[Closed] Happy Deathday

[robintohood]

Who: Jason Todd robintohood and whoever has CR with him
What: Jason dealing with his deathday anniversary
When: December 20th to 21st
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: PG-13 level violence and mentions of self-harm and suicide ideation

[The closer it gets to December 21st, the less present Jason Todd the civilian is. It's harder to catch him at the Descendant during this month because he hasn't been there as often as he usually is. He's not spotted as often at other places either his favorite libraries or any bookstores. Meanwhile, there's an increase in Red Hood appearances.

At first, the crime lord is seemingly burying himself with his work and trying to regain what his gang lost last month. Plenty of fights with other gangs, muscling in on territory, dodging bullets from mobsters. The beatings he dishes out on goons seem to have intensified. But as December 21st creeps closer, even most of that work gradually gets less attention from him.

The beatings continue though with a change in what information Jason wants out of his victims.

In place of most of his crime lord work are solo recon missions. Lots of decrepit properties are checked. Unused fairgrounds, warehouses, and even empty properties that used to be toy stores get searched. Jason's always on the lookout for reports of gruesome crimes involving things like deadly laughing gas, frozen smiles, and clowns too. Jason knows the Joker loves gimmicks.

For all of Jason's vigilance though, there's not even a chuckle or any other hint of the mass murderer. The quietness feeds into how unsettled Jason feels. He’s expecting something to happen. That's how the Joker works sometimes. He’s a sick freak who likes to put his own twist on special occasions.

So Jason keeps searching around Central City. That's what he tells himself what he's doing. He has so much rage, fear, and other negative feelings he doesn't want to contemplate. Once he finally kills the Joker he’ll finally feel at peace.

It’s either December 20th or it's December 21st when one might spot the Red Hood in Central City.

He could be zooming all over the streets on his motorcycle. He could be curbstomping and bludgeoning someone with a tire iron outside of a dive. He might be lurking on a dark rooftop overlooking the city, or staking out a waterfront warehouse.

Whatever the case is, he’s clearly in an extremely foul mood]

((OOC: My contact information is on this journal's profile and I'm in the game's Discord server. Feel free to contact me with any questions or concerns as well. I also have a feedback post.))

Comments

[overlyprecocious]

“I don’t remember everything.” He’s quiet for a moment, considering what he’s willing to admit, particularly given that his stance in this to Jason previously has been ‘everything’s fine, stop prying’. “I remember how he felt, though. It sucked.”

[robintohood]

Jason softly huffs.

“Yeah, it does,” He agrees.

It’s rare for anyone in their family to admit they weren’t feeling okay. They all have a bad habit of just burying their more negative emotions and pretend everything’s fine. Jason recognizes how significant it is that Tim has taken the initiative in talking about what had happened when he was that other Tim. His little brother is trying to reach out to him.

There’s a pause as Jason considers his options. He still wants to find the Joker but he doesn’t want to brush off Tim after he’s already gone through the trouble of tailing him and admitting something he denied before.

“Come on. I got a safehouse nearby. Better to talk there,” he says before starting to climb up the fire escape.

[overlyprecocious]

He hadn't expected Jason to offer up a safehouse visit, but it's a good sign, right? It gets Jason out of whatever he's been doing. Somewhere safe, and maybe he'll talk and it won't just be Tim offering up bits of his pain in an attempt to bond with his big brother.

"Yeah. Okay," he says, before following Jason's lead up the fire escape.

[robintohood]

Jason gets his grapple gun ready after he reaches the rooftop. It’s aimed in the direction of his closest safehouse, just a few blocks away.

“Got a spare if you need it,” he says once he hears Tim reaching the rooftop.

[overlyprecocious]

"That's okay," Tim says, because just because he was following Jason in civilian clothes doesn't mean he didn't prepare a little. His utility belt is tucked under his sweatshirt, and he does have a grapple. "Thanks."

[robintohood]

Jason nods and then fires his grapple to swing towards his safehouse. He trusts that Tim won’t have any issues following.

It feels strange leading the younger Tim to one of his personal safehouses as opposed to being in a more often-used shared space like the attic above the Descendant, the BatGym, or the penthouse he shares with the Brocks. But tonight was a special exception.

[overlyprecocious]

Tim's aware, generally, of some of Jason's safehouse locations, and they're not heading towards any of the ones he knows about. Which means he's burning one to talk to Tim, or at least accepting that it's going to be a family-friendly safehouse from now on. It's a surprise, but not unappreciated.

[robintohood]

Given the sensitivity of what they were going to talk about, Jason knew they were going to need a more private and more comfortable space. As far as he’s concerned, it’s plenty of reason to burn one. He can always find a new safehouse to replace it.

Jason stops at the rooftop at one particular apartment building. It’s nothing fancy but it’s not decrepit like some of his other hiding spots. He then makes a short climb down the fire escape to the window of the apartment just below the roof.

Attached to the window frame are what appears to be at least one additional lock and possibly a security panel. He begins to disengage his security system.

[overlyprecocious]

Tim politely pretends not to be paying attention to Jason's security measures and how he disengages them, although obviously he is and obviously Jason knows he is. Spying on each other is a form of affection. He waits, though, entertaining himself by guessing what Jason has set up before he gets to it, until it's indicated that he's safe to head inside.

[robintohood]

Jason's figured as much when it comes to Tim's habitual snooping. After disarming his security system, Jason opens the window and climbs.

"Make yourself comfortable," he says.

Th safehouse is a studio apartment. With only some basic furnishings, there's a slight echo in the space as well. There's a loveseat and a TV in one area acting as the living area. A bed and a closet sit in one corner of the studio. Meanwhile, there's a kitchen island, a fridge, a range, and several cabinets serving as the kitchen space.

Jason walks towards his bed and takes to take off his some of his gear.

[overlyprecocious]

Tim's not really sure what to expect from here on out, but he got Jason off the streets, so that's probably a win. No one is beating up anyone else, and it's harder to brood in a studio apartment than it is on a roof.

While Jason gets his gear off, Tim does a sweep of the apartment (read: snoops), makes note of any more security measures he can spot, peeks in the fridge and cabinets and eventually settles down on the couch in what could loosely be called the living room to wait for Jason.

[robintohood]

Tim will possibly notice some special spots ordinary civilians wouldn’t think twice about. A floorboard that creaks just a little; A spot that’s just barely off-color from the rest of a plain wall. Maybe there’s something stashed underneath a couple of pieces of furniture. They’re the kind of setups for weapon and gear stashes that a BatFamily member would have if they didn’t have access to Wayne money.

Meanwhile, Jason’s taken off his helmet, his mask, his jacket, and his gloves. His guns, combat knife, and body armor are still visibly on him though. Despite inviting his little brother to talk more about a very personal topic, a not-so-small part of him still wants to be ready at a moment’s notice if the Joker or… anything comes crashing. He still feels very tense given what December means for him.

“I don’t have much here but you want anything to drink?” He asks, trying to keep his cool.

[overlyprecocious]

It's not like they weren't both mentored-slash-raised by a man who taught them to absolutely lean into hypervigilance as a lifestyle and a tool of survival, so Tim's not majorly surprised that Jason's still semi-suited up. And he's not really sure how to continue this conversation, either, which is probably why he asks, in the most innocent way possible, "Gin?"

[robintohood]

Jason huffs out a laugh as he walks to the kitchen.

“Not until your birthday and it’ll be something from Descendant,” he replies. Is he joking? It’s hard to tell.

He pulls out a tea kettle, fills it with water from the sink and then sets it on the stove to boil.

“Herbal shit for now. We’re up late enough as it is.”

[overlyprecocious]

“I’ve had alcohol before,” he says, though it’s conversational, not defensive. His question broke some of the tension, which is what he wanted. He’d have been surprised if the answer was yes. Maybe doublechecked Jason was really Jason. “Dad wanted me to know what the good stuff tastes like.”

[robintohood]

Jason lightly scoffs. His opinions of the Jack and Janet Drake in either Tim’s universes are not high based on what he was told. He doesn’t have much faith in their drinking choices either.

“Some of that ‘good stuff’ is just overpriced fermented fruit juice,” he says. “I just order them for the bar because a lot of the VIPs like to pretend they got class too.”

[overlyprecocious]

“Isn’t that the definition of wine to begin with?”

There’s supposed to be a lot of body or whatever to it, but Tim didn’t taste it. Maybe he was just too young. “Dad claimed to be a connoisseur.”

[robintohood]

“Yeah and lots of people can claim they’re experts on something but it doesn’t mean it’s always true,” Jason says.

He could make more biting remarks but Jason remembers he’s trying to not scare off Tim again. He’d rather the kid stay here in one of his safehouses then run off upset again because he ran his mouth and temper again.

From one of the cabinets, he takes out a couple of mugs and tea bags of ginger lemon tea.

[overlyprecocious]

It's a pretty common thing for Alfred's kids to reach for tea when they need comfort or want to have a hard conversation. It's not a surprise to see Jason do it, even if Alfred might turn up his nose at the inferior quality of the tea he's serving.

(You get what you can get.)

"I never liked his drinks that much anyway."

[robintohood]

“You’ll find your own preferences,” Jason says.

A few minutes later the tea kettle whistles and Jason takes it off the stove. He shortly prepares the tea before walking over with two hot mugs. He offers one to Tim.

[overlyprecocious]

Tim goes quiet for a bit while he accepts the tea and they get settled in, because the next question he should probably ask if this conversation is going to do anything is - basically against everything the bats stand for.

(In the back of his mind, a memory of Black Canary might be laughing at him.)

"How are you feeling?"

[robintohood]

“Fine.”

The answer comes out perhaps too quickly to be believable. Jason has been anything but fine for this month and instead, has been carrying a very fine veneer of being emotionally okay.

“What about you though?” Jason then asks, trying to push the conversation away from himself. “Sounds like you’ve got things on your mind.”

[overlyprecocious]

It’s very obviously not true, but the problem with offering up bits of your own emotional vulnerability in an attempt to get your big brother to talk to you is that now there’s something out there that you’ve admitted. “I guess? I don’t know. It’s weird.”

[robintohood]

“Because those experiences were both real and not exactly yours?” Jason asks.

He’s not at all used to having an emotionally vulnerable conversation like this and he knows Tim isn’t the most open in the first place. Ideally, they should be offering bits and pieces of information on their own pace but given how reluctant they both are, it was going to take some coaxing instead.

[overlyprecocious]

"Yeah."

Is he scrunching in on himself? Maybe. A little bit. Just because this seemed like the best way to maybe make Jason open up in turn doesn't mean it was a good idea. "I mean - I didn't go through what he did. But it also kind of feels like I did."