Danny Rand

[netflixdefenders]

Come with me.

What? Why would I do that?

[randiisms]

bxckpills‌:

Ward thought that with immersion, the language would come naturally to him. Turns out he was painfully wrong. Here he was, however many weeks later, still toting his English to Mandarin dictionary on his person whenever he left the house. He’d gotten the basics down but other than that…

He was unspeakably glad to have master translator Danny by his side. Well–that wasn’t the only reason. 

“Thank you,” he said, eyeing the groceries with a little smile, “and thank you for grabbing those on your way home. I’ll have to practice some Mandarin with you.” 

There was a deep sigh before he downed the rest of his cup of tea, pouring himself another before looking to Danny, “It’s not a pretty conversation. I need to talk to you about–about what happened to me, when I was young and how it made me the way I am. I need to talk to you about dad–Harold.” He almost felt itchy at the very thought of opening up to someone like this, nodding to the bag, “Do you have any snacks in there? We might need some. Are you…you know, okay to get into this?” 

Danny made quick work of the perishables, putting them in their proper place and fishing out a bag of prawn crackers and some grapes. Because of course he bought snacks. Food availability was still kind of a novel concept to him    especially junk food. In K’un-Lun, it was more about nourishing the body than exciting the palate. So maybe he was overcompensating a little bit. Came in handy in times like these.

“Of course,” he said. It kind of worked to answer both questions, he thought. Of course he had snacks. And of course he was okay to talk about this. He was honored, honestly, that Ward felt comfortable enough with him to open up about it. He still remembered waking up after Davos, the way Ward looked at him when he told him about his addiction     like it shocked him to finally have someone who he could empathize with. And Danny wanted to be that person for him. He wanted to give him that     someone he could open up to. Share his burdens. 

He grabbed the snacks and joined Ward, holding out both so Ward could have his pick. “If you want to, I mean. No pressure.” Because Danny was learning that things like this shouldn’t be forced. Not all wounds were meant to be soldiered through. “By the way, I, ah. Realized I don’t know the kind of junk food you like. So I think you should definitely come with me next time we go.” He wanted to learn. He wanted to know Ward’s favorite things, and the things he hated, and the things he could take or leave. He wanted to know what made him smile and what made him frown. He wanted to know Ward, broken edges and all.

[randiisms]

bxckpills‌:

A smile couldn’t be helped, despite himself. “I had a feeling you’d say that.” Danny was actually a surprisingly good driver–fast, sometimes yes, but much safer than some of the other drivers in the city. 

Ward remembered when he first got his license. Not quite as safe (he’d done a lot of learning since then.) 

He let Danny take control, following his lead but only just. It felt good to have decisions be made, that was maybe equal parts because of the intense emotions he was coming down from, and the nature of his job. Being Boss-Man all the time took its toll on him and sometimes he just wanted to play follower for a little while. Ward was grateful that Danny seemed to understand, taking a deep breath and considering his options as they made their way to the car. “Just something hot. Maybe soup? Hot and sour or miso, even pho sounds really nice.” 

To his credit, Danny did take it a little easy on the acceleration on the way out of the garage. Ward was already wound a little tight; he didn’t want to give him any more reason to work himself up. So ... speed limit. Maybe slightly above. 

Maybe a little more than slightly. 

“Colleen showed me this place that has great soup. I don’t know if you like wonton at all, but it’s amazing.” It was no secret that Danny loved dumplings; putting the functional equivalent of a dumpling into a soup that he could sip on a snowy New York night? Pretty much Danny’s happy place in a bowl. “Pretty sure they have a good miso soup, too. ‘s what Colleen always gets.” He knew he should probably keep his eyes on the road, but he couldn’t help glancing over at Ward every now and then. He just ... he worried about him. Ward faced the world with a thick skin, but there was more to him than that. He felt more than people gave him credit for. Danny could see it. “And they’re quick,” he added, because that seemed like a bonus. Get food, get home ASAP, and then they could sit on the couch and eat and watch whatever came on TV. 

Given the way he’d grown up, it still felt strangely ... indulgent, doing things like that. But he was learning to let himself indulge again. Learning to take the time to enjoy things, particularly when it meant he could enjoy them with someone dear to him. 

[randiisms]

bxckpills‌:

@randiisms / closed

It was a far cry from his old penthouse in every conceivable way but Ward wouldn’t trade it for the whole world. 

Upon waking up that morning, he knew there was a conversation that needed to take place. He thought about putting it off because he’d had this feeling before, but it was that exact deja vu that made him realize he couldn’t avoid it anymore. When he came home, he set up a decanter of green tea over ice and a decanter of whiskey and sat down at the table, pouring himself some tea. 

He preoccupied himself with a sketchbook he bought for himself, looking up when Danny came in. “Hey,” he said, clearing his throat, “I was hoping I could…talk about a few things with you?” He took the cup he’d set out for Danny, pouring him some tea and setting his sketchbook aside. 

There was something soothingly mundane about a trip to the market. They needed food, and given Ward’s Mandarin wasn’t quite on par with Danny’s, he’d volunteered to restock their stores. Mostly just the staples, but some sweets might’ve snuck into his satchel when he wasn’t looking. 

Strange how eager he was to get back to their latest home base. 

There was a smile on his face as he opened the door, and it only grew when he saw Ward bent over a sketchbook with still-steaming tea. Danny wouldn’t say he had no idea that Ward drew. When they’d been kids, there might’ve been some scribbling in margins that Danny caught. But Harold wasn’t the kind of parent that encouraged that kind of creativity, and Danny was unspeakably glad to see Ward embracing it now. People needed their outlets. 

“Talk? Of course.” He sat the groceries on the table and drew the other chair a little closer to sit. “What did you want to talk about?” Don’t say you’re leaving. It was a niggling whisper of a voice, but it kept rearing its head in the quiet moments. Danny knew he’d practically kidnapped Ward, and sometimes it felt like this was all just borrowed time. A brief interlude before Ward went back to his world of sharks and suits and shiny glass towers. “Is everything all right?” 

[randiisms]

bxckpills‌:

Given Ward’s taste in bath delights, it wouldn’t be unheard of to do something like bathing in his tea. He smiled, thinking about those baths with Danny and how good they made him feel though that he wasn’t even sure that it was the added salts or the company. 

Ward stood and took Danny’s arm, wiping his eyes and resting his head on Danny’s shoulder, “As long a that won’t be a struggle for you. That–that would be great though, I don’t think I can drive right now.” Danny was so good at helping him relax and making him feel good, Ward wasn’t sure he deserved it but Danny made him feel like maybe–maybe he did. 

He sighed as he thought about the food options, snorting a little, “I don’t even know, maybe getting food on the way home would be good. I’m afraid if I get in that bath tub I’ll end up asleep before I can eat anything.” 

He grinned and gave a one-sided shrug. “Driving? Trouble? Never.” Not only because it was Ward, and Danny would brave way worse than New York traffic to help him. But also, he just really enjoyed driving. The slowest car in the city probably still went twice as fast as any cart he’d ever raced in K’un-Lun, and there was just something freeing about getting behind the wheel of a car. 

Especially now that he was actually licensed. 

So, getting home was taken care of. That just left food to sort out, and they could go home. “On the way home it is,” he said, steering Ward out with practiced ease. On a scale of feather to torso-sized jugs of water, Ward wasn’t exactly the heaviest thing Danny’d ever moved around. “Any requests, or you just want me to surprise you?” Food was one of those things they didn’t always see eye to eye on, but neither one of them would turn their noses up at anything edible. Occasionally, they each questioned the other’s definition of “edible,” but that was neither here nor there. 

[randiisms]

.

[randiisms]

bxckpills:

The way Danny was reacting to the gentle head scritches made Ward smile. Maybe he didn’t know the extent of Danny’s power firsthand but he knew it was there and unmistakable, coursing through him and lighting him up like the precious glowworm he was. At the very least, Ward knew of his resilience and that alone was enough to make him believe that Danny was a force. 

He was glad that he could help Danny relax like this. God knew he earned it. Ward smiled again, nodding and pressing a kiss to his forehead, “Something like that. I can get the food here. We’ll have to get up to get it but we can come right back and eat like this.” His voice was low, almost whispering. 

Danny hummed. He wasn’t too thrilled at the prospect of getting up, but that was much, much better than getting up, getting dressed, going out, getting food, and then coming all the way back. He tried not to let himself get lazy, but on a night like tonight, he was admittedly keen on taking advantage of some of the modern conveniences of the city. 

“ Food, then. We should do food. ” A decisive nod was about the sum total of the moving Danny plans to do for the next little while. It was too easy to dip his head against the crook of Ward’s shoulder. It would’ve been all too easy to doze off there, warm and attuned to the steady rise and fall of Ward’s chest around every breath. There was something rhythmic about it, like breeze blowing against the walls of the monastery. “ All the food. ”

[randiisms]

bxckpills:

It was hard, to settle into good feelings without the worry that they were going to be taken from him as soon as they bloomed. Breathe. Breathe easy. It’s okay. 

“I know. It’s appreciated all the same though,” he said softly, taking Danny’s hand and stroking it softly. He took another breath, letting the panic dissipate from him. 

Getting out sounded good. Spending too much time at Rand was hard for him, so much Harold everywhere and every room housing an awful memory or two. “Yeah, let’s–let’s go. Make some tea at home, maybe–maybe have a bath?” Part of him just wanted to go to bed but baths usually helped him calm down. He snorted, “Maybe tea in the bath? For drinking, not bathing in.” 

Danny laughed, relieved to see a little bit of light peeking through the dark clouds. “ Tea in the bath, not a tea bath. Got it. ” Tea leaves definitely aren’t his go-to bath additions, though he’s not above a little salt and some essential oils. He’d even let Ward huff about it, and he wouldn’t point out the little bit of a smile Ward got when he realized what Danny had done, or how much more relaxed Ward was with the help of a little epsom and eucalyptus.

He coaxed Ward to his feet, vowing to clean up their tea cups here when he got in the next morning (though in all likelihood, they’d be gone by morning and the room would be spotless). “ Come on. I’ll drive home, and I won’t even go over the speed limit. ” The less stress, the better. He wanted to keep everything low key and calming, to ease away the rippling tension that had set its teeth into Ward’s shoulders and spine. 

Lacing their fingers together, he steered Ward toward the elevator bay. “ You want to pick up food on the way home? Or we can always order in. ” It was a genuine question, but also a subtle reminder that Ward needed to eat (and that Danny would make sure it happened). 

[randiisms]

littleostentatious:

“That might net you a whole new run of paparazzi questions, but sure.”

Tony hooks an arm back over Danny’s shoulder and leads them to the big bank of elevators. It’s a conscious effort to only make a quarter turn, to edge Danny to the side, Tony’s best, silent effort to keep himself between the kid and a grainy shot through the glass. 

When the doors close behind them in the elevator, Tony lets his arm fall away, some of that plastic media shine falling off of his shoulders. 

“Might think about getting some PR training, when you can make the time for it. You’ll feel like an idiot when you’re practicing the stuff, but when you’re out there with the sharks, it comes in handy to know how to swim with them.”

Not that Tony actually uses most of the PR tricks he knows. He’s settled into a long, comfortable slope of doing something so mind numbingly stupid that they can do little more than gawk.

But the kid doesn’t have to go down the same road that Tony did. 

Danny lets himself be led without much of a thought. Tony obviously knows more about these sorts of situations than he does. He’s starting fresh, a student again. It’s ... frustrating, in a way; but liberating in others. Life was so much simpler when all he had to do was learn. 

Still, “ PR training? ” He gives Tony a quizzical look. “ Why would you need training to know how to talk to people? Shouldn’t that be ... I don’t know, simple? ” You get up, and you answer questions, and life moves on. That’s how it should be. 

Except Danny knows, now, that isn’t how things are. Everything gets twisted up and distorted. Ward calls it a spin, and Danny has fallen into that trap more times than he cares to admit. He tells them the truth, speaks honest words into microphones and recorders, and watches them get spat back out in tattered, mangled pieces. 

He shakes his head. “ I won’t play that game. ” He has nothing if not his honor, and he refuses to sacrifice his integrity just to make things easy on himself. “ But thank you. For your help, I mean. ” For the rescue, he doesn’t say, because he’s afraid it might be dramatic. But if he was given the choice, he thinks he’d rather take on a small army of Foot soldiers than step foot out into that horde of reporters again. The thought makes his palms sweat uneasily. 

“ It won’t make trouble for you, right? Helping me like that, I mean. ” If he’s going to stick to his morals, he can hardly ask Tony to compensate for it. It’s one thing to sacrifice for his code; it’s another thing to ask someone else to sacrifice for it.

[randiisms]

[lcvoyant]

              usually i’m             the FREAK IN THE ROOM.

[randiisms]

y’all i did a thing.

[randiisms]

“I’m just trying to help you.”

       “ no offense, but the last people who said that tied me to a bed && pumped me full of so many drugs, i couldn’t walk in a straight line. ”   not exactly an experience he cares to repeat.

                           concern | not accepting.

[randiisms]

someone tell me i can’t make a manfred bernardo

[randiisms]

bxckpills:

Ward was glad for Danny’s patience. It was so hard when it hurt so badly, especially when he started asking himself why everything hurt the way it did. It wasn’t like he was ever sure Harold loved him, despite trying everything he could possible think of to win that approval. 

Nothing was ever enough. He’d accepted that long ago. Maybe it was just the layer of twisted set on top of old wounds, on top of how Harold acted around Joy. It made him sick to think that maybe his apartment wasn’t the only one that had sick little secrets. Deep breath. Danny was here and all the dark in the world was easier when he was facing it by his side. 

He moved closer, taking the hand that Danny offered and squeezing it. “Thank you,” he said softly, staying close. Ward rested his head on Danny’s shoulder, “You always know what to do. I’m still not used to…how good you always are to me.” He took another breath, “Maybe we should head home after tea? It’s late anyway, it might be good to get out of here.” 

Danny didn’t know where Ward went when he got that far-off look in his eyes, but he wished he could follow him there. He wished he could step into his nightmares and fight off all the monsters. He wished he could step into his memories and fight off all his scars. 

In the absence of that power, he did what he could. A cup of tea, a smile, a shoulder to cry on     it wasn’t exactly the miracle cure to all that ailed him, but Danny prayed that it helped. “ You don’t have to thank me. You’d do the same for me. ” Has done the same for him, when memories of a plane crash or the crack of a bamboo cane across his back manage to wriggle past his defenses. 

“ But yeah, I’m all for getting out of here. ” Getting Ward somewhere that wasn’t so permeated with his father’s presence, somewhere with soft blankets and low lighting. “ We don’t even have to wait to finish the tea; there’s plenty of tea at home. If you want to go, then let’s just go. S’all up to you     whatever you need. ”

[randiisms]

notyourprodigalson:

          If he was honest, he wouldn’t have expected Danny to be all that into the bar or club scene, and he wasn’t really upset about that.  He wasn’t likely to give up drinking completely himself, but kicking a substance abuse problem sure as hell made for some change in perspective.  He was free of a few weights that had been dragging him down, and he wasn’t stupid enough to pick one back up.  A restaurant, he probably would have been fine with, even if Danny’s choices may have been different, but they were having dinner together, anyway.  It wasn’t like being physically in the restaurant would have made that much difference.           Actually, that was a lie.  Being in the restaurant would have been a lot different, but Danny hadn’t stopped grinning since he arrived, not until Ward asked that question.  It was enough to get a shrewd look out of him, his head tilted somewhat as he puzzled over it, but he handed the plate off to Danny and opened the lid on the pizza.  “Uh huh, okay.  Sure, fill me in later.  What movies did you bring?”

          Danny tried not to let his relief show on his face when Ward agreed to let the week-in-review topic slide. It wouldn’t have been the makings of a great night, and he was too determined to have some fun. Unwind. Relax. They both needed it, and Danny was going to make sure that they got it. 

       Still, poker face or not, he was grinning as he pulled out his backpack and started rifling through the contents. “ So, these are the ones the lady at the used bookstore said I should watch. I got the Harry Potter movies, Lord of the Rings ... this one’s about an ice princess who sings. Apparently, it’s really catchy. ” He pushes the backpack into Ward’s lap. “ There’s a few more in there, if any of them sound good. I’m not picky. ”

[yourmusings]

RP starters: Concern.

[randiisms]

yourmusings:

“It’s midnight, where the hell were you?!”

“Stop keeping your phone in silent, you got me worried!”

“Blood? Are you bleeding?”

“I don’t like the idea of you walking down the streets all alone.”

“I thought I would never see you again…”

“We should get you to hospital.”

“Where did all those bruises came from?”

“I have the right to be worried!”

“Have you been drinking? You look terrible.”

“Sleep at my place tonight.”

“I don’t feel safe letting you be alone when you’re in that shape.”

“Please talk to me about it.”

“Let me take care of you.”

“You need to rest now. Don’t move.”

“How many times have I told you to not go there?”

“You could’ve died, you know…”

“I don’t care if you don’t want my help, I’ll do it anyways.”

“You really need to stop drinking. I’m serious.”

“This time you got yourself into a hospital. I think that’s a sign.”

“Are you sure you’re okay?”

“You need to stop doing stupid shit like that or you will get yourself killed.”

“I’m your friend, of course I care!”

“You know I’m always here for you, right?”

“You’re not okay.”

“I’m just trying to help you.”

“Let me clean your wounds…”

“Why did you do it? Tell me.”