IMEEJI INBOX

[mind_blown]

"This is Jason. Leave a message.

Or don't. I don't care."

Comments

[iamverybadass]

—Came back to life?

[ It's an effective distraction ]

[mind_blown]

Maybe.

[he considers.]

I'm not as young as in that Robin memory. But I'm younger than I am now.

[by a lot actually.]

Maybe-- at least 5 years ago.

[iamverybadass]

I didn't realize you'd...

[ Rather than actually finish that thought, he trails off weakly ]

I would have been eight then. ...Did we know each other then?

[mind_blown]

I don't think so.

[a brief pause]

Anyway.

Guess I knew your mom, kid.

That doesn't change my opinion on the shit she did to you.

[though she clearly didn't act like the same woman around him]

[iamverybadass]

I don't want to discuss the things she did to me.

[mind_blown]

Okay.

[iamverybadass]

[ He wraps his arms around his knees and scowls out at the city for a minute or so, breathing little puffs of smoke and sparks ]





Do you recall Lazarus Pits yet?

[mind_blown]

[the name doesn’t even ring a hint of familiarity in him.]

No.

But I got a feeling you think they’re important.

[iamverybadass]

They're used to resurrect the dead.

[mind_blown]

... and they’re connected to your mom’s family.

[he sounds joking but there’s definitely a sharpness in the look he’s giving.]

[iamverybadass]

And they're connected to my mother's family.

... It explains a number of things. How my grandfather managed to live as he did, for example. You, apparently.

[mind_blown]

[there’s a long silence.

He doesn’t look at Talon, instead looking out over the city, quiet.]

... our family is so fucked up.

[a quiet admission]

[iamverybadass]

Understatement.

[ There's really nothing else to be said about that ]

[mind_blown]

Yeah, but I don’t say it out loud enough.

[iamverybadass]

What does saying it out loud do for us? It doesn't change anything. It's not going to make it less fucked up.

[mind_blown]

[a shrug.]

It won't.

But it makes me feel better.

[iamverybadass]

It just reminds me how abnormal we are.

[mind_blown]

... You're kidding, right?

[iamverybadass]

Are you?

Name one normal thing about our lives.

[mind_blown]

No, our lives were abnormal.

I'll give you that. But what are you comparing us to, here?

[iamverybadass]

[ He shrugs stiffly, scowling out at the city again ]

Other people here, obviously. Even people who have been through bizarre lives themselves are still regularly confused or shocked by my life. Or my behavior. Dealing with their pity or concern is tedious.

[mind_blown]

You could call them on throwing stones in glass houses, you know.

[don't let them pity you, their lives are fucked up and weird too.]

[iamverybadass]

Can I? Do other people have to be taught how to have fun? Or train themselves out of overt displays of paranoia? Did they have an absence of anything traditionally considered a part of childhood?

I don't even have birthdays! I sent that man on a fucking scavenger hunt across Europe when I was ten so he could follow in the footsteps of his stupid dead parents, and he couldn't bother to make an appearance for five minutes. Not even a video call!

[ So. He may be upset about several things here. ]

[mind_blown]

-- Woah.

You really were in conceal don't feel mode, huh.

[iamverybadass]

Is that a reference?