Avoiding Past And Future

(37) Intermediate

October 12

"Honestly, you should have seen him. Probably the funniest thing of the whole day." Danny laughed in between bites of an extremely high calorie pumpkin stew. The boys were back at Selina's, hanging out in their safe place while trying to fix the glove Danny fried. It had taken them a while to figure it out, but Danny's blood had soaked into the fabric and wrecked the delicate wiring. Even though the cut itself healed pretty fast, his ghostly blood basically worked as an acid as it ate through everything.

Dick pouted as he threw a few macadamia nuts Danny's way. They found it an effective way to be petty but also keep Danny's calories up. A win-win for both. He didn't mind that Danny had wrecked the glove, he had loads to spare. No. It was driving him insane how he couldn't figure out how to fully Danny-proof the glove without needing to start from scratch.

He tried extra padding but that made the internal system overheat too much.

He tried an insert but that restricted mobility of the wrist too much.

Right now he was on his 17th attempt at finding something that would keep the internal stuff safe while not being too restrictive. If only he could just go to Lucius and ask the man for a new glove with all his required modifications. That man was way too smart and would suss them out too fast. And if Lucius knows, it'll only be a matter of time before Bruce would know too.

He sighed, trying out how it fit on himself before deeming it solid enough to make Danny do a fitting test. "Okay, arm please." Danny looked over, cheeks puffed out from food. Holding the bowl in his right hand, he floated over and held out his left. He broke a lefthanded glove after all, which they may need to fix as the wiring for the computer are in the left glove but Danny is left handed.

Yet another pain to fix without involving Lucius.

Dick looked at Danny, shaking his head. "Won't do, brother. It's the ghost part that messes with the tech so I'll need ghosty-you." Dick frowned when Danny pulled back his arm a bit too fast for his liking. Danny let the magical girl transformation happen and tried to hand over his right hand instead.

Actually, now that he really thought about it. Danny always kept his arms covered when he was in his full ghost form and preferred his right over his left most times. Dick had seen the old bruises from the collars rubbing against his skin, he had them in human form too so that couldn't be it. If not that, than what could it be. He wore t-shirts around the apartment and at the manor before, Dick knows what his arm looks like. So why?

"Nini?" Danny had that look in his eye again, a silent warning he wanted to bolt out of the room and run off. Run like a wild animal cornered and fighting a fight or flight response.

Yet he stayed.

Selina came over too, hearing the worry in Dick's voice as Danny silently kept changing altitude at odd intervals. She took away the bowl from Danny's sweater pawed hand, helping Shiro into his lap instead. The cat therapy seemed to help calm him down enough to keep his altitude steady, but not enough for him to open up. Nanaki had wandered over as well, curling up in the corner Dick's shins created.

They sat in relative silence for a while, giving Danny the time he needed. Purrs filled the silence, becoming louder as Danny uncurled himself and petted Shiro. Ever so slowly he drifted down like a falling snowflake in the wind. With a small sigh and an adjustment from Shiro, Danny landed in Selina's lap. Without much thought, she loosely wrapped her arms around his middle, keeping a hand on Shiro too.

Danny looked up at Dick for a split second before looking down again. Nearly fully curling up in a ball again, he buried his face in Shiro's stomach before holding his hand out for Dick to see.