( closed ) twisted steel beneath my knees

[reneger]

Who: bruce wayne batsymbol & jason todd reneger
What: a fun family trip
When: late january into early february
Where: excelsior, the shadow realm
Content Warnings: shadowbugs, joker, head trauma, discussion of child trafficking and sexual assault, comic book violence

Comments

[batsymbol]

( he’s not sure there’s enough of A Look he could give that could convey the very much stop talking, jason that he feels right now but he sure does he best in the darkness. )

I don’t want to talk about this.

[reneger]

( it's fine, because jason gets it. steps into bruce a little so he can shove a shoulder against bruce's own. )

I'll shut up.

[batsymbol]

( don't push it, kiddo. the last thing he needs is an existential crisis over the women in his life on top of everything else. )

For once.

[reneger]

I'm not even half as bad as Grayson, you know.

( he's still grinning. giving bruce shit is a kind of stress relief. they're still stuck here, but. )

Guy practically invented the art of quipping. Drake's just as bad, if not worse at this point.

[batsymbol]

( he's quiet for a long moment as they walk. mulling over something. as always. when he finally speaks, it's soft. reflective. )

We met during Riddler's murders. Caught her breaking and entering. She was trying to help her friend.

( annika. he still feels bad for what happened to her. )

She helped in the end. Saved me. Then left for Bludhaven. She asked me to go with her.

( but he didn't and he figures he doesn't need to say that. jason probably knows he wouldn't leave gotham. that he's married to the city. for better or worse. )

[reneger]

Selina Kyle follows her own rules. She doesn't have the same moral compass as B does, but she's damn good at what she does, an' she'll never let a friend fall if she can help it.

( jason likes her well enough, and it reflects in the tone of his voice. all soft edges, no bite to it at all. )

We were both street kids. ( and the shared history means something, at least to jason. )

[batsymbol]

If she's keeping away, it's for the best. I'm not the one she knows.

( not her bruce and he wouldn't want to disappoint her. even if it seems like that's a thing he does regardless. )

[reneger]

No, you're a lot younger. I doubt that's why she's staying away. Probably focusing on getting a lay of the land first.

( he could leave it at that. but he doesn't. )

Maybe she's waiting for you to make an ass of yourself.

[batsymbol]

Think that's more your specialty than it is mine.

( he said what he said. )

[reneger]

I like Selina. She gets me.

( he only makes an ass of himself with people who piss him off. usually. very occasionally he fucks up and does it on accident. )

You're great at being an asshole. Piss me off all the time without even trying.

[batsymbol]

Yet you still came in here after me.

( he didn't have to. but he did. )

[reneger]

Yeah, well.

( lips pressed tight together, and jason keeps his eyes facing forward. watches for any creatures coming for them. just in case. )

One day you're gonna find some idiot street rat fucking with your tires and save him from dying in the Alley, so I figure we're about even.

[batsymbol]

( quietly, he lifts a hand and presses it between jason's shoulder blades. a sort of pat to the back as they go. )

Can't wait.

[reneger]

( the tips of his ears are red. visible for only a moment, before jason's reaching back to grab onto his hood and yank it up over his head. )

But you're not gonna meet anyone if we don't find a way out of here.

[batsymbol]

Guess we better keep going then.

( which is what they do, bruce letting his hand fall away from between jason's shoulder blades as he does. )