Another addition to the Cosmic Danny AU a couple of chapters back.
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Cosmic considered the small rectangle of paper in his hands. This was a photograph. A very small photograph. Maybe from one of those machines? The top and bottom edges looked like they'd been cut with scissors.
More interesting to Cosmic were the three figures in the image. Two boys, one girl. Humans. They looked happy. Like they were having fun. They looked nice, especially the ones on the sides. It gave him a warm fuzzy feeling in his core.
(Looking straight at the boy in the middle, though, made him feel just slightly... lost...)
(Best not to dwell on that.)
Why was a picture like this here, in Clockwork's lair? It didn't make sense.
Well, the easiest way to find out would be to ask Clockwork.
Clockwork was... Cosmic tipped his head and tapped into his spatial powers, warping to Clockwork's location. He tugged on his guardian's cloak, and the older ghost shifted to his youngest form in lieu of bending over.
Excited and curious, Cosmic showed him the picture.
"Oh," said Clockwork, gently taking the picture. "Where did you find this?"
Cosmic shrugged and gestured vaguely towards the library, where he'd seen the picture being used as a bookmark.
(The odd thing was that the book itself had induced a strong sense of deja vu in him, even though he was quite certain he had never read it before.)
"I see," said Clockwork, gravely. "This picture... this one..." He tapped the boy in the middle. "He was a friend of mine, once."
There was a deep sadness in Clockwork's voice, and Cosmic patted his shoulder consolingly. They were ghosts, and Clockwork was a very old ghost. He must have lost many friends of the eons of his existence.
"Thank you for finding it," said Clockwork. "Will you help me find a good place to put it?"
Cosmic nodded enthusiastically.