Speed Running Family, ch8.p2
masterpost ssssh no editing or concrit please. everything hurts.
Danny stretches his fingers carefully. The burn is gnarly. The lines of bright pink of fresh skin wrap Dannyâs arm, twining with the lines of old scaring from the accident. Apparently he was at the point where it was important to make sure the wounds got some air. Which Danny guesses makes sense. They are at that weird point between wound and fresh scar.
And they itch.
Itâs driving Danny insane.
âChess?â Bart suggests.
âWhy would I want to play chess?" Danny asks.
âBecause itâs better than homework.â
âI donât actually know about that.â
Bart falls back into his bed. âOkay. Um⊠oh! What about those, you know, visual novel games? We could play it together too. I have a friend who likes them.â
Danny blinks at the suggestion. âYeah, I guess. But arenât a lot of those, like, dating things?â
With a fling of his arm, Bart rolls enough to look at Danny. âYeah?â
âBut you⊠I meanâŠâ Danny clears his throat. âI didnât think romance stuff interested you?â
âOh,â Bart says, drawing the word out. âNo, yeah, Iâm aroace, but like, I think the game play will help it be more interesting. Plus playing with you. Do you, like, what genders do you like?â
Danny has to blink again. He liked Val, there had been no question of that. And he liked Sam maybe. Pauline was⊠like⊠doing what was expected. But guys⊠he didnât like Tucker any less or differently than Sam. âI guess⊠I donât care? I donât think I care.â
âOkay, cool. Letâs find something to play! Iâll message, uh, my friend about them.â
âBart, you can say itâs another hero, I know you work with other heroes,â Danny said.
Bart whines and flops back down onto his bed. âI know but like, what if I slip up and say their name? And then you know who you are! And I just outed someone. That totally wouldnât be crash! Iâm not used to being around someone all the time who isnât in the community!â
Danny looks down at his hand and flexes it slowly. That wasnât true, was it? He had been a hero too. Or a menace, at least. Like Spider-Man in all the movies: local menace but still a hero. But⊠he had never been part of the community.
He never had another hero.
ââŠDanny?â Bart was suddenly right beside Danny, sitting lightly on Dannyâs bed. âHey, you know that itâs okay that youâre no a hero, right? Like, Iris isnât either, and we all love her. You donât have to be a hero to be family.â
Danny flexes his hand. ââŠbut I was.â
âWhat?â
âI was,â Danny says, a little louder than a whisper. âA hero. I was a hero, or something, back inâwhere I lived. Lots of people didnât like me, but I was⊠I was like the people I fought. I donât know if⊠maybe I wasnât needed. Maybe it was all just testing. Thereâs no reason thatâŠâ
They just kept getting out, the ghosts. Was it always their doing? Or Vladâs? Vlad⊠was he⊠Maybe hisâthey let them out sometimes. To hunt. To catch. To study. To cut apart piece by pieceâ
âDanny!â
Danny sucks in a sharp breath. The pain comes back to him with it and he doubles over, trying to curl around his hand. Arms and hands stop him, holding as he screams. It leaves him panting and trying to get away from it all, as if he could get away from his own body. It hurt it hurt it hurt.
âI know Danny, I know. Youâre going to be okay, sweetheart, but you need to relax,â someoneâIris is saying.
He tries to listen. Heâs only sure that he whines. The keening sound leaves him without his permission.
âI know, I know baby, but it will hurt less if you relax. I promise, sweetheart, I promise,â Iris says.
Her fingers card through his hair.
He breaths.
Smaller, shaking hands pull at his.
He lets them.
The pain eases.
He blinks. The world stumbles into place. Sound is spinning out again but vision is back. His hand his bloody. Blood on his hand in his nails on his bed on BartâHe breathes. Sound snaps back with a high pitched whine.
âThatâs so good Danny, just keep relaxing, okay baby? Just breathe trough it.â
âSorry,â he croaks.
âDonât, just focus on relaxing, okay?â Bart pleads. He sounds ruined. Dannyâs blood is on his hands.
Sorry, Danny thinks.
