You stopped explaining yourself to anyone... you're out of the energy to shape yourself in words... you keep quiet and smile... you're there sitting calmly...when no sound comes out of you, all your body is screaming, but your skin is noise proof.
uh oh another long covid fantasy. this time yandere!batfam flavored.
so I imagine this happening after having lived with them for some time (aka you were kidnapped, but it wasn't recent) so you've mostly come to terms with being around them all the time. Maybe one of them got you sick unknowingly, maybe you're at a stage where they trust you enough to take you outside with them sometimes. Either way, you get covid.
They take care of you as well as they can (which is VERY well. they're rich and smart as fuck), but you simply... don't get better. Well, you do kind of, you test negative again, but you develop long covid.
Anyways, their already fucked up protector instincts go haywire. So much research gets done, doctors get bribed, they experiment in the batcave, they do everything they can trying to find a cure. In the meantime they're still taking care of you of course.
Making sure you don't hurt yourself, don't move too much, don't make your fatigue worse. Getting you everything you want. They relocate your room to the ground floor so you don't have to go upstairs to get to your room, but get an elevator/etc installed anyways, in case you do feel like going upstairs but are too weak.
Extra cuddles in your bed when you're napping and too weak to push Dick out of your bed. Tim quietly watching movies with you when you feel up for it. Jason reading to you. Damian walking around the garden with you if you feel good enough to walk, if not he'll push you around on a wheelchair so you can get some fresh air. Bruce making you sleep in his bed when he's worried you're not breathing right, so he can immediately hear if something sounds wrong.
Maybe at some point their research dies down, you're not in any immediate danger and they like taking care of you like this... I mean, you still used to complain and fight them a little even though you've been with them for so long, how bad could it be to have you a little bit more dependent on them than before? A bit more helpless? If you get better by yourself in a few weeks, or months, or years, so be it, they'll still have gotten some quality bonding time in. And if you don't get better? Well, I don't think they'd be as disappointed as they first thought they'd be...
very pleased to report that i tried literally counting sheep last night and got my first full night's sleep in like a week in a long period of sleepless nights!!
Steve doesn’t have much. Eddie had made them a list of things to grab before they’d headed over to the Harrington house, a list of clothes, toiletries, basics and such, with “shampoo” underlined and “bowling pin” circled. They’d borrowed an extra duffel from Marianne across the way, since they didn’t know if trash bags would be enough, and thank god they had, kid sure had a polo collection. But moving it all out of that place - nice car parked yet nobody home, they found, blood still on the carpet - and seeing it stacked up next to Eddie’s exploding menagerie were two different things. And it just seemed to Wayne, well, when Steve was up for it, maybe they’d go to the thrifty mart together.
Steve is quiet, on account of the pain he felt moving his face and the shyness he had shrunken into, having been quickly and sharply beaten and disowned and then thrust into a new life, a new space. Wayne knew it was different, going from a frequent guest who got to put on the charm to a hurting ball of need. To feel like a burden. He saw the same thing happen to Eddie, when he was a child; he changed from an energetic ragamuffin who’d visit Wayne once every couple months to a sad, angry teen who he had to figure out how to live with. But it had worked out. And seeing how gently Eddie cleans Steve’s bruised face, how he changes his whole schedule to take care of Steve, how he cuts fruit for Steve, hearing Eddie whisper Steve to sleep, he thinks it will work out again.
Wayne learns a lot about Steve over the next couple of weeks. He learns how good a cook Steve is, how good he is at making scrambled eggs, tuna melts. How his hair is a source of pride but also seems to show off how he’s doing, like it’s connected to his mood. Some days it’s sky-high and some days it’s flat until Eddie starts whistling up the walk. Wayne loves watching Steve’s hair puff up, his smile grow, and Eddie seems to do the trick. Wayne learns just about every shirt he has is striped, that he can’t hear that well on his left side, that he likes his toast burnt to a crisp.
One morning, a couple weeks after Steve becomes his second duckling, they’re both up early in the kitchen waiting for Eddie to rise. Steve is making bacon and pork sausage, shuffling the meat around and shuffling himself around, like he’s scared to say something. Finally Wayne says “what is it, son?” And Steve starts to cry, one slow beautiful tear down each cheek. He’s been looking better, lately, seeming brighter, but he’s still been holding his breath. It’s time to exhale.
“Thank you. For saving me,” Steve moves the pan to the back burner, meat cooked, looking away. Wayne turns the stove off, and folds Steve into his arms, chuckling. Steve smells like Eddie. Steve smells like Wayne’s tobacco.
“Ain’t no thing about it, boy,” Wayne whispers to Steve, trembling and clutching the spatula. “You’re safe. You’re family.” And he pulls away before he goes softer himself, coughs, turns the stove back on for Steve’s eggs. A small little smile creeps up on Steve’s lips, still shy but an agreement nonetheless. He’s home, making breakfast for those that love him. And later, they’ll go thrifting, get Steve a thicker winter coat, more kitchen tools, some striped pajamas.
We’re With You! - from the In Stars and Time OST by @thumpypuppy
did another piece from the isat ost (with a newly arrived helper!) this one gets an accompaniment, that countermelody is just too lovely. this song captures that sense of hopefulness and comradery in the scenes during which it plays ingame, i hope i was able to capture that :)