hotel: jason

[shaft]

Comments

[shaft]

We get pulled from our cushy rooms and into the dungeons for misbehaving? Isn't all the death and murder bad enough?

[ Anyway, noses over to his weapons case... Neat. ]

Are you a mercenary or something?

[unrecked]

Don't underestimate what weirdos want for entertainment. Especially if they're sociopaths.

[He watches Claude look at the weapon cases. He's not concerned, but only because they are stupid and fake. Not that he'd be worried Claude would get hurt. Just maybe handsy.]

Wish people paid me. Nah. Just a fan of sharp and pointy. And shooty, I guess.

[shaft]

A fan of collecting them or using them?

[ Glances back at Jason's gun. ]

[unrecked]

[He smiles like this :) exactly.]

Both.

[shaft]

[ Why is he such a punk. ]

Maybe you should advertise yourself as a mercenary and get paid then.

[unrecked]

[it’s the trauma]

A bit hard to do when you’re legally dead, but not impossible. The people who could buy me are the exact kind of people I hate the most.

So I’m just stuck between a rock and a hard place, not getting paid.

[shaft]

That's the trouble with having standards.

[ If there is somewhere to sit other than the chair Jason is on, Claude will sit down there, otherwise he will sit on the bed and continue to look around.

I deeply wish he knew what an edgelord is. ]

How do you make use of your skills then?

[unrecked]

[Claude can sit on his bed and be gay (no). Jason doesn't seem to mind so long as Claude is being a white person and putting feet on the bed or something.]

You know. I'm just a garbage man for the city. Nothing crazy. Clean up the place a little. It's a pretty crap job, but I'm not dead or living on the streets like when I was a kid, so I can't complain.

[shaft]

It's certainly commendable to work in public service.

[ Claude, not realizing that Jason cleans up criminals. Also, please stop assigning Claude white. ]

I guess you don't have a family to take care of you...?

[ Remembering that Jason is pretty young. ]

[unrecked]

[Jason smirks about this because he thinks it's funny Claude is not TECHNICALLY wrong, but that his public service is definitely murdering criminals in cold blood. It's fine.

HE DIDN'T PUT HIS FEET ON THE BED, SO HE ISN'T WHITE.]

Hah. Yeah, sure. [In that "what a joke" way. The way he says this on the surface sounds like he thinks it's no big deal, but there is a level of detachment to it, like he's neatly putting a rug over an eyesore.] My mom was a drug addict, and my dad was a thief and a con-artist. They're both dead, though.

[WHY IS HE THE TYPE OF THE PERSON WHO DOES THE LET ME JUST CASUALLY TALK ABOUT AWFUL STUFF TO MAKE THE CONVERSATION AWKWARD? Hate him.]

[shaft]

[ HE DEFINITELY SUCCEEDED Claude asked even though he is terrible at knowing what to say in these situations. ]

That's a terrible thing to go through at a young age. [ Frowns. ] Your city didn't have a way of helping kids like you, I guess.

[unrecked]

They had plenty. A whole little block of organized crime and stuff. Gangs, things like that. If that's not up your alley, there's always a boys' home. Went there, too. Been in juvie once or twice. [Does Claude know what that is?] Juvenile Detention. It's when you're arrested, but you're a kid. Basically. Baby jail.

If all that fails, maybe the local billionaire playboy philanthropist will see you on the street and feel sorry for you because he thinks he can fix problems with his money.

[It is very clear Jason Todd is an extremely bitter person.]

[shaft]

[ This conversation is really beyond Claude's emotional intelligence level and yet he keeps asking.

In any case, the answer seems clear enough: the state failed kids like Jason. ]

That's a remarkably specific scenario. That last one.

[ Claude, on Wednesday: Bucky adopted Jason... ]

[unrecked]

[Claude is so tired, but no one can blame him at all.]

Yeah. Well. It should be.

[NO, NOT BUCKY. DON'T MAKE BUCKY HIS PROBLEM. But still a white guy, though.]

[shaft]

[ He's not tired, he's just awkward. ]

Would you consider going to another world?

[unrecked]

What makes you think I can just hop along to another world?

[Guess whose former game did not have visitation rights because it was such an early MG. Aaaa, funny.]

[shaft]

[ No wish or world hopping, Jason your life. ]

Oh. When we finished our time we gained the ability to visit other worlds so that we could still see the people we'd met.

[unrecked]

[Yeah. Ha ha.]

Lucky you.

[He only sounds like mildly bitter? He hadn't thought about it being an option, so it isn't like it matters.]

[shaft]

[ Gazes into the distance. ]

Well... We're able to take people with us. [ He thinks. He's pretty sure Nier is carting his friends around? ] Someone here could try taking you along.

[unrecked]

[Nier. Stop. I would say somewhere Riku is having a duck about it, but actually--Riku does that all the time. So nevermind.]

Nah. I don't want anyone's pity. [He says this with a little bit of vitriol.] I'll stick to Gotham. It's a place you can't seem to quit.

[shaft]

I can't say I'm not familiar with the feeling.

[ OKAY JASON JUST GO BACK TO YOUR SHITTY LIFE THEN ]

In any case, perhaps some will visit you. It's a nice option.

[unrecked]

[FINE, HE WILL THEN.]

Gotham isn't any place for anyone else who didn't grow up there. Or unless you're just a rich socialite. They should go back home. If their home is shit, they can go to someone else's.

[shaft]

[ Why is Jason SO DIFFICULT I mean I know why but still ratshakes him.

Claude, desperate for a topic change, gets up. ]

I only meant for a visit. And I think you're underestimating the people here.

[ Heads to the door, waving for Jason to follow! ]

[unrecked]

I didn't even say anything underestimating.

[But he doesn't seem mad, just kind of amused at the call out. He sticks both hands in the pockets of his jacket and wanders after Claude.

He better have something Jason can make fun of him for.]

[shaft]

[ He doesn't say anything back, looking smiling helplessly as they go back down the hall. ]

I'm excited to hear your commentary.

[ Opens the door with a flourish!

No, jk, he just opens it normally and steps inside.

Claude's room looks immediately large and luxurious. It's open, and greeting them with a sitting area that has floor cushions and a small table first and a bright, sunny balcony to the side. There is an "office" area further behind the sitting space and a bed to the side of the office that is tucked out of view behind the balcony wall. The bed is cordoned off with a curtain, but if Jason peers in, he'll see that the bed is unmade and that there are books piled next to it.

The layout is suitable for a warm climate, open and airy, stucco and marble rather than carpeted. Most of the furniture is wood and wicker, and the balcony has lots of cushions where his wyvern is currently napping. The aesthetic borrows from Moorish architecture: arched gateways and ceiling decorated with zellige tiles, and Persian rugs in the sitting areas.

The desk at the back of the room is the messiest area, accompanied by a bookshelf, with books and papers everywhere. There are a couple of potted plants around, mostly those suited for dry climates.

Claude will just wander in and take a seat on one of the floor cushions. ]

Kind of like night and day.

[ The difference in their rooms... ]