DPxDC fic idea: The Infinite Realms Hobby Store
Danny Fenton drops out of school on his sister's recommendation to aim for a GED. Then two weeks after he does receive his high school equivalence document, Danny and his sister Jasmine pack up and move to Gotham, where they promptly open their own business. A small hobby store that's during rather well for itself, especially with offered classes to learn said hobbies.
The instructors of the classes are all a rather colorful bunch that don't seem from Gotham but aren't bad like outsiders usually are.
The siblings continue their education through online courses and attend Gotham University. Jasmine studying psychology and Danny studying engineering.
They don't seem like up-and-coming villains who may be behind the strange changes in the city. Nothing terrible has happened so far but that's just it. Nothing has happened, and if that doesn't make every citizen's skin crawl, nothing else will.
It's like the core of Gotham is breaking away, and no one knows what it is or if it's a good thing.
Tim Drake, disguised as Alvin Draper, signed up for the offered Photography class to prove they were and stop them before it's too late.
Danny and Jazz are aware there is something strange about Alvin Draper.
Still, they have thier hands tied, prepping Danny to take the Ghost Throne, keeping up with college, trying to fix a crumbled relationship with their parents after the Big Reveal, and keeping all of Danny's ex-Rouges satisfying their obsessions by having them express it through a hobby.
Ember teaches guitar on Mondays.
Technus does coding an hour before her.
Lunch lady has a cooking lesson on Tuesday.
Poindexter does miniature models on Wednesdays.
Kitty got Photography and modeling on Thursdays.
Johnny, who is never too far away from her, runs his crocheting class at the same time.
And Ghost Writer does creative writing on Fridays.
Saturdays is a surprise course by whichever ghost is free that week, and Sundays they are closed.
They just can't find the time or energy to figure out that guy's deal. Best to leave Alvin alone.
They hope to stay out of Batman's radar long enough to break all the curses Gotham is dosed in. It's one of Danny's first real jobs as Ghost King, so he's trying his best, but come on, this place is a mess.
Not to mention the people generally seemed unhappy to have the curses gone. Apparently it doesn't feel right or something.
(Johnny insists Alvin is just a bisexual disaster who has a crush on both of them but Johnny is also a bisexual disaster so the Fenton siblings don't listen to him.)
If Tim is going undercover with the photography class, it's only a matter of time before Kitty and Johnny have one of their inevitable fights and Tim ends up roped in because he's the best student in the class so he's prime possession-for-jealousy bait.
I'm going for maximum chaos, so here's what I've got. It starts with Johnny's comments about Tim having a crush, but he isn't showing any of the usual accompanying possessive jealousy; he's still *feeling* super jealous and possessive, but he's been working with Jazz on not acting on what he knows are essentially intrusive thoughts; Johnny knows Kitty loves him and *only* him at the end of the day, and at some point showing her he knows that has to include *acting* in a way that lines up with his implicit absolute trust in her. So it's incredibly hard for him, but he's taking a huge step here by actively and constantly ignoring the intrusive thoughts and instead choosing to act in ways which reflect his knowledge that Kitty chooses him.
Jazz is super proud of him, especially him coming to her for help when he needs advice on what a healthy response would be to a specific instance with Tim. He's been doing that a LOT, so the fact he's been able to keep setting aside his pride and jealousy, and to keep being vulnerable by exposing how unsure he is to her, Jazz is making it clear to Johnny that he's doing great.
But I promised chaos and all we have so far is fluff. Time to keep my promise >:-}
Jazz missed *one* kinda absolutely crucial detail, she's been helping*Johnny* to be healthier, *Kitty* is still as full of maladaptive coping mechanics as she ever was. She sees Johnny going to Jazz almost daily, and every time he goes in super stressed and unhappy, but comes out smiling and even glowing with gentle pride... yeah, something's up...
At first, Kitty jumps to him having a fling with Jazz, but too many things don't add up. Jazz would never do that to her, of that Kitty is completely sure. Not to mention, if Johny was cheating on her like that, he'd never look so *proud* about it every time he walked out; she knows her man has a wandering eye, but a major part of why she's always been able to forgive him is how clearly guilty he always felt about it. So this whole thing, none of it adds up, at least not until the stress of her confusion gets to her and she blows up at Johnny, and he insists that he's not doing anything with Jazz, she's just been helping him unpack all of his feelings that keep getting triggered by that Alvin (Tim) kid in Kitty's photography class.
Suddenly it all clicks for Kitty (or that's what she thinks anyway). The reason Johnny isn't acting his usual jealous self isn't because he doesn't care about her (true), he hasn't caught feelings for Jazz (also true), his stress followed by PRIDE... he's developed massive feelings for ALVIN! (And we've taken a turn of the highway of reality right onto a one-way road towards absolute-chaos-ville)
Kitty has not been working with Jazz on better coping mechanisms, or at least not as focused as Johny has been. Kitty is still a ball of maladaptive habits, ghostly obsessions, and ghostly abilities. Kitty is now panicking about the central object of her main obsession being carried away by his queer awakening; she always knew he was bi, and always worried on some level that she wouldn't be enough because of it, because that's the level of mental health they've both been stuck at for a very long time now, they're both ghostly teenagers without access to any psyche care besides spectra, they can be at least mostly excused.
Kitty falls back into old habits. She'll keep her man however she can. So she decides to possess the problem herself...
It has been three days since she possessed the man she now knows is named Tim. The league of assassins is currently on both fire, and Mars. Tim is no longer possessed, but he is currently on the couch making out with Superboy (Kon, just to be clear) who is possessed because the three of them thought it would be fun to try. Her and Johnny have had a long talk and cleared things up, and she's going to start visiting Jazz on the regular. For now though, she needs to help clean up the mess she made. Normally she'd start by helping move the Watchtower out of the ghost zone, but it being so close to Phantom's Keep is really helping speed up the talks between the UN and Danny's ruling council, so maybe she'll start by bringing back the batcave instead.
At least she got a cool red robin motorcycle out of all of this... and her relationship with Johnny will end up stronger (and a lot healthier) than ever before once all is said and done
