#aka: scarebeast adopt a little girl

[diddle-riddle]

A New Year gift for @keira-hulmaster ; @local-roro

[[Sneak peak]]:

Jonathan Crane, the Scarecrow, the Master of Fear, former professor and licensed psychiatrist known by everyone here in Gotham City, has a few work-related needs sometimes, that's why he recruits people as his more or less volunteer experiment subjects. He couldn't finalize his experiences or obtain efficacious results for his toxin fluids if he doesn't test his products on human guinea pigs.

These were one thing. Jon kept everything in 'the lab', his own office hideout he worked at, two stories below Edward and him's shared apartment of the past three months. Eddie did the same, he rents a studio in their modest-sized building where he pins his schemes, formulas and high-tech material.

They were in a profitable financial phase, they could afford two spaces turned into their respective offices on top of their loft in order to, as much as possible, keep work from invading their private space. Ever since they started living together, it became evident they both have a tendency to spread chemical vials, blueprints mapped with riddles, experimental formulas, pieces of what will turn into robots and question-mark shaped gadgets, prototypes of fear toxin weapons, pictures of Batman covered of green paint to connect the dots and figure out his identity...

And so on and so forth. If they were not careful, they'll end up submerged by a wave of Scarecrow-and-Riddler products.

After a fierce argument between the pair when Ed accused Jon, again, of putting dangerous products in the kitchen including in the FRIDGE next to their FOOD and Jonathan replied, just as furious, that Edward scribbled riddles on the bedroom WALLS with INDELIBLE MARKER, they concluded they need separate places to store 'work stuff' outside their common space.

That became an important matter if they wanted to preserve their relationship.

Now... regarding the Scarebeast. Edward had been categorical: he doesn't want Jon to turn into his monster self when they're together.

And then, one morning he woke up next to... a massive ball of fur that purred loudly when Ed absently scratched its cat-like brown ears. The Riddler had sighed that day, defeated but... then he smiled fondly at the creature.

The first time he saw the monster, he had been frightened. Afterwards... since it's a transformation Jonathan controls, not a dissociative identity or a werewolf-like curse, he slowly got used to it.

He slowly realized the Scarebeast is beautiful, like everything else about Jon.

Physically speaking, the strong, muscular monster is covered of a brown fur with lighter beige straps on the sides, the flanks, the upper arms and the thighs. The thing mostly walked on two legs albeit he could run on all four to go faster. He was a mainly feline hybrid: the rear paws and the tail resemble a lion's, so do the ears and he actually has a mane, of this same beige shade, that circles the brown head. The face doesn't look like any known animal's, maybe aside from the reptile-like shape: it is elongated, the jaw reveals a myriad of sharp teeth and the eyes in the fur are these of a crocodile. The front paws are peculiar too: they bend like a human's and the five long fingers can be used like a man or an ape's hands... if that man or ape carried knives in place of nails. The long black claws might be sharp, Jon perfectly controlled them: he never cut Edward the times he stroked his pumpkin orange hair under his monster form.

Yes, Eddie's boyfriend turns into a beast.

No, he doesn't especially want Jon to hang out under this... appearance, when he is in the flat, but the process is not 'fast': when he morphs to his creature self, he has to maintain it for a bit. Sometimes an hour, sometimes longer depending on his energy, he cannot get back to his human skin after merely a couple minutes of transformation.

Yes, this is a nightmare for the Arkham staff, as one can imagine.

No, nobody found the Scarebeast 'nice', 'lovely' or 'adorable' at first sight. Edward and Selina might be the only ones who came to this conclusion, as they both have a soft spot for CATS. Harley finds him cute too, even if she is more of a dog person, as attested by her pet hyenas Bud and Lou.

And yet... someone managed to call the beast a beauty, and to find him adorable in his own way over their first encounter.

An exceptional little girl.

..........................

Love it? Want more? Come read the full story (it’s a 2k words One-Shot) over AO3 here

Don’t forget to let kudos and / or a comment if you liked! Enjoy <3

#happy new year #new year special #scriddler #jonathan crane #scarecrow #scarebeast #edward nygma #riddler #the riddler #stephanie brown #aka: scarebeast adopt a little girl #who believes he is the best plushie ever #to summarize ;) #friendly monster