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TEST DRIVE MEME: MAY EDITION
TEST DRIVE MEME
A Confluence, capitalized, is the converging of one or more supernatural forces. Typically, a Confluence only occurs in one place at any given time. Typically.
These are not typical times.
Most of the Starfallen will arrive in Excelsior, Washington, slipping from the sky one by one, needing to be helped as they come floating down. To many citizens in Excelsior – individuals who are far from fond of metahumans – their arrival is a sign of bad things to come. It’s always a sign of bad things to come. This time, however, the bad things don’t come in the typical sequence. Instead, they’re dealing with a problem when the Starfallen begin to unwittingly arrive. What’s that problem? Plants with a rather problematic taste for flesh.
While Excelsior is hoping for spring to actually stick on the horizon, they’re warding off plants left and right. At least none of the plants seem to be able to spit fire – uh, yet?
In the midwestern part of the country, a huge barrage of rain has begun to settle over the land. Rain like this isn’t normal. Stormfronts usually keep moving forward, but this isn’t. And while rain isn’t a bad thing, this rain … is a deluge. A flood upon floods. Some Starfallen individuals will be showing up in the middle of this, arriving in both Little Love and Central City. Hope they can keep their heads above water!
Making matters worse is that everything seems a bit – planned? No, that’s not the right word. Like it’s all happened before. Or happening again. People all over are definitely noticing a strange uptick in déjà vu. Most worrying is how it seems to be happening everywhere.
These are not typical times.
Most of the Starfallen will arrive in Excelsior, Washington, slipping from the sky one by one, needing to be helped as they come floating down. To many citizens in Excelsior – individuals who are far from fond of metahumans – their arrival is a sign of bad things to come. It’s always a sign of bad things to come. This time, however, the bad things don’t come in the typical sequence. Instead, they’re dealing with a problem when the Starfallen begin to unwittingly arrive. What’s that problem? Plants with a rather problematic taste for flesh.
While Excelsior is hoping for spring to actually stick on the horizon, they’re warding off plants left and right. At least none of the plants seem to be able to spit fire – uh, yet?
In the midwestern part of the country, a huge barrage of rain has begun to settle over the land. Rain like this isn’t normal. Stormfronts usually keep moving forward, but this isn’t. And while rain isn’t a bad thing, this rain … is a deluge. A flood upon floods. Some Starfallen individuals will be showing up in the middle of this, arriving in both Little Love and Central City. Hope they can keep their heads above water!
Making matters worse is that everything seems a bit – planned? No, that’s not the right word. Like it’s all happened before. Or happening again. People all over are definitely noticing a strange uptick in déjà vu. Most worrying is how it seems to be happening everywhere.
EXCELSIOR
Ah, Excelsior – the city that doesn’t ask “why” something should be explored, but how quickly it can be explored. If only someone there had developed a swift measure to deal with a sudden influx of killer plants! The good news is that these plants haven’t killed anyone – not yet, anyway – but there is all the time in the world for that to change.
As the Starfallen arrive, they’re unlikely to notice the plants, and instead will see technological marvels all around them. Although Excelsior isn’t fond of Starfallen, they like the idea of welcoming them and getting them the hell out as quickly as possible. This philosophy results in all of the Starfallen being guided down to the ground, with further instructions awaiting them once they’re on two feet. (Or four. No one’s judging!) But once they land, they’re likely to notice that things aren’t the way they’re meant to be.
After all, someone in Excelsior failed to ask “why it’s bad to create an incredibly unlikely strain of plants that is genetically inspired by snapdragons, the flowers from those plumber games, and piranhas,” and instead went ahead with “how quickly can I do it?” Their experiment proved to be far too successful, aided by cutting-edge bioengineering technology.
Even though all Starfallen are encouraged to depart for the Midwest after they receive their teleportation devices, it’s apparent that the people of Excelsior need help. Right now, their chilly reception can easily be written off as a symptom of what’s happening. Dealing with newcomers at a time like this? Preposterous! People are injured from wild, flesh-eating plants. Obviously!
So, kind Starfallen – whether you’ve just arrived or came by when you heard word of the Confluence of trouble – will you give these dour folk the hand they so desperately need?
As the Starfallen arrive, they’re unlikely to notice the plants, and instead will see technological marvels all around them. Although Excelsior isn’t fond of Starfallen, they like the idea of welcoming them and getting them the hell out as quickly as possible. This philosophy results in all of the Starfallen being guided down to the ground, with further instructions awaiting them once they’re on two feet. (Or four. No one’s judging!) But once they land, they’re likely to notice that things aren’t the way they’re meant to be.
After all, someone in Excelsior failed to ask “why it’s bad to create an incredibly unlikely strain of plants that is genetically inspired by snapdragons, the flowers from those plumber games, and piranhas,” and instead went ahead with “how quickly can I do it?” Their experiment proved to be far too successful, aided by cutting-edge bioengineering technology.
Even though all Starfallen are encouraged to depart for the Midwest after they receive their teleportation devices, it’s apparent that the people of Excelsior need help. Right now, their chilly reception can easily be written off as a symptom of what’s happening. Dealing with newcomers at a time like this? Preposterous! People are injured from wild, flesh-eating plants. Obviously!
So, kind Starfallen – whether you’ve just arrived or came by when you heard word of the Confluence of trouble – will you give these dour folk the hand they so desperately need?
THE MIDWEST
Elsewhere, both Little Love and Central City are experiencing a flood of problems. Most of the problems are the result of the flood. While Little Love is known to be the quieter of the cities in this Confluence-ridden world, it finds itself dealing with a torrential downpour that it’s never seen before. Meteorologists quickly note that this is unnatural. All the way from Kansas to Illinois to Michigan there is rain, rain for as far as the eye can see. Flood warnings have no end in sight, and the people in these cities have asked for help from outside. If this rain doesn’t stop, all summer crops will be at risk!
The source of these problems? A Confluence. More specifically: a five-year-old girl who was born in Little Love just got news that her father died in an accident. Combine that with the incoming Confluence and the girl unwittingly unleashed her sadness upon the land.
Anyone investigating would learn that the rain began in Little Love, right before it began to spread upward and outward from the little town. Soon, Kansas, and then the entire Midwest, would feel the impact of her grief. Even when she sleeps, it doesn’t go away – her pain is a constant, after all. Finding her is key. No one can truly prevent a child’s grief, but perhaps they can help her realize her impact on the world and get her newly-arrived power under control.
The source of these problems? A Confluence. More specifically: a five-year-old girl who was born in Little Love just got news that her father died in an accident. Combine that with the incoming Confluence and the girl unwittingly unleashed her sadness upon the land.
Anyone investigating would learn that the rain began in Little Love, right before it began to spread upward and outward from the little town. Soon, Kansas, and then the entire Midwest, would feel the impact of her grief. Even when she sleeps, it doesn’t go away – her pain is a constant, after all. Finding her is key. No one can truly prevent a child’s grief, but perhaps they can help her realize her impact on the world and get her newly-arrived power under control.
DIADEM HOTEL
Whether you’ve gone to investigate the rather moist trouble or you’re just looking for some shut-eye, you’ve got a place that’s waiting for you. Need to clean up some plant-induced wounds? It’s time to hit the LUXURY HOTEL to ease any concerns.
The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings for just a small taste. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.
There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlet shops that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing a film called BARKS OF THE DEAD, a story about a zombified dog who protects a small family during the zombie apocalypse. Despite its taste for other dogs’ brains, this dog is fiercely loyal and will do anything for its owners.
The DIADEM HOTEL is usually reserved for the obscenely wealthy. Its rooms are enormous, the beds quite literally enchanted to offer the perfect night's sleep, and the food would usually cost your life savings for just a small taste. But given the circumstances, the Guilds feel its the least they can do to aid your transition into this world. EVERYTHING is complimentary, and everyone gets an ALLIANCE CREDIT CARD to spend on entertainment, clothing, and whatever other necessities they might need. The cards have an obscenely high limit and there doesn't seem to be an expectation for you to pay it back... though if they catch you abusing it, their accountant will be coming for your head.
There's a shopping center immediately across the street. It has an impressive array of outlet shops that cater to your every need. Food, clothing... and swords? If you can think of it, it's for sale. Although anything clearly supernatural or metahuman seems to be at a minimum and offered under the table. You can grab clothing made to withstand any superpower and a surprisingly mediocre Taco Bell order while you're at it. There's a Super Cinema in the shopping complex across the street that's showing a film called BARKS OF THE DEAD, a story about a zombified dog who protects a small family during the zombie apocalypse. Despite its taste for other dogs’ brains, this dog is fiercely loyal and will do anything for its owners.
EVERYWHERE: DÉJÀ VU
Less obvious and more innocuous are the strange stints of déjà vu all over. At first, it might seem like it’s a familiar thing you’ve seen before, but then you’re certain that you’ve ordered those chicken tenders before. Wait, you haven’t even been to this city before, much less this restaurant.
The feeling of déjà vu isn’t just that. Whole days will begin to feel like they’re repeating – surely they’ve solved that rain problem? Or the plant problem? Didn’t you hear that it happened?
Anyone keen to take notes might want to – assuming you haven’t just gotten that you did and they’ve been lost to time.
The feeling of déjà vu isn’t just that. Whole days will begin to feel like they’re repeating – surely they’ve solved that rain problem? Or the plant problem? Didn’t you hear that it happened?
Anyone keen to take notes might want to – assuming you haven’t just gotten that you did and they’ve been lost to time.
CLIFF NOTES.
➢ New arrivals will be appearing in Excelsior, Little Love, or Central City – with the bulk of them arriving in Excelsior. Their arrival will be expected and handled by a number of odd pieces of technology that help them as they fall from the sky itself. None of the locals will be happy to see the arrivals, but they’ll be so frazzled that they won’t be able to give them their usual chilly welcome. Vicious plants are on the loose and it’s not a meta’s fault. This might be meaningless to newcomers, but anyone who’s old hat at this will know that Excelsior can cause its own problems just fine, thank you.
➢ Arrivals who land in Little Love or Central City will arrive to a lot of rain. This much rainfall can impact the climate, daily life, crops – you name it. Arrivals will also be very, very soggy. If they’d like, they can ignore the trouble in favor of getting answers or heading to the hotel. No one’s obligated to lend a hand.
➢ Current Players are welcome to treat this as a bonus event. These events are canonically happening within the game but can be largely ignored if you'd prefer to use the month for personal plots. You can tag into the TDM, reference these prompts in network posts, or use them in your own logs.
➢ As for the time stuff, feel free to treat it as a wobbly time event! Mess with memories, get a character caught in the same day, or even just make someone feel like they’ve suddenly acquired precognition as a power. The sky’s the limit!
WILDCARD.
Metaheroes takes inspiration from all walks of comics. Take a look at the CITIES to get an idea as to what day to day life is like in the other cities. Perhaps you've encountered a supervillain (or hero) who needs to be thwarted, or a metahuman with unusual powers creating bizarre effects.
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there's no one else here, but he lowers his voice anyway. ) It's Jason. Jason Todd. I'm adopted. Or I was, before I died. ( but he's not dead now. and he's not breaking into that just yet. doesn't want to tell the story like this, he wants to make it hurt. even if he's currently working on fixing bruce and his shit wounds up. can't let the man die, even if he's pissed at him.
how old is he? late twenties? when did he pick up dick, again? right around then, wasn't it? )
Take it off, I don't wanna have to spend time trying to figure out how you've boobytrapped your shit.
( the armor, it's in his way. is bruce bleeding out? maybe. does jason care? no. yes. but not enough to pull at clasps waiting for something to pop out and bite him. )
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jason todd. he stamps that name to memory and files it away for later when he's not bleeding out beneath his suit in a back alley somewhere in... wherever he is.
when jason goes and makes the demand for him to remove part of his suit, he looks up to him. sharp. untrusting. as if he'd just asked him a stupid thing. taking a moment, he swallows, glancing off around them. )
There's zippers in the back.
( like jason, his voice is low, even with it just being the two of them. )
But I'm not taking it off here.
( they're too exposed, even if it's some alley. it's still unfamiliar territory for him and he can't risk being unexpectedly jumped or worse when part of his suit is off. )
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( he can't tell how bad it is from here; it's dark, bruce's armored up, and the thermal scanners in his mask aren't meant to detect blood loss like this. he'll ask for an upgrade, later, maybe. usually he's the idiot he's running around with in the dark, and jason doesn't need to look himself over--and if anyone else is stupid enough to get themselves shot or worse, jason already knows how to get their shit off.
the first aid shit gets shoved back into his jacket, and jason leans forward to wrap an arm under bruce's own. yanks bruce up to his feet while he pulls himself up, so jason can pull bruce over up and over his shoulders. because a fireman carry is clearly way less embarrassing than being princess carried, and if bruce is down on the floor get up and walk is probably a shit idea.
excelsior isn't even close to his home base, but that doesn't mean jason doesn't have safehouses scattered around. but none of them are particularly close-- )
You gonna bleed out on my jacket if I have to take fifteen to get us to a safehouse? I can find somewhere else.
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draped over jason, he sighs, eyes heavy. he hears his words — bleed out, fifteen, safehouse — but can't find it within him to reply right away at first. when he does, it's a mumble. )
Alfred..
( alfred's not here and he wonders what he'd think if he were. what he'd think of this jason todd here helping him out after trying to shove his blade through his neck. if he could trust him. if he could trust bruce to be more like bruce and less like batman.
he wonders that as he starts to drift. starts to slip away from any sort of consciousness. just for a little. just... for a little. )
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( there's no alfred here, which sucks because jason would much rather throw this idiot right at him and fuck off. he'd throw him at dick who is here but clearly bruce isn't going to make it that long. tim's got his new healing touch ability, but last time he'd used it, it'd knocked him out--and jason wasn't even that hurt. tim would still use it; like the rest of them, his priorities are shit, ranking everyone else's safety above his own.
fuck that, bruce can bleed a little. or knock himself out. or both.
he keeps an arm locked around the back of bruce's knee, wrapped around to hold onto his forearm. drops a hand down to grab onto the third gun at his waist--the grapple. rooftops aren't safe, but they're more likely to find one of their own up there instead of more deadly plants. if they're lucky, jason'll be able to spot kyle flitting around the skies like the glowstick he is.
finger on the trigger, and the grapple releases to lock itself in against the fire escape trailing up brick. jason grunts when it catches, when it pulls on his arm, because it's damn near twice the weight he's used to carrying, but it's not the first time he's lugged their people around either. the grapple yanks them up, and jason manages to catch a boot against the end of the fire escape to pull them up onto it. doesn't try to make the leap to the roof from here, because someone's bleeding and the impact of that would most likely jostle him more. the grapple's pulled loose, and he drops it back into it's holster.
uses his now free hand to grab onto the rail just above them to yank them up another floor. gets luckier still, because the blinds on the next window are wide open showing an empty room. no furniture, no nothing. his grip on bruce tightens, adjusting him over to the side so jason can reach back into his jacket. pulls out another knife, one with a more pointed hilt [because why carry other tools when he can shove everything he needs into a knife?] and slams it straight into the window, shattering glass. puts that knife back away so he can shove his fist through what's left, pull any sharper edges off and out. it won't hurt him, not with his decked out stark suit, and fuck if it doesn't piss him off more that he's still thinking of ways to keep bruce from getting more mangled.
doesn't matter. it's not a massive window, so jason slouches down, hand not keeping bruce from falling onto his face against the window frame to hold them up as jason lets them in. drops heavy boots onto the ground, and takes a good few steps away from the window to avoid the glass mess before he's--less than gently dropping bruce down onto the floor.
it's fine, he'll patch him up anyway, and clearly dropping him is a great way to wake him up. )
You're gonna owe me a new jacket. This one was my favorite.
( and now it's covered in batman germs. gross. )
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despite the change of scenery and being away from prying eyes, he still feels on edge. regardless of who he is to jason, he doesn't know him and, in all honesty, he did try and gut him like a fish back in the alley.
and now they're here.
the sound bruce makes is one that's pained, face scrunching up as he tries to move to sit up. it ends up being more of a roll onto his side — his good side — arm braced to hold himself up as he takes a second to just breathe. head hanging, eyes shut, he does his best to will the pain away before he's swallowing, head tipping back, and he's unfastening his cape with tired fingers.
the moment it's off, he rests against his arm, head hanging again, another breath taken. )
There's two zippers at the back.
( words that are soft— strained. but jason should be able to see the zippers he's talking about running on a slight diagonal next to each other. that'll take the armor off his chest — let him breathe a little easier without being so padded up. ironic, when that's typically what he wants. )
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except he's rolling on the ground, in pain, because he's an idiot and jason must be one too, because he's getting back on his knees on the ground and shoving the cape out of the way so he can look over the suit, finding those zippers so he can pull them down. jason's careful, using his other arm to help support bruce's weight so he doesn't strain too much. even if he did just toss him onto the ground.
once the zippers are down enough, he's yanking hard on fabric to pull it down and off. )
This's a temporary truce. ( in case bruce thought this was something else. ) Nightwing'd kill me if I let you die. I'll go back to beating the shit out of you later.
cw: blood and injuries
the sound of relief that leaves him when the armor's pulled off... suddenly he can breathe a little easier than he had been. the damage done to the suit is nothing he can't fix— well. back in gotham, that is. however, there's old gashes and marks littered across the suit. a telltale sign of the breaking in of the suit that's already been done.
the damage done to his body is a little more severe.
bitemarks run along his left side. four of them, from the looks of it. three a little more deep than the fourth and he doesn't believe anything major to have been punctured. the wound still remains angry and bleeding, some blood having already dried around the edges of the bites, wet and oozing.
the newer one — the one at his chest doesn't run as deep as the bitemarks thanks to the chest plate armor, but it still leaves him with an angry wound just beneath his collarbone. blood drips a little more from this one, given how fresh it is, and he stares at the drops hitting the floor beneath him, watching the way they form a pattern of sorts with every drip.
eyes falling shut, a heavy breath on his lips, he winces some as he tries to move — tries to shift into a somewhat better position. )
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the chest wound concerns him the least, which also pisses him off. it's not even jason's fault bruce is in shit shape, he just happened to be around when he fell apart. )
Good news: you're not gonna bleed out. Even if you're being a baby over a couple bites. ( the sass just comes naturally: jason doesn't know how to shut up. he sits back on his heels for a moment, moves a hand up to shove it against bruce's chest. not where the spike-wound is, but close enough to jostle it a little. he said this is a temporary truce, he didn't say he's going to be nice about it. )
Down. My bedside manner isn't even close to as nice as Alfred's, so you're just gonna have to suffer through it.
( while he sifts through his jacket again, pulling out the first aid kit. he'll get the bandages later. )
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the way jason talks about alfred... yeah. alfred's always been good at patching him up when he needs to be. also good at kicking his ass, both literally and figuratively, when needed. it's always either be himself or alfred when it comes to first aid, so to have it be someone else — someone who supposedly knows some... other him... it's new and he doesn't know how to feel about it. probably why he keeps the mask on. even if jason here knows who batman is.
which is something he'll have to revisit when he's not bleeding all over the floor of this building, being patched up by the guy who can't seem to figure out how he feels about him. there's history with some other him, that much he's gathered. but him. where's that going to lead? if anywhere? he wonders. how true is it that he would leave him here to bleed on his own and isn't just using the excuse of this nightwing being furious with him if he did? he doesn't know. but he does wonder.
eyes are lazy in the way they watch jason do what he needs to do. he's not about to drift off again as he had on his shoulders. but the break is nice. even if it's just for a little bit.
as probably expected, rather than say anything in regards to jason's chattering, he just watches him. in silence. )
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might still. he'll see where the next few moments take him. the antiseptic gets sprayed onto wounds, before he drops it down onto the ground and takes out the tissue forceps, needle driver, the needle and thread--already threaded through, because jason knows he can stitch himself up damn fine regardless, but getting the thread through the needle isn't something he wants to have to fuck with while bleeding, thanks.
jason hunches over to work at the bite wounds first, fingers careful even if the stitches aren't--great. they're efficient, but not neat. and he's still not shutting up. )
You've really gotta get some lenses on that cowl, y'know. Works a lot better without the eyeliner. You're just gonna get people calling you-- ( who was it. this would probably be easier if bruce was standing or laying on something so he could reach better, but this is fine, he can use this. ) don't remember. Pete something.
( punk rocker bruce wayne is funny as fuck. he'll laugh about it later. )
Or they'll just stab you in the eye. Throw dirt in 'em.
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complicated. that's what this is for jason, he's realizing. this whole relationship with batman — with bruce wayne. it's complicated for him.
keeping his breathing slow and steady, he only swallows down a couple pained sounds, eyes falling shut every now and then as a means to try and will any sort of ache away. he's had worse — he knows he has. but that doesn't mean it still doesn't hurt in the moment. still isn't a pain to deal with.
the bit of advice thrown at him has bruce open his eyes then, but he doesn't look to jason. instead, he's glancing off across the room. taking note of how everything in here looks... escapes that can be used. )
Thanks for the tip.
( finally, he speaks. though it's more gruff than a genuine voice of appreciation. )
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I can see you looking for an escape route, y'know. Window's your best shot, but as fucked up as you are an' as new as you are at this, ( the scarring, it's not nearly as extensive as he would have anticipated. it's bad, but it's not bruce wayne, mid forties, all i care about is the mission bad. ) I'm betting I can take you out before you get that far.
( he said this once before, when he was angry. he's simmered down a little, which means he's less reacting and more calculating. jason doesn't look up from the stitches, knows bruce has his back if he's focused down on patching him up. it's fine, this is fine, this isn't fucked up at all. )
You've got a hoard of us here. ( idly, between shoving the needle through bruce's skin, tying stitches off, moving on to the next. ) Six by my count, we've lost a few. 'm usually second oldest, but the baby had to go an' show up here all grown up.
( rude of damian, really. )
We've got two of me, two of the second youngest--one's fourteen. I don't give a shit what you remember, when you're from--most've them look up to you, to B, ( the softer, teasing tone. for bruce. ) like you're someone they need to strive for approval from. An' I swear, if you fuck over any of 'em, I'll kill you. I don't give a shit what Nightwing does if I do. Say the wrong thing, break any of 'em down, and I'll break you. Got it?
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selina... he's not sure yet and he's trying not to think too much about that. about her.
another wince, a stretch of his neck, he tilts his head some. stares off across the room they're in again. should he even be hearing any of this from jason? does it even matter? he's taking his frustrations out on him and bruce is just letting him. well, with a purpose. it lets him figure jason out — lets him pinpoint a motive and reason for his actions and the things he says. the things he does. again, he'll have to go back and revisit all of this when he's not on the floor bleeding and in a certain amount of pain. because trying to wrap his head around all of this right now when he barely understands much of where he is to begin with and how he got here... he needs to take it step by step. not all at once.
make sense of it in some way.
all he can think of is the mayor's son sitting there on his bed after his father's murder. just a kid. just like he was once, dealing with that very same tragedy. he can't help but wonder if that's the start of all this... of, apparently, taking in orphaned kids who've lost their parents in an equally brutal way. because he knows that pain... that darkness.
a glance down to jason's handiwork with that needle and thread, he drops his head back against the floor, sigh on his lips. )
You're not too bad at this.
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( it's said with an ugly snort, finishing off the second bite. the venom leaves his tone once again--an easy back and forth jason's accustomed to when they're. . like this. anger, heated and rough, to something a little gentler, familial. this isn't his bruce. this bruce doesn't even know what the hell he's talking about, if the non-answers are anything to go off of. it's fine, he'll get it eventually. bruce will file away all of jason's chatter to analyze later, to figure out what he wants to do with it. and as the rest of their crew finds him, meets him, he'll figure out the purpose behind jason's threats. )
You've been dropped into another part of the multiverse. You know anything about that yet? Universes and universes on top of each other, all with little changes that make 'em unique. Little fuck ups that change the entire course of history. Went to one once where I was Batman, if you wanna hear 'bout really fucked up. ( another stitch finished, eyes still focused down. ) Did try that once back home, too, but I'll tell you--it was stupid, an' I was being an idiot.
( anyway-- )
Here, confluences've been happening for a while. Used to happen more frequently, then they slowed down, an' started up again where people like us started popping up--bout a year ago. You fall out of the sky, you get given fun superpowers if you didn't already have 'em, and labeled as metahuman. There's guilds where metahumans're supposed to sign up with--Alliance, for goody two-shoes types, an' the Society for villainy types. If you don't, you're shit out of luck and on your own.
( second bite finished, and he's off onto the third. )
Public opinion's mixed on us. Currently leaning more towards the we're the big bads. 'cause from what I can tell, people've been idiots loudly. ( and, well, ) Not that I've helped that any, but that was Rook's fault for starting shit first.
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still. he takes it rather well. or maybe it's the fact that he's so out of it and tired. either way, things to, once again, think about on top of everything else. the biggest takeaway for him with all of this is that, contrary to what he originally thought, it seems he's not alone. even if they're people he doesn't know. yet.
all of that, however, is going to take time. for all of them and currently, bruce doesn't have it in him to focus on any of that. not in this very moment. not when he still needs to figure a lot more things out. figure himself here out.
another glance to jason, he lets his gaze trail across the ceiling above, following the lines and faint cracks running through it in various spots. )
Guess there's no particular criteria for who they bring in.
( seems to be a mixed bag, from the little he's gathered. )
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Nothing that I've found. Lotta hero-types get dragged in, but not everyone fits that criteria. Age ranges from fourteen to--fiftyish far as I know. Gods, humans, aliens, everything in between.
( third bite done, and he's reaching for the gauze and bandages. )
You know Green Lantern? Superman?
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a slight wince, he eyes jason at that question. two more names to add to the list. )
No.
( short and to the point. like always. )
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jesus christ what's going on with this bruce. the last bandage gets taped on over the bites and jason just. looks down at him. raises a brow under the mask. )
How old are you?
( how far back is he supposed to go with his explanation to catch bruce up here. )
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Twenty-eight.
( though some— most days, he doesn't feel like it. )
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Explains a lot.
( how much smaller he is than jason's used to, how he doesn't know anything. the scarring. )
Nightwing's gonna lose it, holy shit. You're just a baby.
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he doesn't bother to look at him — doesn't bother to say anything. just starts the annoying process of putting this back on with fresh dressings on him and still not entirely cleaned up. )
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he'd been waiting for more of them to show up, they always do. another tim, maybe a nine year old, freshly robin'd up dick which would have been terrible but--that's something he almost expects. tiny, little freshly bat'd bruce had never even crossed his mind. it complicates things in a way but also makes bruce's arrival so much easier. this jason can handle. this he can laugh over. this is has to take a minute to recover from laughing over, even, but once he does-- )
This's great. You've never even heard of Robin, have you? Just a little baby bat.
( fabric re-extends out to his fingertips with an easy gesture of his wrist, and jason uses the fabric to smear the blood he'd gotten on his face trying to wipe away the tear tracks. jason looks up to bruce, eyes bright. )
I'd been working with Bats since I was thirteen. Almost eleven years. You ain't got shit on me.
( which is clearly, absolutely hilarious. )
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another wince, another breath taken, he does up the armor and figures he'll deal with whatever else on his own. the bulk of it's been taken care of, thanks to jason. but his patience is wearing thin the more the other talks, and so he reaches over for his cape, connecting it where it needs to go in three places, before he gets himself up with a grunt.
positioned on bended knee, arm draped over, head hung, he lets out a breath and looks over to jason then. eyes cold through the dark makeup. )
You're no one to me.
( just a punk kid with daddy issues in the shape of a bat who's looking to take it out on him.
pushing himself up, he moves then, footsteps heavy as he does. )
I haven't got time for this.
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( mask back on, using fingertips to smooth it over skin. jason pulls himself up to his feet, brushes hands down his thighs as if there was dirt on there he needed to remove, even if the suit's still plenty clean. the sharp grin's back on his face, but it doesn't reach eyes hidden under lenses. see how useful these are and how stupid the eyeliner is? it doesn't matter if this bruce doesn't know who he is. it doesn't matter that he's young, barely older than jason himself, clearly still getting used to life in the fursuit.
it still hurts, because it's still bruce. )
Stay the hell away from me. Got it? I'll give you a pass this time, but if I ever see you on my turf, if you get close enough I catch sight of you, next time I won't be so nice.
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