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[torchbearer]

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[reneger]

( the nice thing to do would be to leave kyle alone to his depression apartment. maybe if he was feeling especially kind, call in dick to go bother him in his hidey hole. except jason's not especially nice, and dick has several gremlins biting at his heels already.

so kyle gets stuck with jason texting him at the reasonable hour of midnight. )

burgers or chinese food?

[torchbearer]

[ very reasonable hour. it's a good thing kyle's sleeping schedule has always been a hot mess. ]

Chinese, hands down.

[reneger]

spring rolls, crab puffs, or both?

[torchbearer]

por que no los dos

go for it.

[reneger]

be there in 20
take the screen off my window

( "my". )

[torchbearer]

fine fine.

[reneger]

( it's closer to thirty minutes, but it's not on jason; the restaurant was busy. but he's landing down on the windowsill of his chosen window, takeout bag on an arm. jason drops down inside easily, carrying the bag over to the table with his night gear still on aside from the mask. )

Got enough to feed a small army. 'cause-- ( a gesture down to himself. he is a small army all on his own, but he can share. )

[torchbearer]

[ there are some sketches on the table. some buildings, faces. there's a few that feature jenny, but they're incomplete, barely scribbles. kyle waves him in, gesturing. ]

Thanks. I'll get out some plates.

[ he shuffles the drawings to the side before bringing it all out with the ring. ]

[reneger]

( kyle can't expect to leave things just laying around like that without someone snooping into them. jason puts down the bag on the center of the table, then reaches over for the hoard of papers. was this an apology dinner? maybe. doesn't mean he still can't be nosy. )

Don't mention it. I paid for it with mob money.

( all of his money is mob money. some of it kyle helped get. clearly it's only fair to spend it on bringing a hoard of fried food through his window. )

[torchbearer]

[ kyle's not going to read into it too hard. things might get explosive if he did. best to leave it on read and take it for what it is. kyle's response is dry. ]

Nice of the mob to finance it.

[reneger]

They knew I'd make better use of it than they would.

( an ugly snort as he sifts through a few papers. he's not looking for anything, he's just looking to look. it's the bruce in him: jason needs to know every potentially relevant fact available to him. )

Sometimes I forget you've got talent outside of being a giant asshole.

[torchbearer]

Smooth.

[ bruce liked his drawings. when he wasn't assessing kyle and trying to figure out the best way to neutralize him. water under the bridge at this stage, anyway. he grabs a pair of chopsticks to reach for a spring roll. ]

Besides, it's my only form of income these days. If I'm not good, I'd be homeless.

[reneger]

There's always mob money.

( the papers get put back down on the table before jason's making himself comfortable in the chair across from kyle. pulls over a plate for himself before taking out the extra take out containers from the bag and opening them up so he can dump shit out onto his plate. )

They say crime doesn't pay, but they'd be wrong.

[torchbearer]

Between two Jasons, I can't imagine the mob lasting all that long.

[ and he's hesitant. he knows why. somewhere along the lines of rebirth, kyle has fundamentally shifted. he doesn't want to get caught in a situation where he might lose his temper. or worse. ]

[reneger]

Central City is Junior's turf. ( giving up ground to his mini me doesn't really feel right, but he knows dick wasn't wrong: keeping two accelerants in the same space is a bad decision. he hasn't tried to beat the shit out of junior. yet. chances of that lasting are minimal. )

But there's more ground to cover. Plenty of other idiots elsewhere to start shit with.

( villains to take down, organizations to break into. jason's still working on his angle, but he's getting there. )

[torchbearer]

[ kyle sighs. ]

Look if you need backup, fine, but I'm not much of a detective vigilante kind of guy. And if you want to take potshots at my intelligence, you get one pass.

[reneger]

You're not stupid. Stalking around dark alleys isn't your thing. Doesn't suit you any.

( spoken while he breaks apart chopsticks and starts pawing through his options. )

Nothing stealthy 'bout a Lantern. You couldn't sleuth your way out of a paper bag.

[torchbearer]

[ kyle shrugs it off. he knows his strengths and he never had the patience for that sort of work anyway. ]

So knowing all of that, what exactly do you expect me to do?

[reneger]

That wasn't a be my Robin suggestion. ( he already tried that with tim once. and kyle's a little too old to fill in that role. if jason even wanted a robin. which he doesn't. )

My last partner was a 6'3 red-headed Amazon who carried 'round a massive axe. Wasn't exactly stealthy either. An' there's plenty of shit for a glowstick to get into here.

[torchbearer]

[ he smirks, leaning back. ]

So this is you asking me to be your muscle.

[reneger]

Artemis was more than just my muscle.

( but he's grinning. picking up a spring roll with his chopsticks and holding it just a little ways away from his mouth, because he's not done talking yet. )

But if you want to play it that way, feel free. I need a big, strong man to help keep me out of trouble.

( and now he's shoving the entire spring roll straight into his mouth. )

[torchbearer]

And you do get into trouble a lot.

[ but he relaxes. that should be fine. he's unlikely to lose himself in these kinds of situations. ]

[reneger]

I can't help myself. It's the gutter rat in me, always looking for trouble 'round every corner.

( and if he cannot find it, he'll create it. the grin dies down, brows pinched together. sass is easy, this is a little harder. )

've got chronic foot in mouth syndrome. An' I'm an idiot. Always getting into shit I shouldn't be. I need a friend who'll tell me to fuck off when I'm being stupid.

[torchbearer]

[ that's . . . a lot more frank than he had expected it to be. it's not an apology but that would have been even weirder and kyle wasn't angry. no, deep down, he knows he's afraid to be angry again. but that's his baggage.

here, his answer is simple. it doesn't need any second-guessing. ]

I've got your back.

[reneger]

( kyle gets his two seconds of serious jason. his daily allowance for it. and jason's mouth is shifting back into a smarmy grin, chopsticks eviscerating another spring roll. )

I know. 'cause you like me.