Notes: Written for Spectrumv on tumblr, who gave me the prompts Crow/Badger and "Don't fucking touch me". Set a few years after Spectre's Call and greatly inspired by RPs Holly and I have had, so I'm not sure how well it'll read to anyone not familiar with those.
Crow pelted across the grass, trying desperately to keep Badger in his line of vision. It wasn't easy, Badger was by far the fastest of all of the Black Ravens and if he wanted to lose you then usually you'd have no chance of keeping up.
But Crow was determined and he was lucky that Badger made the mistake of thinking that his own speed outweighed Crow's determination enough that eventually he slowed down to take a break. They were far away from Misthallery now, misty fields having replaced the jagged cliffs, and they were both tired. Crow's heart was pounding so much that he barely even noticed how much his legs were aching.
He got closer to Badger and he knew the other boy was aware he was there, but thankfully he didn't take off again.
"Badge'..."
Crow put what he assumed was a comforting hand on Badger's shoulder, but Badger jerked his shoulder away.
"Don't fuckin' touch me!" Badger yelled, staring hard at the ground to avoid looking at Crow.
Unfortunately for him, Crow could get just as defensive as Badger at times; "Ya say that like this was all my fault!"
"It might as well 'ave been!" shot Badger, glaring up at him now, "If ya 'aven't been so charmin' an' nice an' everythin' I've ever bloody wanted, then maybe I wouldn't 'ave fallen in love with ya an'... an' dad wouldn't be getting' carted off right now..."
"Ya dad ain't bein' taken away 'cause ya love me. 'E's bein' taken away because 'e's an abusive twat," Crow insisted, "This was always gonna 'appen, Badge'. If not over this then over somethin' else..."
A noisy hiccup. Badger had started crying. The tears were just becoming visible from behind his mop of hair and his face had turned a painful shade of red.
"Ya... ya doun't know that. Ya can't know that. We might've been all right fer a few more years..." he mumbled.
"Not sure ya woulda been all right stayin' there fer that long though, even if nothin' else 'appened," reasoned Crow.
He made to put his hand on Badger's shoulder again, but there was no need. In a rare display of confidence, Badger grabbed onto Crow and held him tightly, sobbing loudly against the top of his hat.
"But what do I even do now...?" he whimpered, after a few moments of letting the tears run their course, "Maybe 'e were the worst person in the world, but 'e were me dad an' I doun't 'ave anywhere to go without 'im. What if they take me away an' all?"
"They won't," Crow promised, "I'm not gonna let that ever 'appen. Not now everyone knows about us bein' together anyway. Ya can stay with me an' mum. If that doesn't work out, we can stop out down the auction room until we work somethin' out. But we will work somethin' out."
Badger nodded into Crow's hat. He wasn't going to stop crying any time soon, couldn't if he wanted to, but he felt better for having heard that. Crow would help. Crow always knew what to do. And maybe Crow would say that he doesn't, but in that very moment the idea that his boyfriend could look after him in spite of everything that had happened today was exactly the comforting thought he needed.
