12504/Looking For A Little Brotherly Advice

Looking For A Little Brotherly Advice
Date of Scene:	19 August 2022
Location:	Auxiliary Bat Cave - Red Cave
Synopsis:	Jason asks Tim to come over to talk about some things. There are brownies and only slightly delayed birthday gifts. Jason gets his answers and Tim gets some juicy gossip.
Cast of Characters:	Jason Todd, Tim Drake

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Jason Todd has posed:
The last few months have been unusual for Jason. Considering his past this was probably saying something. In an attempt to sort of these things out and make more sense of them, he sent a text to Tim asking him to come over to talk.

When Robin the Third arrives, Jason is down in "his" cave, currently cleaning his guns. One left loaded and ready at hand as the other is field stripped and in the midst of being cleaned and oiled. A can of cheap beer sits near the loaded weapon and the dulcet tones of Led Zepplin's cover of _When the levee breaks_ fill the expanse of the room.

Tim Drake has posed:
    To say that Tim wasn't expecting an invite for hangs from Jason is an understatement. Not a huge enough one for him to jump straight to "it's a trap!" (and of course his mental narration briefly sounds like Admiral Ackbar there) but enough that he immediately logs off his computer and reschedules a team meeting for later so that he can come over.

    Okay, there's a few moments where he considers whether or not the invite is a trap, but Tim does that at least once a day. Especially after his last birthday. Which, speaking of:

    "Happy birthday!" is the first thing that Tim says once he's made his way down to the cave, and he doesn't come empty-handed. The box and food storage container get sat down on the nearest available surface that isn't covered by weaponry, if such a thing exists, and then Tim is obnoxiously waving an envelope in Jason's face.

    It's a birthday card. The front says "Tits for the birthday boy" surrounded by cartoon tits.

    As in, the birds.

    Tim somehow manages to keep a straight face, but the next inhale comes out as a snort. There's also a code on the inside, but that's not as important as the bird pun.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks up as Tim enters and calls that out. Inside? He is almost smiling. Someone else remembere. Outwardly? He pauses while cleaning his gun and frowns, "Yeah. Thanks." He sets the weapon parts down and wipes his hands off.

Standing up he walks over and looks at the card, openin git first. He smirks. "Hey at least I've seen some in person" he jokes back. Tits.

He looks at the inside of he card, then to Tim at seeing the code with a question, wondering what that is supposed mean and waiting for a hint.

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Actually the birds native to America are all of the genus Baeolophus, so titmice, not tits," Tim says, a pronounced nasal quality to his tone. "But maybe you've seen some overseas." Then he drops the voice act and drops his elbow onto the tabletop, leaning over to poke his nose into what Jason's been working on.

    Guns. Color Tim surprised. "No hints," is the answer Jason gets when he looks up from the card. "Don't worry, it's not overly time sensitive. You'll figure it out eventually."

    He points over to the stack of things he'd left over yonder. "Courtesy of Alfred," he explains. "Pretty sure the top container is his world-famous browned butter brownies, and not because I ate one on the way over," he promises. Well, at least it doesn't look like he did. The stack of sweet treats inside look pristine.

    Tim has no idea what's inside the other box, though, but it's a gun! Really, Tim should've guessed. An Enfield No. 2 circa WWII, no doubt from the Wayne butler's MI6 days.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks at the code and smirks, setting the card down on the table. "Don't forget to drink my ovaltine?"

Looking at the stack of gifts, and hearing that Tim might have swiped a brownie, he smirks, "That's fine. I don't need to eat them all myself anyway. Won't fit into the Bat suit when it's my turn." He made a joke!

He opens the other package. "Holy shit.." He pulls out the revolver carefully, breaking it open by habit to check the cylinders were empty - because of course they are. But every gun is loaded till it is confirmed otherwise. He sights down the barrel then sets it aside, clearly pleased with the gift.

"Thanks for bringing this all over, Tim."

He sits back, "Have a brownie. Again. If you like? I wanted to talk to you about a few things. Get your opinion and insight."

Tim Drake has posed:
    That reference gets a groan out of Tim. "Really, a simple substitution cipher? Who do you take me for?" Okay, apparently it wasn't the reference.

    He hops up onto the table, legs swinging, but then immediately his feet are back down on the ground so that he can trot over and get himself a brownie before he retakes his previous position. "Hey, no problem. We're practically neighbors anyway. And if I stop at Batburger on the way home, no one has to know." Elbows on his knees, he leans over as Jason explains his reasonings for the invite, hands supporting his chin. If he's surprised, Tim only shows it by the faint lifting of his eyebrows.

    "Okay, shoot," he says. Though it comes out sort of like "Okuh, shoo," because he just shoved half a brownie into his mouth.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd looks at Tim, "I refuse to answer that on the grounds that it may incriminate me" he deadpans. He then sighs, "Manners, Wonder Boy? Al taught us all not to talk with our mouths full."

"Yeah. So. Life has gotten strange. You know about the pineapples and the thing in the park with Phoebe." Of course he does, he was there as well.

"A month ago, I stopped an attempted mugging of a Hispanic woman. I didn't think much of it. I was in civvies. She ended up being... very appreciative." He lets that hang in the air a moment. "Then a week later, I responded to a jewelry store robbery. I'd been out doing some investigation and switched to Red Hood to respond. Ended up second on the scene. The first to the scene? A Hispanic woman. Only this time she had a ring with green energy powers." In Gotham.

He shrugs, "She was more observant than most and recognized my bike." A shake of the head. Sloppy, that. "So yeah. Ends up she was a Lantern. But her ring was somehow possessed by some evil sorcerer."

Tim Drake has posed:
    No amount of threatening finger-pointing is actually going to be threatening in any way on account of how Tim's other hand continues to be occupied by a brownie. Also because it's Tim, and being threatening is usually not something he excels at. He does, at least, keep his mouth shut while he finishes chewing.

    "Let's be real, it wouldn't surprise anyone if Gotham was founded on cursed land," he says as he wipes at the corner of his mouth in case of rogue chocolate. But what Jason says next earns him some salacious waggling-of-eyebrows and a low "Ooooh," which is certainly an indicator that Tim is going to be nosey about Jason's potential lady friend later.

    The lady friend that is, apparently, a Green Latern. "I bet she could take you into space." This seems to mentally side-track him for a moment, but then Tim's nodding along with the whole evil sorcerer thing -- and kindly not giving Jason any grief about the secret identity thing -- shortly after.

    He takes another bite, actually pauses this time to chew, and then clears his throat. "So, uh... is one of you cursed, or something...?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd ignores the brow waggling. Typical brotherly love, there.

"Yeah. Gotham's got to have some issue at the root to all of its issues."

"Probably. But I don't have any plans to find out" he says with a smirk.

"Not any longer. Just trying to give you the background to why I'm going to ask you for your input. So I took her to the Gotham Wax Museum because she wanted to see some of the sights. It seemed like a good idea at the time. Turned out the sorcerer was a jealous asshole. He animated the Queen of England to attack us. And.. He looks to Tim with a shake of his head, "The Batman and Robin figures too. So you know the Queen hits a lot harder."

"Anyway. after that. She got in touch with some people in the Justice League Dark that could help her with the sorcerer and purify the ring. Which we ended up doing earlier this week. Astral plane. Or ring plane or something. She and one of the guys from JLD banished the sorcerer to his own personal hell. I got to shoot the hell out of conjured constructs to keep the two of them clear."

He pauses to sip at his beer. "That's the Abridged verison. At the end of it, Chas, Jon and Rien? They all asked me if I wanted to consider joining the Dark team."

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Did we ever agree on which Robin they modeled the wax figure after?" Tim asks, because that's the important thing. "I still don't think it's Dick." The rest of it -- wax figures animating, jealous sorcerers, astral plane shenanigans -- he accepts with nary a blink.

    Explained by: "I have some dealings with the Jay Ell Dee myself, through Phoebe at the time. During that whole New York angel invasion thing." Tim lifts one shoulder in a shrug. "We still maintain an Outsiders presence on the team with Gabby, but I try not to get involved. It's hard to punch astral constructs and out-think mystical forces that don't obey the laws of our physical reality."

    In lieu of just setting his brownie down on some random surface that may or may not result in it being contaminated with gunpowder or explosives residue, Tim holds up his free hand while he wolfs down the rest of the brownie, and only coughs a little bit after swallowing. No Heimlich Maneuver needed, thanks. "Not to say," hold on, he has to clear his throat, "Not to say you shouldn't join. Just be prepared to feel perpetually off your game. Or bribe Zatanna to get some magic brass knuckles, maybe."

    Pause. Cue thoughtful frown. "Actually maybe we should get those for everyone. That'd be sick."

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd shrugs, "When I was beating the shit out him -- it -- I didn't really give it a thought. I'd propose it was Damian. But the figure is about three feet too tall." Boom.

"Yeah. I was aware you did. It's why I wanted to talk to you. They tried to go all, "You don't need a background in hunting supernatural or spiritual things, I was a cabbie and now I kick evil's ass" on me."
He listens, "Rien enchanted my guns for that fight. Got to say that as pretty sweet. Even if it ended on return to reality." Then a nod. "I told them I'd talk to you. I've hunted a few things with and for Phoebe. I've got enchanted pineapple. But that's not the same as hunting down fucking Cthulhu every day before breakfast." He sits bck, "I'd like my guns enchanted permanently. The value is clear. But I don't feel like I'm a ghostbuster at heart, you know?" He shrugs, "Jessica is good with me not being part of the team even if she is. I'll help if asked but I'm about as useful as a stick against a concrete bunker. Gotham. Keeping the streets safe. That's me."

Tim Drake has posed:
    Tim does actually choke this time, but it's just on air so he's fine. He wipes away a few imaginary tears at Damian's expense, and then leans back on his hands. "I don't know. We always have so much going on here and, look... I'm aware it's my own issue, but feeling like I'm not contributing, or even worse, just getting in the way?"

    After a second or two, his shoulders curl inwards. "Not a fan. No amount of studying or practical experience is going to make up for a lack of natural aptitude and I'd rather, you know, be useful," Tim says. He blows out a breath after and nods. "Your choice. I say get your guns enchanted either way, because that's cool, and Gotham's probably really, really haunted. I think Alfred might have done some ghost hunting back in the day, too." What information is that based on? Tim doesn't share his source, but he sounds sure.

    Unless he's lying. Actually, he might be lying.

    "Soooo... her name is Jessica?"

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd grins evilly as Tim reacts to his joke. "Yeah. I try not to pick on him too much. He can't help it that he's a hobbit. He's still a good egg." Robin? Egg? Wakka Wakka Wakkaaaa.

A nod. "That's where I'm at. They seemed to really want me to join. You know me. Anyone that tries to push something is immediately a bit suspect. I get what they do. It's needful. But I'm gong to be able to do fuck-all against some Older Gold or many-eyed squid-thing." He pauses, "I'd go ten rounds with Joker.." that means something.

"But thats what I wanted to know. Thanks."

Then he sighs, ".. shit. Yeah. Jessica." He smirks. "what about it?"

Tim Drake has posed:
    "Yeah, big difference to when he first showed up in Gotham. He's pretty sociable now, believe it or not. He's been making friends at that school in New York he's attending." There's only a very mild amount of distaste in Tim's voice when he says New York, like any native New Jersey kid would. He hops down off the table and strolls over to Jason (and the brownies) but shoves his hands into his pockets rather than trying to swipe another.

    As he stands there, his head tilts to the side and his eyes narrow. "So they tried the recruitment thing on you?" he asks. "Not that I'm an overly suspicious person," which he is, "But I wonder what that's about. I think Bruce is involved, too, or at least Batman is a known quantity to the team. Still not sure what value any of us have to offer."

    At the repetition of the name, Tim rocks back and forth on his heels. "Oh, nothing, just debating which algorithm to use to sort through all of the Jessicas that live in Gotham until I find her. You know, just to share some personal anecdotes with her. Nothing important." He side-steps Jason, giving him a wide berth, and puts himself closer to the door.

Jason Todd has posed:
Jason Todd nods, "Yeah. Seems like a good kid. For actually being Bruce's spawn.."

He shrugs, "They implied Red Robin was more active with them. Or that's how it came across. Regardless? I'm doing what is best for me. I've helped Phoebe. And I'll keep helping her. Or Jessica if she asks. But that's just not a team I see myself being in an active role with. Hokey religions and ancient weapons. Give me a blaster" he quips.

He'd stand up but there's no reason. Well there IS. But he doesn't make a deal of it. "Right. I'll save you the trouble. Her name is Jessica Cruz. She's currently staying with me at my place in Kane Tower. Tell me how that works out for you" he says with a smirk.

Tim Drake has posed:
    As soon as the full name drop happens, Tim whips out his phone and starts tapping at the screen. "Red Robin has his own team to lead," he says before socketing his tongue into the pocket of his cheek as he frowns at whatever he's reading. More tapping. "Not to mention my patrol schedule. Anyway, we worked together during the New York invasion but I haven't been super involved after. I get most of my mystical news through Gabby at this point."

    He slides his phone back into his pocket. "And all I really want to hear is 'the world almost ended but we stopped it'. Anyway, I'm over-sugared after that singular brownie I ate so I'm going to go get some fries from Batburger."

    "Also, completely unrelated -- I have like twenty action figures of Red Hood that I need to get rid of, you want any?"