tushanshu | voice post; anon location

These

things are

still glitching, yeah? I

should repeat ever

ything four times

make sure

it gets

out, but that'd make

it take

four times longer

than

normal.

Voice post

cause somebody

thought it was a

good idea to

make me sit

through The Ring.

The static

creeps me out.

Everybo

dy see

how

Dumbass went and Mal

icent'ed up the joint?

Is there

something that

I never

got taught? Some rule

about

how when you

take

over you

have to

make the HQ

look

like an

evil

HQ? Interior Design

for Superv

illains 301. I mean. Seriously. Wi

th the black

and the spikes.

It's

like a vid

eo game.

Check

that.

It IS

a video

game. And I've played

about

17,000

versions

of it.

That's the

giant ass

dungeon

that you can't get into

until

you're leveled

. It's Bo

wser's Ca

stle.

It's

Ganon's Tower. It's

Ice

crown Citadel, and

I'm in

full 245s.

I know

where this is

gonna go. Can't miss

it, because

Dumbass made

it look

like Evil Vegas.

So we

walk

waltz or

storm or

sneak

into the

castle and

avoid

the lava

and the

fire and the falling

shit that's

always there. Always. Falling. Shit. Note to

self:

helmet. Get to the

throne room

and duke it

out,

only they take a

helicopter

or trap

door or

leap off the

balcony

because the

game's not

over yet.

Anybo

want to

catch

a cultist and fi

nd out where

the escape route

goes so

we can

cut

that one off?

Or they

tell us where

he really

is. Cause it ain't

under the

neon arrow

sign saying

"Evil Overlord Lives

Here." Don't

tell me

that

video games

aren't

educa

tio

nal.

Look. I

know you're

pissed. Maybe I deserve

it. That's

not even a real

maybe

. I already told you before

that I'm a

moron. So could you

at least spell

out what I did

wrong?

I kissed you. You

freaked.

You

kissed me,

and I

was still

stuck on the freaking?

But then you

act like it's fine and you

came back to

sleep over. I dunno what

I coulda

done different, but I

obviously did

something wrong so. I'm s

orry.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

[She smiles up at him with the shake of the head, blushing, and eventual admittance. Either Bart's already more attached than she would have guessed or he's the jealous type. The former is both exciting and frightening while the latter she suspects could lead to their ending before they even truly begin. Whatever that means.]

I don't want you to be perfect. [She replies sincerely, her smile almost admiring. Hayley leans up to give him a quick kiss before continuing.] I mean, as long as you realize I'm not going to stop hanging out with other guys, then I don't mind you being a little jealous.

[She can see the shift in him, though she doesn't entirely understand it. He's clearly upset with something and she has no idea what to say to make it better or set him at ease. She listens, watches, confused and uncomfortable with how out of her depth she suddenly feels all over again.

When his eyes slam closed and he pulls her more firmly against him, she knows she's done something wrong. Hayley wants to make it right, wants to make them go back to the light and carefree feelings of not long ago. It feels good in this place against him, but that feeling is tarnished knowing he's upset and she hates that she can't enjoy the moment.]

I forgot he was Tim's brother until just now. [She replies quietly, afraid of upsetting him again. Her arms tighten around him in reassurance as she continues.]

I didn't feel like I had a choice before I talked to him. Everyone made the decision for me. [A beat.] I told you about how I saw Hannibal, remember? How I had the chance to do whatever I wanted.. and I didn't do anything. I don't regret that. But I needed that choice. I chose not to do anything. No one made that choice for me.

[Saying it like that gives Hayley a small revelation of her own. It's an unintentional reassurance that she's not the villain Jason and Batman and others seemed convinced she'd be.]

Don't be upset, okay? Being treated like a victim isn't all bad. It's part of the reason people protected me and let me stay with them and taught me things and whatever. It was.. actually kind of how we met. But like, when everyone was trying to shelter me and find the killer for me and decide what I should do and where I should go.. It was too much. So I asked him to go out with me because I knew he was an asshole.

[She immediately rolls her eyes.] I mean, not out out. I asked him to have a drink with me and he refused. I had to talk him into it and even then he was an asshole, but it was.. cool, because everyone else was tiptoeing around it and acting like I was broken and he didn't.

[Hayley remains uncomfortable. Her feelings of being responsible for Bart's sudden change in mood haven't waned. If anything, she worries that her honesty is making it worse.]

Bart, it doesn't.. It doesn't matter. You get that, right? He's gone. I'm with you.

[She thinks she's what's upsetting him. Shoot. He had gotten too caught up in his thoughts, only paying enough attention to keep from completely losing the conversation.

He packs up the thoughts about himself, picturing it like he's duct taping them into a shoebox and locking them away in the cellar of his mind. Walled up like Fortunato. Like Montresor, Bart is getting off scott free. Hayley never saw the worst of him. That was good. The way she looked at him - like he was something - he didn't want to lose that.]

I'm not anymore. Jealous I mean. I was, and then I found out who it was. I got over it.

[He manages a decent smile and relaxes somewhat. Pride is a great salve. He knows he's a better person than Jason, no matter how dark his thoughts run. Besides, if his poor sense of Robin age math is right - given how old Tim and Dick are, Jason's way too old for her.]

I don't care if you have friends. Any sex. There are species with more than two. But you… I kinda wish I was the one who helped you feel better. That's why. Sometimes it's hard to not tiptoe. It cut too close to things that've happened before.

[Donna Troy. Kon. Hims- No, not thinking about that. Any of it.] And I'd want to shield you anyway. Doesn't have anything to do with you, but that does make it worse. I want to shield everybody. [There is a terrible sort of earnestness to this statement, which sounds light enough until the sincerity thickens his voice at the end, and it hangs in the air like a pledge.]

[She picks up on his mention of things that have happened before, wondering whether he means their previous arguments or situations from his own life. He told her about how he'd died before the first time they met. He'd also told her about his other identity, his powers. He had drawn her in from the beginning, even when she was too distracted to realize it.]

We didn't know each other then. [She frowns slightly.] You told me that you died before. I didn't know if you wanted to talk about it.- I still don't ask because I don't want to upset you. You were doing the same for me. If I wasn't okay with that, I wouldn't be here.

[Here with him. Here, in his arms. She looks up at him again, her frown pulling at one side to be less solemn and more skeptical.] You can't protect everyone, Bart. I know you want to, but people have to get hurt sometimes. I would way rather get murdered again than to never do anything dangerous. And yeah, sure, I'd rather someone saved me than actually dying, but that's the choice I'm making and the risk I'm willing to take.

It's like how you wear bright colors and yell at universe ending creepy shadow evil. I kind of wish you wouldn't? But you need to do dumb things to feel better. I guess we have that in common.

[Bart didn't want to answer at first - or at second thought, or at anything. They could just kiss or go get something to eat or anything but talking. If it wasn't her, he knows it would work. He doesn't know what works with her, but he expects questions all the time.]

I can try. [But he knows that it's impossible to save everyone and that you don't deserve a gold star for the effort. His head hangs down at the thought. He doesn't want to talk about people getting hurt or dying, especially Hayley dying again. His options are limited though, until he comes up with a new topic.] And it wasn't stupid. I had reasons. Feeling better was one of them.

You want to get something to eat? [Not all of his subject changes are brilliant, particularly when he's mentally wound up in a mantra of change-the-subject.]

Hey. [Hayley lifts a hand from around his back to snake its way up to his chin. She does her best to try to tilt it up somewhat. Bart isn't supposed to be the type to hang his head in disappointment or shame or whatever it is he's feeling. It makes her uncomfortable to see him look so defeated.

She rises up on the balls of her feet slowly, still pressed against him, until her lips meet his again. It's a longer kiss, more meaningful than any others they've shared today. When she withdraws just as slowly, Hayley offers him a smile.]

Thanks for trying to protect me. And yes, we can go get something to eat.

[Kissing him has, in some ways, already become a tool. When she doesn't know what to do but wants to make him feel better, she kisses him. It's not as if the action is unpleasant for her and she does like him, but it seems easier to respond with the simple gesture than try to puzzle out complex emotional thoughts and express them into words.]

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