[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

[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--]

[welcome_summer]

[and with a ~POOF~, smoke billows in the reading room, thick as anything from a few pellets or a smokebomb--]

3/3

[welcome_summer]

[and Mayuko in her proper shape--probably her proper shape, given the smoke enveloping her-- perched on the booth, scrubs her bangs back with a sigh.]

Oh, bother. It was nice while it lasted.

[robintohood]

[Jason coughs and waves his hand to clear away the smoke]

Did the spell run out or was it the sneeze?

[welcome_summer]

Both? Neither?!

[It's as she shrugs very bare shoulders that she recalls.

Ah yes. Clothes. Clothes are needed now that's she human.

She raises an opaque barrier around herself as she rummages through her bubble for something to wear, there's bound to be something....]

Who can even say, Sunset Falls is weird!

[robintohood]

[Jason politely keeps his eyes averted while Mayuko searches]

Welcome back to opposable thumbs I guess.

[welcome_summer]

[There's at least a top and bottoms in there! By the time he counts up how many books are on that side of the room, she'll have wriggled into them.]
 
Glad to be back--even the kotobuki had thumbs, it was just hard to fit in places!

[robintohood]

[Jason resumes looking back at her]

At least you were always armed with claws.

[welcome_summer]

Considering that if I hold something sharp, I can manifest at least one sharpened tendril, how having four pawfuls of needlers would go....

[Now that would have been fun. If only she'd had the energy reserves for a trick like that. Mayuko takes her seat at the edge of the closest booth, turning outward to face Jason and leaning her shoulder against the backing.]

There wouldn't have been much to use them on--most of the monsters got displaced by the odd Atlantean remnants that made it up to Sunset Falls, or the deluge of rain wrecking their dens.

...not to mention I was on bedrest off and on for pneumonia....

[robintohood]

You guys are still drying out from that? We seemed relatively okay here.

[welcome_summer]

There are extensive waterways in the wilderness-- how else are the tentacle monsters supposed to get around? Naturally, they flooded. Brought some kelpies into environment, to boot.

[robintohood]

And made themselves home I’m guessing.

[welcome_summer]

[Jason may be laughing, Mayuko sure isn't]

You'd guess right. Two of those bastards have come closer to killing me in the last month than that demon death curse has in a year.

[robintohood]

They’v all been kicked out yet or you still got some stragglers?