Daniel Chae had grown accustomed to the feeling of being stuck between a rock and a hard place, both metaphorically and literally, on a handful of occasions.
His “unconventional side hustle”, as Val so frequently called it, had more than less desensitized Dan to the feeling of being cornered.
He could get out of anything…
Or so he thought.
As he sat on an unfamiliar couch, his new problem a few feet away- sitting across from him at the coffee table, Dan tried desperately to think of a way out of this newfound hell he had landed in that didn’t violate his ‘not harming innocent people’ schtick.
Not that he’s anywhere close to innocent, Daniel thought with a huff, comforting himself slightly.
“There.” Elliot said with a sigh of relief as he stretched his arms, “Now it’s officially off my cloud and in one location on my laptop, so no accidental hacking or whatever.”
“You don’t expect me to thank you, do you?” Dan asked flatly, crossing his arms.
Elliot raised an eyebrow, “That’s fair, that’s definitely more for me than you.”
Dan rolled his eyes, trying not to pay any mind to Elliot as he flopped backwards onto his living room floor, the smug grin becoming a permanent fixture on his face.
I could just kill him and destroy the laptop, Dan thought, It would be so easy…
Dan’s eyes went from staring at the laptop to Elliot’s llama-laden bottoms.
I doubt anyone would miss him.
It was, unfortunately, clear to Dan why he had begrudgingly followed Elliot into his apartment. Watching him sprawled out on the little area rug, his expression one of a cat who’d finally caught a mouse; Elliot Edison might be satan in the flesh, but dear god was he beautiful.
Then again, Dan had always had a weakness for blondes.
It didn’t make him any less embarrassed of how attractive he found this awful man, but... it helped.
“So...what?” Dan asked after clearing his throat, “You want me to do an InfoBYTE interview or something?”
Elliot snorted in an attempt not to laugh, “Are you stupid? Why in the hell would I give this to InfoBYTE?! This is my ticket out of drivel city, my man.”
“You know if you leak this you put a lot of people in jeopardy right? Not just me, but I have a family. Friends. You’ve heard of those, right?” Dan asked flatly.
“Sure,” Elliot scoffed, “But I don’t plan on leaking it…”
Dan wasn’t sure if he should breathe a sigh of relief, considering that his former blind date was clearly some breed of sociopath.
“Unless you piss me off, that video stays right here.” Elliot said, sitting up to pat his laptop dramatically, “So don’t worry your cute, little head, Danny boy.”
“But?” Dan asked skeptically, “Surely you didn’t force me to follow you into your apartment to reassure me.”
Elliot leaned forward onto the coffee table, placing his chin in his hands as he was undoubtedly calculating the cause of Dan’s destruction, “I’ve actually given this a great deal of thought in the last fifteen minutes...I can make this arrangement less blackmail-y and more...mutually beneficial, if you’re interested.”
“Nothing is more reassuring than a plan made up on the fly.” Dan said sarcastically.
Elliot rolled his eyes, his grin causing little crinkles in his nose, “The best laid plans of mice and men often go tits up, sometimes it’s better to improvise.”
“I don’t think that’s what you’re meant to take away from that saying.”
“Says the superhero in sweatpants.” Elliot retorted happily, “Which, speaking of, can’t be doing wonders for your public image.”
Dan could feel his patience waning,“Are you going somewhere with this?”
“I was getting to my point,” Elliot said with a dramatic frown before shooting to his feet, “But a quick question first; you’ve...noticed that the villains here dramatically outnumber the heroes, right?”
“No,” Danny said dramatically, “It’s been so easy keeping crime at bay I’d hardly noticed there’s about ten new idiots a week.”
“No need to be sarcastic or overestimate, but you do notice...Good.” Elliot said, pacing the floor, “A huge part of your issue, no offense, is a lack of presence. I mean, you’re the primary thing keeping this city safe and I’ve seen more photos of what’s her name? Sparkles? Sparky?”
“Bolt?” Dan asked, hating that he felt somewhat amused.
“Yes!” Elliot agreed in excitement, “Her! And she’s practically a side kick!”
Dan felt heat rise to his cheeks,“Your point?”
“My point? You’re the hero, Danny boy! Don’t you want some kind of recognition?”
Stop calling me that, “No? Recognition puts me and everyone else around me at risk.”
“Not you,” Elliot reiterated, “Magic man or whatever the hell you call yourself.”
Dan visibly cringed, “That name is so stupid.”
“Which is exactly my point!” Elliot exclaimed excitedly, flopping down as he sat on the coffee table, directly in front of Dan, “What I’m proposing would give you complete control over your media coverage. You choose how the public sees you, what they call you, what photos -if any- get published. I can give you complete and total power over how people see you, both literally and metaphorically or whatever.” Elliot waved his hand dismissively, “There’s always a point in superhero stories where they need civilians to help, right? No one wants to help a hero they don’t like! And how can they like you if they don’t even know you?”
Dan tried not to feel anything as he felt himself overtaken by the sparkle in the other man’s eyes. He couldn’t believe that he was actually considering this, but Elliot had a point. Maybe not about needing the help of civilians, but the blurry photos titled “Magic-Man saves the day”, or something equally stupid, were a bit...unflattering.
“How the fuck have you managed to spin this to where you’re doing me a favor?” Dan asked, hating that anyone paying attention could hear he was having trouble breathing.
Elliot clasped his hands onto Dan’s shoulders, “Are you kidding me? Do you have any idea what it would mean to be the sole press for Starlight City’s beacon of hope? Rising social symbol and hero extraordinaire? Exclusive interviews, press conferences- I’m going to be untouchable, Danny boy.”
“Oh good, “ Dan said as he removed Elliot’s hands, “So this is still about you. You almost had me worried.”
“Of course it is, who else would we be talking about here?” Elliot said in a voice that convinced Dan he completely lacked self awareness of any sort, “And you don’t have to agree.”
“I don’t?” Dan asked cautiously.
Elliot grinned, “Of course not. I can always be the one to leak your secret identity. It’s nowhere near the cash cow that being your sole PR guy would be, but it would at least get me out of InfoBYTE.”
Dan felt his heart sink and his stomach turn, “You may very well be the most evil man I’ve met.”
“Aww,” Elliot smiled, pinching Dan’s cheek before hopping up, circling back to his laptop, “That’s the sweetest thing anyone’s ever said to me.”
Dan sighed loudly, leaning back into the couch as he closed his eyes, “Say that I agree to this, however unwillingly, how exactly does a better presence help me in the long run? Or better yet, Starlight City?”
“Well, for starters, knowing what they’re up against will certainly deter some of the...less capable evildoers for sure.” Elliot said, tapping his chin, “Plus establishing a presence is actually important, whether you want to believe me or not. Entire empires have been founded on the right social media leverage, and that’s by people who don’t shoot sparkles out their ass.”
“I don’t shoot sparkles out of my ass.” Dan said blankly, realizing that Elliot was actually onto something, but caught off guard by the absurd sentiment.
“Well how would I know that?” Elliot asked matter-of-factly, “The biggest benefit, of course, is that you can platform. Protest verbally, show them what you’re made of and all that moral shit I’m sure you care about.”
Dan nodded to himself, “I hate that this is starting to sound like a good idea.”
“And to think, you wouldn’t be considering it if I wasn’t forcing you to.” Elliot said, practically glowing.
“Again, not a good thing.” Dan said as he opened his eyes only to glare, “Fine. It’s not like I had a choice anyways, but let's go with your stupid plan.”
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