metalogs | ( closed )

Who: a gathering of birds and pals
What: it's a little birdie's birthday
When: dec 1st
Where: (comics)jason's central city apartment
Content Warnings: hopefully no fisticuffs in here

( about a week prior to the day, jason sent out an ominous invitation because how else is he supposed to tell people about shit? he's still recovering from both the stupid fight with junior and the numerous fights he'd been in before that with every jack and john he could find who was desperate enough to fall for him antagonizing them.

which means he's beaten enough that the several hours dickie spends in school is spent prepping snacks for the party. there's a massive sheet cake bought at one of the nearby grocery stores with generic balloons and a "happy birthday dickie" written in frosting across the top of it, along with several charcuterie plates, bowls of potato chips, and massive tubs of ice cream in the freezer.

jason figures there's enough of them they'll eventually eat through everything.

there's red, black, and yellow balloons tied to the table with all the snacks with a brightly colored happy birthday banner taped to the wall above it. be careful of the hidden knives, batarangs, and various other bat tools stashed in every potential hiding place around the apartment - jason wasn't picking those up for a party.

if it looks a little excessive, it's because that's the vibe he was going for. )

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

( family get togethers aren't his strong-suit, regardless of how much jason would like for them to be. but he's managing not to lose his shit during this one, though mostly for dick's sake rather than - actually managing his temper. it's something, at least.

but running into diana in the kitchen with her watching him like that--well. makes him feel like she's looking straight into him, which isn't a feeling he enjoys much at all. he stands a bit away from the refrigerator, empty glass in hand which he's putting down as soon as he sees how she's watching him. doesn't move to walk towards her, but he's not trying to get away either. )

Yeah?

[ She watches him a little longer, and the weight of her gaze is perhaps not unlike the touch of the lasso – in some ways, they are connected. There's a tense moment where they both look at each other, and then she's in motion once more, implacable.

A few quick steps, and she's near him; one more and she's close enough to put her arms around him in a warm embrace.

Simply: ]

I'm glad you're back.

( the longer they maintain eye contact, the closer jason gets to opening his mouth and snapping out something snarky that he'd likely regret later down the line. he's about ready to, when she starts towards him. his immediate response is to stiffen his shoulders, stand up straight, but two seconds after his body starts, he remembers how fucked his shoulder is and just barely manages to hold back the wince from how much that hurt.

and then diana's arms are around him, and he's freezing up. not pushing her away or trying to pull out of her arms, but not--leaning into it either. he's almost gotten used to bruce's one-armed, very easy to duck out of semi-hugs. he's comfortableish with babs, and fine with dickie, but he's fairly certain the last time he's had close contact with wonder woman was when she kissed his cheek in the bar and then the time before that, when he was still in hot pants. )

[ She doesn't hold on long, and steps back after a moment, her hands falling to her sides. Though she's wearing civilian clothing, there's still a fair amount of Wonder Woman about her: she wears the tiara, her star earrings, and the lasso gleams at her hip. ]

I hope you're feeling better.

[ At the very least, she hopes he won't make another run for it in the middle of Dick's birthday party. ]

( she's always wonder woman to him. not that - jason's spent much time with her outside of the big hero teamups. she's strong, capable, fearless, capable of taking damn near anything on and making sure it knows not to fuck with her again. jason certainly knows better.

diana pulls out of the hug, and jason shoves his right hand down into his pocket. chews on the inside of his cheek for a moment. )

'm fine. Usually am. ( it's not a very convincing lie. he figures he has a good idea where she's going with this though, so - ) I'm not going anywhere.

That's such a useful word, isn't it? 'Fine.' It means so many things to so many people. And yet that makes it mean almost nothing at all.

[ Bruce had been covered in bruises, exhausted and jittery when she found him, when he, too, was fine, and Jason is holding himself like a wild animal intent on escape.

Fine. She'll never understand the stubborn way those of Man's World refuse to acknowledge their feelings and hurts. ]

Well, you are the host. I'd hope you'd stay. But I also hope you aren't feeling trapped, Jason.

( there's nothing worse than being called out by one's idol. especially when that idol is wonder woman. especially when he's fairly certain this is approximately the point in time in which artemis would have just shoved him over and told him to knock it off, and diana being the one to tell him is making him think back to how she'd call him out on being an idiot. donna'd grab him by the ear (again) and drag him around until he either opened his mouth or she was satisfied he was done.

he misses them. but this isn't the time for reminiscing, especially given the hope you aren't feeling trapped comment because, ha, aren't they all trapped here? )

I'm alright. ( not fine, since that word's now off limits. a quick look around them shows that no one's within listening distance, and jason had just checked over the apartment before inviting over everyone else for bugs and the like. doesn't mean they're not there, but if they are, they're likely tim's. and tim knows to keep his mouth shut or else. ) Didn't leave 'cause I was feeling trapped.

Then why did you leave, Jason?

[ It may not be her business, past her usual concern for a friend, but she asks anyway, thinking of Kyle sitting there on the side of the bed, so bereft. Thinking of Jason taking hold of her lasso to tell her about him and Kyle to begin with.

He has every right to leave, of course, as Kyle does. As any of them do, in their own relationships. And he's not a criminal to be interrogated. But he is a friend, who helped her before. Perhaps she can offer a little help back to him. ]

( because he ruins everything. because every time jason finally gets something good going for him, something happens and it all gets fucked over. because he's an asshole, because he doesn't deserve people like kyle or dick in his life. because he's going to get them killed or worse, and it doesn't even fucking matter that kyle's essentially a god, jason'll figure out a way to break him down anyway. because dickie deserves someone better than him, who doesn't have a shit temper.

because jason was terrified of losing everything, so instead of letting it get ruined in front of him, he thought it'd be better if he just ruined it before that happened and realized after the fact that it was a stupid, shitty idea. he's vaguely talked about it, with kyle, with dickie himself - with grayson the eldest even, but it's not something he knows how to talk about here, in an apartment full of people, and to wonder woman of all people.

his jaw clenches tight, and jason moves to try and walk past her. )

Just 'cause.

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