copsormasks | etraya inbox.

( bruce is there in the terminal, sitting at one of the workbenches he has set up. his one arm is resting against the table while the other remains dropped at his side, seeming... lifeless. that's when he looks over to jason there. )

I need you to hold my shoulder while I pop it back into place.

( in other words: he has dislocated something and alfred isn't here to be the one to help him. )

Oh fuck. Bruce.

[Jason has seen enough dislocated shoulders to know what to do. He immediately moves to Bruce’s injured shoulder and braces it with his own good one.]

What the fuck happened?

( good thing his father was a surgeon and bruce has a bit of medical training under his belt for things like this... much to alfred's dismay. also, at least it's his left shoulder. )

I fell. Very high.

( so as not to make jason think it was a case of falling down the stairs or anything. )

Put as much pressure on it as you can to keep it still.

You fell? Were you fighting someone?

[Jason does his best to hold Bruce’s arm perfectly still in his good hand. The cast keeps Jason from doing little more than support on that side.]

I was testing something out.

( and it clearly still needs a bit of work.

with jason holding his arm in place as best he can, bruce takes a moment to let go of a breath — mentally preparing himself for this — before he just forcefully pops it back into place with a strangled noise of discomfort he bites down on. his eyes squeeze shut — wills away the pain — then reaches up with his good hand to give jason's shoulder a couple pats as a means to tell him he's good. )

Thanks.

[Jason would acknowledge the pat on the shoulder if his mind didn’t immediately fill with thoughts of his own fall.

No. No, this is about Bruce testing something and clearly failing.]

What were you testing?

The flight component part of the suit.

( he's... taken a few tumbles in the past with it — walked away sore and with bruises. this was just a little harder than previous attempts and escapes. )

[Jason balks at Bruce.]

You were trying to fucking fly?

I only use it when necessary. Mostly to get away in a pinch. At least when I'm up high. Last time was atop the GCPD building when I was being chased by every cop in the building.

( well. except gordon, but. that's a given in any universe it seems. )

[This also means that,] Was your grappling gun in my room? Is that why you didn’t use it?

No. I pulled the parachute but it was too late.

( the fact this has happened twice is... well. it's A Thing. )

But you should’ve had a grappling gun, Bruce.

[Jason is starting to get hot under the collar.]

You think I need to lose another father? Two wasn’t enough?

( this is... a little different from when alfred shows his concern, but. it's... familiar at the same time. he had his grapple gun on him like he always does with the suit, but. everything happened as fast as it did and the parachute was supposed to soften the landing, but. sometimes mistakes happen. )

It was just a miscalculation on my part. I'm ok.

[Jason’s anger is on the verge of exploding out of him. He knows it doesn’t help to let it make a mess.

So he bottles it up. He clenches his jaw and then storms off toward the elevator.]

Jason.

( getting himself up, he makes his way after the other — mindful of his shoulder because, while popped back in, it's not exactly a miracle fix-it. )

No. Fuck you, Bruce.

[He punches the button for the living quarters and when it doesn’t immediately close the doors, he hits it again and again.]

Jason. Talk to me.

( at that, he takes hold of Jason's good arm there as a means to turn him around, but. it's not forced. if jason doesn't want to turn around, he doesn't have to. )

[Jason allows himself to be turned away from the panel but he leans against the elevator wall. He’s fuming as he regards Bruce.]

You know my parents died. You know that Bruce decided I wasn’t worth the work.

[He tucks his good arm under his casted one.]

And now you’re just jumping off buildings?

( if this was a year ago, he would have snapped back with something along the lines of questioning how he's supposed to test things out if he doesn't take the risk for it, but. given the time he's spent here, albeit mostly on his own, he doesn't snap at jason. instead, he stands there and stares to him before he lets his gaze drop in thought for a moment. )

I'm sorry.

( it's soft but said. )

I just wanted it to work.

( and bruce, no matter the age, tends to get tunnel vision when he gets fixated on something. or paranoid. )

[Jason is prepared to be snapped at, to have the bond between them broken and reduced to chaff. However the anger is not mirrored onto him. Instead Bruce is quiet and Jason’s anger starts to bleed away.]

I’m tired of losing people. I don’t want to lose you too.

Please.

( he wonders where he would be here if he hadn't had damian with him by his side before he'd disappeared — before jason had come into his life and started staying here in the tower with him. he's by no means a social butterfly nor brucie wayne here in etraya, but. while he tends to mostly keep to himself and doesn't reach out at all really to others, those who manage to slip past the various layers he wears, he keeps there. jason being one of them.

it's why he doesn't seem to hesitate when he pulls jason in to him, letting his good hand rest against his shoulder blade as he does. )

I'm right here. You're not going to lose me.

( not if he can help it anyways. )

[As Jason is pulled in close, his anger vents into something far more vulnerable. Instead of shouting, his fury dissolves into tears.]

Yeah? Yeah, how can I be sure? You fell off a fucking—

[His shoulders buck as he begins to properly cry into Bruce’s shoulder blade.]

( he wants to say it really wasn't that bad — that he's endured far worse than a dislocated shoulder, but. it's not necessarily about that. it's about a certain sort of fear jason has within him about such a thing happening and he can... relate to that. painfully so.

his one hand holds tight to the back of jason's head, while the other gently rests against the small of jason's back, careful in the way he moves that arm. he keeps jason there. quiet. watching as the elevator slowly arrives behind them. )

I got you.

( words soft, spoken into the dark strands of jason's hair. )

I got you, Jason.

[Jason shakes his head. It’s not about Bruce having him, it’s not about Jason’a insecurity.]

What am I supposed to do if you die?

[Jason’s shoulders shake at the thought, of Bruce with his back broken in an alley.]

( that's the thing. he's not afraid of dying. but others— people he cares about dying... that's what gets him. that's what angers him and upsets him and paralyzes him in fear. what he strives to never have happen again. to think that someone might feel so strongly about that with him... it's not new, given alfred being in his life, but. it's not anything he can claim to really think about much. or that he simply forgets is even a possibility.

so he holds jason a little tighter there — lets his gaze drift down in thought for a moment before he sighs gently and lets his eyes fall shut. )

I'm not going to die. Not anytime soon anyways.

( never mind that people apparently come back to life when they die here in etraya. it's not the point. )

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