metalogs | [Closed] Dividing my head and my heart

Entry tags:

[Closed] Dividing my head and my heart

Who: Jason

reneger and Accelerator

levelshift
What: Just some totally normal, well-balanced people having a totally normal meeting in a totally normal back alley.
When: Mid-July.
Where: The back alleys of Central City.
Content Warnings: Mild physical torture, discussion of a minor acquiring and using weapons (knives, guns). These two talking about almost dying and really dying.

[It's late at night in Central, and Accelerator has found himself down a back alley in one of the sketchier neighbourhoods of the city. It's a place he's pretty familiar with by now, so he isn't giving off any signs of discomfort. Also, he isn't alone.]

Come on, this isn't fucking hard.

[There's a guy with a bloody nose, probably in his mid-to-late twenties, slumped against the wall of a building on the ground, groaning. He's clutching his arm, which is twisted in a few different places. Accelerator is standing in front of him with an exasperated expression. It's kind of a funny scene, this big guy being loomed over by a skinny, albino-looking kid with a crutch in one hand, his other one casually shoved in the pocked of his jeans. The light on his choker is glowing red.

Stalking people isn't something Accelerator can say he specializes in, but he knows enough to have picked up on this loser being a part of some shitty Central gang. Hardly an upstanding member of society, though more of the two-bit criminal variety than some evil mastermind. Which is fine, he has to start somewhere and someone on the low rungs of a gang makes the most sense.

He sighs, raises a foot, and plants it on the goon's chest. Technically there's a couple of centimetres between the sole of his shoe and the guy's chest, as that's where his ability kicks in, but that's a minor detail. All Accelerator has to do is gently press his foot downwards and do a few quick calculations, amplifying the vectors behind the motion to increase the pressure. His automatic reflection prevents the guy's body from closing that tiny distance. It's simple, but effective.

The guy starts flailing a little, and then there's the crunch as a rib cracks. He yelps loudly, looking like he's on the verge of passing out. Accelerator, still looking thoroughly annoyed, rolls his eyes at getting reaction instead of anything useful. He doesn't press down any further, but he also doesn't move his foot, maintaining that pressure on the cracked rib.]

Goddamnit, the last guy was less of a wuss. You people are a pain in the ass, you know that?

[The first one had actually passed out from the pain, and the second one hadn't known anything. Apparently 'third time's the charm' is just wishful thinking.]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I'm a leftie.

( but he is holding his gun in his right hand, not the left. a gun which he puts back into it's holster as accelerator starts shooting. jason's eyes focus on his hand, how his wrist shifts with the recoil, how accelerator self-corrects and readjusts his grip to account for the way the weight shifts when he shoots, the recoil. jason takes a step forward closer to him, but doesn't reach out. just moves his eyes from accelerator's hands to his eyes. raises a brow. )

If I re-adjust your hand, are you gonna try and kill me?

( accelerator didn't even touch the guy in the alley. jason's not going to reach out and grab onto a kid he barely knows, even if he's fairly certain that, regardless of what that ability was, he could figure out a way to take him. )

[Okay, so he had to learn how to use a gun with his right hand. Good to know.

It's smart to be asking that before actually touching him, and not because he's holding a gun. Right now, Accelerator's reflection is only 'on' in the sense that it's working at its bare minimum of filtering UV light, but this is still the kind of caution people should have around him. Especially after the incident with Leo.

Accelerator inclines his head slightly, refraining from shooting any more bullets.]

No. Go ahead.

( if anyone reached out for jason without warning or good history between them, they'd end up on the ground flat on their ass. it's not getting flipped that he's worried about. if accelerator did attack him, it'd be warranted. it's the jason doesn't like his personal bubble being invaded without purpose, and unless he's intentionally antagonizing someone, he's not going to be an ass.

fingers wrap around accelerator's wrist, adjusting the aim a little before tapping at his wrist just below his thumb. )

Lock here. Push with your thumb, pull on the side with your pinky. ( wrist straight, even with his forearm. jason drops the hand after, adjusts his elbow so it's just slightly bent. ) Don't lock your elbow, that's just gonna fuck you up. ( and back up to his hand, shifting his thumb to rest against the barrel, index finger on the trigger, three fingers wrapped around the grip. ) Keep your grip like this, don't follow my example.

[Accelerator listens quietly, following all the instructions he's given. Lock his wrist, not his elbow, push with his thumb.]

Okay.

[This is one of those weird instances where he has to be more aware of his body than he normally is. It's something he can adjust to and he's committing all of this to memory, so it'll be fine for the most part, but yeesh. It's having the side effect of making him even more acutely aware of how unsteady his legs are these days. Life was so much easier when his ability was constant.

Buuut he can't go back to that kind of life, so he puts those thoughts out of his mind.]

This is going to be better? Why don't you use this kind of grip?

'cause I'm a show off with a lot of experience and a need for flair.

( jason says it with a smarmy little grin, a teasing lilt to his tone. it's not untrue: he pulls a lot of shit for dramatic flair. hell, he's fucked with people for less. )

Try that. ( while jason takes a step back and saunters his way over to the table, to start putting some of the other shit away. ) We'll work on your one-armed reload once you get a good feel for the recoil.

Edited 2023-07-19 23:06 (UTC)

Ah. I'll avoid that, then.

[Accelerator keeps a straight face.

He won't. He absolutely won't. Once he's gotten firing and reloading with one hand down he is absolutely going to go down the route of a dramatic theatre kid. There is no stopping him.

He gives a small nod, resuming firing. This grip is indeed a lot better, so he'll finish up with this magazine with no problems. Once he's done he'll hold off on unloading the empty magazine.]

How much am I gonna owe you for the gun and the lessons?

We'll see.

( mostly meaning, he doesn't intend to follow up with accelerator at all. most of this shit is stolen, jason doesn't need some kid's money. he's got resources and what resources he lacks, he'll make up for by taking it from people who don't deserve it. but this is the second time accelerator's brought it up, so he figures rather than saying i don't give a fuck, he'll give a vague non-answer. )

Eject the magazine. Use your knee against your forearm, gravity and inertia'll push it out. Gun between your knees, grip up, barrel down to the ground. Shove the magazine in.

.....

[He doesn't argue, but he does make a bit of a face. Owing people isn't something he likes very much, especially with how much debt he's accrued with the Society.

Alright, he'll pick that up later. For now he focuses on those next instructions. It sounds awkward. And it is! He'll manage to do what Jason says, but god, reloading is going to easily be the most difficult thing for him to manage. Firing the damn thing is nothing compared to this.

When he's done he clicks his tongue, very annoyed.]

This is shit.

Fastest way you're gonna reload. Rack it. Put it upside down in front of you, gripping onto it like you had earlier. Move it down, sharp. You need enough force from it to rack a round into the chamber.

( accelerator wants to learn how to do shit the hard way, he'll have to--pick it up the hard way, too. though, looking at him-- )

What'd you do to your leg?

[Accelerator glares down at the gun, but he'll unload it and try it again, following what Jason says. He's going to keep trying until it stops being a pain in the ass, since he doesn't have much other choice.

The question makes him pause briefly. Back home this was never something he has to explain, being infamous enough meant basically anyone he came across already knew. That isn't the case here, and while there's some information about himself he's reluctant to let get out, he supposes the brain injury shouldn't be one of those things. Telling Leo and Donnie had been fine, Mechanima and a few others at the Society know.... The only harm he can see is people trying to take advantage of the choker, but anyone with eyes can see that it's important. You don't need the full story for that.

After that pause, he resumes reloading, cursing some more under his breath.]

It's a traumatic brain injury. It affects the entire left side of my body, not just my leg.

Show me?

( not his brain, obviously, but the extent of it. jason's no expert here, but he's got--some experience with people with similar things going on. he's not going to be able to find a fix for it like this, but he knows people smarter than him who might have something they can do to help.

accelerator seems like he's figuring out the reload just fine. it takes a bit to get used to, jason knows, so he doesn't expect him to get it down over the next several tries. he's not leaving him with the gun this easily anyway. )

[Accelerator raises an eyebrow at the question, but focuses on finishing his second reload. He is, at least, coming along in getting the movements down. He's a quick learner, and he's immediately starting on attempt #3, answering while he does.]

Why? I can hold and fire the gun with my left hand fine enough. I'll figure out reloading, even if it keeps being a pain in the ass, and I can use both hands when I'm doing maintenance on the damn thing. That should be enough.

You can do whatever the hell you want. Show me, don't, keep fucking with the gun and ignore me, I don't care.

( but he will raise a hand, and gesture to accelerator's right side. )

But I might be able to figure out an alternative. Can't do jack shit if I don't know the extent of it.

[There's another click of his tongue (this is annoying, all of this is annoying), but he'll relent. If only because he should put the subject to bed as soon as possible.]

My hand is a little weaker, but I'm right-handed anyways, so that doesn't feel like much of a difference. [It's probably the easiest adjustment for him.] I can't walk very well without my crutch. Running's out of the question.

[Leo and Donnie have tried to help out with that, but without using his ability movement is just difficult now. Anyways, he doesn't particularly want to show any of that, because it's just sad and pathetic. He keeps going.]

You're not going to be able to do shit. This is already with an alternative, Mechanima's best alternative. As shitty as he is, that guy didn't fuck around when he helped me.

You realize shit's different here, right? There's people who can heal damn near anything, sorcerers--hell, one of the sorcerers I know is in neurosurgery.

( there are options out there, but jason also gets it if accelerator doesn't want those options. because he hates it when people fuck around with his body, when they try and patch it together through magic or meta abilities or whatever. they're his scars, his bruises, and he's earned them. )

Don't have to if you don't want to, but there's shit you can do.

[What the hell is this. Seriously. Why are they even having this conversation? This weirdo is supposed to be selling him a gun, not helping him improve his quality of life (outside of violence).

Maybe it's some kind of stupid ambush? Maybe he actually knows who he is, and these sorcerers - or more scientists, even - want to fuck around with his body. There's no way the guy is from Academy City, but that doesn't mean he couldn't be from outside and acquired various data on espers through information smuggling. That had been what Amai Ao had been doing, after all.

Ugh, maybe he's just being paranoid. Who knows. Accelerator finishes another reload and snorts a little, because at the very least, a sorcerer specializing in neurosurgery sounds utterly hilarious.]

I'm pretty sure if anyone tried that invasive with me using magic they'd die.

[If that incident with Donnie's mystic tech is anything to go off of then yeah, that's a real concern. That's what this world needs, a bunch of doctor-sorcerers or whatever getting blown up accidentally because they tried to do a kind thing.]

I'm not going to deny my situation is shit, because it is. But it's the best option I've got, and getting creative like learning to use a gun to use my ability less often helps.

( it's not a no but it's an i'm wary to try anything. which makes it hard to approach, too, because jason does get it. not the they'd die if they tried magic on me thing, he doesn't know accelerator's deal there, but the rest of it. )

You're getting the hang of reloading, wanna move on to disassembling it? If you're gonna fuck around with a gun, you need to know it inside and out.

( you don't, not really. but jason needs to, and jason's not letting anyone run around with one until they do. not if it's something he has a say in. especially not a kid, and one who's planning on handling it completely one-handed. )

You want me to see if I can find someone who'll try it, or do you want me to drop it?

( helping beyond this. he'll check with strange, check with people he knows who've been here longer, who know more than jason does. but it's easy enough to let go of, too. it's not his right side. jason couldn't live like that--he doesn't have an ability to balance it off, he'd get killed too quickly or he'd get himself fucked over more because he doesn't know how to stop. it'd be shit either way. )

[No one should be spending this much effort on him, especially when he's sure that any genuine attempts at help are either going to fail or get themselves hurt. It isn't worth it, it really isn't worth it.

... At least it's nice to hear he's picking up reloading, even if it's also weird. It's not quite praise, but it's close enough that it makes him a little uncomfortable.]

Sure.

[He genuinely wants to know how to maintain it on his own, and he's sure it'll go a lot smoother than getting reloading down. Going and setting the gun back down on the table, he hesitates at the next question.]

Drop it. [He should drop it at that, too. He really should, but instead he looks over sharply at Jason.] Why are you even offering? Seriously, that has nothing to do with you or whoever you know. All you'd be doing is putting them at fucking risk.

( this is not a question he should be answering, because while jason doesn't give a shit about fucking around with their own while masked, letting others in on personal details is never, ever a good idea. people have gotten the drop on him before due to bleeding in a little too much, and that wasn't even jason's fault. but accelerator is a kid, and kids are idiots who don't trust anyone worth shit because everyone could be out to get them if they're not trying to get something out of them. everyone was out to get jason, and everyone else was trying to get something out of him.

he gets it.

he doesn't move any closer when accelerator turns to look at him. clicks his tongue against the roof of his mouth. )

I've got a little brother who's about your age. He's an asshole with a terrible temper, too much pride, and he saunters around like nothing can touch him. ( the damian here is - significantly older than that now. still similar. but he's not talking about him, except for the points where he is because he still relives the nightmare of damian losing an arm every time he closes his eyes. ) Call it sentiment if you want.

[Oh.

If he's telling the truth, then that's about as far from Accelerator's initial suspicions as they can get. They're polar opposites. Accelerator isn't sure if he should feel bad for making assumptions (there's still a chance they could be true), but more than that... he's uncomfortable. Really uncomfortable. Who the hell compares him to their brother? Of course, it's not like Jason knows what he's doing, since he doesn't actually know him at all, but that's such a ridiculous, dumb thing to do.

Give him a second, here. He's staring blankly, very what the fuck???]

You don't want to be comparing me to any of your family. [He's spitting that out after a moment.] I'm a piece of shit.

So's my entire family. You think I go around in a mask 'cause I think it's fun? ( it is partially because it's fun. what's more fun than swinging from rooftops and punching asshats in the face? jason certainly enjoys getting to put down the fuckers who deserve it. but it's also--someone has to do it. and that someone just happens to be jason. ) He was raised by assassins. Pretty sure he's tried to kill me at least twice.

( from the soft playful lilt to his tone, accelerator can probably pick out that he's not bothered by that, not at all. jason's almost killed damian for less; he's gotten close with tim for even less than that. so, it's only fair. )

Does it really matter?

[That whole explanation is so ridiculous Accelerator is coming to the conclusion that it must be true, because seriously, who would come up with a lie that outlandish? Though that does mean this guy has an assassin brother his age who tried to kill him multiple times and seems totally fine with it all.

Accelerator doesn't have a family of his own (he refuses to think of Last Order, Yomikawa, and Yoshikawa that way, they deserve better), but he is very certain families aren't supposed to act like this.]

....

[At any rate, it also means that sentiment is genuine, which makes him want to viscerally recoil. Even if his brother is total garbage he's still family, that still has meaning to it. That isn't something he should be encroaching upon.

That's what it feels like, some kind of horrible (scary) encroachment, even though it's Jason making the comparison and he hasn't actually done anything. Accelerator scowls (nothing new there) stubbornly.]

Yeah. All I wanted was to find some bastard who would sell me a gun. Now you're comparing me to family. [It is A Lot for an emotionally stunted, asocial kid to deal with.]

( he's just a kid. a kid with an attitude who, from what jason has seen, is extremely clever. he did some follow up research on accelerator after they parted ways last time, because he doesn't just give guns out to kids who ask for them on the streets, that'd be a really stupid move. and jason, despite airs he might intentionally put on to throw people off, isn't an idiot. he isn't just a brawler, isn't just some guy with guns.

probably isn't the person to be having this talk, either. but he rolls his eyes under his mask, puts both hands on his hips. )

You're a brat who was walking 'round the street asking thugs for guns. Not only is that reckless, it'd be downright stupid for most. But you're not most kids, are you? You're on your own, in a new place, far away from home. An' you're pretty sure you're doing just fine, because you can handle everything on your own.

( a lot of this is guesswork, based on their very limited interactions. jason's usually pretty spot on, he wasn't trained by the world's greatest detective for nothing, but he wouldn't be surprised if he got shit wrong, either. )

I was on my own when I was a lot younger than you, I know what it's like to need something to try and keep yourself safe, 'cause who the fuck knows what the world's going to throw at you next. Doesn't matter what special abilities you've got going on, you've got a weakness you can't hide which means you've gotta make up for it in other ways. Mouthing off, finding a good weapon you can pull out to throw people, being suspicious of everyone who offers a hand 'cause chances are high they're all out to get you. And if they aren't, who gives a shit? You're not out here looking for friends, and it's better to tell everyone to fuck off because chances are always higher their intentions are shit.

[It's a great day when you get to test fire a gun and also get your whole business shoved in your face. Accelerator's scowl doesn't budge an inch except a twitch to one eye.]

What a load of shit.

[It's horribly, uncomfortably accurate. This may in fact be even worse than the time Yomikawa called him out - or maybe it's better? With Yomikawa it was definitely an adult giving a child an afterschool lecture that he absolutely did not want to hear. She had been kind and hopeful and tried to offer him some of that hope, and he had laughed in her face.

(And felt disgusted at himself for doing it, but that's beside the point.)

This isn't going that far, though. Right now all Jason has done is nail down a chunk of his situation. He hasn't done anything else. Accelerator is suspicious, though. His back isn't up against the wall quite yet, but he doesn't enjoy being called out and his default reaction to that is hostility for the exact reason Jason has pointed out. People suck, chances are they want something out of him if they're being kind, so it's easier to reject them right away.

(It has nothing to do with being scared, fuck you Yomikawa.)]

Is this about to turn into a lecture? Or are you saying you're doing all this bullshit because you empathize?

( it's calling himself out more than anything else. jason wasn't superpowered as a kid, but he was a stubborn asshole too who thought every hand held out to him was poisoned. still thinks that most the time. because people are assholes. he's an asshole. )

I don't do lectures. ( he saves those for dick to pull off. would even call him in to figure out a kid he barely knows if he did need one. but nobody needs to have someone talk their asses off and scold them, that's just stupid. ) I'm saying I get it, an' I'm not out to screw you over. If I wanted someone to fuck up, I've got better choices than some scrawny little runt.

( he could go fuck with himself; making a mess of junior's things is always fun. there's rayner, stark, strange--and those are the friendlies who it'd just be fucking with in good fun. there's always gangsters to break open until they beg running around the streets of central, when he's feeling particularly violent. )

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