People always said I was cursed.
Gwen Stallone is a Realm Walker with a lot of family drama and a mysterious connection to Jason Todd. They share a terrible secret, but one that will draw them together.
Oops! This image does not follow our content guidelines. To continue publishing, please remove it or upload a different image.
Two weeks had passed since I started staying at Wayne manor, and minding my business had mostly worked for staying out of trouble or maybe I'd just gotten better at avoiding it.
I tried to fill my days as much as possible, just with whatever I could do to keep my mind off other things, whether it was Zio Ben or the looming threat of the Joker. Anticipation. The anticipation of what they will do to you is every bit as sickening in a dream as when it is really going to happen. I spent most of my time at collage, crying over a textbook, or at Gotham's public library where Barbara was kind enough to help me — since she already had a degree in law. We were fast becoming friends between our occasional nights in the Clocktower (I'm not exactly a night owl) and our day lives.
Then there was the other side of the coin: what happens in the manor.
Living with all boys — well, they're not so bad for boys, but occasionally Dick or Damian would just barge into my room and drag me downstairs to play Minecraft of Mario Cart with them.
It didn't leave much in the way of free time which I spent on hobbies.
Which brought me to the stress factor: Bruce. He was training me hard, and I was slowly getting better. I could bench press my own body weight and there was some definition in my muscles (don't get me wrong. It wasn't as dramatic as turning into Captain America.)
But the was also living up to his standards. Batman, my childhood hero and provided me with a way to escape from the real world. Only now, this was my real world.
In terms of training, I was miles behind.
I couldn't tell you the last time I felt this inadequate.
There were benefits, however. It was nice to have other people around to demolish at Mario Cart (not sorry Dick). I ate more than just ramen doodles and frozen pizza here. I could burry my nose in books now that I had the time, getting back into my bookworm habits (including staying-up-late-under-the-blanket-with-a-torch-and-a-book habit and throw-a-book-at-the-wall habit) (the last one only happened with The Ballard of Songbirds and Snakes when Snow sold-out Sejanus. It startled Jason the first time, but he ended up laughing when I explained). I didn't mind audiobooks either, and could sketch while listening to them. I drew a lot with Damian, who's working on his own comic.
He'd taught me some Arabic as well, not enough that I could speak a full sentence, but enough that we could scream insults at each other from across the manor.
But getting to know Jason properly had to be my favourite part of being stuck in this dimension.
I liked speaking with Jason. He hadn't tried to kiss me again, but he's dialled up the flirting. He's learned my sense of humour like the back of his hand, and I've learned his. We respect each other's taboo topics and picked apart everything else.
When he comes back at night after patrol, I often stayed in his room and sometimes he stayed in mine. I sit and listen while he reads, changing his voice for each of the characters. Watching him imitate Mrs. Bennet was hilarious, but I've been sworn to secrecy. He's old school and loves everything from Shakespeare to Dickens, Orwell and most importantly, Jane Austin. I'll listen to anything he reads, but sometimes have a crack at JRR Tolkien books that we picked up from Barnes and Noble and Jason usually ends up reading them. We critique every book, making sure to point out how our own pick is better.
