Ficcish thing: Conversations revisited
A couple of months ago I wrote a story, Conversations with dead people: five things that could've happened to Jason Todd. And ever since then, I've wanted to write more in the different what-ifs I made up. Which is maybe more than a little self-indulgent, but there you go.
And then I was in class, and Rachael Willis decided to wander back into my head, and then some Sandman characters showed up, and all I can say is that it's a damn good thing my brain gets all my homework done before it starts dragging me off on these wacky adventures, because otherwise I'd be having strong language in its general direction.
So here's something which isn't quite a fic, and isn't quite not. It's five codas, one for each of the stories in 'Conversations'. Because I can.
1.
You're not gonna start wearing a costume, are you? Because I'll kick your ass to the curb if you do. Stephanie smirks, and pillows her head on her hands. They're lying on a picnic rug under the mottled shade of a tree's leafy branches. Nate's still playing with his frisbee.
Mommy! Jay! Watch me!
Jason props himself up on his elbows. Great shot, kiddo. Smooth wrist action. He flops down beside Stephanie again. No, I'm not going to wear a costume. But it's cool, isn't it? I'll be an official Bat informant.
Because it's not like you've been an unofficial one for years. She sighs. I dunno, Jase, after seeing my Dad play cops and robbers for so long... I think the costume guys all see it as a game, no matter what side they're on. I know you know it's not, but I don't want you ending up on the shit list of someone who does.
I'll be careful. Promise. Jason holds one hand up. Scout's honor.
You were never a scout, Stephanie says. I bet you beat up scouts for their lunch money.
Jason laughs. Yeah. But only the really annoying ones.
---
2.
"It's like deja vu all over again. Once a sidekick, always a sidekick, huh?"
"Thanks for helping me out with this." She smiles and, quick as that, they're there. A treehouse full of ordinary cluttery junk.
The two boys sitting cross-legged around the 'Clue' boardgame on the ground freeze, their colorless eyes wide with fear.
"Charles, Edwin, it's time to go."
"Oh no."
"Please. Please don't."
They're both so young. It makes Jason want to punch the whole damn world. Her look is, of course, a mixture of comforting and stern, sad and happy.
"Hey," Jason says to fill the quiet up. "You guys are detectives, huh?"
The one in the old-fashioned school uniform nods warily. "Yes..."
"Well, I worked with the world's greatest. Seriously. If he had business cards, that's what they'd say. Want me to teach you guys what I know?"
The dark-haired one, whose jeans and shirt are generic enough that Jason's got no idea how many decades it might be since the boy died, nods enthusiastically. Then, realizing, shrinks back.
"Scared? Hey, that's okay. I was too." Jason offers a hand out. "C'mon. Easy as falling off a log."
It's the boy in the old uniform who takes Jason's hand after a long moment. "Come on, Rowland," he says to the other. "Might as well get it over with."
---
3.
Domino feels sluggish in the winter, but at least there are more overcast days. Even though he pretty much always stays in until nightfall, just knowing that it's sunny beyond the curtains is sometimes enough to put him in a crabby mood.
Which sucks, because once upon a time he loved days like that.
There are new emails from Greta and Kon in his inbox. They're both pretty regular in writing to him. Greta's letter is chatty and sweet; he can almost hear her voice as he reads the words. Kon's is shorter, just updates on how the Titans are and things like that.
Domino loves the messages, and can rarely help but grin when a new one pops up on his screen.
Even though he knows that, one day, they'll stop. It's just a natural part of life. People change. Friendships evolve. End.
One day, Greta and Kon will grow up. And Domino will still be here, inside. Waiting for dark.
---
4.
"Nice car."
Tim follows the direction of Bernard's gaze, and raises his eyebrows. He's not surprised when Bernard follows him down the front stairs of the school.
"Give you a lift home?" Jason asks.
"Drake, you never told me you had a sugar daddy."
"Shut up, Bernard."
"Got a pimp cane and everything." Jason holds up his walking stick for display with a grin. Bernard laughs. Tim rolls his eyes. It's like 'when Beavis met Butthead'. "You gonna get in the car, Timbo?"
"Man. You know, if Tim's not putting out and you're looking for a replacement, I'm told that my mouth is not without prettiness."
"Shut up, Bernard." Tim climbs into Jason's car out of self-defence. "I'm in, okay? We can go now."
"See you round," Jason says to Bernard before driving off. Tim has a moment to appreciate the car - a Ferrari, because Jason's never been one to do anything by halves - before being addressed by Jason. "Didn't know if I was allowed to talk to you."
Tim sighs. "I don't know. You're probably not. Or, more to the point, I shouldn't be talking to you."
"That's what I figured. I also figured you could do with hearing the 'life doesn't stop once you hang up the cape' speech. It's not like there's all that many of us ex-Robins around, and I don't think Dick would be all that helpful in helping you appreciate the alternatives to the vigilante lifestyle."
"Has Bruce... is there a new one yet?" Tim asks. Jason sighs.
"Not yet. I think he's got some ideas. But do you really want to know that? Think about it?"
"No. I guess I don't."
"Thought as much. So, you got any ideas about what's in store for you now?"
"Honestly? Not a single one."
Jason laughs, and pats Tim on the shoulder. "Best way to start, far as I can see."
---
5.
The thing is, Jason lived his whole life before he'd ever met Rachael, but she can't even remember a time when she didn't know Jason. Some days she has trouble remembering what things were like before Robin, and it's not like she's been in the suit all that long.
She feels like maybe all that should bother her more.
She's Becoming A Woman - at least, that's what Louise calls it. Rachael mostly calls it getting hips and boobs, but whatever. She kind of likes it. Sometimes, when the boys at school look at her, there's a little bit of hunger in their eyes. Rachael knows that some of the other girls think that making a boy look like that is power, but Rachael likes the power she can get from kicking a guy's teeth out or shooting a grapple into the stonework of a huge old building and then swinging up, up, up through the air better. But, still, it's cool to be getting curves. She feels all grown-up.
She never had that many school friends, and now she doesn't really have any. Afternoons are Cave time, and what lure could the mall or the movie theatre have compared to that?
"It's a lonely life," Timothy Drake told her the first time they met. Rachael likes him. He seems very thoughtful, and angry in ways she recognises, and she's known for a long time how much she can learn from the people who've gone through all this before her.
But Rachael can't even remember a time when she was on her own inside her head. In her world, lonely is just a word.
And then I was in class, and Rachael Willis decided to wander back into my head, and then some Sandman characters showed up, and all I can say is that it's a damn good thing my brain gets all my homework done before it starts dragging me off on these wacky adventures, because otherwise I'd be having strong language in its general direction.
So here's something which isn't quite a fic, and isn't quite not. It's five codas, one for each of the stories in 'Conversations'. Because I can.
1.
You're not gonna start wearing a costume, are you? Because I'll kick your ass to the curb if you do. Stephanie smirks, and pillows her head on her hands. They're lying on a picnic rug under the mottled shade of a tree's leafy branches. Nate's still playing with his frisbee.
Mommy! Jay! Watch me!
Jason props himself up on his elbows. Great shot, kiddo. Smooth wrist action. He flops down beside Stephanie again. No, I'm not going to wear a costume. But it's cool, isn't it? I'll be an official Bat informant.
Because it's not like you've been an unofficial one for years. She sighs. I dunno, Jase, after seeing my Dad play cops and robbers for so long... I think the costume guys all see it as a game, no matter what side they're on. I know you know it's not, but I don't want you ending up on the shit list of someone who does.
I'll be careful. Promise. Jason holds one hand up. Scout's honor.
You were never a scout, Stephanie says. I bet you beat up scouts for their lunch money.
Jason laughs. Yeah. But only the really annoying ones.
---
2.
"It's like deja vu all over again. Once a sidekick, always a sidekick, huh?"
"Thanks for helping me out with this." She smiles and, quick as that, they're there. A treehouse full of ordinary cluttery junk.
The two boys sitting cross-legged around the 'Clue' boardgame on the ground freeze, their colorless eyes wide with fear.
"Charles, Edwin, it's time to go."
"Oh no."
"Please. Please don't."
They're both so young. It makes Jason want to punch the whole damn world. Her look is, of course, a mixture of comforting and stern, sad and happy.
"Hey," Jason says to fill the quiet up. "You guys are detectives, huh?"
The one in the old-fashioned school uniform nods warily. "Yes..."
"Well, I worked with the world's greatest. Seriously. If he had business cards, that's what they'd say. Want me to teach you guys what I know?"
The dark-haired one, whose jeans and shirt are generic enough that Jason's got no idea how many decades it might be since the boy died, nods enthusiastically. Then, realizing, shrinks back.
"Scared? Hey, that's okay. I was too." Jason offers a hand out. "C'mon. Easy as falling off a log."
It's the boy in the old uniform who takes Jason's hand after a long moment. "Come on, Rowland," he says to the other. "Might as well get it over with."
---
3.
Domino feels sluggish in the winter, but at least there are more overcast days. Even though he pretty much always stays in until nightfall, just knowing that it's sunny beyond the curtains is sometimes enough to put him in a crabby mood.
Which sucks, because once upon a time he loved days like that.
There are new emails from Greta and Kon in his inbox. They're both pretty regular in writing to him. Greta's letter is chatty and sweet; he can almost hear her voice as he reads the words. Kon's is shorter, just updates on how the Titans are and things like that.
Domino loves the messages, and can rarely help but grin when a new one pops up on his screen.
Even though he knows that, one day, they'll stop. It's just a natural part of life. People change. Friendships evolve. End.
One day, Greta and Kon will grow up. And Domino will still be here, inside. Waiting for dark.
---
4.
"Nice car."
Tim follows the direction of Bernard's gaze, and raises his eyebrows. He's not surprised when Bernard follows him down the front stairs of the school.
"Give you a lift home?" Jason asks.
"Drake, you never told me you had a sugar daddy."
"Shut up, Bernard."
"Got a pimp cane and everything." Jason holds up his walking stick for display with a grin. Bernard laughs. Tim rolls his eyes. It's like 'when Beavis met Butthead'. "You gonna get in the car, Timbo?"
"Man. You know, if Tim's not putting out and you're looking for a replacement, I'm told that my mouth is not without prettiness."
"Shut up, Bernard." Tim climbs into Jason's car out of self-defence. "I'm in, okay? We can go now."
"See you round," Jason says to Bernard before driving off. Tim has a moment to appreciate the car - a Ferrari, because Jason's never been one to do anything by halves - before being addressed by Jason. "Didn't know if I was allowed to talk to you."
Tim sighs. "I don't know. You're probably not. Or, more to the point, I shouldn't be talking to you."
"That's what I figured. I also figured you could do with hearing the 'life doesn't stop once you hang up the cape' speech. It's not like there's all that many of us ex-Robins around, and I don't think Dick would be all that helpful in helping you appreciate the alternatives to the vigilante lifestyle."
"Has Bruce... is there a new one yet?" Tim asks. Jason sighs.
"Not yet. I think he's got some ideas. But do you really want to know that? Think about it?"
"No. I guess I don't."
"Thought as much. So, you got any ideas about what's in store for you now?"
"Honestly? Not a single one."
Jason laughs, and pats Tim on the shoulder. "Best way to start, far as I can see."
---
5.
The thing is, Jason lived his whole life before he'd ever met Rachael, but she can't even remember a time when she didn't know Jason. Some days she has trouble remembering what things were like before Robin, and it's not like she's been in the suit all that long.
She feels like maybe all that should bother her more.
She's Becoming A Woman - at least, that's what Louise calls it. Rachael mostly calls it getting hips and boobs, but whatever. She kind of likes it. Sometimes, when the boys at school look at her, there's a little bit of hunger in their eyes. Rachael knows that some of the other girls think that making a boy look like that is power, but Rachael likes the power she can get from kicking a guy's teeth out or shooting a grapple into the stonework of a huge old building and then swinging up, up, up through the air better. But, still, it's cool to be getting curves. She feels all grown-up.
She never had that many school friends, and now she doesn't really have any. Afternoons are Cave time, and what lure could the mall or the movie theatre have compared to that?
"It's a lonely life," Timothy Drake told her the first time they met. Rachael likes him. He seems very thoughtful, and angry in ways she recognises, and she's known for a long time how much she can learn from the people who've gone through all this before her.
But Rachael can't even remember a time when she was on her own inside her head. In her world, lonely is just a word.