[Open] Marching to the beat of his drum

[robintohood]

Who: Jason Todd robintohood and you
What: Various antics as a civilian and as Red Hood
When: Throughout March
Where: Central City
Content Warnings: PG-13 level violence

Jason:

[The weather is gradually warming up and moods are lifting up for people! Well, lifting up for most people. For the owner of the Descendant Karaoke Bar and Lounge, he’s just briskly working as usual. Maybe he’s being less talkative and more introverted than usual but sometimes that’s what happens when one is busy. He even sometimes still puts on a smile to make customers feel more welcomed.

But that’s assuming people are following his rules. If otherwise, then his vocabulary gets colorful as he snarls out statements like…]

Pull that shit again and your brains get splattered across the floor.

[Okay, maybe how much rougher he’s gotten this month when he’s literally throwing and kicking out belligerent patrons might indicate he’s in a certain other kind of Mood. Don’t worry. He doesn’t usually bite.

On a note that can’t possibly be related, the 4-eyed black and yellow talking cat that used to hang out at the Descendant hasn’t been seen in a while]

Red Hood:

[The Backbreakers are as active as ever in Central City. They had a few setbacks over the last few months but that hasn’t kept them down. They’re maintaining their territory. Illicit goods are still being handled. The racketeering business is sturdy. The chop shops are always having a good time. If you ask a local in their territory, they might say the gang members are also friendly neighborhood vigilantes.
The Backbreakers are Society members after all. Overall, the gang’s recovery has been okay.

So in their territory during an evening, it’s possible you might see the Backbreakers’ leader with a couple of his people outside of a dive bar.

Though the Red Hood’s helmet hides his facial expressions, the way he’s whaling at a rule breaker might indicate he’s not in the best of moods at the moment. Blood splatters on his helmet also indicate how brutal he’s being tonight. He then drags his screaming victim by the hair across the sidewalk]

It’s time to get back to basics.

Wildcard:

((OOC: Got something else in mind? Hit me up! I always welcome new CRs as well. 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. 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

[welcome_summer]

[Her eyes crinkle at the corners, smug despite his tone.]

I know~ there is, because I sent it with my delivery this month.

[She had resisted the temptation of stuffing the box with only cat books, only a trio; given Jason's radio silence and the fickleness of the transformation's length, the occasion might have come and gone before she could visit. Jokes that have to be explained afterwards tend not to be as funny.

At his question, she sobers, tilting her face further upwards, ears flicking.]

And this? It's a Sunset Falls thing. In March, people turn into cats if they don't put milk outside.

[robintohood]

[In a lightly amused tone]

Serves you right then. Don’t you know cats rule the world?

[welcome_summer]

[You know what is cuter than a human Mayuko puffing her cheeks out in pique? A kitty Mayuko doing it. In this case, it's more to keep from bring up... anything of the past few weeks. He doesn't need to hear it when he's in a state already.]

It slipped my mind. Given there is already one princess of the household, and she doesn't tolerate competition.

[robintohood]

How’d she take to your new look?

[His tone remains light but the casualness is just a front. He wishes the right cat was around]

[welcome_summer]

Grumpy that I'm lacking apposable thumbs and a lap to lounge in, but otherwise....

[With that, she trails off, turns back to the booths and hops onto a seat to loaf. For the moment. There's something that she wants to investigate, but not while Jason is here.]

[robintohood]

You seem comfortable. You need something?

[He knows Mayuko likes to hang around the reading room for a while but given her current state, might need some help]

[welcome_summer]

[She projects a warm tone as she glances up at him.]
 
Mmmmmm, just something to drink, for now? Thank you.

[robintohood]

Sure.

[Jason gets up and heads to the kitchen. Several minutes pass by before he comes back with a saucer of water. He leaves it near Mayuko]

[welcome_summer]

[Once Jason leaves the room, Mayuko bounds back to the floor. She listens for his footsteps to fade before launching with a wriggle to a tabletop, then the conjoined backs of the booths' seats. She's not interested in the books right now. She wants to investigate the scents in the room.

There is a predominance of humans, of course. But it's the nonhuman scent-- the fading nonhuman scent scattered along the edges-- that caught her attention. While it's plausible that visits to the bar might have become rare, it's even lacking from Jason himself. He smells... different. Only human. A troubling thought.

By the time he returns, she is back on the floor, washing her face and head thoughtfully with the back of her paw. More to soothe than to clean up. She stops to rub against his hand when he sets the water down, an apology for shooing him off. Hoping he doesn't head back out.]

[robintohood]

[There’s a twinge in his chest when Mayuko rubs against him. The gesture reminds him of Sleeper. It was part of how they soothed him. It hurts knowing he doesn’t know if he’ll ever get their comfort ever again.

He doesn’t push Mayuko off but he doesn’t return the action either. Instead he sits back in an armchair]

So how long you’ve been like that?

[welcome_summer]

[She stays by the saucer, dipping her head to lap up some water as she calculates.]

Not long... a few days? Ever since the Atlantis situation, the days have bled together.

[A tilt of the head, and tentatively:]

I had hoped to run into Sleeper, get their opinion on this but they're....

[robintohood]

[In a quick and wooden manner]

Not here anymore. They left earlier this month.

[As much as he doesn’t want to talk about it, Jason knows people are going to ask. Sleeper was such a notable presence at the Descendant. But Jason would rather keep that conversation topic short if he can help it]

[welcome_summer]

And Dylan?

[robintohood]

[At that question, Jason's expression becomes more sad]

He's still here. It's been tough for him.

[welcome_summer]

Poor guy, I don't doubt that.

[Mayuko rubs her face again. It's part of the price they all pay from being here, seeing people come and go. Some months it hits harder. Close to home.]

The only thing worse is having to be the one they look to, keep it together for their sake.

[robintohood]

[Jason sighs tiredly. He’s still too tense to relax]

Yeah.

[It slips out so easily and without meaning to. Jason’s still not one to admit to his real feelings most of the time but Emotionally and mentally, he feels so worn out]

[welcome_summer]

[That admission is a start. Mayuko keeps her voice neutral as she pads around the room. The last thing she wants is Jason haring off in this state.]

I know you are doing everything you can fulfill your responsibilities. More, even. But-- not to be an armchair psychologist-- you need to tend to yourself too.

[robintohood]

[In a tone that’s almost as neutral as Mayuko’s]

I have been. Always have.

[Though the kind of self-care Jason’s thinking about isn’t the same as what Mayuko is thinking about]

[welcome_summer]

Is that so? When you treat a wound, do you just stick a bandage on it and ignore it, no self-examination, no cleaning, no disinfectant, no stitches?

[Mayuko leaves the water to hop back onto the booth back.]

The psyche needs that level of care, same as the physical body.

[robintohood]

Like you said before, I got responsibilities to handle. They’re a lot more important.

[As far as Jason was concerned, he can’t afford to sit down and dwell. He can power through as he usually does]

[welcome_summer]

It's not like anyone's forcing you into a hermitage for a year and a day! A few minutes of liminal time, after one thing and before starting another, to clear your mind and... recalibrate, to inspect thoughts and feelings that crop up and send them on their way, instead of burying them.

[Her ears flick. This is stuff he's read in those self-help books, if he's gotten around to flipping through them. A lot of it is so touchy-feely, though--she prefers a more practical approach.]

[robintohood]

[Jason did read those self-help books and knows Mayuko’s talking about meditation. Unfortunately, old habits are hard to break. It’s even harder when those habits were also how he had to survive after his resurrection. It’s very difficult to give those things up.

Refocusing my energy into more productivity is how I’m handling things. I’m not burying anything.

[Which is an utter lie even if Jason doesn’t exactly realize it]

[welcome_summer]

[Ripples of red flow along her fur in response to that last statement, although nothing extends from her--tempting as it is to bat at him.]

Avoidance, then? Suppression? However you want to phrase it.

You'll goad yourself in taking more and more on to keep from dwelling, or the things you bury express themselves in your sleep and disrupt it; either way, you'll wear yourself out and that's dangerous.

[Especially in his line of work. She finishes softly:]

In any case. Even if it doesn't become a habit, it's better to have more tools at your disposal than fewer.

[robintohood]

[Jason makes another tired sigh. The urge to keep having his guard up is still there despite him being exhausted on multiple levels]

Sometimes it’s better to keep your brain busy.

1/3

[welcome_summer]

Sometimes, yes. But not at the cost of your health.

[She gets it. She does. Burying herself in work is the exact tack she would trend towards, she HAD trended towards, when people had gone home. People close to her. People from definitively different universes, that it was unlikely she would ever see again. And it had taken her friends time and effort to redirect her back to moderation.

She opens her mouth to continue and

pauses.

Wrinkling her nose for the most delicate sneeze--]