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samgirl98 · 9 months

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Wail of the Silent 5/?

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TW: Mention of suicide

I would like to state that I know nothing about artificial voice boxes, but I do know the way I'm writing about them isn't accurate so please don't take it that way. Enjoy

Danny ate the best omelet he had ever had with gusto.

“Have you ever considered opening a diner?”

Jason smiled wryly.

You got that idea from an omelet? What if that’s the only thing I know how to make?

Danny read the notepad and laughed.

God, Jason thought, he has a nice laugh.

Danny smiled impishly at him. Fuck, Jason needed to learn how to control this new form of communication.

Amusement. You’re funny, amused. Amused.

Jason gave Danny the bird, trying not to blush.

“It’s okay. I think you’re cute, too.”

Jason’s blush deepened. He didn’t know what to do with Danny’s mild flirting.

Finish your food. I want to talk about this Spectra and how we’re gonna get her.

Danny sighed. Ancients, Jason was stubborn.

“Jason, she’s fed off you and caused you almost to kill yourself. Don’t try to deny it; I felt your emotions. Your core was screaming in pain. I don’t think it’s a good idea, especially since you don’t know how to control your core and emotions.”

Jason snarled silently.

Anger. No, I’m going. You can’t stop me—anger, determination, determination. You can’t stop me.

Calm, calm. I won’t stop you, Danny chirped (it was still weird to think about a human being chirping and Jason understanding.)

It was weirder still that Jason answered back in chirps, have to do it. I have to get my revenge. Please, please. I have TO!

“Ugh, fine. But first things first. I have to be completely honest with you. I accidentally found out you’re the Red Hood when searching for the ghost that was screaming; when searching for you.”

Jason got a fistful of Danny’s embarrassment. He couldn’t help but smile—finally, something to make fun of Danny for.

Danny felt Jason’s amusement. He saw Jason’s chest move as he gave silent laughs. The man signed something, but Danny couldn’t understand him. He sighed.

“I’m glad my suffering gives you pleasure,” Danny said petulantly.

Jason continued signing while he laughed.

“Seriously, dude, I don’t know sign language.”

Jason wiped invisible tears.

Amusement, fun. Happy. Happy.

This was the first time Danny had heard Jason with no negative emotions calling through his core. He was humming his happiness in full volume.

Fine. If Danny had to feel a little embarrassed for Jason to feel even a bit of amusement, well, Danny could (un)live with that.

Ancients, he had just met the other halfa, and Danny already wanted to make Jason happy.

Jason’s smile grew. Fuck, Danny had it bad.

I was trying to say that since you know, I’m gonna bring my helmet. I have an artificial voice box on it. It’ll make it easier to talk to you with it on.

Danny shrugged, “That’s up to you.”

Jason smirked and left Danny alone. Danny took time to look around the small living room. Either than the bookshelf full of well-worn books, the place didn’t look lived in. There was no TV, only a couch and coffee table. No photos, no decorations, no plants. It almost looked like a model for an apartment brochure. The kitchen was a little more well-used with state-of-the-art appliances.

“Okay,” a mechanized voice said behind him, “Let’s talk.”

Danny turned to see Jason in the red helmet he had seen the night before. Danny couldn’t see the other halfa’s expressions, but considering how unused Jason was communicating with his core, Danny knew that wouldn’t be a problem for him.

“What does this Spectra want?”

“In a nutshell? To be young and beautiful forever. The way she achieves that is by feeding off others’ misery. She posed as my school psychiatrist my freshman year and fed off me and my whole school.”

Jason stayed silent, waiting for Danny to continue.

“She’s upped the ante now. Before, she fed off people's misery, but now she’s causing them to kill themselves. I found two of them who hung themselves in Amity Park, where I’m from, and the other died because of the overwhelming sadness. Unfortunately, I couldn’t save them.” Danny clenched his fists.

“When she found out I was after her, she fled Amity Park and came here. It makes sense; even the ghosts and shades here are miserable, let alone those who live here. It’s a buffet for her. I can’t find her, though. I felt her earlier, but it’s so weird because I could tell she wasn’t near; my ghost sense hadn’t gone off.”

“Okay,” Jason said, “That’s a lot to take in. So, this bitch was feeding off me last night?”

“Yeah, I couldn’t get to her before she left, though.”

“Lucky for you, Batman raised me; I can help you look for her.”

Danny frowned, still not liking that Jason would be close to Spectra.

“Hey, none of that. I deserve to get my revenge.”

“Yeah, I get that. Besides, if you don’t come with me, you might go alone and get in trouble.”

Amusement—yeah, I will—amusement.

Danny rolled his eyes.

“Okay, if we’re gonna do this together, I have to give you a crash course on ghosts. First things first, ghosts are made of ectoplasm,” Danny raised the palm of his hand and called for ectoplasm to form.

The effect was immediate. Jason got off his chair as far as he could from Danny.

Fear, his core yelled out, anger, not right—fear, anger. Evil.

Danny made the ectoball disappear and put his hands up.

“Jason? What’s wrong?”

Jason took a deep breath that the artificial voice box didn’t pick up and said, “Give me a second. I have bad experiences with that color and…” Jason trailed off.

“You’ve seen ectoplasm before, and it wasn’t a good experience, was it?”

Fear, scared, drowning—it will drown me again—fear, get it away from me. Anger. Anger. FURY! Madness. Rage

Danny said nothing, letting Jason deal with his emotions. It’d be good practice for when they deal with Spectra.

Eventually, Jason calmed down, but Danny could still feel the anger simmering under the surface.

Jason didn’t come to sit by Danny again. He was wary of the other man. He crossed his arms and silently let Danny continue.

“Sorry about that. I didn’t think it would affect you.”

Jason waved the apology away.

“Continue,” he said curtly.

“Well, ectoplasm is what every ghost is made of. It is imprinted emotions given form. A core develops deep in the ectoplasm. The core is the brain and heart of a ghost. The only organ a ghost has, the ectoplasm protects the core. That’s how we’re communicating, by the way. Your core processes your feelings into chirps and hums. The hums are raw emotions; the chirps are kind of like human words.”

Jason touched the middle of his chest. It felt warm.

“Yeah, that’s where your core is. It isn’t fully developed. It’s almost as if it has been stunted in its growth. Actually, the ectoplasm in you is…dirty? Corrupted?” Danny shrugged, “It’s probably why you haven’t been able to transform. Have you noticed any powers?”

“No,” Jason answered. Of course, he was dirty. (Only a corrupt person would kill.) Jason felt sadness and rejection settle deep in his bones. He always knew something was wrong with him, but to have it confirmed that it was inside and settled in his body? Well, it certainly hit hard.

Acceptance, calm, calm—I accept you for who you are.

Why?

He looked up and wished his helmet wasn’t in the way so Danny could see his face. Why was he helping Jason?

“When I was looking for you, a bunch of shades and ghosts surrounded your place. They didn’t have much strength to come and help, but they asked me to help you. You want to know what they called you?”

“What,” he asked. His mechanical voice couldn’t pick up the emotions behind his question. Jason knew Danny could tell what he was feeling.

“They called you the avenger of the dead. The protector of the living. I’m more inclined to trust the dead’s judgment than the living’s.”

Jason felt like crying. There was someone who wasn’t condemning him, wasn’t calling him a killer. Not that he wasn’t, but it was nice to be acknowledged that he was doing something good. At least the dead appreciated him.

“You don’t know what I’ve done,” Jason said, “how can you just accept me?”

Jason felt the sting of betrayal from his family, his father. What if Danny did the same thing eventually?

Danny looked at Jason softly. The other halfa had suffered so much. It’s no wonder Spectra had latched on to Jason so quickly.

Danny let his emotions encircle Jason.

Acceptance, acceptance, calm—it’s okay.

“I know I’m a stranger; there’s no reason to trust me, but I want to help you. I promise.

“I believe you,” Jason answered. He took off his helmet so Danny could see Jason’s expression. Jason looked up at Danny’s shockingly blue eyes and saw the same thing that Danny surrounded him with. Acceptance.

Jason didn’t know if he just wanted to believe or why he latched on to Danny so quickly, but he hoped it wasn’t a mistake.

Danny sighed. He so wanted to touch Jason’s (handsome) face, but that would be too fast. Like Jason, Danny was also confused about how he could’ve latched on to a virtual stranger so quickly. Maybe it was because they were both lonely, or being halfas could’ve been something to do with it, but Danny wasn’t complaining.

“Come on, let’s continue our talk.”

Danny got Jason’s hand and led him to the couch. Jason couldn’t help but blush.

“Anything you want to ask before I continue,” Danny asked as he got the notepad and sat on the couch. He waited for Jason to do the same.

Jason shook his head no. He didn’t feel like putting the helmet on or writing, but he still took the pad and pen.

Jason pointed to himself and then put his finger over his mouth.

Danny smiled; he should learn sign language. Even if he left Gotham, he would like to keep in touch with Jason, and the other man wouldn’t be able to communicate with his core if Danny was far away.

“Now, where was I? Oh, yeah, cores. There are different types of cores. Fire cores, shadow ones, ice ones, like the one I have.”

Jason cocked his head to the side; is that why the apartment was colder?

“I don’t know what type you have, but it seems to depend on how a ghost usually dies. I’m the exception, not the rule.”

Jason wanted to ask how Danny died, but something in him told him it would be wrong to do so.

“I can feel your curiosity. I won’t be able to talk about it. Also, don’t go around asking ghosts how they died; it’s rude.”

Jason was glad he kept his mouth (ha!) shut.

“Next, there are obsessions. An obsession is a ghost's reason for being, the thing that keeps them tethered. Spectra’s obsession is being young and powerful. I know of another ghost that wants to be remembered and hypnotizes people through her music. Another one is obsessed with playing games. They could be deadly sometimes. The point is that obsessions equal staying in the mortal and infinite realms.”

What’s yours?

Danny read it and got pensive. Jason hoped it wasn’t taboo to ask about obsessions.

“Mine are protecting and space.”

There can be more than one?

“Yeah, I mean, Spectra has two, too. Youth, power. The way she obtains it can be deadly, though.”

Jason pondered Danny’s words. He wondered what his obsession was. Should he instinctively know?

“Don’t worry. I’m here to help.”

Jason smiled, grateful.

Thanks, it’s a lot to think about.

“Yeah, you should’ve seen when I first got my powers. I was a mess. Freshman year sucked ass.”

Jason’s brow creased, and then his eyes widened. Freshman year, Danny would’ve been what, fourteen? Did he die at fourteen?

Sadness, anger.

“Hey, what’s wrong?”

Jason shook his head, not wanting to make Danny feel bad.

Danny sighed and put his hands under his chin, his elbows resting on his knees.

“I came here for Spectra but have no idea how to find her.”

Jason looked at Danny.

I have an idea where she could show up.

____

Lady Gotham felt her favorite knight’s emotions as if they were hers.

She smiled; Jason felt lighter, and it was all thanks to the other halfa. She would make sure that the other halfa was under her protection.

She watched as Bruce Wayne stepped on a puddle she didn’t think to show him.

Now she had to think of ways to help Jason and Danny.

#wail of the silent #tw: suicide mention #dc x dp #dp x dc

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