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onceaguardian in squarewart_logs

And so it goes, this soldier knows (Closed)

Jan 08, 2011 16:58

WHO: Bruce Wayne, Jason Todd
LOCATION: Bruce's Office
WEEK: 74
TIME: Sometime after Jason and Tim duke it out and Bruce and Damian meet up
WHAT: More fatherly bonding! Bruce asked Jason to stop by his office so that he can double-check Jason's schedule. And well... a father needs an excuse to talk to his son?
RATING: PG-PG13 (mainly for language ( Read more... )

bruce wayne, jason todd

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onceboywonder January 9 2011, 01:43:06 UTC

As much as Jason (quite vocally) opposed the idea (and the practice) of the relocation to Hogwarts, being left behind back at the Wayne Manor while everyone ran off without him was even less agreeable. He wasn't going to let Dick and Tim faithfully trail behind Bruce while Jason sat around back at Gotham... doing what, playing Guitar Hero while Alfred tutted about? No, they definitely weren't shaking him that easily.

Getting through airport was a bit more of a disaster than even he intended, still annoyed at having his rights violated with the full body search and his best pocketknife confiscated by the airport security. If it weren't for Bruce's influence, he probably wouldn't have gotten through at all. It's not like he was planning on blowing the place up or anything, but he could tell the entire ordeal left his father just as annoyed as Jason felt if his glowers of disapproval were anything to go by. Jason was on the receiving end of those often enough that he could tell how pissed Bruce was just by how close his eyebrows ( ... )

onceaguardian January 9 2011, 03:02:32 UTC

The card house would've fallen right then and there had Bruce not instinctively pulled out his wand to preserve the castle. Sighing as he cast the charm, he then turned his attention back to Jason. Even if he hadn't knocked, Bruce could tell the difference between his sons - he'd be a pretty bad father if he couldn't distinguish their little quirks - in a heartbeat. Attempting a smile, Bruce sheepishly shrugged, "You want to try it? It's actually not as hard as it looks ( ... )

onceboywonder January 9 2011, 05:30:56 UTC

"Oops, you should watch that thing before it topples," Jason joked as he strode over to where Bruce was magically reinforcing his new hobby. Bumping a shoulder against his side in way of greeting, at fifteen it seemed manlier than a hug. At least the man didn't seem angry and Jason felt himself relax with that knowledge. "Did I catch you off guard? I bet I did, admit it. You probably didn't even know I was coming."

Pushing up the sleeves of his overly worn out hooded sweatshirt, thrown over his school clothes because Jason had come to the conclusion uniforms were stupid, Jason dropped the car magazines right there on the floor before rubbing his hands together and taking the cards. "It doesn't look very difficult," he huffed challengingly, watching Bruce add another card on top, studying his method. Bruce did posses an almost annoying ability to make everything look easy and Jason was always overconfident in his ability to do the same. Taking two cards (double-checking them just to make sure), Jason leaned them against each ( ... )

onceaguardian January 9 2011, 05:59:27 UTC

"Of course I knew," Bruce teased, trying his best - but failing - to pull Jason in for a hug. Ah, well, maybe he'd get one later. "I'm your father, remember?" The tone implied 'Father Knows Best' and maybe a little of 'Big Brother's Watching,' but Bruce didn't seem to mean anything serious by it ( ... )

onceboywonder January 9 2011, 18:59:09 UTC

He kind of did want that hug. Always a bit more sentimental than he liked to let on, Bruce's apparent pride over a silly card trick almost forced a smile out of Jason. Almost. But he was no longer crushing the magazines in his grip, now looking at Bruce instead of everywhere but him. "Of course I remember," he replied without a hint of sarcasm ( ... )

onceaguardian January 9 2011, 20:49:16 UTC

Golden boy. Bruce couldn't help snorting just a little at the remark. Of course Dick and Tim were different from Jason - their backgrounds had been vastly different - but that didn't necessarily mark them as 'perfect,' persay. Still, compared to Jason, their grades were remarkably... better, but that didn't mean... One father against four (four) teenage sons was more difficult than he'd thought it'd be. No wonder his own parents'd stopped at one ( ... )

onceboywonder January 10 2011, 02:02:41 UTC

He'd be the last to consider either Dick or Tim perfect, but never able to resist taking an easy lighthearted jab at his brothers' expense, Jason felt satisfied at his father's snort in response. Way to encourage him. Or maybe Bruce was snorting at him. Whatever, Jason took any victory he could.

"So am I expected to get the kid a birthday present?" he asked a bit petulantly, crossing his arms as he watched Bruce flip through the magazine. He didn't even know when his birthday was, but that was hardly the point. With Bruce he had no doubts there was going to be at least some effort to get Damian involved in the family, and Jason was beginning to learn that resisting got him absolutely nowhere.

Eyes lighting up at the mention of the bike, which was one of the few things Jason was looking forward to recently, he managed a full smile for his father. "Great, yeah. Technicalities. Reassembly shouldn't be a problem. I've taken plenty of bikes apart, putting one back together shouldn't be any different."

onceaguardian January 10 2011, 06:55:20 UTC

Actually, Bruce hadn't even considered anything along those lines. The moment Jason brought up the birthday present, he glanced up and smiled widely at his son, "No, but since you brought it up... it wouldn't be a bad idea! We'll have to ask him when his birthday is."

He was teasing about it - at least, in the tone that he reserved for those moments when neither caped crusader nor playboy millionaire existed - as well as he could. Involving Damian'd be harder than buying him a gift, though, and Bruce knew it. The kid was entitled - it might be better to not buy him anything and instead give him a gift with no monetary value - and it'd be interesting to see how he interacted with the others. (By "interesting," he meant it'd be one heck of a trainwreck.)

"Then all's well that ends well," Bruce softly replied, returning the full smile for his kid. "That's at least one bright spot, right, Jaybird?"

onceboywonder January 10 2011, 07:28:31 UTC

It made Jason feel better that even Bruce didn't know the kid's birthday, and it seemed ironic that the man was turning out to be a better father to his slew of adopted children than to his real... birth son. Because no matter how busy Bruce was, he always managed to remember Jason's birthday. (Jason liked to believe it was without Alfred's reminder.) While the presents were always nice, it was the remembering part that Jason valued most.

He never really knew the circumstances of Damian's birth, hadn't really asked because, well, ew, he wasn't interested in the details of his father's love life. Though he bet the mother was hot. Jason mentally cringed. Still, he wondered how after eleven years there remained very little contact. Until now. And when they finally managed to get out of this place, was Bruce going to tuck Damian under his arm and haul him back to Gotham with the rest of them? Sadly Jason didn't think they'd be leaving soon enough to find out ( ... )

onceaguardian January 10 2011, 21:30:02 UTC

In retrospect, the ordeal at the airport'd make for a hilarious memoir. While Bruce hadn't forgotten the ordeal, he'd certainly relaxed a bit concerning it. After all, it hadn't just been Jason who'd been distracted; he'd have to talk to Dick about "just because there's plenty of fish in the sea doesn't mean that you have to catch every single one and bring them home."

He shrugged, managing a weak smile, "At least we didn't miss our flight." (Which, in all honesty, Bruce considered a miracle.) "... Apology accepted. Next time, just be more careful." Part of Bruce was honestly wondering if Jason hadn't realized he could transfigure his knives into something less noticeable - it was how Bruce smuggled his batarangs on-board - but he knew better than to actually suggest something that ridiculous.

Still, the whole airport discussion brought up the idea of how Damian would come back with them (because it wasn't an if, it was a when; that kid wasn't going back to Talia any time soon if Bruce could help it). Pondering it for a moment, he ( ... )

onceboywonder January 10 2011, 22:30:24 UTC

With that out of the way and escaping any more serious of a lecture, Jason felt his mixture of annoyance and defensive worry fizzle out, leaving only a confused relief behind. It was difficult to stay angry when there was nowhere else to direct it, but he was almost always expecting much more tension, more resistance and fighting. He knew how to handle that situation, always more than prepared to fight back against the world. But this was still a challenge, leaving Jason to shift his weight from one foot to the other a bit blankly.

"Nah, there's no first class for portkeys. No flight attendants for Dick to flirt with, no cramped bathrooms taunting me with their smoke detectors... no overhead compartments that aren't quite big enough to shove Tim in." Hands on his hips, and he knew he was just being obnoxious for the fun of it. "Maybe Damian, though. But faster, far more fuel efficient. No security guards trying to feel you up."

onceaguardian January 10 2011, 23:38:00 UTC

Hence why Bruce didn't really bother to stay angry. It wasn't like Jason had continuously brought knives on-board (or tried to, anyways), so it wasn't worth being angry over something that stupid. Now if Jason had brought a Nerf gun - like that poor boy in the next aisle - then maybe Bruce'd have much of an argument there.

He wanted to snicker at that, really. Bruce shook his head, clearly amused by Jason's antics, but didn't say anything beyond, "You know you're going to age faster if you keep smoking." It was really something Bruce remembered from childhood - his dad'd always championed no smoking (but Thomas Wayne was also a physician, so it really couldn't be helped) - and kept harping, though Bruce suspected he'd have an easier time if he actually mentioned why he hated smoking in the first place.

(But that was just asking for a sob story.) Bruce paused for a moment. "... I don't know if there's anywhere you need to be, but there's something I want to give you."

onceboywonder January 11 2011, 00:36:15 UTC

He knows it's a bad habit, has heard Bruce (and the rest of the family, and everyone else for that matter) tell him on multiple occasions. He's heard all of the medical concerns, and with Bruce he does at least trust it's true concern and not just some irritating self-righteous billionaire-guilt desire to stomp every flaw out of him, save the street kid from himself. Quitting wasn't exactly as easy as knowing he should, though, and he's been addicted for longer than he's even known Bruce. Part of him enjoyed the undesirable habit, though, reminding him of his mother... mothers. Both of them. "Well, I've run out anyway," he conceded, throwing his hands up in mock defeat.

He was about to leave after getting as good as answers as he was going to get, but he wasn't in any hurry to do so when Bruce made it known their visit wasn't finished yet. "Give? Didn't we just have Christmas?"

onceaguardian January 11 2011, 00:43:48 UTC

"For now," Bruce added under his breath in a tone that was half-contempt, half-concern because really, he knew Jason. The kid'd just keep on going regardless of what the whole world said. Even if he didn't quite understand the motive behind it, he could at least understand his kid's wanting to be a rebel. Didn't he go through a similar phase with the whole animagus thing ( ... )

onceboywonder January 11 2011, 05:27:27 UTC

"Aaagh, Dad!" Jason whined in disbelief that he fell for that trick, ALWAYS fell for that trick with the humiliating ninja hugs that he should have known were coming but somehow never expected until it was too late. But there was nobody else here and Jason didn't try to shove away too much, because he only wanted to pretend that he hated it.

Wiping off his forehead with the back of his knuckles, Jason huffed loudly at the remark. "Hufflepuff, why? Can you believe it? What kind of idiot hat would mistake me for one of those airheaded sissies." He definitely thought he'd make a better Slytherin, or even a Gryffindor if he didn't have to put up with Dick. But Hufflepuff was embarrassing and he didn't feel like he fit in at all.

onceaguardian January 12 2011, 05:43:56 UTC

At least Bruce wasn't laughing. He honestly looked like he was going to at any moment - not because Jay was so abrasive concerning his own house, but simply because the matter seemed so ridiculous - that it was more of a miracle that he just pressed his lips and smiled.

"On the contrary, that 'idiot hat' knew exactly what it was doing." Bruce shook his head, looking thoughtful. "Slytherin're known for their ambition, but Hufflepuff was always known for its loyalty and hard work. Their reputation, admittedly, isn't like Gryffindor's or Slytherin's, but I'd much rather have a Hufflepuff than a Slytherin for a son."

Here, his lips twitched as he amusingly added, "After all, Hufflepuff and Batman have the exact same color scheme." He finally, reluctantly let go, but the smile still remained on his face.

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