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apcthetics · 2 years

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closed starter for GISELLE ( @overwhlcmed ) location: boo boo the fool’s apartment <3

◦ 「 ☆ 」 ──────────── IT WAS STRANGE to feel lonely. of course, jackson had always been lonely, always known it was himself against the world, always acknowledged the dull aching in his chest that simply wished for someone, anyone, to help fill the never-healing void, but he never really felt the effects of it. for the most part it was an omni-present fact ; he learned to live with it until it became something he barely processed. it was part of him. but while he ignored ─ avoided ─ didn’t talk to giselle, it made it’s presence known in a way that hadn’t been there before. there was now a constant voice in the back of his head repeating things back to him. it reminded him that giselle would have laughed at the joke that he overheard standing on the subway station ; that duchess looked real weird in that moment, like the kind of picture she might have sent him ; that his apartment seemed awfully quiet, and his bed rather empty, without a second body there to fill the space. no matter how short it had been, her sudden absence was felt in every part of his life.

he needed time to think. to collect his thoughts. to figure out what the next step from here was ─ they couldn’t do that again ( couldn’t they ? ) because it was a bad idea ( was it ? ) but he didn’t want to let go of her friendship ( were they really friends ? would they be able to continue to be friends after this ? his heart was doubtful, but his mind was adamant they had to be. ) ─ this was true, and he had been doing a lot of thinking since he’d closed her apartment door behind him days ago. but mostly, jackson was scared. he was scared of how easy it had been for him to completely disregard all logic the moment that giselle had been close. he was scared of how fast he had felt his heart beating. he was scared of the myriad of new ways that had opened for him to hurt her ─ and he was scared that he was already doing it.

the weirdness that he had created between them was brand new, even if the way that his breathing stopped every time he saw her was just the same. thirteen years ago, jackson never really cared about the consequences of his actions. he didn’t know the ways he was capable of hurting people. he also didn’t know he loved giselle ─ the two of them had been comfortably trapped inside a make-shift reality that they never spoke about, and then the bubble had burst. now, however ? years of experience had taught him that you couldn’t teach an old dog new tricks. it didn’t matter how hard he tried to be good. it didn’t matter how much he knew he loved her. he fucked things up, even without meaning too. he was a self-fulfilling prophecy with no happy ending. this knowledge plagued him and shadowed every interaction, and thus every vulnerability he had extended towards her had been viciously ripped back in an attempt to save them both.

yet shaking her out of his mind wasn’t so easy this time. he had felt the ripples of pain that echoed through his body when he’d first packed up and left stanford, but he was able to compartmentalize those thoughts. new giselle was like a parasite that had wormed her way into every thought. he snapped at duchess, at declan, and at just about anyone else who was unfortunate enough to get in his way. he felt guilty for not staying, while simultaneously he felt guilty for letting it happen in the first place. he couldn’t ignore her this time. impulsivity had lead him to her door, just like the first time, with a dinner offer, also like the first time. part of him was expecting her to chase him off. the other part was hoping she would invite him in. pretending had worked this far, right ?

“ hi ─ um, hi. “ his words sputtered out all together, like he had rehearsed what to say and then forgot the moment she opened the door and he saw her ( he had ). “ these are for you. “ the bundle of daisies he was holding was unceremoniously shoved at her ; he wanted to move past it, and quickly, acknowledging the flowers without acknowledging the why. the way he skirted around the elephant in the room was awkward, and he was very obviously out of his element ─ odd, considering this hadn’t been the first time that he’d appeared from the land of ghosts to reinsert himself into the timeline once more ( but this was the first time it mattered. ) his gaze then briefly jumped down to the paper bag, and he held it up slightly. “ this is for you, too ─ well, on a technicality, it’s for both of us, but if you were somehow planning on eating all this food on your own i’d just let you have it just to see you try. “ he looked back to her, nervously running his tongue against the inside of his cheek and rocking back on his heels. “ i was just ─ i was in the neighbourhood, and i ─ well i hoped you weren’t working late, but your lights were on from outside. not that i was explicitly looking at your window ! ─ this hole just keeps getting deeper. i’m going to stop talking now. “

#i #is this #is this ur bad boy #is this the james dean everyone wanted #because i dont think it is #i think #your honour #that this is an idiot #sphynx asked for pain and i said it sure will be painful #just not in the ways we expect #★. ─── JACKSON RHODES : THREAD #★. ─── JACKSON FT. GISELLE #i am shaking my head

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tubbytarchia · 4 months

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I've been curating some of these things and I think it's time to let them loose into the world. My hope is that at least one of them is funny

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yuwuta · 13 days

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you ask yuuta if he wants a bite of your food and when he says yes you offer your plate to him, but he’s just sat there looking at you with his dumb big bambi boy eyes and his mouth slightly open and he will not look away or blink or close his mouth until you lift your fork to his lips to feed him and then he grins like shit’s sweet and hums about how good the food is like nothing happened like he’s not ridiculously attractive. gonna chew on steel

#he consistently does shit like this is like he's not stupidly attractive and its because he does not know. he does not know that he's hot #the yuuta/yuuji divide is that they’re both bad asl and neither know it but yuuji is Not innocent and yuuta is just naive [at first]#which is me saying yuuji is kind but yuuta is just Nice once again #insane i need to bash his head against a table. and kiss him i guess whatever #also who expects to be fed when you offer them food: toge but he KNOWS he's being annoying and whines if u dont feed him #gojo/yuuji/choso are the opposite #gojo asks if u want some of his food and then won't let u have any unless u let him feed it to you. nd if u want to avoid a scene u have to #he just babies people :((///// he does this to everyone . will cry #yuuji also does it reflexively like hes like 'oh! this is good you should try it!' and before u can even agree he's got his spoon #in your mouth and smiling like 😇 its good right!🥰......angel boy #choso...do i need to say it isn't there canonical evidence for this #oh also u offer food to toji and he just kinda tilts his head like oh what ur not gonna feed me? like no. stinky. feed YOURSELF!#yuuta okkotsu.................... when i get my hands on this boy....

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cozylittleartblog · 8 months

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had a(nother) nightmare

#deltarune #rouxls kaard #lancer #queen #art #lancer had a bad dream. rouxls comes in to fall asleep in the floor like he always does. queen followed because she needs to #Familiarize Herself with The Rituals and also hey her boy is sad #and then they ALL fell asleep in the floor literally right next to his bed #-- i had tire marks on the bedsheets but they vanished somewhere. damn it #this one isnt old btw i just drew this This Morning HEHEHEHE #its kinda scrungy but thats ok #ok 2 tag ship but not explicitly ship either if ur not into it #i love that half my 'qk' art can very easily be read platonically #i think thats an important aspect of their relationship is that they are good friends and coparents. and THEN they're kissing sometimes #this is hardly the first family cuddle and or sleep pile ive drawn. i never posted my favorite i dont think #i am just all about sleep and cuddle piles. did u know swatchlings love to sleep in piles (headcanon)#if one bird falls asleep in the cafe the odds are very good that one or two more will join them #theres a pile of birds in booth 4 all shoved in there haphazardly and eeping. swatch is coming with pots and pans.

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r0b0t1me · 1 year

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HEY BATTER BATTER--

#my animation #rottmnt #rise of the tmnt #rottmnt movie #rise of the tmnt movie #bad future #Hooooooo boy- (EXPLODES)#thank you so much to azzy for ur help #do u know how much it sucks to animate with a 24 frame cap lord help mEEE #i will let the krangpocalypse duo have more screen time or die trying

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houseswife · 5 months

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transgender detector going haywire rn…

#the fact that this was in the down low (THEE gay episode) too #this is either transmasc chase getting pissed about being misgendered #or transfemme chase reacting in indignation to being outed #take your pick #this bad boy can fit soo much gender in them #house md #robert chase #gregory house #hatecrimes md #greg house #like I’m trying so hard not to see chase as anything but an annoying cishet man #but the sheer level of queer implications they throw at him makes it insanely difficult #remy thirteen hadley #the more I think about it the more canon it feels #because he doesn’t even have long hair anymore. he’s not so twinkishly pretty as to be mistaken for a girl at this age. so what was this!!!#he has STUBBLE #+ somebody mentioned in the rbs that this is also trans!remy proof and. omg ur so right #enby thirteen rights #or whatever other headcanons y’all have for ‘em!!#prodigal siblings #prodigal twins

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heartscrypt · 1 year

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we'll get em next time guys

#twst #twisted wonderland #azul ashengrotto #jamil viper #jamiazu #azujami #ashenviper #jamil x azul #azul x jamil #jazul #these tags are always like hell to put in #heartscribbles #let jamil sleep he needs it so bad #suspicious that jamil hasn't blocked him though...... why he got ur number in the first place bro #in fact why are you replying my boy.........#sorry #im a huge believer of azuls insufferable rizz #(azul) youre in his dms im on his nerves

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scatterbrainedbot · 6 months

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I AM SPINNING I AM PACING I AM FULL ON FROLICKING IM SO EXCITED

@d1sc0rd1a THANK U FOR THESE TAGS

okayokayokayokay so pretty much all of these questions will be Officially Answered properly in the character design/intro pages im working on but also i am physically vibrating with excitement about the fact that you noticed all these details and i have very little self control so! lore dump time!!!

(minor tw for mentions of leos self-harm/self-destructive anxious behaviors and unhealthy coping skills)

- mikey does indeed have curly fur! i believe he would be considered a 'rex' rat (pictured on the left) for this trait? though the curls can be more easily seen on mice (pictured on the right). or, at least it seems that way. have not delved too deeply into the details of rodent genes and husbandry, but id assume its the same sort of mutation considering curly haired mice are also referred to as rex sometimes? either way hes a extra floofy bby 🧡

-as for raphie, unfortunately being more fluff and less shell than the average rapheal comes with its downsides. especially if you and your brothers occasionally encounter things like territorial dogs, hungry cats, or sewer crocodiles while exploring places ur dad said not supposed to go. (most of his scars will have more ninja related stories, but his ear i think got messed up from something very animal. probably around age 11 ish? old enough to sneak out from dads protection but young enough to not fully know how to handle himself alone against real danger. thankfully his ear injury looks worse than it actually is for the most part, as the damage was largely to the outer ear. his hearing wasnt super affected, except that he now has a bit of a harder time being able to track/pinpoint noises origins if its on his right side.)

-also yep! dons got some glasses that just clip/rest on the bridge of his nose! theyre mostly just for home use, as they do fall off if hes knocked around. in the field he has some goggles he tends to use (theyre helpful as they have multiple additional functions like heat-imaging, extra zoom/telescoping, and recording capabilities. but also theyll give him headaches if he wears them for too long without breaks). contacts are theoretically also an option but he absolutely hates the sensation of putting them in. so sometimes when hes tired he'll just not bother with either clips or goggles and just squint and struggle. leo hates when he does that lol.

-speaking of leo, he is def an anxious baby :) he has a few patches of fur missing on his hand cos he has the tendency to tug on it while hes thinking. he yanked and chewed on his own tail a lot when he was younger too, which is why when hes older he usually wears some wraps to cover the scars left from that behavior. he finds those scars specifically to be kinda embarrassing and shameful because they werent from any battle or life-lesson, just his own 'inability to control himself'. all of his brothers have repeatedly called him out on the fact that that is not a healthy way to think about his anxiety or mental health, but leo insists hes fine. hes kinda convinced himself that a proper warrior always has control over his own body* and his own thoughts, thus he should be able to just like willpower-brute-force his way into 'being better'. (this line of thinking pisses raph off so much he has to leave and go hit something)

Splinter also tries to talk him through some of that internalized guilt/shame/everything, but splinters very metaphorical, poetic, and indirect when it comes to talking about Big Things, which combined with how much leo gets caught in his own head, makes it kinda hard to gauge how much these talks actually help

*this is made extra fun considering leos also ftm trans, so he is faced with a body that fundamentally disobeys him perhaps more than the average rat-man.

-and im still going back and forth between a few species for splinter, but im leaning mostly towards an African Spurred Tortoise! they have these beautiful if kinda subtle geometric shell patterns and are the third largest species of tortoise in the world. the only thing that doesnt fit perfectly with Splints is that (allegedly) their lifespan in captivity is around 50ish years, whereas im p sure Tortoise Splinter is well over 75, probably closer to 90 when the boys are born and hes mutated into Old Man Papa.

but maybe hes just a particularly long lasting African Spurred Tortoise.

the Hamato family has taken very good care of him for many decades after all. :)

(well. until everything all fell apart, that is.....)

#tmnt #rat sons #my art #tmnt au #literally bouncing around the room thinking about this all #my downstairs neighbors are gonna hate me #ask reply #sort of???#pats leos fucked up lil head #this bad boy can fit so much projection #get out of ur head idiot ur family loves and wants to help u #also looking at the chaco tortoise and ploughshare tortoise for splinter thoboth of those are smaller species than i think he is

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charles-rxwlands · 23 days

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"teeth face, what the fuck?" / "okay sorry bye" FUNNIEST SCENE IN THE SHOW

#im talking abt esther and the forest elemental btw #esther ik ur bad but ur so iconic #dead boy detectives #dead boy detectives spoilers #dbd #dbd spoilers #esther #esther dead boy detectives

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leenfiend · 8 months

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what's ur type first < prev next >

#YAHOOO #i finally finished editing this first scene in the fic lmfao ... so updates will probably be faster in the coming days #also still unsure as to whether I'll draw... the whole fic #it's like 10k words+ so #im still on like page 4 rn I think. out of like. 20.#let me know what u think tho do u guys want this all drawn out cause .. .. it'll take a lil while also i'll definitely still post the fic #ive put too many hours into that bad boy at this point to let it collect dust #and i think u get something different out of reading that than the comic anyway tbh #which is fun !!#ok enough tag essaying thank u all for reading if u did : )#wut #what's ur type #klance #vld #voltron #my art

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suntails · 7 months

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⚔️🐙

#9!! silver RUN!!! hes trying to convince him to sign to switch dorms. can u imagine the leverage he'd have to try and get closer to malleus #like 'wooowww crazy! one of ur guards just so HAPPENS to be in my dorm! hes fantastic. if u ever need anything id be MORE than happy to hel #i think its funny!! iirc theres a dj with silver in octavinelle its a silly concept. that boy doesnt belong there #hes generous (real) not generous (octavinelle)#i think silver would be susceptible to signing a contract w azul. but i dont think itd be a Bad contract bc azul knows mal would murder him #twst #twisted wonderland #twst silver #azul ashengrotto #suntails

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profoundmakerdreamerss-blog · 28 days

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Alright, I know some people think that Harry will be down bad/have a crush on Tom first or some thinks it'll be Tom; but I feel like it's neither? Hell, canonically, Harry is really emotionally stunted in that regard, and I just don't see him grovelling or reacting that way to anyone or not specifically to Tom? Especially not a Slytherin who is always busy with political climbing or things-that-don't-interest-Harry. I feel like they'll be so busy with their lives, that until and unless someone smack dabs them together (with their luck, let's be real something WILL smack dab them together) I do believe they'll be passing thoughts in each other's life.

Harry might end up thinking in the passing that Tom's really good looking because hell, I've done that; even when I'm not attracted to someone, I will always appreciate a face that I find pleasing. I don't think Harry will be that interested in Tom until and unless he does something that attracts him (ex: quidditch LMAO). And the same goes for Tom, for whom I have this headcanon; that it's not intelligence or say, defiance that would attract him but something more. More visceral, more ground shaking (something very small in others' eyes perhaps but not to Tom). Something that will make him stop and think and learn. Because he doesn't seem like a person who would just get a crush out of nowhere,but that doesn't mean he won't be attracted to power tho lmao knowing him, he most deffo would. (Also all this doesn't mean i mind obsessed Tom fics, bc vee obsessing over harry is canon so who's to say he doesn't end up doing the same lmao).

And also the headcanon of Harry not realizing Tom is suspicious? Guys, this is Harry Potter; Mr I doubt everything and anything. Mr I fought of imperio because it felt too good to be true and my mind went sus alert. You think Harry wouldn't see Tom Riddle being so nice and so perfect and won't feel wait a second? Give my boy some credit, I beg. We've been shown his sixth sense being right, over and over again. And he has trust issues.

So, food for thought? Neither of them would do the grovelling and pining (they might in some specific circumstances but not in your average fics where they are doing their things without crossing paths), rather they are gonna do the falling once faith crash them together so hard; they end up getting a concussion (love).

Also adding this: I feel like they will fall for each other, no matter what and it will be not be because of faith or whatever but rather because of how much they can learn from each other and how perfectly they fit together. It will not be some random feelings, no. It will be push and pull, it'll be you get me, it will be I know you'll always have my back and it will be all the broken furnitures because they're stubborn. It will be challenging each other to be the better version of themselves.

Tom, who knows he is the best; can teach Harry some things about CONFIDENCE and he could teach Harry that he's enough. Harry, who knows a thing or two about humility, can drag him back when Tom tries to be Icarus and he can ground Tom when it's needed. Harry and Tom can both challenge each other and learn from each other. Harry will never suffocate Tom, and neither will he let Tom suffocate him and to me that's what make their dynamic special. I love them, okay — I hate it when people go; yeah he will be the one who'll just pine away or there's no way he (one of them) will fall for him etc. Let them be down bad for each other. thanks. It's not a competition.

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marquisecubey · 11 months

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a late afternoon in september

#cubey's art #persona 3 #kotone shiomi #minako arisato #hamuko arisato #persona 3 femc #akihiko sanada #akiham #persona 3 fanart #digital art #art #illustration #digital illustration #I still love the composition on this one so much #haha no babe don’t turn away from the dark tangled lower corner of the frame to stare at the last fleeting glimpses of sunlight ur 2 sexy #I also recently went back and altered the colours on this bad boy so if it looks slightly different from its twitter counterpart thats why!#shout out to kacey musgraves' album golden hour because I realized the other day that I listened to it a lot while drawing this

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luxaofhesperides · 2 months

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Please continue ghostlights multiverse constant au with Earth 0 having a happy ending together cuz halfa Danny is impossible to really kill anymore pleaseeeeeee 😭

(part one)

Danny is destined to die once he meets Duke. He knows this; he’s seen how their friendship leads to Danny’s death is so many different lives. There’s no doubt in his mind that the only way to ensure Danny lives a long life is to stay away from him.

Which is why the universe decides to make Danny pop up constantly. It’s clearly trying to get him killed, and Duke refuses to let that happen!

It starts innocently enough. They cross paths briefly at a bus stop, bumping into each other as Duke gets off the bus and Danny moves to go on it. He recognizes Danny immediately, feels a little spark go through him when their shoulders brush against each other. Something in him says I know you. I miss you.

He pulls back a step and offers a quick apology. Danny waves it off and looks at him as through searching for something. He opens his mouth to say something, but Duke can feel the threads of fate tighten around their throats and hurries away.

He waits until he hears the bus pull away, then glances behind him to watch it go before he slows down to a normal walking pace and heads for the mall where he planned to meet his friends.

Duke’s heart pounds in his chest. He can’t get Danny’s eyes out of his head; so painfully blue, so nostalgic, so doomed.��

This is for the best, he reminds himself. This is so Danny can live. That’s all that matters.

The moment’s passed, anyways. They’re still strangers, and they’ll stay that way.

He takes another minute to collect himself, then plasters on a smile and heads into the mall to find his friends.

The next six times, Duke has to save Danny as the Signal, appearing just in time to stop a mugging, an armed store robbery, a car trying to run Danny over, and fighting off Man-Bat who, for some reason, took one look at Danny and went fuck this guy, actually.

Duke is stressed. He’s Stressed™ and if anyone tries to take out Danny again he’s just going to start screaming.

For whatever reason, the universe is just out to get Danny now that they’ve run into each other once. Duke’s life is a cosmic joke, and he’s stuck in the center of it all waiting for the moment comedy turns into tragedy.

It’s gotten to the point that Duke expects to find Danny in some sort of dangerous situation as soon as he starts patrol. He’s starting to dread going out, but he needs to; Gotham needs the Signal to keep the streets safe during the day, and Danny needs Duke to save his incredibly unlucky ass nearly every single day.

The first two hours go fine. He stops an armed robbery and a car jacking, chases away some creeps from the working girls, and gets a blueberry muffin from the bakery that’s been around forever, on account of the old woman running it thinking he’s a good lad who needs to eat more.

Duke begins to hope that he’ll have a quiet patrol. He begins to hope that Danny is safe and not in mortal danger for once.

His hopes are immediately dashed when he spots Danny on a rooftop, standing way too close to the edge.

Heart in his throat, Duke crosses the space between them in an instant, slingshotting himself forward through shadows.

He intends to pull Danny back, to say something, to try and shake some common sense into him so he actually has a chance at living a long life. Duke doesn’t get to do any of that; as soon as he steps out of the shadows, Danny turns to face him with a tired smile.

“There you are,” he says. “I knew you’d find me.”

“What? I—listen, can you step back from the ledge for me?”

Danny steps back, keeping his eyes on Duke. He doesn’t seem to mind that the Signal is so hesitant in this moment, keeping his distance.

“I wasn’t sure at first,” he says, as if he never stopped talking, “But I had a feeling. You’ve probably had it too, right? It’s why we keep being pushed together, and why my luck has been so awful ever since I came to Gotham.”

He knows, is the first thing Duke things. But how can that be? If Danny knows about all those other universes where they had each other, then he knows how it ends. If he knows, then he should be trying to keep his distance from both Duke and the Signal before he gets killed.

“It’s you under that mask, isn’t it? Duke.”

The way Danny says his name brings him back to all those other lives where they had each other from the start. He sounds so sure of himself, as if he’s always known Duke.

It’s only when Duke says, “How?” that Danny falters, fear briefly crossing his expression before it settles into something more neutral. His fingers begin to pull at the cuffs of his jacket sleeves, confidence melting away.

“Do you… not know me?”

The quietness of his voice, the fragility of it, breaks Duke’s heart. He doesn’t stop to think before he answers, “I know you. Of course I know you, Danny.” Then he blinks, shakes his head, and says, “Wait. No. I know of you. We haven’t really met this life.”

“It’s the dreams, right? They make things so confusing.”

“You’ve been getting them too?”

“I may be the cause of them,” Danny says with a wince. “Due to some, uh… ghostly magic shenanigans. It wasn’t on purpose! But it is kinda my fault.”

Ghostly magic? Okay, sure, why not. Who is Duke to judge the bizarre things that exist in their world. He has superpowers and his biological father is an evil immortal. He has absolutely no leg to stand on when it cames to the weird and the unexpected. Might as well roll with it, since this is his life now.

Besides, there’s more important things to focus on, such as: “Okay, so, just to be on the same page, you’ve been getting the same dreams as me, yeah? The ones where you always die? Those dreams?”

And Danny, very casually, answers, “Yeah.”

“Dude,” Duke says, pained, “If you know that meeting me leads to your death, then why are you seeking me out?!”

“What?”

“Have you not seen how you die young in every single universe? Because I have! And it’s messing me up!”

Danny blinks at him, then looks guilty, hunching in on himself. “Oh, yeah. That. Uh, yeah, so…” he trails off and bites his lip, gaze kept downwards so he doesn’t have to meet Duke’s eyes. “I do die young always, yeah, but it’s totally not your fault! I just do that!”

“You just do that,” Duke repeats, pained.

“Yeah. I just die young.”

“Is this somehow not a problem for you.”

To his immense displeasure, Danny has the nerve to shrug and say, “Eh, not really.”

“Danny.”

“It’s okay! Really!” Danny says, a little frantically, “And also it has nothing to do with you! None of my deaths have been your fault, it’s just a thing that happens to me!” And then, in a quiet, rushed mumble, “Also I already died in this universe so it’s fine.”

A strangled sound bursts out of Duke’s throat as he tries very hard not to start yelling. He puts his head in his hands and holds back a heavy sigh because the boy of his literal dreams is stressing him out so much he’s about to dissolve into ashes and ascend to a higher realm where he has no worries.

Unfortunately, he’s not quite there yet, so Duke has to deal with living in the reality where Danny admits he already died because that’s just what he does: die young.

Which is, apparently, not Duke’s fault at all. Cool.

Cool cool cool. He’s definitely not going to have a breakdown about this.

A hand gently tugs on his wrist, making him lift his head to meet Danny’s worried gaze. “Hey, you alright? Do you wanna sit down for a minute?”

And you know what? Duke does want to sit down for a minute. He’s earned it.

He nods, and Danny carefully guides him back to where the roof access door is, so they can sit with their backs against something and be away from the edge where curious eyes might spot them. It feels easy, practiced, as if they’ve done this a thousand times before instead of just now having their first conversation. Their lives have been linked and twisted together, though only for a short time before death takes Danny away.

He knows Danny, despite how illogical it is, and that’s what makes him take off his helmet and exposure his face to the world.

Danny knows him too, after all.

There is no hiding from someone who is meant to be in his life.

Danny’s smiling softly when he turns to look at him. “Hey, Duke. It’s good to see you properly. Is it weird to say that I’ve missed you even though we’ve technically never met in this life?”

“Nah,” he replies, “I missed you too. Please stop scaring me like that.”

“I make no promises. Expect for this: dying won’t take me away from you in this life. I’ve got it handled.”

“I don’t… I don’t think that’s someone anyone can have handled.”

“I’ve got it handled,” Danny repeats firmly.

Duke shakes his head with a small laugh. He got so caught up in the guilt of leading to Danny’s death, of being unable to save him, of losing him in every universe, that he forgot how stubborn Danny is.

It is a weight off his chest, though. To know that it wasn’t his fault. To know that the worst has already come to pass long before they met in this universe, so they don’t have to fear the future together.

“So,” he says, “Tell me more about these magical ghostly shenanigans?”

“At least wait until the second date for personal questions,” Danny jokes.

“Okay. Wanna grab dinner tonight?”

It’s nice to see that Danny blushes easily in this universe too. “Isn’t that moving a little fast?”

“We’ve been dreaming about a bunch of other universes where we’re together. We know each other even though we don’t know each other. We’re well past moving fast, dude.”

“Yeah, that’s fair,” Danny nods. “Alright. Dinner tonight, then. Take me to the best place for breakfast foods in Gotham. I’ve been craving pancakes all week.”

“Sure, I can do that. Mind giving me your number so I can figure out where to pick you up from?”

Danny nods and begins patting his pockets in search of… something. Duke means to grab his phone and hand it to Danny to get his number, but he’s quickly distracted as Danny gives up on his pockets and shoves a hand directly into his own chest.

Ghostly magic shenanigans. This is probably part of it? Danny doesn’t look alarmed by this at all, so Duke rolls with it and shoves away his shock at the sight.

“Aha!” Danny holds up a sharpie in triumph. He sure did pull that straight out of his ribcage. Duke is so chill with it.

He lets Danny take hold of his arm, removing a wrist gauntlet so he can write on the skin. The cool ink of the sharpie makes him shiver, but otherwise, he stays still. Danny writes carefully, in smooth movements. It doesn’t take more than a few seconds, then he pulls the sharpie away and blows a surprisingly cold breath against Duke’s wrist to help the ink dry faster.

“There we go,” he says with a smile. “Let me know when you wanna have our date, okay? I’m free whenever, so don’t worry about accommodating me or anything.

“I’ll text you once I’m ready,” Duke agrees. He stands up, looking over the numbers written on his wrist. He memorizes them, then puts his wrist gauntlet back on. It’s about time for him to get back to being the Signal, as much as he hates to leave Danny here when they’ve finally been able to have a quiet moment to themselves.

“I’ll see you later, then.” Danny hesitates, then leans forward and presses a quick, chaste kiss against Duke’s cheek. Duke blinks at him, stunned, his heart skipping a beat.

He doesn’t get the chance to return the gesture; Danny flushes red, backs up a few steps with a shy grin, and says, “Okay, bye Duke! Stay safe out there!” And then he’s gone, blinking out of sight, and it’s only his meta powers that let him see a faint wispy outline where Danny was.

It moves, floating up in the air, then flies away like smoke in the breeze.

Ah, Duke thinks, Ghostly. He’s a ghost. I’ll worry about that later.

His fingers brush against the spot where Danny kissed him. Then he puts his helmet back on and focuses on swinging through the streets of Gotham, ready for anything.

The sooner he gets done with patrol, the better, after all. He needs all his focus to do that so he can start getting ready for his date with Danny, the literal boy of his dreams.

This time, this life, this universe, they’re gonna do it right. They’ll make up for all the time their other selves lost. They’ll cherish every minute together, one pancake date at a time.

And to think, it only took a couple dozen different lives to get here.

#ghostlights #dc x dp #dp x dc #dcxdp #dpxdc #prompt fill #my writing #the dreams were bc danny messed w magic stuff he found in the ghost zone #and since duke is so heavily involved in all the other lives he got involved in this one too #basically the magic being like oh u want ur boy? here he is!#dannys bad luck has nothing to do w magic tho he just lives like that lmao #thanks for the prompt!

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