prompt 02: tim’s birthday present
Tim sat in his empty house at the empty dining table. The table was actually quite large; it had enough seats to sit at least 15 people. But there was just Tim there.
His parents had promised and sworn up and down that they would come back in time for his birthday. He had everything planned out. He picked out the birthday cake, put on the candles, decorated, ordered his parents' favorite foods, his parents' favorite movie for movie night, popcorn the likes. But that morning, just when Tim was double checking to make sure everything was ready for the most perfect birthday ever, his parents had called to tell him that something really important had come up, and they wouldn’t be able to make it. Tim figured it was better than last year, at least they called this time.
Tim stared down at the cake, the candles lit. He had heard online that people would make wishes on their birthday cake and blow it out. Tim thought that was a weird thing to do, but it wouldn’t hurt to try.
What should he wish for? It would have to be something special that he doesn’t already have. Tim thought for a long moment, the candles bleeding into the frosting of the cake.
A brother.
Tim closed his eyes and put his hands together like he’s seen the other children to do in the cartoons. And Tim wished for a big brother. When he finally wished hard enough (whatever that meant) he opened his eyes and blew out what was left of the candles.
Tim waited. What exactly was he supposed to do now? In the cartoons, everyone would celebrate and cheer and the birthday boy would open his presents. There wasn’t anyone to cheer for Tim, or any presents for him to open.
Suddenly the house shook, and the loud sound of a crash sound came from the backyard. Quickly, Tim did the sensible thing and go check out what the noise was. That's what the characters always did in horror movies.
In Tim’s backyard, there was what looked like a weird space ship that had crashed into his backyard. There wasn’t any fire or anything, but the spaceship looked pretty wrecked. Getting closer, Tim could vaguely make out that someone was inside the spaceship. Looking around, he saw what looked like maybe the handle. Tim couldn’t really tell.
When Tim put his hand on it and tried to open it, something poked out mechanically and pricked his finger. He flinched back instinctively, caressing his finger tip.
“Recognized: Danny Fenton. System Override.” A robotic lady spoke. Who is Danny Fenton? As if to answer him, the space ship opened its hatch, and inside was an unconscious black haired teenager. “System Malfunctioning. Please Assis-” The robotic voice spoke again, before getting cut off as if the power had died.
Suddenly, Tim remembered his wish. A big brother.
This was Danny Fenton, and he was supposed to be Tim’s big brother
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When Danny woke up, he found himself in a very soft plush something. Something that definitely wasn’t the Spector Speeder. Alarmed, he sat up quickly to find that he didn’t recognize where he was at all. He also didn’t recognize the weird kid that was staging at him from two feet away.
“Hi, I’m Tim. Timothy Drake.” The boy introduced himself almost business like.
“Uh, hi Tim.” Danny responded awkwardly. “You got any idea where I am?” Danny sat up properly, moving the blanket (?) off of him and turned to face the weird and kinda creepy kid.
“You’re in Drake Manor. Which is where I live.” He answered again.
“Ok…ay” Danny nodded thoughtfully. “Any idea how I got here?” Truthfully, Danny hadn’t really been expecting an answer, but he still got one.
“Because I made a birthday wish to have a big brother.” He answered in the same way he had answered the other question, very matter-of-factly.
“Ok- Wait. What?” Danny asked, doing a double take at Tim.
“You’re supposed to be my big brother, right?” Tim was starting to look a little hesitant, and as weirded out as Danny felt he couldn’t help but feel bad about the whole situation.
“Where are your parents, Tim?”
“There not home, because they had really important things to do for work.”
Danny nodded. “Do you know when they’ll be back?”
Tim shook his head. “They were supposed to come back today, because it’s my birthday. But they said they couldn’t make it.”
Well, shit. Didn’t that sound awfully like Danny’s birthdays before he had given up on his parents showing up. At least he had Jazz. This kid looked like he was alone.
Not liking the silence, Tim started fidgeting again. “So, are you gonna be my brother, then?”
And what was Danny supposed to say, No? Besides, if he was really causing problems being in this random universe, then Clockwork would figure it out.
Bonus:
Danny sat at Tim’s dinner table, the kid looking at him radiating in excitement, each with a plate of stupid expensive pasta in front of them. “You said your name was Tim, right?” Danny started thoughtfully. Tim nodded, drinking up everything Danny said. “Well, first course of action as you, big brother. I need to give you a nickname.”
Tim’s eyes sparkled at the prospect. “Like what?”
Danny tapped his chin exaggeratedly, “Hm… Tim, Tim.” Turing the name around while he absentmindedly twirled his fork between his fingers, Danny wondered what he should come up with. Suddenly, in a misplaced strength, Danny’s fork flew out of his hand.
Before Danny could even say anything, “I’ll get you a new one!” Tim offered quickly. Getting up from his chair, his foot got tangled behind the leg of the chair and Tim fell quietly on the floor with an oof.
Danny laughed at him. “You okay, Timbers?” He asked, getting up to check on the boy.
“Yeah, I like Timbers.” Tim said, a bright smile on his face despite the blossoming bruise on his arm.
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The important takeaway from Roe v. Wade is that this is a problem for everyone. Not just women. Not just people seeking abortions or access to related care.
Overturning this decision is a gateway to other dangerous avenues of revoking further rights to...
PRIVACY
Your rights to decide to use birth control and who you disclose that to
Your rights to decide on what treatments are right for you and who gets to decide that for you
Your rights to the confidentiality of your medical records
HEALTHCARE
Again, your rights to decide on what treatments are right for you
Access to borderline treatments that states may qualify as “abortions” that are actually used to treat miscarriages, uterine and ovarian cancer, and other life-threatening conditions faced by hundreds of thousands of people in this country every year
The legality of things like IVF, stem cell research, gene therapy, and any medical advancement that might be seen as crossing the new line
LGBTQIA+ RIGHTS
Trans rights! Access to hormone therapy and gender-affirming care! Also your right to privacy regarding receiving this care!
Justice Thomas’ opinion literally says they are coming for marriage equality next
Oh and also the right to not be persecuted by the law for same sex acts in general
STATE VS. FEDERAL LAW
If I need to remind anyone who’s been forced to sit through a US history class about what happens when there is widespread debate about how laws can be enforced at the federal or state level, and the importance of the laws that are enforced there, then perhaps you should be made to sit through that class again...
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leon wonders when merlin had started to become friend, family, more than servant, more than arthur's, but his (theirs, gwaine's smiles said, was screamed by gwen's hugs, lancelot's quiet hushes. theirs.)
leon had grown up with morgana and arthur, and being a few years older than them he had taken on the role as the older brother.
it had been easy.
it was leon morgana arthur, never separated, holding each other's hands and backs.
thick as thieves, always together, and leon took the role of protecting arthur, and then he became a knight and he swore an oath to uther but mostly to the prince.
he looked at his friend brother prince king and he swore.
because leon would protect arthur no matter what.
and life goes on, in a way, and people grow, like they're supposed to do, and things change, and leon's days are filled with patrols and trainings and aching limbs and orders to follow.
it leavea him aching.
then.
then this boy comes in, all limbs and no muscles and even less brain cause he has to be at the very least a fool to pick a fight with arthur, of all people.
and leon watches, because he is a knight, no matter that the prince is being an asshole and a bully.
(which he wasn't as a kid. he was sweet and nice and shy and kind, and leon would always remember the way he used to shake when there were thunders, hiding himself under the covers; he would never forget the soft smiles he would give him, the time he had cried because morgana had fallen down and scraped his knees, the concentrated look when he wanted to comfort her but didnt know how to actually do it. arthur had been a sweet child, but he also was uther's son, and he wanted to make him proud.)
(and then the raid happened and arthur spiraled and closed himself and not even leon can reach for him anymore.
you're too far away, he wants to cry.
he offers his arm, but arthur turns around everytime.)
(leon nowdays wonders if arthur the kid is forever dead, sacrificed to arthur the son. it shouldn't sadden him, but it does. he thinks, leon morgana arthur, but now it's leon, and morgana, and arthur, with all those empty spaces, all looking at different walls.)
the gangly boy is lost and gone within the day.
until he saves arthur's life and becomes his manservant, that's it, and now leon has to spend all the time watching as this boy, merlin, keeps threatening the prince, calling him a prat, insulting him?
leon thinks he hit the head and he is in some other alternative universe because there is no way that this servant can act like that, without any sense of proprierty, almost friendly, with the crown prince without facing some punishment.
but arthur doesn't send him away. he talks back, jokes with him, and something slowly begins to melt in his prince. something blooms into spring again, weak and tentative, but it's there.
(and maybe leon is jealous, because when was the last time that he and arthur had joked like that? they used to run across the castle, hiding from maids. morgana would convince arthur to pull pranks, and arthur would drag leon along, and the three of them would laugh and play all day.
they used to spend nights huddled together, talking about everything, dreaming about the future. arthur would talk about slaying monsters and being a hero, and morgana would roll her eyes and say that leon was way more hero-like. leon would blush and say that he would defend them both from evil. he would later trip on the sheets and arthur would laugh at him while helping him up, before softly asking him if he was alright, corcern painting his eyes, and morgana would call him "my knight" with a cheeky smile, but they were happy.)
(now they talk less and leon calls arthur "sire" and "my prince" and all these titles, and he has forgotten how arthur's name tastes like in his mouth. and here he is, merlin, a servant, calling arthur a prat, a clotpole, a dollophead, calling him arthur.)
leon doesn't know how to deal with merlin.
then merlin follows arthur into danger.
and again.
and again.
merlin is dead set onto going with arthur everywhere. merlin drinks poison for arthur. merlin jumps in front of bandits for arthur. merlin will do everything for arthur.
and once, leon tells him he shouldnt do this, he is just a servant, it is not his job to protect the prince.
and merlin gives him this long weird look and he purses his lips and leon doesnt know how to interpret all this, and says, you're right, its not a servant's job, and leaves it at it.
and he goes with them to the next quest anyway, which confuses leon even more.
it's not until one day merlin pushes leon out of a bandit's way, almost getting skewered by a blade, that he finally understands.
arthur fusses over merlin, pretending not to care, but his eyes lingers too much, and his hands are shaky, and merlin laughs at him and calls him a mother hen, which makes the prince pout. then the prince looks at leon and asks him if he is okay, and the concern is still there, it has never aged away, and leon is breathless and can only nod, and stare at merlin.
merlin stares back.
merlin was right, it's not a servant's job to risk their own life like this.
but merlin is not just a servant. he is their friend.
and leon thanks him, and merlin just shrugs him off, but there's a blush on his cheeks. then arthur calls for merlin, the moment broken and so many unsaid words piling in leon's mouth. merlin goes to aid the prince, leaving with an apologetic smile. he watches them as they joke around together and he watches as arthur's touch seems to hover on merlin's shoulder.
and leon understands.
(he thinks about how he has really failed. not as a knight, but as a friend. because leon had sworn to protect arthur but he had forgotten that, sometimes, what one needs protection from are not sorcerers or bandits or gigantic beasts. sometimes people need protection from themselves. and sometimes you don't protect someone with a sword, sometimes you do that with a kind word, a pulled prank or a gentle hand.)
merlin is always at arthur's side, at their side. and leon swears a second oath, one night, when the younger boy is lying too still on the ground, pained gasps rattling out of his lips as the fever rises together with infection.
arthur is asleep, next to him, he hasn't left merlin, and there is a furrow on his forehead he wishes to smother.
(arthur, sweet loving arthur, with scratches on his hands, and dirt on his cheeks, always full of love and nowhere to place it. looking for a father to give it, for someone to treasure it.
arthur and his bleeding heart.
merlin had stumbled his way in, with all his stubborness and loud loyalty and blinding affection, and without knowing it, arthur had placed that same heart in merlin's caring hands.
and merlin will die before any harm comes to it.)
(he does a good job at that, leon muses. merlin is too good for them all.)
you protect us all, he thinks, taking in the shaky figure, the flimsy blanket hiding the scar covered chest, but those scars are burnt on leon's mind and he doesn't need to see them to know they are there.
because merlin was never supposed to have scars.
friendship, a voice sighs in his mind.
you protect us all, but who protects you?
and leon kneels, in the middle of the night, between trees and sleeping knights, with merlin's shudders and the rustling of the wind, he kneels for the second time in his life, and he swears.
"to merlin of ealdor," he promises.
to merlin of camelot.
servant friend and brother.
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