[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]

Clearly more had happened before their encounter tonight but Jason has to let it go for now. Donnie’s got a lot on his mind.

“Not like we’re drinking buddies anyway. They won’t know,” Jason says. “Should I be flattered about your brother then?”

[purplexing]

"Well. No, probably not. I mean, he already had some kind of idea about you after something about Huvrye getting shot, and it sounded like he was making it all a you-thing, which was why I said I'd talk to you instead, that other time." Donnie waves it off; not important, but it's some context to why Leo had been sneaking around that time Donnie had been asking about the D'Amicos.

"Enough's happened with him already. I don't want to add this on top of it." Knowing Leo, he'd probably find a way to blame himself. Maybe he was already blaming himself for things, and Donnie needs him to not bury himself deeper. It'd help if he could get himself out of a similar hole.

[robintohood]

“Fine. Bad things sometimes happen when you’re around me,” Jason says, trying to keep his tone matter-of-fact. “It’s a hazard when you do the kind of work I do.”

Not that Jason necessarily relishes in it. Sometimes, he accepts it as the nature of being a violent vigilante and a crime lord. Other times though, it makes him think that maybe Bruce was right that he’s a danger to himself and others. Tonight feels like the latter.

[purplexing]

"Not all the time," Donnie says, shrugging a little and glad that the helmet hides his wince from the movement. "...but I get it. You don't gain a rep like that otherwise."

He fingers the cuff of a sleeve, anxious as the quiet comes tumbling back all too eagerly between their words.

"...you mad at me?" He has to ask. He'd be mad at him- he is mad at himself.

[robintohood]

Jason feels another pang of guilt at the question and is again grateful for his helmet hiding his face.

“I’m not,” he replies. “Just was confused to what you were doing.”

[purplexing]

It's a small reassurance, but the admission still makes Donnie hunch up his shoulders again. He isn't proud of being a source of confusion, especially when things had gotten so dangerous. But he'd already tried to explain away his reasons as best he could figure, yet it hadn't felt like a good excuse at all.

What is wrong with him! How would this make Leo feel any better? What would've happened if Red Hood hadn't just decided to go for a shot in the arm? Donnie's expression is hidden but his posture is telling, body language giving him away as he wraps his arms gingerly around himself, hoping that sniffle hadn't been too loud. He's so tired of the tears and the last thing he wants to do is go back to the apartment and cry on his brother again. It's hard when there's no one else to go to, and after losing Leo, Donnie's felt that loneliness so much more acutely.

"...can we go yet?" he asks quietly.

[robintohood]

Jason’s own guilt grows as he watches Donnie become more visibly upset. Whatever else had happened to him, it was clear it was taking a toll on him. Jason feels like he made it worse. He wouldn’t exact label Donnie as a traditional friend but he does consider him someone he wouldn’t have shot at with so little thought. The kid doesn’t deserve that.

“Not yet,” He murmurs. He doesn’t want Donnie to unnecessarily move and aggravate his newly patched-up gunshot wound. Then, after taking a moment on what to do next, Jason continues to talk. “I promise you I’m not mad. You’re doing more than enough kicking on yourself that you don’t need that.”

[purplexing]

His disappointment at that shows as he shifts his position, slumping a little as he keeps favoring his left. He sighs.

"Okay..." It's not that he didn't believe Red Hood the first time, but that acknowledgment seems an odd bit of needed confirmation. Who was he to measure things in levels of being miserable? It seems Donnie keeps finding new highs...or maybe lows is more appropriate.

He falls silent again, mostly because he's not sure what else to say. The least he can do is focus on breathing so he won't start to break down again.

[robintohood]

"It's okay to let it out," Jason says softly. The harsh growl Jason uses as the Red Hood lessens this time as he continues to be sympathetic to Donnie. It hurts to watch someone like this.

[purplexing]

That's an invitation Donnie wasn't expecting, more so the surprisingly almost gentle tone. He hadn't wanted to cry in front of someone who's virtually a stranger, but then maybe that's better than crying in front of someone he knows. It's a toss-up, really. Not that his opinion seems to matter when the tears readily fall.

He'll probably absolutely deny that this happened, later, but right now there's no escaping the sobs after one manages to slip.

[robintohood]

Jason politely looks away as Donnie cries. The kid needs it and it doesn’t need to be made anymore awkward.

It’s a strange scene, and even more than Donnie knows. As far as Donnie knows, Jason Todd is a friend and the Red Hood is almost a stranger, a known criminal, and someone the turtle was able to fight with. More often than not, Jason’s content with keeping his identities separate. It’s the nature of the work he does. But this time, it feels more like an obstacle.

So he continues to be silent and waits for Donnie to finish letting it all out.

[purplexing]

It's weird, and not all that much better than crying alone. It's that loneliness that weighs on him, the sudden absence of people affecting him more than Donnie would have ever anticipated. He thought the problem would have been fixed with Leo back, but he's learning the hard way that some things just don't magically mend themselves and that he can't figure out the why's is driving him crazy.

He's never been comfortable with emotions but these days it feels that that's all his head's filled with and he hates it.

While he doesn't remove his helmet, Donnie does slip the faceplate up to rub at his eyes once his sobs have quieted to sniffles. There's been plenty of times here in this world where he wanted was to just be home with his family, but never as much as right now.

[robintohood]

It’s only until after Donnie seems calmer that Jason speaks again.

“Does Leo or anyone know you’re out here tonight?”

Given previous experiences, one of Jason’s concerns now is if he winds up running into Leo or Huvrye again in the near future.

[purplexing]

Donnie shakes his head. "...no," he says, pausing to clear his throat. He sniffs, looking briefly to make sure the clinic staff's not coming so he can pull his helmet off for a moment, wiping at the inside with a sleeve.

"Leo's been...preoccupied with things lately." And Huvrye's probably keeping an eye on Leo whenever he's not doing...whatever it is he does. Donnie hasn't kept much track of anything for the past few weeks and been out and about even less until tonight. He's starting to think maybe he should have stayed in.

[robintohood]

“He might notice you being gone soon,” Jason says, thinking back on his first encounter with Leo. “He seems like the type to stumble onto something, even by accident.”

[purplexing]

"He probably won't," Donnie murmurs. His brother's focus has been worse than his own lately, not that Donnie blames him. He has absolutely no idea how Leo's mind is working but he knows that even though things have seemed normal, they were in reality far from.

One more swipe across his eyes and Donnie pulls his helmet back on where he can hide at least to some degree from the rest of the world.

[robintohood]

“How close are you two?” Jason asks, thinking on about his relationship with Dick. To Jason, the risk to having a close bond with anyone is one could learn more easily what happened with the other, on purpose or not.

[purplexing]

The question makes the turtle visibly stiffen. To him, it sounds like a challenge of that relationship, even if it isn't meant to be. Maybe his answer made it sound like a dismissive thing, and even with no real intent in the question, it still feels like a knife driven into his gut. It severs whatever fragile threads had been holding him together.

Maybe he shouldn't be moving so sharply after just being treated for an injury, but it doesn't keep Donnie from twisting around towards Jason, glare unseen through that visor but implied with the ragged, bordering unhinged edge of his tone.

"My brother died in that stupid battle. I literally went through Hell to get him back," he almost hisses. He ignores the ache in his arm, swallowing down the threat of another sob as his voice drops to almost a whisper as he sags against the chair again. "That's how close we are."

[robintohood]

That… was not a reaction Jason expected and once again he finds himself relieved that his helmet hides his expressions and makes it easy to hide his emotions.

The mention of death and coming back from there also has Jason comparing his relationship with Dick to the turtles. Donnie and Leo’s relationship seems uncomplicated and undoubtedly one of love and care.

Meanwhile, Jason could almost imagine Dick rescuing him from the afterlife if he had been given the chance before the League of Assassins got their hands on his corpse. Dick is the Golden Boy of the family. He tries to see the good in most people and doesn’t have the same sort of cynicism Jason developed. Their relationship wasn’t the closest at first but Jason doesn’t doubt his older brother’s love for him the same way he doubts their adoptive father’s love. Still, it was complicated. Jason was the black sheep of the family after all.

After a long and not comfortable moment of silence, Jason speaks again.

“Then he’s going to notice,” He says in an even tone. “Close enough siblings have a way of getting up in your business weather you like it or not, especially older ones.”

[purplexing]

Donnie doesn't say anything. He doesn't feel like trying to explain, and a part of him would like to say that Red Hood is right. If things were normal, Leo would have noticed even before Donnie had gone off. Maybe he had been noticing, but then things have been complicated since he'd come back, and that's what Donnie doesn't know how to explain. It's part of what's been driving him crazy.

Realistically he hopes Leo notices. If this were home, someone would be bound to, Red Hood's not wrong there. It's hard for anything to get past any of his siblings. Donnie wants Leo to notice, the way he'd noticed when Donnie had been away from the apartment, burying himself in projects to try and keep from thinking about the things he didn't want to think about. Things would be normal then.

"...can we go yet?" It's a while before Donnie finally quietly speaks up again, feeling like he's asking for permission.

[robintohood]

Jason goes to ask the staff as he’s not looking to aggravate Donnie’s injury if he can help it. Several minutes later, he comes back.

“Come on. I’ll go with you to the border,” he offers.

[purplexing]

He appreciates that the man goes to check for him. At this point Donnie just wants to leave. The humans aren't doing anything more and the worst seems to have been taken care of. As tired as he is, this is the last place Donnie wants to fall asleep at.

Lifting his head as Red Hood returns, the turtle pushes himself to sit up again, nodding as he moves to get to his feet. Fine by him. He could wish for better company, but semi-familiar company is still more preferable to none.

[robintohood]

Jason leads Donnie back outside to his motorcycle. The sooner this evening ends, the better it is for both of them. Jason feels he’s done more than enough damage tonight.

“How’re you feeling now?” He asks.

[purplexing]

That seems to be the million dollar question. Donnie follows behind Red Hood and would have preferred the silence. Feelings are the last thing he ever wants to talk about on any given day, more so these recent times.

"I don't know," he says, and not completely in dismissal. It isn't that same blankness from when Leo was gone. He's just not sure what he should be feeling, and everything's just bleeding into each other at this point, none of it positive. Even the dull ache in his arm's meshed into everything else. "Tired."

[robintohood]

"Yeah, I get it," Jason says. His growl isn't as prominent and his tone does suggest that he's exhausted by tonight and then some. He gets back on his motorcycle and waits for Donnie to join him before starting it.