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Part 34 of 365 Days of One Word Prompts (and my Suffering) , Part 3 of The Batfam Shifter AU
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365 Days of Suffering, From Ghibli to Star Wars, jason todd looks like a skunk
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Published:
2022-02-03
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1,912
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1/1
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Infect

Summary:

Having been essentially kidnapped by The Batman, Skunk Shifter Jason has to not only navigate a giant manor while pretending to be stuck in his small form, he also had to avoid the adult who clearly wants to sell him, the self proclaimed brother who wants endless snuggles and figure out a way past the ridiculous security and escape before he's turned into a hat.

AKA Jason doesn't know how to relax or feel safe, itching with paranoia and trust issues after a few years on Gotham's streets.

//Day Thirty Thirty Four of One-Word-Prompt-Fics(and my eternal suffering)

Notes:

bACK AGAIN!! More Skunk Jason verse woop!!! This follows rather soon after part one :D little plot and more from Jason's view than Bruce, to establish his own opinions about being taken home by the Batman and somehow gaining a brother. :)))

I'm sure this verse will be back again, I need to get Racoon Tim into the fold and this day gave me a great idea on how, which will be fun!!!! and I need to decide what Damian will be, he could be a giant bat like Bruce or he could be something else, maybe Talia's form or maybe something else entirely? We'll see, I haven't decided for Dami yet since he wont be joining for a while I think...

anyway,, without further ado...

(See the end of the work for more notes.)

Work Text:

Jason hadn’t been able to slip away for two whole days now. For two days he’d been fed and apprehensively eaten only when he’d seen the others do so first, he’d been bestowed a bed way too large for his small Skunk form and he’d been given access to anything he could want or need, should he revert to his human form, be it clothes they’d roughly tried to guess his size on or free reign to the library which admittedly he did want to use but that would mean becoming a human.

 

Jason scrunched up his nose. He wasn’t actually stuck and to think he was… was an insult. Jason had spent much longer in his Skunk form than as a Human since his mothers death, it was simply easier to hide on the street as a small rodent, it also proved easier to slip into tiny cracks in walls or curl up into cardboard boxes, easier to steer people away when they saw the iconic white stripe and feared both for their nose and their dignity. Skunks were great deterrents and it was Jason’s best weapon. Plus his stomach was way smaller as a skunk and food was always… an issue but nowhere near as much as if he’d been a human… Sure he’d probably end up with some height  or development issues later down the road because he’d fucked up in his growing years but if it meant he’d avoid being trafficked or raped? Pretty sure he was winning.

 

So yes, he wasn’t stuck, he was just faking it until he could sneak off, not trusting the man who’d brought him here, even if he was Batman. The man, Bruce Wayne, was one Jason knew from tabloids as an imbecile, an absolute playboy with more money than sense (not a hard feat since he was a Billionaire) but an absolute embarrassing moron affectionately known as Brucie… and he was the feared Bat of Gotham?

 

Jason scrunched up his nose again and let out a sneeze from where he’d burrowed under an armchair in the sitting room, a small blanket wrapped over him that he’d snagged from the coach.. He was pretty sure it was Dicks? Anyway, back to the matter at hand, if Bruce had the ability to act out Brucie so well, fool the Gotham masses, who was also Batman? Well, Jason liked to think he was smart enough to know that maybe Batman was an act too, that deep down Bruce Wayne could be a terrible person whose fronts were there to fool everyone, that to most he was a fool and to Dick and Alfred he was a stark defender of the city…when in reality? Who was Bruce Wayne?

 

Jason didn’t know, all he knew was that if Bruce Wayne was that intelligent and that good of an actor, could he trust the man was being honest when he made efforts to show he cared about Jason’s wellbeing? Maybe he just wanted to make sure Jason was healthy enough to sell on, skunks weren’t highly sought after but nor were they unwanted, with enough training an adult skunk would be fierce and spray a lot more than Jason could in his young form. Others liked the pattern, the stark contrasting colours that made hats for the rich. Jason didn’t want to be a hat. Another wrinkle of his snout and another muffled sneeze later, Jason tensed, footsteps- and then some sort of rodent was crawling under his hiding spot, huge wide eyes and lowered ears, moving slowly and hesitantly. The rodent opened its mouth, tiny fangs on display before their head dipped and they stopped, looking at Jason curiously.

 

Jason twitched his nose and tilted his head, the bushy tailed creature mimicking and then giving a playful bounce. Was this Dick? It smelt like Dick.

 

Jason dipped his head back, giving Dick permission to move closer, the odd rodent creature gave what was likely a Sugar Glider equivalent to a smile and bounced over, eagerly snuggling against Jason’s side on the blanket. It was…kind of nice, if Jason could say so, to have another shifter against him without fear or threat, even in his small form, not yet an adult sized skunk, Jason still had a good 4 or so inches on the rodent creature. Would Dick get any bigger, Jason wondered, the small creature looked weak and… it wasn’t exactly safe in Gotham to be a helpless shifter, those with vulnerable forms made points to never shift unless deemed 100% safe… Was Dick trying to convey he didn’t see Jason as a threat or was he trying to show he wasn’t a threat to Jason? 

 

It was peaceful, the little creature Dick was, was very soft and let out adorable little purr-like noises that had Jason reply with his own noises, soothing rumbles that had Jason relax. He hadn’t felt this relaxed in… years? He always had to be alert, who knew when someone would try to grab him or when CPS would catch up or- the list went on for a long while.

 

Somehow he’d fallen asleep, which never happened, not when he knew someone else was near. He’d only managed to sleep once since being brought back to the manor and that was only because he’d gotten under the floorboards and hidden in the shadows, it had only been a couple of hours and exhaustion was already too familiar to his bones. He never slept enough, sleeping made him vulnerable. But here he was, clearly having slept a good few hours because the room was now dark and Jason let out a little yawn as he stretched and rose to his feet. Dick beside him let out a squeaking noise and he rolled up onto his feet, having been woken. Jason shot him an apologetic whimper that Dick shook his head at, clearly not bothered. Instead he playfully charged out from under the chair and then turned to look at Jason expectedly. Oh, Jason mused, Dick’s form must be nocturnal too, clearly able to see in the dark room. Jason slowly crept after Dick, watching in slight awe as Dick easily crawled up a cupboard and then flung himself off, arms outstretched and…gliding. Oh. The name made sense to Jason now as Dick sailed across the room and onto the curtain drapes, little claws digging in to cling to the fabric, letting out a chirping noise of elation. 

 

Jason let out a screech, not violent or loud, just a simple noise to convey his excitement at seeing the action that had Dick let out a cute noise again and flying over to Jason again, touching down beside the skunk and nudging his face into Jason’s side. Jason sneezed again, body shaking and making Dick jump back in surprise before an odd noise erupted from him. Was he laughing? Wow. Jason snapped his little teeth in threat that only had Dick make more of the noise. Jason huffed. 

 

Dick shot him a final grin with little fangs before he was hurtling across the room and ending his vault as a human, change rippling over almost as fluidly as Jason’s did, clearly having lots of experience shifting. It was rather unusual to see and Jason let out a questioning noise before he could stop himself.

 

“I grew up in the circus, I was a trapeze artist and I used to shift sometimes, mid jump and then shifting back to a human again before I was caught… Um, so I can shift really quickly.” Dick explained, edging closer to Jason again, holding out hands Jason climbed into. He’d decided he liked Dick, trusted him enough even if he was still going to make a point to steer clear of Bruce and maybe the butler Alfred too… Adults were… Yeah. But Jason liked Dick, the boy wasn’t much older than him and he had lulled Jason into the best sleep he’d had in so long. 

 

“Are you still stuck?” Dick asked quietly, carrying Jason gently in his arms out of the dark room. Jason paused, because he’d grown to quickly trust Dick, sure, but did he trust Dick not to tell Bruce? So Jason scrunched up his nose, let out another uncontrollable sneeze and then shook his head.

 

“Maybe it’s because you have a cold, you do have a cold, don’t you? You keep sneezing.” Dick spoke and Jason nodded. He’d picked up a cold somehow, thought winter was creeping in so it was likely due to that. He usually didn’t shift as much in winter, he was slower, more groggy and even though most of the year being a skunk was more beneficial the slowed reaction time made Jason anxious as a skunk.

 

“Well, how about you sleep in my room with me? I promise I’ll snuggle with you again and I have a warm room, Sugar Gliders like the warm so I have these big heaters set up… You like warmth too, right” Dick asked and Jason shrugged. He molted his fur in the summer and he had urges to burrow in the winter… So he didn’t even know, his father hadn’t been a shifter and his mother had been an otter so despite having vaguely similar traits they didn’t have the same behaviours and Jason knew little about being a skunk, he’d had to learn himself. It wasn’t typical a shifter be a different species than their parents nor was it unheard of but Jason cursed his biology sometimes, thinking how much easier it would have been to be an Otter too, to have someone who could have shown him what he liked, didn’t like, what he did when it was hot or cold or dark or light… 

 

“Well you can stay with me if you’d like and if it gets too warm, wake me up and I promise I’ll take you somewhere cooler?” Dick asked and Jason found himself nodding, even though they’d just napped for hours and it was now night-time, a time when both of their forms should be active, instead he wanted nothing more than to drift back into that safe sleep he’d longed for, for months.

 

“Okay! I promise I’ll look after you till you can shift back!” Dick beamed and gently carried Jason up the stairs. “I’m going to be the best brother ever, I swear.” He added with a whisper and Jason flinched, another little sneeze. Damnit, how was he meant to stay cautious when Dick said things like that, things that had Jason melt in happiness and safety.

 

The room was significantly warmer than the rest of the house but the sheets were so soft and fluffy and Dick’s tiny form nestled against him as soon as Jason had been safely placed on the bed. The sleep was even better than before, under the chair, even if the end result was a sneezing Sugar Glider a day later. Jason’s own cold had evaporated and with Bruce distracted by Dick’s cold it gave Jason more time to figure out how he could sneak through the crazy security a paranoid Bat had on his insanely large house.

 

Just… y’know... No rush. He had to make sure Dick was okay before he left.

 

Not because he liked him or anything…just because he felt bad for giving him his cold… Yeah. That was all.

 

Jason couldn't even convince himself of that fact let alone anyone else.

 

 

 

Notes:

Jason: *hiding under a chair* I must leave at once! This giant Batman is an amazing actor and must secretly be a trafficker or he wants to turn me into a hat! Rich people love weird hATS!!!
Bruce: I seem to have misplaced my son.
Jason: loOK AT HIM. HE'S JUST WAITING TILL I DROP MY DEFENCES TO SELL ME.
Bruce: Son? Small Stinky Skunk Son? Where are youuuu?? I want to love yoUUUU!!!

aka Bruce is just happy to have found probably the only other child in Gotham besides Dick who isn't scared of a massive 5'6 Wing-spanned Bat shifter. (Until Tim is discovered and Damian moves in, ofc.)

Jason's paranoia levels are too high for this shit and Dick just wants snuggles because he can't snuggle with B's massive Bat form and finally,, someone more suited to his size!!!!

 

///

Tomorrows word is Queue!! No big ideas yet and I'm sadly on the open at work so no time really there to write :((( vsad... we'll just see where the word takes us!!! hope you enjoyed this :D im loving this verse already!!!