could be dangerous

Found this old edit I made for DBD back when it came out.

Damn, I miss the show. I wish it had a second season.

Meet khorazir, a member of our merch team and a paired page and feature artist for Pins & Patches! They can be found on Tumblr, Bluesky, and AO3 at @khorazir.

I am so happy to be a part of the fantastic Charles Rowland fanzine that's coming your way soon! You can check out the @dbdauplifts blog to find out more about the zine and all the wonderful writers and artists who are participating in this project.

For now, I hope you'll enjoy this little appetizer from my own contribution...

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His dad had been in a foul mood all day, and as much as Charles had tried to avoid him, what had happened had really been inevitable. It only took one wrong word, the wrong tone of voice, one tiny mishap to set his dad off on days like this. And something was always wrong, no matter how hard Charles tried.

He flinched when he heard the basement door open. But the sound was far too quiet for it to be his father in the darkness at the top of the stairs. There was something… furtive about the slow motion and near silence, and the lights stayed out. His mum, then. Dad must've gone to bed.

Charles listened carefully as his mother came down the stairs. She barely made a sound - she knew all the creaky spots almost as well as Charles himself did. He listened, but didn't look - didn't want her to see him like this, hurt and with dried tear tracks on his cheeks, and a childish, silly part of him hoped that if only he didn't look her way, she wouldn't be able to see. Wouldn't have to hurt as well.

"Charles?", his mum said, standing only a short distance away now.

"Hey." The word came out reluctantly. "You okay?"

There was a pause and a quiet exhale before his mother answered. "Yes." Another pause. "Your father went to bed a while ago. I thought I could bring you some snacks." It was almost a question, like she was bringing him a peace offering she wasn't sure he'd accept.

“Thank you, Charles. But what is the occasion?”

“It’s the 25th of May, mate. You gotta wear the lilac today. And bring a towel. And a hard-boiled egg, apparently.”

“Is it from that book I read to you some years ago, about the Night Watch?”

“Yeah, exactly. Although the towel thing is from Douglas Adams. Loved the BBC show of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy as a kid. And we should totally read Night Watch again, especially now. With all the shit going on in the world, a book about time travel and a people’s revolution sound like just the thing, don’t they? Also, as usual, you did a great job voicing the characters. Especially Nobby and Snouty. And all the ladies. And the posh toffs.”

“Thank you. ‘Truth, Justice, Freedom’ ... do I remember that correctly? And the hard-boiled egg, of course.”

“Totally, mate. But don’t forget the most important bit.”

“Which is?”

“‘Reasonably priced love’.”

“Ah yes. Care to jog my memory a little more of what that may entail, Charles?”

“Aces idea, mate. Was hoping you’d say that.”

“Plenty of times I’ve seen you stuck in a book, love, but this has gotta be the first time it’s happened literally.”

“Oh, very droll. How long have you been working on that one?”

“What d’you mean?! Instant, that was. Because I’m a comedy genius.”

“I shouldn’t give up the day job, if I were you.”

“Oi! I heard you laughing. Anyway, what’s going on? How’d we get in here?”

“I imagine it is due to some kind of enchantment, though I confess, my memory is rather hazy.”

“Well, we were a bit distracted, weren’t we? Gonna need to work out how to break it before we get stuck in here for good, mind.”

“Perhaps. However, I cannot say that I object to the view.”

“Edwin Payne, are you flirting with me? At a time like this?”

“This from the boy who decided it was a good idea to begin kissing me in an enchanted stationery shop?”

“Couldn’t help it, could I? You were just stood there, looking all. You know. With your eyes. And your mouth. And your—”

“Yes, yes, there’s no need to go on about it. I suspect that shelf we knocked into has something to do with our current predicament. We ought to have been more careful.”

“Yeah, probably wasn’t a good sign when all those books fell onto us. But you can’t blame a bloke. Anyway. Maybe there’s no rush.”

“What? What happened to ‘before we get stuck in here for good’?“

“Well, that was before I thought about where I’m gonna end up when this book closes. Reckon that’ll be an even better view, if you catch my drift.”

“Charles.”

“What?! Bet you’re thinking it too.”

“I…may have been making some deductions on that score, yes.”

“Hah! Knew there had to be something behind all that blushing and hiding in your notebook.”

“Presumably similar to the thing that’s making you incapable of meeting my eye.”

“Got me there, love. There. That better?”

“Much. You really are very handsome, you know.”

“Flatterer. Knew there was a reason I’m so drawn to you—”

“I shan’t dignify that with a response.”

“—because you’re pretty as a picture—”

“—nor that—”

“—always thought I was an open book as far as you’re concerned—”

“—Charles, honestly, you will—Oh.”

“That’s done it. Hello, love.” 

“Hello, dearest. Welcome back.”

“Brills to be on the same page again, so to speak.”

“Indeed. Come here.” 

“That’s…mmm, that’s nice. Yeah. Still wondering about getting out of here?”

“Eventually. But for now, let’s make the most of being in our favourite place.”

“Oh yeah? Where’s that, then?”