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I'm more worried about the crazies I do know than the ones I don't.

( the smarmy grin grows for just a moment, before it's--fading back. )

Joker might still be lurking around. Did you see the shit he pulled with Tim?

Edited 2023-04-22 02:03 (UTC)

No, I wasn't around. I did catch him when he was trying to mess with baby Jay.

Then I let him shoot at me for a bit so he wouldn't get shot at, chasing the Joker.

He thought it'd be fun to take Tim for a spin like he'd done to me when I was still Robin.

( jason watched it. broke a wall after. kicked some shit over. beat up a few lackeys to vent it out. and then talked to tim about it which only made him more pissed off. )

Except Tim heals when he's knocked out, so he'd just knock him out and keep going.

[ ah. kyle absorbs that thoughtfully. he doesn't have anything to add. instead he asks. ]

So you think he's still here? It's been very quiet.

Dunno. Could be. Clown likes to be extra dramatic, he might just be waiting for a good time to come back out.

( it's also just--extremely close to the anniversary of his death, so he's getting extra paranoid. )

Could be. But if you go running about, he'll definitely take advantage of that. If you want to scour the city, we can do that.

Or get someone else on your back. I know you're not a fan but don't take chances with the Joker.

If he is still here, he's been 'round for months. He could've come at me any time--I didn't make my arrival subtle.

( another drink of the coffee to finish it off, but he doesn't move to put the mug away. just puts it down on the floor, like a monster. )

He won't make it very long after I find him.

( because he'll be dead. obviously. )

[ #doubt. but he's smart enough not to say that. ]

But that's not how he works. He doesn't come for you. He waits and gets you at the right moment. Isn't that his MO?

I've been wide open for weeks.

( intentionally, even. is it stupid? yes. but it's fine. everything is fine. )

If he wants to find an opening, he'll find one even if I work to cover my ass. If he decides to come out of hiding, he'll do it on his terms, when it's convenient for him to pull whatever he's aiming for. But I don't think he'd come for me anyway. He's already fucked me up--there's no benefit in him going for round two. An' even if there was, Junior'd be the better target.

( fresher out of the pit, younger, he's had more time to make connections and bond to people joker could break--like that kid lurking around the rooftop of his bar. )

Okay. You know him better than me.

[ the justice league has had a few rounds, but that isn't enough to make kyle an expert. still, the joker is . . . a black spot, blinding and enraging, when it comes to the bats. they can be as calculating and logical as they want and still miss things. ]

Would he go for the same target twice? Batman isn't even here. What would be his goal?

His MO is not having an MO.

( so even with all of jason's reasoning it could all be--nothing. joker could pop up outside kyle's window for a fun time out of fucking nowhere and jason wouldn't be surprised. he could blow up his own shit and no one would be thrown off. )

B isn't here. He's got no one he gives a damn about to piss off. Maybe not having a target'll just make him even more willing to pull stupid shit. Maybe it's enough of a deterrent that he goes to find others to mess around with, 'cause what's the point of fucking us up if he can't show it to B? Or maybe he'll just do whatever he wants because why not?

Maybe we should just settle on confirming if he's actually still here or not.

[ it wouldn't surprise kyle terribly to know the joker vanished when batman did. that tracks. ]

I know a sorcerer.

( can strange track someone down? fuck if he knows. it's a big world and why the fuck would anyone just stay in central city when there's plenty of other crime ridden places to lurk in? joker could be anywhere. )

Or we can sniff out every corner of every city.

[ somehow, he knew it was coming to that. ]

Fine, I guess. Could do some scouting. I could rig up some heat signature portable scanners with the ring.

( why not both? )

Surprised you weren't looking for him already. Isn't that your thing? Maybe not Joker, but stopping asshats from causing more damage and killing people just 'cause they can. You knew B wasn't going to do shit. Tim says there's a street kid still missing.

Tim's booty call engineered a prison escape to keep him entertained. And you all get touchy when I'm messing in your business, so I leave you all to it.

But more importantly, yeah, I stop them. And it's final when I get involved. I don't hunt them down.

( for a moment, he really, really wants to derail the whole conversation and focus on the tim's booty-call but because. he's hoping kyle doesn't mean loki but at the same time, since when has tim had game? look at him. he's always been a tiny nerd who gets too caught up in his own head for anything else.

but joker's more important so. )

You should've. Made it final, left a body behind to make sure it didn't get back up.

[ kyle gives him a long look. there is no way, not even for a moment, that kyle believes jason would be okay with him killing the joker. accepting of it if there was down the line, sure, but deliberately taking that kill away from him is not something kyle imagines jason tolerating. ]

I chose to keep you alive. If I ran into the Joker, he'd be dead. That's all there is to it.

[ he could have chosen otherwise. but he rather have his actions be about saving a life, even if that life wants nothing to do with him than killing. killing was . . . well, easy. it no longer hurts kyle to do it. after all, it's just another part of his humanity, left adrift. ]

You chose to keep me alive, huh.

( this wasn't even a why haven't you offed me yet conversation. bringing up killing jason in relation to killing the joker hits a sore spot. jason pulls himself up to his feet, tugs at the sleeve of his jacket. )

What, was that on your list of considerations? If you come across Joker, you'll kill 'em. If you come across me, what, you guess you'll let it slide?

Oh, for fuck's sake. You're the one who gets all cranky when he doesn't get picked. Now you're mad that I did?

[ there is absolutely no winning with this lot. this is why he keeps his distance from bat business. it's all tangled up in egos and traumas and kyle does not have that kind of patience anymore. ]

It's one thing to hit a guy hard in a fight and keep him down, but I'm not going through the place, hunting down every psychopath to put them on the wrong end of my ring. If I did that, there'd be nothing left of me.

So now I'm just some psychopath. ( a psychopath chosen out of a pile for kyle to go eh, i'll leave that one alone for now. his jaw clenches tight, hand dropping away from his sleeve but he's--shifting the way he's standing just a bit. putting one leg in front of the other, distributing his weight more heavily on the front foot than the back. getting ready to throw fists, even if he's not reaching out just yet. )

A fucked up mess who you choose to let continue parade around, 'cause, what? It's more fun that way? 'least I'll come around and keep you entertained? Or is it that you figure, I ain't worth the effort? 'cause if you went for everyone on my level, you'd just run out of juice?

[ that is not even remotely close to what he is saying, god. he can feel a headache coming on. ]

That is not what I meant. What I meant was if it came to choosing to protect someone's life over killing another, that is what I would choose. Seriously, man, just repeat what you just said to me and tell me you think that makes sense. That there is a ounce of that in me to play fucking power games.

I'm just throwing your shit back at you. I chose to keep you alive. I would've made it final with Joker. I'm not hunting down every psychopath..

( this is where he'd usually start rolling his eyes. but he's having a rough week. he's been having rough weeks. but it's--all of this, everything, and he's running on edge. hands curl into fists instead, but keep at his sides. )

[ he takes it in. the tension, the edge. kyle's a fighter too and he bristles at being read so poorly, but he's never cared that much about his ego or pride or what anyone else thought of him.

so he doesn't move. waits. then he asks. ]

Do you want me to see you as a psychopath? Is that who you are now?

Or are you just taking it out on me?

( he wishes he was a that tipping point of just losing his shit right now. but jason isn't. he's standing here running through all the crap that's pissed him off, the crap that had him reaching out to stephen strange of all people, and every other messy thought that's gone through his head since getting here and he knows damn well what this is. it's jason finding holes in everything, again. taking sentences and twisting them up enough to find a reason to be angry. waiting for something to take off so he can bounce off of kyle's own irritation and escalate it until they're both bruised and pissed but at least jason'd be less antsy.

pisses him off more that kyle and dick keep not giving it to him. where's bruce when he needs someone to bounce off of who'll throw it back at him. why is kyle like this.

jason considers reaching back for the coffee table and throwing it just to break something but there'd be no way to take that aside from him throwing a stupid tantrum. fingers uncurl. the fight goes out of him. he lets out a harsh breath between his teeth. )

Oh fuck off, Rayner.

( he's going for the front door, because it's too light outside and it's too crowded in this city to think he'd get away with a window exit without someone getting suspicious of who lives inside kyle's apartment. and instead of slamming it like a normal person throwing a fit, jason'll opt to leave it wide open. )

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torchbearer - 2023-04-22 06:58 (UTC) - Expand