redhandedrobin | week 11

Grey dusk in Gotham, and he leaned back to catch the last few rays of his 'sunrise'. He was up early this morning. Footfalls on the rooftop, confident and at ease. A hero, then.

"You take some finding." Hal sat down on the edge of the building, and Jason looked over, frowning.

"You looked better with the cape and hood."

"Lost a couple powers when they took the cape back," Hal shrugged, grinning, "Won my soul and body and life. Not a bad trade."

"Yeah, it's not. It's fuckin' wonderful for you. I'm very happy for you. Fuck off or I'll send you to meet the new Spectre." the threat was as empty as Hal's old threats of making Jason sweep the walkways of paradise- not that they'd ever needed the sweeping.

"Jason..." Hal frowned, reaching a hand and letting it rest on his shoulder. "I came to check up on you. I... of course I knew you were back, but..." he glared out over Gotham, the pilot's eyes seeking horizon, "I knew things were bad. I've been meaning to come, just hadn't gotten around to it. Crisis, you know. Always one of those."

Jason shrugged. "That's about the only constant in this world." Hal frowned, hearing everything Jason hadn't said, and knowing more than he wanted to about Jason's return, about the last few years in the mortal realm. The world was fucked, and so was the boy beside him.

"What do you want from the world, Jason? An apology? Consider being alive the universes' idea of 'oops, we're sorry!'."

Jason spun to look at him, his eyes snapping, "What do I want from the world? What do I want? I want everything. I want a home. A family. Food. Friends, even. I want forgiveness and somebody to give a fuck about me and someone to be happy I'm alive, not acting like I'm a better memorial than a man," he choked on a sob, "I want to live."

Hal reached out for him again, and Jason let him squeeze his shoulder. "I can't give you those things," Hal said softly.

"Yeah, I know, justice is always blind t'Jason Todd." Jason snorted.

"No. It's not." Hal's eyes were compassionate. "Don't give up, Jason."

"Don't know how."

Hal shook his head, "Neither do I." he said slowly. "Come on. Want a beer?"

"I'm underage."

"Yeah, so?"

"Yeah. That'd be nice."

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

From:

redhandedrobin

Jason Todd. *doesn't like the sound of that one, at all*

Hnnn. Haven't been a child in over a decade... and I'm not the bright light of the family. *shrugs* But thank you, anyway.

*chuckles* So I'm guessin' you hate me, too. Well. There's a club if you'd like to join.

Aaah. Wish I'd heard that advice a little earlier. Wise words.

From:

goblin_king

I wouldn't worry. I can watch, but unless asked I cannot touch. Rules of the game.

All mortals are children to me. It's no insult. And passion burns bright. Brightest. For good or ill.

Hmm. How to explain. Hatred is a passionate thing and I do not feel passion towards you of any kind. I do not know you. The changelings have a long history among us, and it is that history I hate. More so now that it has played a part in losing me what I love the most. Do you see?

Strings deeply laid. Did you die to escape?

From:

redhandedrobin

Rules, huh? Sucks when the rules constrain you.

mm. I suppose. And I suppose I have it.

That makes sense, that you hate the idea and not the individual. Well... I've got a few that fit in those categories, too. I think I see.

You could say that.

From:

goblin_king

*laughs* Indeed. However, since the price of disobeying these rules is somewhat ... unthinkable ... I think I'll err on the side of continued existence.

Oh, you are passionate. That is the first and easiest thing to see about you, changeling child.

I hate few people. I tend too much towards apathetic, really. But there are reasons I live in exile, and reasons I have lost so much. Those reasons are what cause me to hate.

Did it work?

From:

redhandedrobin

*chuckles* sounds good. I do that once in a great while.

I have a name. Jason. Not Changeling.

We all have reasons for why we feel the way we do. I feel hate. I feel love twisted into the hate.

I did not wish to die.

From:

goblin_king

There are few beings who do not strive to live, and those that don't ... most of them you would not want to meet.

*stares assessingly* I debated answering the matter of names. It is an issue of power, after all, and I dislike giving such knowledge away. Nonetheless.

Names have power, changeling child. A great deal of it, especially for my kind. Compulsion can be exerted most easily through use of the victim's name, entrance to the mind too, through the seat of identity. Names are powerful. When you offer a name, you offer power.

The question then is do you intend to?

From:

redhandedrobin

I've met one or two.

*tilts his head, meets the gaze* I see.

*shrug* that isn't my only name. And it's not the name I answer to best.

I don't think I have a choice. *Wryly*

From:

goblin_king

*laughs wildly* Always a choice, changeling child. Jason. That's the secret of the game. There is always a choice, though perhaps not a good one. But power flows to and fro, never too long in any one place, and the right words, the right actions, can change the course of its flow.

Call me by name to give you dreams, and I must give them. But I am still the maker, still the weaver, and I can choose how to give, how to win. And you may always refuse. If your will is strong enough.

If you are strong enough. *stares distantly* On a whim, power changes hands, you know? Taken and given at a moment's notice. Sometimes ... you have to surrender ...

From:

redhandedrobin

No, sometimes there's dying and there is nothing you can do to stop your body from failing you.

I hate to dream.

Let go to hold.

From:

goblin_king

Ah, yes. But that is not a game, or not one I play, anyway. Not with you, certainly. There are those of my kind and yours who do, and those I cannot speak for, but death is not for me.

I don't dream. Not as humans do.

And oh, how I wish I'd known that in time. Too late, now.

From:

redhandedrobin

Hm. You're either fortunate, or unfortunate.

Again, dreams can be a pleasure or a curse. I'm cursed.

Same here.

From:

goblin_king

Fortunate. Defintely. Once you start those games ... there really is only one way it can end.

The dreams I offer are pleasant. They hold their price, but it is not so high. There have been many who accepted in their time.

*sigh* Lessons always seem learned too late.

From:

redhandedrobin

Mmm. For some, not all. Although I suppose eventually...

An interesting job, I'm certain.

Kinda like the last thing you look at was the thing you wanted. Of course it is, you don't need to look anymore.

From:

goblin_king

Yes. Eventually.

*smirks* More of a vocation. A calling, even.
Better than babysitting goblins for eternity, anyway.

Hah! Sounds so simple, and so very snide, when people say things like that. Cheap, when in reality it costs ... so very, very much.

From:

redhandedrobin

Everyone has an inevitable.

*laughs* I had one of those, once.

I have a tendency to hate people who chirp on about lessons.

From:

goblin_king

Well, perhaps, but there's no need to rush it! Or invite it, either.

Indeed? *interest* A vocation or a goblin? (If the latter, I've a couple of hundred I'd happily pass along)

And always. If you've the temerity to chirp about them, you either haven't learned them, or have forgotten what an effort it cost.

From:

redhandedrobin

None at all. That's why we call it 'inevitable'.

I had a vocation, and have no need of a goblin.

I think I like you. *chuckles* That seems to be right, that, or you're still naive enough to think others can learn from your pain and not their own.

From:

goblin_king

True.

*sigh* Well, if you ever change your mind, I've as many as you could possibly want, and am absolutely willing to part with them.

*smiles* The feeling is mutual, changeling ... Jason. And you're right, I think. Pain means nothing until it's yours.

From:

redhandedrobin

But I like making the inevitable work for it.

Thanks. But it's not like they're really good for much, are they? no offense meant if I'm wrong. I may be thinking of something else. Never did get around to studying that kind of thing.

Pain means nothing until its' yours, or you've given it to someone else.

Especially if you cared about them. Then it means more than you ever thought.

From:

goblin_king

*shark grin* Oh yes.

No offense is possible in the matter of goblins. They're vermin. Occasionally useful vermin, but vermin nonetheless. They are good for blowing things up, though.

...

*very quietly* Yes. Yes, it does.

From:

redhandedrobin

I find a great deal of satisfaction in making the inevitable work.

So they're basically rats with TNT. Awesome.

You know, too, I'm guessing. Are you enough like a human to get drunk? If so, here *holds out a bottle* have some, on me.

From:

goblin_king

Indeed.

That's ... an interesting description of them. And remarkably accurate.

Yes. I do know. *blinks in surprise* Thank you. I think I will. *accepts bottle*

*coughs* What's in this?

From:

redhandedrobin

*snorts* Nice. And you're their boss?

Welcome. And... *eyes the bottle* Well, that's rum, so. I've never been sure what's actually in rum. I just know it's got a good alcohol content for the money.

From:

goblin_king

*coughs*

Well, someone has to be. I was free at the time, so ...

Rum. Right. I really should drink more often. I'm not used to this. Alcohol and magic make for a volatile mix, usually.

Ah, if reality starts warping a little, you might want to leave.