Bruce was being watched. Again.
He didn’t know where it was coming from, and that was a problem at the moment. He was hosting another gala, intent on putting on the “Bruice Wayne” mask for the public. None of his children were attending, unfortunately, but everything was going okay so far.
Then he kept feeling a cool breeze on the back of his neck. His hairs stood on end, and he shivered randomly. Someone mentioned that he looked cold. But Bruce wasn’t cold. He was Batman! Batman is never bothered by something stupid like the temperature. It just felt like there were multiple pairs of eyes staring at him from all directions.
Bruce tried to catch whoever it was, but when he looked, there was no one there. He even made extra laps around the room, easily slipping between socialites and chatting his way through the crowd. He scanned the tables, checked the stairs, peeked outside, and even snuck at glance at the chandeliers for fuck’s sake! There was nothing. No cameras, no lingering eyes, nothing.
Bruce could feel his heartbeat quicken. There was something in the room. Something dangerous.
Eventually, the source of his anxiety came to him. The gala was small, being in the middle of the off-season for social events. It was a relatively quiet gathering. Still, Bruce flinched when someone tapped his shoulder from behind when he was making another waltz around the room. He turned, and was faced with a boy no older than 16, but no younger than 14. It was hard to tell his age. He wore an ill-fitted navy suit and scuffed dress shoes. His tie was no where to be seen, and the boy had a platter of finger foods balanced in one hand. He hadn’t heard anyone approach at all.
What made Bruce freeze, however, was the fact that the boy looked exactly like the portraits of the young Thomas Wayne that were hanging innocently in the Wayne family home. His crystal blue eyes seemed to glow in the overhead lights as they bore into Bruce. It felt like the boy could see his soul. The air was more chilled than it had been all night, and everything in Bruce’s mind was screaming DANGER!
“Y’know…” Bruce’s breath caught in his throat as the boy spoke. His midwestern accent was heavy, and the boy took a slow moment to polish off a baked feta bite before continuing. “You look like the kinda guy to have a secret basement. The bloody kind. Nice party, though!” With that, the boy disappeared back into the crowd, taking the cold air with him.
Bruce never got out a word.
———
Danny sees all the wandering souls and shades attached to Bruce Wayne, and comes to the obvious conclusion that the billionaire is a serial killer.
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You know we all meme about how Luffy doesn't give a shit about his parents/Dragon, how he seemingly has no interest in learning about the man or meeting him at all, and like yeah that is a Luffyism
And for a long time I figured Baby Luffy would be the same too; that Luffy in his naïvete just accepted he must've spawned from the ocean itself into Garp's care or something, not realizing he should in fact have parents, thus Luffy's seeming disinterest in them
But you know what
Luffy did spend most of his early childhood alone
Sure, he had Garp, but it seems like Garp wasn't always there to look after him every day, he had his duties as a Marine too. Had Garp been there 24/7 all year then Garp would never have allowed Luffy to interact with Shanks (a filthy pirate) to begin with. So yes, Luffy had his grandpa, but not all the time.
And sure, Luffy also had Shanks, but Shanks didn't spend all his time in Fuusha Village either, he came and went whenever he pleased too until his final departure when Luffy was just six years old.
And yes, there was everyone else in the village too, people who cared about Luffy and were helping look after him. But Luffy's early childhood was one without a stable family.
It wasn't until Garp yeeted the child into Dadan's care that Luffy actually gained a proper family, where after months and months of trying Luffy managed to win Ace's trust and gained Sabo as a brother too. But as we know, by that point Luffy already hated being alone
All of this to say; Luffy growing up essentially orphaned would explain why he's so afraid to be alone, the way he clings onto people
In some ways Luffy's POV is meant to be the reader's POV, to some degree Luffy's feelings and thoughts are meant to be how we the readers feel and think about whaveter is happening in the story. Not a 100% by any means, but somewhat at the very least.
Perhaps Luffy's lack of interest in Dragon isn't just "Luffy not giving a damn about blood family because chosen families are better" nor "Luffy is too stupid to understand where babies come from". Perhaps Luffy, who may have assumed he didn't have parents at all (as in "might've assumed they were dead or had intentionally abandoned him"), doesn't know what to think about the fact that he does have a father out there, one whom he has never as much as met.
Because yeah, Luffy doesn't know why Dragon left him with Garp, why he never got to be with his dad. Should he be angry at Dragon, hate him for being left alone? Or did Dragon have a good reason for it, does Dragon wish things could've been different?
Perhaps Luffy's seeming disinterest in Dragon isn't because he doesn't care about blood family, but because much like us the readers, Luffy doesn't quite know what to make of Dragon, and figuring those feelings out hasn't been relevant to the plot yet.
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I came up with an idea for a fic that I’m calling the six seeds au
Will is a dumbass and skips off to the underworld alone to bring Jason back for Nico. he can’t bring Jason back but he strikes a deal with Hades that will link his soul to Jason’s and partially bind him to the underworld, so Will spends six months of the year in the underworld while Jason is in the world of the living, then they switch for the next six months. so, similar to Persephone. or Dumuzid and Geshtinanna in Mesopotamian mythology. Will eats six pomegranate seeds to seal the deal, hence the name of the au.
now obviously this whole “I only get to see Will and Jason for half the year and never at the same time” thing wouldn’t be ideal for Nico and of course he’s upset with Will for doing something so reckless and sacrificial. but the real problem is that Will cannot survive in the underworld. it’s draining him more and more every day. there’s no way he’s even going to make it to the end of his first six months. and since his soul is now tied to Jason’s, this means that Jason is dying, too.
so Nico has to march up to his dad like “hey wtf” and Hades might regret not taking into consideration that Will’s a little Sun baby and can’t survive in the underworld and he might feel bad for doing this to his son so he might let slip that maybe a certain cure (one Nico may be familiar with) could break Will from the vow to stay in the underworld for half the year.
so now Jason and Nico have to go on a quest to get the physician’s cure. and Jason is dying because Will is dying. also maybe Will is sometimes in Jason’s head adding commentary through their soul bond because I think that would be funny.
and uhhh yeah that’s all I’ve got for now but idk I think this fic sounds fun so maybe I’ll come back to this
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