capeandcowllogs | cause serious, you're so serious

Entry tags:

cause serious, you're so serious

WHO: Donna and Jason
WHERE: out in the city
WHEN: errr, yesterday?
WARNINGS: none
SUMMARY: Donna recognizes Jason's motorcycle and decides to follow him. Jason figures it out. TALKING ENSUES?
FORMAT: aaaaction?

[As he got back on the motorcycle, he was involved in his thoughts, mainly about the gang he was running. He was worried primarily that he was getting too established, hardly any different from the kind of gangs he despised and habitually took down except for the one caveat of not selling to kids. But he hadn't started this with the intention of creating a morally upright organization. They were for muscle and money. They were convenient. Should they be something more?

He actually almost missed her, he was so caught up in his thoughts.]

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Oh. Well, I meant flatten you flatten you. But ... I could do that conversationally, too. [It was a game of chicken to her now. She didn't want to be the one to break the mood and let on an air of playfulness. Even if it was there.]

But ... I'm just saying, Jason. There's no way you could make me make me. Not that it makes you any less of a man.

Hn. [It wasn't really grumpy.] I never thought otherwise.

[With that, he just. Stared at her some more, which could be construed as challenging or expectant. Evidently he didn't feel talkative today, or expected Donna to carry the conversation for whatever reason (because he was, in scientific terms, a poop, perhaps).]

[Donna was quite aware of the poopness. Her mouth tightened at one corner, forming an irate frown and not enjoying the expectant stare. She found his actions as an attempt to, perhaps, belittle her or make her feel as if she needed to be performative. Of course, she was pretty aware that she could be overly defensive in such cases. This was, by all means, a stranger to her in many ways.

She took about five steps forward, putting her about less than a foot away from him, the back of her mind shuffling to try and determine who was taller while the forefront focused on holding his stare.

With the way ... he was, should his actions against the Joker be any indication, there was much to ask. Nothing that she felt comfortable asking, though. Maybe they were what could be called as friends, though that would not even be an entirely accurate term to blanket them beneath, and they'd probably never truly be allies in a handful of situations.]

So. We care about each other. [Her eyes trailed down to take in certain changes of his body, a sight she hadn't gotten to fully focus on in their previous and only meeting at the City. He had Batman's build much more than the other two Robins.

Another step forward. Donna's fingers tensed at her sides. The part of her that lived on an Island wanted to challenge him -- challenge this stoic front and maybe even see how far he could be pushed in battle with her. The part of her that grew up with the Titans regarded him cautiously, carefully, with a more crystallized camaraderie in spite of confusion, mistrust, and disappointment.

Both of those girls inside of her were overshadowed by her womanhood (not that one ... down there), which viscerally recognized that the idealization and rose-colored nostalgia was indeed gone. ]

You'll let me touch you, right?

[His eyebrows rose minutely, and he didn't move from his position leaning against the bike. To adopt any other posture would be to affect defensiveness, something he was (ostentatiously) avoiding. His breathing remained normal and steady, calm in the face of someone who could, if they were so inclined, tear him apart... but of course, he was pretty certain that she wouldn't.]

[In the theme of what they'd been talking about —] I couldn't stop you. [A beat.] But yes, I'd let you.

[Finally there was something apart from indifference, something like a naive supposition that Donna would never intentionally hurt him. A trace of the boy he'd been in how an archaeological dig uncovered bits and pieces of the past.]

[Satisfied, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms tightly around him, in a hug she didn't expect to be well-received nor returned in any manner. She was certain he'd stand there like some grotesque marionette the entire time. The action was a misinformed one -- unknowing of the extent that Jason had suffered or the monstrous suffering he had caused, himself.]

I lied. [She'd leaned lightly against him, leggings pressed against his jeans, staring over his shoulder at the bike.] I couldn't flatten you, because ... [Her voice dropped into a secretive and guarded whisper-] Well, that'd involve me flattening you.

[He did stand there stiffly, but he also folded one arm around her and applied a very little pressure, awkwardly. Awareness that she likely didn't know a great deal about him (unless Tim had been running his mouth again) and knowledge of what happened between them in the future kept him from doing much more. Both options felt like lying, but this lie seemed safest. For now.]

... thanks, Donna.

[Striving to invest two words with some sincerity, it came out dry anyway. He bowed his head against hers briefly, experiencing a too rare (yet altogether too often, in his opinion) shred of regret.]

[She lets out a small laugh, amused at his awkward behavior for a brief moment, before the more ebullient nature of her outburst becomes more bereft as it fades out. The lids of Donna's eyes became hooded as she felt an odd distance between the two of them.]

I know I'm just a tiny part of it, maybe even inconsequential. [Pulling back from the hug, she balanced one elbow on his shoulder, resting her hand on the soft leather covering his back. Her other hand cupped his cheek, the pads of her fingers pressing slightly into his skin to force his gaze to be directed at her, not unlike a mother and her child.]

But I still am a part of your life. And you don't owe me anything, I know that ...but it would be nice to hear from you more often.

[He raised his eyebrows again. Even though...? It wouldn't be hard to say, even to her, that he was a killer. But she'd made it clear she cared for him despite that (even if she didn't know the extent to which he'd killed and destroyed), and why would you just throw away a present like that?]

Okay.

[Simple and easy, and a bit of a lie, but he planned on seeing it through.]

[A strong desperation to be thoroughly convinced that Jason's actions were a momentary lapse in judgment -- it happened more often in the superhero world, she believed, than people would like to admit. It was bound to occur when taking on the responsibility of dealing personally with the darkest acts society could produce.]

Okay. Stay out of trouble.

[She felt as if she had been inflicting discomfort on him. She could recognize it, really, and selfishly pressed past it all in what she felt was quite a weak attempt at a connection. Her touch trailed down his jaw and finalized as a grip on his chin, turning his head slightly to the side as she kissed his cheek in a soft and unassuming gesture of gratitude.]

Or I'll come after you again.

[Tolerating it all with comfortably half-shut eyes, his arm tightened around her briefly in response. He was never going to get the chance to actually kiss her, but this wasn't his idea of a substitute, it was just what it was. A connection, something to hold onto. She would inevitably be disappointed, but nobody would blame him, or so he believed, for wanting to hang onto their friendship (if this was what it was) for a little longer.]

Promises. [He smiled, sardonic but pleased.]

You know, I predicted ninety-nine percent more yelling and rage in this confrontation. I'm a biiit disappointed.

[Donna was persuaded, perhaps too eagerly, that despite his troubled act of vengeance against the Joker, Jason's subsequent silence and avoidance indicated that he was indeed mentally sound enough to grasp the magnitude of what those actions could do to a person, and how it must worry the people who cared about him (which, of course, Donna had no idea just how limited that number was in an expressively healthy way).]

You have such a nice smile. [Both of her arms had rested loosely on his shoulders now, and she offered a playful grin, hoping to embarrass him.]

Edited 2010-03-22 16:54 (UTC)

From you or from me or from both of us?

[The talk he was putting off would not be a pleasant one. But he would think about that later, when the time came. He would be sorry then, and not before. This time he raised just one eyebrow at Donna's attempt to embarrass him, and flashed his best impression of Bruce Wayne's millionaire douchebag smile.]

Both -- oh. Oh. That's, um ... [She recoiled a bit from the position she had been in, taking a step back and bringing a hand to her chest, clutching at her coat; her other hand held on to Jason's, her fingers filling the spaces in between his.]

That's kind of ... terrifying? Maybe it's the dark and menacing alley. But you should stop.

[Billionaire douchebag smile, excuse me. Which faded into a normal and relatively genial smirk.]

Do you want to go somewhere?

[It was about as casual as it sounded. He was open to just about any sort of activity that wasn't too much talking.]

[She latched to his side immediately, linking arms with him and looking happy as can be.]

I thought you'd never ask! I'm just using you for the bike, I hope you know.

[She hadn't been out much with anyone in a while, and the fluctuating and unpredictable mood of the Titans' House paired with an interminable need to distract herself from how much she missed her husband made her incredibly thankful for the suggestion. She already had a few things in mind, thankfully, and she was keen on the idea of doing one of them with Jason.]

Then I guess I'll have to teach you to ride it.

[Drive it. Whatever. He wasn't the best of teachers, but it seemed like a small thing that might make Donna happy, and given that this would inevitably come to an end, it seemed like taking these small opportunities would be best.]

Got any place in mind?

You'd do that? [Her eyes sparkled with excitement, and she looked back from Jason to his bike. Which she immediately thought, "must not crash", because then she'd never be able to face Jason again.] We'll have to find a spot where I won't kill civilians in the process of learning.

[She stopped herself from grinning, because she apparently had to look cool and not too overexcited about the bike thing. No one who rides motorcycles looks excited about it. They look like it's the most natural, casual thing on earth.

Jason did it well. More James Dean, less the Fonz.]

Uuuum--We should see a horror film. Later, I mean. I'll pay.

[She had wanted to go somewhere more private, like a park. Not Central, but a less crowded, less popular one. However, they were still easing in to each others company. She found a movie best -- they'd be spending time together, sharing an experience, and facing a screen the entire time.]

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cause serious, you're so serious

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