( I need you, Jason says, and Bruce stands there. Silent. Looking over to him then with glassy eyes that could very well hold the threat of tears within them. He won't let them fall. They already have, when he'd told Damian to leave the moment he figured out what had happened and had let his rage and heartache be taken out on the penthouse.
Instead, he licks over his lips and looks down to the counter, breath soft and a little shaky, eyes coming to fall shut then. )
I'm not the Batman everyone here knows or respects.
( Eyes still shut, he stands there at the counter, palms flat against it, supporting his weight some and it's only after a moment that he comes to look over to Jason then, still with a degree of pain there in his blue eyes. )
[Jason, once again, is very aware of how he's pressing, how close he likely is to breaking the trust they've built. Usually, it's the other way around-- Bruce testing Jason's boundaries-- but that doesn't make it any less scary for Jason.]
I can do that.
[Jason nods firmly, watching Bruce.]
I can be back in the room I stayed in before or. I mean. We could park it in front of the TV and see if this place has a bad movies channel.
( It's something as opposed to his usual answer of silence or a look. Then again, he's beyond emotionally exhausted and still spiraling into whatever depression he's found himself in now. Jason staying the night is, perhaps, some attempt on his end to not completely slip beneath the waves of depression that are drowning him. At least not yet.
Swallowing thickly, he shakes his head, eyes shut. )
I, uh... I don't have much to eat here. I don't think.
( The past few days have been a blur to him, needless to say. )
That's cool, I always keep sandwiches in my bag. [Jason has yet to put down roots in any specific apartment, so he tends to keep non-perishable foods with him in his pack.] Or I also got instant noodles.
[Probably not the best meal for someone who looks as beat up and miserable as Bruce, but it's the best Jason can do while not letting the other out of his sight.]
Here.
[Jason realizes he never took off his pack, what with the whole suspecting a robbery thing. He tugs one strap off and then the other before he squats down to unzip one of the pockets to pull out a chicken salad sandwich and a packet of chicken-flavored instant noodles. He tosses both at Bruce, one after the other.]
( Rather than catch them, they simply smack Bruce in the chest and shoulder and fall to the ground, the man staring down to them slowly before he's looking back up to Jason. At that moment, there's a meow that comes from behind Jason and, waltzing their way in, is a black cat with white paws and chest. Alfred The Cat... Damian's cat. )
Once Jason moves through that sensation of looking at his mom again, he turns slowly to look at the cat. Jason isn't exactly an animal person, despite being much like a stray cat himself.]
Yeah well it's not getting any.
[Jason scurries over to pick up both packages and thrust them into Bruce's chest, holding them there until there is at least an attempt on Bruce's part to keep them from falling on the floor again.]
( Another meow, he looks past Jason to the cat β to Damian's cat he doesn't remember and then slowly takes the food items in hand, setting them on the counter. Slowly, he makes his way for where the tins of cat food are and pops one open, setting it down for Alfred The Cat to enjoy. )
His name's Alfred. ( A beat. ) He's Damian's but he doesn't remember him.
[Alfred. Jason swallows down the instinct to shudder, to not remember the way four of them stood around the grave as the box containing Alfred's body was lowered into the ground.
( Something he hadn't wanted to be reality when he'd seen him so much smaller than he was the last time they'd been together, but. Part of him knew... of course he did. He simply hadn't wanted to accept it could be such a thing. Not when he'd spent over a year living with and getting to know him. For it to all be simply gone now... while he has to live with the memories... maybe that's just how his life it meant to be with others.
The last one standing. Alone. )
People disappear from here. Sometimes return. I guess this happens, too.
[Sorry, Bruce, if you're expecting some kind of gentleness here. The last thing he ever wanted to hear was the possibility of going back home and then coming back here. That's even shittier than just going home.]
People leaving here? Yes. Returning while remembering their time here? It happens. Returning and being different physically while not remembering your time here? This is the first I've seen.
( For him, anyways, and it hurts that it had to happen to him.
A glance to Alfred The Cat there chowing down on his food, he looks back over to Jason then, eyes soft despite their quiet pain. )
There's nothing anyone can do about it. Thus far anyways.
[Jason lets his pack sit on the floor as he looks around at the mess. He wonders if he disappeared if anyone would care this much about him. He shuffles that thought away for later, trying not to think about how his Bruce would probably just fly off to Paris or Madrid or something, continue life without him.]
Okay. [Jason watches Bruce for a long beat before clearing space around the TV, collecting cushions, and finding a movie to pop in whatever movie player Etraya has provided.]
( He needs a moment β wants to go back to bed and just sleep away whatever he can of the day. Night. He does, however, go and join Jason a minute or so later, not really intending to watch anything as he sits there on the couch and just... lets himself rest his head against the armrest of it, laying there on his side. Letting Jason watch whatever he'd like, it doesn't matter to him. He doesn't... really care. )
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Instead, he licks over his lips and looks down to the counter, breath soft and a little shaky, eyes coming to fall shut then. )
I'm not the Batman everyone here knows or respects.
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[Jason replies sharply.]
You think I respect the guy who took everything away from me?
[Jason grits his teeth and shakes his head.]
Or that anyone here thinks Iβm who Iβm supposed to be?
[Jason shakes his head again. His mind replays the last conversation with his Bruce before he sighs.]
Please donβt push me away.
[If heβs pushed away now, Jason might not ever come back.]
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Can you stay here tonight?
( Not often a thing he asks of anyone ever. )
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I can do that.
[Jason nods firmly, watching Bruce.]
I can be back in the room I stayed in before or. I mean. We could park it in front of the TV and see if this place has a bad movies channel.
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( It's something as opposed to his usual answer of silence or a look. Then again, he's beyond emotionally exhausted and still spiraling into whatever depression he's found himself in now. Jason staying the night is, perhaps, some attempt on his end to not completely slip beneath the waves of depression that are drowning him. At least not yet.
Swallowing thickly, he shakes his head, eyes shut. )
I, uh... I don't have much to eat here. I don't think.
( The past few days have been a blur to him, needless to say. )
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[Probably not the best meal for someone who looks as beat up and miserable as Bruce, but it's the best Jason can do while not letting the other out of his sight.]
Here.
[Jason realizes he never took off his pack, what with the whole suspecting a robbery thing. He tugs one strap off and then the other before he squats down to unzip one of the pockets to pull out a chicken salad sandwich and a packet of chicken-flavored instant noodles. He tosses both at Bruce, one after the other.]
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Probably smelled the chicken.
LMAO OH MY GOD BRUCE
Once Jason moves through that sensation of looking at his mom again, he turns slowly to look at the cat. Jason isn't exactly an animal person, despite being much like a stray cat himself.]
Yeah well it's not getting any.
[Jason scurries over to pick up both packages and thrust them into Bruce's chest, holding them there until there is at least an attempt on Bruce's part to keep them from falling on the floor again.]
π
His name's Alfred. ( A beat. ) He's Damian's but he doesn't remember him.
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He comes back to reality a few moments later.]
He doesn't remember anything?
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( Something he hadn't wanted to be reality when he'd seen him so much smaller than he was the last time they'd been together, but. Part of him knew... of course he did. He simply hadn't wanted to accept it could be such a thing. Not when he'd spent over a year living with and getting to know him. For it to all be simply gone now... while he has to live with the memories... maybe that's just how his life it meant to be with others.
The last one standing. Alone. )
People disappear from here. Sometimes return. I guess this happens, too.
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[Sorry, Bruce, if you're expecting some kind of gentleness here. The last thing he ever wanted to hear was the possibility of going back home and then coming back here. That's even shittier than just going home.]
Does this happen a lot?
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( For him, anyways, and it hurts that it had to happen to him.
A glance to Alfred The Cat there chowing down on his food, he looks back over to Jason then, eyes soft despite their quiet pain. )
There's nothing anyone can do about it. Thus far anyways.
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[Jason lets his pack sit on the floor as he looks around at the mess. He wonders if he disappeared if anyone would care this much about him. He shuffles that thought away for later, trying not to think about how his Bruce would probably just fly off to Paris or Madrid or something, continue life without him.]
You got a TV and some movies?
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( In regards to movies, he means. A glance to Jason, he looks back down. )
You can take a look. I'll just... make sure Alfred is good.
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