#* dctorsleep .

                                      heavily-lidded eyes blinked as they observed danny , unimpressed . hard to believe that was the same man rust had ran into only a few months back , out there , in the concrete swamps . back then , danny torrance had been nothing but an aimless drunkard that , despite being absolutely inept , managed to navigate through the filthy bowels of the world unscratched . though now that rust got a good look of the guy , he realized that had been an unfair assessment ; danny torrance was still the same idiot he had met , but he certainly wasn’t spared . he looked as unhappy as the rest of the brood    ━━━    a miserable looking bastard carrying a lifetime of trauma in the bags under his eyes . rustin hadn’t cared much to notice all that misery when he had ran into him . bastard had stolen money right out of his pocket  (  money meant to feed rustin’ opioid addiction for a whole month  )  . the detective tried to retrieve it a bit too late ... thought it better to swing a couple of fists at danny rather than report him . WOULDN’T HAVE MADE A DIFFERENCE . the country’s authorities were as inept as its’ delinquents ; lost causes , all of them .

                                  but danny torrance sat up straighter now and his eyes had a sad shine to them . better than having no shine at all , rust thought . he had gotten himself clean . there was some merit in that ... something to be celebrated . danny got to be miserable like the rest of the world while , simultaneously , being a good boy . golden stars all around . congratulatory hugs . fireworks . rust felt so detached from all of that he could hardly remember how to pronounce the word ‘inspiring’ . the cigarette between his fingers had been burning for a minute . cohle pulled his gaze away , lowered it in defeat . perhaps he was the most inept of all . the thought left a harsh taste on the roof of his mouth (  iron and coagulated blood , dusty carpeted floors riddled with the stench of bodily fluids  ) . rustin had been hit by that flavor the night he had met danny for the first time .        ❝         if forgettin’ was easy , we’d all be a more forgivin’ bunch .       ❞           the detective drawled , finally allowing himself a drag of his cigarette .        ❝         didn’t ask you to forget .      ❞         

                     “   sorry about the paperwork .   ”   harleen spoke in her most earnest tone . she was still capable of speaking a few truths                or at least what she believed 𝚂𝙷𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳 𝙱𝙴 the truth . the man she had handed her former patient’s files to looked tired . not the i had a rough night kind of tired ; the tiredness that came as a result of a lifetime of misfortunes and bad timing . harleen eyed him carefully and reached the conclusion that she wasn’t actually sorry for the extra work they’d have with the booking of a new patient ; she was sorry that the fella in front of her was  𝚂𝙾 𝚃𝙸𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙰𝚃 𝙷𝙴 𝙲𝙾𝚄𝙻𝙳𝙽’𝚃 𝙵𝙰𝙺𝙴 𝙸𝚃 .  harley didn’t miss those days of not being able to hide what she truly felt . being an open book often brought more bad than good .

                       “   he just didn’t belong in arkham , you know ?   ” the doctor still managed to sound sympathetic . all those years of listening to people’s issues had taught her how to be pleasant ... even if pleasant wasn’t in her DNA . a raspy voice at the end of the corridor shouted a few fuck yous and shove it up your ass , jerkwad as soon as harleen finished speaking , causing her to cringe a bit .  “  well . at least not anymore . ”  good old vittorio had lived a life of crime and excess until he decided to mess with hallucinogenics . the bad trip he experienced had ripple effects ; half of his life went down the gutter               ripped to shreds by chemicals in his brain that made the guy see things that weren’t really there .

                   the flame of a lighter sparked itself to life . it licked the end of a cuban cigar until the big red lips wrapped around it were breathing smoke . the stench of tobacco and gasoline filled the van . he was a hellish sight ; still , he must have looked better than whatever danny had survived through . it was never a good sign when people didn’t look startled by a  6′11″ demon . whatever danny had been through must have been scarier than hellboy . ━━   he wasn’t sure whether he felt happy or worried at the thought . with a flick of his wrist , the metallic lighter clicked shut . his traveling companion looked like he hadn’t slept in years . like he was haunted not only by ghosts but by his own life choices . 𝚃𝙷𝙴 𝙱𝙿𝚁𝙳 𝚁𝙴𝙰𝙻𝙻𝚈 𝙷𝙰𝙳 𝙻𝙾𝚆𝙴𝚁𝙴𝙳 𝚃𝙷𝙴𝙸𝚁 𝚂𝚃𝙰𝙽𝙳𝙰𝚁𝙳𝚂 𝙵𝙾𝚁 𝙽𝙴𝚆 𝚁𝙴𝙲𝚁𝚄𝙸𝚃𝚂 .

                          ❝   yeah , well ,   ❞      he started , each word hitting the driver like a handful of smoke .     ❝   crowds ain’t ever felt too good ‘round me .   ❞       hellboy held the cigar between his teeth when he said this . it was unclear whether he was smiling at dan or SNARLING AT HIM . they had spent all day worrying about a child torturing freak cult ... he was just trying to lighten up the mood . dwelling on all the trauma the guy next to him must have gone through as a kid wasn’t going to do anything for them . not now that an ominous looking car was tailing on them . hellboy reached for his holster .