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FandomFoxFire - I don't see the problem? — Description

Possible trigger warnings?:
Mentions of zombies in one paragraph, slightly disturbing imagery?, Brief swearing,

Genre:
Angst, Hurt/Comfort?

Context/Synopsis:
  Plague Rat appears in Jonathan’s new hideout some time after he was attacked by Killer Croc. Plague Rat is horrified by the state he finds Scarecrow in, but is horrified for him, much to Jonathan’s surprise.

  Plague Rat, aka Blake, is just happy to have him back.

Characters featured:
Arkham!Scarecrow (Post-Arkham Asylum)
Plague Rat/Blake

Notes:
-Please do not repost!
-If you have any constructive critique, please share!
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  "So, is this revenge for not telling you I was Plague Rat?" Jonathan didn't turn around, keeping his eyes on the screen before him. He stood with his hands resting on the table, his calloused fingers curling into fists. The dimly lit room was once full of silence, but the unexpected and familiar voice had cut through the isolative quiet.

   The slight ire in that voice even seemed to cut Jonathan down to the bone. But there wasn't just anger in his tone, but whether it was regret, guilt, or general sadness, Jonathan couldn't discern.

  "I knew you'd find me eventually." Though, this moment was something he dreaded.

  "-And that was your reason for not telling me you were alive?" All anger seemed to leave his voice when he said that; All other emotions replaced with worry and grief. There was a long pause, the only sound from the nearly inaudible whirring of the machines nearby.

  Finally, Blake broke the silence. "When I heard about you being dragged off, I couldn't tell you how tempted I was to hunt that sunovabitch down and turn him into a pair of croc-skin boots." He chuckled. As he woefully spoke, he slowly walked toward the Scarecrow, letting his steps be heard so Jonathan wouldn't be caught off-guard. "But, you and I both know that would've been a stupid decision."

  Before long, Jonathan felt Blake's hand slowly rest on his shoulder. "Johnny," Blake muttered. "where have you been?"

  If there was anything Jonathan knew about Blake, it was his fears. He'd always trusted him enough to be very liberal about telling him what truly bothered him. The sillier things, like roosters and praying mantis, to the more understandable things, like his voreaphobia. But two things he always seemed to struggle with day-to-day were his fears of abandonment and loneliness. Those two things came to mind immediately as he felt Blake's hand tremble against his shoulder.

  Finally, Jonathan let out a barely audible sigh and turned to face him. Blake, who hadn't yet seen the aftermath of the incident, took a step back as he saw Jonathan's face. ...Or at least, what remained of it.

  "If I could've seen you before now, I would've." His jaw moved rather robotically as he spoke. By all accounts, he shouldn't have been able to talk as well as he was.

  Jonathan still didn't think Blake could take the sight of him, one of the biggest reasons he hadn't approached him before. Though, by the time he showed up in his hideout, it was already too late not to confront him.

  Jonathan watched the look in Blake's eyes shift as his mind processed what he saw. Blake's widened eyes were the only real clue of how he felt, as the rest of his face barely shifted, as was typical for him. Finally, the tightness in his chest and his shallow breaths became more noticeable. Though knowing him, Blake likely hadn't even noticed.

  Scarecrow watched in slight disbelief as Blake reached out to him, hesitating only for a moment to gauge Jonathan's reaction. Then, placed his hand gently against the side of Crane's face, and after a moment of simply taking it in, he muttered, "Why didn't you come to me sooner, love?" Jonathan couldn't reply, half expecting this response to be some kind of cruel trick.

  Not waiting for a response, Blake placed his other hand on the opposite side of Crane's face. The look in his cloudy eyes, his exposed teeth and gums, the quiet sound of his breathing now laboured, his missing nose, it all seemed like something out of Blake's worst nightmares. In fact, he could remember that one clear as day.

  He didn't bother dwelling on it back then; it was nothing but a nightmare, Jonathan dying and coming back as a zombie to haunt him for the rest of time. Only for the Crane-zombie to ask him why he hadn't tried to save him, whether he was lying all those times that Blake said he loved him and hissing that Blake should've been the one rotting. At that time, Blake woke up in their shared bed, only to look over and see Jonathan asleep. As soon as he realized it wasn't real, he went back to sleep without a second thought.

  Now though, that nightmare seemed all too real.

  Blake's hands left Jonathan's face, wrapping around him as gently as possible as he pulled him into an embrace. Scarecrow hesitated but eventually wrapped his arms around him as well. They almost melted into each other. Crane hadn't even noticed how much his body craved Blake's touch until that moment, while Blake had drowned in his feeling of emptiness without Jonathan all that time.

  At this point, Blake wanted nothing more than to spend the rest of the day like this. Holding Johnny after all that time apart, after believing that Jonathan was dead, it felt like he was dreaming.

  And if he was dreaming? He'd rather stay asleep than wake up in that empty bed again.