Adult Supervision Required

Adult Supervision Required (One-Shot)

In my defense, I was left unsupervised. So, really, Daniel couldn't blame me for a thing! They left me alone with Jack, and lord knows he won't lift a finger to stop me. Actually, he helped. Which was greatly appreciated, by the way.

"Wanna mess with Danny?" I asked the sleight just as soon as the door to his apartment closed. Danny, who would be absent for the next few days on a secret errand, asked us to watch his place. As of late, he would go on these trips quite often. They began after Henley left... In fact, a lot of things regarding Daniel started after Henley left. Angsty moping, less interactions with Jack and I, and small leaves of absence without a rhyme or reason. He wasn't thinking straight. Which is probably why he asked us to watch his apartment, quite possibly one of the worst decisions he's ever made.

"Oh, definitely." Jack responded, his tone full of mischief. I chuckled, already formulating a plan. This was going to be great.

xxx

I approached my apartment, reaching into my pocket to fish out my keys. However, I paused a moment in front of my door. Something felt off. After months on the run, waiting for the Eye, I had developed some intuition, a sense to tell when something was off.

I had left Merritt and Jack with my apartment for three days. I knew I couldn't leave Merritt alone with my stuff unless I wanted to come back to absolute anarchy, but I assumed that Jack would balance him out.

Oh, how wrong I was.

As I opened the door to my home, the sweet smell of perfume hit me like a brick wall. Only a second later, a playing card, the joker, went whizzing just over the top of my head, embedding itself in the wall across from my apartment's door. I turned to scowl at Jack, preparing to sass him for his carelessness, but what I saw stopped the words from forming.

Jack and Merritt lounged on my couch, practicing their card throwing skills (Merritt's being basically nonexistent). However, the couch they sat on wasn't its usual white, but a soft pink. My jaw dropped as I took in the rest of the room.

All of it was pink. Every. Last. Thing. The walls were no longer painted a dark red, but colored a bright pink. Normal lampshades now feathery and flamboyant. Area rugs replaced with fuzzy pink ones. EVERYTHING. WAS. PINK. I honestly couldn't help but snort. Sure, I was gonna kill them, but it was funny.

"Oh, hey, Danny! You're home." Merritt feigned surprise. I promptly flipped them both off, causing Jack to chuckle. "How was your trip?" Merritt continued, refusing to acknowledge my insult.

"I am going to kill you both." I told them, although it couldn't have been too convincing, as I grinned as I looked about the room, taking in their stupid gag.

"Gotta catch us first." Jack replied before both of them vaulted over my couch and ran towards my bedroom. I followed, scrambling around the couch. I made it to my room just fast enough to watch them both climb out my window and onto the fire escape. Jack was the last one out and, as he fled, the threw a card, the seven of hearts, lightly at my chest. It tapped against me and fell to the ground. When I looked back up at him, I caught him touch the wall right before it went up in flames. The foul color began to curl and burn away. Upon hearing a clamor on the fire escape, I rushed to the window to see the two had disappeared into thin air. Not that I was surprised.

"Stupid magicians." I mumbled, quirking a smile at the comment. I was quite aware that I just insulted myself.

The fire eating the walls was gone when I turned back to the room, all evidence of it gone. I nodded, my quickly composed theory proved. They had used flash paper on the walls. Tricky bastards. Fortunately, the two pranksters had been kind enough to put a protective layer of plastic over the walls, to avoid any and all damage.

I wandered my room, observing the new decor, before I decided to see what Jack wanted me to have before fleeing. Kneeling down, I picked up the card. Just as I suspected, it wasn't a normal playing card, as it had a message written on it.

'Check under your pillow' was scrawled in Jack's handwriting.

I stood and went to my bed, feeling around under my pillow until my fingers grazed a piece of paper. I retrieved it and unfolded the sheet. There were two sections of writing, the first in Merritt's writing, the second in Jack's.

Hey Danny,

Let's be honest, man, you've been down for a while now. Since Henley left. You needed a pick-me-up, so who better than us to give it to you? We knew you couldn't be that pissed. You can never stay mad at us. Anyways, Jack wants to make some ooey-gooey, touchie-feelie point, so I'm gonna hand the pen over to him.

Hey, Danny. Just wanted to let you know that we really do care about you. We always do. We're here to talk to you whenever you need it. Just pick up the phone and we'll be here. And if you're feeling like shit, we're happy to turn your apartment Pepto Bismol colored again for you. That's what family does.

-Jack and Merritt

Danny Atlas smiled, really smiled, for the first time in a long while. With that same grin plastered on his face, he laid the note down on his bed gently, planning to put it somewhere for safekeeping later. He then headed back into his living room to burn down the rest of the walls in his apartment.