“Fuck,” Y/N put her hands over her face. “Jason. God. What the fuck.” “I know! I know. I should’ve told you sooner.”
Y/N rubbed her face and looked at him. “Please, please tell you didn’t kill him.”
Jason had the audacity to roll his eyes. “I didn’t kill him, OK? Happy?”
“No, I’m not happy! You went after him when I explicitly asked you not to!”
“Did you forget that the guy you’re dating is also a vigilante? In what world did you expect me to not look him up?” He shook his head in wonder. “I mean, the idiot’s face was all over the public transit database I hacked when I looked up the footage from the cameras on your bus – not to mention the footage from half the storefronts you walked by.”
Y/N only glared at him.
“Don’t be mad,” he requested.
“Well, I am.”
Jason sighed. Then he scooted closer, hoping she’d allow it. “Look, I get what’s going on. And I get why you want to help all these women.”
She eyed him, but let him continue.
“I’m sure it’s hard to believe, but I know what it’s like to feel like you can’t protect yourself.” He cleared his throat, catching himself. “I know it’s not the same as what women have to deal with on a daily basis. I’ll never really know what that’s like.”
Jason kept all the terrible things he’d seen on patrol to himself. But there were things he knew would terrify and traumatize her. Because of this, Jason wasn’t as oblivious to the suffering of women as the majority of men were. Or maybe he just chose to actually acknowledge it and care.
He took in a deep breath. “But I just hated the idea of someone doing that to you. And I know there’s probably a million times its happened and you haven’t told me, or you didn’t even notice because you’ve gotten so used to it. I just…I couldn’t let him get away with it.”
Jason paused to let her process his excuse. He’d be the first to admit it wasn’t a good one.
But Jason Todd was fiercely protective of the people he loved. And Red Hood’s sole purpose was to protect the those who couldn’t protect themselves – no matter the cost.
So when his girlfriend was troubled enough to lose sleep or zoned out constantly to rehash what happened, he was going to do something about it.
Jason was fully aware of his anger issues. But he also learned how to redirect them to be something a bit more productive.
“So…what did you do to him?” Y/N asked nervously.
He gave her a look, silently asking her if she really wanted to know.
“Jason…” she warned him.
“He had a record, OK? Let’s just say you weren’t the first woman he’s done that to. And a lot of them weren’t as lucky as you. So he got what he fucking deserved.”
“And what is that?” She pushed, refusing to let him gloss over it so easily.
Jason rolled his eyes. “I roughed him up a bit, alright? Told him I’d be watching. Scared the shit out of him enough that, hopefully, he won’t ever pull that shit again.”
Y/N let out a laugh and shook her head at him.
Jason would take her amusement over her anger any day, even if she was teasing him.
“What?” He asked through a grin.
She bopped his nose. “So protective over me.”
Jason had enough of the distance between them.
He moved her body so she had no choice but to sit on his lap. “‘Course I am.”
Then he kissed her. But when he pulled away, his face was rather thoughtful.
“You’re not going to feel helpless forever, ya know.”
They were words to comfort her. Because deep down Jason knew that promising to always be there for her wasn’t going to make her feel better. She wanted him as her boyfriend, not her bodyguard – despite Jason being more than happy to be both for her.
“I know,” Y/N confirmed with a shy smile.
-------------------------------------
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