"Gordon, you should get to the corner of first and Montgomery, we got a crime scene your buddy might be interested in."
Gordon glanced meaningfully at Batman, who slowly got up from his kneeling position on the ground, attention torn between the newspaper clippings the murderer had pinned to the wall and the detective. "I'll make my way there when I can, what's happened?"
"It's a fucking slaughterhouse man, Bats were pursuing the suspect and the killer took out a few of the hostages--"
"Slow down, what are you talking about? Batman's not--"
"One of them kids, Gordon." The deputy stressed. "It's a fucking disaster, Forensics almost called CPS."
"Oh hell." Gordon breathed out, pinching the bridge of his nose. Batman turned fully to stare at him, concern flaring even behind the mask. "Which one?"
"Hell if I know, kid's just standing here all drenched in blood, hasn't said a single word the entire time." The deputy exhaled raggedly. "I gotta tell you, it's starting to get a little--"
"You need to go, Montgomery and First," Gordon mumbled to Batman, pressing the phone to his vest. "One of the kids got to his latest crime scene, and..."
Batman didn't hesitate for a second, sweeping down the hall and out, the fastest and loudest disappearance Gordon had seen yet from the man.
"Evans, shut up and hand over the phone to the kid," Gordon ordered, pressing the phone back up to his ear, hoping he could offer any kind of comfort before Batman got there.
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au where volo works at walmart :) initially conceptualized by @curiositykilledtheradiostar
[image id: a series of drawings depicting Volo from pokemon legends arceus as a walmart employee. In each drawing he wears his usual yellow and blue cap, now with the walmart spark on the front, a yellow tshirt, blue vest, and blue jeans. In the first drawing, he's bent forward slightly, an expression of extreme anger/frustration/murder on his face as he clutches his box cutter so hard it shakes. Next to it, text says: "team lead just asked him to run all of housewares + domestics alone". There is an asterisk next to "team lead" which at the bottom elaborates, "nice corporate name for boss". In the second and third drawings, it shows Volo overly happily waving to a customer, saying very cheerfully, "thank you for shopping at pokemart!" In the next drawing, his entire demeanor changes, his hand falling down and his face going completely flat. He looks very tired and annoyed with the customer. In the final drawing, he stands holding a box outstretched away from himself, visibly disgusted with it. The box is dripping some sort of awful green goo. He holds his other hand out in front of him, flicking off great globs of that awful green goo from his hand. His jeans are noticeably dirty, and text reads, "4th spill of the night". End id.]
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parting deferred
For perhaps the last time, Joui talks to Liz. pre-desconjuraçao, also posted to my ao3.
////////
Shamefully, his gaze passes over her at first. She’s only another old woman sitting in the back of the library, white head bowed over a study table. But the way she frowns at the mess of papers before her is all Liz.
Joui tries his best to assess her condition as he navigates the shelves. She’s alive. And unhurt, and perhaps even sober. He can breathe more easily now that he sees her.
Someone unexpectedly exits a row in front of him—he startles, reaches for the weight at his hip, apologizes, heart racing—arrives.
Another moment of unfamiliarity. Joui could be looking at someone else’s grandmother reading the paper.
He shakes off the moment, and the uncertainty that suddenly rises in his chest.
“Liz-senpai?”
It takes a moment for his voice to register—she’s absorbed in whatever the papers are telling her. He can see the recognition in her face, the way the hand that holds the pen stops its motion.
She covers her notes as she turns to him. He tries to suppress the sting.
“Joui? What do you want?”
“You didn’t respond to the group chat,” he says, his tone more accusing than he means it to be.
“I muted it. It was distracting me.”
“We were worried. Liz, I went to your apartment and the landlord said it had been sold. And you weren’t answering calls or texts and—“
“How did you find me?” she asks.
Joui is thrown off. “Ce-Kaiser tracked your phone,” he says honestly.
Liz purses her lips. “I see.”
“We were worried,” Joui explains. (I was worried) “You disappeared—what if something had happened to you?”
“Well. As you can see, I’m fine. As fine as I can be. You can tell that to the others.”
Joui looks at the pile of papers—newspapers, dated recently. “Liz-senpai, what are you working on? Can I help?”
She slips her notebook into her bag, covering the table with the other hand. “Joui—I appreciate your concern, but I’m fine. I can take care of myself.”
And she can—Joui knows Liz, and she’s strong—but how strong is she now? She’s smart—smart enough to get to the bottom of this, whatever it is, and put herself right back in danger.
He misses hearing her theorize, brow furrowed and eyes alight. He misses her laugh and her smile. He misses Liz herself—she’s right in front of him again, but she feels a thousand miles away.
“Don’t disappear again,” he pleads. “We need you.” (I need you, he wants to say, but he’s terrified that it won’t be enough to keep her with him.) “The Order needs you.”
That makes Liz laugh—a bitter echo of his memories. “The Order doesn’t know what it’s doing.” She straightens the papers on the table. “Symptoms,” she says. “They’re treating symptoms, and the heart is rotten. We throw ourselves into a brick wall over and over until every one of us is dead and broken.”
Joui doesn’t know what to say. It’s a mirror of the thoughts that haunt him at night, laid over the memories that never fade. He doesn’t have words of hope—he has to be the strong one now, but he doesn’t know what to do.
Liz turns over the newspapers, arranging and rearranging them feverishly. Joui watches and he doesn’t know what to say and he doesn’t know what to do.
He puts a hand on her shoulder, finally, clawing past the uncertainty that freezes him in place.
“Liz-senpai. Look at me, please.”
She meets his gaze, and whatever he’d tentatively planned to say next escapes his mind. Her eyes are older than the wrinkles on her face. The eyes of the monster of death flash into his mind—a thought he despises as soon as he has it.
“Liz-senpai?” he repeats.
“Get out, Joui,” she says, and she just looks tired now.
He isn’t hurt that she’s still putting herself in danger—he understands the itch to do something, anything. He’s hurt that she doesn’t want him beside her. Joui isn’t sure of many things these days, but he knows bone deep that they need to protect each other. If he loses Liz—and Arthur and Kaiser—every part of him that matters will have died.
“If you think I’d leave you, you don’t know me,” he snaps.
Something flashes over Liz’s face. “I suppose I can’t make you do anything—it’s not like I’m your mother.”
Joui wishes she had hit him instead. He tries to say something else and can’t manage it.
He thinks she wants to say something else too. She pauses as she walks away, looks back—but she leaves anyway.
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so we can all agree Foul Legacy Childe has a beloved narwhal plushie you gave him, right?
you made it for him after the first time you had to be away from home for a while- it was very difficult for both of you, with Childe being incredibly lonely and you constantly being nervous over his wellbeing. when he absolutely refused to let go of you for a few days after you returned, you knew you had to do something to help him deal with any absences, so in secret you started sewing him a cute plushie in the shape of his constellation!!! it takes a while, since you want to make it perfect, but you’re just thankful you found a fabric that’s both soft and can withstand Foul Legacy’s claws.
you keep the finished plush a secret for a few months, until your work unfortunately calls you away again. the night before you have to leave Childe’s laying his head on your lap, attempting to keep in his distressed whimpers since he knows you’ll be gone tomorrow, and you gently nudge his side with a smile. you have a surprise for him, you say, and he looks up, curiosity briefly overtaking his sadness. with a small flourish you present him the stuffed narwhal, setting it carefully in his palms. for a moment Childe just stares at the plush and you’re worried he doesn’t like it, until shaky whines begin to slip out and he looks at you with thankful tears in his eyes, pressing the narwhal against his cheek and crying.
he takes the plushie everywhere when you’re gone- it keeps him company in a silent, unmoving house. holding it and squishing it helps relieve the intense loneliness, since it feels like he has a part of you with him. it’s not uncommon for you to return to the sight of Childe hugging the narwhal as he naps, and with a soft smile you go and give him a gentle nudge. Foul Legacy startles awake, glancing around wildly before his gaze lands on you and he lets out an elated chirp, tugging so you fall into his arms and caging you in. the narwhal rests on your lap so he can squish you and it at the same time, and you feel his purring start with your back pressed to his chest, tired, but happy to be home.
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