copsormasks | open post;

[Jason's gaze flicks down to the bandaging on Bruce's hand, eager to seize on the distraction.]

What happened to your hand?

[He pulls the letter in closer to his chest, frowning at Bruce's hand.]

[ Bruce winces just the slightest, annoyed that the letter is being pulled away. Furthermore, that this is turning on him now. ]

Rough night. Nothing out of the ordinary. Are you going to give it to me or not?

[Jason raises his eyes to Bruce, watching him for a moment or two before holding the letter back out. His jaw tightens, preparing himself for the scolding. He got kidnapped, blamed for shit he didn't do, ended up on the roof, dated Deathstroke's daughter, and those are just the highlights.]

Fine. Read away.

[ Bruce takes the letter, glad that Jason isn't arguing any of it further. He doesn't open it up to read it, though. He doesn't think that would be beneficial to either of them. ]

Thank you.

[He tucks it away, glancing down at the floor for a moment, before looking away completely.]

Settle in. Get some rest.

[Oh. That's not what Jason expected at all. He blinks and frowns at Bruce before deciding to count himself temporarily lucky. Works fine for him.]

Sure. I'll be here.

[Jason unzips his backpack and sets the case with the Robin suit next to it. He doesn't dare open a bloodied suit in front of Bruce, so instead he starts unpacking the backpack onto his bed.]

[ Bruce nods, then turns to leave. He'll head back down to the cave and continue his work. He'll read the letter- or he'll call Dick. He doesn't want to to the latter though, so Jason will probably luck out with the letter only. He only turns back slightly to mutter- ]

There are leftovers in the kitchen if you're hungry.

[Take out only, and no Alfred to check up on them. Bruce doesn't know what else to say, so that's it before he goes.]

You cooked? [Jason asks before realizing what a dumb question it is.] Nevermind. Of course it's takeout.

[Which Jason doesn't really mind after being fed rabbit food on the pretense of it being good for him.]

I'll be down in a bit. I need to take a shower.

[Which is really code for washing down his Robin suit.]

[ Another wince, another quiet nod. That's all Jason's going to get.

Bruce is eager to get back to the solitude of the cave. He really hopes Jason eats and goes to sleep, and he can stay down here for the rest of the night working on some cases. That was about as much interaction as he could handle for today. ]

[Jason frowns at Bruce's retreating back but figures something somewhere in the universe had finally taken some kind of mercy on him. He spends most of the day unpacking and, when he's sure Bruce isn't about to pop back in on him, he cleans up the suit and takes an actual shower.

The next day, Jason's starting to really feel the lack of other people in the manor. Usually this wouldn't be an issue. Maybe he'd take one of the bikes on a joyride or test out some of the new gadgets, but Bruce is here, albeit busy down in the cave. So, Jason settles in for some cereal before he makes his way down.

He hasn't missed the place much. Not yet, at least. He pockets his hands and spots a familiar figure. Seems like not having Alfred around has hurt more than helped.]

Did you sleep?

[ Bruce loses track of time. He loses track of everything while he's down here. That tends to happen most days now. His nights are spent out in the streets of Gotham and his days are spent in the cave. There's no one to force him out of it anymore.

When he hears footsteps, he thinks maybe his lack of sleep is finally catching up to him and he's hearing things now- but then he remembers that Jason came back last night. He hasn't read the letter yet.

Bruce barely turns away from the screens in front of him, but he does glance over slightly. ]

I had things to take care of.

[So no.]

[Considering that he isn’t getting chewed out yet either, Jason gathers the letter didn’t get read either. Not exactly a bad thing. Jason pockets his hands and watches Bruce for a moment or two.

If Jason learned anything from his time with the Titans, it was that sleeplessness rarely did anyone good.]

Well I’m not gonna be Alfred, but you should probably sleep.

[ Not gonna be Alfred. It stings a little, but it also reminds him that he should probably sleep. Bruce just stares at Jason blankly for a moment, then looks down at the files he has spread out on the table in front of him and nods. ]

Yeah. Maybe I should.

[How about that.

He starts shuffling the papers back in their files, in a very specific order, then stands to set them aside before he finally turns to look at Jason completely.]

Did you sleep?

Not really. Too revved up to sleep.

[Another lie. Jason spent most of his night cleaning up the Robin suit.]

You do this a lot now?

[Either that or jetsetting away.]

Then you should probably sleep too.

[He's not going to add in the Alfred part- or the pot calling the kettle black. His conversational skills have deteriorated- terrible news, since he wasn't that great at it to begin with. Dick and Jason- they got him to talk more than anyone else, though.]

I do this all the time. I always have. [a beat] Do you lie a lot now?

[That earns an eye roll from Jason before he crosses his arms.]

Who says I'm lying?

[Jason has yet to learn to be more deceptive, which is better news for Bruce than anyone else.]

[ Bruce settles a steady gaze on Jason this time. There's something different here, he can tell. At first he thought maybe it was because of him, or because of how much time they've spent apart, but now that he's actually taking a good look, he can see it.

He probably should have read the letter. ]

Do you really think that because we've spent some time apart I can't tell?

I didn't sleep, that's not a lie.

[Jason has gotten a lot better at distracting, at steering conversations in the direction he wants them to go, but this is Bruce.]

Alright.

[Bruce turns away, back to the files, slipping the letter out from under them.]

It's my fault. I didn't read the letter. But maybe I was hoping you'd tell me instead.

[Jason's gaze sharpens as the letter makes an appearance.]

There's nothing to tell.

A whole letter for nothing? That seems like a waste of time.

[Maybe he's scared of reading what it's the letter as well. Jason's back, but does he really want to be here? Should he be here? He's almost positive that Dick and the Titans are better suited for Jason right now.

Bruce feels like he's running on empty.]

Doesn't sound like you really want to be part of a crime fighting duo.

[Jason presses his lips into a thin line.]

You don't mean that. [A spike of fear slices through his body. Bruce can't mean possibly removing him from Robin.] What, because I don't want to re-hash everything that happened in San Francisco?

Because you're lying to me and acting like I'm some sort of idiot. As if I can't see it all over your face.

[He doesn't want to do this. Not now- not ever. It's all bad timing, really, and the gap between them feels wider than ever.]

You don't have to re-hash it. It's fine. I just need to get some sleep.

[Bruce’s response smarts. Jason’s cheeks burn with indignation. The gap between them is widening and Jason worries they won’t ever be able to close it if one of them doesn’t take a step to reach out.

Jason takes a leap of faith.]

I got kidnapped. Last night I was cleaning the blood off my suit.

[ Jason't response is so far from what he expected it to be. Suddenly he feels very awake again, his body tense with the very thought of it. ]

Kidnapped? Kidnapped by whom?

[Bad enough that there was blood all over Jason's suit.]

Deathstroke. [Jason practically walked right into it, but he keeps that under wraps for now.] Tortured me and dropped me off a building.

[Jason is stiff and quiet, his jaw still clenched.]

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