[ text | un: jkent ]

[supersweet]

So everyone knows about alternate universes now. But have they seen any strange ones?

And I mean, strange like. Is your evil alternate twin running around here? Or a good looking one (but with a beard?)

I'm just kind of curious as to what people know about alternate universes and what they've noticed about them.

Comments

[batbullets]

Four, counting the brat. Some of us graduated out of the program. Some of us died. Some of us got better. And no, as far as I know. You guys friends or something?

[supersweet]

[ Four. Jon is a little jealous. Though not with the dying part. That definitely sucks. ]

I guess? Maybe. Can you even tell with Damian?

[batbullets]

[It's kind of nice to have that built-in family, Jason won't lie, though it's definitely taken some adjusting. When he'd died, it had just been Bruce and Dick. Then it was Bruce, Dick, Tim, and Jason, and Jason had hated the other three for either not avenging his death or replacing him. And now...well. Things were very different. They were, after all, a family.]

Honestly - and irony alert - I keep on wishing he'd kinda stayed buried. Kidding. Mostly.

[supersweet]

[ Hold the phone. ]

He DIED? When? How?

[batbullets]

[I mean, what else are you gonna do with a phone, kid?]

Kinda shady on the details, but it involved some grown up clone of him and a fight gone horribly wrong. He got better, though. Us Robins have a nasty habit of doing that.

[supersweet]

[ Hilarious. ]

No wonder he's so. Grumpy.

[ Jon just chalked it up to being raised by Bruce. ]

Is that why he keeps following me?

[batbullets]

[Jason's got the jokes. Or not. He really kinda hates the word 'joke' for reasons related to his own death.]

I mean, his dad is literally the big bad Bat. Totally affects you on a genetic level. Also, his grandfather is a total nutcase.

[Of course, Jason owed his life - well, his rebirth - to Damian's mother, but that wasn't something he was going to start talking about.]

He does what?!

[Jon maybe can't see it, but yes. Jason is totally laughing his ass off.]

[supersweet]

He kidnapped me once.

THEN he followed me to school, pretending to be my bus driver AND my science teacher. He even ambushed me in my room.

[batbullets]

Wow. I think the demon brat finally has his first crush. I'm really, really sorry.

[supersweet]

IT'S NOT A CRUSH.

[batbullets]

OKAY, BUT MAYBE IT COULD BE. And would that be so bad? I mean, except for where it's about Damian.

[supersweet]

[ There is a long pause before a response. ]

I don't think it's bad.

But it's also Damian.

[ Which says everything Jon wants to say without thinking about it. Except now he can't stop thinking about it. ]

[batbullets]

I'm kidding. I think he just needs friends his own age, and since you're, you know, similarly situated, he thinks you guys can connect. But he's never really been well-socialized, so this is how he reaches out, you know?

It's kind of twisted, but that's Damian for you. First he adopts a cow, then some weird beast-thing...and now you.

Wonder if he'll start looking for a tween Amazon next.

[supersweet]

It's fine. Damian's a friend.

And neither of us have a lot of those.

[batbullets]

Yeah. I kind of know what that's like. He's not so bad. We just...well. You know him. Damian butts heads with everyone.

[supersweet]

Yeah. But I can handle him.

Because I'm taller.

[batbullets]

And you probably have a little bit of that super edge. Though be careful. His dad does own that kryptonite ring.

[supersweet]

[ More than just a ring. Jon vaguely recalls a kryptonite-infused batarang. ]

I know.

[ He'll never be trusted among the heroes. It's a sore point. ]

[batbullets]

[The existence of those would do nothing to surprise Jason. He knows how paranoid Bruce can get.]

It's not personal, Kent. They - we - are unpowered people in a superpowered world. Every precaution, right?

[supersweet]

[ For the first time since he arrived, Jon feels the faint burn of frustration. The numerous tests he needs to take for other people's benefit, the lies, the different names he has to take on. It never ends. ]

Sorry. But it's personal for me.

[batbullets]

Wanna talk about it? I can be a jerk sometimes, but I'm a jerk who knows how to listen.

[supersweet]

I'm okay. I'm not supposed to talk about it anyway.

[ Though those rules probably don't apply to Jason. His not!parents said Riverview is different and that much is clear to Jon, but this isn't his first time in an alternate reality. He'll play it safe for now. ]

[batbullets]

I understand. But if you ever need to - I've never been one to play by the rules, and I know how to keep a secret. Maybe some day you'll be able to believe that and trust me.

[supersweet]

Thanks. I don't know a lot of heroes yet, but I plan to!

[batbullets]

I'm pretty sure you will - there seems to be plenty here already.