Hello everyone. Nami || (she/her) || 🇹🇭 || Draw & Fiction || nice to meet you all (^^) Reblog a lot. If you don't want to see my post, you can block me
Jason: I just heard horrible news. The Great Gotham Theater is in danger of closing!
Bruce: Yes, sadly, not many people are interested in watching plays anymore, at least not at the local level.
Jason: We have to do something!
Bruce: I could buy and personally fund it-
Jason: I'm doing a car wash.
Bruce: There is no need for that. I have money-
Jason: A shirtless carwash.
Bruce: I-
Jason: Dick! What are you doing this Saturday, and are you willing to be shirtless for attention and money?!
Dick from down the hall: I'm free and ALWAYS
Jason: Okay, I'll call Roy and Wally. Who else do I know who looks good shirtless- Danny! With him, we'll make thousands in an hour!
Bruce:.... This was just a ploy to see Daniel Fenton shirtless, wasn't it? I know you're not listening to me anymore, but I'm disappointed, Jason. It's the theater. That place is sacred. It means the world to Alfred
Jason wants to see shirtless Danny but doesn’t want to share the view. So he takes Danny to Wayne’s manor and tell him they will wash ALL of Bruce’s cars in order to earn the money (from Bruce of course) to help the theater. And of course the only way to avoid sweat and wet clothes is do it in short and shirtless. He even makes sure the day he invite Danny is the day everyone but Alfred and Dick (he wants to kick him out but can’t) aren’t home. Jason think himself as a genius. He soon regrets his actions.
Jason: Tell me why all of you laying here, sunbath while admiring Danny, *whisper* my future husband *whisper*, when he is shirtless and looking hot as hell? Don’t think I didn’t see where your eyes at even when you all wear shaded glasses. Don’t you all have work to do?
Tim: *still hold his papers upside down but look like he is focusing on it but he just eyeing Danny’s butt few seconds ago* I works from home today. And some of there are my cars, so I think I have a right to enjoy watching those. They look fine as hell, and I am talking about the cars.
Dick: *who share the plan with Jason but now too distracted from hiding his attention, on Danny’s abs* Sorry Jay, I just want to relax a little bit then I will join the washing with him,.. I mean with you two latter
Damian: *doesn’t hide that he is staring Danny head to toe repeatedly* School blew up so I stay at the manor this week. Those cars you used to chasing your crush are dad’s possessions so it will be mine. So I have the right to check him anytime i want. I talking about the car with dark layout and blue lining right there, he is my favorite
Duke:*haven’t met Danny before but what to know why Jason so obsessed with him so he fakes a sick note and ditch school. Now he thinks he kind of understands it* Well, I didn’t see it coming. Not every day you met your brother’s massive crush in a short only and find it hot as hell. Sorry Jason, but I think i still have a chance against you
Jason: *turning to Bruce* Do something about your sons or there will be blood dripping right here and right now
Bruce: *laying in the chair with his sun, looking up to the sun* be patient with your brothers. It not really the fault for having a same taste as you. But to be fair, I think I should adopt him to avoid all the conflicts. Don’t you agree?
All of Bruce’s sons: NO!
Danny: *coming in front of them, shirtless, short clinging to his ass after getting wet, with water dripping from his hair, his neck, lining around his abs and hips to his thighs and ankles* well I think I have wash all of your cars, mister Wayne. Is there anything else i could do?
All of the Waynes look at him breathless for few seconds, take a shaded glasses away from their eyes at the same time to observe clearly.
Bruce: Well, it is a brilliant work you have done, Danny. Thank you very much, let go r…
Dick: *say in before Bruce finishes his sentence* Do you mind to washing a motorcycle?
Tim: I just bought some new cars, they will arrive 1 hour later, don’t you mind stay with me and choose the car you wanna wash?
Damian: TT. Tell me what car you wanna wash and I will buy it for you
Duke: Danny just wash all of Bruce’s cars, he might be tired now. Wanna take a rest, my room is empty now
Danny: Thank you all, but I don’t mind wash few more cars. You know, I have been offered to paid per car I wash so I want to wash some more to have a little extra for helping the theater. I really think it such a shame to shut off a place contributed so much artistic value like that.
Jason: *whispering* that why I crushing on him so much, he even do the extra work to helping the theater
Everyone else but Danny: Yes, anything for the theater
Dick: Ugh that fight totally screwed up my back. I'm gonna be feeling that for a week.
Tim: Want me to hook you up with Danny? He works miracles, you'll feel better in no time.
Dick, blushing: Thanks but I have no interest in escorts, and its kinda weird if two brothers call the same one.
Damian: Tsk, disgusting Drake.
Tim: Escorts? Wait do you think Danny is an escort?!
Bruce: Is he...not?
Tim: Danny is my massage therapist! He works for the elite because he's professional, and keeps his mouth shut about who he works for. He could be massaging Lex Luthor, or Oliver Queen as we speak and we would never know about it.
Dick, Bruce, and Damian: Oh.
Dick: Our bad.
Tim: Seriously- Wait, is this why, when we started dating, Kon told me he considered calling for escorts and prostitutes cheating? Who all did you tell about Danny being an escort?!
Bruce: Just the Kents, I'll, um, go clear up that misunderstanding.
Tim: You better because if that spreads it could ruin Mine and Danny's reputation! Especially Danny's due to his usual clientele!
Dick: We're sorry~
Timm: Seriously why didn't you just ask me?!
Dick: Because nobody knows how to communicate in this family!
Damian: You've been here long enough to figure that out, Drake.
Dead on Main is such a fun ship to me specifically because Jason Todd is a big boy but personally I headcannon that Danny is an even bigger boy. My trans king has two parents over six feet—he’s 6’5 at least and wrangling ghosts or sparring to get better at it a good 60% of the day (when he’s not doing kingly things). My guy is a monster.
So you know, stereotypes are stereotyping, bat fam figures when Jason mentions he’s seeing a boy that this boy is gonna be some local pretty boy—a lithe little thing with a heart of gold, as twinks tend to be.
Of course, Jason pulls up to the next charity gala with a death god who quite literally towers over the rest of the crowd on his arm and all hell breaks loose.
Tim won’t stand next to him because it makes him feel like an actual toddler. Bruce is having a hard time looking either of them in the eyes. Dick is completely intimidated for like the first time in his life and Danny is expertly dodging all his probing questions about gym regimen.
Everyone else thinks Danny’s the coolest ever, of course, but not before they take a few deep breaths to reconcile this very big, grungy boyfriend with the bright shiny twink they pictured in their heads.
I just want to add to this that in my perfect scenario Jazz (6’6) is still an inch taller than Danny (6’5) and Dan (6’9 or 6’10) is as tall as Jack if not taller. Dani is the shortest of the four of them at a solid 6’1.
The four of them standing next to each other, they look totally normal. Throw Tim in there? They look like man-eating giants. Gods. Actual beasts.
They are impossibly intimidating, that is until one of the three Dan’s instigates a stupid sibling fight with the other two and Jazz has to hold them apart like an overworked single mom.
Danny didn't think that falling through a natural portal would result in him stumbling upon a cult. Or that said cult currently was busy with "punishing" a small five year old child.
Really there was only one thing he could do and accidental kidnapping usually happened to him as the kidnapee not the kidnapper.
Well, there was a first time for everything. Taking the small child with him into the infinite realms may have been a panic reaction, and he may have accidentally summoned Frostbite to check over the boy.
Thankfully the kid, Damian he said his name was, was liminal and fine with healing in Danny's castle before Danny would bring him to his father. According to Damian his father didn't like the cult ("It's the league of assasins... not a cult.")
To be honest he was very much out of depth and so very confused when he had to find his way to the crime ridden city of Gotham and then somehow get the attention of the bat vigilante. Batman was tall and very much as scary as a ghost.
Damian looked out from under King Phantom's cloak of stars and galaxies and took in the person who was said to be his father.
"You are shorter than I thought..."
"Hn." Damian turned to look up at the being that had helped him heal and taken care of him for the last two months.
"I have decided. King Phantom shall be my father from now on!" Damian proceeded to hide back behind the being and into the spacious cloak.
"Uhm... I don't think that's how that works bud." King Phantom said, he was interrupted by laughter. Glancing past the being Damian saw Batman and Robin, as well as Nightwing, the last two were laughing while Batman looked slumped.
"I have decided King Phantom is my father, so he is!"
"This is gold!" Nightwing was now struggling to stand up straight.
"I... uh... I'm not sure what to do in this situation?" King Phantom said, Damian leaned forward a bit to glare at him.
"Take me back to your castle father!" Nightwing seemed to struggle with breathing, he was now wheezing.
Danny would like to say for the record that he wasn't prepared for these things! Somehow that strange situation ended with him in the batmobile on the way to the batcave so that Damian would hopefully want to stay with his actual father.
Damian should 100% end up calling both of them “father” and refuse to call either anything else.
Whenever he needs to differentiate it would be funny if he called them like “Father Wayne” and “Father Fenton” because it makes it sound like he’s getting raised by two pastors.
Realistically he’d probably just call one father in English and the other father in a different language like Arabic or even ghost speak (even though that never existed in the show it’s a fun concept to me) or some dead language for Danny.
But… I live for Father Wayne and Father Fenton and the possible chaos that would sow within the family. Especially if they ended up together and got married and now they’re back to square one cause you can’t have two Father Waynes running around.
Could you imagine the following scenario:
Character A: Doesn’t it ever get confusing?
Damian: No, it’s a perfectly serviceable system.
Character A: What if you want to call for only one of them?
Damian: Usually whichever one is closer comes, and if the one that comes can’t solve the problem he’ll call other father.
“Hello, Mr. Wayne. I’m calling on behalf of the Amity Park police department. I… god, there’s no easy way to say this. We found a dead body, and genetic tests identified you as the next of kin.”
A mixture of icy fear and confusion pooled in Bruce’s chest, and he felt himself lean against a wall for support. “What? Who? But, Damian was just here!”
“Don’t worry, it’s not him.”
“He’s the only blood relative I have.”
The officer sighed. “I dunno what to tell you. We don’t know. Kid was dead for months before we dug ‘im up, so identifying any other details towards his previous identity has been… difficult. We don’t even have any missing persons reports it could match. Quite frankly, we were hoping you’d know something, ‘cause we’ve been coming up blank.”
“I will,” Bruce rushed out unthinkingly, his mind still caught up on the word ‘kid’.
“What?”
“I’ll help however I can. Amity Park, you said? Where is that? I’ll book a flight right away."
“No, really, sir. I appreciate it, but you don’t need to do that. No offense, Mr Wayne, but you’re not a forensic analyst.”
The words ‘yes I am’ balanced on the tip of his tongue, but he couldn’t say them. Batman was the detective, not Brucie Wayne. But Batman didn’t have any reason to travel so far afield to investigate a single dead kid, so Bruce Wayne would have to do.
AKA "Officer Dick Grayson finds out he has a 13-year old son. It's too bad Dick only finds out because the coroner's office calls him." DPxDC Prompt idea! (TW: Mentions of child death. Danny is only half-dead, don't worry.)
John Doe: Approximately 13 years of age, black hair, blue eyes, 5'1, relation to Richard John Grayson. Cause of death unknown.
Dick never expected to be a father, much less... like this. The boy is so small, close to Damian's physique, but seemingly so much more fragile where he's laid out on the metal gurney. The medical examiner graciously allowed Dick a few moments alone in the morgue with his boy. And now that Dick's looking, he can see the resemblance. Curly black hair, thick eyebrows, that curved nose. Dick can see bits of his mother, his father, himself, in this kid. There's a little divot in his cheek that Dick is sure would've been a dimple if the kid smiled wide enough, just like his own.
The kid, John - and God, that's his Dad's name, too - is wearing the same street clothes he was brought in with. A well-worn grey hoodie, baggy jeans, and sneakers. He didn't even have anything with him - no phone, wallet, keys, nothing to identify him other than the DNA results which matched him to Dick.
Gently, Dick brushes the tangle of curls away from John's face.
"Spoczywaj w pokoju." His voice is tight with grief. Being a police officer in Bludhaven means he's seen his share of violence, being Nightwing even more so, but the death of a kid is hard to swallow. But this isn't just any kid. This is his kid. His kid, who Dick should've been there for. First steps, first words, first everything. (It's like Jason all over again. Dick wasn't good enough. He didn't know, didn't save him, couldn't-)
"Um. This is awkward."
Dick jerks back, accidentally slamming his knee against the leg of the gurney while his foot skids against the floor, a loud squeaking sound overlapping with Dick's own muffled cursing. Suddenly, Dick's on the floor looking up at the definitely-not-dead-kid sitting up on the gurney. He's sheepishly thumbing at the strand of hair Dick had pushed away from his face earlier. There's a pinkish flush tinging his cheeks and ears. So different, so alive, compared to the rigor mortis-blue color he was moments ago.
"What... How? You-," He's trying to piece together what the hell is happening while the kid - his kid - swings his legs over the gurney. He winces and stretches out his legs as if... stiff. (He was more than just stiff, the kid was dead. The medical examiner said he had no pulse, no brain activity, was likely dead for hours before being found. So how..?)
"Yeah, sorry. Sometimes, I-um. Sleep really hard? Uh. I'm Danny. Can I leave... or...?"
"Officer Grayson." Dick's muscle memory, his Robin training, takes over and the everything (grief, self-hatred, rage, devastation) compartmentalizes in his brain. "You were documented as deceased on site. We'll need to get you checked out at the ED and fill out some paperwork. We need to contact your... your parents."
Do you know? Dick desperately wants to say, do you know I'm your parent? Your dad? Another, angrier part of him wants to know just who Jo-Danny's guardians are so he can rip into them for letting their kid die. Because now that the emotions are tucked away, repressed deep down, Dick can reason Danny is probably a meta of some kind. Maybe with some sort of super-healing ability.
Except Danny looks more panicked by this, hands coming up as if to placate Dick. And then he's pointing behind Dick with a dramatic gasp. Dick whips around, hand automatically going to his shoulder where his escrima sticks usually are, only to see... nothing. He turns back around... only to see nothing. Danny's gone. His son-.
(Danny edges around the cop, turning intangible as he slips through the door of the morgue. He flies haphazardly until he's a couple blocks from the hospital and finds his way to the bus station. Ancients. Who knew falling asleep on the bus would cause such a nightmare? Sure, he looks a little dead when he's asleep and maybe he stops breathing, but people in Amity were nice enough not to call EMS on him every time he takes a nap. Now he has to find a bus from Bludhaven to back Gotham. Distantly, Danny sees a flicker of a light in the sky, kind of shaped like a demented bat... On second thought, maybe he'll get an Uber.)
AKA "Officer Dick Grayson finds out he has a 13-year old son. It's too bad Dick only finds out because the coroner's office calls him." DPxDC Prompt idea! (TW: Mentions of child death. Danny is only half-dead, don't worry.)
John Doe: Approximately 13 years of age, black hair, blue eyes, 5'1, relation to Richard John Grayson. Cause of death unknown.
Dick never expected to be a father, much less... like this. The boy is so small, close to Damian's physique, but seemingly so much more fragile where he's laid out on the metal gurney. The medical examiner graciously allowed Dick a few moments alone in the morgue with his boy. And now that Dick's looking, he can see the resemblance. Curly black hair, thick eyebrows, that curved nose. Dick can see bits of his mother, his father, himself, in this kid. There's a little divot in his cheek that Dick is sure would've been a dimple if the kid smiled wide enough, just like his own.
The kid, John - and God, that's his Dad's name, too - is wearing the same street clothes he was brought in with. A well-worn grey hoodie, baggy jeans, and sneakers. He didn't even have anything with him - no phone, wallet, keys, nothing to identify him other than the DNA results which matched him to Dick.
Gently, Dick brushes the tangle of curls away from John's face.
"Spoczywaj w pokoju." His voice is tight with grief. Being a police officer in Bludhaven means he's seen his share of violence, being Nightwing even more so, but the death of a kid is hard to swallow. But this isn't just any kid. This is his kid. His kid, who Dick should've been there for. First steps, first words, first everything. (It's like Jason all over again. Dick wasn't good enough. He didn't know, didn't save him, couldn't-)
"Um. This is awkward."
Dick jerks back, accidentally slamming his knee against the leg of the gurney while his foot skids against the floor, a loud squeaking sound overlapping with Dick's own muffled cursing. Suddenly, Dick's on the floor looking up at the definitely-not-dead-kid sitting up on the gurney. He's sheepishly thumbing at the strand of hair Dick had pushed away from his face earlier. There's a pinkish flush tinging his cheeks and ears. So different, so alive, compared to the rigor mortis-blue color he was moments ago.
"What... How? You-," He's trying to piece together what the hell is happening while the kid - his kid - swings his legs over the gurney. He winces and stretches out his legs as if... stiff. (He was more than just stiff, the kid was dead. The medical examiner said he had no pulse, no brain activity, was likely dead for hours before being found. So how..?)
"Yeah, sorry. Sometimes, I-um. Sleep really hard? Uh. I'm Danny. Can I leave... or...?"
"Officer Grayson." Dick's muscle memory, his Robin training, takes over and the everything (grief, self-hatred, rage, devastation) compartmentalizes in his brain. "You were documented as deceased on site. We'll need to get you checked out at the ED and fill out some paperwork. We need to contact your... your parents."
Do you know? Dick desperately wants to say, do you know I'm your parent? Your dad? Another, angrier part of him wants to know just who Jo-Danny's guardians are so he can rip into them for letting their kid die. Because now that the emotions are tucked away, repressed deep down, Dick can reason Danny is probably a meta of some kind. Maybe with some sort of super-healing ability.
Except Danny looks more panicked by this, hands coming up as if to placate Dick. And then he's pointing behind Dick with a dramatic gasp. Dick whips around, hand automatically going to his shoulder where his escrima sticks usually are, only to see... nothing. He turns back around... only to see nothing. Danny's gone. His son-.
(Danny edges around the cop, turning intangible as he slips through the door of the morgue. He flies haphazardly until he's a couple blocks from the hospital and finds his way to the bus station. Ancients. Who knew falling asleep on the bus would cause such a nightmare? Sure, he looks a little dead when he's asleep and maybe he stops breathing, but people in Amity were nice enough not to call EMS on him every time he takes a nap. Now he has to find a bus from Bludhaven to back Gotham. Distantly, Danny sees a flicker of a light in the sky, kind of shaped like a demented bat... On second thought, maybe he'll get an Uber.)
Alfred: Who is that? *points to Danny staring from the dark corner of Bruce's room*
Bruce: You can see him too!?
Alfred:.....I'm afraid to ask this, but what do you mean by that Young Master?
Bruce: I found him standing in the school's gym showers, the one rumored to be haunted, and he just started following me around when we made eye contact. No one else can see him, though, so I've been ignoring him.
Alfred: I do not like that. How long ago was this?
Bruce: I think about a month now.
Alfred: You were seeing a person no one else could see that was following you around and didn't tell anyone?
Bruce: Of course not. That's how you get a free room in Arkham.
Alfred: Touche. Has he spoken to you?
Bruce: Sometimes. He whispers really low and fast, so I can't really hear him. He prefers to stare mostly. Every once in a while he likes to cuddle.
Alfred: I really don't like that last part. He can touch you?
Bruce: He likes to hold onto me when I sleep. He'll hold my hand on a regular night, but whenever I have nightmares, he climbs into my bed and hug me.
Alfred: I thought you were ignoring him?
Bruce: I don't acknowledge him pass a nod. I haven't even given him a name.
Danny appearing by Bruce side in a blur: *low fast paced whispers that sound like hisses*
Bruce not even looking at him: He's pretty though, don't you think?
Alfred: Frankly, Master Bruce, I think we need to call a priest.
Bruce: But who will hold me when I have nightmares?
Danny has never once blinked since meeting Bruce: *Leans on Bruce with a purr*
Okay but I’m gonna go on a left field tangent here and add to this.
What if it’s a somewhat soulmates au and soulmates are not like known knowledge but in the ghost zone it is. And this is why only Bruce could see Danny when no one else could because they are soulmates.
Add on top of this bad reveal Fentons and that’s why Danny was in Gotham, he was running.
So you have two very traumatized young teenagers both with different parent trauma meeting each other. And they are just on same wavelength with that and they’re soulmates so they automatically gonna jive with each other.
One is half dead and on the run from his parents and he’s injured to the point he can’t talk at the moment. So Danny goes invisible into a local schools shower and just hangs there cause it’s a good cover for random kid being in there plus it’s the less used one so yeah he’ll haunt it.
Then Bruce see him and Danny just follows him on instinct. Cause one Bruce could see him when he was invisible and two there’s just pull there Danny can’t explain but it’s comforting.
So now Bruce had this ghost/demon??? following him around but he doesn’t feel scared by it and is just assuming he’s hallucinating finally so he doesn’t really try and communicate with uit. Plus the hallucination is cute just off putting so it’s fine plus it comforts him.
Cue the whole thing with Alfred seeing him and Bruce realizing that nope that’s not a hallucination actually. So now they finally try and communicate with Danny.
And Danny at this point has just decided to stay with this other kid and keep him safe and comfort him as much he can. So what if he thinks Danny is not real? That’s even better cause it’ll keep anyone from finding him if the one person that can see him doesn’t tell anyone. Danny freaking out when Alfred sees him cause he didn’t realize he dropped the invisibility so panic mode is on.
Speed running through Bruce calming him down enough to start to actually communicate with Danny. They find out his tragic backstory and decide to let Danny stay and keep him safe. (Danny eventually gets his voice back but is still selectively mute some days)
So Danny and Bruce growing up together but Danny doing so just from the shadows cause he’s too scared to be seen in public. And everyone thinking Bruce is weird cause he talks to an imaginary friend but too scared to bully him about it cause weird things start happening to people that are mean to him (aka Danny haunts them). They also start to develop feelings for each other of a mutual crush during this time but they both got so much trauma and stuff going on neither ever tries to go anywhere with those feelings
Fast forward to Bruce leaving for his Batman training montage tour and having a big fight with Danny cause he doesn’t want Danny to come with him. And Danny does not take it well but Bruce leaves without telling him one night and Clockwork shows up soon after to tell Danny he’s got to go start doing Ghost King stuff or offers to mentor Danny or something (basically insert reason Danny has to go live in the Ghost Zone for a bit).
So Danny says bye to Alfred and just moves to the Ghost Zone cause he’s heart broken that Bruce abandoned him like that for the sake of his vengeance.
Fast forward again to when Bruce comes back to no Danny and Alfred has to tell him Danny left for another dimension with no idea if/when he’ll be back (time is weird in the ghost zone and he was very upset)
So now it’s Bruce’s turn to be heart broken but he moves forward with the Batman plan just hoping that someday Danny comes home or he figures out a way to contact/go to him.
And normal Batman story goes on with the Justice League - his kids - the whole 9 yards of all the stuff Batman goes through.
And it’s until after all of this Danny finally shows back up. (Make if funnier is it’s the JLD summoning him or just a random cult but the Batman face drops for just a sec when Bruce sees him cause he’s so in shock - his kids immediately clock that and start freaking out)
So now Bruce has the horrible fun time of explaining who Danny is to his kids and/or coworkers. And Danny is happy to see him but still salty about what happened and gives him the cold shoulder
Cue Bruce trying his best to win back Danny’s trust and maybe try and start dating him this time. Meanwhile his kids and friends are all shocked that Bruce and Alfred never told anyone about Danny but they’re also now trying to play wingman cause they’ve never seen Bruce act like that before.
Meanwhile Danny now fully aware of the soulmates thing is trying so hard to stay mad but is also worried that if he tells Bruce about soulmates he’s gonna take it wrong and be mad at him.
It’s just a back and forth of poor communication and assumptions of the other hating them for one reason or another. Meanwhile everyone around them suffers this slow burn until they force them to TALK IT OUT LIKE ADULTS!!!
Bruce: Do you think this Bernard is a danger to Tim? Is his house a trap?
Dick: B, are you being mean to Tim or do you honestly think people do not have friends in highschool?
Bruce: I meam we never had any-
Dick: We? We who?
Bruce: All of us. You, Jason, Damian, Barbara, Duke, Cass and Alfred! And before you start being friends with eachother doesn't count so yes Barbara belongs on my list
Dick in a soft pitying voice: Bruce....no...
Bruce: Why are you looking at me like that?
Dick: Did you seriously not have friends in highschool? What about Harvey?
Bruce: Met him in college.
Dick: Zatanna?
Bruce: Met her in middle school and lost touch until college.
Dick: Oliver?
Bruce: Met him in boarding school in middle school and sort of....got kicked out before we made it to Highschool.
Alfred: What about Danny?
Bruce: We do not talk about Daniel Fenton.
Dick: Who's Daniel Fenton?
Alfred: Master Bruce's pen pal from highschool who Master Bruce scared away.
Bruce: We been passing letter for months then one letter changes everything?! He writes "I want a car" I buy him one. He writes "I want a new desktop" I buy him one. He writes "I need a date for prom" I fly to his state to take him and I'M CREEPY!?
Dick: Yes? That's creepy as hell?
Alfred: Danny was very unnerved by Master Bruce's enthusiasm to share his wealth. We still talk.
Bruce: Traitor! You choose Daniel in the break up!?
Dick: ....so did you need Tim or-?
Bruce: -I COULD HAVE GIVEN HIM THE WORLD!
Alfred: You better leave Master Dick. He'll be like this for a while.
Danny opens a coffee shop. He titles it the Human Bean, a play on "human being" and an excuse to have bean bags everywhere. Mostly, though, it's titled that out of spite because of a bad reveal: his parents no longer consider him a human being, so this is his own personal f-you to them.
Danny decided that the Human Bean must be open in a dangerous city in the country because he thrives on negative emotions. It's his ghost diet. Rather than put himself in negative situations, he goes to places that have a lot of conflict and eats on second-hand sadness, feelings of helplessness, and overall human distress.
He chooses Gotham because it's dangerous and has a big enough difference in classes within the same city, which means that those emotions are always present, but it's not so dangerous that he could die on a regular walk. He avoided Bludhaven despite the fresh, for-the-picking emotions. That place is crazy.
Despite his necessary ghost diet, Danny is unusually upbeat and friendly. In Gotham, that usually means he's either A. Mad B. A goon/upcoming rogue. Or C. was a front for something far worse. People weren't too willing to get close to his brightly colored business/home, especially since he set up right smack in the middle of Crime Alley. He fixed up the building and chose white, yellow, and blue as his main colors, standing out even more among the broken-down buildings with faded red.
Danny doesn't mind. As Ghost King, he has so much money that he might be the richest man in the world- he just has no paper trail for his funds, so he runs his coffee shop for fun and as an excuse for where he gets his money.
He values comfort above all and has various seats throughout the building, including bean bags, electric recliners, hammocks, swing chairs, and, of course, regular tables and chairs. He wants it to be a place where someone can spend hours regardless of age. The oddness of the setup grabs the attention of a group of middle school kids who wander in cautiously. They spread the word about how cool the place is, and more and more people started to show up.
He offers odd services, too: free wifi, free printing, various craft supplies, rentable gaming systems, and message machines for feet or backs (the last two cannot leave the building). He only charges for drinks; all food items are free. Though he only offers pastries, it's first come first serve and he makes something different every day. If he runs out of pastries, he refuses to make any more until the next morning.
He encourages people to share their woes with him. Much like a bartender, Danny knows things about everyone because they find it easy to tell the man when he's offering them a warm drink and free food. It's almost therapeutic for some to just babble to the man in the comfort of his little coffee shop. Everyone in Crime Alley feels helpless and anxious. Danny is so well fed.
Then one day, a man arrives wearing a suit that might be worth more than Danny's entire building. He orders one black coffee, picks one of the regular plush chairs in the far corner, and doesn't talk much. He just spends two hours typing away on a laptop with a peaceful look on his face. It's almost believable if the emotions Danny senses from him weren't nearly as black as a void. It's delicious.
Danny does everything he can to talk to the man, taking small "bites" of his emotions (He needs to just stand next to someone long enough to start absorbing emotions), but for him to truly feed, he needs them to either share their woes or allow physical contact. But it's like talking to a dumb brick wall. The man has an iron grip on his emotions through sheer will, so Danny can sense the meal but can't reach it.
He all but begs him to come back as they settled the bill. He says he might, but it doesn't sound very convincing. Despite all of Danny's very generous offerings of wares and services, he knows that a man with that suit likely can offer far better. Too bad. He was the best meal he had had in a while. Danny almost accepts he won't see him again until two weeks later, the man returns, once again nearly dripping in sadness but held together by the duct tape of his will.
Danny nearly trips over himself trying to get him to stay. He pays attention to other customers and provides service, but whenever he can, he finds himself wandering back to the same table. He's nearly overwhelmed by how delicious the negative emotions are, and winds up a flustered mess. If anything, this seems to amuse the man who slowly allows himself to get pulled into conversation. Danny learns he is a single father of nine kids and is having a hard time with his two eldest.
Family issues are something Danny knows firsthand, and he finds himself offering advice, taking a seat at the table when his other customers leave, making them the only two people in the building. Danny makes them both a fresh pot of coffee and grabs some scones to share. Outside, Gotham decides it's a perfect time to let rain pour in buckets, and the man decides to wait it out with Danny, even though Danny had flipped the closed sign hours ago. By the time he left, Danny had eaten as much as he could, so much that he felt bloated.
This becomes a bi-weekly tradition, and Danny even starts marking his wall calendar in his room with a heart and "Tasty man comes in". Now, does that mean Danny doesn't know his name? Yes. Why? Because the man introduced himself, but Danny had been so busy taking sniffs of the air and savoring the depression, he didn't hear. It's too late to ask now. He avoids his name by using a nickname. Calls him B because he's pretty sure his name starts with that. B calls him D in turn. Danny is half convinced the other man doesn't know his name either.
This trend has persisted for 6 months. Still, Danny notices the man's depression slowly lessening, and soon, Danny realizes he's happier and actually brighter when he walks into the Human Bean. Which is great! Danny is happy for him! Except he's hungry. That was his favorite meal. What's going on!?
(Bruce Wayne is having trouble with his eldest kids again. Jason refuses to go to the Manor ever since Red Hood and Batman went on a mission together, and Dick is mad about something Bruce said. He isn't sure what it was, but midway through their conversation about Dick's relationship with Koriand'r, his son got angry and stormed out. This caused tension at the Manor with his other children, and Bruce just couldn't handle it. He had gone to a random cafe, somewhere discreet, just to hide from his family while he did some work. Just somewhere quiet and away from it all for a few hours. That's where he met Danny, a cute barista who was earnest and offered some advice on Bruce's dilemma. He tried the advice the other man gave him, and it somehow seemed to work; his sons had forgiven him)
(Bruce went back to the Human Bean more and more just to see Danny. Somehow, the man made him feel better every time, like the sadness that had been clinging to him since his parents' death slipped away. It didn't take Bruce long to realize he had started to look forward to seeing Danny, as he felt better every time he did, and it showed in his everyday life. They even have nicknames for each other! Not too creative ones since it's just the first letter of their names, but still.)
( His kids were convinced he was hiding a therapist or lover, but Danny wasn't any of those things. He was just happiness personified. Everyone who came to Human Bean loved Danny and agreed his cafe felt like a home away from home. Now, does Bruce's heartbeat speed up whenever he sees the man? Does he feel like he could watch Danny run his cafe for the rest of his life because of how much life Danny had? Does he lie at night wondering what Danny is up to? Yes, but that doesn't mean love! It just means Bruce really needs to make more friends.)
Maddie: Your father and I knew that you were disappointed to miss out on the family reunion because of your husband's surgery, so we decided to skip it this year and come give you some support in caring for him!
Jack: As well as giving you a break. You must be under so much stress taking care of him and the kids!
Danny, having been lying about his marriage for the past two years to get out of family obligations: Wow... that's so sweet of you.
Maddie: I'm so excited to meet everyone! When you said you were moving to a new Earth, I knew communication through the Ghost Zone was going to be rough, but only being able to connect audio calls once every four months was much harder to endure than I thought it would be.
Jack: Not to mention traveling here. We had to do so many pit stops to fix up the Spectator Speeder and let me tell you, some of those floating rocks were hard to land on. Sometimes makes me wish we had your ghosts powers.
Danny: Yeah....you both went through so much effort. To vist me. In a different dimension.
Maddie: We three! Jazz is here too.
Danny: *gulps* The whole family is here.
Jack: Oh, don't make that face. The Fenton Reunion happens every four years. We'll see your aunts, uncles, and cousins next time. You're much more important to us, so no need for guilt.
Danny: I- right. Of course. Um, have you guys eaten? I can treat us to some dinner before we go back to my place. My, um, husband is at a doctor's appointment with my eldest while I did some work. I'm going on emergency family leave but I had to fill out the paperwork at the office today. Yup yup, thats why I'm here. At my workplace.
Maddie: You alright sweetie? You're sweating a lot.
Danny: I'm fine!
Jack: You work here? This office building is so nice. What does Wayne Enterprise do? I know you have a management position but I never really understood what department exactly.
Danny, who works in the mail room: Um, Wayne Enterprise does a little of everything. I'm in... communications.
Jack: But what exactly does communications do-
Danny: Excuse me for a bit. I have to let my husband know I'm going to be a little late.
Maddie: Oh! Don't tell the kids we're here. We want it to be a suprise. We brought gifts for all of them! Jazz is actually wrapping them up in the Speeder now!
Danny: Ha ha ha ha of course! Excuse me! *walking away pretending to be tapping a contact on his phone* shit shit shit. What do I do???
Damian appearing from the shadows: You told falsehoods.
Danny: Agh!
Damian: ....
Danny: Mr. Wayne Al Ghul! I-ugh- hello! I mean, good afternoon, sir. I ugh-
Damian: Silence
Danny: Yes sir.
Damian: I heard everything, and while I normally find lies distasteful, I find your parents endearing. It could benefit my family. I shall give you aid in your facade.
Danny: What?
Damain: My father recently had surgery on his right hip- a accident on our extreme skiing trip- and refuses to listen to our family doctor. He will not get the proper bed rest he's been ordered, but he would if you acted like his very upset husband with visting in-laws.
Danny: I- Mr. Wayne would never agree to that.
Damian: You seem to believe Father has a choice.
Danny: I-
Damian: I messaged Richard about the plan. He's gathering my siblings' support as we speak. When you arrive after dinner with your family, Father will have no time to deny anything. We shall trap him in social expectations. By the way, you are Timothy's safe queer adult who was there for him in the early years of his self-discovery journey and now he wants to help you. Its how we guilt trip father.
Danny: I can't lie to Bruce Wayne like that!
Damian: It's too late. Timothy already made a shirt of your face with the words "My Gay Yoda" on it. Your path has been chosen.
Danny: What-
Jack: Danny? Who's this?
Damian holding out his arms for a hug: Grandfather, I am Damian, Father's and Dad's youngest.
Jack: Damian! Its so nice to met you. Call me Gran-papa! *crushes him in a bear hug*
Damian in the most monotone voice ever: Gran-papa, I can not feel my arms.
Maddie: Aren't you just the cutest! Danny used to say the same thing at your age whenever his dad hugged him. I'm your Gran-mama, by the way! JAZZ COME MEET THE BABY!
Danny in a horrified whisper: Did my boss trap me in my own web of lies?
Tim really didn't mean to, he swears. It's not his fault Danny snuck up on him on patrol! One moment, he's aiming a birdarang at a crate his target is carrying, the next someone is touching his shoulder. There wasn't supposed to be anyone on the roof except Tim- who was already on edge, mind you- and then there were fingers! Fingers that could've very much been trying to kill him, thank you. So sue him for acting fast in self defense!
Tim swears if he could do it again he wouldn't be watching his best friend bleed out through the neck. It's a wound deep enough that it doesn't matter how much pressure is put on it, there is just not enough time to save Danny.
So he watches, heart heavy as Danny stumbles, and a thick wave of blood spurts from his neck. He watches as Danny's hand subconsciously comes up to his crying throat. He watches as Danny drops down to his knees and chokes on his own blood, another wave of it erupting from his mouth.
"Oh God, Danny-"
"No this is my fault- hrrgk- oh this is so embarrassing! Hughhk- h-holy shit."
He watches as Danny... Doesn't die...? What the hell??
Danny stayed on his knees, harking up blood, trying to talk
"S-so- hrrk - ah, ye- h, (gasp), so I was, well, huurrk -, I didn't mean to, (Tim looks even more horrified), bejuh, I'm fine, j-just give it a minute, peuh."
And that pulled Tim out of his resigned horror, now just eyeing and awaiting, scanning for something out of the ordinary
And at this moment Danny's red face heated further under his gaze
And he continued to hark and heave for what Tim could estimate was 5 minutes
And then he groans and lifts himself back up
"Um, sorry, about that, I, um, uh.. "
Tin continued to look at him
"Um, so, surprise, {geez, surprise?}, um, I saw you and came to say hi, and maybe help you out, and, I- ...
...
..."
He pulls his hands into his pockets sheepishly, and then strikes something, pulling out a plum and cashew bread.
"Um, here, for your troubles"
Tim suddenly snapped back to his mission, whipping his head around.
"ah shit, the perps gone, not a trace of him"
" :("
"so, since I'm free, care to tell me what that was about"